kRt'-aartham iva taM mene
sambuddhaH shraddhayaa tayaa
mene praaptam iva shreyaH
sa ca buddhena saMskRtaH
- = - - - = = =
= = = = - = - =
= = = - - = = =
- - = = - = - =
13.2
As if the finished article he seemed
To the Fully Awakened One,
by virtue of that confidence;
And as if a gainer of higher good he seemed
To himself, one moulded by Buddha.
COMMENT:
As Ted reminded us in his apt comment of a couple of days ago, real happiness is to be had from simply listening to a four-line verse of true Dharma. The phrase I use to remind myself of the same is "The gold is in the bold."
Today's verse truly strikes me, in its original Sanskrit, as a golden one.
Simply listening to it is not the same as writing a comment on it on the basis of "the Buddhist viewpoint." Last night I wrote a long comment around today's verse, but there was too much of me in it; too much "Buddhist viewpoint" -- or, to be precise, too much of me reacting to the pretence of others in marketing their own "Buddhist viewpoint." It was another nasty case of the mirror principle at work, and has been consigned to the dustbin where it belongs. This morning I shall try again, with a more listening attitude.
The first half of this verse tells us how Nanda seemed to the Buddha, from the outside. The second half of the verse relates how Nanda felt from the inside.
For the Buddha, Ashvaghosha tells us again, what was of primary importance was confidence -- confidence in that higher good associated with non-doing. Looking at that confidence now growing in Nanda, the Buddha felt that his work was practically done. The phrase kRt'-aartham, which I have translated as "the finished article" means in other words "job done." So in this verse, as I read it, Ashvaghosha is reminding his descendants of future generations that their primary job, as teachers, is to inspire confidence in that higher good which is associated with the practice of non-doing.
From the inside, Nanda felt as if he had already reached that level of higher good. That level, as I understand it, is the level that FM Alexander called "the plane of conscious control," the level that top sportsmen sometimes call "the zone," and the level that Master Dogen called "body and mind spontaneously dropping off and one's original face emerging." Nanda felt he had reached that level not as a result of his own doing, and still less as a result of his own "Buddhist viewpoint," but as a result of being worked on, sculpted, moulded, fashioned, and finished (saMskRta) by Buddha.
Is this a real possibility for those of us, here and now, who all these years after the event are listening to this record of the Buddha's Dharma?
The human teacher who taught Nanda died about 2,500 years ago and his body was cremated. For us today to be moulded by the hands and voice of Gautama the Buddha is totally impossible. What is still possible, but ineffably difficult, for a person who is prepared to drop off his own view, is to be moulded by sitting-Buddha.
Alexander's principle of non-doing, applied by a follower of the Buddha's teaching to sitting practice, ultimately means just that: neither sitting with one's own body nor sitting with one's own mind, but allowing oneself to be moulded by sitting-Buddha.
EH Johnston:
The Enlightened One deemed that Nanda had, as it were, attained his goal through that faith and he, too, deemed that by the Buddha's initiation he had, as it were, already reached the highest good.
Linda Covill:
The perfectly enlightened one considered him to have virtually reached the goal by means of faith, while Nanda himself, brought to readiness by the Buddha, felt as though Excellence had already been attained.
VOCABULARY:
kRta: mfn. done , made , accomplished , performed
artham (accusative): aim, purpose, goal ; thing, substance
iva: like, as if
tam: him
mene = past of man: to regard or consider any one or anything (acc.) as (acc. with or without iva); to think one's self or be thought to be , appear as , pass for (nom. ; also with iva)
sambuddhaH = nominative of sambuddha: mfn. wide awake , clever , wise , prudent ; well perceived , perfectly known or understood
shraddhayaa = instrumental of shraddhaa: f. confidence, trust, belief
tayaa = instrumental of saa: f. that
mene: he thought himself to be
praaptam = accusative of praapta: mfn. mfn. attained to , reached , arrived at , met with , found , incurred , got , acquired , gained ; one who has attained to or reached &c (acc. or comp.)
iva: like, as if
shreyas: the better or best state, higher or highest good,
saH (nominative, singular, masculine): he
ca: and
buddhena (instrumental): by the Buddha
saMskRtaH (nominative, singular, masculine): a man who has been put together , constructed , well or completely formed , perfected ; made ready , prepared , completed , finished ; purified , consecrated , sanctified , hallowed , initiated
Showing posts with label non-doing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label non-doing. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 13.1: Confidence Affirmed
atha saMraadhito nandaH
shraddhaaM prati maha"-rShiNaa
pariShikto 'mRten" eva
yuyuje parayaa mudaa
= - = = - = = =
= = - - - = - =
- - = = - = = -
- - = - - = - =
13.1
And so Nanda was affirmed
By the great seer, in the matter of confidence;
He felt as if sprinkled with the nectar of immortality --
Filled with the deepest joy.
COMMENT:
At the beginning of translating the previous Canto, I was not sure whether shraddhaa might be best translated as belief, or trust, or confidence. As the Canto progressed, it became clear to me that the Buddha was referring specifically to confidence in the existence of higher good, associated with non-doing. Hence in 12.14 Nanda expresses his disillusionment with pravRtti, the onward cycle of doing. And in 12.22 the Buddha discusses the rarity of its antonym, nivRtti, non-doing.
A few years ago I had a memorable telephone conversation with the late Tony Spawforth, a veteran Alexander teacher, trained by Alexander himself. I put Tony on the spot by asking him to sum up what the Alexander work was for him. Tony's reply, at least as I remember it, was that many people are leading lives that might be called good, or nice, or beautiful; they have lovely families, satisfying jobs, nice houses with pleasant gardens; they eat good food; they enjoy healthy sports, relaxing holidays, et cetera; they may even worship in religious communities of like-minded people. Still, the substance of those lives is more or less blind reaction to what is being experienced through the senses. Whereas non-doing Alexander work introduces the possibility of a higher good, associated with more conscious direction of one's life energy.
Sadly, as first generation teachers like Tony die out and the shadow of FM Alexander himself lengthens, the true principle of non-doing is apt to get lost. Second and third generation teachers who, as Patrick Macdonald put it, "don't know the score," teach a kind of doing, a kind of bodywork or advanced physiotherapy; or they teach Yoga or Pilates or Tai Chi with bits of Alexander jargon thrown in but no real attention paid to the real mental work of giving up those root misconceptions where trouble starts.
This is what is happening in Alexander work after one or two generations. In the transmission of the Buddha-Dharma we are talking 12 generations as far as Ashvaghosha, and 90-odd generations to the present. If Ashvaghosha wrote any word or phrase that deserves to be translated as "Buddhism," I have yet to come across it. Why do people use that word "Buddhism" so thoughtlessly, as if the Dharma of Gautama the Buddha was some kind of -ism? Why did I used to use the term "Buddhism" myself? Because I was a baaing sheep without eyeballs of my own.
Sometimes, as last night, I make the mistake of looking around the internet to see what is going on, and it saddens me. People seem to be attracted in large numbers to skilful marketers of the shadow, to those who paint bright pictures of Buddhism and of body alignment. As long as I am directing my attention to digging for the substance, for the true gold, I am not bothered by PR people who are selling fool's gold. But sometimes I do feel very bothered by it. I suppose the fact that I am bothered must reflect, via the mirror principle, some fame-and-profit-seeking tendency in me to want to become a big seller of my own fool's gold. At the same time, there are some good PR men who are mixing up the true gold of Master Dogen's Shobogenzo with their own brands of Buddhism. The situation is a bloody mess, of which, led by my errant senses, I am all too liable to become part.
