−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−− Upajāti (Sālā)
cāpe 'tha bāṇo nihito 'pareṇa jajvāla tatraiva na niṣpapāta |
⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
anīśvarasyātmani dhūyamāṇo durmarṣaṇasyeva narasya manyuḥ || 13.46
13.46
An arrow placed in a bow by yet another,
Burned right where it was; it did not go –
Like anger being kindled, ineffectually,
In the soul an unforgiving man.
COMMENT:
The truest form of inhibition, a wise woman once said, in connection with the teaching of FM Alexander, is direction.
In an analogous assertion, my Zen teacher Gudo Nishijima called the truth of cessation which is the third of the Buddha's four noble truths, "the philosophy of action."
In light of the above, today's verse can be read as affirming the principle of meditative coming to quietness, inhibiting or ceasing the doing which is anger. Equally, today's verse can be read as affirming the principle of just acting, as if marching forward on top of the head of Vairocana Buddha.
The truest form of inhibition, a wise woman once said, in connection with the teaching of FM Alexander, is direction.
In an analogous assertion, my Zen teacher Gudo Nishijima called the truth of cessation which is the third of the Buddha's four noble truths, "the philosophy of action."
In light of the above, today's verse can be read as affirming the principle of meditative coming to quietness, inhibiting or ceasing the doing which is anger. Equally, today's verse can be read as affirming the principle of just acting, as if marching forward on top of the head of Vairocana Buddha.
Today's verse, evidently, contains a figure of speech in its second half. And the figure of speech in question, a simile, when we investigate it, seems to contain more philosophical meaning than the words whose meaning it is supposed to be clarifying. This technique -- when the narrative becomes incidental, or subordinate, to the simile -- we have come across before in Aśvaghoṣa's writing, and today's verse is the first in a series of six verses (BC13.46 to 51) which use this technique.
Digging deeper, however, we can think that today's verse also contains a figure in speech in its first half, that figure of speech being a metaphor. And so the deeper meaning of today's verse might actually be contained, after all, in its first half.
On one level, then, today's verse seems to be a kind of celebration of the power of just sitting in the full lotus posture – the practice by which an iron man of Zen renders all his enemies impotent and causes Māra to quake in his boots. The point, at this level, is that by just sitting still, the bodhisattva rendered the malevolent archer impotent; and the simile expands on the meaning of impotence.
Going deeper, however, when we dig somewhat below the surface, the simile itself speaks to us of sitting practice not only as a physical act but also as bhavanā; that is, as development or cultivation of what is to be developed or cultivated – in the way of friendliness (maitrī), kindness (karuṇā), gladness (muditā), and forbearance (upekṣā).
These four, as discussed in connection with BC13.42, are the four brahma-vihāras, to which the Buddha refers in The Long Discourse Giving Advice to Rāhula (Mahārāhulovādasuttaṁ, MN 62):
Develop what is to be developed, Rāhula, in the way of friendliness,
for, Rāhula, from developing what is to be developed in the way of friendliness
Develop what is to be developed, Rāhula, in the way of kindness,
for, Rāhula, from developing what is to be developed in the way of kindness,
whatever violence there is will be given up.
muditaṁ hi te Rāhula bhāvanaṁ bhāvayato
for, Rāhula, from developing what is to be developed in the way of gladness
for, Rāhula, from developing what is to be developed in the way of gladness
Develop what is to be developed, Rāhula, in the way of forbearance,
for, Rāhula, from developing what is to be developed in the way of forbearance,
whatever resentment there is will be given up.
Along with BC13.42, then, today's verse causes us to return to the question of where root afflictions (like ill-will, unkindness, discontent, and resentment) fit into
- the twelvefold scheme which begins with 1. ignorance (avidyā) and 2. doings (saṁskārāḥ) and ends with 12. sorrows such as the suffering of aging and death (jarā-maraṇa-duḥkhādi śokāḥ);
- the practical dharma of pratītya-samutpāda.
