matvaa tato nandam udiirNa-raagaM
bhaary"-aanurodhaad apavRtta-raagaM
raageNa raagaM pratihantu-kaamo
munir viraago giram ity uvaaca
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = -
10.47
Deeming then that Nanda
was roused to a new height of passion,
His passion having turned from love of his wife,
And desiring to fight passion with passion,
The dispassionate Sage spoke these words:
COMMENT:
From this verse we can know that the Buddha as Ashvaghosha venerated him was not a dispassionate person of no desire.
It may be that the Buddha as Ashvaghosha venerated him was a dispassionate person of small desire.
EH Johnston:
Then the Sage, Himself free from passion, deemed that Nanda's passion had been excited by them and that he had turned away from love of his wife, and spoke to him thus in order to combat passion with passion :--
Linda Covill:
The dispassionate sage judged that Nanda's passion had turned away from its accommodation with his wife and was aroused for the apsarases, and intending to repulse passion with passion, he said:
VOCABULARY:
matvaa = abs. man: to think, to regard or consider any one or anything (acc.) as (acc.)
tataH: ind. thence, from that, then
nandam (acc. sg.): m. Nanda
udiirNa-raagam
udiirNa: mfn. issued out , excited , increased , elevated
raagam (acc. sg.): m. redness, passion
bhaary"-aanuroodhaat (abl. sg.): from fondness for his wife
bhaaryaa: f. wife
anurodha: m. obliging or fulfilling the wishes ; obligingness , compliance; consideration , respect
anu- √ rudh: to adhere to , be fond of , love
apavRtta-raagam (acc. sg.):
apavRtta: mfn. reversed , inverted , overturned , finished, carried to the end
raaga: m. redness, passion
raageNa (inst,. sg.): m. redness, passion
raagam (acc. sg.): m. redness, passion
pratihantu-kaamaH (nom. sg. m.): desirous of striking back
prati- √ han: to beat against; to attack , assail ; strike down ; to crush , break ; to strike in return , strike back , ward off, remove , dispel , check , prevent , frustrate
hantu-kaama: mfn. (hantu for hantum) desirous of killing
muniH (nom. sg.): m. the Sage
viraagaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. passionless , without feeling , dispassionate , indifferent
giram = acc. sg. gir: f. speech , speaking , language , voice , words
iti: "...," thus
uvaaca = 3rd pers. sg. perfect vac: to say, speak
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
SAUNDARANANDA 10.46: By the Power of Sages
muneH prabhaavaac ca shashaaka nandas
tad darshanaM soDhum a-sahyam anyaiH
a-viita-raagasya hi dur-balasya
mano dahed apsarasaaM vapuH-shriiH
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
10.46
And Nanda was able, relying on the power of the Sage,
To endure that sight unendurable to others.
For the mind of a man lacking dispassion,
when he was weak,
Would be burned up by the apsarases' shining splendour.
COMMENT:
A couple of days ago I got an email which finished with the words "Let me know." Since the email was an invitation, "Let me know" ostensibly meant "Tell me if you're coming or not." But I found myself reflecting that "Let me know" is an interesting phrase.
Let me know.
In the end, who lets who know what?
What kind of power did the Sage Gautama have to let his brother Nanda know?
In a sense the whole of Saundara-nanda is an answer to that question. And the stark answer might be that the Buddha, on his own, didn't have any power to let his brother know. It was necessary for Nanda himself to say, and really to mean "Let me know."
"Let me know" includes the recognition that I don't know yet -- or if I ever did know, I seem to have forgotten again.
When I came back to England hungry, or greedy, for knowledge of FM Alexander's discoveries, I was very much imbued with the spirit of "Let me know." And I was fortunate to meet some excellent Alexander teachers who did let me know -- though it was not necessarily what I wanted to know, and not what I was expecting to know.
Ray Evans, for example, let me know how vestibular faults are liable to corrupt at the deepest level the sensory appreciation of a person like me, so that what I feel about everything, starting with who and where and how I am, is liable to be wrong. Ron Colyer and Marjory Barlow let me know that it is OK to be an oddball individual, and OK to be wrong. Nelly Ben-Or let me know that my desire to know, my desire to grasp the truth with dirty paws (or "get to heaven with your boots on"), is always an obstacle in the way of seeking to know.
It is primarily on this basis that I understand the words muneH prabhaavaat, "through the power of a sage." As FM Alexander used to say, "I cannot get inside your brain and do the work for you." At the same time, Alexander by all accounts had unbelievable power, through the inhibited and directed use of his own voice and hands, to give people a new experience of a more dispassionate state of being. A more dispassionate state of being means a state in which -- in actions like sitting, standing, and lying down -- less superfluous activity is going on in the brain and nervous system.
The past few weeks since I fell off my bike and injured my left knee have been an interesting time for finding out about myself. In some sense, I am back on the nursery slopes of sitting; after ten or fifteen minutes, sitting in lotus becomes too painful and I have to take a rest and have a stretch. So in some sense I'm back where I was about 30 years ago. But in the process of stretching, I am thinking the words, and sometimes saying them slowly out loud: "Let the neck be free. To let the head go forward and up. To let the spine lengthen and the back widen. Sending the knees forwards and away. Pulling to the elbows and widening across the upper part of the arms, as you widen the back."
So I sit for 15 minutes, then stretch and give directions for 5, and sit for 15 and stretch for 5, and sit for 15 and stretch for 5, and sit again for 15 minutes. And at the end, despite all the shifting about, despite the fact that I can no longer sit for more than an hour without budging, I still have a very good sense of going in the right direction.
By the power of a sage named Marjory Barlow, FM Alexander's niece, in spite of my own deeply faulty sensory appreciation, those words evidently keep me going in the right direction -- whatever decrepit state my body is in.
It is just exactly as Marjory told me. "Keep coming back to those words. They will take you where you want to go."
As I head towards old age, it is a comforting realization... that at least something here is ageless. I would like to say to Marjory in particular: thanks for letting me know!
EH Johnston:
And by the power of the Sage Nanda was able to bear that sight which others could not have borne ; for the glory of the Apsarases' beauty is such that it would burn up the mind of one who was weak from not having conquered passion.
Linda Covill:
And by the power of the sage Nanda was able to endure that sight unendurable for others, for the bodily splendor of the apsarases would have burned the mind of a feeble man not free of passion.
