Being a total novice in Pali here, I’m playing with ‘possible interpretations’.
Could it mean “Work in the mind with wisdom”? If so, yoniso manasikāra in the below context
“Bhikkhus, there are these two conditions for the arising of the Right View. What two? The utterance of another and ‘yoniso manasikāra’. These are the two conditions for the arising of the Right View.”
—AN 2.126
could mean that after hearing the wise words of a noble person, we do work in/on our own mind (not the body or the outside world) with wisdom, then we could have the Right View?
I suppose that can be true, but unless I had looked at the Pali and some other translations I’m not sure I would understand yours.
It seems to me that the general sense is that we, as unenlightened people, need to hear the Dhamma; we’re not able to figure it out ourselves.
And after hearing it, we need to make it our own, understand it personally, make it in our minds ‘yoni-ly’ - seeing right down to the root of things.
Bhante Sujato. Meditation on the bright breath. Dhamma talk on MN43. Discussion of Venerable Sāriputta’s and Venerable Mahākoṭṭhita’s discussion of the relationship between wisdom and consciousness, which they do with reference to the jhanas. Definitions of yoniso manasi kāra; the three uses of the word ‘yoniso’. Discussion of right view being supported by ethics, learning, discussion, serenity, and discernment.
Please see exhibit A why we need to STOP translating yonisomanasikāra as ‘wise attention’ or ‘rational application of mind’. From SuttaCentral if you cross-reference ven sujato’s translation you will see the term being referenced is this yonisomanasikāra. Never seen a better rendering of it more clearly as to its meaning than in the PTS translation (screenshot included) — “attention to the cause” = yonisomanasikāra
Please Bhante, replace every instance of “rational application of mind” and “irrational application” with something appropriate.
From your note on MN 2 I was looking at now:
“Rational application of mind” (yoniso manasikāra) is a distinctively Buddhist term. It draws on the frequent Vedic image of the “womb of truth” (yonāv ṛtasya, Rig Veda 9.13.9), the source of the laws and patterns that govern the natural order. The idea is that by applying the mind by way of cause or reason the hidden truth can be uncovered. Here the meditator’s insight is framed not as uncovering the objective truth about the world, but as reflexively understanding the means of insight itself.
I’m glad that you have done extensive explanation of the term in this post, but for those just reading the suttas in stride the term as it has been rendered is faithless to the original meaning.
I understand you want these things to be reader-friendly, not using Buddhist hybrid English, but if it completely alters the meaning of what has been said it does more harm than good
Ven ñānananda rendered the term ‘radical attention’ in his later works; ‘radical’ in mathematical sense as an origin or a matrix, and the etymology of manasikāra explained as ‘doing in the mind’
I’ve seen you say you would have rendered the term ‘causewise’ attention. I believe this rendering is quite suitable and you ought to make this change urgently.