The Monier-Williams dictionary defines shiila thus: habit , custom , usage , natural or acquired way of living or acting , practice , conduct , disposition , tendency , character , nature ; good disposition or character , moral conduct , integrity , morality , piety , virtue ; (with Buddhists " moral conduct " is one of the 6 or 10 perfections or pAramitAs) ; a moral precept.
Just as the way to translate shraddhaa seemed to become clear as the previous Canto progressed, I hope the same thing will happen in this Canto with the translation of shiila. The previous Canto describes that even after a shoot of confidence in higher good had taken root in Nanda, his senses were still set against it (12.18). In this Canto the Buddha will describe how Nanda is to get round this problem of an unfavourable sensory constitution, relying on the inhibitory practice of discipline, or training, or integrity which is shiila.
EH Johnston:
So on being confirmed in the direction of faith by the Great Seer, Nanda was filled with the highest joy, as if bathed in ambrosia.
Linda Covill:
Sustained by the great seer's talk on faith, Nanda was filled with utter joy, as though he had been sprinkled with the elixir of deathlessness.
VOCABULARY:
atha: (inceptive particle) and so, then, now
saMraadhita = past participle of saM-√ raadh: to agree together , agree about or upon (loc.) ; to conciliate , appease , satisfy
nandaH (nominative): Nanda
shraddhaam (accusative): confidence, belief
prati: towards, near to; or as a prep. with usually preceding acc. , in the sense of towards , against , to , upon , in the direction of ; on account of , with regard to , concerning
mahaa-rShiNaa = instrumental of mahaa-rShi: great seer
pariShikta: mfn. poured out , sprinkled about , diffused
amRtena = instrumental of amRta: deathlessness, immortality; n. the nectar (conferring immortality , produced at the churning of the ocean) , ambrosia
iva: like
yuyuje = 3rd person singular, perfect of yuj: to bring into possession of , furnish or endow with (instr.)
parayaa = instrumental, f of para: best or worst , highest , supreme
mudaa = instrumental of mud: f. joy , delight , gladness , happiness
shraddhaaM prati maha"-rShiNaa
pariShikto 'mRten" eva
yuyuje parayaa mudaa
= - = = - = = =
= = - - - = - =
- - = = - = = -
- - = - - = - =
13.1
And so Nanda was affirmed
By the great seer, in the matter of confidence;
He felt as if sprinkled with the nectar of immortality --
Filled with the deepest joy.
COMMENT:
At the beginning of translating the previous Canto, I was not sure whether shraddhaa might be best translated as belief, or trust, or confidence. As the Canto progressed, it became clear to me that the Buddha was referring specifically to confidence in the existence of higher good, associated with non-doing. Hence in 12.14 Nanda expresses his disillusionment with pravRtti, the onward cycle of doing. And in 12.22 the Buddha discusses the rarity of its antonym, nivRtti, non-doing.
A few years ago I had a memorable telephone conversation with the late Tony Spawforth, a veteran Alexander teacher, trained by Alexander himself. I put Tony on the spot by asking him to sum up what the Alexander work was for him. Tony's reply, at least as I remember it, was that many people are leading lives that might be called good, or nice, or beautiful; they have lovely families, satisfying jobs, nice houses with pleasant gardens; they eat good food; they enjoy healthy sports, relaxing holidays, et cetera; they may even worship in religious communities of like-minded people. Still, the substance of those lives is more or less blind reaction to what is being experienced through the senses. Whereas non-doing Alexander work introduces the possibility of a higher good, associated with more conscious direction of one's life energy.
Sadly, as first generation teachers like Tony die out and the shadow of FM Alexander himself lengthens, the true principle of non-doing is apt to get lost. Second and third generation teachers who, as Patrick Macdonald put it, "don't know the score," teach a kind of doing, a kind of bodywork or advanced physiotherapy; or they teach Yoga or Pilates or Tai Chi with bits of Alexander jargon thrown in but no real attention paid to the real mental work of giving up those root misconceptions where trouble starts.
This is what is happening in Alexander work after one or two generations. In the transmission of the Buddha-Dharma we are talking 12 generations as far as Ashvaghosha, and 90-odd generations to the present. If Ashvaghosha wrote any word or phrase that deserves to be translated as "Buddhism," I have yet to come across it. Why do people use that word "Buddhism" so thoughtlessly, as if the Dharma of Gautama the Buddha was some kind of -ism? Why did I used to use the term "Buddhism" myself? Because I was a baaing sheep without eyeballs of my own.
Sometimes, as last night, I make the mistake of looking around the internet to see what is going on, and it saddens me. People seem to be attracted in large numbers to skilful marketers of the shadow, to those who paint bright pictures of Buddhism and of body alignment. As long as I am directing my attention to digging for the substance, for the true gold, I am not bothered by PR people who are selling fool's gold. But sometimes I do feel very bothered by it. I suppose the fact that I am bothered must reflect, via the mirror principle, some fame-and-profit-seeking tendency in me to want to become a big seller of my own fool's gold. At the same time, there are some good PR men who are mixing up the true gold of Master Dogen's Shobogenzo with their own brands of Buddhism. The situation is a bloody mess, of which, led by my errant senses, I am all too liable to become part.
The Monier-Williams dictionary defines shiila thus: habit , custom , usage , natural or acquired way of living or acting , practice , conduct , disposition , tendency , character , nature ; good disposition or character , moral conduct , integrity , morality , piety , virtue ; (with Buddhists " moral conduct " is one of the 6 or 10 perfections or pAramitAs) ; a moral precept.
Just as the way to translate shraddhaa seemed to become clear as the previous Canto progressed, I hope the same thing will happen in this Canto with the translation of shiila. The previous Canto describes that even after a shoot of confidence in higher good had taken root in Nanda, his senses were still set against it (12.18). In this Canto the Buddha will describe how Nanda is to get round this problem of an unfavourable sensory constitution, relying on the inhibitory practice of discipline, or training, or integrity which is shiila.
EH Johnston:
So on being confirmed in the direction of faith by the Great Seer, Nanda was filled with the highest joy, as if bathed in ambrosia.
Linda Covill:
Sustained by the great seer's talk on faith, Nanda was filled with utter joy, as though he had been sprinkled with the elixir of deathlessness.
VOCABULARY:
atha: (inceptive particle) and so, then, now
saMraadhita = past participle of saM-√ raadh: to agree together , agree about or upon (loc.) ; to conciliate , appease , satisfy
nandaH (nominative): Nanda
shraddhaam (accusative): confidence, belief
prati: towards, near to; or as a prep. with usually preceding acc. , in the sense of towards , against , to , upon , in the direction of ; on account of , with regard to , concerning
mahaa-rShiNaa = instrumental of mahaa-rShi: great seer
pariShikta: mfn. poured out , sprinkled about , diffused
amRtena = instrumental of amRta: deathlessness, immortality; n. the nectar (conferring immortality , produced at the churning of the ocean) , ambrosia
iva: like
yuyuje = 3rd person singular, perfect of yuj: to bring into possession of , furnish or endow with (instr.)
parayaa = instrumental, f of para: best or worst , highest , supreme
mudaa = instrumental of mud: f. joy , delight , gladness , happiness
Sunday, June 14, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.22: Rarity of Non-doing
loke 'sminn aalay'-aaraame
nivRttau dur-labhaa ratiH
vyathante hy a-punar-bhaavaat
prapaataad iva baalishaaH
12.22
In this world which likes what is close to home,
A fondness for non-doing is rare;
For men shrink from the end of becoming
Like the puerile from the edge of a cliff.
