[Buddha-l] Prapanca

[Gruenig, Hans Werner]

Richard Hayes writes:

> It is important to bear in mind, I think, that 
> prapanca is not at all a descriptive term. It is an evaluative term, an 
> invariably negative value judgment. The perception of prapanca is in direct 
> proportion to the perceiver's psychological need to feel superior to the 
> person perceived as indulging in prapanca.

This may be true of 'prapanca' in some tradition(s).  

As I understand it, in Theravada Buddhism papanca is a descriptive term used in their meditative phenomenology to describe the occurrence of mental proliferation of attached obsessive thinking -- usually without mindfulness.  This is typically only directly observed within one's "own" thought stream when mindfulness of thinking arises -- and generally it would be (a) encouraged to focus on one's own papanca, and (b) discouraged to get into any haughty judgments about others' thoughts.  

In fact, in the Anuruddha Sutta the Buddha begins by encouraging Anuruddha in his understanding :  'This Dhamma is for one who is modest, not for one who is self-aggrandizing.'  The Buddha adds:  'This Dhamma is for one who enjoys non-papanca, who delights in non-papanca, not for one who enjoys & delights in papanca.'

There is a dimension of discernment here, but it has nothing to do with needing to feel superior or a negative value judgment involving haughtiness or scorn.  We might articulate this discernment best in terms of dependent origination:

When this (papanca) is, that (papanca dukkha) is.
>From the arising of this (papanca) comes the arising of that (papanca dukkha).
When this (papanca) isn't, that (papanca dukkha) isn't.
>From the cessation of this (papanca) comes the cessation of that (papanca dukkha).

Best wishes,
-Hans.