vaiDuurya-naalaani ca kaaNcanaani
padmaani vajr'-aaNkura-kesaraaNi
sparsha-kShamaaNy uttama-gandhavanti
rohanti niShkampa-talaa nalinyaH
= = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.24
There rise golden lotuses with beryl stems
And diamond shoots and stamens;
Receptive to touch, they have a scent of the ultimate:
Still pools without ripples allow them to grow.
COMMENT:
The organic element of lotuses with stems, shoots and stamens seem to me to refer back to the verses I categorized yesterday as "the first phase," and in particular to the discussion of red and blue lotuses in 10.21. The hard, inorganic mineral element of gold, beryl, and diamond seems to refer back to the maani (jewels) just mentioned in 10.23. So this verse as I read it represents the synthesis of opposites -- the organic and the inorganic, the soft and the hard.
Thinking philosophically, the intention might be to suggest progress in the direction of synthesis of two opposing standpoints, thesis and anti-thesis, idealistic discrimination and material fact.
Coming more from the heart, this verse brings to mind the famous invocation
om maṇi-padme hūṁ
which is thought to be addressed to a female incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, one of whose names is maṇí-padma, Jewel-Lotus (maṇi-padme being the vocative singular feminine of maṇi-padma). Just who this bodhisattva might be, is the subject of Shobogenzo chap. 33, Kannon. Whoever he or she is, we can suppose from her name maṇi-padma that she is neither totally soft nor totally hard. Maybe she is the embodiment of tough love.
The third line seems to hint at a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts, and at the same time to have a whiff about it of the ultimate truth of sitting, in which the tactile-proprioceptive sense is so vital.
The fourth line relates to non-movement and to growth in an upward direction. It also speaks to me, therefore, of sitting, and in particular the function of the vestibular system, and of the possibility of transcending the vestibular system -- for which purpose the vestibular system has in the first place to be still, quiet, undisturbed.
In general when a person endeavours to sit upright, his behaviour is directed unconsciously via the vestibular system. In books with titles like "Man's Supreme Inheritance" and "Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual," FM Alexander claimed to have discovered a means-whereby to substitute for this unconscious direction a conscious direction. Hence:
"The fact to be faced is that the human self was robbed of much of its inheritance when the separation implied by the conception of the organism as 'spirit,' 'mind' and 'body' was accepted as a working principle, for it left unbridged the gap between the 'subconscious' and the conscious. I venture to assert that if the gap is to be bridged, it will be by means of a knowledge, gained through practical experience, which will enable us to inhibit our instinctive, 'subconscious' reaction to a given stimulus, and to hold it inhibited while initiating a conscious direction, guidance, and control of the use of the self that was previously unfamiliar."
Easier said than done.
Still, if I manage to find a place without too many disturbing noises and am able to inhibit for a minute or two and come to quiet, the possibility becomes real of an upward direction that my vestibular system does not know anything about.
But in order for me to go in that direction, in order for me to transcend my dodgy vestibular system and experience a new kind of up, it seems to me, the vestibular system has first to come to quietness, or stillness. If conflicting aims in daily life are pulling me in different directions, or if my ear is subject to some disturbing noise -- like infernal cockerels constantly crowing -- I might as well, for the time being, forget about it.
Against the background of this understanding, for what it is worth, when I read the fourth line of today's verse I want to retain the original grammar which is that still pools (subject) grow / give rise to / produce / (transitive verb) [golden lotuses (object)]. It would be natural in English either to move the subject (still pools) to the front of the verse, or to reverse subject and object and say that golden lotuses grow in still pools. But I want to retain in line 4 the sense that when a body of water is totally still, it allows golden lotuses to grow -- which might be read as a metaphor for how sitting, as the stopping of certain unconscious movements, can foster growth of consciousness.
My own sitting in recent days seems to be so shallow and lacking in stillness that I feel I am the last person who should be endeavouring to clarify the meaning of today's verse like this. But ... pas de choix.
EH Johnston:
And the lotus ponds, whose surfaces are ever unruffled, produce golden lotuses with stems of beryl and shoots and stamens of diamond, delightful to the touch and fragrant to the smell.
Linda Covill:
And from the unstirred surfaces of lotus pools grow golden lotuses with stems of cat's-eye gems and diamond shoots and filaments, yet yielding to the touch and intensely fragrant.
