What does pari-mukha mean in 16 APS anapana sati?

[frank k]

https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2 ... n-16.html

excerpt: Translation (from pali) I've chosen the literal translation of near-the-mouth. In Theravada Pali Vinaya, pari-mukha is used in the context of facial hair or chest hair being in front of you.

But what does it actually mean? To have 'sati' established 'near the mouth', or 'in front of you'?

Three logical possibilities 1) spatial coordinates only (in front of you, near mouth, face, chest) 2) figurative only, not a literal interpretation of spatial coordinates, like "focusing on task at hand" 3) both one and two (it's possible the Buddha meant both, just like if you're using a cel phone, you're literally and figuratively focusing on the task in your hand)

[DooDoot]

'Bringing mindfulness to the fore' is explained in MN 117, as follows:

Of those, right view is the forerunner... One is mindful to abandon wrong view & to enter & remain in right view: This is one's right mindfulness.

MN 117

The Buddha do not teach 'yogic practice'. Buddha taught letting go, as follows:

There is the case where a monk develops mindfulness as a factor for awakening dependent on seclusion, dependent on dispassion, dependent on cessation that matures as letting go.

MN 118

[ToVincent]

...

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Paṇidhāya parimukhaṃ satiṃ upaṭṭhapetvā
https://justpaste.it/4sil5

Note on the side, that both definitions of sati and samadhi agree with the Chinese translation; particularly in this case.
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[mikenz66]

2) figurative only, not a literal interpretation of spatial coordinates, like "focusing on task at hand"

Or, as Patrick Kearney sometimes says, a similar Australian idiom would be "In ya face"...

Mike

[Antaradhana]

It's just an idiom, meaning "rooting the mind in mindfulness."

[DooDoot]

In the gradual training,sati and upaṭṭhāna occur in the idiom parimukhaṁ satiṁ upaṭṭhapeti. The term parimukha is one of those simple wordsthat is so hard to interpret. It literally means ‘around the mouth’, but the Vibhaṅga says ‘at the nose tip’, while modern renderings usually use something vague like ‘in front’. However the phrase occurs outside of ānāpānasati, making the interpretation ‘at the nose-tip’, or any literal spatial interpretation, unlikely. The Sanskrit has a different reading, pratimukha. This has many meanings, among which are ‘reflection’ and ‘presence’. Both of these are appropriate in a meditative context. But the word usually, as here, occurs with upaṭṭhāna, which also means ‘presence’. I think here we have an example of that common feature of Pali or Sanskrit, a conjunction of synonyms for emphasis: literally, ‘one makes present a presence of presence of mind’, or more happily, ‘one establishes presence of mindfulness’

http://santifm.org/santipada/wp-content ... Sujato.pdf

[sunnat]

The breath goes in and out at the area around the mouth. Direct practical experience. In BODY contemplation, IN and OUT breathing happens around the mouth.

Sati means awareness. Anapana Sati means awareness of in and out breathing.

It's purpose, again direct practical experience, is to concentrate and calm the mind in preparation for insight meditation leading to the cleansing or purification of the mind.

[DooDoot]

The breath goes in and out at the area around the mouth. Direct practical experience. In BODY contemplation, IN and OUT breathing happens around the mouth.

It may logically appear this way in theory but, in my experience, practise is not like this. Rigidly attempting to place consciousness in a fixed position (similar to looking at a candle), in my experience, results in an inability to continuously, acutely & sensitively know the breathing for long periods. It leads to 'suppressed' & 'sinking' mind.

Sati means awareness. Anapana Sati means awareness of in and out breathing.

Sati means 'remembering' or 'recollection'. It means to 'bring to mind' past phenomena, such as learned knowledge & acquired wisdom. The words found in the Anapanasati Sutta for awareness of breathing are not 'sati'. They are 'pajānāti' ('knows'), 'paṭisaṃvedī' ('experiencing/sensitive to') & 'anupassi' ('closely watching'; 'contemplating').

[sunnat]

It means bring to mind, establish awareness of the breath as it is in the moment. The present moment. In the present moment the breath is short, long, whatever it is, now. When doing so one becomes aware of the hindrances. After a number of days continuously practicing to establish awareness in the area where the breath goes in and out a moment arrives akin to struggling to pulling a foot out of mud and suddenly the foot pulls free and it is no longer a struggle to maintain continuous equanimous observation awareness of the breath as it is in the present moment.

[DooDoot]

It means bring to mind, establish awareness of the breath as it is in the moment. The present moment.

The above sounds illogical because it seems 'the present' cannot be 'brought to mind'.

BRING TO MIND | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictio ... ng-to-mind
bring to mind definition: to make you remember something

In the present moment the breath is short, long, whatever it is, now. When doing so one becomes aware of the hindrances.

How can the mind be aware of hindrances when it is aware of breathing? I imagine a 'hindrance' is a hindrance to watching breathing. i.e., a hindrance to concentration.

After a number of days continuously practicing to establish awareness in the area where the breath goes in and out

Sounds like Goenka theory.

