tasmaat paraM saumya vidhaaya viiryaM
shiighraM ghaTasv aasrava saMkShayaaya
duHkhaan a-nityaaMsh ca nir-aatamakaaMsh ca
dhaatunn visheSheNa pariikShamaaNaH
16.47
Therefore, good man, direct all your energy
And strive quickly to stop energetic leakage,
Examining in detail
-- as suffering and impermanent and devoid of self --
The elements.
COMMENT:
Line 1 and Line 2 can be read as expressing the same thing from opposite viewpoints -- for example, directing the flow of energy up one's spine, which may be a very good way of stopping it flowing where it ought not to go. "Direction is the truest form of inhibition," as is said in the world of Alexander work.
With respect to the word shiigram, "quickly," another favourite saying of FM Alexander may be relevant, namely that "The conscious mind must be quickened!" The reason FM used to emphasize that the conscious mind must be quickened, I think, is that the unconscious misdirection of energy is prone to happen extremely rapidly. A person has got to be really on the ball to stop it. Recently I have been observing this on TV in Cesar Millan's work with dogs. A bulldog can go from a calm-submissive 0 to a red-eyed killing-mode 10 in just a couple of seconds. So Cesar endeavors to stay on the ball and nip the unwanted response in the bud before it gets to 1 or 2. My wife and I shared a poignant moment a few weeks ago when Cesar was explaining all this while correcting a bulldog. We looked at each other and smiled wryly, exchanging no words but sharing the same recognition that in describing the tendency of the bulldog Cesar was just exactly describing the tendency of yours truly.
In Line 3, suffering, impermanence and absence of self are three characteristics of what is real, but in Line 4 the elements -- as investigated by scientists, and as prone to be overlooked by workers in the spiritual sphere -- are just what is.
So with this translation I have struggled to maintain the essence of the original four-phased expression that may be observed within the verse.
VOCABULARY:
tasmaat: from that, therefore
param: utmost, in a high degree, completely
saumya (voc.): " O gentle Sir! " " O good Sir! " " O excellent man! " as the proper mode of addressing a Brahman
vidhaaya = absolutive of vidhaa: to give out, supply, effect, make ready, direct
viiryam (accusative): manliness , valour , strength , power , energy
shiighram: quickly
ghaTasu = imperative of ghaT: to be intently occupied about , be busy with , strive or endeavour after , exert one's self for (loc. dat. acc.)
aasrava: leakage
saMkShayaaya = dative of saMkShaya: complete destruction or consumption , wasting , waning , decay , disappearance
duHkhaan (acc. pl. m.): uneasy , uncomfortable , unpleasant , difficult
a-nityaan (acc. pl. m.): not everlasting , transient , occasional , incidental; irregular , unusual; unstable; uncertain
ca: and
nir-aatamakaan (acc. pl. m.): having no separate soul or no individual existence
ca: and
dhaatuun = acc. pl. dhaatu: m. element , primitive matter
visheSheNa (inst. visheSha): particularly, especially, in detail
pariikShamaaNaH = nom. sg. m. present participle of pari-√iikSh: to look round , inspect carefully , try , examine , find out , observe , perceive
EH Johnston:
Therefore, applying your utmost energy, strive quickly for the destruction of the infections, and in especial examine the elements which are full of suffering, impermanent and devoid of self.
Linda Covill:
Therefore apply your utmost energy, dear friend, and be quick to strive for the eradication of the rebirth-producing tendencies, investigating in particular the elements, which are full of suffering, impermanent and without self.
Showing posts with label Suffering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Suffering. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 16.14: Suffering, Suffering, Suffering, Suffering
pratyakSham aalokya ca janma duHkhaM
duHkhaM tath" atiitam ap' iti viddhi
yathaa ca tad duHkham idaM ca duHkhaM
duHkham tath" an-aagatam apy avehi.
16.14
Seeing now before your eyes that birth is suffering,
Recognise that likewise in the past it was suffering.
And just as that was suffering and this is suffering,
Know that likewise in the future it will be suffering.
