Re: Anyobody know this sutta?

Dear Mike,

>Have I missed something (I've just skimmed this so
>maybe I have) but where does the original question re.
>'avenues' come in?  I can't find a connection between
>aayatanaa and avenues.

After taking another look, I think the translation of 'avenues' for
aayatanani is probably off-base. I couldn't find anything in CPD, PED, or
Buddhadatta's dictionary to support 'avenues'. If we take the commentarial
meaning of 'kaara.naani' we should choose a word like grounds, bases,
causes, conditions, or occasions. It appears that there are 3 ways to derive
'aayatana': 1) pref. aa + root yat + affix ana; 2) pref. aa + root i + root
tan + a; 3) pref. aa + yat + a + na (from root nii - to lead). I'm not sure
why the translator chose 'avenues' and one can only make guesses. It should
be noted that path (magga) can be taken as a cause or condition as in the
ariyan 8-fold path being the condition for the cessation of dukkha. Maybe
the translator was thinking of the Vimuttimagga.

best wishes,
Jim



_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com