Skip to main content

parimukha: 57 occurrences in the pali suttas


Pari-mukha

in-front

4👑☸ → UPED   → pari-mukha   🔬details     (⤴)


pari-mukha = in-front

1. literal context, in vinaya, refers to spatial location in front of person, such as facial or chest hair.
2. figurative context in sitting meditation:
* what is 'in-front' of you is the 'main priority'.
* tackle head on what's 'in-front' of you.
* move that task to the front of the line.

pari-mukhaṃ satiṃ upaṭṭhapetvā

✅Make sati establishment your "main priority".
⛔It does not mean focus on physical spatial area around-your-mouth, as Theravada wrongly interprets this in 16 APS breath meditation context.


If you want to be sure of what a pali word means, you need to look at every reference in the suttas and make sure it's coherent and consistent throughout.
The conclusion of this study, is that pari-mukha can not mean the physical spatial location "around the mouth", as late Theravada interprets it.
In the sitting meditation context, pari-mukha is not about the spatial location "in front" at all. The spatial interpretation just happens to work for 16 APS (breath meditation). But it doesn't work for all of the other Buddhist meditations designated which are non-breath related.

conclusion: Pari-mukha is a figure of speech.
Similar to these English figures of speech:
1. Focus on the task at hand
2. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
3. Follow your nose

Pari-mukha is a figure of speech that means, "main priority".
pari-mukhaṃ satiṃ upaṭṭhapetvā  = Make sati establishment your "main priority". 


searching for "parimuk":


Comments

  1. Thank you Frankk for your precious contribution and analysis, it may prove extremely useful in these times, may you be well.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Advice to younger meditators on jhāna, sex, porn, masturbation

Someone asked: Is porn considered harmful sexual.activity? I don't have a sex life because I don't have a partner and I don't wish to engage in casual sex so I use porn to quench the biological urge to orgasm. I can't see that's it's harmful because nobody is being forced into it. The actors are all paid well and claim to enjoy it etc. The only harm I can see is that it's so accessible these days on smart devices and so children may access it but I believe that this is the parents responsibility to not allow unsupervised use of devices etc. Views? Frankk response: In another thread, you asked about pleasant sensations and jhāna.  I'm guessing you're young, so here's some important advice you won't get from suttas   if you're serious about jhāna.  (since monastics are already celibate by rule)   If you want to attain stable and higher jhānas,   celibacy and noble silence to the best of your ability are the feedstock and prerequiste to tha

illustration of Buddha Gotoma where he looks like a human being

Illustration by Bhikkhu Vimalo from a BPS postcard wishing a happy vesak   More images where Buddha looks human: https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2021/02/where-are-buddha-images-and-statues.html Buddha and Arahant images that look like real humans

1min. video: Dalai Lama kissing boy and asking him to suck his tongue

To give more context, this is a public event,  * everyone knows cameras are rolling  *  it's a room full of children * the boy's mom is standing off camera a few feet away watching all of this * the boy initiated contact, he had already had a hug with Dalai Lama earlier and then asked Dalai Lama for another hug which triggered this segment  17 min. video showing what happened before that 1 min. clip and after, with some explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT0qey5Ts78 16min talk from Ajahn Acalo with his thoughts on Dalai Lama kissing boy, relevance to Bhikkhu monastic code, sexual predators in religion in general, and how celibate monastics deal with sexual energy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK2m0TcUib0 The child's comments about the incident in a filmed interview later https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/world-news/2023/04/18/643eba5d46163ffc078b457c.html The child: It's a great experience It was amazing to meet His Holiness and I think it's a great ex