kShem"-aajito nandaka-nanda-maataav
upaali-vaagisha-yasho-yashodaaH
mahaahvayo valkali-raaShTrapaalau
sudarshana-svaagata-meghikaash ca
16.89
Kshema, Ajita, the mothers of Nandaka and Nanda,
Upali, Vagisha, Yashas, Yashoda,
Mahahvaya, Valkalin, Rashtra-pala,
Sudarshana, Svagata and Meghika,
COMMENT:
These 14 individuals are the 28th through 41st names on the list of 60-odd true individuals who made into their own possession those four noble truths that begin with suffering.
Better known names on this list include Ajita and Upali, one of the ten major disciples of the Buddha.
Apropos the present themes of true individuality and unshakeable confidence, here are two quotes about teaching the FM Alexander Technique, taken from Forward and Away, the recently published memoirs of Alexander teacher Elisabeth Walker.
First a piece of advice to Alexander teachers:
"Collect the truth into yourselves. Don't try and be like anyone else, or like F.M. Be yourself as a teacher."
Second an affirmation of true life after death, which has got nothing at all to do with optimism. It is a wonderful and exceptionally strong life-affirming last word from a 93-year old widow who early in life suffered the devastating loss of her first child, due to a tonsillectomy that went wrong:
"Teaching has been a most extraordinarily rewarding experience. Communication by touch is probably the most basic form of communication. And what is one communicating? The answer very simply is 'life.' This sounds a rather grand claim, but every teacher will bear me out. The pupil becomes 'alive' no matter whether he is stuck in a state of collapse or stuck in a condition of over-tension. But whether the pupil is aware of this greater aliveness or not, the teacher is, and this is what is most rewarding. Because one knows with absolute certainty that what one is communicating is good."
EH Johnston:
Ksema, Ajita, the mothers of Nandaka and Nanda, Upali, Vagisa, Yasas and Yasoda, Mahahvaya, Valkalin and Rastrapala, Sudarsana, Svagata and Meghika,
Linda Covill:
Kshema, Ajita, the mothers of Nandaka and Nanda, Upali, Vagisha, Yashas and Yashoda, Mahahvaya, Valkalin and Rashtra-pala, Sudarshana, Svagata and Meghika,
Showing posts with label Elizabeth Walker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elizabeth Walker. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 16.58: To Work, with Normal Mind
yat syaad upekShaa niyataM nimittaM
saamyaM gate cetasi tasya kaalaH
evaM hi kRtyaaya bhavet prayogo
ratho vidhey'-aashva iva prayaataH
16.58
What one has ascertained to be
a starting point of not interfering,
Has its time when one's mind is in its normal state;
For thus one can set about the work to be done,
Like a wagon setting off with well-trained horses.
COMMENT:
What kind of starting point can lead (in the words of FM Alexander) to "the right thing doing itself," or (in the words of Zen Master Dogen) to "body and mind naturally dropping off, and the original face appearing"?
When I asked my brother to ask his teacher Elizabeth Walker what, after 70+ years in the Alexander work, her starting point was, she replied, "How am I? Where am I?"
When I asked Marjory Barlow what, after 70+ years in the Alexander work, her starting point was, she replied "I start with the orders, because I know that works." (The orders means ordering the neck to be free, to allow the head to go forward and up, to allow the back to lengthen and widen, et cetera.)
When Marjory reciprocated by asking me what my starting point was, I said that I started by endeavouring to be clear about the distinction between end-gaining and the means-whereby. Marjory said, "Good!"
When I have the good sense to start again from scratch, in other words, I endeavour to be clear whether or not I am trying to milk a cow by the horn. Surprisingly often the answer is yes. That is what I have been trying to do for the best part of 30 years -- in which case, how can I take myself too seriously? How can I take my Japanese ancestry too seriously?
Another teacher with going on for 50 years experience in Alexander work, Nelly Ben-Or, speaks of going back to the drawing board and asking herself, "What does it mean to allow?" (The answer to this question, whenever I endeavoured to answer it in Nelly's presence, was invariably: Not that!)
So four people with the same aim of leaving oneself alone and allowing the right thing to do itself, can have four different starting points. And this is how I understand the word niyatam, ascertained or established, in the first line. Niyatam does not mean established by somebody else!
The starting point Buddha/Ashvaghosha are referring to is nothing that was revealed up a mountain and carved into clay tablets. It is up to each individual to ascertain, or to establish, for himself or for herself, what works for him or her as a starting point in working towards that condition of spontaneous flow which Chinese masters called "body and mind dropping off."
Master Dogen said, "Learn the backward step of turning light and shining. Body and mind will naturally drop off, and your original face will emerge."
So the direction in which the horses are ultimately to pull the wagon might be backwards.
But on that backward path, there may be bandits... such as lust, malice, and ignorance.
EH Johnston:
When the thoughts have attained equilibrium, then is the time for the subject of meditation inducing indifference; for thus there would be application to the duty in hand, like a chariot starting off with well-trained horses.
Linda Covill:
When the mind is in equilibrium, it is time for the meditation prescribed for equanimity, for thus it can apply itself to its job, like a chariot setting off with well-trained horses.