VOCABULARY:
muneH (gen. sg.): m. the Sage
prabhaavaat (abl. sg.): m. might , power , majesty , dignity , strength , efficacy ; supernatural power ; splendour, beauty
ca: and
shashaaka = 3rd pers. sg. perfect shak: to be able to or capable of
nandaH (nom. sg.): m. Nanda
tad (acc. sg. n.): that
darshanam (acc. sg.): n. seeing; n. a vision , dream
soDhum = inf. sah: to bear , put up with , endure , suffer , tolerate
a-sahyam (acc. sg. n.): mfn. unbearable , insufferable
anyaiH (inst. pl.): by others
a-viita-raagasya (gen. sg. m.): devoid of dispassion
a: - a prefix corresponding to Eng. in or un , and having a negative or privative or contrary sense
viita-raaga: mfn. free from passions or affections , dispassionate , desireless , calm , tranquil ; colourless , bleached ; m. a sage with subdued passions
hi: for
durbalasya (gen. sg. m.): mfn. weak ; m. an impotent man , weakling
manaH (acc. sg.): n. mind
dahet = 3rd pers. sg. optative dah: to burn, consume by fire
apsarasaam (gen. pl.): f. apsaras, celestial nympth
vapuH-shriiH (nom. sg. f.): figure-light
vapus: mfn. having form or a beautiful form , embodied , handsome , wonderful; n. form , figure , (esp.) a beautiful form or figure , wonderful appearance , beauty; n. the body
shrii: f. light , lustre , radiance , splendour , glory , beauty , grace , loveliness
tad darshanaM soDhum a-sahyam anyaiH
a-viita-raagasya hi dur-balasya
mano dahed apsarasaaM vapuH-shriiH
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
10.46
And Nanda was able, relying on the power of the Sage,
To endure that sight unendurable to others.
For the mind of a man lacking dispassion,
when he was weak,
Would be burned up by the apsarases' shining splendour.
COMMENT:
A couple of days ago I got an email which finished with the words "Let me know." Since the email was an invitation, "Let me know" ostensibly meant "Tell me if you're coming or not." But I found myself reflecting that "Let me know" is an interesting phrase.
Let me know.
In the end, who lets who know what?
What kind of power did the Sage Gautama have to let his brother Nanda know?
In a sense the whole of Saundara-nanda is an answer to that question. And the stark answer might be that the Buddha, on his own, didn't have any power to let his brother know. It was necessary for Nanda himself to say, and really to mean "Let me know."
"Let me know" includes the recognition that I don't know yet -- or if I ever did know, I seem to have forgotten again.
When I came back to England hungry, or greedy, for knowledge of FM Alexander's discoveries, I was very much imbued with the spirit of "Let me know." And I was fortunate to meet some excellent Alexander teachers who did let me know -- though it was not necessarily what I wanted to know, and not what I was expecting to know.
Ray Evans, for example, let me know how vestibular faults are liable to corrupt at the deepest level the sensory appreciation of a person like me, so that what I feel about everything, starting with who and where and how I am, is liable to be wrong. Ron Colyer and Marjory Barlow let me know that it is OK to be an oddball individual, and OK to be wrong. Nelly Ben-Or let me know that my desire to know, my desire to grasp the truth with dirty paws (or "get to heaven with your boots on"), is always an obstacle in the way of seeking to know.
It is primarily on this basis that I understand the words muneH prabhaavaat, "through the power of a sage." As FM Alexander used to say, "I cannot get inside your brain and do the work for you." At the same time, Alexander by all accounts had unbelievable power, through the inhibited and directed use of his own voice and hands, to give people a new experience of a more dispassionate state of being. A more dispassionate state of being means a state in which -- in actions like sitting, standing, and lying down -- less superfluous activity is going on in the brain and nervous system.
The past few weeks since I fell off my bike and injured my left knee have been an interesting time for finding out about myself. In some sense, I am back on the nursery slopes of sitting; after ten or fifteen minutes, sitting in lotus becomes too painful and I have to take a rest and have a stretch. So in some sense I'm back where I was about 30 years ago. But in the process of stretching, I am thinking the words, and sometimes saying them slowly out loud: "Let the neck be free. To let the head go forward and up. To let the spine lengthen and the back widen. Sending the knees forwards and away. Pulling to the elbows and widening across the upper part of the arms, as you widen the back."
So I sit for 15 minutes, then stretch and give directions for 5, and sit for 15 and stretch for 5, and sit for 15 and stretch for 5, and sit again for 15 minutes. And at the end, despite all the shifting about, despite the fact that I can no longer sit for more than an hour without budging, I still have a very good sense of going in the right direction.
By the power of a sage named Marjory Barlow, FM Alexander's niece, in spite of my own deeply faulty sensory appreciation, those words evidently keep me going in the right direction -- whatever decrepit state my body is in.
It is just exactly as Marjory told me. "Keep coming back to those words. They will take you where you want to go."
As I head towards old age, it is a comforting realization... that at least something here is ageless. I would like to say to Marjory in particular: thanks for letting me know!
EH Johnston:
And by the power of the Sage Nanda was able to bear that sight which others could not have borne ; for the glory of the Apsarases' beauty is such that it would burn up the mind of one who was weak from not having conquered passion.
Linda Covill:
And by the power of the sage Nanda was able to endure that sight unendurable for others, for the bodily splendor of the apsarases would have burned the mind of a feeble man not free of passion.
VOCABULARY:
muneH (gen. sg.): m. the Sage
prabhaavaat (abl. sg.): m. might , power , majesty , dignity , strength , efficacy ; supernatural power ; splendour, beauty
ca: and
shashaaka = 3rd pers. sg. perfect shak: to be able to or capable of
nandaH (nom. sg.): m. Nanda
tad (acc. sg. n.): that
darshanam (acc. sg.): n. seeing; n. a vision , dream
soDhum = inf. sah: to bear , put up with , endure , suffer , tolerate
a-sahyam (acc. sg. n.): mfn. unbearable , insufferable
anyaiH (inst. pl.): by others
a-viita-raagasya (gen. sg. m.): devoid of dispassion
a: - a prefix corresponding to Eng. in or un , and having a negative or privative or contrary sense
viita-raaga: mfn. free from passions or affections , dispassionate , desireless , calm , tranquil ; colourless , bleached ; m. a sage with subdued passions
hi: for
durbalasya (gen. sg. m.): mfn. weak ; m. an impotent man , weakling
manaH (acc. sg.): n. mind
dahet = 3rd pers. sg. optative dah: to burn, consume by fire
apsarasaam (gen. pl.): f. apsaras, celestial nympth
vapuH-shriiH (nom. sg. f.): figure-light
vapus: mfn. having form or a beautiful form , embodied , handsome , wonderful; n. form , figure , (esp.) a beautiful form or figure , wonderful appearance , beauty; n. the body
shrii: f. light , lustre , radiance , splendour , glory , beauty , grace , loveliness
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
SAUNDARANANDA 10.45: In Praise of Big Stimuli
mahac ca ruupaM svaNu hanti ruupaM
shabdo mahaan hanti ca shabdam alpaM
gurvii rujaa hanti rujaaM ca mRdviiM
sarvo mahaan hetur aNor vadhaaya
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = -
10.45
Great beauty blots out lesser beauty,
A loud noise drowns out a small noise,
And a severe pain kills a mild pain --
Every big stimulus tends to extinguish a minor one.
COMMENT:
Line 3 could equally have been translated And a severe illness drives out a mild illness. But beauty, noise, and pain are all sensory stimuli, whereas illness is less obviously so. And whereas it may be true that severe illness drives out a mild illness, it is more self-evidently true that a severe pain kills a mild pain. For anybody experienced in sitting, there is no doubt that the most effective painkiller for any pain is a more severe pain somewhere else. One's legs being on fire, for example, is a cure for many niggles, from heart-aches to frozen shoulders.