VOCABULARY:
vaiDuurya-naalaani (acc. pl. n.): stems of beryl; hollow stalks made of cat's-eye gems
vaiDuurya: n. a cat's-eye gem ; beryl
naala: mn. a hollow stalk , (esp.) of the lotus
ca: and
kaaNcanaani (acc. pl. n.): mfn. golden , made or consisting of gold ; n. gold; money ; the filament of the lotus
padmaani (acc. pl. n.): mn. a lotus
vajr'-aaNkura-kesaraaNi (acc. pl. n.): with diamond shoots and stamens
vajra: diamond
aNkura: m. a sprout , shoot , blade , a swelling , a tumour
kesara: n. the hair ; mn. the filament of a lotus or of any vegetable
sparsha-kShamaaNi (acc. pl. n.): yielding to the touch
sparsha: touch
kShama: mfn. patient; enduring , suffering , bearing , submissive , resisting; fit , appropriate , becoming , suitable , proper for
uttama-gandhavanti (acc. pl. n.): endowed with uppermost fragrance
uttama: uppermost, of the highest order
gandhavat: mfn. endowed with fragrance , scented , odoriferous
rohanti = 3rd pers. pl. ruh: to ascend , mount , climb ; to rise , spring up , grow , develop , increase ; to grow together or over , cicatrize , heal (as a wound)
niShkampa-talaaH (nom. pl. f.): with motionless surfaces
niSh-kampa: mfn. not shaking or tremulous , motionless , immovable
tala: surface
nalinyaH = nom. pl. f. nalina: n. (fr. nala because of its hollow stalk?) a lotus flower or water-lily ; water
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
SAUNDARANANDA 10.23: Earrings, As Opposed to Buddhism
haaraan maNiin uttama-kuNDalaani
keyuura-varyaaNy atha nuupuraaNi
evaMvidhaany aabharaNaani yatra
svarg'-aanuruupaaNi phalanti vRkShaaH
= = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.23
Pearl necklaces, gemstones, supreme earrings,
Choicest armlets, and ankle bracelets,
Are the kinds of ornaments, fit for heaven,
That trees there bear as fruit.
COMMENT:
To translate uttama-kuNDalaani literally as "supreme earrings" or "the ultimate earrings" doesn't sound quite right. It is a phrase more likely to be found in advertizing copy than in a Buddhist text. In Buddhism, how can earrings be described as supreme? But I think this might be just Ashvaghosha's point -- to express, in the supremacy of earrings, the negation of Buddhism.
To paraphrase Zen Master Dogen from Shobogenzo chap. 3, Genjo-koan, when all things are seen as the manifestation of true Buddhism, then there are ordinary trees and different ones, blazing red lotuses and cool blue lotuses, mundane clothes and dharma-robes. When on the contary everything is seen irreligiously or objectively, then there are pearl necklaces, gemstones, and earrings which -- irrespective of the low intrinsic value that religious types tend to assign to them -- can be worth enough on the open market to pay for very many pairs of straw sandals.
In these terms, the four verses from 10.19 to 10.22 can be read as belonging to what Gudo Nishijima used to call "the first phase." And with today's verse Ashvaghosha's standpoint switches to a more objective consideration of how it might be in heaven -- as it is on earth.
So heaven as Ashvaghosha envisions it is not only a place where natural beauty naturally blossoms, but heaven is also a place full of jewelled earrings and other manufactured objects designed expensively to titillate the senses.
In short, in this verse Ashvaghosha as I hear him is imagining that in heaven there are things which don't have any Buddhist meaning, just as sometimes down here on earth what meets the eye is only fences, walls, tiles and pebbles.
In the first phase, there is Buddhism, as opposed to earrings (pratyarthi-bhuuta iva kuNDalaanaam; 10.20). In the second phase, in heaven as it is on earth, there must be earrings, as opposed to Buddhism.
EH Johnston:
Others bear ornaments of the kinds suited for Paradise, such as ropes of pearls, jewels, fine earrings, magnificent armlets and anklets.
Linda Covill:
Pearl necklaces, gems, superb earrings, wonderful armlets, anklets -- these are the kind of heaven-suited jewels that trees there bear as fruit.