COMMENT:
Non-doing involves going against the habit of a lifetime, which we find uncomfortable, and it is a journey into the unknown, which we find fearful.
How rare is a fondness for non-doing? Maybe rarer than we realise.
Alexander work is supposed to be all about non-doing, but when one looks deeply into it, a lot of what passes for non-doing, both within and without the self, is actually a subtle form of doing.
Marjory Barlow said that the wrong inner patterns are the doing that has to be stopped. I think those ‘wrong inner patterns’ generally have to do with noise emanating from aberrant survival reflexes. If that noise had a voice, it might say: “What’s in it for me?”
Similarly, to work in service of the Buddha is to give up one’s own agenda, but again when one looks deeply into it, a lot of what passes for obedient service of the Buddha, both within and without the self, is actually more or less subtle pursuit of a personal agenda. A noisy trace too often remains of “What’s in it for me?”
I could easily criticize others at this point, following the mirror principle, but the only noise I have any hope of preventing is the noise in my own system. That, after all, is what I am here on my own in France for. To get to the end of becoming in myself.
When Zinadine Zidane dropped the nut on his opponent’s chest in a World Cup Final, I wrote in a blog post at the time that I saw great beauty in Zidane’s act. Zidane’s action, as I saw it, was tempered by compassion: if it had been an untrammelled act of brutal malevolence, Zidane would have gone for his opponent’s nose, or throat, or testicles. What I saw in Zidane’s action was a kind of total negation of “what is in it for me?” It was not the kind of puerile petulance to be seen among the pampered premiership prima donnas of today. In Zidane’s spontaneous release of energy there was a kind of full stop, a decisive expression of the end of becoming.
The phrase a-punar-bhaava, as I read it, is by no means lending any support to the dubious ancient idea of karma and rebirth, which has nothing to with true scientific pursuit, not being subject to empirical verification, but everything to do with maintaining a political status quo. The only end of becoming that I know is a moment of leaving it all on the pitch, or in the dojo, or in the garden, or on the round cushion. I think of Stuart Pearce, former left-back for England, going in for a tackle, with a certain manly commitment, without any trace of boyish shrinking back from the edge.
To have done my best to translate one verse per day, and to have spoken my mind on it without fear or favour, might be a kind of end of becoming. If I die tomorrow, so be it. I refuse to be in a hurry about this translation, or to worry about heaven or hell. If, aided by the wonderful natural energy of this place where I am, I could manage some time today to allow just one moment of true non-doing, that would be great.
Listening
From in the womb
The end of becoming
Is a stream flowing
And a bird singing
All out
EH Johnston:
In this world, which rejoices in attachment, it is hard to find delight in the cessation of active being ; for fools shrink back from release from rebirth as from a precipice.
Linda Covill:
In this world with its liking for the household life, it is hard to take pleasure in abstention from activity; for fools shrink from the prospect of the end of rebirth as from the edge of a cliff.
VOCABULARY:
loke = locative of loka: world
asmin = locative of ayam: this
aalaya (from aa-li): a house , dwelling
aa -li: to come close to ; to settle down upon ; a receptacle, asylum
aaraame = locative of aarama: m. delight , pleasure ; place of pleasure , a garden , grove
nivRttau = locative of nivRtti: abstention; ceasing from worldly acts , inactivity , rest , repose; antonym of pra-vRtti, end-gaining
dur-labhaa: difficult to be found, rare
ratiH (nominative): f. rest , repose ; pleasure , enjoyment , delight in , fondness for (loc.)
vyathante = 3rd person plural of vyath: to tremble , waver , go astray
hi: for
a-punar-bhaavaat (ablative): not again becoming
prapaataad = ablative of prapaata: a steep rock , cliff , precipice
iva: like, as if
baalishaaH = nominative, plural of baalisha: mf(A)n. young , childish , puerile , ignorant , simple , foolish; m. a fool , simpleton , blockhead
nivRttau dur-labhaa ratiH
vyathante hy a-punar-bhaavaat
prapaataad iva baalishaaH
12.22
In this world which likes what is close to home,
A fondness for non-doing is rare;
For men shrink from the end of becoming
Like the puerile from the edge of a cliff.
COMMENT:
Non-doing involves going against the habit of a lifetime, which we find uncomfortable, and it is a journey into the unknown, which we find fearful.
How rare is a fondness for non-doing? Maybe rarer than we realise.
Alexander work is supposed to be all about non-doing, but when one looks deeply into it, a lot of what passes for non-doing, both within and without the self, is actually a subtle form of doing.
Marjory Barlow said that the wrong inner patterns are the doing that has to be stopped. I think those ‘wrong inner patterns’ generally have to do with noise emanating from aberrant survival reflexes. If that noise had a voice, it might say: “What’s in it for me?”
Similarly, to work in service of the Buddha is to give up one’s own agenda, but again when one looks deeply into it, a lot of what passes for obedient service of the Buddha, both within and without the self, is actually more or less subtle pursuit of a personal agenda. A noisy trace too often remains of “What’s in it for me?”
I could easily criticize others at this point, following the mirror principle, but the only noise I have any hope of preventing is the noise in my own system. That, after all, is what I am here on my own in France for. To get to the end of becoming in myself.
When Zinadine Zidane dropped the nut on his opponent’s chest in a World Cup Final, I wrote in a blog post at the time that I saw great beauty in Zidane’s act. Zidane’s action, as I saw it, was tempered by compassion: if it had been an untrammelled act of brutal malevolence, Zidane would have gone for his opponent’s nose, or throat, or testicles. What I saw in Zidane’s action was a kind of total negation of “what is in it for me?” It was not the kind of puerile petulance to be seen among the pampered premiership prima donnas of today. In Zidane’s spontaneous release of energy there was a kind of full stop, a decisive expression of the end of becoming.
The phrase a-punar-bhaava, as I read it, is by no means lending any support to the dubious ancient idea of karma and rebirth, which has nothing to with true scientific pursuit, not being subject to empirical verification, but everything to do with maintaining a political status quo. The only end of becoming that I know is a moment of leaving it all on the pitch, or in the dojo, or in the garden, or on the round cushion. I think of Stuart Pearce, former left-back for England, going in for a tackle, with a certain manly commitment, without any trace of boyish shrinking back from the edge.
To have done my best to translate one verse per day, and to have spoken my mind on it without fear or favour, might be a kind of end of becoming. If I die tomorrow, so be it. I refuse to be in a hurry about this translation, or to worry about heaven or hell. If, aided by the wonderful natural energy of this place where I am, I could manage some time today to allow just one moment of true non-doing, that would be great.
Listening
From in the womb
The end of becoming
Is a stream flowing
And a bird singing
All out
EH Johnston:
In this world, which rejoices in attachment, it is hard to find delight in the cessation of active being ; for fools shrink back from release from rebirth as from a precipice.
