himavantaM yathaa gatvaa
viSha bhuNjiita n'auShadhaM
manuShyatvaM tathaa praapya
paapaM seveta no shubhaM
- - = = - = = =
- - = = - = - =
- = = = - = = -
= = = = - = - =
15.28
Just as he might go to the Himalayas
And eat not herbs but poison,
So would one arrive at being a human being
And do not good but harm.
COMMENT:
This verse, as I read it, is about the tragic ignorance of unconscious end-gaining.
The world is full of people (and I am always liable to be one of them) who, in meaning well, do harm, primarily to themselves.
How does this unconscious and unintended doing of harm come about?
It comes about, in the first place, because of a desire to go directly for an end without due consideration of proper means -- i.e. "end-gaining." It doesn't come about because a little boy (or an old Zen master) wakes up one morning and consciously decides "I am not going to do good; I am going to serve evil." The harm arises, as a rule, not because of intention to serve evil but in spite of the intention to do good.
The teaching of FM Alexander has been described as something true, good, and real. The foundation of the teaching is acceptance and investigation of one's own wrongness which is rooted in trying to be right.
And yet the British community of teachers of the Alexander Technique is presently split over the issue of voluntary self-regulation. Elements in each side, it seems to me, can see that elements on the other side are guilty of trying to be right, but these elements are less able to see their own trying to be right. Marjory Barlow said in her old age, "We are all, and I include myself, going around trying to be right." Marjory was honestly describing the fact. It shouldn't be like this. But it is. It is not that one side is right and the other wrong. The truth is that we are all, in our unenlightened wrongness, going around trying to be right.
Yesterday I was sitting on a chair at an Alexander training school and during a lull in a discussion I reflected on myself. I was totally in the grip of trying to be right.
Again, I am presently suffering from a niggling injury in my right shoulder that I inflicted on myself a few weeks ago while chopping down a conifer with a felling axe. Despite being 50 next month, I went at the job like I was 25, ignoring the fact that the muscles in my right shoulder were telling me to stop. Pure end-gaining.
You might say that, after all these years, I should know better. Well, so should the ignoramus who goes to the Himalayas with a view to eating medicinal herbs. He should know better, but in the vital moment of the present he doesn't. And therein lies the essence of the tragedy which is ignorance.
So in this verse, as I read it, the Buddha is not saying what on the surface he might seem to be saying. He is not saying, "Redouble your unconscious effort to do good, to try to be right."
The Buddha, as I hear him, is saying: "Be aware of what ignorance is. Be aware that the human tragedies we see all around us arise not out of bad intentions but out of our continuing human tendency, when we have an idea, to react to that idea unconsciously, on the basis of our unenlightened instincts."
EH Johnston:
The man who, having obtained the state of a human being, should follow sin and not good is like a man who should go to the Himalayas and eat poison and not health-giving herbs.
Linda Covill:
Just like a man who upon reaching the Himalayas swallows poison instead of medicinal herbs is he who wins a human state but serves evil, not goodness.
VOCABULARY:
hima: m. cold, frost
himavantam = acc. sg. m. himavat: mfn. having frost or snow , snowy , frosty , icy , snow-clad ; m. a snowy mountain ; m. the himaalaya
yathaa: just as
gatvaa = abs. gam: to go, to go to
viSha: n. " anything active " , poison , venom , bane , anything actively pernicious RV. &c ; n. a partic. vegetable poison
bhuNjiita = 3rd pers. sg. optative bhuj: to enjoy , use , possess , (esp.) enjoy a meal , eat , eat and drink , consume
na: not
auShadhaM: n. herbs collectively , a herb ; n. herbs used in medicine
manuShyatvam (acc. sg.): f. manhood , humanity , the state or condition of man
tathaa: so, likewise
praapya = abs. praap: to attain to ; reach , arrive at , meet with , find ; to obtain
paapam (acc. sg. n): mfn. bad , vicious , wicked , evil , wretched , vile , low ; (in astrol.) boding evil , inauspicious; n. evil , misfortune , ill-luck , trouble , mischief, harm
seveta = 3rd pers. sg. optative sev: to remain or stay at , live in , frequent , haunt , inhabit , resort to (acc.); to serve , wait or attend upon , honour , obey , worship; to devote or apply one's self to , cultivate , study , practise , use , employ , perform , do
no: ind. and not
shubham (acc. sg. n.): mfn. splendid , bright , beautiful; n. anything bright or beautiful ; beauty , charm , good fortune , auspiciousness , happiness , bliss , welfare , prosperity ; benefit , service , good or virtuous action
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 15.27: An Ignoramus Abroad (2), Jewel vs Clod
tyaktvaa ratnaM yathaa loShTaM
ratna-dviipaac ca saMharet
tyaktvaa naiHshreyasaM dharmaM
cintayed a-shubhaM tathaa
= = = = - = = =
= = = = - = - =
= = = = - = = =
= - = - - = - =
15.27
Again, just as he might leave the jewel
And carry from the jewel-island a clod,
So would one leave the dharma that leads to happiness
And cherish a wretched idea.
COMMENT:
The dharma that leads to happiness (naiHshreyasaM dharmam) can be understood on many levels, like a big onion of many layers. The process of going deeper towards the centre of it seems to involve a lot of saying "Not that!" to superficial layers. At the level I am at this morning, and in the context of the previous verse, what leads to happiness might be truly being a human being. (But please, do not call it "humanism.") Later, all being well, I will look back and think "No, that wasn't it."
To think or to have an idea (cint), that thought or idea being unlovely, evil, or inauspicious (a-shubha), can also be understood on at least three levels:
Thinking unlovely thoughts is as nothing -- just in the act of waking up to the thinking of those unlovely thoughts, one has already caused those thoughts to evaporate.
Cultivating evil thoughts is more deeply problematic, because bad habits require more time and effort to drop off -- a few minutes, at least, of using the brain.
But over the course of a lifetime or many lifetimes a wretched idea or wrong conception tends to be more deeply problematic than anything -- because the most difficult things to get rid of are the ones that don't exist.
In this verse, as I read it on the basis of my experience in life hitherto, carrying away a clod of earth is not a metaphor either for thinking unlovely thoughts or for cultivating evil thoughts: it is a metaphor for cherishing a lousy idea. "Humanism" along with "Realism" and "True Buddhism" are examples that spring readily to my mind. "Keeping the spine straight vertically" is another one, leading to stiffening, fixing, and stunted/frustrated growth as a human being.
EH Johnston:
And the man who, passing over the Law that leads to final beatitude, should cultivate evil thoughts is like the man who should pass over the jewels and take away lumps of earth from a jewel-island.
Linda Covill:
And the man who thinks unlovely thoughts while forsaking the unsurpassable dharma is like a man who takes away clods of earth from a jewel-island but leaves the jewel behind.