A phrase I used to hear in the Britain of the 60s and 70s, as grumps who had endured WWII reached a certain age, was "what this country needs is a good war." There must have been a certain truth, born of real experience, behind this ostensibly crazy observation. I suppose it was an observation born of frustration with petty crime and other kinds of pettiness, and the lack of a sense of everybody pulling together. "All pulling together" might be one way of translating samaadhi.
I don't know why I get so worked up about little things like crowing roosters or light aircraft droning overhead, but I do. Maybe a few nights of heavy artillery bombardment would do me good. No, who am I kidding? I would be a jibbering wreck, suffering from shell shock, within minutes.
A great big challenging stimulus might be just the thing for a person who can find the strength to deal with it, but not for a person who lacks the requisite strength to meet a big challenge in a particular sensory arena.
In the Buddha's judgement, the next verse tells us, Nanda's eye was strong enough for him, with the Buddha's help, to stand the sight of the immense beauty of the apsarases -- a massive stimulus through the visual channel, which caused Nanda to stop worrying about Sundari.
EH Johnston:
Great beauty eclipses minute beauty, a great noise drowns a little noise, severe pain destroys a faint pain. Every great cause leads to the destruction of a (similar) small one.
Linda Covill:
Great beauty destroys small beauty, a great noise destroys a little noise, and a severe sickness destroys a mild sickness; every great cause brings the destruction of a lesser one.
VOCABULARY:
mahat (nom. sg. n.): mfn. great
ca: and
ruupam (nom. sg.): n. beauty
svaNu (acc. sg. n.): very small
su (ind.): very
aNu: mfn. fine , minute , atomic
hanti = 3rd pers. sg. han: to smite, slay, destroy
ruupam (acc. sg.): n. beauty
shabdaH (nom. sg.): m. sound, noise
mahaan (nom. sg. m.): mfn. great
hanti = 3rd pers. sg. han: to smite, slay, destroy
ca: and
shabdam (acc. sg.): m. sound, noise
alpam (acc. sg. n.): small
gurvii = nom. sg. f. guru: mfn. heavy, weighty; great, large ; high in degree , vehement , violent , excessive , difficult , hard ; grievous
rujaa (nom. sg.): f. breaking , fracture ; pain , sickness , disease
hanti = 3rd pers. sg. han: to smite, slay, destroy
rujaa (acc. sg.): f. breaking , fracture ; pain , sickness , disease
ca: and
mRdviim = acc. sg. f. mRdu: mfn. soft , delicate , tender , pliant , mild , gentle ; slight, moderate
sarvaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. every
mahaan (nom. sg. m.): mfn. great
hetuH (nom. sg.): m. " impulse " , motive , cause
aNoH (gen. sg. m.): mfn. fine , minute , atomic
vadhaaya = dat. sg. vadha: m. the act of striking or killing , slaughter , murder , death , destruction
shabdo mahaan hanti ca shabdam alpaM
gurvii rujaa hanti rujaaM ca mRdviiM
sarvo mahaan hetur aNor vadhaaya
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = -
10.45
Great beauty blots out lesser beauty,
A loud noise drowns out a small noise,
And a severe pain kills a mild pain --
Every big stimulus tends to extinguish a minor one.
COMMENT:
Line 3 could equally have been translated And a severe illness drives out a mild illness. But beauty, noise, and pain are all sensory stimuli, whereas illness is less obviously so. And whereas it may be true that severe illness drives out a mild illness, it is more self-evidently true that a severe pain kills a mild pain. For anybody experienced in sitting, there is no doubt that the most effective painkiller for any pain is a more severe pain somewhere else. One's legs being on fire, for example, is a cure for many niggles, from heart-aches to frozen shoulders.
A phrase I used to hear in the Britain of the 60s and 70s, as grumps who had endured WWII reached a certain age, was "what this country needs is a good war." There must have been a certain truth, born of real experience, behind this ostensibly crazy observation. I suppose it was an observation born of frustration with petty crime and other kinds of pettiness, and the lack of a sense of everybody pulling together. "All pulling together" might be one way of translating samaadhi.
I don't know why I get so worked up about little things like crowing roosters or light aircraft droning overhead, but I do. Maybe a few nights of heavy artillery bombardment would do me good. No, who am I kidding? I would be a jibbering wreck, suffering from shell shock, within minutes.
A great big challenging stimulus might be just the thing for a person who can find the strength to deal with it, but not for a person who lacks the requisite strength to meet a big challenge in a particular sensory arena.
In the Buddha's judgement, the next verse tells us, Nanda's eye was strong enough for him, with the Buddha's help, to stand the sight of the immense beauty of the apsarases -- a massive stimulus through the visual channel, which caused Nanda to stop worrying about Sundari.
EH Johnston:
Great beauty eclipses minute beauty, a great noise drowns a little noise, severe pain destroys a faint pain. Every great cause leads to the destruction of a (similar) small one.
Linda Covill:
Great beauty destroys small beauty, a great noise destroys a little noise, and a severe sickness destroys a mild sickness; every great cause brings the destruction of a lesser one.
VOCABULARY:
mahat (nom. sg. n.): mfn. great
ca: and
ruupam (nom. sg.): n. beauty
svaNu (acc. sg. n.): very small
su (ind.): very
aNu: mfn. fine , minute , atomic
hanti = 3rd pers. sg. han: to smite, slay, destroy
ruupam (acc. sg.): n. beauty
shabdaH (nom. sg.): m. sound, noise
mahaan (nom. sg. m.): mfn. great
hanti = 3rd pers. sg. han: to smite, slay, destroy
ca: and
shabdam (acc. sg.): m. sound, noise
alpam (acc. sg. n.): small
gurvii = nom. sg. f. guru: mfn. heavy, weighty; great, large ; high in degree , vehement , violent , excessive , difficult , hard ; grievous
rujaa (nom. sg.): f. breaking , fracture ; pain , sickness , disease
hanti = 3rd pers. sg. han: to smite, slay, destroy
rujaa (acc. sg.): f. breaking , fracture ; pain , sickness , disease
ca: and
mRdviim = acc. sg. f. mRdu: mfn. soft , delicate , tender , pliant , mild , gentle ; slight, moderate
sarvaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. every
mahaan (nom. sg. m.): mfn. great
hetuH (nom. sg.): m. " impulse " , motive , cause
aNoH (gen. sg. m.): mfn. fine , minute , atomic
vadhaaya = dat. sg. vadha: m. the act of striking or killing , slaughter , murder , death , destruction
Monday, July 4, 2011
SAUNDARANANDA 10.44: Earthly Loveliness Obscured by Heavenly Loveliness
diipa-prabhaM hanti yath" aandha-kaare
sahasra-rashmer uditasya diiptiH
manuShya-loke dyutim aNganaanaam
antar-dadhaaty apsarasaaM tathaa shriiH
= = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.44
Just as a light in the dark is extinguished
By the thousand-rayed brightness of the rising sun,
So the lovely radiance of women in the human world
Is put in the shade by the apsarases' shining splendour.