Linda Covill:
In this world with its liking for the household life, it is hard to take pleasure in abstention from activity; for fools shrink from the prospect of the end of rebirth as from the edge of a cliff.
VOCABULARY:
loke = locative of loka: world
asmin = locative of ayam: this
aalaya (from aa-li): a house , dwelling
aa -li: to come close to ; to settle down upon ; a receptacle, asylum
aaraame = locative of aarama: m. delight , pleasure ; place of pleasure , a garden , grove
nivRttau = locative of nivRtti: abstention; ceasing from worldly acts , inactivity , rest , repose; antonym of pra-vRtti, end-gaining
dur-labhaa: difficult to be found, rare
ratiH (nominative): f. rest , repose ; pleasure , enjoyment , delight in , fondness for (loc.)
vyathante = 3rd person plural of vyath: to tremble , waver , go astray
hi: for
a-punar-bhaavaat (ablative): not again becoming
prapaataad = ablative of prapaata: a steep rock , cliff , precipice
iva: like, as if
baalishaaH = nominative, plural of baalisha: mf(A)n. young , childish , puerile , ignorant , simple , foolish; m. a fool , simpleton , blockhead
Friday, April 24, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 16.71: Time Is of the Essence of the Contract
an-aadi-kaal' opacit'-aatmakatvaad
baliiyasaH klesha-gaNasya c'aiva
samyak-prayogasya ca duSh-karatvaac
chettuM na shakyaaH sahasaa hi doShaaH
16.71
Because of the instinct-led accumulation,
from time without beginning,
Of the powerful mass of afflictions,
And because true practice is so difficult to do,
The faults cannot be cut off all at once.
COMMENT:
I would like to comment on this verse by quoting a passage that I think is relevant from the writings of FM Alexander, in which he uses the term “non-doing.” But before that I will describe my a priori experience of what non-doing means. (A priori means before I ever heard the Zen term “body and mind dropping off” or the Alexander term “non-doing.”)
Thirty years ago I began competing, at a very low level, in competition karate. I pretty much had only one technique -- a reverse counter-punch with my right fist. But I found myself able to use this technique to an effect that surprised me -- especially the first time I tried it out in earnest, when my opponent, a brown-belt from Leeds University whose disconcerting nickname was “killer,” went down like a deck of cards. Much to my own astonishment, I, an extremely nervous and lanky white-belt on his first outing, had winded him with a shot to the floating ribs. Having been keen on sports from an early age, I suppose that (in spite of congenital vestibular problems, received from my father, having been accumulated by his ancestors from time without beginning) my timing was not bad. I would wait and wait and wait for my opponent to leave himself open when he came in for an attack, ignoring his feints, waiting for a true opening. Then when the opening came I would sometimes experience my counter-punch doing itself, seemingly before I was even conscious of it, like a coiled spring suddenly freeing itself. The effect, I remember, was particularly strong when I was participating as the captain of a five-man competition team. And the effect was sufficiently strong to make me think that academic stuff that I was supposed to be studying at university was of zero importance in comparison. That’s why despite doing a degree in Accounting & Financial Management, I have ended up living such an alternative life, never really entering the corporate world but going instead to Japan with the intention of investigating Zen in the martial arts, and then coming back to England to investigate the discoveries of FM Alexander. Which brings me back to that quote:
I can assure my readers that anyone who will follow me through the experiences I have set down, especially with regard to 'non-doing', cannot fail to benefit; but I must emphasize that they will not be following me unless they recognize:
(1) that knowledge concerned with sensory experience cannot be conveyed by the written or spoken word, so that it means to the recipient what it means to the person who is trying to convey it:
(2) that they will need to depend upon new 'means - whereby' for the gaining of their ends, and that they will 'feel wrong' at first in carrying out the procedures because these will be unfamiliar:
(3) that that attempt to bring about change involving growth, development and progressive improvement in the use and functioning of the human organism, calls necessarily for the acceptance, yes, the welcoming of the unknown in sensory experience, and this 'unknown' cannot be associated with the sensory experiences that have hitherto 'felt right.'
(4) that to 'try and get it right' by direct 'doing' is to try and reproduce what is known, and cannot lead to the 'right', the as yet 'unknown.'
To anyone who accepts these points and sees the reason for keeping them in view whilst working to principle in employing the technique, I would say: 'Go ahead, but remember that time is of the essence of the contract.'
FM Alexander, Preface (1941) to The Use of the Self.
So what?
So, the key to understanding this section of the Canto, is not to fall at the stumbling block of nimitta -- a word which EH Johnston and Linda Covill have, quite forgivably, understood as having to do with meditation. I say quite forgivably, because people generally assume that Buddhist practice has to do with meditating. But what I have learned in the last 30 years of trying to make sense of a counter-punch that seemed miraculously to do itself, is that a moment of sitting-buddha has to do with a stimulus, the inhibition of one’s habitual reaction to that stimulus (not doing), and the allowing of action (non-doing). I still don’t claim to be more than a beginner in these matters -- because the true practice of allowing is so bloody difficult to do -- but this much at least I have understood. So my translation of the next verse, and of others verses in this section, will reflect my understanding that nimitta has nothing to do with meditation but nimitta means a stimulus, or starting point of action.
Thus, even though the faults cannot all be struck down at once, a deck of cards comes tumbling down, and those cards are on the table.
(But they are always liable to be reshuffled....)
EH Johnston:
For the faults cannot be extirpated all at once, partly because the troop of the vices are very strong, having from their nature accumulated from time without beginning, and partly because right practice is difficult.
Linda Covill:
The faults cannot be cut off all of a sudden, partly because the powerful mass of defilements has by nature been accumulating from beginningless time, and partly because the correct practice is so difficult to do.
VOCABULARY:
an-aadi: without beginning
kaalaH (nom. sg.): m. time
upacita: heaped up , increased; thriving , increasing , prospering , succeeding ; big , fat , thick
aatmakatvaat = ablative of aatmakatvam:
aatmaka: having or consisting of the nature or character of (in comp.); consisting or composed of
-tvam = suffix for abstract nouns
baliiyasaH = genitive of baliiyas: more or most powerful , or mighty or strong or important or efficacious
klesha: affliction
gaNasya = genitive of gaNa: a flock , troop , multitude
ca: and
eva: (emphatic)
samyak: true, proper, out and out
prayogasya = genitive of prayoga: practice
ca: and
duSh-karatvaat = ablative of duSh-karatvam: being hard to do
chettum = infinitive of chid: to cut off
na: not
shakyaaH (nom. pl. m.): able , possible , practicable , capable of being (with infinitive in passive sense)
sahasaa (instrumental of sahas, powerful): forcibly , vehemently , suddenly , quickly , precipitately , immediately , at once , unexpectedly , at random , fortuitously , in an unpremeditated manner
hi: for
doShaaH (nom. pl.): m. faults, imbalances
baliiyasaH klesha-gaNasya c'aiva
samyak-prayogasya ca duSh-karatvaac
chettuM na shakyaaH sahasaa hi doShaaH
16.71
Because of the instinct-led accumulation,
from time without beginning,
Of the powerful mass of afflictions,
And because true practice is so difficult to do,
The faults cannot be cut off all at once.