VOCABULARY:
tyaktvaa = abs. tyaj: to leave , abandon , quit
ratnam (acc. sg.) n. a jewel , gem , treasure , precious stone
yathaa: just as
loShTam (acc. sg.): mn. a lump of earth or clay , clod
ratna-dviipaat = abl. ratna-dviipa: a jewel-island
ca: and, again
saMharet = 3rd pers. sg. optative saM-√ hR: to take or fetch from (abl.)
tyaktvaa = abs. tyaj: to leave , abandon , quit
naiHshreyasam (acc. sg. m.): mfn. leading to happiness or future beatitude
naiH (vRddhi form of niH in comp): out of, away from ; without ; thoroughly
shreyasa: n. welfare , happiness , bliss (mostly ifc)
dharmam (acc. sg.): m. law, practice, teaching
cintayet = 3rd pers. sg. optative: cint: to think , have a thought or idea , reflect , consider ; to think about , reflect upon , direct the thoughts towards , care for (acc.)
a-shubham (acc. sg. n. or acc. sg. m.): mfn. not beautiful or agreeable , disagreeable ; inauspicious ; bad , vicious (as thought or speech); m. misfortune , harm , mischief
shubha: n. splendid , bright , beautiful , handsome (often f. voc. , shubhe , " fair one! " in addressing a beautiful woman) ; pleasant , agreeable , suitable , fit , capable , useful , good (applied to persons and things)
tathaa: so, likewise
ratna-dviipaac ca saMharet
tyaktvaa naiHshreyasaM dharmaM
cintayed a-shubhaM tathaa
= = = = - = = =
= = = = - = - =
= = = = - = = =
= - = - - = - =
15.27
Again, just as he might leave the jewel
And carry from the jewel-island a clod,
So would one leave the dharma that leads to happiness
And cherish a wretched idea.
COMMENT:
The dharma that leads to happiness (naiHshreyasaM dharmam) can be understood on many levels, like a big onion of many layers. The process of going deeper towards the centre of it seems to involve a lot of saying "Not that!" to superficial layers. At the level I am at this morning, and in the context of the previous verse, what leads to happiness might be truly being a human being. (But please, do not call it "humanism.") Later, all being well, I will look back and think "No, that wasn't it."
To think or to have an idea (cint), that thought or idea being unlovely, evil, or inauspicious (a-shubha), can also be understood on at least three levels:
Thinking unlovely thoughts is as nothing -- just in the act of waking up to the thinking of those unlovely thoughts, one has already caused those thoughts to evaporate.
Cultivating evil thoughts is more deeply problematic, because bad habits require more time and effort to drop off -- a few minutes, at least, of using the brain.
But over the course of a lifetime or many lifetimes a wretched idea or wrong conception tends to be more deeply problematic than anything -- because the most difficult things to get rid of are the ones that don't exist.
In this verse, as I read it on the basis of my experience in life hitherto, carrying away a clod of earth is not a metaphor either for thinking unlovely thoughts or for cultivating evil thoughts: it is a metaphor for cherishing a lousy idea. "Humanism" along with "Realism" and "True Buddhism" are examples that spring readily to my mind. "Keeping the spine straight vertically" is another one, leading to stiffening, fixing, and stunted/frustrated growth as a human being.
EH Johnston:
And the man who, passing over the Law that leads to final beatitude, should cultivate evil thoughts is like the man who should pass over the jewels and take away lumps of earth from a jewel-island.
Linda Covill:
And the man who thinks unlovely thoughts while forsaking the unsurpassable dharma is like a man who takes away clods of earth from a jewel-island but leaves the jewel behind.
VOCABULARY:
tyaktvaa = abs. tyaj: to leave , abandon , quit
ratnam (acc. sg.) n. a jewel , gem , treasure , precious stone
yathaa: just as
loShTam (acc. sg.): mn. a lump of earth or clay , clod
ratna-dviipaat = abl. ratna-dviipa: a jewel-island
ca: and, again
saMharet = 3rd pers. sg. optative saM-√ hR: to take or fetch from (abl.)
tyaktvaa = abs. tyaj: to leave , abandon , quit
naiHshreyasam (acc. sg. m.): mfn. leading to happiness or future beatitude
naiH (vRddhi form of niH in comp): out of, away from ; without ; thoroughly
shreyasa: n. welfare , happiness , bliss (mostly ifc)
dharmam (acc. sg.): m. law, practice, teaching
cintayet = 3rd pers. sg. optative: cint: to think , have a thought or idea , reflect , consider ; to think about , reflect upon , direct the thoughts towards , care for (acc.)
a-shubham (acc. sg. n. or acc. sg. m.): mfn. not beautiful or agreeable , disagreeable ; inauspicious ; bad , vicious (as thought or speech); m. misfortune , harm , mischief
shubha: n. splendid , bright , beautiful , handsome (often f. voc. , shubhe , " fair one! " in addressing a beautiful woman) ; pleasant , agreeable , suitable , fit , capable , useful , good (applied to persons and things)
tathaa: so, likewise
Thursday, November 19, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 15.26: An Ignoramus Abroad (1), Aloes vs Firewood
an-abhijNo yathaa jaatyaM
dahed aguru kaaShThavat
a-nyaayena manuShyatvam
upahanyaad idaM tathaa
- - = = - = = =
- = - - - = - -
= = = - - = = -
- - = = - = - =
15.26
Just as an ignoramus
Might burn as firewood the best aloes,
So would one, wrong-headedly,
Waste this state of being human.
COMMENT:
This real state of being human is our original state. We undermine it or spoil it or waste it with inauspicious conceptions. We might return to it by truly learning the backward step of turning our light and letting it shine.
So this verse, as I read it, is nothing other than a description of the inevitable tendency of a sitting-dhyaana life -- in which mountains are originally mountains but then mountains cease to be mountains, until such time as mountains might be realized again as mountains.
EHJ and LC have translated this verse as if the Buddha were referring to some plan, or some method, but the Buddha as I hear him is not referring to any plan or method, other than just sitting as the giving up of one's own wrong-headed conceptions. Trying to sit in conformity with somebody's plan (like "true Buddhism saves the world from the conflict between idealism and materialism") or in accordance with some method (like "keeping the spine straight vertically" or "[fill in the missing word] meditation"), might be the original cause of the wrong-headedness that causes mountains to cease to be mountains.
When we see footage of goings-on in North Korea, who doesn't feel that what is going on there under the world's last surviving Stalinist regime is unjust, improper, indecorous, irregular, disordered (a-nyaya)? What is going on there, in a word, is wrongheaded. And does that disordered wrongheadedness principally derive (a) from not following any plan or method, or (b) from following somebody's plan or method?
EH Johnston:
Just as an ignoramus would burn costly aloe wood like ordinary fuel, so by not following the plan one would destroy one's existence here as a human being.
Linda Covill:
Just as an ignorant man might burn the best aloe-wood as if it were ordinary firewood, just so is one's human state destroyed by not following this method.