COMMENT:
This is the third in a series of four verses whose various metaphors illustrate the method behind the Buddha's use of a heavenly vision of stunning nymphs to bring Nanda to new heights of passion, even greater than the passion he felt for Sundari.
In passing, we notice that whereas the ascetic striver of cantos 8 & 9 seeks to portray women in the human world as inherently ugly and disgusting, Ashvaghosha himself in this verse acknowledges the lovely radiance or splendour (dyuti) of women in this world.
And this difference, as I perceive it, is not the difference between two opposing views, i.e., a pessimistic vs an optimistic view of the beauty of women. It is rather the difference between one who, as a preacher of propriety, is concerned with trying to be right, and one whose eyeballs have sprung free of that restriction.
The striver is more concerned about preaching to Nanda what behaviour is fitting, right, appropriate for a celibate monk. The emphasis of the Buddha and of Ashvaghosha is more on demonstrating, to Nanda and to the reader, a fundamental truth -- the truth of impermanence. And keen reflection on this truth causes Nanda to opt of his own volition for a better way (shreyas). This better way, as the Buddha and as Nanda choose to follow it, is a way of celibacy. But what it is better than, as I understand it, is not non-celibacy. What it is better than is trying to be right according to the lowly end-gaining principle.
This, at least, is how I see it, as one who has wasted far too much of his life going round trying to be right.
My old Zen teacher had some understanding of trying to be right. He equated the tendency with idealism. Observing that western people, or white people, had brains like computers, he opined that they could solve the problem of idealism by reading in his books the outline of "true Buddhism," which is neither idealism nor materialism.
The irony here is that my teacher's teaching, with its emphasis on self-adjustment of posture, was nothing but a variation on the theme of idealistic trying to be right. It failed to address the original source of trying to be right, which is not a failure to understand Buddhist philosophy, but is a fear of being wrong in oneself. To the extent that this fear is irrational, being rooted in infantile panic vs fear paralysis, the "brains like computers" model is a woefully inadequate one.
If not philosophical understanding then what, truly, is the antidote to that pernicious tendency of trying to be right which only makes a man of faulty sensory appreciation even more wrong?
The Buddha's answer, it seems to me, is not belief. Not belief in a teaching, not belief in a teacher. Not belief in a god, not belief in a prophet. Not even belief in a principle or a way. The Buddha's answer, in a scarily uncertain world governed by the law of impermanence, begins not with belief but with confidence. Confidence in a better way (shreyas). Confidence in a better way than the trying to be right which is rooted in fear of being wrong.
Objectively, I see it working in the work of my brother and my wife who teach nervous swimmers a better way to be in the water, in which fear gives way to confidence. I see it working in the developmental work my wife and I do with children suffering from immature primitive reflexes.
Still, getting beyond fear of being wrong is not easy -- not for me, not I dare say for my brother who has the same faulty genetic inheritance as me, and not even for my wife, whose faulty sensory appreciation is not so severe and who, even as she approaches 50, still has her radiant moments.
Really speaking, whether celestial nymphs exist, except in buddha-ancestors' thought experiments, I seriously doubt. But here on earth, beautiful women exist.
What man, then, except one who was too busy trying to be right and fearing to be wrong, would fail to recognize the lovely radiance of women in this world?
EH Johnston:
Just as the brilliance of the rising sun eclipses the light of a candle in the darkness, so the glory of the Apsarases renders invisible the lustre of women in the world of men.
Linda Covill:
As the radiance of the rising thousand-rayed sun annihilates lamplight in the darkness, so does the glory of the apsarases obscure the shine of women in the world of humankind.
VOCABULARY:
diipa-prabhaam (acc. sg.): lamp-light
diipa: m. a light , lamp , lantern
prabhaa: f. light
hanti = 3rd pers. sg. han: to mar , destroy ; obstruct, hinder
yathaa: ind. just as
andha-kaare (loc. sg.): darkness
andha: mfn. blind; n. darkness
kaara: mfn. making
sahasra-rashmeH (gen. sg. m.): mfn. thousand-rayed ; m. the sun
sahasra: n. a thousand
rashmi: m. a string, cord ; a ray of light , beam
uditasya (gen. sg. m.): mfn. risen , ascended ; being above , high , tall , lofty
diiptiH (nom. sg.): f. brightness , light , splendour , beauty
manuShya-loke (loc. sg.): the human world
dyutim (acc. sg.): f. splendour (as a goddess) , brightness , lustre , majesty , dignity
aNganaanaam (gen. pl.): f. " a woman with well-rounded limbs " , any woman or female
antar-dadhaati = 3rd pers. sg. antar- √ dhaa: to place within; to hide , conceal , obscure
apsarasaam (gen. pl.): f. apsaras, celestial nymph
tathaa: ind. so, similarly
shriiH (nom. sg.): f. light , lustre , radiance , splendour , glory , beauty , grace , loveliness
sahasra-rashmer uditasya diiptiH
manuShya-loke dyutim aNganaanaam
antar-dadhaaty apsarasaaM tathaa shriiH
= = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.44
Just as a light in the dark is extinguished
By the thousand-rayed brightness of the rising sun,
So the lovely radiance of women in the human world
Is put in the shade by the apsarases' shining splendour.
COMMENT:
This is the third in a series of four verses whose various metaphors illustrate the method behind the Buddha's use of a heavenly vision of stunning nymphs to bring Nanda to new heights of passion, even greater than the passion he felt for Sundari.
In passing, we notice that whereas the ascetic striver of cantos 8 & 9 seeks to portray women in the human world as inherently ugly and disgusting, Ashvaghosha himself in this verse acknowledges the lovely radiance or splendour (dyuti) of women in this world.
And this difference, as I perceive it, is not the difference between two opposing views, i.e., a pessimistic vs an optimistic view of the beauty of women. It is rather the difference between one who, as a preacher of propriety, is concerned with trying to be right, and one whose eyeballs have sprung free of that restriction.
The striver is more concerned about preaching to Nanda what behaviour is fitting, right, appropriate for a celibate monk. The emphasis of the Buddha and of Ashvaghosha is more on demonstrating, to Nanda and to the reader, a fundamental truth -- the truth of impermanence. And keen reflection on this truth causes Nanda to opt of his own volition for a better way (shreyas). This better way, as the Buddha and as Nanda choose to follow it, is a way of celibacy. But what it is better than, as I understand it, is not non-celibacy. What it is better than is trying to be right according to the lowly end-gaining principle.
This, at least, is how I see it, as one who has wasted far too much of his life going round trying to be right.
My old Zen teacher had some understanding of trying to be right. He equated the tendency with idealism. Observing that western people, or white people, had brains like computers, he opined that they could solve the problem of idealism by reading in his books the outline of "true Buddhism," which is neither idealism nor materialism.
The irony here is that my teacher's teaching, with its emphasis on self-adjustment of posture, was nothing but a variation on the theme of idealistic trying to be right. It failed to address the original source of trying to be right, which is not a failure to understand Buddhist philosophy, but is a fear of being wrong in oneself. To the extent that this fear is irrational, being rooted in infantile panic vs fear paralysis, the "brains like computers" model is a woefully inadequate one.