COMMENT:
I would like to comment on this verse by quoting a passage that I think is relevant from the writings of FM Alexander, in which he uses the term “non-doing.” But before that I will describe my a priori experience of what non-doing means. (A priori means before I ever heard the Zen term “body and mind dropping off” or the Alexander term “non-doing.”)
Thirty years ago I began competing, at a very low level, in competition karate. I pretty much had only one technique -- a reverse counter-punch with my right fist. But I found myself able to use this technique to an effect that surprised me -- especially the first time I tried it out in earnest, when my opponent, a brown-belt from Leeds University whose disconcerting nickname was “killer,” went down like a deck of cards. Much to my own astonishment, I, an extremely nervous and lanky white-belt on his first outing, had winded him with a shot to the floating ribs. Having been keen on sports from an early age, I suppose that (in spite of congenital vestibular problems, received from my father, having been accumulated by his ancestors from time without beginning) my timing was not bad. I would wait and wait and wait for my opponent to leave himself open when he came in for an attack, ignoring his feints, waiting for a true opening. Then when the opening came I would sometimes experience my counter-punch doing itself, seemingly before I was even conscious of it, like a coiled spring suddenly freeing itself. The effect, I remember, was particularly strong when I was participating as the captain of a five-man competition team. And the effect was sufficiently strong to make me think that academic stuff that I was supposed to be studying at university was of zero importance in comparison. That’s why despite doing a degree in Accounting & Financial Management, I have ended up living such an alternative life, never really entering the corporate world but going instead to Japan with the intention of investigating Zen in the martial arts, and then coming back to England to investigate the discoveries of FM Alexander. Which brings me back to that quote:
I can assure my readers that anyone who will follow me through the experiences I have set down, especially with regard to 'non-doing', cannot fail to benefit; but I must emphasize that they will not be following me unless they recognize:
(1) that knowledge concerned with sensory experience cannot be conveyed by the written or spoken word, so that it means to the recipient what it means to the person who is trying to convey it:
(2) that they will need to depend upon new 'means - whereby' for the gaining of their ends, and that they will 'feel wrong' at first in carrying out the procedures because these will be unfamiliar:
(3) that that attempt to bring about change involving growth, development and progressive improvement in the use and functioning of the human organism, calls necessarily for the acceptance, yes, the welcoming of the unknown in sensory experience, and this 'unknown' cannot be associated with the sensory experiences that have hitherto 'felt right.'
(4) that to 'try and get it right' by direct 'doing' is to try and reproduce what is known, and cannot lead to the 'right', the as yet 'unknown.'
To anyone who accepts these points and sees the reason for keeping them in view whilst working to principle in employing the technique, I would say: 'Go ahead, but remember that time is of the essence of the contract.'
FM Alexander, Preface (1941) to The Use of the Self.
So what?
So, the key to understanding this section of the Canto, is not to fall at the stumbling block of nimitta -- a word which EH Johnston and Linda Covill have, quite forgivably, understood as having to do with meditation. I say quite forgivably, because people generally assume that Buddhist practice has to do with meditating. But what I have learned in the last 30 years of trying to make sense of a counter-punch that seemed miraculously to do itself, is that a moment of sitting-buddha has to do with a stimulus, the inhibition of one’s habitual reaction to that stimulus (not doing), and the allowing of action (non-doing). I still don’t claim to be more than a beginner in these matters -- because the true practice of allowing is so bloody difficult to do -- but this much at least I have understood. So my translation of the next verse, and of others verses in this section, will reflect my understanding that nimitta has nothing to do with meditation but nimitta means a stimulus, or starting point of action.
Thus, even though the faults cannot all be struck down at once, a deck of cards comes tumbling down, and those cards are on the table.
(But they are always liable to be reshuffled....)
EH Johnston:
For the faults cannot be extirpated all at once, partly because the troop of the vices are very strong, having from their nature accumulated from time without beginning, and partly because right practice is difficult.
Linda Covill:
The faults cannot be cut off all of a sudden, partly because the powerful mass of defilements has by nature been accumulating from beginningless time, and partly because the correct practice is so difficult to do.
VOCABULARY:
an-aadi: without beginning
kaalaH (nom. sg.): m. time
upacita: heaped up , increased; thriving , increasing , prospering , succeeding ; big , fat , thick
aatmakatvaat = ablative of aatmakatvam:
aatmaka: having or consisting of the nature or character of (in comp.); consisting or composed of
-tvam = suffix for abstract nouns
baliiyasaH = genitive of baliiyas: more or most powerful , or mighty or strong or important or efficacious
klesha: affliction
gaNasya = genitive of gaNa: a flock , troop , multitude
ca: and
eva: (emphatic)
samyak: true, proper, out and out
prayogasya = genitive of prayoga: practice
ca: and
duSh-karatvaat = ablative of duSh-karatvam: being hard to do
chettum = infinitive of chid: to cut off
na: not
shakyaaH (nom. pl. m.): able , possible , practicable , capable of being (with infinitive in passive sense)
sahasaa (instrumental of sahas, powerful): forcibly , vehemently , suddenly , quickly , precipitately , immediately , at once , unexpectedly , at random , fortuitously , in an unpremeditated manner
hi: for
doShaaH (nom. pl.): m. faults, imbalances
Sunday, April 19, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 16.66: What the Goldsmith Ought Not to Do
dahet suvarNaM hi dhamann akaale
jale kShipan saMshamayed akaale
na c'api samyak paripaakam enaM
nayed akaale samupekShamaaNaH
16.66
For he might burn the gold
by blowing at the wrong time,
He might make it unworkable
by plunging it into water at the wrong time,
And he would not bring it to full perfection
If at the wrong time he were just to leave it be.
COMMENT:
Again, the inhibitory or precautionary side is not left unspoken.
The point that is being emphasized through repetition is the importance of knowing, at a particular time in a particular situation, what is NOT to be done. There are times when doing something, even something that might have worked in the past, is not appropriate. And lest this seems to lend one-sided support to a rigid philosophy of non-doing (inexperienced Alexander teachers beware), this metaphor brilliantly reminds us that there are also times when it is not appropriate not to do.
Ashvaghosha is like an accountant doing double-entry book-keeping, or drawing up a balance sheet. He seems ever wary of advocating positive awareness of what is required to be done, without adding, on the negative side of the ledger, a stimulus for preventive awareness of what is required NOT to be done, and what is required NOT to be not done, in the pursuit of full perfection.
What is there in the realm of human experience that corresponds to the full perfection of refined gold?
Master Dogen wrote that we should learn the backward step of turning light and shining, in which case body and mind spontaneously drop off, and the original face emerges.
EKO HENSHO NO TAIHO O GAKU SU BESHI, SHINJIN JINNEN NI DATSU RAKU SHITE HONRAI NO MENMOKU GENZEN SEN.
Inspiring words. But the metaphor of the goldsmith reminds us that a lot of work is required to be done both before and after a point where the right thing can be left to do itself -- temporarily.
EH Johnston:
For by using the bellows at the wrong time he would burn the gold, by throwing it into the water at the wrong time he would make it too soft and by letting it cool off at the wrong time he would not bring it to maturity properly.
Linda Covill:
For in blowing at the wrong time he might burn the gold; casting it into water at the wrong time he would make it cool down; and in merely observing it at the wrong time, he might not bring it to perfect readiness.