VOCABULARY:
an-abhijNaH = nom. sg. m. an-abhijNa: mfn. unacquainted with , ignorant
yathaa (correlative of tathaa): just as
jaatyam (acc. sg. n.) jaatya: mfn of a noble family , noble; pleasing , beautiful ; best , excellent
dahet = 3rd pers. sg. optative dah: to burn
aguru (acc. sg. n.): mn. the fragrant Aloe wood and tree
kaaShTha: n. a piece of wood or timber , stick; n. wood or timber in general
-vat: like
kaaShThavat: ind. like a piece of wood , like a stick (as when petrified with fear , &c )
a-nyaayena = inst. a-nyaaya: m. unjust or unlawful action ; impropriety , indecorum ; irregularity , disorder
a-: negative prefix
nyaaya: that into which a thing goes back i.e. an original type , standard , method , rule , (esp.) a general or universal rule , model , axiom , system , plan , manner , right or fit manner or way , fitness , propriety
nyaayena: ind. in the right manner , regularly , duly
manuShyatvam (acc. sg.): n. manhood , humanity , the state or condition of man
upahanyaat = 3rd pers. sg. optative upa-√han: to hit , hurt , damage , visit , afflict , impede , spoil
idam (nom./acc. sg. n.): this , this here , referring to something near the speaker
tathaa: so, likewise
dahed aguru kaaShThavat
a-nyaayena manuShyatvam
upahanyaad idaM tathaa
- - = = - = = =
- = - - - = - -
= = = - - = = -
- - = = - = - =
15.26
Just as an ignoramus
Might burn as firewood the best aloes,
So would one, wrong-headedly,
Waste this state of being human.
COMMENT:
This real state of being human is our original state. We undermine it or spoil it or waste it with inauspicious conceptions. We might return to it by truly learning the backward step of turning our light and letting it shine.
So this verse, as I read it, is nothing other than a description of the inevitable tendency of a sitting-dhyaana life -- in which mountains are originally mountains but then mountains cease to be mountains, until such time as mountains might be realized again as mountains.
EHJ and LC have translated this verse as if the Buddha were referring to some plan, or some method, but the Buddha as I hear him is not referring to any plan or method, other than just sitting as the giving up of one's own wrong-headed conceptions. Trying to sit in conformity with somebody's plan (like "true Buddhism saves the world from the conflict between idealism and materialism") or in accordance with some method (like "keeping the spine straight vertically" or "[fill in the missing word] meditation"), might be the original cause of the wrong-headedness that causes mountains to cease to be mountains.
When we see footage of goings-on in North Korea, who doesn't feel that what is going on there under the world's last surviving Stalinist regime is unjust, improper, indecorous, irregular, disordered (a-nyaya)? What is going on there, in a word, is wrongheaded. And does that disordered wrongheadedness principally derive (a) from not following any plan or method, or (b) from following somebody's plan or method?
EH Johnston:
Just as an ignoramus would burn costly aloe wood like ordinary fuel, so by not following the plan one would destroy one's existence here as a human being.
Linda Covill:
Just as an ignorant man might burn the best aloe-wood as if it were ordinary firewood, just so is one's human state destroyed by not following this method.
VOCABULARY:
an-abhijNaH = nom. sg. m. an-abhijNa: mfn. unacquainted with , ignorant
yathaa (correlative of tathaa): just as
jaatyam (acc. sg. n.) jaatya: mfn of a noble family , noble; pleasing , beautiful ; best , excellent
dahet = 3rd pers. sg. optative dah: to burn
aguru (acc. sg. n.): mn. the fragrant Aloe wood and tree
kaaShTha: n. a piece of wood or timber , stick; n. wood or timber in general
-vat: like
kaaShThavat: ind. like a piece of wood , like a stick (as when petrified with fear , &c )
a-nyaayena = inst. a-nyaaya: m. unjust or unlawful action ; impropriety , indecorum ; irregularity , disorder
a-: negative prefix
nyaaya: that into which a thing goes back i.e. an original type , standard , method , rule , (esp.) a general or universal rule , model , axiom , system , plan , manner , right or fit manner or way , fitness , propriety
nyaayena: ind. in the right manner , regularly , duly
manuShyatvam (acc. sg.): n. manhood , humanity , the state or condition of man
upahanyaat = 3rd pers. sg. optative upa-√han: to hit , hurt , damage , visit , afflict , impede , spoil
idam (nom./acc. sg. n.): this , this here , referring to something near the speaker
tathaa: so, likewise
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 15.25: The Self Like a Good Sword vs Ideas Like Mud
tad vitarkair a-kushalair
n'aatmaanaM hantum arhasi
su-shastraM ratna-vikRtaM
mRdd-hato gaaM khanann iva
= - = = - - - =
= = = = - = - -
- = = = - - - =
= - = = - = - -
15.25
With inauspicious conceptions, then,
You should not mar your self
-- Which is a good sword and bejewelled --
As if you were digging the earth, spattered with mud.
COMMENT:
In this verse, Nanda's self like a good sword adorned by the triple gem, is opposed to inauspicious conceptions like mud.
Forgive another unduly long post on this subject, but I think that to understand the meaning of "inauspicious conceptions" (akushala vitarka) is really vital, so as to be governed less by those conceptions in sitting and in life.
The translations of akushala vitarka offered by EHJ ("evil thoughts") and LC ("unwholesome musings") give the impression of a temporary mental activity. But the real meaning of akushala vitarka, as I read it, is inauspicious conceptions that are woven deeply into the fabric of a person's body-mind.
The first of those inauspicious conceptions, related to human desire, is end-gaining. Following the mirror principle, I unconsciously criticize the end-gaining that I see in others because I don't like to see it in myself. But in brighter moments, I accept that instinctive grasping for what one desires is a universal human tendency. It is not a thing out there to fight against; it is a conception, or a tendency, in me. As a conception, it is a conception to be given up, here and now. As a tendency, it is a tendency whose grip is to be loosened, gradually -- finality not being in sight for any of us.
The second of those inauspicious conceptions, related to ill-will and cruelty, is foul or vile prejudice. This tends to arise when unconsciously I fail to separate out things that I reject, or things I detest, or things that have offended me, from individual people or groups of people whom I associate with those things.
At the individual level, at the top of my unconscious hit list are people who have offended me very deeply by treating my translation of Shobogenzo as if it were not mine. Even if I have not bothered to fight them, but have rather endeavoured to walk away from trouble, I have not exactly wished them well. I have not been entirely free of a certain tendency to sit and wait for cause and effect to punish them. If I were able to transcend the unconscious habit of wishing to see people who hurt me get their just deserts, and opt instead for compassion, I might use the sword of wisdom to separate out a person's mistakes and the person himself -- some mother's son. My strong habit is that if you hurt me, I am going to form a very strong and vile prejudice against you as a person and draw satisfaction from seeing you hurt back. It is the instinct not of a dove but of a hawk, of a fighter. It is an instinct maybe born of a fighter's fear. But again, it is not something absolute: it is a conception that can be given up in a moment by a person in possession of his own brain, and at the same time it is a tendency whose grip is maybe loosening over time.
