−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−− Upajāti
(Rāmā)
taṁ
rūpa-lakṣmyā ca śamena caiva dharmasya nirmāṇam-ivopadiṣṭam
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⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
10.19
To him who, with his wealth of handsome
form and his calmness,
Was like a work of dharma built to
specification,
The first among men, filled with
wonder, respectfully drew near,
As to 'Self-Existing' Svayam-bhū the
mighty Indra drew near.
COMMENT:
In today's verse again, the main verb
is given extra force by coming at the end. And that main verb is
upatasthe, from upa-√sthā, to
stand or place one's self near.
So the
point that is emphasized is that Bimbisāra drew near to the
bodhisattva, who seemed to embody perfection itself.
Yesterday
I used the analogy of golf, and that analogy may also serve in
today's verse. Even the greatest golfer in the world does not expect
to record a round of 18, with eighteen holes-in-one. Rather, at a par
5 hole more than half of the shots of even a top golfer would be
approach
shots.
Read
like this, today's verse sheds further light on the canto title
śreṇyābhigamanah, which means something like Śreṇya's
Approach, or Śreṇya / Drawing Near. On the surface Śreṇya's
Approach means Śreṇya's proposal, which the bodhisattva is going
to reject as a bad idea. But below the surface Śreṇya's Drawing
Near might be a good model for any of us to follow. Which is to say
that, rather than going directly for the target of enlightenment, as
we conceive it in our unenlightened state, the better course might be
to remain content respectfully to place ourselves progressively (or regressively) nearer.
Again,
at the risk of boring the living daylights out of everybody, I am
going to connect this with the teaching of pratītya-samutpāda, in
which Springing Up
Together, or Springing
Up as All of One Piece
(samutpāda), might be compared to getting the ball in the hole, and
grounding oneself in direction (pratītya) might be compared to
approaching the green.
Being
grumpy, for whatever reason, to extend the analogy, might be
equivalent to straying into the rough, or into a bunker, or into a
lake, or somewhere else totally out of bounds.
But Springing Up Together (samutpāda),
like getting the ball straight in the hole, suggests the practice and
experience of perfection, and in today's verse svayam-bhuvam, which
means “Self-Existing” or “Spontaneously Being” can also be
read like that, as an expression of practice and experience of
perfection.
Svayam-bhū
is ostensibly the name of one of the three big Hindu gods, i.e., either Brahmā (MW: the one impersonal
universal Spirit manifested as a personal Creator and as the first of
the triad of personal gods) or Śiva (MW: "The Auspicious One,”
the disintegrating or destroying and reproducing deity who
constitutes the third god of the Hindu trimūrti or Triad, the other
two being brahmā "the creator" and viṣṇu " the
preserver").
But in
this Canto, Aśvaghoṣa is portraying the human bodhisattva as if he were
already the finished article, on a par with gods in heaven. Thus,
apart from comparing the bodhisattva to the sun (BC10.7, 10.15) and
to the moon (BC10.18), Aśvaghoṣa twice compares the bodhisattva
to a god called Svayam-bhū, in today's verse and in BC10.2:
Well guarded, and beautified, by mountains; preserved, and purified, by healing hot springs; in the hook of five hills, stood the city he entered – / Like 'Self-Existing' Svayam-bhū, unperturbed, entering the heights of heaven. // BC10.2//
Svayam
means “self” or “by oneself”; hence “spontaneously.” And
bhū means being, existing, or arising.
So in today's verse as I read it,
Aśvaghoṣa is describing the bodhisattva's being as perfectly
enlightened even before he goes through ascetic practice, gives up
ascetic practice, and sits easy under the bodhi tree.
I think the principle in the back of
Aśvaghoṣa's mind, in other words, was the principle that when the
bodhisattva became the fully awakened Buddha, that was traditionally
described as a kind of earth-shattering event, accompanied by
rejoicing of sky-dwellers in Tuṣita heaven et cetera; but at the same time nothing really changed.
All that has happened was that the bodhisattva who was perfect
already totally became himself.
“You are all perfect,” Marjory
Barlow used to say, “apart from what you are doing.”
Hence:
arhattvam-āsādya sa
sat-kriyārho nirutsuko niṣpraṇayo nirāśaḥ /
Having attained to the
seat of arhathood, he was worthy of being served.