COMMENT
Birth, we can understand from the previous verses, means the birth of a body that feels pain and discomfort, and of an expectant mind, pregnant with dissatisfaction.
We experience the discomfort and dissatisfaction, or pain and anguish, in the present, as we have experienced it in the past. We cannot deny it. Ashvaghosha is not letting us deny it. That was suffering and this is suffering. But what can we expect in the future?
Ashvaghosha holds out the possibility of finding in sitting practice, at the level of the fourth realisation, a lucidity in which there is indifference and pure awareness.
Dogen, similarly, advocates learning a backward step of turning light and shining, such that body and mind will naturally drop off.
The point of this and the next verse, as I read them, is to scupper in advance any unrealistic expectations that such a teaching might engender. Drop off though they naturally will, the body will continue to feel pain, as it always has done, and the mind will continue to tend towards dissastisfaction, as it always has done.
What we can realistically hope for, I believe, is that through genuine and persistent learning of the backward step, our suffering can become more meaningful. For a start, we can understand more deeply in practice what the truth of suffering is.
This is what I am taking from this difficult section of verses in which Ashvaghosha seems to want to soak us ever more deeply and thoroughly in the truth of suffering -- leaving no room for even a shred of naive optimism to remain.
VOCABULARY:
pratyakSa: present before the eyes, visible, perceptible; clear, distinct, manifest, direct, immediate, actual, real
aalokya (absolutive of aa-√ lok, to look at): having seen or looked at , beholding
ca: and
janma: birth
duhKham: suffering
duhKham: suffering
tathaa: likewise
aatiita: past
api: also
iti: that
viddhi = imperative of vid: to know, understand, perceive, learn; experience, feel; recognise
yathaa: just as
ca: and
tad: that
duhKham: suffering
idam: this
ca: and
duhKham: suffering
duhKham: suffering
tathaa: likewise
an-aagata: not come, not arrived; future; unknown; n. the future.
api: also
avehi = imperative of ave: to look upon, consider; to perceive, conceive, understand, learn, know
EH Johnston:
And seeing the suffering of birth present before your eyes, know that there has been similar suffering in the past ; and as suffering has been and is, understand that there will be similarly suffering in the future.
Linda Covill:
Having seen with your own eyes that birth is suffering, understand that past birth was suffering too. Just as that was suffering and this is suffering, be aware that future birth will also be suffering.
duHkhaM tath" atiitam ap' iti viddhi
yathaa ca tad duHkham idaM ca duHkhaM
duHkham tath" an-aagatam apy avehi.
16.14
Seeing now before your eyes that birth is suffering,
Recognise that likewise in the past it was suffering.
And just as that was suffering and this is suffering,
Know that likewise in the future it will be suffering.
COMMENT
Birth, we can understand from the previous verses, means the birth of a body that feels pain and discomfort, and of an expectant mind, pregnant with dissatisfaction.
We experience the discomfort and dissatisfaction, or pain and anguish, in the present, as we have experienced it in the past. We cannot deny it. Ashvaghosha is not letting us deny it. That was suffering and this is suffering. But what can we expect in the future?
Ashvaghosha holds out the possibility of finding in sitting practice, at the level of the fourth realisation, a lucidity in which there is indifference and pure awareness.
Dogen, similarly, advocates learning a backward step of turning light and shining, such that body and mind will naturally drop off.
The point of this and the next verse, as I read them, is to scupper in advance any unrealistic expectations that such a teaching might engender. Drop off though they naturally will, the body will continue to feel pain, as it always has done, and the mind will continue to tend towards dissastisfaction, as it always has done.
What we can realistically hope for, I believe, is that through genuine and persistent learning of the backward step, our suffering can become more meaningful. For a start, we can understand more deeply in practice what the truth of suffering is.
This is what I am taking from this difficult section of verses in which Ashvaghosha seems to want to soak us ever more deeply and thoroughly in the truth of suffering -- leaving no room for even a shred of naive optimism to remain.
