tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post5991337433380250848..comments2024-02-06T22:19:13.028-08:00Comments on Mining Aśvaghoṣa's Gold: Snakes & LaddersMike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-40507806818131931322012-02-17T12:06:12.552-08:002012-02-17T12:06:12.552-08:00Thank you for your continued interest, G.
Not &q...Thank you for your continued interest, G. <br /><br />Not "not much"; not at all. <br /><br />At the behest of Ānandajoti I am preparing 18 audio files of yours truly reading Saundarananda aloud. I suspect a secret agenda to market these recording of my monotonous Birmingham drawl as a cure for insomnia. Anyway I have done 11/18.<br /><br />After that all options will be on the table. The only thing I can say for certain, at my present stage of pscyho-physical development, is that any form of practice, whether group or individual, that doesn't allow me to take an afternoon nap is totally out of the question. <br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />MikeMike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-90939012949218850122012-02-17T10:53:37.442-08:002012-02-17T10:53:37.442-08:00Hi Mike –
I agree with both Matthieu Ricard and A...Hi Mike –<br /><br />I agree with both Matthieu Ricard and Aśvaghoṣa that transformation has to happen on an individual by individual basis. I also have to agree that in the cantos I was here for that Aśvaghoṣa did not mention saṁgha much.<br /><br />But whenever you try to draw conclusions from your sense of Aśvaghoṣa’s position on saṁgha (or lack thereof) I’ve felt the urge to point out to you that one poem, however epic, may not convey the full range of Aśvaghoṣa’s thinking. From the fact that Aśvaghoṣa fails to mention saṁgha in Saundarananda a person can only conclude that we have no idea what Aśvaghoṣa’s position on saṁgha was. Aśvaghoṣa could have written or intended to write another epic poem on saṁgha. We can’t know.<br /><br />I was also wondering how much longer you think you’ll be working on cleaning up your translation of Saundarananda. If you take too much longer I might have to get a subscription to the New York Times or something.<br /><br />A snooty know-it-all I’m making friends asked me to pass this message on to you.<br /><br />Happi真行 https://www.blogger.com/profile/09275768134243230516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-28233237992281667472012-02-17T01:40:20.010-08:002012-02-17T01:40:20.010-08:00Don't thank me -- thank Matthieu Ricard.
But...Don't thank me -- thank Matthieu Ricard. <br /><br />But that is what the Saundarananda of Aśvaghoṣa is truly all about: the transformation of an individual.<br /><br />Canto 5 is not titled "Entry into the Samgha." And there is not one verse in which Aśvaghośa uses the word saṁgha in the sense of "Buddhist community." <br /><br />Aśvaghoṣa, methinks, was a true indie, and he wrote Saundarananda for indies everywhere. <br /><br />But may I not fall again into the sin of certainty!Mike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-51020873890238674242012-02-16T15:22:06.867-08:002012-02-16T15:22:06.867-08:00"As an oriental proverb says, "With pati..."As an oriental proverb says, "With patience, the orchard becomes jam." That it might take a long time doesn't alter the fact that there's no other solution. Even if violence doesn't stop arising overall, the only way to remedy it is the transformation of individuals."<br /><br />Thank you.Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02716188624955984867noreply@blogger.com