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dhammānupassino

dhammānupassī

masc nom pl of dhammānupassī (adj); masc acc pl of dhammānupassī (adj); masc dat sg of dhammānupassī (adj); nt dat sg of dhammānupassī (adj); …

1. observing phenomena; who watches mental phenomena; (or) observing the nature of things

Built from

• dhamma — root · phenomenon, nature
  From √dhṛ "hold, bear" (Sanskrit dharma, Latin firmus). In the Dhamma it denotes both individual mental qualities and the Buddha's teaching as the universal law.
• anu — prefix · along, following
  Marks motion or attention trailing behind and through. Cognate to Greek ana-, English "on"; the sense is of intimate, sequential observation.
• pass — root · see, observe
  The root of passanā (seeing, observation); the prefix anu- makes it active surveillance or contemplation along the trail of phenomena.
• ī — ending · agent (masc)
  Nominative plural masculine ending; marks one who habitually or characteristically observes. The form dhammānupassī is an agent noun (one who watches)—here in plural, referring to meditators or monks who practise observation of phenomena.

Analysis. dhamma (phenomenon, nature, quality; the Dhamma) + anupassī (one who observes). In the canon, dhammānupassanā is the fourth foundation of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna): observing the arising and passing of mental qualities (vedanā, cittā, dhammā) directly.

Etymology. The compound combines dhamma (from √dhṛ "hold, bear"; Sanskrit dharma) with the agentive anupassī, from anu (along, following) + √pass (see); anu- shows following along a track, while passanā (observation) is insight into how phenomena arise and cease in succession.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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