VOCABULARY:
pratyakSa: present before the eyes, visible, perceptible; clear, distinct, manifest, direct, immediate, actual, real
aalokya (absolutive of aa-√ lok, to look at): having seen or looked at , beholding
ca: and
janma: birth
duhKham: suffering
duhKham: suffering
tathaa: likewise
aatiita: past
api: also
iti: that
viddhi = imperative of vid: to know, understand, perceive, learn; experience, feel; recognise
yathaa: just as
ca: and
tad: that
duhKham: suffering
idam: this
ca: and
duhKham: suffering
duhKham: suffering
tathaa: likewise
an-aagata: not come, not arrived; future; unknown; n. the future.
api: also
avehi = imperative of ave: to look upon, consider; to perceive, conceive, understand, learn, know
EH Johnston:
And seeing the suffering of birth present before your eyes, know that there has been similar suffering in the past ; and as suffering has been and is, understand that there will be similarly suffering in the future.
Linda Covill:
Having seen with your own eyes that birth is suffering, understand that past birth was suffering too. Just as that was suffering and this is suffering, be aware that future birth will also be suffering.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 16.10: The Suffering of Disappointments
jar"-aadayo n'aika-vidhaaH prajaanaaM
satyaaM pravRttau prabhavanty an-arthaaH
pravaatsu ghoreShv api maaruteShu,
na hy a-prasuutaas taravash calanti.
16.10
The many and various disappointments of men,
like old age,
Occur to them as disappointments
so long as their end-gaining goes on;
For even when violent winds blow,
Trees do not shake that never sprouted.
COMMENT:
When we reflect on big disappointments, behind every one of them, if we are honest, was there not a strong and deep expectation of a different outcome?
If not for some end-gaining expectation, deeply buried though the expectation may have been, how could we ever have been disappointed?
Expectation of a desired outcome is the essence of end-gaining, and this is precisely what Ashvaghosha is describing in this verse, as I read it, with the word pravRtti.
Thus, in the Monier-Williams dictionary definition of pravRtti, the term is explained as: “active life, as opposed to contemplative devotion, and defined as consisting of the wish to act, knowledge of the means, and accomplishment of the object.”
What Ashvaghosha meant by pravRtti, which could be translated as “actively striving after ends” or “end-gaining” or simply as “doing,” should become gradually clearer as the term re-appears repeatedly in the verses of this canto.
In this particular verse, as I see it, Ashvaghosha is considering a very mental kind of suffering, which is disappointment. In the following verses, he will progress to psycho-physical suffering (16.11) suffering of body and mind (16.12; 16.13); past, present, and future suffering (16.14;16;15), and existential suffering here and now (16.16).
So, even though a fourfold progression within each verse is not easily discernible in the present section on suffering, a kind of fourfold progression can be observed through this and the next six verses, as follows:
(1) Suffering of MIND and body (16.10-11);
(2) Suffering of BODY and mind (16.12-13);
(3) Suffering in TIME (16.14-15).
(4) Suffering as REAL EXISTENCE itself (16.16)
VOCABULARY:
jara: (from √ 1. jRR) " becoming old"; the act of wearing out , wasting
adayaH = nominative, plural of adi: beginning with, et cetera
naika: not one , more than one , various , manifold , numerous , many
vidhaaH: nominative, plural of vidhaa: form , manner , kind , sort [mani]-fold
prajaanaam = genitive, plural of prajaa: offspring, children, family, race, posterity, descendants, a creature, animal, man, mankind
satyaam (loc. sg. f. present participle as, to be): (locative absolute construction) [as long as it] persists, [insofar as it] continues
pravRttau = loc. sg. of pravRtti: f. moving onwards, advance, progress; coming forth, appearance, manifestation; activity, exertion, efficacy; active life (as opposed to ni-vRtti [q.v.] and to contemplative devotion, and defined as consisting of the wish to act, knowledge of the means, and accomplishment of the object)
nivRtti: ceasing from worldly acts, inactivity, rest, repose (opposed to pra-vRtti)
pravRtti is originally a verbal noun from pra- √ vRt: to roll or go onwards (as a carriage), be set in motion or going.
