[trorseIrripsy]

What does "tossing back" mean ?

relinquishment. Bhikkhu Bodhi & Thanissaro use 'relinquishment', which transmits clearly, for me

Bhikkhu Buddhadasa uses the term 'tossing back' because, instead of relinquishing something we own, he highlights giving back something we never owned



re·lin·quish

1. To retire from; give up or abandon.
2. To put aside or desist from (something practiced, professed, or intended).
3. To let go; surrender.
4. To cease holding physically; release: THROWING IT ALL BACK

Here we come to the last step, the fourth step of the fourth tetrad, the sixteenth step of Anapanasati. It is called patinissagganupassi (contemplating throwing back). Patinissagga is a funny word. It means to throw back or to give back. When we get to this step we contemplate our throwing back, our returning, of everything to which we once attached. This is step sixteen.

There is a simple metaphor for explaining this step. Throughout our lives we have been thieves. We have been stealing things that exist naturally - in and belonging to nature - namely, the sankhara. We have plundered them and taken them to be our selves and our possessions. We are nothing but thieves. For this we are being punished by dukkha. We suffer dukkha due to all our thieving and attaching. As soon as we observe the way things really are through the succession of steps in this tetrad, we let go. We cease being thieves. We return everything to their original owner: nature. They belong to nature. Don't claim them to be "I" or "my" ever again! Our goal here is made clear by this metaphor.

Bhikkhu Buddhadasa