VOCABULARY:
haaraan (acc. pl.): m. a garland of pearls , necklace (accord. to some , one of 108 or 64 strings)
maNiin (acc. pl.): m. a jewel , gem , pearl (also fig.) , any ornament or amulet , globule , crystal
uttama-kuNDalaani (acc. pl. n.): supreme earrings
uttama: mfn. uppermost, highest
kuNDala: n. a ring , ear-ring; bracelet
keyuura-varyaaNi (acc. pl. n.): choice armlets
keyuura: n. a bracelet worn on the upper arm
varya: mfn. to be chosen ; excellent , eminent , chief , principal , best of (gen. or comp.)
atha: and, then, moreover
nuupuraaNi (acc. pl. n.): an ornament for the toes or ankles or feet , an anklet
evaM-vidhaani (acc. pl. n.): mfn. of such a kind , in such a form or manner , such
aabharaNaani (acc. pl.): n. ornament , decoration (as jewels &c )
aa-bharaNa: n. decorating
bharaNa: n. wearing, putting on
yatra: ind. wherein
svarg'-aanuruupaaNi (acc. pl. n.): suited to heaven
svarga: m. heaven
anuruupa: mfn. following the form , conformable , corresponding , like , fit , suitable
phalanti = 3rd pers. pl. phal: to bear or produce fruit
vRkShaaH (nom. pl.): m. tree
keyuura-varyaaNy atha nuupuraaNi
evaMvidhaany aabharaNaani yatra
svarg'-aanuruupaaNi phalanti vRkShaaH
= = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.23
Pearl necklaces, gemstones, supreme earrings,
Choicest armlets, and ankle bracelets,
Are the kinds of ornaments, fit for heaven,
That trees there bear as fruit.
COMMENT:
To translate uttama-kuNDalaani literally as "supreme earrings" or "the ultimate earrings" doesn't sound quite right. It is a phrase more likely to be found in advertizing copy than in a Buddhist text. In Buddhism, how can earrings be described as supreme? But I think this might be just Ashvaghosha's point -- to express, in the supremacy of earrings, the negation of Buddhism.
To paraphrase Zen Master Dogen from Shobogenzo chap. 3, Genjo-koan, when all things are seen as the manifestation of true Buddhism, then there are ordinary trees and different ones, blazing red lotuses and cool blue lotuses, mundane clothes and dharma-robes. When on the contary everything is seen irreligiously or objectively, then there are pearl necklaces, gemstones, and earrings which -- irrespective of the low intrinsic value that religious types tend to assign to them -- can be worth enough on the open market to pay for very many pairs of straw sandals.
In these terms, the four verses from 10.19 to 10.22 can be read as belonging to what Gudo Nishijima used to call "the first phase." And with today's verse Ashvaghosha's standpoint switches to a more objective consideration of how it might be in heaven -- as it is on earth.
So heaven as Ashvaghosha envisions it is not only a place where natural beauty naturally blossoms, but heaven is also a place full of jewelled earrings and other manufactured objects designed expensively to titillate the senses.
In short, in this verse Ashvaghosha as I hear him is imagining that in heaven there are things which don't have any Buddhist meaning, just as sometimes down here on earth what meets the eye is only fences, walls, tiles and pebbles.
In the first phase, there is Buddhism, as opposed to earrings (pratyarthi-bhuuta iva kuNDalaanaam; 10.20). In the second phase, in heaven as it is on earth, there must be earrings, as opposed to Buddhism.
EH Johnston:
Others bear ornaments of the kinds suited for Paradise, such as ropes of pearls, jewels, fine earrings, magnificent armlets and anklets.
Linda Covill:
Pearl necklaces, gems, superb earrings, wonderful armlets, anklets -- these are the kind of heaven-suited jewels that trees there bear as fruit.
VOCABULARY:
haaraan (acc. pl.): m. a garland of pearls , necklace (accord. to some , one of 108 or 64 strings)
maNiin (acc. pl.): m. a jewel , gem , pearl (also fig.) , any ornament or amulet , globule , crystal
uttama-kuNDalaani (acc. pl. n.): supreme earrings
uttama: mfn. uppermost, highest
kuNDala: n. a ring , ear-ring; bracelet
keyuura-varyaaNi (acc. pl. n.): choice armlets
keyuura: n. a bracelet worn on the upper arm
varya: mfn. to be chosen ; excellent , eminent , chief , principal , best of (gen. or comp.)
