First sentence says 'aruppa' refers to the 8 meditative attainments.♦ "āruppā" ti
ettāvatā aṭṭhapi samāpattiyo vuttā honti. tā pana sabbena sabbaṃ asakkontena sattasupi yogo karaṇīyo, chasupi ... pe ... pañcasupi. sabbantimena paricchedena ekaṃ kasiṇe parikammakammaṭṭhānaṃ paguṇaṃ katvā ādāya vicaritabbaṃ, ettakaṃ vinā na vaṭṭati.
Kasinas are mentioned, but I can't make out what the rest of that definition is saying.
The relevant line from MN 69:
Āraññikenāvuso, bhikkhunā ye te santā vimokkhā atikkamma rūpe āruppā tattha yogo karaṇīyo.
A wilderness monk should practice meditation to realize the peaceful liberations that are formless, transcending form.
So what the Theravada commentary is saying, wrongly, is that the four jhanas are a-rūpa (since 4 jhanas are part of the 8 attainments).
And can someone explain the difference between the two spellings a-rūpa and āruppa (which mean the same thing)?
The subcommentary for MN 69 says:Āruppa (adj.) [fr. arūpa as ā (= a2) -- *rūpya] formless, incorporeal; nt. formless existence D iii.275; M i.410 cp. 472; iii.163; S i.131 (˚ṭṭhāyin); ii.123; A iv.316 It 61; Sn 754; J i.406; Dhs 1385 (cp. trsl. 57); Vism 338; DA i.224; SnA 488, 508; Sdhp 5, 10; the four Vism iii, 326 sq.
That seems to be correcting the commentary, saying that it's only the four a-arupa attainments that are meant, and not the 4 rupa attainments. Then it mentions there are ten-fold kasinas.Āruppāti iminā catassopi arūpasamāpattiyo gahitā, tā pana catūhi rūpasamāpattīhi vinā na sampajjantīti āha – ‘‘āruppāti ettāvatā aṭṭhapi samāpattiyo vuttā hontī’ ’ti.
Kasiṇeti dasavidhe kasiṇe.
Ekaṃ parikammakammaṭṭhānanti yaṃ kiñci ekabhāvanā parikammadīpanaṃ khandhakammaṭṭhānaṃ.
Tenāha ‘‘paguṇaṃ katvā’ ’ti. Kasiṇaparikammaṃ pana taggahaṇeneva gahitaṃ hoti, lokiyā uttarimanussadhammā heṭṭhā gahitāti āha ‘‘uttarimanussadhammeti iminā sabbepi lokuttaradhamme dassetī’ ’ti. Neyyapuggalassa vasenāti jānitvā vitthāretvā ñātabbapuggalassa vasenāti.
I don't understand what it says about parikkama ...
Can someone confirm I'm translating correctly for subcmy?