The teaching the Buddha gave to Rāhula is an encouragement, when there is resentment, to develop, as the antidote to resentment, forbearance. So this teaching, on the face of it, is an encouragement to deal with doings on the level of doings.
At the same time, the teaching of Nāgārjuna quoted so often on this blog over recent months seems rather to advocate cutting doings off at their source, through the act of knowing which spells the destruction of ignorance. Hence:
The doings which are the root of saṁsāra thus does the ignorant one do. / The ignorant one therefore is the doer; the wise one is not, because of reality making itself known. //MMK26.10// In the destruction of ignorance, there is the non-coming-into-being of doings./ The destruction of ignorance, however, is because of the allowing-into-being of just this act of knowing.//MMK26.11// By the destruction of this one and that one, this one and that one are discontinued. / This whole edifice of suffering is thus well and truly demolished.//MMK26.12//
So how is it, today's verse causes us to reflect, when anger / resentment is burning, ineffectually, in the soul of an unforgiving man?
Is the problem anger?
Is anger necessarily a problem?
Is anger always a symptom of ignorance?
Is the problem ignorance?
Is ignorance necessarily a problem?
Is being ineffectual a symptom of ignorance?
If ignorance were destroyed, would anger necessarily be destroyed?
If ignorance had been destroyed, might anger be channelled not ineffectually but usefully?
Certainly, one way of reading today's verse is as a suggestion that when resentment is being kindled in the soul of an unforgiving man, that situation ought to be resolved by deploying, through meditation, the antidote to resentment, namely, forbearance or forgiveness.
But if we take the first half of today's verse as a metaphor, and see the important element of today's verse as being not so much the simile in the second half, but the metaphor in the first half, then the suggestion might be a call to action something along the lines of...
SHOOT THE $%^&*** ARROW!
The point, in conclusion, is that non-doing doesn't mean not shooting the arrow. Non-doing means ignorance and doings being destroyed in the very act of letting the arrow go. Non-doing means the arrow being allowed to shoot itself.
That might be the essence of what the bodhisattva's sitting under the bodhi tree was all about. It was not an act of doing. It was an act of knowing.
The distinction deserves to be clarified. Because an act of doing is just a manifestation of ignorance. Whereas what causes ignorance to be destroyed, Nāgārjuna as I hear him is saying, is the allowing-into-being of just this act of knowing.
VOCABULARY
cāpe (loc. sg.): mn. a bow
atha: then, too
bāṇaḥ (nom. sg. m.): an arrow
nihitaḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. ( √dhā) laid , placed , deposited , fixed or kept in (loc.)
pareṇa (inst. sg.): by another
jajvāla = 3rd pers. sg. perf. jval: to blaze ; to burn (as a wound)
tatra: ind. there
eva: (emphatic)
na: not
niṣpapāta = 3rd pers. sg. perf. niṣ- √ pat: to fly out of (abl.) , rush out , jump out , fall out , issue , depart , hasten away
an-īśvarasya (gen. sg.): mfn. without a superior ; unchecked , paramount ; without power , unable; not belonging to the Deity ; atheistical
ātmani (loc. sg.): m. self , soul , essence
dhūyamāṇaḥ – nom. sg. m. pres. part. passive: to shake , agitate , cause to tremble; to shake off , remove , liberate one's self from (acc.) ; to fan , kindle (a fire); to treat roughly , hurt , injure , destroy
dur-marṣaṇasya (gen. sg.): mfn. unmanageable , unbearable , insupportable
marṣa: m. ( √ mṛṣ) patience , endurance
marṣaṇa: mfn. (ifc.) enduring , forgiving
iva: like
narasya (gen. sg.): m. a man
manyuḥ (nom. sg.): m. spirit , mind , mood , mettle (as of horses) ; high spirit or temper , ardour , zeal , passion ; rage , fury , wrath , anger , indignation ; grief , sorrow , distress , affliction
[No corresponding Chinese translation]
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