At the group level, my plodding along this way for the last 30 years has caused me to reject every -ism, under which banner people in their desire to feel right flock like sheep. My unconscious habit is not only to despise the -ism but also to despise the pacificists, pragmatists, feminists, Buddhists, and the like who flock together under their chosen -ism. So again, the inauspicious conception whereby the rational rejection of an -ism tends to become a vile prejudice, is unconscious association of the -ism with human proponents of it or adherents to it. Whereas in light of the Buddha's teaching to opt for compassion, it is perfectly possible to reject, say, the unhelpful idea of a God who formed a covenant with some ancient middle-eastern tribes, without being prejudiced against Jews, and Christians, and Muslims, every one of whom is some mother's son or daughter with his or her own individual story.
End-gaining for enlightenment was traditionally represented by the Chinese Zen patriarchs by the word ZENNA, being tainted. And in the previous verse, as I read it, the Buddha expresses prejudice as foulness itself (kaaluShya). So being spattered by mud (mRdd-hata) is a natural metaphor for being marred by conceptions like end-gaining and prejudice. And as a metaphor for the true, original human self that is marred by inauspicious conceptions, in this verse the Buddha uses a good sword that is adjorned by the three jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Samgha.
And so begins a series of four verses featuring metaphors in which a treasure is opposed to an object of little or no value.
In each of the next three verses an ignorant man fails to make the enlightened decision when presented with contrasting alternatives: in 15.26 it is aloe wood vs ordinary timber; in 15.27 a jewel vs a clod of earth; and in 15.28 mountain herbs vs inedible weeds.
So this verse, 15.25, seems to be a bridge from the preceding discussion of inauspicious conceptions at the root of (1) troublesome desires and (2) ill-will & cruelty, to the forthcoming discussion of (3) ignorance (moha), as manifested by an ignorant person's inability to navigate a way through a succession of no-brainers.
The implication to draw might be that the kind of ignorance which the Buddha is concerned about is inability to decide between the real which (like sharp sword, aloe wood, gemstone, or Himalayan herb) is valuable, and an idea which (like mud, lump of wood or earth, or inedible plant) is cheap.
If the self is a good sword already, what is the secret of accepting and using it as such, for the making of clear-cut decisions? The hint, again, might be in the canto title, vitarka-prahaaNa, Giving Up an Idea.
To accept and use the bejewelled good sword of the self, giving up the mud of one's own ideas, is, in other words, just to sit. In that sense, this canto is expressing the essence of sitting-dhyaana -- which may be why the next canto opens with the statement:
"Thus.... the practitioner makes the four dhyaanas his own."
EH Johnston:
Therefore do not destroy yourself by evil thoughts, when you are well-armed and adorned with the Jewels, like a man who is digging up the ground casts earth on his well-armed and bejewelled body.
Linda Covill:
Don't harm yourself with unwholesome musings, as though a man in digging earth were to fling soil on himself, well-armed and jewel-adorned as he is.
VOCABULARY:
tad: ind. then , at that time , in that case ; thus , in this manner , with regard to that ; on that account , for that reason , therefore
vitarkaiH = inst. pl. vitarka: m. conjecture , supposition , guess , fancy , imagination , opinion
akushalaiH = inst. pl. akushala: evil, unwholesome
na: not
aatmaanam = acc. sg. aatman: m. self ; essence , nature , character the highest personal principle of life , brahma
hantum = inf. han: to smite, strike, slay, hurt
arhasi: you should
su: ind. good , excellent , right , virtuous , beautiful , easy , well , rightly , much , greatly etc.
shastram (acc. sg.): m. a sword
ratna: jewel
vikRtam (acc. sg. m.): mfn. transformed , altered , changed &c; decorated , embellished , set with (comp.)
mRd: f. earth , soil , clay , loam
hataH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. hit by (instr. or comp.)
gaaM = acc. sg. go: f. the earth (as the milk-cow of kings)
khanan = pres. part. khan: to dig
iva: like
n'aatmaanaM hantum arhasi
su-shastraM ratna-vikRtaM
mRdd-hato gaaM khanann iva
= - = = - - - =
= = = = - = - -
- = = = - - - =
= - = = - = - -
15.25
With inauspicious conceptions, then,
You should not mar your self
-- Which is a good sword and bejewelled --
As if you were digging the earth, spattered with mud.
COMMENT:
In this verse, Nanda's self like a good sword adorned by the triple gem, is opposed to inauspicious conceptions like mud.
Forgive another unduly long post on this subject, but I think that to understand the meaning of "inauspicious conceptions" (akushala vitarka) is really vital, so as to be governed less by those conceptions in sitting and in life.
The translations of akushala vitarka offered by EHJ ("evil thoughts") and LC ("unwholesome musings") give the impression of a temporary mental activity. But the real meaning of akushala vitarka, as I read it, is inauspicious conceptions that are woven deeply into the fabric of a person's body-mind.
The first of those inauspicious conceptions, related to human desire, is end-gaining. Following the mirror principle, I unconsciously criticize the end-gaining that I see in others because I don't like to see it in myself. But in brighter moments, I accept that instinctive grasping for what one desires is a universal human tendency. It is not a thing out there to fight against; it is a conception, or a tendency, in me. As a conception, it is a conception to be given up, here and now. As a tendency, it is a tendency whose grip is to be loosened, gradually -- finality not being in sight for any of us.
The second of those inauspicious conceptions, related to ill-will and cruelty, is foul or vile prejudice. This tends to arise when unconsciously I fail to separate out things that I reject, or things I detest, or things that have offended me, from individual people or groups of people whom I associate with those things.
At the individual level, at the top of my unconscious hit list are people who have offended me very deeply by treating my translation of Shobogenzo as if it were not mine. Even if I have not bothered to fight them, but have rather endeavoured to walk away from trouble, I have not exactly wished them well. I have not been entirely free of a certain tendency to sit and wait for cause and effect to punish them. If I were able to transcend the unconscious habit of wishing to see people who hurt me get their just deserts, and opt instead for compassion, I might use the sword of wisdom to separate out a person's mistakes and the person himself -- some mother's son. My strong habit is that if you hurt me, I am going to form a very strong and vile prejudice against you as a person and draw satisfaction from seeing you hurt back. It is the instinct not of a dove but of a hawk, of a fighter. It is an instinct maybe born of a fighter's fear. But again, it is not something absolute: it is a conception that can be given up in a moment by a person in possession of his own brain, and at the same time it is a tendency whose grip is maybe loosening over time.
At the group level, my plodding along this way for the last 30 years has caused me to reject every -ism, under which banner people in their desire to feel right flock like sheep. My unconscious habit is not only to despise the -ism but also to despise the pacificists, pragmatists, feminists, Buddhists, and the like who flock together under their chosen -ism. So again, the inauspicious conception whereby the rational rejection of an -ism tends to become a vile prejudice, is unconscious association of the -ism with human proponents of it or adherents to it. Whereas in light of the Buddha's teaching to opt for compassion, it is perfectly possible to reject, say, the unhelpful idea of a God who formed a covenant with some ancient middle-eastern tribes, without being prejudiced against Jews, and Christians, and Muslims, every one of whom is some mother's son or daughter with his or her own individual story.
