--- In palistudy@..., "m. nease" <mlnease@...> wrote:
> Dear Khun Amara,
>
> --- Amara <joychay@...> wrote:
>
> > When we use the word -fold, such as the eightfold
> > path, doesn't it
> > mean a simultaneous happening? The different
> > aspects of the same
> > thing?
>
> Here's what Merriam-Webster has to say:
>
> Main Entry: -fold
> Pronunciation: "fOld, 'fOld
> Function: suffix
> Etymology: Middle English, from Old English -feald;
> akin to Old High German -falt -fold, Latin -plex,
> -plus, Old English fealdan
> 1 : multiplied by (a specified number) : times -- in
> adjectives <a sixfold increase> and adverbs <repay you
> tenfold>
> 2 : having (so many) parts <threefold aspect of the
> problem>
>
> This is from their Collegiate dictionary--an
> unabridged dictionary might have more information.
> But definition 2 certainly does concur with your
> second definition. Here's Ven. Buddhadatta's 'vidha':
>
> (in cpds.) of a kind; consisting of: --fold.
> naanaavidha = manifold
>
> mike
>
Thank you, Sir Mike,
Do you think any of the explanations justify the translations I
mentioned,
'the 12-Fold Chain' for the temporally distant causes and effects
(although some are sahajata paccaya, most are nanakhanika) of the
paticca-samuppada,
and 'fourfold method of classification'?
Personally I see it as an unnecessary banalization of the term, with
no considerstion for the meaning. I think we will be seeing more of
this as well, among modern Buddhist writers.
Amara