VOCABULARY:
dahet = 3rd person singular, optative of dah: to burn
suvarNam (acc. sg.): n. gold
hi: for
dhaman = nom. sg. m. present participle dham: to blow
akaale (locative): at the wrong time
jale (locative): in water
kShipan = nom. sg. m. present participle of kShip: to put or place anything on or in (loc.)
saMshamayed = 3rd person singular, optative of saM-√sham: to be or become ineffective; to calm , allay; to extinguish ; to bring to rest , remove , destroy , kill
akaale (locative): at the wrong time
na: not
ca: and
api: also
samyak: full, proper, correct
paripaakam = accusative of paripaaka: ripening , maturity , perfection
enam (acc. sg. m.): it
nayet = 3rd person singular optative of nii: to lead ; bring to any state or condition
akaale (locative): at the wrong time
samupekShamaaNaH = nom. sg. m. present participle sam-upa-viikS: to look completely over or beyond , take no notice of , disregard , neglect , abandon
jale kShipan saMshamayed akaale
na c'api samyak paripaakam enaM
nayed akaale samupekShamaaNaH
16.66
For he might burn the gold
by blowing at the wrong time,
He might make it unworkable
by plunging it into water at the wrong time,
And he would not bring it to full perfection
If at the wrong time he were just to leave it be.
COMMENT:
Again, the inhibitory or precautionary side is not left unspoken.
The point that is being emphasized through repetition is the importance of knowing, at a particular time in a particular situation, what is NOT to be done. There are times when doing something, even something that might have worked in the past, is not appropriate. And lest this seems to lend one-sided support to a rigid philosophy of non-doing (inexperienced Alexander teachers beware), this metaphor brilliantly reminds us that there are also times when it is not appropriate not to do.
Ashvaghosha is like an accountant doing double-entry book-keeping, or drawing up a balance sheet. He seems ever wary of advocating positive awareness of what is required to be done, without adding, on the negative side of the ledger, a stimulus for preventive awareness of what is required NOT to be done, and what is required NOT to be not done, in the pursuit of full perfection.
What is there in the realm of human experience that corresponds to the full perfection of refined gold?
Master Dogen wrote that we should learn the backward step of turning light and shining, in which case body and mind spontaneously drop off, and the original face emerges.
EKO HENSHO NO TAIHO O GAKU SU BESHI, SHINJIN JINNEN NI DATSU RAKU SHITE HONRAI NO MENMOKU GENZEN SEN.
Inspiring words. But the metaphor of the goldsmith reminds us that a lot of work is required to be done both before and after a point where the right thing can be left to do itself -- temporarily.
EH Johnston:
For by using the bellows at the wrong time he would burn the gold, by throwing it into the water at the wrong time he would make it too soft and by letting it cool off at the wrong time he would not bring it to maturity properly.
Linda Covill:
For in blowing at the wrong time he might burn the gold; casting it into water at the wrong time he would make it cool down; and in merely observing it at the wrong time, he might not bring it to perfect readiness.
VOCABULARY:
dahet = 3rd person singular, optative of dah: to burn
suvarNam (acc. sg.): n. gold
hi: for
dhaman = nom. sg. m. present participle dham: to blow
akaale (locative): at the wrong time
jale (locative): in water
kShipan = nom. sg. m. present participle of kShip: to put or place anything on or in (loc.)
saMshamayed = 3rd person singular, optative of saM-√sham: to be or become ineffective; to calm , allay; to extinguish ; to bring to rest , remove , destroy , kill
akaale (locative): at the wrong time
na: not
ca: and
api: also
samyak: full, proper, correct
paripaakam = accusative of paripaaka: ripening , maturity , perfection
enam (acc. sg. m.): it
nayet = 3rd person singular optative of nii: to lead ; bring to any state or condition
akaale (locative): at the wrong time
samupekShamaaNaH = nom. sg. m. present participle sam-upa-viikS: to look completely over or beyond , take no notice of , disregard , neglect , abandon
Friday, April 10, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 16.57: Again, What Not to Do
aupekShikaM n'aapi nimittam iShTaM
layaM gate cetasi s'odbhave vaa
evaM hi tiivraM janayed anarthaM
upekShito vyaadhir iv' aaturasya
16.57
Nor is leaving oneself alone a valid starting point
When one's mind is either lifeless or excited.
For that might result in severe misfortune,
Like the neglected illness of a sick man.
COMMENT:
The meaning of leaving oneself along is clarified, in verses 16.65 to 16.67, with the analogy of a skilled goldsmith who, at times, neither intervenes to heat his gold nor intervenes to cool it, but simply leaves it be.
In the context not of gold refining but of formal practice, and in particular of formal sitting practice, what does it mean to "leave oneself alone" or "not to interfere"?
What Buddha/Ashvaghosha are indicating in this verse is that this is no question for a lifeless mind or an excited mind to even begin to ask.
So when I find myself in times of trouble, and Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom.... even those words of wisdom "Let it be" are a stimulus that should be labelled in big red letters: DANGER! HANDLE WITH CARE!
I am labouring the point, but so it seems did Buddha/Ashvaghosha: of primary importance is not what one does, but what one does not do.
One end-gaining Alexander pupil who went directly for the target of leaving himself alone, rather than more modestly attending to the inhibitory means-whereby, attracted FM Alexander's disapproval with these famous words:
"You are doing what you call leaving yourself alone!"
EH Johnston:
The subject of meditation inducing indifference is not recommended when the thoughts are either sluggish or excited ; for thus it might bring about a grievous calamity, like the illness of a sick man if it is neglected.
Linda Covill:
The meditational technique of equanimity is not recommended when the mind is either over-excited or depressed, for this may produce serious mishap, like the neglected disease of a sick man.
VOCABULARY:
aupekShikam (nom. sg. noun from upa- √iikS: to overlook , disregard , neglect , abandon): n. indifference, leaving oneself alone
na: not
api: also, again
nimittam (nom. sg.): n. stimulus, antidote
iShtam (nom. sg. n.): sought, desired , regarded as good , approved , valid
layam (accusative): sluggishness, lethargy, mental inactivity
gate = loc. gata: gone to a state or condition
cetasi = locative of cetas: mind
sa: it
udbhave = loc. udbhava: existence , generation , origin , production , birth; springing from , growing
vaa: or
evam: thus, in this manner
hi: for
tiivram (acc. sg. m.): strong , severe , violent , intense , hot , pervading , excessive , ardent , sharp , acute , pungent , horrible
janayed = 3rd person singular, optative from √jan: give birth, be born, bring about
anartham (acc. sg.): m. disappointing occurrence , reverse , evil
upekShitaH (nom. sg. m.): overlooked, disregarded, neglected
vyaadhiH (nominative, singular): m. disorder , disease , ailment , sickness ,
iva: like
aaturasya = genitive of aatura: suffering , sick (in body or mind)
layaM gate cetasi s'odbhave vaa
evaM hi tiivraM janayed anarthaM
upekShito vyaadhir iv' aaturasya
16.57
Nor is leaving oneself alone a valid starting point
When one's mind is either lifeless or excited.
For that might result in severe misfortune,
Like the neglected illness of a sick man.
COMMENT:
The meaning of leaving oneself along is clarified, in verses 16.65 to 16.67, with the analogy of a skilled goldsmith who, at times, neither intervenes to heat his gold nor intervenes to cool it, but simply leaves it be.