If not philosophical understanding then what, truly, is the antidote to that pernicious tendency of trying to be right which only makes a man of faulty sensory appreciation even more wrong?
The Buddha's answer, it seems to me, is not belief. Not belief in a teaching, not belief in a teacher. Not belief in a god, not belief in a prophet. Not even belief in a principle or a way. The Buddha's answer, in a scarily uncertain world governed by the law of impermanence, begins not with belief but with confidence. Confidence in a better way (shreyas). Confidence in a better way than the trying to be right which is rooted in fear of being wrong.
Objectively, I see it working in the work of my brother and my wife who teach nervous swimmers a better way to be in the water, in which fear gives way to confidence. I see it working in the developmental work my wife and I do with children suffering from immature primitive reflexes.
Still, getting beyond fear of being wrong is not easy -- not for me, not I dare say for my brother who has the same faulty genetic inheritance as me, and not even for my wife, whose faulty sensory appreciation is not so severe and who, even as she approaches 50, still has her radiant moments.
Really speaking, whether celestial nymphs exist, except in buddha-ancestors' thought experiments, I seriously doubt. But here on earth, beautiful women exist.
What man, then, except one who was too busy trying to be right and fearing to be wrong, would fail to recognize the lovely radiance of women in this world?
EH Johnston:
Just as the brilliance of the rising sun eclipses the light of a candle in the darkness, so the glory of the Apsarases renders invisible the lustre of women in the world of men.
Linda Covill:
As the radiance of the rising thousand-rayed sun annihilates lamplight in the darkness, so does the glory of the apsarases obscure the shine of women in the world of humankind.
VOCABULARY:
diipa-prabhaam (acc. sg.): lamp-light
diipa: m. a light , lamp , lantern
prabhaa: f. light
hanti = 3rd pers. sg. han: to mar , destroy ; obstruct, hinder
yathaa: ind. just as
andha-kaare (loc. sg.): darkness
andha: mfn. blind; n. darkness
kaara: mfn. making
sahasra-rashmeH (gen. sg. m.): mfn. thousand-rayed ; m. the sun
sahasra: n. a thousand
rashmi: m. a string, cord ; a ray of light , beam
uditasya (gen. sg. m.): mfn. risen , ascended ; being above , high , tall , lofty
diiptiH (nom. sg.): f. brightness , light , splendour , beauty
manuShya-loke (loc. sg.): the human world
dyutim (acc. sg.): f. splendour (as a goddess) , brightness , lustre , majesty , dignity
aNganaanaam (gen. pl.): f. " a woman with well-rounded limbs " , any woman or female
antar-dadhaati = 3rd pers. sg. antar- √ dhaa: to place within; to hide , conceal , obscure
apsarasaam (gen. pl.): f. apsaras, celestial nymph
tathaa: ind. so, similarly
shriiH (nom. sg.): f. light , lustre , radiance , splendour , glory , beauty , grace , loveliness
Sunday, July 3, 2011
SAUNDARANANDA 10.43: Bringing On a Healing Crisis
doShaaMsh ca kaayaad bhiShag ujjihiirShur
bhuuyo yathaa kleshayituM yateta
raagaM tathaa tasya munir jighaaMsur
bhuuyastaraM raagam upaaninaaya
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = -
10.43
Just as, wishing to draw faults from the body,
A healer would endeavour to aggravate them,
So, wishing to kill the red taint of passion in him,
The Sage brought about an even greater passion.
COMMENT:
EHJ records in the notes to his Sanskrit text that he accepted H.P. Shastri's emendations in line 1, with some hesitation. LC's Clay Sanskrit Library version follows EHJ's text, as does the transliteration of the Sanskrit Buddhist Input Project.
In the series of medical metaphors which are woven into Saundara-nanda, the Buddha is represented as a healer. And a healer is one who, by definition, is concerned with his patient as a whole -- in contrast to doctors in the prevalent Western medical paradigm who are generally good at intervening with drugs and surgery to treat symptoms of disease, without much regard for the truth that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Given my experience as an innocent victim in my youth of an end-gaining dentist who made his money from a "drill & fill" approach, and as a less innocent, more blameworthy victim in my 20s of end-gaining Zen teaching centred on the ugly concept of right posture, I should be more alive to the problem of end-gaining than I am. Sheer laziness is one obstacle. Pass the TV remote, would you, and make us a cup of tea?
The thing about end-gaining is it is so seductively simple. Just go for whatever important end you have in view, however limited it might be, and leave your mother or your wife or a nurse or an Alexander teacher or some other person of lesser rank than yourself to pick up the pieces and sort out the mess you have left behind.
End-gaining, if truth be told, is not really a way of simplicity. It is just an easy way, a way that seeks to deal with specific symptoms of a problem and in the process produces a whole complex of unintended undesirable consequences -- commonly known as "side effects" or as "collateral damage."
FM Alexander taught a means-whereby a person might learn to use himself more as a whole. He described this means-whereby as an approach that was diametrically opposed to end-gaining. End-gaining, Alexander thought, had become a habit of our civilization, like a drug.
Hello, my name is Mike. I've been an end-gainer for more than 50 years.
(But the last 30, since I went to Japan and bought into the idea of becoming a Zen Master, have been by far the worst.)
EH Johnston:
And as a physician who wishes to remove diseases of the body will set to work to cause it still greater pain, so the Sage in order to stamp out his passion led him into still greater passion.
Linda Covill:
And just as a doctor seeks to draw out humoral faults from the body by further paining it, so the sage, intending to destroy passion in him, first brought about a far greater passion.
VOCABULARY:
doShaan (acc. pl.): m. fault ; alteration , affection , morbid element , disease (esp. of the 3 humours of the body , viz. pitta , vaayu , and shleShman , applied also to the humours themselves)
ca: and
kaayaat (abl. sg.): from the body
bhiShak = nom. sg. bhiShaj: m. a healer , physician
ujjihiirShuH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. (fr. Desid. of ud + √hR), wishing to extricate
bhuuyaH: ind. more, further
yathaa: ind. just as
kleshayitum = inf. causative klish: to cause pain; torment , molest
yateta = 3rd pers. sg. optative yat: to endeavour to reach , strive after , be eager or anxious for (with inf.)
raagam (acc. sg.): m. colour , hue , tint , dye , (esp.) red colour , redness ; any feeling or passion , (esp.) love
tathaa: ind. so, similarly
tasya (gen. sg. m.): of/in him
munirH (nom. sg.): m. the Sage
jighaaMsuH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. (fr. desid. √ han) desirous of destroying
han: to smite , slay , hit , kill , mar , destroy ; to put to death, execute
bhuuyastaram (acc. sg. m.): even greater
bhuuyas: ind. more, still more
-tara: an affix forming the compar. degree of adjectives
raagam (acc. sg.): m. redness, passion
upaaninaaya = 3rd pers. sg. perfect upaa - √ nii: to convey or bring or lead near
bhuuyo yathaa kleshayituM yateta
raagaM tathaa tasya munir jighaaMsur
bhuuyastaraM raagam upaaninaaya
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = -
10.43
Just as, wishing to draw faults from the body,
A healer would endeavour to aggravate them,
So, wishing to kill the red taint of passion in him,
The Sage brought about an even greater passion.
