saMkalpa-viSha-dighdaa hi
paNc'-endriya-mayaaH sharaaH
cintaa-puNkhaa rati-phalaa
viShay'-aakaasha-gocaraaH
= = - - - = = -
= = - - - = - =
= = = = - - - =
- - = = - = - =
13.35
For smeared with the poison of ideas,
Are those arrows, produced from five senses,
Whose tails are anxiety, whose tips are thrills,
And whose range is the vast emptiness of objects.
DUST & FLUFF:
Arrows, for me, are sensory impulses that threaten my integrity. The desired object that triggers them might be, to go for the obvious example, a sensual woman. But the object could be money, or a gold medal, or a high approval rating. In Alexander work the object we usually use is a chair.
SaMkalpa means conception or idea. It might mean a size zero or an egg-timer conception of female beauty, or it might mean a conception of correct posture. It might mean an end-gaining idea.
Among the five sense organs, the ear is the organ not only of listening to external sound. The ear is also the organ of listening to the self -- through what Paul Madaule calls "the ear of the body": the vestibular system. The ear is the organ through which, in a more or less faulty manner, one senses balance and movement. The importance of the ear in human development, I venture to submit, is much more important than parents and teachers generally realise.
The 3rd line as I read it connects the senses with the emotions. At the root, base, or tail of this connection is the baby panic or Moro reflex, which I have written about at length already. As a fear reflex, the Moro reflex is profoundly implicated with anxiety. At the same time, the fight or flight response which is part of the Moro reaction stimulates the flow of adrenaline and other neuro-peptides that are implicated in the cheap thrills to be had from flying around in small planes, jumping out of said planes, et cetera.
The 4th line can be understood on so many levels, and translated in so many ways. As a negation of sensuality, it could be translated "And whose range is the vast nothingness of sensual enjoyments."
But again, the original words do not limit us to that line of interpretation. If a man and a woman are in a sexual relationship, of the kind that is necessary to keep the world populated with human beings, then can a man treat a woman not as an object but as the individual she really is. And can a woman so treat a man? The translation, "And whose range is the vast emptiness of objects," then, could be understood as a negation of objectification.
Again, viShaya means not only sensuality, and not only object of the senses, but also object in the sense of an objective, an aim or an end to be gained. So the translation, "And whose range is the vast emptiness of objects" could be understood as a negation of the end-gaining attitude. This understanding could be expressed more explicitly with the translation "And whose range is the vast emptiness of ends."
Every morning when I begin to sit, I endeavour not to engage the whole of my faulty sensory-muscular machinery by thinking of doing something, by thinking of gaining some end. As long as I don't give in to an idea of doing something, of gaining an end, my faulty sensory appreciation is prevented from coming into play. So on this basis, for myself, I understand the last line primarily as a negation of the end-gaining attitude.
Several years ago I expressed to the late Marjory Barlow my anxiety that my teaching career wasn't going anywhere, that my effort to make Zazen devotees aware of the value of Alexander's discoveries, was falling on deaf ears. In reply, Marjory reminded me that this work has to do with growth, and growth cannot be hurried. So my understanding of the last line has to do with that teaching. I think the Buddha, like Marjory, was not simply out to deny sensual enjoyments; he was interested in growth, process, life. I think the essence of the Buddha's teaching is to be more interested in the means of maintaining one's own integrity than in any "Buddhist" end. In short, "To thine own self be true." And as always with these comments, the person I would most like to convince is myself. Because a part of me is not always content with this simple life of the hermit, the solitary miner. A part of me would like to be the great teacher, the magnate. It is nothing really, only an idea. But there again even the hint of an idea can be very poisonous to a process.
EH Johnston:
For the arrows of the five senses are tipped with the poison of fancies, have anxieties for their feathers and pleasure for their target and fly in the air of the objects of the senses.
Linda Covill:
For those arrows made of the five senses are smeared with the poison of fanciful notions; they have anxious preoccupations for tail-feathers, sensual bliss for arrow-heads, and they range through the space of sensory experience.
VOCABULARY:
saMkalpa: m. conception or idea or notion formed in the mind or heart , (esp.) will , volition , desire , purpose , definite intention or determination or decision or wish for (with loc. dat. , or ifc.); idea or expectation of any advantage
viSha: poison
dighdaaH = nom. plural of dighda: smeared , anointed ; soiled , defiled ; poisoned
hi: for
paNc'-endriya: the five senses, five sense organs
maya: [Apte] an affix used to indicate "made of", "consisting or composed of," "full of."
sharaaH = nom. plural of shara: arrow, shaft
cintaa: thought , care , anxiety , anxious thought
puNkhaaH = nom. plural of puNkha: m. the shaft or feathered part of an arrow (which comes in contact with the bowstring)
rati: f. rest , repose; pleasure , enjoyment ; the pleasure of love , sexual passion or union , amorous enjoyment
phalaaH = nom. plural of phala: the point of an arrow ; a point or spot on a die
viShaya: sphere (of activity); an object of sense (these are five in number , the five indriya , or organs of sense having each their proper viShaya or object , viz. 1. shabda , " sound " , for the ear; 2. sparsha , " tangibility " , for the skin ; 3. ruupa , " form " or " colour " , for the eye ; 4. rasa , " savour " , for the tongue ; 5. gandha , " odour " for the nose); anything perceptible by the senses , any object of affection or concern or attention , any special worldly object or aim or matter or business , (pl.) sensual enjoyments , sensuality
aakaasha: a free or open space , vacuity ; the ether , sky or atmosphere
gocaraaH = nom. plural of gacara: m. pasture ground for cattle ; range , field for action , abode , dwelling-place , district (esp. ifc. " abiding in , relating to " ; " offering range or field or scope for action , within the range of , accessible , attainable , within the power ") ; the range of the organs of sense , object of sense , anything perceptible by the senses , esp. the range of the eye
No comments:
Post a Comment