The root √ vRt literally means to turn.
prabhavanti = 3rd person plural of pra- √ bhU: to come forth, spring up, appear, become visible, happen, occur
an-arthaaH = nominative, plural of an-artha: non-value, a worthless or useless object, disappointing occurrence
pravaata: blown forward, agitated by the wind
ghoreShu = locative, plural of ghora: terrific , frightful , terrible , dreadful , violent , vehement
maaruteShu = locative, plural of mAruta: relating to or derived from the wind, windy; wind
na: not
hi: for
prasuutaaH = nominative, plural of prasUta: procreated, begotten, born, produced, sprung
a-prasuutaaaH: non-existent, not yet sprouted
taravaH = nominative, plural of taru: tree
calanti = 3rd person plural of cal: to be moved , stir , tremble , shake , quiver
EH Johnston:
So long as active being persists among creatures, calamities of many sorts, old age etc., are produced among them ; for trees that have not come into existence cannot be shaken, however fearful the winds that blow.
Linda Covill:
All kinds of troubles, old age for instance, will appear among mankind as long as life continues, for non-existent trees do not shake even when violent gales blow.
satyaaM pravRttau prabhavanty an-arthaaH
pravaatsu ghoreShv api maaruteShu,
na hy a-prasuutaas taravash calanti.
16.10
The many and various disappointments of men,
like old age,
Occur to them as disappointments
so long as their end-gaining goes on;
For even when violent winds blow,
Trees do not shake that never sprouted.
COMMENT:
When we reflect on big disappointments, behind every one of them, if we are honest, was there not a strong and deep expectation of a different outcome?
If not for some end-gaining expectation, deeply buried though the expectation may have been, how could we ever have been disappointed?
Expectation of a desired outcome is the essence of end-gaining, and this is precisely what Ashvaghosha is describing in this verse, as I read it, with the word pravRtti.
Thus, in the Monier-Williams dictionary definition of pravRtti, the term is explained as: “active life, as opposed to contemplative devotion, and defined as consisting of the wish to act, knowledge of the means, and accomplishment of the object.”
What Ashvaghosha meant by pravRtti, which could be translated as “actively striving after ends” or “end-gaining” or simply as “doing,” should become gradually clearer as the term re-appears repeatedly in the verses of this canto.
In this particular verse, as I see it, Ashvaghosha is considering a very mental kind of suffering, which is disappointment. In the following verses, he will progress to psycho-physical suffering (16.11) suffering of body and mind (16.12; 16.13); past, present, and future suffering (16.14;16;15), and existential suffering here and now (16.16).
So, even though a fourfold progression within each verse is not easily discernible in the present section on suffering, a kind of fourfold progression can be observed through this and the next six verses, as follows:
(1) Suffering of MIND and body (16.10-11);
(2) Suffering of BODY and mind (16.12-13);
(3) Suffering in TIME (16.14-15).
(4) Suffering as REAL EXISTENCE itself (16.16)
VOCABULARY:
jara: (from √ 1. jRR) " becoming old"; the act of wearing out , wasting
adayaH = nominative, plural of adi: beginning with, et cetera
naika: not one , more than one , various , manifold , numerous , many
vidhaaH: nominative, plural of vidhaa: form , manner , kind , sort [mani]-fold
prajaanaam = genitive, plural of prajaa: offspring, children, family, race, posterity, descendants, a creature, animal, man, mankind
satyaam (loc. sg. f. present participle as, to be): (locative absolute construction) [as long as it] persists, [insofar as it] continues
pravRttau = loc. sg. of pravRtti: f. moving onwards, advance, progress; coming forth, appearance, manifestation; activity, exertion, efficacy; active life (as opposed to ni-vRtti [q.v.] and to contemplative devotion, and defined as consisting of the wish to act, knowledge of the means, and accomplishment of the object)
nivRtti: ceasing from worldly acts, inactivity, rest, repose (opposed to pra-vRtti)
pravRtti is originally a verbal noun from pra- √ vRt: to roll or go onwards (as a carriage), be set in motion or going.