COMMENT:
EHJ records in the notes to his Sanskrit text that he accepted H.P. Shastri's emendations in line 1, with some hesitation. LC's Clay Sanskrit Library version follows EHJ's text, as does the transliteration of the Sanskrit Buddhist Input Project.
In the series of medical metaphors which are woven into Saundara-nanda, the Buddha is represented as a healer. And a healer is one who, by definition, is concerned with his patient as a whole -- in contrast to doctors in the prevalent Western medical paradigm who are generally good at intervening with drugs and surgery to treat symptoms of disease, without much regard for the truth that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Given my experience as an innocent victim in my youth of an end-gaining dentist who made his money from a "drill & fill" approach, and as a less innocent, more blameworthy victim in my 20s of end-gaining Zen teaching centred on the ugly concept of right posture, I should be more alive to the problem of end-gaining than I am. Sheer laziness is one obstacle. Pass the TV remote, would you, and make us a cup of tea?
The thing about end-gaining is it is so seductively simple. Just go for whatever important end you have in view, however limited it might be, and leave your mother or your wife or a nurse or an Alexander teacher or some other person of lesser rank than yourself to pick up the pieces and sort out the mess you have left behind.
End-gaining, if truth be told, is not really a way of simplicity. It is just an easy way, a way that seeks to deal with specific symptoms of a problem and in the process produces a whole complex of unintended undesirable consequences -- commonly known as "side effects" or as "collateral damage."
FM Alexander taught a means-whereby a person might learn to use himself more as a whole. He described this means-whereby as an approach that was diametrically opposed to end-gaining. End-gaining, Alexander thought, had become a habit of our civilization, like a drug.
Hello, my name is Mike. I've been an end-gainer for more than 50 years.
(But the last 30, since I went to Japan and bought into the idea of becoming a Zen Master, have been by far the worst.)
EH Johnston:
And as a physician who wishes to remove diseases of the body will set to work to cause it still greater pain, so the Sage in order to stamp out his passion led him into still greater passion.
Linda Covill:
And just as a doctor seeks to draw out humoral faults from the body by further paining it, so the sage, intending to destroy passion in him, first brought about a far greater passion.
VOCABULARY:
doShaan (acc. pl.): m. fault ; alteration , affection , morbid element , disease (esp. of the 3 humours of the body , viz. pitta , vaayu , and shleShman , applied also to the humours themselves)
ca: and
kaayaat (abl. sg.): from the body
bhiShak = nom. sg. bhiShaj: m. a healer , physician
ujjihiirShuH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. (fr. Desid. of ud + √hR), wishing to extricate
bhuuyaH: ind. more, further
yathaa: ind. just as
kleshayitum = inf. causative klish: to cause pain; torment , molest
yateta = 3rd pers. sg. optative yat: to endeavour to reach , strive after , be eager or anxious for (with inf.)
raagam (acc. sg.): m. colour , hue , tint , dye , (esp.) red colour , redness ; any feeling or passion , (esp.) love
tathaa: ind. so, similarly
tasya (gen. sg. m.): of/in him
munirH (nom. sg.): m. the Sage
jighaaMsuH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. (fr. desid. √ han) desirous of destroying
han: to smite , slay , hit , kill , mar , destroy ; to put to death, execute
bhuuyastaram (acc. sg. m.): even greater
bhuuyas: ind. more, still more
-tara: an affix forming the compar. degree of adjectives
raagam (acc. sg.): m. redness, passion
upaaninaaya = 3rd pers. sg. perfect upaa - √ nii: to convey or bring or lead near
Saturday, July 2, 2011
SAUNDARANANDA 10.42: Letting It Come Out in the Wash
yathaa manuShyo malinaM hi vaasaH
kShaareNa bhuuyo malinii-karoti
mala-kShay'-aarthaM na mal'-odbhav'-aarthaM
rajas tath" aasmai munir aacakarSha
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = -
- = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = -
10.42
For just as a man, by adding soda ash to dirty clothes,
Makes them even dirtier,
In order to remove dirt, not in order to increase it,
So the Sage had stirred the dust of passion in him.
COMMENT:
Soda ash, or sodium carbonate, or washing soda, is a compound whose chemistry (Na2CO3) makes dirt less intractable, allowing it to come out in the wash.
When you think you are wrong, the old Alexander teacher Marjory Barlow used to say, say No to your old habitual way of using yourself, think the directions for a new way of using yourself ("Let the neck be free, to let the head out, so that the spine lengthens and the back widens..."), and go into movement, without a care in the world -- let it come out in the wash!
The Japanese have another way, an old, habitual Japanese way, which is epitomized by the saying kusai mono ni futa, "On something that stinks, put a lid."
When I came back to England at the end of 1994 to investigate the truth of the discoveries of FM Alexander, after 13 extremely tough years in Japan, trying to sift the gold of the buddha-ancestors out of a load of old Japanese shit, it was very clear to me that Alexander's teaching was very different from other approaches to dirt, like putting a lid on something that smells bad, or the closely associated practice of sweeping dust under the carpet.
To tell the truth, upon detailed investigation (just as the idealized intention of science suffers every bit as much, so an anonymous source informs me, from the arrogance, fixity, and hypocrisy of human beings as that of religion), a lot of sweeping dust under the carpet does go on under the guise of Alexander work -- especially by Alexander teachers with superficial understanding of what Alexander meant by "unduly excited fear reflexes and emotions."
In general, we human beings tend to be afraid of the wrongness within ourselves, which amounts to being afraid of fear itself. So, whether we are religious types, or supposed scientists, or Zen masters or Alexander teachers with certificates to prove it, we tend to go around in fear of being wrong, trying to prove to self and others how right we are.
But the actions of the Buddha, as Ashvaghosha describes them, are actions of a different order; they are the manifestation of a better way.
It is not a way of putting a lid on it, and not a way of sweeping it under the carpet. It is a way of letting it come out in the wash.
EH Johnston:
For just as a man makes dirty clothes dirtier by putting soda on them not to increase but to remove the dirt, so the Sage caused greater passion to him (in order to abolish it).
Linda Covill:
Just as a man uses soda to make dirty clothes even dirtier, not to create more dirt but to remove it, so the sage fomented passion in Nanda.
