SAUNDARANANDA 13.13: Polishing Work

shariira-vacasoH shuddhau
sapt'aaNge c' aapi karmaNi
aajiiva-samudaacaaraM
shaucaat saMskartum arhasi

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13.13
With regard for purity of body and voice,

And with regard also for the sevenfold
[prohibition on bodily and vocal] conduct,

A proper way of making a living

You should work on, on the grounds of integrity --

COMMENT:
The Buddha's concern in this verse seems to be for the relation between, on the one hand, a person’s way of making a living and, on the other hand, the practise of integrity on two levels: first, integrity in the general matter of one’s manner of use of body and voice (as just discussed in 13.11 - 13.12) ; and second, integrity in the particular matter of not breaking those seven of the ten universal precepts that specifically prohibit wrong physical and vocal conduct (see verses 3.30 - 3.33).

With regard to a person’s manner of use, integrity corresponds to not being disconnected or unbroken, as described in 13.11 and 13.12. Being disconnected means, for example, using the pelvis as if it were part of the legs, which it is not, instead of using the pelvis as part of the back, which it is. When people with stiff hips end-gain for “right posture,” this kind of disconnection of the back happens -- sometimes hidden beneath a Zen uniform consisting of black robes and an immaculately-sewn kasaya. Some Zen end-gainers make a big fuss over their reverence for the kasaya, and then they use the kasaya as a mask to hide a lack of integrity in their manner of sitting. My friend Plato knows exactly what I am talking about (which is very laudable, because to know when we are wrong might be all we shall ever know in this world).

With regard to the seven precepts -- namely, not inflicting needless suffering on any living being, not ripping others off, not chasing women who are spoken for; along with not lying, not gossiping, not hurting others with smooth speech, and not slandering others -- integrity means not being hypocritical. When a so-called Zen Master slanders his “Dharma-brothers” for their lax attitude towards the keeping of a precept, what kind of integrity is that?

What is meant in the 3rd line by a proper way of making a living?

I think what the Buddha is advocating is not so much to pick and choose a “Right Livelihood,” as if there ever were such an animal, but rather, whatever work one finds oneself doing, to endeavour to do it with integrity.

Some weeks ago on the blog of Jordan Fountain, some self-righteous soul criticized Jordan for continuing to earn his living as a US marine -- as opposed, presumably, to being a feminist vegan eco-warrior who wears the “Buddhist” precepts on his sleeve. What Jordan felt about that, it seemed to me, reading beneath the lines of what he politely wrote, was manifested in him getting a migraine! I felt that the person who showed a lack of integrity in this exchange was principally the self-righteous “Buddhist” who had a go at Jordan, thereby causing Jordan the suffering of a migraine. What the world needs is not Buddho-feminist vegan eco-worriers who wish to pick a fight with the US marine corp. The world needs vegan eco-warriors with integrity as opposed to those without integrity. And the world, it seems to me, is very much in need of US marines with integrity as opposed to US marines without integrity. This, one hopes, is also how it seems in the upper echelons of the US marine corps. Jordan’s recent promotion within the US marine corps, indeed, might be a kind of recognition of integrity shown in his work as a US marine.

When people ask me what I do for a living, it is difficult to give a simple answer. In the last 30 years I have worked as a student, an ice-cream salesman, an English teacher, a copy-editor, a professional translator, an economic researcher, a translator of the Buddha’s teachings supported by donations, an Alexander teacher, a reflex inhibition therapist, and so on.

A proper way of living is something I am still working on. My life is a work in progress, as this translation is also a work in progress.

Still, I would like to say something conclusive and categorical about this process of translating Ashvaghosha, and would like it to be engraved down my spine.

I drew encouragement during the process of the Nishijima-Cross translation of Shobogenzo from the metaphor of polishing a tile. I remember once writing in a fax to my teacher, with profound optimism, that nothing could prevent us from continuing with our work of polishing a tile. It was with a nice warm feeling inside that I wrote those words, a feeling of great solidarity to be working with a like-minded person on the basis of an unshakeable principle.

What a great lesson that turned out to be.

That kind of optimistic belief in another person is a mistake that I shall never make again. It is totally impossible, I have been taught, to count on other people to do anything other than get sick, grow old, and die. Integrity, in the end, is a matter for the individual -- whether he or she is making a living as a beggar, or a US marine, or a homeopath, or as a translator, or as a teacher, or as a "don't knower" with more than one string to his bow.

So, not counting on others, I am continuing this translation work independently, receiving no money for it, and not sharing responsibility for it with anybody else. I shall absolutely never allow the integrity of this process to be poisoned, as the Shobogenzo translation process was poisoned, by the lack of integrity of anybody else but me. As far as my powers of restraint allow, I shall continue this polishing work for the sake of polishing work itself.

EH Johnston:
You should sanctify the conduct of your livelihood in the purification of your body and speech and in the sevenfold work.

Linda Covill:
Purity demands that you refine your manner of making a living to conform to pure physical and verbal acts and also to the seven constituent parts of action.

VOCABULARY:
shariira: body
vacasoH = genitive dual of vacas: voice
shuddhau = locative of shuddhi: f. cleansing , purification , purity (lit. and fig.) , holiness , freedom from defilement

sapta = seven
aNge = locative of aGga: limb, subdivision, subordinate part
ca: and
api: also
karmaNi = locative of karman: action ; work, labour, activity ; product , result , effect

aajiiva: livelihood
samudaacaaram (accusative): proper or right practice or usage or conduct or behaviour ; intention , purpose , design , motive

shaucaat = ablative of shauca: n. cleanness , purity , purification ; n. purity of mind , integrity , honesty (esp. in money-matters) ; n. (with Buddhists) self-purification (both external and internal)
saMskartum = infinitive of saMskR: to work on, polish, make perfect
arhasi = you should