Sallatha Sutta and modern psychology The Sallatha Sutta, famous for the idea of two arrows, has the following passages that are less often discussed. I am particularly interested in interpretations of the highlighted words and how they might relate to the modern psychological concept of decentering, defusion, disidentification or a metacognitive stance. (See modern passage below.) Both personal opinions and references welcome.

Sallatha Sutta, SN 36.6, Thanissaro Bikkhu translation

About the "uninstructed person"...


  Sensing a feeling of pleasure, he senses it as though joined with it.
  Sensing a feeling of pain, he senses it as though joined with it.
  Sensing a feeling of neither-pleasure-nor-pain, he senses it as though
  joined with it. This is called an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person
  joined with birth, aging, &amp; death; with sorrows, lamentations, pains,
  distresses, &amp; despairs. He is joined, I tell you, with suffering &amp;
  stress.


And later about the "well-instructed disciple", the same structure, for example...


  This is called a well-instructed disciple of the noble ones disjoined
  from birth, aging, &amp; death; from sorrows, lamentations, pains,
  distresses, &amp; despairs.


The Nyanaponika Thera translation is a bit more condensed here and uses "fettered" instead of "joined"


  When he experiences a pleasant feeling, a painful feeling or a neutral
  feeling, he feels it as one fettered by it. Such a one, O monks,
  is called an untaught worldling who is fettered by birth, by old
  age, by death, by sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. He is
  fettered by suffering, this I declare


Bikkhu Bodhi (not online) uses "attached" and "detached"...


  "If he feels a pleasant feeling, he feels it attached. If he feels a
  painful feeling, he feels it attached. [209] If he feels a neither-
  painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he feels it attached. This, bhikkhus, is
  called an uninstructed worldling who is attached to birth, aging and
  death; who is attached to sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and
  despair; who is attached to suffering, I say.
  
  If he feels a pleasant feeling, he feels it detached. If he feels a
  painful feeling, [210] he feels it detached. If he feels a neither-
  painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he feels it detached. This, bhikkhus, is
  called a noble disciple who is detached from birth, aging, and death;
  who is detached from sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeas­ure, and
  despair; who is detached from suffering, I say.


From the point of view of Buddhadharma of the Pali Canon, is it reasonable to say that the highlighted words (in the negative sense -- disjoined, not fettered, detached) have roughly the same meaning as the modern psychological concept in this passage from a 2002 paper by Teasdale. 


  Particular importance has been attached to the shift in cognitive set
  known as “decentering” or “disidentification,” in which,
  rather than simply being their emotions, or identifying personally
  with negative thoughts and feelings, patients relate to negative
  experiences as mental events in a wider context or field of awareness.
  For example, a patient’s perspective on thoughts and feelings of
  worthlessness might change from one in which they are experienced as
  the “reality by which I am condemned” to one in which they are
  experienced more as “passing thoughts and feelings that may or may not
  have some truth in them.
I think they're related but not identical.
I think the Sallatha Sutta can be paraphrased along the lines of, &quot;physical sensations lead to feelings (I feel that I like this, or that I don't like this) which lead to attachment (I want this to continue, or I want this to stop)&quot; -- which means that, now you have two problems, i.e.

an unpleasant physical sensation
not getting what you want.

That's what's meant by,

&quot;... So he feels two pains, physical &amp; mental&quot;.

I think the reason given for the second pain is,

... he is resistant. Any resistance-obsession with regard to that painful feeling obsesses him.

So I think this is an example of clinging or attachment causing suffering.

He does not discern, as it actually is present, the origination, passing away, allure, drawback, or escape from that feeling.

Instead he ought to see that the feeling (and sense-contact) is impermanent, that it arises and passes away, and not be attached to it.

Whereas a disidentification or decentering which you quote from the 2002 paper by Teasdale seems to me, not exactly the concept of 'detachment' or of seeing impermanence, but more specifically the concept of 'anatta' or 'non-self'.
For example, the article &quot;No-self or Not-self?&quot; suggests that any concept of self is a cause of suffering.
There's a description of decentering in the Gaddula Sutta,

It's just as when a dog is tied by a leash to a post or stake: If it walks, it walks right around that post or stake. If it stands, it stands right next to that post or stake. If it sits, it sits right next to that post or stake. If it lies down, it lies down right next to that post or stake.
&quot;In the same way, an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person regards form as: 'This is mine, this is my self, this is what I am.' He regards feeling... perception... fabrications... consciousness as: 'This is mine, this is my self, this is what I am.' If he walks, he walks right around these five clinging-aggregates. If he stands, he stands right next to these five clinging-aggregates. If he sits, he sits right next to these five clinging-aggregates. If he lies down, he lies down right next to these five clinging-aggregates. Thus one should reflect on one's mind with every moment: 'For a long time has this mind been defiled by passion, aversion, &amp; delusion.' From the defilement of the mind are beings defiled. From the purification of the mind are beings purified.

I think there are two related concepts:

Detachment from the clinging-aggregates (perhaps by observing arising-and-passing-away, which is an object of vipassana meditation)
Learning to avoid the view that, &quot;This is mine, this is my self, this is what I am&quot;.