In the context not of gold refining but of formal practice, and in particular of formal sitting practice, what does it mean to "leave oneself alone" or "not to interfere"?
What Buddha/Ashvaghosha are indicating in this verse is that this is no question for a lifeless mind or an excited mind to even begin to ask.
So when I find myself in times of trouble, and Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom.... even those words of wisdom "Let it be" are a stimulus that should be labelled in big red letters: DANGER! HANDLE WITH CARE!
I am labouring the point, but so it seems did Buddha/Ashvaghosha: of primary importance is not what one does, but what one does not do.
One end-gaining Alexander pupil who went directly for the target of leaving himself alone, rather than more modestly attending to the inhibitory means-whereby, attracted FM Alexander's disapproval with these famous words:
"You are doing what you call leaving yourself alone!"
EH Johnston:
The subject of meditation inducing indifference is not recommended when the thoughts are either sluggish or excited ; for thus it might bring about a grievous calamity, like the illness of a sick man if it is neglected.
Linda Covill:
The meditational technique of equanimity is not recommended when the mind is either over-excited or depressed, for this may produce serious mishap, like the neglected disease of a sick man.
VOCABULARY:
aupekShikam (nom. sg. noun from upa- √iikS: to overlook , disregard , neglect , abandon): n. indifference, leaving oneself alone
na: not
api: also, again
nimittam (nom. sg.): n. stimulus, antidote
iShtam (nom. sg. n.): sought, desired , regarded as good , approved , valid
layam (accusative): sluggishness, lethargy, mental inactivity
gate = loc. gata: gone to a state or condition
cetasi = locative of cetas: mind
sa: it
udbhave = loc. udbhava: existence , generation , origin , production , birth; springing from , growing
vaa: or
evam: thus, in this manner
hi: for
tiivram (acc. sg. m.): strong , severe , violent , intense , hot , pervading , excessive , ardent , sharp , acute , pungent , horrible
janayed = 3rd person singular, optative from √jan: give birth, be born, bring about
anartham (acc. sg.): m. disappointing occurrence , reverse , evil
upekShitaH (nom. sg. m.): overlooked, disregarded, neglected
vyaadhiH (nominative, singular): m. disorder , disease , ailment , sickness ,
iva: like
aaturasya = genitive of aatura: suffering , sick (in body or mind)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 16.42: Forward and Backward Steps
tasmaat pravRttiM parigaccha duHkhaM
pravartakaan apy avagaccha doShaan
nivRttim aagaccha ca tan-nirodhaM
nivartakaM c' aapy avagaccha maargaM
16.42
Accordingly, comprehend suffering as end-gaining,
And understand the faults as doing.
Realise the stopping of all that as non-doing,
And understand the path as a turning back.
COMMENT:
The first difficulty with this verse has been plucking up the courage to translate pravRtti as "end-gaining," instead of a less overtly Alexandrian term such as "progressive striving."
A second difficulty has been deciding what is the object of nirodha in the 3rd line. Does tan-nirodha mean the inhibition/suppression/stopping of those [faults], the stopping of that [suffering], the stopping of that [end-gaining], or the inhibition/stopping of all that [stuff in the first two lines]?
My ears are, I hope, open to feedback.
Notwithstanding the above difficulties, I am very happy to have arrived at this translation of this verse. My sense is that the argument I have been struggling to make for 15 years has, with this translation of this verse, already become obsolete -- because this verse is just Ashvaghosha's teaching, just the Buddha's teaching, just the teaching of all the ancestors in India, and there is not any room for argument.
This verse is also just the teaching of FM Alexander. There is, as I see it, no contradiction at all.
That being so, I would like to illustrate the meaning of each of the four lines of this verse with some quotes from FM Alexander and some of the teachers he taught.
(1)
Whenever a person sets out to achieve a particular end his procedure will be based on one of two principles which I have called "end-gaining" and the "means-whereby" principles. The "end-gaining" principle involves a direct procedure on the part of the person endeavouring to gain the desired "end." This direct procedure is associated with dependence upon subsconscious guidance and control, leading, in cases where a condition of mal-coordination is present, to an unsatisfactory use of the mechanisms and to an increase in the defects and peculiarities already existing.
(FM Alexander, Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual)
When a person has reached a given stage of unsatisfactory use and functioning, his habit of end-gaining will prove to be the impeding factor in all his attempts to profit by any teaching method whatsoever. Ordinary teaching methods, in whatever sphere, cannot deal with this impeding factor, indeed, they tend actually to encourage 'end-gaining.'
(FM Alexander, The Use of the Self)
"In most people their direction of the use of themselves is habitual and instinctive... Unfortunately, with the increasing prevalence of untrustworthy sensory appreciation, this instinctive direction of use tends, as time goes on, to become more and more a misdirection, having a harmful effect, as was proved in my own case, upon functioning and consquently, upon the reactions which result." (Ibid)
(2)
"The wrong inner patterns are the doing which has to be stopped."
(Marjory Barlow, 1965 Memorial Lecture)
(3)
Non-doing is, above all, an attitude of mind. It's a wish. It's a decision to leave everything alone and see what goes on, see what happens. Your breathing and your circulation and your postural mechanisms are all working and taking over. The organism is functioning in its automatic way, and you are doing nothing.
If you're going to succeed in doing nothing, you must exercise control over your thinking processes. You must really wish to do nothing. If you're thinking anxious, worried thoughts, if you're thinking exciting thoughts that are irrelevant to the situation at hand, you stir up responses in your body that are not consistent with doing nothing. It's not a matter of just not moving--that can lead to fixing or freezing--it's a matter of really leaving yourself alone and letting everything just happen and take over.
This is what we're aiming at in an Alexander lesson, and if we're wise, and we understand, it's also what we aim at in our own practice of non-doing. It is something that requires practice. Like most other things in life, it isn't some-thing that you can achieve by simply wishing to do so, by just thinking, 'Well, I will now leave myself alone and not do anything.' Unfortunately, it doesn't work out like that. The whole process requires a lot of practice, and a lot of observation. Out of this process a tremendous lot of experience is to be gained...
(Walter Carrington, Thinking Aloud)
Of course, non-doing is a kind of doing, but it is very subtle. The difference is that, in doing, you do it, whereas in non-doing, it does you.
(Patrick Macdonald, The Alexander Technique As I See It.)
(4)
It is owing to this habit of rushing from one extreme to another -- a habit which, as I have pointed out, seems to go hand in hand with subconscious guidance and direction -- to this tendency, that is, to take the narrow and treacherous sidetracks instead of the great, broad, midway path, that our plan of civilization has proved a comparative failure.
(FM Alexander, Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual)
I venture to predict that before we can unravel the horribly tangled skein of our present existence, we must come to a full STOP, and return to conscious, simple living, believing in the unity underlying all things, and acting in a practical way in accordance with the laws and principles involved. (Ibid.)
