Parimukhaṁ - What does it mean in MN119?

[Danny]

Bhante just wrote an essay about it:

Rethinking parimukha

Some time ago we discussed the tricky term parimukha/pratimukha, to inconclusive results. I am just reviewing the evidence and gathering my thoughts. First, we have two distinct forms: parimukha in the Pali and pratimukha in the Sanskrit. (The Chinese translations do not seem to add any clarity, and I haven’t examined the Tibetan.) Parimukha is famously defined in late Pali canonical texts Vibhanga (Vb 12:43.4) and Patisambhidāmagga (Ps 1.3:47.11) as: nāsikagge vā mukhanimitte vā at the nos…

And there has been an earlier discussion already:

Preparing for meditation - parimukha?

In the standard formula in which the meditator sits down, before the Jhanas, we have: nisīdati… paṇidhāya parimukhaṃ satiṃ upaṭṭhapetvā which literally means 'he sits down and aspires to create memory around his mouth’ I know - sati is supposed to be ‘mindfulness’, parimukha ‘in front of him’ etc. I try and see if there is a legitimate literal interpretation. So my question - is it possible that this passage means that he sits down and recites a portion of the teaching concerning his meditati…