atha saMraadhito nandaH
shraddhaaM prati maha"-rShiNaa
pariShikto 'mRten" eva
yuyuje parayaa mudaa
= - = = - = = =
= = - - - = - =
- - = = - = = -
- - = - - = - =
13.1
And so Nanda was affirmed
By the great seer, in the matter of confidence;
He felt as if sprinkled with the nectar of immortality --
Filled with the deepest joy.
COMMENT:
At the beginning of translating the previous Canto, I was not sure whether shraddhaa might be best translated as belief, or trust, or confidence. As the Canto progressed, it became clear to me that the Buddha was referring specifically to confidence in the existence of higher good, associated with non-doing. Hence in 12.14 Nanda expresses his disillusionment with pravRtti, the onward cycle of doing. And in 12.22 the Buddha discusses the rarity of its antonym, nivRtti, non-doing.
A few years ago I had a memorable telephone conversation with the late Tony Spawforth, a veteran Alexander teacher, trained by Alexander himself. I put Tony on the spot by asking him to sum up what the Alexander work was for him. Tony's reply, at least as I remember it, was that many people are leading lives that might be called good, or nice, or beautiful; they have lovely families, satisfying jobs, nice houses with pleasant gardens; they eat good food; they enjoy healthy sports, relaxing holidays, et cetera; they may even worship in religious communities of like-minded people. Still, the substance of those lives is more or less blind reaction to what is being experienced through the senses. Whereas non-doing Alexander work introduces the possibility of a higher good, associated with more conscious direction of one's life energy.
Sadly, as first generation teachers like Tony die out and the shadow of FM Alexander himself lengthens, the true principle of non-doing is apt to get lost. Second and third generation teachers who, as Patrick Macdonald put it, "don't know the score," teach a kind of doing, a kind of bodywork or advanced physiotherapy; or they teach Yoga or Pilates or Tai Chi with bits of Alexander jargon thrown in but no real attention paid to the real mental work of giving up those root misconceptions where trouble starts.
This is what is happening in Alexander work after one or two generations. In the transmission of the Buddha-Dharma we are talking 12 generations as far as Ashvaghosha, and 90-odd generations to the present. If Ashvaghosha wrote any word or phrase that deserves to be translated as "Buddhism," I have yet to come across it. Why do people use that word "Buddhism" so thoughtlessly, as if the Dharma of Gautama the Buddha was some kind of -ism? Why did I used to use the term "Buddhism" myself? Because I was a baaing sheep without eyeballs of my own.
Sometimes, as last night, I make the mistake of looking around the internet to see what is going on, and it saddens me. People seem to be attracted in large numbers to skilful marketers of the shadow, to those who paint bright pictures of Buddhism and of body alignment. As long as I am directing my attention to digging for the substance, for the true gold, I am not bothered by PR people who are selling fool's gold. But sometimes I do feel very bothered by it. I suppose the fact that I am bothered must reflect, via the mirror principle, some fame-and-profit-seeking tendency in me to want to become a big seller of my own fool's gold. At the same time, there are some good PR men who are mixing up the true gold of Master Dogen's Shobogenzo with their own brands of Buddhism. The situation is a bloody mess, of which, led by my errant senses, I am all too liable to become part.
The Monier-Williams dictionary defines shiila thus: habit , custom , usage , natural or acquired way of living or acting , practice , conduct , disposition , tendency , character , nature ; good disposition or character , moral conduct , integrity , morality , piety , virtue ; (with Buddhists " moral conduct " is one of the 6 or 10 perfections or pAramitAs) ; a moral precept.
Just as the way to translate shraddhaa seemed to become clear as the previous Canto progressed, I hope the same thing will happen in this Canto with the translation of shiila. The previous Canto describes that even after a shoot of confidence in higher good had taken root in Nanda, his senses were still set against it (12.18). In this Canto the Buddha will describe how Nanda is to get round this problem of an unfavourable sensory constitution, relying on the inhibitory practice of discipline, or training, or integrity which is shiila.
EH Johnston:
So on being confirmed in the direction of faith by the Great Seer, Nanda was filled with the highest joy, as if bathed in ambrosia.
Linda Covill:
Sustained by the great seer's talk on faith, Nanda was filled with utter joy, as though he had been sprinkled with the elixir of deathlessness.
VOCABULARY:
atha: (inceptive particle) and so, then, now
saMraadhita = past participle of saM-√ raadh: to agree together , agree about or upon (loc.) ; to conciliate , appease , satisfy
nandaH (nominative): Nanda
shraddhaam (accusative): confidence, belief
prati: towards, near to; or as a prep. with usually preceding acc. , in the sense of towards , against , to , upon , in the direction of ; on account of , with regard to , concerning
mahaa-rShiNaa = instrumental of mahaa-rShi: great seer
pariShikta: mfn. poured out , sprinkled about , diffused
amRtena = instrumental of amRta: deathlessness, immortality; n. the nectar (conferring immortality , produced at the churning of the ocean) , ambrosia
iva: like
yuyuje = 3rd person singular, perfect of yuj: to bring into possession of , furnish or endow with (instr.)
parayaa = instrumental, f of para: best or worst , highest , supreme
mudaa = instrumental of mud: f. joy , delight , gladness , happiness
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