VOCABULARY:
tasmaat: from that, on that account, therefore
praVrttim (accusative): moving onwards , advance , progress; active life (as opp. to ni-vRtti [q.v.] and to contemplative devotion)
parigaccha = imperative of pari-√ gam: to go round or about or through , circumambulate , surround , inclose; to come to any state or condition , get , attain (acc.)
pari: ind. round , around, fully
pravartakam (acc. sg.): acting , proceeding; setting in motion or action , setting on foot , advancing , promoting , forwarding
api: also
avagaccha = imperative of ava-√ gam: to understand
ava: ind. off , away , down
doShaan (accusative, plural): m. faults
nivRttim (accusative): returning; ceasing , cessation; ceasing from worldly acts , inactivity , rest
aagaccha = imperative aa-√ gam: to come, arrive at , attain , reach ; to fall into (any state of mind) , have recourse to
aa: near, near to towards; with roots like gam it reverses the action ; e.g. aa-gacchati , " he comes "
ca: and
tat: those [faults]; that [suffering/end-gaining]; [all] that; the
nirodhaM (accusative): suppression, inhibition, stopping
nirvartakam (acc. sg.): turning back ; causing to cease , abolishing , removing; desisting from , stopping , ceasing
ca: and
api: also
avagaccha (imperative): understand
maargam (acc. sg.): m. the path
EH Johnston:
Accordingly recognise suffering to be identical with active being and understand that the faults are the cause of active being; realise that inactivity is the suppression of active being and understand that it is the Path which leads to inactivity.
Linda Covill:
Therefore accept that active life is suffering, and understand faults as being related to active life; recognize cessation of suffering to be the ceasing of active life, and know the path as being related to cessation.
pravartakaan apy avagaccha doShaan
nivRttim aagaccha ca tan-nirodhaM
nivartakaM c' aapy avagaccha maargaM
16.42
Accordingly, comprehend suffering as end-gaining,
And understand the faults as doing.
Realise the stopping of all that as non-doing,
And understand the path as a turning back.
COMMENT:
The first difficulty with this verse has been plucking up the courage to translate pravRtti as "end-gaining," instead of a less overtly Alexandrian term such as "progressive striving."
A second difficulty has been deciding what is the object of nirodha in the 3rd line. Does tan-nirodha mean the inhibition/suppression/stopping of those [faults], the stopping of that [suffering], the stopping of that [end-gaining], or the inhibition/stopping of all that [stuff in the first two lines]?
My ears are, I hope, open to feedback.
Notwithstanding the above difficulties, I am very happy to have arrived at this translation of this verse. My sense is that the argument I have been struggling to make for 15 years has, with this translation of this verse, already become obsolete -- because this verse is just Ashvaghosha's teaching, just the Buddha's teaching, just the teaching of all the ancestors in India, and there is not any room for argument.
This verse is also just the teaching of FM Alexander. There is, as I see it, no contradiction at all.
That being so, I would like to illustrate the meaning of each of the four lines of this verse with some quotes from FM Alexander and some of the teachers he taught.
(1)
Whenever a person sets out to achieve a particular end his procedure will be based on one of two principles which I have called "end-gaining" and the "means-whereby" principles. The "end-gaining" principle involves a direct procedure on the part of the person endeavouring to gain the desired "end." This direct procedure is associated with dependence upon subsconscious guidance and control, leading, in cases where a condition of mal-coordination is present, to an unsatisfactory use of the mechanisms and to an increase in the defects and peculiarities already existing.
(FM Alexander, Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual)
When a person has reached a given stage of unsatisfactory use and functioning, his habit of end-gaining will prove to be the impeding factor in all his attempts to profit by any teaching method whatsoever. Ordinary teaching methods, in whatever sphere, cannot deal with this impeding factor, indeed, they tend actually to encourage 'end-gaining.'
(FM Alexander, The Use of the Self)
"In most people their direction of the use of themselves is habitual and instinctive... Unfortunately, with the increasing prevalence of untrustworthy sensory appreciation, this instinctive direction of use tends, as time goes on, to become more and more a misdirection, having a harmful effect, as was proved in my own case, upon functioning and consquently, upon the reactions which result." (Ibid)
(2)
"The wrong inner patterns are the doing which has to be stopped."
(Marjory Barlow, 1965 Memorial Lecture)
(3)
Non-doing is, above all, an attitude of mind. It's a wish. It's a decision to leave everything alone and see what goes on, see what happens. Your breathing and your circulation and your postural mechanisms are all working and taking over. The organism is functioning in its automatic way, and you are doing nothing.
If you're going to succeed in doing nothing, you must exercise control over your thinking processes. You must really wish to do nothing. If you're thinking anxious, worried thoughts, if you're thinking exciting thoughts that are irrelevant to the situation at hand, you stir up responses in your body that are not consistent with doing nothing. It's not a matter of just not moving--that can lead to fixing or freezing--it's a matter of really leaving yourself alone and letting everything just happen and take over.
This is what we're aiming at in an Alexander lesson, and if we're wise, and we understand, it's also what we aim at in our own practice of non-doing. It is something that requires practice. Like most other things in life, it isn't some-thing that you can achieve by simply wishing to do so, by just thinking, 'Well, I will now leave myself alone and not do anything.' Unfortunately, it doesn't work out like that. The whole process requires a lot of practice, and a lot of observation. Out of this process a tremendous lot of experience is to be gained...
(Walter Carrington, Thinking Aloud)
Of course, non-doing is a kind of doing, but it is very subtle. The difference is that, in doing, you do it, whereas in non-doing, it does you.
(Patrick Macdonald, The Alexander Technique As I See It.)
(4)
It is owing to this habit of rushing from one extreme to another -- a habit which, as I have pointed out, seems to go hand in hand with subconscious guidance and direction -- to this tendency, that is, to take the narrow and treacherous sidetracks instead of the great, broad, midway path, that our plan of civilization has proved a comparative failure.
(FM Alexander, Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual)
I venture to predict that before we can unravel the horribly tangled skein of our present existence, we must come to a full STOP, and return to conscious, simple living, believing in the unity underlying all things, and acting in a practical way in accordance with the laws and principles involved. (Ibid.)
VOCABULARY:
tasmaat: from that, on that account, therefore
praVrttim (accusative): moving onwards , advance , progress; active life (as opp. to ni-vRtti [q.v.] and to contemplative devotion)
parigaccha = imperative of pari-√ gam: to go round or about or through , circumambulate , surround , inclose; to come to any state or condition , get , attain (acc.)
pari: ind. round , around, fully
pravartakam (acc. sg.): acting , proceeding; setting in motion or action , setting on foot , advancing , promoting , forwarding
api: also
avagaccha = imperative of ava-√ gam: to understand
ava: ind. off , away , down
doShaan (accusative, plural): m. faults
nivRttim (accusative): returning; ceasing , cessation; ceasing from worldly acts , inactivity , rest
aagaccha = imperative aa-√ gam: to come, arrive at , attain , reach ; to fall into (any state of mind) , have recourse to
aa: near, near to towards; with roots like gam it reverses the action ; e.g. aa-gacchati , " he comes "
ca: and
tat: those [faults]; that [suffering/end-gaining]; [all] that; the
nirodhaM (accusative): suppression, inhibition, stopping
nirvartakam (acc. sg.): turning back ; causing to cease , abolishing , removing; desisting from , stopping , ceasing
ca: and
api: also
avagaccha (imperative): understand
maargam (acc. sg.): m. the path
EH Johnston:
Accordingly recognise suffering to be identical with active being and understand that the faults are the cause of active being; realise that inactivity is the suppression of active being and understand that it is the Path which leads to inactivity.
Linda Covill:
Therefore accept that active life is suffering, and understand faults as being related to active life; recognize cessation of suffering to be the ceasing of active life, and know the path as being related to cessation.
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