The root √ vRt literally means to turn.
prabhavanti = 3rd person plural of pra- √ bhU: to come forth, spring up, appear, become visible, happen, occur
an-arthaaH = nominative, plural of an-artha: non-value, a worthless or useless object, disappointing occurrence
pravaata: blown forward, agitated by the wind
ghoreShu = locative, plural of ghora: terrific , frightful , terrible , dreadful , violent , vehement
maaruteShu = locative, plural of mAruta: relating to or derived from the wind, windy; wind
na: not
hi: for
prasuutaaH = nominative, plural of prasUta: procreated, begotten, born, produced, sprung
a-prasuutaaaH: non-existent, not yet sprouted
taravaH = nominative, plural of taru: tree
calanti = 3rd person plural of cal: to be moved , stir , tremble , shake , quiver
EH Johnston:
So long as active being persists among creatures, calamities of many sorts, old age etc., are produced among them ; for trees that have not come into existence cannot be shaken, however fearful the winds that blow.
Linda Covill:
All kinds of troubles, old age for instance, will appear among mankind as long as life continues, for non-existent trees do not shake even when violent gales blow.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 17.49: Sweet Melons, Bitter Gourds
priitiH paraa vastuni yatra yasya
viparyayaat tasya hi tatra duHkham
priitaav ataH prekSHya sa tatra doSHaan
priiti-kSHaye yogam upaaruroha
17.49
For when a man finds extreme joy in something,
Paradoxically, suffering for him is right there.
So seeing the pitfalls there, in joy,
He continued on an upward path
with practice directed beyond joy.
COMMENT:
Line 1 describes a particular form of SUFFERING, which is great joy in something. In philosophy, the Monier-Williams dictionary tells us, vastu means the real, as opposed to a-vastu, that which does not really exist, the unreal. The distinction calls to mind Master Dogen's discussion of 'existence as' (U) and 'being without' (MU), the Buddha-nature. For Master Dogen the latter is the ultimate. For Ashvaghosha similarly, it may be that the ultimate goal towards which the Buddha has pointed Nanda is not so much something as a bit of nothing.
Line 2 identifies, as a CAUSE OF SUFFERING, the paradoxical tendency that all things have to turn into their opposite, and in particular the inexorable tendency that extreme joy has to turn into its opposite. In his commentary on suffering in the four abodes of mindfulness, Master Dogen writes of sweet melons turning into bitter gourds. Nanda’s former misery in being separated from his lovely sweetheart Sundari, described at length by Ashvaghosha in the earlier Cantos, and beatifully translated by Linda Covill, was a case in point of sweet melons turning.
Line 3 again relates to the virtuous circle of INHIBITION and awareness, awarness and INHIBITION -- i.e. seeing faults and not practising them, seeing pitfalls and avoiding them.
A more literal translation of Line 4 would be “He ascended to practice [directed] at ending of joy.” I think the point, though, is that Nanda was simply continuing on a PATH with heart, regardless of any joy and suffering it brought with it -- more in the spirit of a climber than in the spirit of a killjoy. For the same reason, I think the richest seam of gold in this verse might be buried in the final word: upaaruroha. In context, the word means entered on or undertook [yogic practice]. But its vital connotation, as I read it, is of the continuing upwardness of A PATH of non-buddha.
VOCABULARY:
priitiH (nominative, singluar, feminine): joy
paraa (feminine): exceeding, extreme, superlative, highest, greatest, deepest
vastuni (locative, singular of vastu): in a thing
yatra (used to express locative of ya): in which case, wherein, wherever
yasya (genitive): of whom
viparyayaat (ablative of viparyaya): because of turning round, reversal, turning into its opposite
tasya (genitive; correlative of yasya): to/of/for him
hi: for [moved to previous line]
tatra: in that, there
duHkham: suffering, unsatisfactoriness
pritau (locative): in joy
ataH: therefore, from this, hence
prekSHya (absolutive of prekSH): on seeing; having seen, noticed, discerned, observed
sa: he
tatra: in that, there
doSHaan (accusative, plural): faults, defects, drawbacks, pitfalls
priiti: joy
kSHaye = locative, kSHaya: loss, waste, wane, diminution, destruction, decay, wasting or wearing away; abatement; end, termination
yogam = accusative, yoga: the act of yoking [body and mind]; practice, yogic practice; means, expedient, method
upaaruroha = perfect upaa + ruh: to ascend or go up to, mount, arrive at, reach
EH Johnston:
For by the law of opposites suffering is present in any matter in which the highest ecstasy is experienced by man; therefore seeing the defects ensuing at this stage from ecstasy, he entered on Yoga for its abolition.