VOCABULARY:
yathaa: ind. just as
manuShyaH (nom. sg.): m. a man , human being
malinam (acc. sg. n.): mfn. dirty , filthy , impure , soiled , tarnished (lit. and fig.)
hi: for
vaasaH (acc. sg.): n. clothes
kShaareNa = inst. sg. kShaara: m. any corrosive or acrid or saline substance (esp. an alkali such as soda or potash)
bhuuyaH: ind. more
malinii-karoti = 3rd pers. sg. malinii-√ kR: to make dirty , soil , stain
mala-kShay'-aartham (acc. sg. n.): in order to remove dirt
mala: n. dirt, impurity
kShaya: m. loss , waste , wane , diminution , destruction ; removal ; end
artha: aim, purpose
na: not
mal'-odbhav'-aartham (acc. sg. n.): in order to generate dirt
mala: n. dirt, impurity
udbhava: m. existence , generation , origin , production , birth
ud- √bhuu: to come forth , arise , exist ; to shoot forth , increase , grow larger
artha: aim, purpose
rajas (acc. sg.): n. impurity , dirt , dust , any small particle of matter ; the " darkening " quality , passion , emotion , affection
tathaa: ind. likewise, similarly
asmai (dat. sg. m.): to him
muniH (nom. sg.): m. the Sage
aacakarSha = 3rd pers. sg. perfect aa- √ kRSh: to draw towards one's self , attract
kShaareNa bhuuyo malinii-karoti
mala-kShay'-aarthaM na mal'-odbhav'-aarthaM
rajas tath" aasmai munir aacakarSha
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = -
- = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = -
10.42
For just as a man, by adding soda ash to dirty clothes,
Makes them even dirtier,
In order to remove dirt, not in order to increase it,
So the Sage had stirred the dust of passion in him.
COMMENT:
Soda ash, or sodium carbonate, or washing soda, is a compound whose chemistry (Na2CO3) makes dirt less intractable, allowing it to come out in the wash. When you think you are wrong, the old Alexander teacher Marjory Barlow used to say, say No to your old habitual way of using yourself, think the directions for a new way of using yourself ("Let the neck be free, to let the head out, so that the spine lengthens and the back widens..."), and go into movement, without a care in the world -- let it come out in the wash!
The Japanese have another way, an old, habitual Japanese way, which is epitomized by the saying kusai mono ni futa, "On something that stinks, put a lid."
When I came back to England at the end of 1994 to investigate the truth of the discoveries of FM Alexander, after 13 extremely tough years in Japan, trying to sift the gold of the buddha-ancestors out of a load of old Japanese shit, it was very clear to me that Alexander's teaching was very different from other approaches to dirt, like putting a lid on something that smells bad, or the closely associated practice of sweeping dust under the carpet.
To tell the truth, upon detailed investigation (just as the idealized intention of science suffers every bit as much, so an anonymous source informs me, from the arrogance, fixity, and hypocrisy of human beings as that of religion), a lot of sweeping dust under the carpet does go on under the guise of Alexander work -- especially by Alexander teachers with superficial understanding of what Alexander meant by "unduly excited fear reflexes and emotions."
In general, we human beings tend to be afraid of the wrongness within ourselves, which amounts to being afraid of fear itself. So, whether we are religious types, or supposed scientists, or Zen masters or Alexander teachers with certificates to prove it, we tend to go around in fear of being wrong, trying to prove to self and others how right we are.
But the actions of the Buddha, as Ashvaghosha describes them, are actions of a different order; they are the manifestation of a better way.
It is not a way of putting a lid on it, and not a way of sweeping it under the carpet. It is a way of letting it come out in the wash.
EH Johnston:
For just as a man makes dirty clothes dirtier by putting soda on them not to increase but to remove the dirt, so the Sage caused greater passion to him (in order to abolish it).
Linda Covill:
Just as a man uses soda to make dirty clothes even dirtier, not to create more dirt but to remove it, so the sage fomented passion in Nanda.
VOCABULARY:
yathaa: ind. just as
manuShyaH (nom. sg.): m. a man , human being
malinam (acc. sg. n.): mfn. dirty , filthy , impure , soiled , tarnished (lit. and fig.)
hi: for
vaasaH (acc. sg.): n. clothes
kShaareNa = inst. sg. kShaara: m. any corrosive or acrid or saline substance (esp. an alkali such as soda or potash)
bhuuyaH: ind. more
malinii-karoti = 3rd pers. sg. malinii-√ kR: to make dirty , soil , stain
mala-kShay'-aartham (acc. sg. n.): in order to remove dirt
mala: n. dirt, impurity
kShaya: m. loss , waste , wane , diminution , destruction ; removal ; end
artha: aim, purpose
na: not
mal'-odbhav'-aartham (acc. sg. n.): in order to generate dirt
mala: n. dirt, impurity
udbhava: m. existence , generation , origin , production , birth
ud- √bhuu: to come forth , arise , exist ; to shoot forth , increase , grow larger
artha: aim, purpose
rajas (acc. sg.): n. impurity , dirt , dust , any small particle of matter ; the " darkening " quality , passion , emotion , affection
tathaa: ind. likewise, similarly
asmai (dat. sg. m.): to him
muniH (nom. sg.): m. the Sage
aacakarSha = 3rd pers. sg. perfect aa- √ kRSh: to draw towards one's self , attract
Friday, July 1, 2011
SAUNDARANANDA 10.41: A Bad Dose of the Hippy Hippy Shakes
sa jaata-tarSho 'psarasaH pipaasus
tat-praaptaye 'dhiShThita-viklav'-aartaH
lol-endriy'-aashvena mano-rathena
jehriiyamaaNo na dhRtiM cakaara
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = -
10.41
He became thirsty,
desirous of drinking up the apsarases,
Afflicted by a pervading itch to have them.
Dragged along by the mind-chariot
whose horse is the restless power of the senses,
He could not come to stillness.
COMMENT:
If samaadhi means "balanced stillness," today's verse can be read as a study in what samaadhi is not.
In today's verse Nanda is suffering from the opposite of samaadhi. The opposite of samaadhi is inability to come to stillness, this inability being rooted in thirst for some object upon which a subject has mentally seized, and to which a subject has become emotionally bound.
In the background to today's verse there might be a universal truth -- a truth that applies whether one is pursuing stillness as a Buddhist, or pursuing stillness as a non-Buddhist, or pursuing stillness as a student of the teaching of FM Alexander, or pursuing stillness just as a fan of stillness. And the truth might be that in pursuing stillness, it does not to do to be thirsty for anything, including stillness itself. Rather, the wise course for a pursuer of stillness might be to avoid any kind of emotional involvement with anything.
Hence, a protege of FM Alexander named Patrick Macdonald wrote, in connection with learning the Alexander Technique under a teacher:
The pupil must learn to stop doing, "to leave himself" in the hands of the teacher, neither tensing nor relaxing. Further, any emotional involvement in trying to learn what to do, or in what is going on, should be avoided. The best results are gained when a pupil can disassociate himself from what is happening, as if he were standing on one side watching someone else being taught. If he can do this for a time he will find himself taking his proper part in the process, with an awareness that is quite different and greatly enhanced. Alexander named the opposite of this kind of behaviour "endgaining" (i.e., the desire to bring about the end in view, however wrong the means might be).
If endgaining is the desire to bring about the end in view, however wrong the means might be, a better way than thirsty end-gaining for an object -- be it sensual or spiritual -- might be to have small desires and to realize them relying on means that are not wrong.
One who is thirsty for the deathless nectar does not get to drink it. But, the Buddha seems to tell Nanda in Canto 12(see 12.25), to have confidence in a better way is already to have the deathless nectar in one's hands.
EH Johnston:
He longed to quench that thirst with the draught of the Apsarases, for he was afflicted by the despair which held him of possessing them. Confused with desire , that chariot of the mind, whose steeds are the restless senses, he could not control himself.