VOCABULARY:
yat (nom. sg. n.): [that] which
syaat = 3rd person singular, optative of as: to be
upekShaa (nominative, singular): f. overlooking , disregard , negligence , indifference , contempt , abandonment
niyatam (nom. sg. n.): determined, established
nimittam (nom. sg.): n. cause, stimulus, starting point
saamyam (acc. sg.): equality , evenness , equilibrium , equipoise , equal or normal state
gate = locative of gata: gone to, in the state of
cetasi = locative of cetas: mind
tasya (genitive): of it
kaalaH (nominative, singular): is the time
evam: thus
hi: for
kRtyaaya = dative of kRtya: to be done; thing to be done
bhavet (optative of bhuu): there might be
prayogaH (nominative, singular): undertaking , beginning , commencement; a design , contrivance , device , plan; application , employment, use; practice , experiment (opp. to , " theory ")
rathaH (nominative, singular): m. chariot, wagon, cart
vidheya: docile , compliant , submissive , liable to be ruled or governed or influenced by , subject or obedient to (gen. or comp.)
aashvaH (nom. sg. m.): drawn by horses (as a chariot)
iva: like
prayaataH (nom. sg. m.): set out , gone , advanced
saamyaM gate cetasi tasya kaalaH
evaM hi kRtyaaya bhavet prayogo
ratho vidhey'-aashva iva prayaataH
16.58
What one has ascertained to be
a starting point of not interfering,
Has its time when one's mind is in its normal state;
For thus one can set about the work to be done,
Like a wagon setting off with well-trained horses.
COMMENT:
What kind of starting point can lead (in the words of FM Alexander) to "the right thing doing itself," or (in the words of Zen Master Dogen) to "body and mind naturally dropping off, and the original face appearing"?
When I asked my brother to ask his teacher Elizabeth Walker what, after 70+ years in the Alexander work, her starting point was, she replied, "How am I? Where am I?"
When I asked Marjory Barlow what, after 70+ years in the Alexander work, her starting point was, she replied "I start with the orders, because I know that works." (The orders means ordering the neck to be free, to allow the head to go forward and up, to allow the back to lengthen and widen, et cetera.)
When Marjory reciprocated by asking me what my starting point was, I said that I started by endeavouring to be clear about the distinction between end-gaining and the means-whereby. Marjory said, "Good!"
When I have the good sense to start again from scratch, in other words, I endeavour to be clear whether or not I am trying to milk a cow by the horn. Surprisingly often the answer is yes. That is what I have been trying to do for the best part of 30 years -- in which case, how can I take myself too seriously? How can I take my Japanese ancestry too seriously?
Another teacher with going on for 50 years experience in Alexander work, Nelly Ben-Or, speaks of going back to the drawing board and asking herself, "What does it mean to allow?" (The answer to this question, whenever I endeavoured to answer it in Nelly's presence, was invariably: Not that!)
So four people with the same aim of leaving oneself alone and allowing the right thing to do itself, can have four different starting points. And this is how I understand the word niyatam, ascertained or established, in the first line. Niyatam does not mean established by somebody else!
The starting point Buddha/Ashvaghosha are referring to is nothing that was revealed up a mountain and carved into clay tablets. It is up to each individual to ascertain, or to establish, for himself or for herself, what works for him or her as a starting point in working towards that condition of spontaneous flow which Chinese masters called "body and mind dropping off."
Master Dogen said, "Learn the backward step of turning light and shining. Body and mind will naturally drop off, and your original face will emerge."
So the direction in which the horses are ultimately to pull the wagon might be backwards.
But on that backward path, there may be bandits... such as lust, malice, and ignorance.
EH Johnston:
When the thoughts have attained equilibrium, then is the time for the subject of meditation inducing indifference; for thus there would be application to the duty in hand, like a chariot starting off with well-trained horses.
Linda Covill:
When the mind is in equilibrium, it is time for the meditation prescribed for equanimity, for thus it can apply itself to its job, like a chariot setting off with well-trained horses.
VOCABULARY:
yat (nom. sg. n.): [that] which
syaat = 3rd person singular, optative of as: to be
upekShaa (nominative, singular): f. overlooking , disregard , negligence , indifference , contempt , abandonment
niyatam (nom. sg. n.): determined, established
nimittam (nom. sg.): n. cause, stimulus, starting point
saamyam (acc. sg.): equality , evenness , equilibrium , equipoise , equal or normal state
gate = locative of gata: gone to, in the state of
cetasi = locative of cetas: mind
tasya (genitive): of it
kaalaH (nominative, singular): is the time
evam: thus
hi: for
kRtyaaya = dative of kRtya: to be done; thing to be done
bhavet (optative of bhuu): there might be
prayogaH (nominative, singular): undertaking , beginning , commencement; a design , contrivance , device , plan; application , employment, use; practice , experiment (opp. to , " theory ")
rathaH (nominative, singular): m. chariot, wagon, cart
vidheya: docile , compliant , submissive , liable to be ruled or governed or influenced by , subject or obedient to (gen. or comp.)
aashvaH (nom. sg. m.): drawn by horses (as a chariot)
iva: like
prayaataH (nom. sg. m.): set out , gone , advanced
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