atha: and, then, moreover
nuupuraaNi (acc. pl. n.): an ornament for the toes or ankles or feet , an anklet
evaM-vidhaani (acc. pl. n.): mfn. of such a kind , in such a form or manner , such
aabharaNaani (acc. pl.): n. ornament , decoration (as jewels &c )
aa-bharaNa: n. decorating
bharaNa: n. wearing, putting on
yatra: ind. wherein
svarg'-aanuruupaaNi (acc. pl. n.): suited to heaven
svarga: m. heaven
anuruupa: mfn. following the form , conformable , corresponding , like , fit , suitable
phalanti = 3rd pers. pl. phal: to bear or produce fruit
vRkShaaH (nom. pl.): m. tree
Sunday, June 12, 2011
SAUNDARANANDA 10.22: Wearing Simplicity
naanaa-viraagaaNy atha paaNDaraaNi
suvarNa-bhakti-vyavabhaasitaani
a-taantavaany eka-ghanaani yatra
suukShmaaNi vaasaaMsi phalanti vRkShaaH
= = - = = - - = - = -
- = - = = - - = - = -
- = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.22
In various colourless hues, or else white;
Beautifully illuminated with golden dividing lines;
Beyond the weaving together of strands,
being nothing but a unity;
Are the exquisite robes that trees there bear as fruit.
COMMENT:
What we are reading here is a buddha-ancestor's vision of heaven. Sadly, since no buddha-ancestor, in reality, has ever seen heaven, there is nothing to learn here about heaven. But there might be something to learn about the workings of a buddha-ancestor's mind.
When Asvhaghosha envisioned heaven, his imaginings -- one imagines -- were squarely based on his real experiences down here on earth. For that reason, I think Ashvaghosha in this verse is projecting into his vision of heaven something here on earth that struck him as worthy of consideration: namely a traditionally-sewn robe, including both the robe of the wandering mendicant which was dyed ochre, or yellow, or yellow-red, or saffron, or grey, or black or blue-black (but generally not, say, flourescent pink or lime green) and the white robe traditionally worn by a lay follower of the Buddha.
So this verse, as I read it, expresses a representation of a robe as perceived by a buddha-ancestor, as a sum of sewn-together parts and at the same time as a whole -- a simple rectangular sheet -- which is greater than the sum of its parts.
Being nothing but a unity, as a simple rectangular sheet, a traditional robe represents the kind of simplicity that Dogen described in the four Chinese characters he chose, as a young man, to express the essence of sitting-dhyana as he saw it:
自成一片
naturally/spontaneously becoming one piece.
成一片, becoming one piece, is not a skill that is learned: it happens 自, naturally or spontaneously, as long as the wrong thing is prevented from happening. The primary principle then, in listening to the teaching of buddhas, or sitting in lotus, or wearing the buddha-dharma-robe, is 諸悪莫作, the not doing of any wrong -- which is a very different thing from trying to be right, or trying to be cool, or trying to be true, or trying to be real.
被奉如来教
広度諸衆生
HI-BU-NYORAI-KYO
KO-DO-SHOSHUJO
Being clothed in the teaching of the realized one,
Saves all living beings everywhere.
EH Johnston:
There trees bear as fruit diaphorous clothes, without thread or interstices, shot with many colours, or white illumined with lines of gold.
Linda Covill:
Multi-hued or white, shimmering with gold thread, unwoven and seamless are the delicate garments that trees there bear as fruit.
