Right Here and Out There: A Phenomenological Interpretation of ajjhattaṃṃ and bahiddhā in the Context of Mindfulness of the Body

Abstract

According to the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, mindfulness of the body involves seeing the body in a threefold way: ajjhattaṃ, bahiddhā and ajjhattabahiddhā. This paper attempts to show how an investigation of bodily perception, following the approach adopted by the phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty, can serve as the basis for a philosophically grounded understanding of the Pāli words ajjhattaṃ and bahiddhā. The interpretation that emerges is the distinction between ‘right here’ and ‘out there’: two mutually dependent, internally related domains that are experienced as what Merleau-Ponty (1968) called the ‘chiasm’ or the ‘intertwining’. This is different from the standard interpretations found in the Abhidhamma, the Pāli commentaries, the Visuddhimagga and the instructions of most contemporary meditation teachers. It is hoped that the interpretation offered here can give some exposure to a movement within Theravāda Buddhism, initiated by Ñāṇavīra Thera but slowly gaining traction, characterised by a phenomenological reading of the Pāli suttas.