I a moment arrives akin to struggling to pulling a foot out of mud and suddenly the foot pulls free and it is no longer a struggle to maintain continuous equanimous observation awareness of the breath as it is in the present moment.

Sounds like your idea of "pari-mukha" is no longer required once the foot pulls free. However, this appears to contradict the sutta, which says: "Ever mindful, he breathes in; even mindful, he breathes out".

[sunnat]

The tendency is for the mind to wander. The practice is to bring the mind back to being aware of the breath. Again and again. The hindrances make that difficult. Practise makes perfect. It takes a lot of effort and time.
In time it is no longer a struggle to keep the awareness there. Wherever one chooses to place it.

[DooDoot]

The tendency is for the mind to wander.

Possibly the tendency is for your mind to wander. Regardless, I think bringing the mind back to the breath is not required to stop the mind from wandering nor required to be aware of the breath. If you run up a steep hill, are you required to bring your mind to the breath in order to be aware of the breath? Similarly, why does the silent mind have to direct itself to the breath to be aware of it? Regardless, where does the Anapanasati Sutta refer to having to stop hindrances?

[sunnat]

The Venerable Ledi Sayadaw wrote late 19 century early 20th the following in his book in reply to questions The Noble Eightfold Path and its Factors Explained (Maggaṅga-dīpanī)

How to Establish the Concentration Group:


"Here the way of practice for “mindfulness of breathing in and out” will be described briefly. If Buddhist householders have no time during the day to do this practice, they should do it everyday without fail in the early morning after rising, say for an hour, and in the evening too, for one or two hours before going to bed.

The method to follow in this practice is as follows.

According to the Buddha-word: “Mindfully he breathes in, mindfully he breathes out.” So during the whole period during which one has determined to sit, the mind is concentrated just on the breathing and is not allowed to stray here and there. To accomplish this one needs bodily effort and mental effort. Here, bodily effort means the effort made to practise for a fixed period each day, never letting a day go by without practice. Mental effort is the extreme care that one takes when breathing in and out that the mind may not stray elsewhere, as well as the intense application of the mind to the meditation subject so that sleepiness and sloth do not creep in.

As the breath touches the nostrils during exhalation one should be mindful just of the breathing out. Similarly, when inhaling be mindful just of the touch of air passing in. The mind should be fixed continuously upon the region of the nostrils. So right effort here means these two kinds of effort, bodily and mental, as mentioned above.

When one applies the mind in this way for a fortnight, a month, or even two months, one’s mindfulness becomes fixed upon breathing in and out. Such mindfulness is indeed called right mindfulness.

And once the three factors of the morality group in this path have been established, mental restlessness decreases day by day. It is apparent to everyone who begins meditation practice that they have no control over the mind as far as meditation subjects are concerned. Now in this world madmen who have no control over their minds are useless in worldly affairs. In like manner it can be said of people thought sane by this world that, as regards the practice of meditation, they are really mad, for they have no control over the meditation subject. Such people are useless when judged by the standard needed for successful meditation practice.

When viewed in this way, we can see the necessity for the establishment of the three factors of the concentration groupso that restlessness of mind is cured.

Even though the two aspects of concentration called access concentration and attainment concentration (upacāra- and appaṇā-samādhi) have not yet been attained, if the mind can be fixed on the meditation subject for a period of an hour or two every day then it will become easy to concentrate the mind whenever one wishes and on whatever meditation subject one takes up.

For a person who has attained purity of mind after being successful in establishing the three factors of the concentration group in the Noble Eightfold Path, the three unwholesome mental kammas of covetousness, ill will, and wrong view bom of personality view become extinct. And the second level (obsessive) of views represented by the above three mental kammas is also extinguished. Again, the mental restlessness caused by the five hindrances also disappears. This concludes the explanation of how to establish the three factors of the concentration group of the Eightfold Path."

[DooDoot]

The Venerable Ledi Sayadaw wrote late 19 century early 20th the following in his book in reply to questions The Noble Eightfold Path and its Factors Explained (Maggaṅga-dīpanī)

Naturally, based on my posts, I disagree with this. Also, the above has little, if any, support in the Pali suttas.

As the breath touches the nostrils during exhalation one should be mindful just of the breathing out. Similarly, when inhaling be mindful just of the touch of air passing in. The mind should be fixed continuously upon the region of the nostrils. So right effort here means these two kinds of effort, bodily and mental, as mentioned above.

Mindfulness of breathing is not possible. I already posted the words found in the Anapanasati Sutta for awareness of breathing are 'pajānāti' ('knows'), 'paṭisaṃvedī' ('experiencing/sensitive to') & 'anupassi' ('closely watching'; 'contemplating'); and not "sati".

[sunnat]

Kalama sutta "Of course you are uncertain, Kalamas. Of course you are in doubt. When there are reasons for doubt, uncertainty is born. So in this case, Kalamas, don't go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, 'This contemplative is our teacher.' When you know for yourselves that, 'These qualities are unskillful; these qualities are blameworthy; these qualities are criticized by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to harm & to suffering' — then you should abandon them.