Linda Covill:
For he who takes profound joy in anything will also find unsatisfactoriness in it, because of the possibility of its alteration; so noticing the flaws in joy, he undertook yogic practice to destroy joy.
viparyayaat tasya hi tatra duHkham
priitaav ataH prekSHya sa tatra doSHaan
priiti-kSHaye yogam upaaruroha
17.49
For when a man finds extreme joy in something,
Paradoxically, suffering for him is right there.
So seeing the pitfalls there, in joy,
He continued on an upward path
with practice directed beyond joy.
COMMENT:
Line 1 describes a particular form of SUFFERING, which is great joy in something. In philosophy, the Monier-Williams dictionary tells us, vastu means the real, as opposed to a-vastu, that which does not really exist, the unreal. The distinction calls to mind Master Dogen's discussion of 'existence as' (U) and 'being without' (MU), the Buddha-nature. For Master Dogen the latter is the ultimate. For Ashvaghosha similarly, it may be that the ultimate goal towards which the Buddha has pointed Nanda is not so much something as a bit of nothing.
Line 2 identifies, as a CAUSE OF SUFFERING, the paradoxical tendency that all things have to turn into their opposite, and in particular the inexorable tendency that extreme joy has to turn into its opposite. In his commentary on suffering in the four abodes of mindfulness, Master Dogen writes of sweet melons turning into bitter gourds. Nanda’s former misery in being separated from his lovely sweetheart Sundari, described at length by Ashvaghosha in the earlier Cantos, and beatifully translated by Linda Covill, was a case in point of sweet melons turning.
Line 3 again relates to the virtuous circle of INHIBITION and awareness, awarness and INHIBITION -- i.e. seeing faults and not practising them, seeing pitfalls and avoiding them.
A more literal translation of Line 4 would be “He ascended to practice [directed] at ending of joy.” I think the point, though, is that Nanda was simply continuing on a PATH with heart, regardless of any joy and suffering it brought with it -- more in the spirit of a climber than in the spirit of a killjoy. For the same reason, I think the richest seam of gold in this verse might be buried in the final word: upaaruroha. In context, the word means entered on or undertook [yogic practice]. But its vital connotation, as I read it, is of the continuing upwardness of A PATH of non-buddha.
VOCABULARY:
priitiH (nominative, singluar, feminine): joy
paraa (feminine): exceeding, extreme, superlative, highest, greatest, deepest
vastuni (locative, singular of vastu): in a thing
yatra (used to express locative of ya): in which case, wherein, wherever
yasya (genitive): of whom
viparyayaat (ablative of viparyaya): because of turning round, reversal, turning into its opposite
tasya (genitive; correlative of yasya): to/of/for him
hi: for [moved to previous line]
tatra: in that, there
duHkham: suffering, unsatisfactoriness
pritau (locative): in joy
ataH: therefore, from this, hence
prekSHya (absolutive of prekSH): on seeing; having seen, noticed, discerned, observed
sa: he
tatra: in that, there
doSHaan (accusative, plural): faults, defects, drawbacks, pitfalls
priiti: joy
kSHaye = locative, kSHaya: loss, waste, wane, diminution, destruction, decay, wasting or wearing away; abatement; end, termination
yogam = accusative, yoga: the act of yoking [body and mind]; practice, yogic practice; means, expedient, method
upaaruroha = perfect upaa + ruh: to ascend or go up to, mount, arrive at, reach
EH Johnston:
For by the law of opposites suffering is present in any matter in which the highest ecstasy is experienced by man; therefore seeing the defects ensuing at this stage from ecstasy, he entered on Yoga for its abolition.
