Thank you so much. I appreciate the answers even more!
B: "Firstly Jhanna is a cognate of a Sanskrit word yoJana, more at
concentration that absorption."
So, this would mean that one could maintain "concentration" without
having to remain "absorbed."
B: "Pertaining to your question," I thought there must be other
senses such that one could be in it while going thru one's day."
Here is how yoJana is defined:
yoJana = n. joining , yoking , harnessing Pa1rGr2. Hariv. ; that
which is yoked or harnessed , a team , vehicle (also applied to the
hymns and prayers addressed to the gods) RV. ; course , path ib. ;
(sometimes m. ; ifc. f. %{A}) a stage or Yojana (i.e. a distance
traversed in one harnessing or without unyoking ; esp. a partic.
measure of distance , sometimes regarded as equal to 4 or 5 English
miles , but more correctly = 4 Kros3as or about 9 miles ; according to
other calculations = 2 1/2 English miles , and according to some = 8
Kros3as) RV. &c. &c. ; instigation , stimulation Sa1h. ; mental
concentration , abstraction , directing the thoughts to one point (=
%{yoga}) Up. ; the Supreme Spirit of the Universe (= %{paramA7tman})
L. ; a finger L. ; n. and (%{A}) f. use , application , arrangement ,
preparation RV. Ka1tyS3r. MBh. Sa1h. ; erecting , constructing ,
building Ra1jat. Katha1s. ; junction , union , combination Sa1h.
Veda7ntas. ; (%{A}) f. application of the sense of a passage,
grammatical construction S3am2k."
Thank you. How does one reconcile the two different words? How much
of the sanskrit does the cognate contain, if you know what I mean?
That is, how much of the meaning of the cognate is one to read into
the meaning of the derivative? It does seem to help one fix the
meaning, in this case, in a way that makes sense: one can concentrate
and carry on living and thinking much more sensibly than can one while
deeply absorbed in one of the jhaana-states. Is the sense, then, more
like that of sati or satipa.t.thaana?