End-gaining for enlightenment was traditionally represented by the Chinese Zen patriarchs by the word ZENNA, being tainted. And in the previous verse, as I read it, the Buddha expresses prejudice as foulness itself (kaaluShya). So being spattered by mud (mRdd-hata) is a natural metaphor for being marred by conceptions like end-gaining and prejudice. And as a metaphor for the true, original human self that is marred by inauspicious conceptions, in this verse the Buddha uses a good sword that is adjorned by the three jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Samgha.
And so begins a series of four verses featuring metaphors in which a treasure is opposed to an object of little or no value.
In each of the next three verses an ignorant man fails to make the enlightened decision when presented with contrasting alternatives: in 15.26 it is aloe wood vs ordinary timber; in 15.27 a jewel vs a clod of earth; and in 15.28 mountain herbs vs inedible weeds.
So this verse, 15.25, seems to be a bridge from the preceding discussion of inauspicious conceptions at the root of (1) troublesome desires and (2) ill-will & cruelty, to the forthcoming discussion of (3) ignorance (moha), as manifested by an ignorant person's inability to navigate a way through a succession of no-brainers.
The implication to draw might be that the kind of ignorance which the Buddha is concerned about is inability to decide between the real which (like sharp sword, aloe wood, gemstone, or Himalayan herb) is valuable, and an idea which (like mud, lump of wood or earth, or inedible plant) is cheap.
If the self is a good sword already, what is the secret of accepting and using it as such, for the making of clear-cut decisions? The hint, again, might be in the canto title, vitarka-prahaaNa, Giving Up an Idea.
To accept and use the bejewelled good sword of the self, giving up the mud of one's own ideas, is, in other words, just to sit. In that sense, this canto is expressing the essence of sitting-dhyaana -- which may be why the next canto opens with the statement:
"Thus.... the practitioner makes the four dhyaanas his own."
EH Johnston:
Therefore do not destroy yourself by evil thoughts, when you are well-armed and adorned with the Jewels, like a man who is digging up the ground casts earth on his well-armed and bejewelled body.
Linda Covill:
Don't harm yourself with unwholesome musings, as though a man in digging earth were to fling soil on himself, well-armed and jewel-adorned as he is.
VOCABULARY:
tad: ind. then , at that time , in that case ; thus , in this manner , with regard to that ; on that account , for that reason , therefore
vitarkaiH = inst. pl. vitarka: m. conjecture , supposition , guess , fancy , imagination , opinion
akushalaiH = inst. pl. akushala: evil, unwholesome
na: not
aatmaanam = acc. sg. aatman: m. self ; essence , nature , character the highest personal principle of life , brahma
hantum = inf. han: to smite, strike, slay, hurt
arhasi: you should
su: ind. good , excellent , right , virtuous , beautiful , easy , well , rightly , much , greatly etc.
shastram (acc. sg.): m. a sword
ratna: jewel
vikRtam (acc. sg. m.): mfn. transformed , altered , changed &c; decorated , embellished , set with (comp.)
mRd: f. earth , soil , clay , loam
hataH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. hit by (instr. or comp.)
gaaM = acc. sg. go: f. the earth (as the milk-cow of kings)
khanan = pres. part. khan: to dig
iva: like
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 15.24: Not That Foul Prejudice!
sattvaanaam upaghaataaya
parikleshaaya c'aatmanaH
mohaM vrajati kaaluShyaM
narakaaya ca vartate
= = = - - = = -
- = = = - = - =
= = - - - = = =
- - = - - = - =
15.24
Tending to cause offence to living beings
And torment for oneself,
Foulness becomes ignorance
And leads to hell.
COMMENT:
What kind of inauspicious conception (akushala vitarka) is the foulness (kaaluShya) that brings offence to others and torment on oneself, that becomes ignorance, and that leads to hell?
Really to answer that question, I have to dig deep and see this foulness (kaaluShya) as a tendency in myself.
It is easier for me to acknowledge defilement in the form of that end-gaining tendency in myself which, in combination with faulty sensory appreciation, leads me towards hell. It is not so easy for me to own up to a tendency to form vile prejudices -- a tendency literally to 'vilify' living beings.
My sense from the context, however, is that by "foulness" (kaaluShya), the Buddha here is pointing not to the defilement that is tied up with end-gaining desire. I think the Buddha is pointing to the universal human tendency to form the kind of vile prejudice that none of us like to see in the mirror of, say, Adolf Hitler. It is the kind of vile prejudice that is tied up with ill-will and cruelty.
If a Jewish lawyer is instrumental in the perpetrating of a white-collar crime against me, I can't control how I feel about that. If I feel hatred, I feel hatred. I cannot control my feelings. My feelings control me. So foulness in this verse, as I read it, is not expressing the hatred over which I have no direct control. By the word "foulness" (kaaluShya), I think the Buddha is rather pointing to an inauspicious conception around hatred, i.e, the forming of a vile prejudice, and this is something that it is within my power NOT TO DO.
The Taliban blew up the Buddhas of Bamiyan, justifying their action by the Islaamic prohibition against sacred images. Can we help ourselves from feeling hatred for the perpetration of that crime? Maybe not. But should we vilify Islaam, should we form an irrational and vile prejudice against all Muslims because of that act of destruction in the name of Islaam? No, we should not. To form such a foul prejudice is something NOT TO DO.
The practice of just sitting, as I see it, is antithetical to every kind of prejudiced view -- including the inherent prejudices of Judaism, Buddhism, and every other -ism.
Racism is the most obvious kind of foul prejudice. And unconscious reactions against racism might also turn into prejudiced -isms. And unconscious reactions to those unconscious reactions, and so on, all might be equally foul in their own water-muddying way.
There are foul prejudices that find favour among this group of people and opposite foul prejudices that find favour among that group of people. Each side sees the view of the other side as a prejudice, but fails to see their own view as a prejudice.
The original teaching is individual non-doing of one's own wrong and abandonment of one's own views. But would-be defenders of the original teaching divide into sects and schools, each with the prejudice that "Our way is right; and you are in the wrong." As has happened with the teaching of FM Alexander in the fifty-odd years since his death, so has happened with the teaching of Gautama Buddha in the centuries since his death.
There might not be many individuals today, even among those of us who sit, who realize the Buddha-Dharma as the giving up of our own prejudices.
EH Johnston:
A defiled state of mind involves delusion, resulting in the destruction of others and in one's own sinfulness, and leads to Hell.
Linda Covill:
Foulness of the mind leads to folly, damages other living beings and brings defilement for oneself. It leads to hell.