Linda Covill:
He grew thirsty, and tormented by the agitation which governed him, he desired to drink up the apsarases to alleviate his thirst. Put to shame by desire, that chariot of the mind pulled by the galloping sense-horses, his resolution failed.
VOCABULARY:
sa (nom. sg. m.): he
jaata-tarShaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. thirsty, desirous
jaata: mfn. became, born, occured
tarSha: m. thirst
apsarasaH (acc. pl.): f. apsaras, celestial nymph
pipaasuH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. (fr. Desid. √paa, to drink) wishing to drink , thirsty
tat-praaptaye (dat. sg. f.): for the obtaining of them
tat: them
praapti: reaching , arrival at (comp.); attaining to , obtaining , meeting with , finding , acquisition , gain
adhiShThita-viklav'-aartaH (nom. sg. m.): afflicted by an agitation that inhabited him
adhi-√sthaa: to stand upon , depend upon; to inhabit, abide; to stand over ; to superintend , govern ;
adhiShThita: mfn. settled ; inhabited; superintended ; regulated
viklava: n. agitation , bewilderment ; mfn. overcome with fear or agitation , confused , perplexed , bewildered , alarmed , distressed
aarta: mfn. fallen into (misfortune) , struck by calamity , afflicted , pained , disturbed
lol-endriy'-aashvena (inst. sg.): whose restless horse is sense-power
lola: mfn. moving hither and thither , shaking , rolling , tossing , dangling , swinging , agitated , unsteady , restless; changeable , transient , inconstant , fickle
indriya: n. bodily power , power of the senses
ashva: horse
mano-rathena (inst. sg.): m. "heart's joy "; wish, desire; fancy, illusion; the heart compared to a car
manas: n. mind, heart
ratha: m. (√R) " goer " , a chariot , car , esp. a two-wheeled war-chariot; m. ( √ ram) pleasure , joy , delight
jehriiyamaaNaH = nom. sg. m. pres. part. intens. (1) hR: to take away , carry off ; to master , overpower , subdue , conquer ; (2) hrii: to be greatly ashamed
na: not
dhRtim (acc. sg.): f. holding , seizing , firmness, constancy; satisfaction , content , joy (dhRtiM- √kR, to keep ground or stand still ; to find pleasure or satisfaction)
cakaara = 3rd pers. sg. perfect kR: to do, make
tat-praaptaye 'dhiShThita-viklav'-aartaH
lol-endriy'-aashvena mano-rathena
jehriiyamaaNo na dhRtiM cakaara
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = -
10.41
He became thirsty,
desirous of drinking up the apsarases,
Afflicted by a pervading itch to have them.
Dragged along by the mind-chariot
whose horse is the restless power of the senses,
He could not come to stillness.
COMMENT:
If samaadhi means "balanced stillness," today's verse can be read as a study in what samaadhi is not.
In today's verse Nanda is suffering from the opposite of samaadhi. The opposite of samaadhi is inability to come to stillness, this inability being rooted in thirst for some object upon which a subject has mentally seized, and to which a subject has become emotionally bound.
In the background to today's verse there might be a universal truth -- a truth that applies whether one is pursuing stillness as a Buddhist, or pursuing stillness as a non-Buddhist, or pursuing stillness as a student of the teaching of FM Alexander, or pursuing stillness just as a fan of stillness. And the truth might be that in pursuing stillness, it does not to do to be thirsty for anything, including stillness itself. Rather, the wise course for a pursuer of stillness might be to avoid any kind of emotional involvement with anything.
Hence, a protege of FM Alexander named Patrick Macdonald wrote, in connection with learning the Alexander Technique under a teacher:
The pupil must learn to stop doing, "to leave himself" in the hands of the teacher, neither tensing nor relaxing. Further, any emotional involvement in trying to learn what to do, or in what is going on, should be avoided. The best results are gained when a pupil can disassociate himself from what is happening, as if he were standing on one side watching someone else being taught. If he can do this for a time he will find himself taking his proper part in the process, with an awareness that is quite different and greatly enhanced. Alexander named the opposite of this kind of behaviour "endgaining" (i.e., the desire to bring about the end in view, however wrong the means might be).
If endgaining is the desire to bring about the end in view, however wrong the means might be, a better way than thirsty end-gaining for an object -- be it sensual or spiritual -- might be to have small desires and to realize them relying on means that are not wrong.
One who is thirsty for the deathless nectar does not get to drink it. But, the Buddha seems to tell Nanda in Canto 12(see 12.25), to have confidence in a better way is already to have the deathless nectar in one's hands.
EH Johnston:
He longed to quench that thirst with the draught of the Apsarases, for he was afflicted by the despair which held him of possessing them. Confused with desire , that chariot of the mind, whose steeds are the restless senses, he could not control himself.
Linda Covill:
He grew thirsty, and tormented by the agitation which governed him, he desired to drink up the apsarases to alleviate his thirst. Put to shame by desire, that chariot of the mind pulled by the galloping sense-horses, his resolution failed.
VOCABULARY:
sa (nom. sg. m.): he
jaata-tarShaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. thirsty, desirous
jaata: mfn. became, born, occured
tarSha: m. thirst
apsarasaH (acc. pl.): f. apsaras, celestial nymph
pipaasuH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. (fr. Desid. √paa, to drink) wishing to drink , thirsty
tat-praaptaye (dat. sg. f.): for the obtaining of them
tat: them
praapti: reaching , arrival at (comp.); attaining to , obtaining , meeting with , finding , acquisition , gain
adhiShThita-viklav'-aartaH (nom. sg. m.): afflicted by an agitation that inhabited him
adhi-√sthaa: to stand upon , depend upon; to inhabit, abide; to stand over ; to superintend , govern ;
adhiShThita: mfn. settled ; inhabited; superintended ; regulated
viklava: n. agitation , bewilderment ; mfn. overcome with fear or agitation , confused , perplexed , bewildered , alarmed , distressed
aarta: mfn. fallen into (misfortune) , struck by calamity , afflicted , pained , disturbed
lol-endriy'-aashvena (inst. sg.): whose restless horse is sense-power
lola: mfn. moving hither and thither , shaking , rolling , tossing , dangling , swinging , agitated , unsteady , restless; changeable , transient , inconstant , fickle
indriya: n. bodily power , power of the senses
ashva: horse
mano-rathena (inst. sg.): m. "heart's joy "; wish, desire; fancy, illusion; the heart compared to a car
manas: n. mind, heart
ratha: m. (√R) " goer " , a chariot , car , esp. a two-wheeled war-chariot; m. ( √ ram) pleasure , joy , delight
jehriiyamaaNaH = nom. sg. m. pres. part. intens. (1) hR: to take away , carry off ; to master , overpower , subdue , conquer ; (2) hrii: to be greatly ashamed
na: not
dhRtim (acc. sg.): f. holding , seizing , firmness, constancy; satisfaction , content , joy (dhRtiM- √kR, to keep ground or stand still ; to find pleasure or satisfaction)
cakaara = 3rd pers. sg. perfect kR: to do, make
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