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**Angry White American** · 06-18-2012, 07:52 PM

Hello
You might find the note in Pabhassara Sutta: Luminous, interesting in respect to your questioning:

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....049.than.html

Thank you for this link. I was unfamiliar with this Sutta. I find it very meaningful.

My question, however, addresses a more mundane, nuts and bolts level of practice. I found a satisfactory answer in Thanissaro Bikkhu’s Wings to Awakening, Part 2 Chapter B on the Four Frames of Reference:

The four frames of reference (satipatthana) are a set of teachings that show where a meditator should focus attention and how. This dual role — the "where" and the "how" — is reflected in the fact that the term satipatthana can be explained etymologically in two ways.

On the one hand, it can be regarded as a compound of sati (mindfulness, reference, the ability to keep something in mind) and patthana (foundation, condition, source), thus referring to the object kept in mind as a frame of reference for giving context to one's experience. Alternatively, satipatthana can be seen as a compound of sati and upatthana (establishing near, setting near), thus referring to the approach (the how) of keeping something closely in mind, of establishing and maintaining a solid frame of reference. Scholars are divided as to which interpretation is right, but for all practical purposes they both are.

The Buddha was more a poet than a strict etymologist, and he may have deliberately chosen an ambiguous term that would have fruitful meanings on more than one level. In the practice of the frames of reference, both the proper object and the proper approach are crucial for getting the proper results. In fact, as we shall see, the taking of a proper object entails the beginning of the proper approach, and the approach ends by taking as its objects the qualities of mind developed in the course of pursuing the approach itself. In other words, as we mentioned in the Introduction concerning the Buddha's Awakening, the "what" merges with the "how" as the "how" of the investigation ultimately becomes what gets investigated.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/a...2.html#part2-b

Metta

06-18-2012, 07:52 PM	#7
Angry White American Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 369 Senior Member	Hello You might find the note in Pabhassara Sutta: Luminous, interesting in respect to your questioning: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....049.than.html Thank you for this link. I was unfamiliar with this Sutta. I find it very meaningful. My question, however, addresses a more mundane, nuts and bolts level of practice. I found a satisfactory answer in Thanissaro Bikkhu’s Wings to Awakening, Part 2 Chapter B on the Four Frames of Reference: The four frames of reference (satipatthana) are a set of teachings that show where a meditator should focus attention and how. This dual role — the "where" and the "how" — is reflected in the fact that the term satipatthana can be explained etymologically in two ways. On the one hand, it can be regarded as a compound of sati (mindfulness, reference, the ability to keep something in mind) and patthana (foundation, condition, source), thus referring to the object kept in mind as a frame of reference for giving context to one's experience. Alternatively, satipatthana can be seen as a compound of sati and upatthana (establishing near, setting near), thus referring to the approach (the how) of keeping something closely in mind, of establishing and maintaining a solid frame of reference. Scholars are divided as to which interpretation is right, but for all practical purposes they both are. The Buddha was more a poet than a strict etymologist, and he may have deliberately chosen an ambiguous term that would have fruitful meanings on more than one level. In the practice of the frames of reference, both the proper object and the proper approach are crucial for getting the proper results. In fact, as we shall see, the taking of a proper object entails the beginning of the proper approach, and the approach ends by taking as its objects the qualities of mind developed in the course of pursuing the approach itself. In other words, as we mentioned in the Introduction concerning the Buddha's Awakening, the "what" merges with the "how" as the "how" of the investigation ultimately becomes what gets investigated. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/a...2.html#part2-b Metta
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