VOCABULARY:
sattvaanaam = gen. pl. sattva: m. n. a living or sentient being , creature , animal
upaghaataaya = dat. upaghaata: m. (fr. upa- √han) ,a stroke , hurt , violation ; injury , damage , offence , wrong
parikleshaaya = dat. pariklesha: m. hardship , pain , trouble , fatigue
pari: ind. fully , abundantly , richly (esp. ibc. to express fulness or high degree)
klesha: m. pain , affliction , distress , pain from disease , anguish ; (in yoga phil. five klezas are named; the Buddhists reckon ten , viz. three of the body [murder , theft , adultery] , four of speech [lying , slander , abuse , unprofitable conversation] , three of the mind [covetousness , malice , scepticism] Buddh. Sarvad. ) ; wrath , anger ; worldly occupation , care , trouble
klish: to torment , trouble , molest , cause pain , afflict
ca: and
atmanaH = gen. sg. atman: self
moham (acc. sg.): m. ignorance, delusion
vrajati = 3rd pers. sg. vraj: to go , walk , proceed ; to undergo , go to any state or condition , obtain , attain to , become (esp. with acc. of an abstract noun)
kaaluShyam (nom. sg.): n. (fr. kaluSha) , foulness , dirtiness , turbidness , opacity ; disturbance or interruption of harmony
kaluSha: mfn. turbid , foul , muddy , impure , dirty ; n. foulness , turbidness , dirt , impurity (lit. and fig.); n. sin , wrath
narakaaya = dative naraka: mn. hell
ca: and
vartate = 3rd pers. sg. vRt: to turn, to tend or turn to , prove as (dat.)
parikleshaaya c'aatmanaH
mohaM vrajati kaaluShyaM
narakaaya ca vartate
= = = - - = = -
- = = = - = - =
= = - - - = = =
- - = - - = - =
15.24
Tending to cause offence to living beings
And torment for oneself,
Foulness becomes ignorance
And leads to hell.
COMMENT:
What kind of inauspicious conception (akushala vitarka) is the foulness (kaaluShya) that brings offence to others and torment on oneself, that becomes ignorance, and that leads to hell?
Really to answer that question, I have to dig deep and see this foulness (kaaluShya) as a tendency in myself.
It is easier for me to acknowledge defilement in the form of that end-gaining tendency in myself which, in combination with faulty sensory appreciation, leads me towards hell. It is not so easy for me to own up to a tendency to form vile prejudices -- a tendency literally to 'vilify' living beings.
My sense from the context, however, is that by "foulness" (kaaluShya), the Buddha here is pointing not to the defilement that is tied up with end-gaining desire. I think the Buddha is pointing to the universal human tendency to form the kind of vile prejudice that none of us like to see in the mirror of, say, Adolf Hitler. It is the kind of vile prejudice that is tied up with ill-will and cruelty.
If a Jewish lawyer is instrumental in the perpetrating of a white-collar crime against me, I can't control how I feel about that. If I feel hatred, I feel hatred. I cannot control my feelings. My feelings control me. So foulness in this verse, as I read it, is not expressing the hatred over which I have no direct control. By the word "foulness" (kaaluShya), I think the Buddha is rather pointing to an inauspicious conception around hatred, i.e, the forming of a vile prejudice, and this is something that it is within my power NOT TO DO.
The Taliban blew up the Buddhas of Bamiyan, justifying their action by the Islaamic prohibition against sacred images. Can we help ourselves from feeling hatred for the perpetration of that crime? Maybe not. But should we vilify Islaam, should we form an irrational and vile prejudice against all Muslims because of that act of destruction in the name of Islaam? No, we should not. To form such a foul prejudice is something NOT TO DO.
The practice of just sitting, as I see it, is antithetical to every kind of prejudiced view -- including the inherent prejudices of Judaism, Buddhism, and every other -ism.
Racism is the most obvious kind of foul prejudice. And unconscious reactions against racism might also turn into prejudiced -isms. And unconscious reactions to those unconscious reactions, and so on, all might be equally foul in their own water-muddying way.
There are foul prejudices that find favour among this group of people and opposite foul prejudices that find favour among that group of people. Each side sees the view of the other side as a prejudice, but fails to see their own view as a prejudice.
The original teaching is individual non-doing of one's own wrong and abandonment of one's own views. But would-be defenders of the original teaching divide into sects and schools, each with the prejudice that "Our way is right; and you are in the wrong." As has happened with the teaching of FM Alexander in the fifty-odd years since his death, so has happened with the teaching of Gautama Buddha in the centuries since his death.
There might not be many individuals today, even among those of us who sit, who realize the Buddha-Dharma as the giving up of our own prejudices.
EH Johnston:
A defiled state of mind involves delusion, resulting in the destruction of others and in one's own sinfulness, and leads to Hell.
Linda Covill:
Foulness of the mind leads to folly, damages other living beings and brings defilement for oneself. It leads to hell.
VOCABULARY:
sattvaanaam = gen. pl. sattva: m. n. a living or sentient being , creature , animal
upaghaataaya = dat. upaghaata: m. (fr. upa- √han) ,a stroke , hurt , violation ; injury , damage , offence , wrong
parikleshaaya = dat. pariklesha: m. hardship , pain , trouble , fatigue
pari: ind. fully , abundantly , richly (esp. ibc. to express fulness or high degree)
klesha: m. pain , affliction , distress , pain from disease , anguish ; (in yoga phil. five klezas are named; the Buddhists reckon ten , viz. three of the body [murder , theft , adultery] , four of speech [lying , slander , abuse , unprofitable conversation] , three of the mind [covetousness , malice , scepticism] Buddh. Sarvad. ) ; wrath , anger ; worldly occupation , care , trouble
klish: to torment , trouble , molest , cause pain , afflict
ca: and
atmanaH = gen. sg. atman: self
moham (acc. sg.): m. ignorance, delusion
vrajati = 3rd pers. sg. vraj: to go , walk , proceed ; to undergo , go to any state or condition , obtain , attain to , become (esp. with acc. of an abstract noun)
kaaluShyam (nom. sg.): n. (fr. kaluSha) , foulness , dirtiness , turbidness , opacity ; disturbance or interruption of harmony
kaluSha: mfn. turbid , foul , muddy , impure , dirty ; n. foulness , turbidness , dirt , impurity (lit. and fig.); n. sin , wrath
narakaaya = dative naraka: mn. hell
ca: and
vartate = 3rd pers. sg. vRt: to turn, to tend or turn to , prove as (dat.)
Monday, November 16, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 15.23: Not That End-gaining Idea!
yaa tri-kaam'-opabhogaaya
cintaa manasi vartate
na ca taM guNam aapnoti
bandhanaaya ca kalpate
= - = = - = = -
= = - - - = - =
- - = - - = = -
= - = - - = - =
15.23
That anxiousness to enjoy the three desires
Which churns in the mind
Does not meet with merit,
But produces bondage.
COMMENT:
EHJ notes: "I am not at all certain about the correct explanation of tri-kaama ('threefold passion'). Kaama is ordinarily fivefold, corresponding to the five senses..."