VOCABULARY:
naanaa-viraagaaNi (acc. pl. n.): in various shades of colourlessness; naanaa: ind. differently , variously , distinctly , separately
viraaga: mfn. passionless , without feeling , dispassionate , indifferent; m. change or loss of colour ; excitement , irritation ; aversion , dislike or indifference to (loc. abl. , or comp.); indifference to external things or worldly objects
atha: ind. and, then, moreover, else
paaNDaraaNi (acc. pl. n.): mfn. whitish-yellow , pale , white; n. a jasmine blossom
paaNDara-bhikShu: m. " a white-robed mendicant "
paaNDara-vaasas: mfn. white-robed
suvarNa-bhakti-vyavabhaasitaani (acc. pl. n.): with conspicuous dividing lines shining forth
su-varNa: mfn. of a good or beautiful colour , brilliant in hue , bright , golden , yellow; gold
su: good
varNa: m. covering; outward appearance, colour; colour , tint , dye , pigment
bhakti: f. distribution , partition , separation; a division; division by streaks or lines; a streak , line , variegated decoration; a row , series , succession , order ; (ifc.) the being a part of; attachment, devotion to
vyavabhaasita: mfn. brightly illuminated
vy-ava- √ bhaas: Caus. -bhaasayati , to cause to shine out brightly , to illuminate beautifully
ava- √ bhās: to shine forth, be brilliant
a-taantavaani (acc. pl. n.): not made of threads, unwoven
a: (negative prefix)
taantava: mfn. made of threads ; n. a woven cloth; weaving
tantu: m. a thread , cord , string , line , wire , warp (of a web) , filament , fibre
eka-ghanaani (acc. pl. n.): being one single sheet; being nothing but unity; being simplicity itself
eka: one, single
ghana: m. any compact mass or substance (generally ifc.) ; m. a collection , multitude , mass , quantity; m. ifc. mere , nothing but
yatra: ind. wherein
suukShmaaNi (acc. pl. n.): mfn. minute , small , fine , thin
vaasaaMsi = acc. pl. vaasas: n. cloth , clothes , dress , a garment
phalanti = 3rd pers. pl. phal: to bear or produce fruit
vRkShaaH (nom. pl.): m. tree
suvarNa-bhakti-vyavabhaasitaani
a-taantavaany eka-ghanaani yatra
suukShmaaNi vaasaaMsi phalanti vRkShaaH
= = - = = - - = - = -
- = - = = - - = - = -
- = - = = - - = - = -
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.22
In various colourless hues, or else white;
Beautifully illuminated with golden dividing lines;
Beyond the weaving together of strands,
being nothing but a unity;
Are the exquisite robes that trees there bear as fruit.
COMMENT:
What we are reading here is a buddha-ancestor's vision of heaven. Sadly, since no buddha-ancestor, in reality, has ever seen heaven, there is nothing to learn here about heaven. But there might be something to learn about the workings of a buddha-ancestor's mind.
When Asvhaghosha envisioned heaven, his imaginings -- one imagines -- were squarely based on his real experiences down here on earth. For that reason, I think Ashvaghosha in this verse is projecting into his vision of heaven something here on earth that struck him as worthy of consideration: namely a traditionally-sewn robe, including both the robe of the wandering mendicant which was dyed ochre, or yellow, or yellow-red, or saffron, or grey, or black or blue-black (but generally not, say, flourescent pink or lime green) and the white robe traditionally worn by a lay follower of the Buddha.
So this verse, as I read it, expresses a representation of a robe as perceived by a buddha-ancestor, as a sum of sewn-together parts and at the same time as a whole -- a simple rectangular sheet -- which is greater than the sum of its parts.
Being nothing but a unity, as a simple rectangular sheet, a traditional robe represents the kind of simplicity that Dogen described in the four Chinese characters he chose, as a young man, to express the essence of sitting-dhyana as he saw it:
自成一片
naturally/spontaneously becoming one piece.
成一片, becoming one piece, is not a skill that is learned: it happens 自, naturally or spontaneously, as long as the wrong thing is prevented from happening. The primary principle then, in listening to the teaching of buddhas, or sitting in lotus, or wearing the buddha-dharma-robe, is 諸悪莫作, the not doing of any wrong -- which is a very different thing from trying to be right, or trying to be cool, or trying to be true, or trying to be real.
被奉如来教
広度諸衆生
HI-BU-NYORAI-KYO
KO-DO-SHOSHUJO
Being clothed in the teaching of the realized one,
Saves all living beings everywhere.
EH Johnston:
There trees bear as fruit diaphorous clothes, without thread or interstices, shot with many colours, or white illumined with lines of gold.
Linda Covill:
Multi-hued or white, shimmering with gold thread, unwoven and seamless are the delicate garments that trees there bear as fruit.