Linda Covill:
For he who takes profound joy in anything will also find unsatisfactoriness in it, because of the possibility of its alteration; so noticing the flaws in joy, he undertook yogic practice to destroy joy.
Friday, January 30, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 17.45: Thoughts vs Thinking
kSHobhaM prakurvanti yath" ormayo hi
dhiira-prasann'-aambu-vahasya sindhoH
ek'-aagra-bhuutasya tath" ormi-bhuutaash
citt'-aambhasaH kSHobha-karaa vitarkaaH
17.45
For, just as waves induce rippling
Upon a river bearing calm, clear water,
So too do thought waves, upon unitary awareness.
It is thoughts that cause ripples
upon the water of the thinking mind.
COMMENT:
Line 1 offers as a metaphor for SUFFERING the disturbance induced by waves.
In Line 2 a river of water is an ACCUMULATION OF MATTER/ENERGY, flowing in inexorable agreement with the prediction of the 2nd law of thermodynamics: that energy will spread out, unless prevented from doing so.
In Line 3 unitary awareness is INHIBITION and INHIBITION is awareness. It is a virtuous circle of stopping and becoming aware. In my final year of Alexander teacher-training, in 1997-98, I felt as if I was living inside this virtuous circle. That was the year in my Zazen life that bitter gourds became sweet melons. (And conversely, sweet melons turned into bitter gourds.) Alexander teachers like Ray Evans, Ron Colyer, Marjory Barlow and Nelly Ben-Or caused me to see for myself what had been demonstrated to them: that the flood of conscious awareness can only rise when we stop off at source our unconscious patterns of doing. And the more deeply and widely the flood of conscious awareness spreads, the deeper lies our own stillness and the less perturbed we are prone to be, by those habitual or reflex patterns. So it can be a viruous circle of stopping and becoming aware of what is to be stopped.
Line 4 highlights a vital distinction that I have been struggling for 15 years to clarify, for self and others. The distinction is between thoughts and what FM Alexander called 'thinking.' In discussing this distinction between thoughts and thinking, we run into a couple of serious problems. The first is that words express thoughts, but words cannot express thinking itself. The second problem is Alexander’s observation that “When you think you are thinking, you are actually feeling. And when you think you are feeling, you are doing." So I do not know what thinking is, cannot feel what thinking is, and cannot say what thinking is. But here, to give us at least a hint at what thinking is, Ashvaghosha uses the metaphor of water. Deeply ingrained in the brain and nervous system are patterns which are triggered by the tiniest thought and which generate suffering. As a MEANS for inhibiting those unconscious patterns, Ashvaghosha is telling us, thinking is like water.
VOCABULARY:
kSHobham (accusative, singular): undulation, disturbance, trembling, rippling
prakurvanti (from pra + kRi): make, produce, effect; induce, move
yathaa: just as...
uurmayaH (nominative, plural): waves, billows
hi: for
dhiira: steady, constant, calm
prasanna: clear, tranquil, placid
ambu: water
vahasya = genitive of vaha: carrying, flowing, bearing along (said of rivers)
sindhaH = genitive of sindhu: river (esp. Indus), stream, flood, sea
eka: one
agra: foremost point or part, tip:
ekaagra: one-pointed, having one point, fixing one's attention upon one point or object, closely attentive, intent, absorbed in; undisturbed, unperplexed
bhuutsaya = genitive of bhuuta: (at the end of a compound) being or being like anything
ekaagra-bhuutsaya: lit. “towards/upon being one-pointed/undivided”
tathaa: so too...
uurmi: wave
uurmi-bhuutaaH (nominative, plural): [thoughts] that are like waves
citta: ‘noticed’; thinking, reflecting; mind; intention; the thinking mind
ambhasaH = genitive of ambhas: water
kSHobha: rippling
kara: making, doing, causing
vitarkaaH (nominative, plural): thoughts
EH Johnston:
For as waves disturb a stream running with calm clear water, so thoughts are the waves of the water of the mind and disturb it when it is in a state of concentration.