I think EHJ ran into this difficulty because he was stuck on the idea that kaama refers to sensual desire. I think EHJ maybe didn't appreciate the ambiguity and irony of the Buddha's words; he didn't appreciate that the Buddha is not only negating passion but is also investigating volition more broadly and deeply.
As I read it, tri-kaama ("the three desires") means the desire to get something, the desire to become something, and the desire to be rid of something.
And what the Buddha is negating in this verse is not those three desires, but rather the anxiety around those desires which is rooted in that most inauspicious and unhelpful of conceptions: the end-gaining idea.
It is anxious ideas of getting something, becoming something, or being rid of something, that tie a person to his or her wrong inner patterns of doing.
Hence the wisdom of truly just sitting.
On a technical point of translation, the word taM in the 3rd line is problematic. EHJ notes that saa would seem to be required as the correlative of yaa in the 1st line. I wondered if the Buddha might be pointing to the fact that that eagerness to enjoy a desire generally meets with disappointment, in which case the 3rd line might mean "It does not reap that [anticipated] reward." Since guNa is not given in the dictionary as "reward," however, I backed off from this interpretation.
What is not in doubt in this verse, as I read it, is the central message that anxiety produces bondage. Hence the wisdom of truly just sitting, based on the idea of body, based on the idea of mind, and as the giving up of all anxiety-producing ideas.
EH Johnston:
For the thought that works in the mind towards enjoyment of threefold passion both fails to attain excellence and also conduces to bondage.
Linda Covill:
When a thought in one's mind revolves around enjoyment of the three passions, it does not acquire virtue but produces bondage.
VOCABULARY:
yaa (nom. sg. f.): [relative pronoun] which [thought]
tri: three
kaama: m. wish , desire , longing
upabhogaaya = dat. upabhoga: m. enjoyment , eating , consuming
cintaa: f. thought , care , anxiety
manasi = loc. sg. manas: mind
vartate = 3rd pers. sg. vRt: to turn , turn round ; take place ; dwell ; continue in force
na: not
ca: and
tam (acc. sg. m.): that, that [expected object]
guNam (acc. sg.): m. a single thread or strand of a cord or twine; a garland ; a secondary element , subordinate or unessential part of any action; an auxiliary act ; a quality , peculiarity , attribute or property ; good quality , virtue , merit , excellence
aapnoti = 3rd pers. sg. aap: to reach, meet with, fall upon; to obtain , gain , take possession of
bandhanaaya = dative bandhana: n. the act of binding , tying , fastening , fettering
ca: and
kalpate = 3rd pers. sg. klRp: to be favourable to , subserve , effect (with dat.)
cintaa manasi vartate
na ca taM guNam aapnoti
bandhanaaya ca kalpate
= - = = - = = -
= = - - - = - =
- - = - - = = -
= - = - - = - =
15.23
That anxiousness to enjoy the three desires
Which churns in the mind
Does not meet with merit,
But produces bondage.
COMMENT:
EHJ notes: "I am not at all certain about the correct explanation of tri-kaama ('threefold passion'). Kaama is ordinarily fivefold, corresponding to the five senses..."
I think EHJ ran into this difficulty because he was stuck on the idea that kaama refers to sensual desire. I think EHJ maybe didn't appreciate the ambiguity and irony of the Buddha's words; he didn't appreciate that the Buddha is not only negating passion but is also investigating volition more broadly and deeply.
As I read it, tri-kaama ("the three desires") means the desire to get something, the desire to become something, and the desire to be rid of something.
And what the Buddha is negating in this verse is not those three desires, but rather the anxiety around those desires which is rooted in that most inauspicious and unhelpful of conceptions: the end-gaining idea.
It is anxious ideas of getting something, becoming something, or being rid of something, that tie a person to his or her wrong inner patterns of doing.
Hence the wisdom of truly just sitting.
On a technical point of translation, the word taM in the 3rd line is problematic. EHJ notes that saa would seem to be required as the correlative of yaa in the 1st line. I wondered if the Buddha might be pointing to the fact that that eagerness to enjoy a desire generally meets with disappointment, in which case the 3rd line might mean "It does not reap that [anticipated] reward." Since guNa is not given in the dictionary as "reward," however, I backed off from this interpretation.
What is not in doubt in this verse, as I read it, is the central message that anxiety produces bondage. Hence the wisdom of truly just sitting, based on the idea of body, based on the idea of mind, and as the giving up of all anxiety-producing ideas.
EH Johnston:
For the thought that works in the mind towards enjoyment of threefold passion both fails to attain excellence and also conduces to bondage.
Linda Covill:
When a thought in one's mind revolves around enjoyment of the three passions, it does not acquire virtue but produces bondage.
VOCABULARY:
yaa (nom. sg. f.): [relative pronoun] which [thought]
tri: three
kaama: m. wish , desire , longing
upabhogaaya = dat. upabhoga: m. enjoyment , eating , consuming
cintaa: f. thought , care , anxiety
manasi = loc. sg. manas: mind
vartate = 3rd pers. sg. vRt: to turn , turn round ; take place ; dwell ; continue in force
na: not
ca: and
tam (acc. sg. m.): that, that [expected object]
guNam (acc. sg.): m. a single thread or strand of a cord or twine; a garland ; a secondary element , subordinate or unessential part of any action; an auxiliary act ; a quality , peculiarity , attribute or property ; good quality , virtue , merit , excellence
aapnoti = 3rd pers. sg. aap: to reach, meet with, fall upon; to obtain , gain , take possession of
bandhanaaya = dative bandhana: n. the act of binding , tying , fastening , fettering
ca: and
kalpate = 3rd pers. sg. klRp: to be favourable to , subserve , effect (with dat.)
Sunday, November 15, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 15.22: Not That Negative Conception!
manaH-karmasv a-vikShepam
api c'aabhyastum arhasi
na tv ev' aa-kushalaM saumya
vitarkayitum arhasi
- = = = - = = -
- - = = - = - -
= = = - - = = -
- = - - - = - -
15.22
Non-bewilderment in activities of the mind,
Also, you should practise.
But above all, my friend, nothing inauspicious
Should you conceive:
COMMENT:
Somebody asked me yesterday for my opinion on a book called "The Posture of Meditation." My answer was that I am not interested in reading the book. Judging the book by its cover, I don't have any interest in reading it.
The essence of "just sitting," I used to think, was good posture. But that was just an inauspicious conception, leading ever deeper into end-gaining.
The essence of "just sitting," as I am coming to see it, is not doing wrong. And when I investigate in detail how my wrong doing starts, the root of the wrong doing is generally in some inauspicious conception.
The Buddha seems to begin this verse with his sights set on the third of the three fundamental symptoms of wrong doing. Those three, known as the three fundamental afflictions (muula klesha), are (1) undue positive emotion (passion), (2) undue negative emotion (hatred), and (3) confusion/delusion/ignorance.
So the Buddha is telling Nanda in this verse, as I read it, that in addition to eradicating (1) end-gaining desires, and (2) ill-will and cruelty, by practising their respective opposites, he should practise non-bewilderment (a-vikShepa) as the opposite of (3) confusion/delusion/ignorance.