VOCABULARY:
naanaa-viraagaaNi (acc. pl. n.): in various shades of colourlessness; naanaa: ind. differently , variously , distinctly , separately
viraaga: mfn. passionless , without feeling , dispassionate , indifferent; m. change or loss of colour ; excitement , irritation ; aversion , dislike or indifference to (loc. abl. , or comp.); indifference to external things or worldly objects
atha: ind. and, then, moreover, else
paaNDaraaNi (acc. pl. n.): mfn. whitish-yellow , pale , white; n. a jasmine blossom
paaNDara-bhikShu: m. " a white-robed mendicant "
paaNDara-vaasas: mfn. white-robed
suvarNa-bhakti-vyavabhaasitaani (acc. pl. n.): with conspicuous dividing lines shining forth
su-varNa: mfn. of a good or beautiful colour , brilliant in hue , bright , golden , yellow; gold
su: good
varNa: m. covering; outward appearance, colour; colour , tint , dye , pigment
bhakti: f. distribution , partition , separation; a division; division by streaks or lines; a streak , line , variegated decoration; a row , series , succession , order ; (ifc.) the being a part of; attachment, devotion to
vyavabhaasita: mfn. brightly illuminated
vy-ava- √ bhaas: Caus. -bhaasayati , to cause to shine out brightly , to illuminate beautifully
ava- √ bhās: to shine forth, be brilliant
a-taantavaani (acc. pl. n.): not made of threads, unwoven
a: (negative prefix)
taantava: mfn. made of threads ; n. a woven cloth; weaving
tantu: m. a thread , cord , string , line , wire , warp (of a web) , filament , fibre
eka-ghanaani (acc. pl. n.): being one single sheet; being nothing but unity; being simplicity itself
eka: one, single
ghana: m. any compact mass or substance (generally ifc.) ; m. a collection , multitude , mass , quantity; m. ifc. mere , nothing but
yatra: ind. wherein
suukShmaaNi (acc. pl. n.): mfn. minute , small , fine , thin
vaasaaMsi = acc. pl. vaasas: n. cloth , clothes , dress , a garment
phalanti = 3rd pers. pl. phal: to bear or produce fruit
vRkShaaH (nom. pl.): m. tree
Saturday, June 11, 2011
SAUNDARANANDA 10.21: Red and Blue Lotuses
raktaani phullaaH kamalaani yatra
pradiipa-vRkShaa iva bhaanti vRkShaaH
praphulla-niil'-otpala-rohiNo' nye
s'-onmiilit-aakShaa iva bhaanti vRkShaaH
= = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.21
Trees there that abound in red lotuses
Look like trees ablaze.
Different trees, growing full-blown blue lotuses,
Seem to have their eyes open.
COMMENT:
It has been said since ancient times that blue lotuses open in fire. And today's verse, as I read it, relates to that timeless principle.
The principle is present, for example, in Ashvaghosha's description in Canto 3 of the Buddha giving up an extreme form of ascetism and thereby waking up to that step which is happy, irremovable, and irreducible (bubudhe padaṃ śivam ahāryam avyayam; 3.7).
Speaking from personal experience on the subject of redness and fire, when I was a teenager I used to suffer terribly from going red. I used to go red at those very moments when I most wanted not to go red -- especially when I wished to seem cool around girls. Forty years on, I still haven't solved the problem of labile emotions, except that I am pretty damn sure that the problem is rooted in an imperfectly integrated baby panic reflex, or Moro reflex as it is termed in medical circles.
Because of this personal background, I am generally alert to references to redness in the Buddha's teaching, for example:
Again, you must understand how, due to this cause, because of men's faults, the cycle of doing goes on, / So that those imbued with redness and darkness succumb to death. He is not reborn who is without redness and darkness. [16.18]
When a man sees a separate bodily form as decrepit, that insight of his is accurate; / In seeing accurately he is disenchanted and his exuberance ends, as a result of which redness fades away. // By the ending of the duality which is exuberance and gloom, I submit, his mind is fully set free. / And when his mind is fully liberated from that duality, There is nothing further for him to do. // [16.44 - 16.45]
In these verses from Canto 16 redness is opposed to darkness, just as the Moro reflex is opposed to fear paralysis, or just as the sympathetic nervous system is opposed to the parasympathetic nervous system.
But in today's verse a different opposition is described -- not redness vs darkness but fiery red vs cool blue.
So the opposition intended in this verse, as I read it, is that between ordinary living beings who in their blind end-gaining desires are suffering, and those odd, other, different (anye) ones who have opened their eyes to that step which is happy, irremovable, and irreducible (padaṃ śivam ahāryam avyayam; 3.7), and who thus may truly be called cool.