Without ambition, without
partiality, without expectation;
vibhīr-viśug-vītamado
virāgaḥ sa eva dhṛtyānya ivābabhāse // SN17.61 //
Without fear, sorrow,
pride, or passion;
while being nothing but
himself, he seemed in his constancy to be different.
Hence again, Dogen wrote that when the
moon is reflected in water, the water is not disturbed by the moon,
and the moon is not made wet by the water.
And
yet, having said all this, the fact remains that the pelvis is part
of the back, not part of the legs, and an awful lot of us fail to
realize this in practice. Before I came to the Alexander Technique, I
had a black belt in karate, and a strong idea that I should always be
centred in my hara, or my tanden. But in regard to the obvious truth that the
pelvis is part of the back, not part of the legs, thanks to FM
Alexander, I am a lot more clear now than I was then.
One of
these days, when I get round to it, I will post a video on this blog
to demonstrate what the four cornerstones of direction are, as I
understand them, in the context of an activity like bowing down to
the ground.
In
relation to the
motivational, I will
endeavour to demonstrate the meaning of not being in a panic to get
to the end, and, especially, not being in too much of a hurry to touch the
floor with the hands. In other words, don't "end-gain" to get the hands on the floor; attend to the means-whereby of staying grounded in directions, while bending the knees and bending the hips, and the hands will get there sure enough without any bother.
In
relation to the
gravitational, what
does it mean to keep allowing the head to go forward and up,
even while the body is moving down
in space towards the ground?
In
relation to having
no gap in the middle, I
would like to discuss the action of bringing the palms, and the two
sides of the self, into contact with each other. I would like to discuss this particularly in connection with a vestibular reflex called the Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex.
And
in relation to this
present state of being in command,
I should like to draw attention above all to the fact that the pelvis
is originally part of the back. The pelvis, before the big muscles of
the hip and thigh start bullying it and twisting it out of place,
originally belongs to the back. And when my pelvis is back where it
belongs, working as part of my back, then (to borrow a phrase from
Shunryu Suzuki) I am the boss.
VOCABULARY
tam
(acc. sg. m.): him
rūpa-lakṣmyā
(inst. sg. f.): with beauty of form
rūpa:
n. any outward appearance or phenomenon or colour (often pl.) , form
, shape , figure; handsome form
lakṣmī:
f. wealth , riches ; good sign; beauty , loveliness , grace , charm
, splendour , lustre
ca: and
śamena
(inst. sg.): m. tranquillity , calmness , rest , equanimity; peace
ca: and
eva
(emphatic)
dharmasya
(gen. sg.): dharma
nirmāṇam
(acc. sg.): n. measuring ; forming , making , creating , creation ,
building , composition , work (ifc. " made of "); (with
Buddh. ) transformation ; pith , the best of anything (= sāra)
nir- √
mā: to mete out , measure ; to build , make out of (abl.) , form ,
fabricate , produce , create
iva:
like
upadiṣṭam
(acc. sg. m.): mfn. specified , particularized ; taught , instructed
upa- √
diś: to point out; to indicate , specify , explain , inform ,
instruct , teach
upaviṣṭam
[EHJ] (acc. sg. m.): mfn. seated, sitting
upa- √
viś: to come near ; to sit down
sa-vismayaḥ
(nom. sg. m.): mfn. having astonishment , surprised , perplexed ,
doubtful
praśraya-vān
(nom. sg. m.): mfn. deferential , respectful , civil , modest
narendraḥ
(nom. sg.): m. “chief of men”; king
svayambhuvam
(acc. sg. m.): = svayambhū: mfn. 'self-existing , independent'; name
of brahman, of śiva
svayam:
ind. self , one's self (applicable to all persons e.g. myself ,
thyself , himself &c ) , of or by one's self spontaneously ,
voluntarily , of one's own accord
bhū:
mfn. becoming , being , existing , springing , arising
śakraḥ
(nom. sg. m.): “the mighty” Indra
iva:
like, as
upatasthe
= 3rd pers. sg. perf. upa- √ sthā: to stand or place
one's self near ; to place one's self before (in order to ask) ,
approach , apply to ; to come together or meet with , become friendly
with , conciliate ; to stand near in order to serve , attend , serve
妙色淨端嚴 猶若法化身
虔心肅然發 恭歩漸親近
猶如天帝釋 詣摩醯首羅
猶如天帝釋 詣摩醯首羅
2 comments:
Any video yet?
Kūrma-mitra! What is the big hurry?
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