But more than that, the Buddha, as I hear him in the 3rd and 4th line, is exhorting Nanda to steer clear of the most difficult things of all to get rid of -- i.e., the things that don't exist.
What mainly concerns the Buddha might be not so much the observable manifestations of wrong doing, but more the inauspicious conception, the unconstructive idea, the negative thought-habit that invisibly underlies the manifest wrong doing.
Why would the Buddha be concerned more about a mental conception than about the three poisons themselves? Because our transitory wrong-doing as unenlightened beings is just the inevitable symptom of a work in progress progressing. But a wrong conception fetters a person for a lifetime. A wrong conception of the Buddha's teaching, indeed, might be an obstacle that fetters entire nations for many lifetimes -- as had been happening for centuries in China already until the time that Master Bodhidharma arrived to cut the roots of the confusion, and as had been happening for centuries in Japan already until Master Dogen arrived to cut the roots of the confusion.
The next two verses offer a clue to what the Buddha has in mind by conceptions that he calls inauspicious (akushalam). The Buddha's intention might be that end-gaining ideas (15.23) and malevolent prejudices (15.24) are inauspicious conceptions.
So, again, I think the main clue to understanding this verse is contained in the canto title, vitarka-prahaaNa, Giving Up an Idea.
EH Johnston:
Moreover you should practise concentration in the workings of your mind, but in no circumstances should you think evil thoughts, my friend.
Linda Covill:
Practice being collected in your mental activities, my friend; and especially do not think unwholesome thoughts.
VOCABULARY:
manas: mind
karmasu = loc. pl. karman: n. act, action; work, activity
a-: negative prefix
vikShepam (acc. sg.): m. (from vi-√kSip) the act of throwing asunder or away or about , scattering , dispersion ; letting loose , indulging ;letting slip , neglecting (time) ; inattention , distraction , confusion , perplexity
vi-√kSip: to throw asunder or away or about , cast hither and thither , scatter , disperse
vi: apart
√kSip: to throw , cast ; to move hastily (the arms or legs); to throw a glance (as the eye) ; to strike or hit (with a weapon) ; to put or place anything on or in (loc.) , pour on , scatter , fix or attach to (loc.); to direct (the thoughts) upon (loc.)
api: ind. and , also , moreover , besides , assuredly , surely
ca: and
api-ca: as well as
abhyastum = infinitive abhy-√as: to add; to concentrate one's attention upon (acc.) , practise , exercise , study &c ; to repeat , double ; to multiply
arhasi: you should
na: not
tu: but etc.
eva: (emphatic)
a-kushalam (acc. sg.): n. evil
saumya (voc.): my friend
vitarkayitum = inf. vi-√ tark: to reflect , ponder , think , believe , suppose , conjecture , consider
arhasi: you should
api c'aabhyastum arhasi
na tv ev' aa-kushalaM saumya
vitarkayitum arhasi
- = = = - = = -
- - = = - = - -
= = = - - = = -
- = - - - = - -
15.22
Non-bewilderment in activities of the mind,
Also, you should practise.
But above all, my friend, nothing inauspicious
Should you conceive:
COMMENT:
Somebody asked me yesterday for my opinion on a book called "The Posture of Meditation." My answer was that I am not interested in reading the book. Judging the book by its cover, I don't have any interest in reading it.
The essence of "just sitting," I used to think, was good posture. But that was just an inauspicious conception, leading ever deeper into end-gaining.
The essence of "just sitting," as I am coming to see it, is not doing wrong. And when I investigate in detail how my wrong doing starts, the root of the wrong doing is generally in some inauspicious conception.
The Buddha seems to begin this verse with his sights set on the third of the three fundamental symptoms of wrong doing. Those three, known as the three fundamental afflictions (muula klesha), are (1) undue positive emotion (passion), (2) undue negative emotion (hatred), and (3) confusion/delusion/ignorance.
So the Buddha is telling Nanda in this verse, as I read it, that in addition to eradicating (1) end-gaining desires, and (2) ill-will and cruelty, by practising their respective opposites, he should practise non-bewilderment (a-vikShepa) as the opposite of (3) confusion/delusion/ignorance.
But more than that, the Buddha, as I hear him in the 3rd and 4th line, is exhorting Nanda to steer clear of the most difficult things of all to get rid of -- i.e., the things that don't exist.
What mainly concerns the Buddha might be not so much the observable manifestations of wrong doing, but more the inauspicious conception, the unconstructive idea, the negative thought-habit that invisibly underlies the manifest wrong doing.
Why would the Buddha be concerned more about a mental conception than about the three poisons themselves? Because our transitory wrong-doing as unenlightened beings is just the inevitable symptom of a work in progress progressing. But a wrong conception fetters a person for a lifetime. A wrong conception of the Buddha's teaching, indeed, might be an obstacle that fetters entire nations for many lifetimes -- as had been happening for centuries in China already until the time that Master Bodhidharma arrived to cut the roots of the confusion, and as had been happening for centuries in Japan already until Master Dogen arrived to cut the roots of the confusion.
The next two verses offer a clue to what the Buddha has in mind by conceptions that he calls inauspicious (akushalam). The Buddha's intention might be that end-gaining ideas (15.23) and malevolent prejudices (15.24) are inauspicious conceptions.
So, again, I think the main clue to understanding this verse is contained in the canto title, vitarka-prahaaNa, Giving Up an Idea.
EH Johnston:
Moreover you should practise concentration in the workings of your mind, but in no circumstances should you think evil thoughts, my friend.
Linda Covill:
Practice being collected in your mental activities, my friend; and especially do not think unwholesome thoughts.
VOCABULARY:
manas: mind
karmasu = loc. pl. karman: n. act, action; work, activity
a-: negative prefix
vikShepam (acc. sg.): m. (from vi-√kSip) the act of throwing asunder or away or about , scattering , dispersion ; letting loose , indulging ;letting slip , neglecting (time) ; inattention , distraction , confusion , perplexity
vi-√kSip: to throw asunder or away or about , cast hither and thither , scatter , disperse
vi: apart
√kSip: to throw , cast ; to move hastily (the arms or legs); to throw a glance (as the eye) ; to strike or hit (with a weapon) ; to put or place anything on or in (loc.) , pour on , scatter , fix or attach to (loc.); to direct (the thoughts) upon (loc.)
api: ind. and , also , moreover , besides , assuredly , surely
ca: and
api-ca: as well as
abhyastum = infinitive abhy-√as: to add; to concentrate one's attention upon (acc.) , practise , exercise , study &c ; to repeat , double ; to multiply
arhasi: you should
na: not
tu: but etc.
eva: (emphatic)
a-kushalam (acc. sg.): n. evil
saumya (voc.): my friend
vitarkayitum = inf. vi-√ tark: to reflect , ponder , think , believe , suppose , conjecture , consider
arhasi: you should
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