If I come back to personal experience, as I sit at this computer too close for comfort to crowing roosters who seem hell bent on stimulating my auditory Moro reflex, perhaps I should not presume to say anything about what the blue lotus symbolizes. But many times in the context of Alexander work I have experienced a teacher telling me, "No. No, you're doing. No, your wrists have tightened. No, go back to your own directions. No, you are pulling down in your hips. No. No. No. No. No." And so it continues until one feels one is coming to the end of one's tether and there emerges a thought of utter exasperation along the lines of "I don't know! I give up! This is flaming useless!" And the teacher quietly says, "Yes, that's it."
At such times, one does not feel like punching the air because one has understood something. The feeling is more one of deflation, in the realization that the kind of understanding one was grasping for... well, it was just an illusion. Still, when the grasping was given up, then something was allowed.
When I was a teenager I had a burning desire to be cool, which led me to karate and thence to Zen. And the blue lotus can be taken as a symbol of the coolness I aspired to. But in the end is there any such thing as coolness? Or is the blue lotus simply a description of a bit of nothing, burning desire -- even if only for a moment -- having burnt itself out?
The ultimate teaching of the Buddha was to have small desire (alpecchu). This teaching is never the negation of all desire, but it includes acknowledgement of the fact that burning, end-gaining desire is the original spark that lights the fires of suffering. Hence the Buddha said, in so many words, that a person of small desire already has the blue lotus in his hands.
EH Johnston:
There are trees there which look like candelabra by flowering with red lotuses and others appear to have wide-open eyes, as they put forth full-blown blue lotuses.
Linda Covill:
There are trees there that blossom with red lotuses and shine like lanterns, while others, as though open-eyed, grow blue, full-blown lotuses.
VOCABULARY:
raktaani (nom. pl. n.): mfn. reddened , red , crimson
phullaaH (nom. pl. m.): mfn. split or cleft open , expanded , blown (as a flower) ; abounding in flowers , flowery ; opened wide , dilated (as eyes)
kamalaani (nom. pl.): n. a lotus , lotus-flower , Nelumbium ; mfn. pale-red , rose-coloured ;
yatra: ind. wherein
pradiipa-vRkShaaH (nom. pl. m.): lantern-trees, candelabra; blazing trees
pradiipa: m. a light , lamp , lantern
vRkSha: a tree , (esp.) any tree bearing visible flowers and fruit (but also applied to any tree and other plants , often = wood » comp.)
pra- √ diip: to flame forth , blaze , burst into flames
iva: like
bhaanti = 3rd pers. pl. bhaa: to shine , be bright or luminous ; to shine forth , appear , show one's self ; to be splendid or beautiful or eminent ; to appear as , seem , look like , pass for (nom. with or without iva) ; to show , exhibit , manifest
vRkShaaH (nom. pl.): m. tree
praphulla-niil'-otpala-rohiNaH (nom. pl. m.): with full-blown blue lotus flowers growing
praphulla: mfn. blooming forth , blooming , blown; covered with blossoms or flowers
niil'-otpala: n. a blue lotus , Nymphaea Cyanea
niila: mfn. of a dark colour , (esp.) dark-blue or dark-green or black
utpala: n. the blossom of the blue lotus (Nymphaea Caerulea)
rohin: mfn. rising; (ifc.) mounting , ascending towards ; (ifc.) grown on or in; growing
anye (nom. pl. m.): others, different ones
s'-onmiilit-aakShaaH (nom. pl. m.): with opened eyes
sa: (possessive suffix) with
unmiilita: mfn. opened (as an eye or a flower) , caused to come forth , made visible; n. (in rhet.) unconcealed or open reference or allusion to
ud- √miil: to open the eyes
akSha: n. [only ifc. for akShi] the eye.
iva: like
bhaanti: to appear
vRkShaaH (nom. pl.): m. tree
pradiipa-vRkShaa iva bhaanti vRkShaaH
praphulla-niil'-otpala-rohiNo' nye
s'-onmiilit-aakShaa iva bhaanti vRkShaaH
= = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.21
Trees there that abound in red lotuses
Look like trees ablaze.
Different trees, growing full-blown blue lotuses,
Seem to have their eyes open.
COMMENT:
It has been said since ancient times that blue lotuses open in fire. And today's verse, as I read it, relates to that timeless principle.
The principle is present, for example, in Ashvaghosha's description in Canto 3 of the Buddha giving up an extreme form of ascetism and thereby waking up to that step which is happy, irremovable, and irreducible (bubudhe padaṃ śivam ahāryam avyayam; 3.7).
