Tom Tom:
Good question [edit: it's not a question, so "Raise good questions"]. After a quick search (see below), it looks like the English word (from Latin via French) means roughly (in Latin verb) 'to forget', and English noun 'forgotten' -- looks like the opposite of '
sati' ('mindfulness'), as least in the sense in most of Theravadan tradition as to its close relationship to 'memory,' to 'keeping in mind.' (As one probably recalls, a modernist interpretation is "bare awareness", very popular, one could say dominant in the West, and valiantly championed by Ven. Analayo in the newer old guard.)
So rephrasing: There is no forgottenness. Maybe 'There is' implies a sense of awareness because whatever the predicate is (what's on the other side of the 'is') is there in consciousness. I don't know... that gets s/w twisted.
BUT, is this brought up in reference to recent mentions of 'oblivion' by a certain teacher who equates it with
Nibbana?
Actually very interesting -- I've never heard / read it discussed whether or not
sati ceases when in touch with
Nibbana. For instance,
jhana (the hard, real flavor) is said to transverse levels of increasing stillness, up to the 8th ayatana (immaterial 'base') which is the last stop before cessation, and
sati is in full force throughout
jhana. That's what makes it potentially so valuable, as distinct from trance-like or hypnotic mental processes. And traditional sources seem to say that
Nibbana can be in some sense directly known.
If I had access, I'd ask Then-Geof. Or, maybe Sujato, who's more active / available in the internet. Maybe it's worth a try with Kenneth Folk, who, sometimes, waxes authoritative about things Theravadan -- I mean about the
sati angle; we already know his opinions on
Nibbana.
- - -
A couple of takes on the meaning and etymology.
1)
Origin
ob·liv·i·onəˈblivēən/
noun noun:
oblivion- 1. the state of being unaware or unconscious of what is happening."they drank themselves into oblivion"
- the state of being forgotten, especially by the public."his name will fade into oblivion"
- extinction."only our armed forces stood between us and oblivion"
- 2. Lawhistoricalamnesty or pardon.
late Middle English: via Old French from Latin
oblivio(n-), from
oblivisci ‘forget.’
2)
WordNet 3.6
- n obliviontotal forgetfulness "he sought the great oblivion of sleep"
- n oblivion the state of being disregarded or forgotten