sati meditation

Dear group,

I have always been in doubt about the interpretation of the phrase
parimukha.m sati.m upa.t.thapetvaa and its interpretation in Vibh and
Pa.tis. Obviously these interpretations are incompatible, in addition tto
the fact that there are other objects of sati meditation that are not
similar to those of breathing in and out. As I have mentioned before the
pivotal question is how to interpret parimukha.m and upa.t.thapatvaa, the
latter is supposed to be used in a particular sense that is not recorded
elsewhere in the canon. This makes me suspect whether this important passage
has been correctly understood. I do not wish to go into a detailed analysis
of the commentarial tradition (some evidently to parimukha.m as an adjective
qualifying sati.m. This interpretation is reflected in BUddhis Sanskrit
literature, for instance Vajjracchedikaa), I only want to point out what
appears to me to be an important methodological principle when trying to
determine the sense of particularly difficult passage in the Pali canon,
namely to make as few suppositions about the meaning of particular term as
possible, when there are Sanskrit cognates recorded in, for instance,
Panini's Sanskrit grammar. Now, it happens that Panini records the adverb
parimukha.m "around the face" in order to explain the derivative
"paarimukhika" i.e. an attendant or servant who is constantly watching his
masters face (watching his face around the clock so to speak in orsder to
react to his wishes (cf. the term mukhullokika). My solution to this passage
is that it has to be seen in the context of a servant who is made to attend
his master assiduously (parimukha.m). In fact, I think that the passage
means "he lets (his) sati attend upon (him) assiduously". This is important
because upa.t.thaa generally means to attend upon and upa.t.thap is a
causative. This means that we do not have to make dubious assumptions about
te meaning of upa.t.thap in this particular passage, meaning that are not
attested elsewhere.

With best regards,

Ole Pind


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