"The Mind Illuminated" (2015) on "cittass'ekaggata"
Citta means “mind,” eka means “one” or “single,” and gatā means “gone” in a certain way, as in being in or having entered a particular state or condition. Thus, cittas’ekagata refers to a mind (cittas) that has gone (gata) to oneness or unity (eka), i.e. a unified mind. Unfortunately, ekagata has traditionally been rendered as ekaggatā, where the addition of a second g forms the word agga, meaning “point” or “promontory,” and tā becomes a suffix meaning “-ness.” Consequently, this key term has been widely misunderstood as “single-pointedness” and is assumed to refer to the practice of exclusive attention. The confusion of these homophonous terms is understandable if we recall that the Buddha’s teachings were transmitted orally for centuries before being transcribed into written form. ...
[link] [comments]
from Buddhism https://ift.tt/2Keqsm7
Post a Comment