Linda Covill:
For just as waves make ripples in a river bearing calm, limpid water, waves of thought make ripples in the waters of the one-pointed mind.
dhiira-prasann'-aambu-vahasya sindhoH
ek'-aagra-bhuutasya tath" ormi-bhuutaash
citt'-aambhasaH kSHobha-karaa vitarkaaH
17.45
For, just as waves induce rippling
Upon a river bearing calm, clear water,
So too do thought waves, upon unitary awareness.
It is thoughts that cause ripples
upon the water of the thinking mind.
COMMENT:
Line 1 offers as a metaphor for SUFFERING the disturbance induced by waves.
In Line 2 a river of water is an ACCUMULATION OF MATTER/ENERGY, flowing in inexorable agreement with the prediction of the 2nd law of thermodynamics: that energy will spread out, unless prevented from doing so.
In Line 3 unitary awareness is INHIBITION and INHIBITION is awareness. It is a virtuous circle of stopping and becoming aware. In my final year of Alexander teacher-training, in 1997-98, I felt as if I was living inside this virtuous circle. That was the year in my Zazen life that bitter gourds became sweet melons. (And conversely, sweet melons turned into bitter gourds.) Alexander teachers like Ray Evans, Ron Colyer, Marjory Barlow and Nelly Ben-Or caused me to see for myself what had been demonstrated to them: that the flood of conscious awareness can only rise when we stop off at source our unconscious patterns of doing. And the more deeply and widely the flood of conscious awareness spreads, the deeper lies our own stillness and the less perturbed we are prone to be, by those habitual or reflex patterns. So it can be a viruous circle of stopping and becoming aware of what is to be stopped.
Line 4 highlights a vital distinction that I have been struggling for 15 years to clarify, for self and others. The distinction is between thoughts and what FM Alexander called 'thinking.' In discussing this distinction between thoughts and thinking, we run into a couple of serious problems. The first is that words express thoughts, but words cannot express thinking itself. The second problem is Alexander’s observation that “When you think you are thinking, you are actually feeling. And when you think you are feeling, you are doing." So I do not know what thinking is, cannot feel what thinking is, and cannot say what thinking is. But here, to give us at least a hint at what thinking is, Ashvaghosha uses the metaphor of water. Deeply ingrained in the brain and nervous system are patterns which are triggered by the tiniest thought and which generate suffering. As a MEANS for inhibiting those unconscious patterns, Ashvaghosha is telling us, thinking is like water.
VOCABULARY:
kSHobham (accusative, singular): undulation, disturbance, trembling, rippling
prakurvanti (from pra + kRi): make, produce, effect; induce, move
yathaa: just as...
uurmayaH (nominative, plural): waves, billows
hi: for
dhiira: steady, constant, calm
prasanna: clear, tranquil, placid
ambu: water
vahasya = genitive of vaha: carrying, flowing, bearing along (said of rivers)
sindhaH = genitive of sindhu: river (esp. Indus), stream, flood, sea
eka: one
agra: foremost point or part, tip:
ekaagra: one-pointed, having one point, fixing one's attention upon one point or object, closely attentive, intent, absorbed in; undisturbed, unperplexed
bhuutsaya = genitive of bhuuta: (at the end of a compound) being or being like anything
ekaagra-bhuutsaya: lit. “towards/upon being one-pointed/undivided”
tathaa: so too...
uurmi: wave
uurmi-bhuutaaH (nominative, plural): [thoughts] that are like waves
citta: ‘noticed’; thinking, reflecting; mind; intention; the thinking mind
ambhasaH = genitive of ambhas: water
kSHobha: rippling
kara: making, doing, causing
vitarkaaH (nominative, plural): thoughts
EH Johnston:
For as waves disturb a stream running with calm clear water, so thoughts are the waves of the water of the mind and disturb it when it is in a state of concentration.
Linda Covill:
For just as waves make ripples in a river bearing calm, limpid water, waves of thought make ripples in the waters of the one-pointed mind.
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