Speaking from personal experience on the subject of redness and fire, when I was a teenager I used to suffer terribly from going red. I used to go red at those very moments when I most wanted not to go red -- especially when I wished to seem cool around girls. Forty years on, I still haven't solved the problem of labile emotions, except that I am pretty damn sure that the problem is rooted in an imperfectly integrated baby panic reflex, or Moro reflex as it is termed in medical circles.
Because of this personal background, I am generally alert to references to redness in the Buddha's teaching, for example:
Again, you must understand how, due to this cause, because of men's faults, the cycle of doing goes on, / So that those imbued with redness and darkness succumb to death. He is not reborn who is without redness and darkness. [16.18]
When a man sees a separate bodily form as decrepit, that insight of his is accurate; / In seeing accurately he is disenchanted and his exuberance ends, as a result of which redness fades away. // By the ending of the duality which is exuberance and gloom, I submit, his mind is fully set free. / And when his mind is fully liberated from that duality, There is nothing further for him to do. // [16.44 - 16.45]
In these verses from Canto 16 redness is opposed to darkness, just as the Moro reflex is opposed to fear paralysis, or just as the sympathetic nervous system is opposed to the parasympathetic nervous system.
But in today's verse a different opposition is described -- not redness vs darkness but fiery red vs cool blue.
So the opposition intended in this verse, as I read it, is that between ordinary living beings who in their blind end-gaining desires are suffering, and those odd, other, different (anye) ones who have opened their eyes to that step which is happy, irremovable, and irreducible (padaṃ śivam ahāryam avyayam; 3.7), and who thus may truly be called cool.
If I come back to personal experience, as I sit at this computer too close for comfort to crowing roosters who seem hell bent on stimulating my auditory Moro reflex, perhaps I should not presume to say anything about what the blue lotus symbolizes. But many times in the context of Alexander work I have experienced a teacher telling me, "No. No, you're doing. No, your wrists have tightened. No, go back to your own directions. No, you are pulling down in your hips. No. No. No. No. No." And so it continues until one feels one is coming to the end of one's tether and there emerges a thought of utter exasperation along the lines of "I don't know! I give up! This is flaming useless!" And the teacher quietly says, "Yes, that's it."
At such times, one does not feel like punching the air because one has understood something. The feeling is more one of deflation, in the realization that the kind of understanding one was grasping for... well, it was just an illusion. Still, when the grasping was given up, then something was allowed.
When I was a teenager I had a burning desire to be cool, which led me to karate and thence to Zen. And the blue lotus can be taken as a symbol of the coolness I aspired to. But in the end is there any such thing as coolness? Or is the blue lotus simply a description of a bit of nothing, burning desire -- even if only for a moment -- having burnt itself out?
The ultimate teaching of the Buddha was to have small desire (alpecchu). This teaching is never the negation of all desire, but it includes acknowledgement of the fact that burning, end-gaining desire is the original spark that lights the fires of suffering. Hence the Buddha said, in so many words, that a person of small desire already has the blue lotus in his hands.
EH Johnston:
There are trees there which look like candelabra by flowering with red lotuses and others appear to have wide-open eyes, as they put forth full-blown blue lotuses.
Linda Covill:
There are trees there that blossom with red lotuses and shine like lanterns, while others, as though open-eyed, grow blue, full-blown lotuses.
VOCABULARY:
raktaani (nom. pl. n.): mfn. reddened , red , crimson
phullaaH (nom. pl. m.): mfn. split or cleft open , expanded , blown (as a flower) ; abounding in flowers , flowery ; opened wide , dilated (as eyes)
kamalaani (nom. pl.): n. a lotus , lotus-flower , Nelumbium ; mfn. pale-red , rose-coloured ;
yatra: ind. wherein
pradiipa-vRkShaaH (nom. pl. m.): lantern-trees, candelabra; blazing trees
pradiipa: m. a light , lamp , lantern
vRkSha: a tree , (esp.) any tree bearing visible flowers and fruit (but also applied to any tree and other plants , often = wood » comp.)
pra- √ diip: to flame forth , blaze , burst into flames
iva: like
bhaanti = 3rd pers. pl. bhaa: to shine , be bright or luminous ; to shine forth , appear , show one's self ; to be splendid or beautiful or eminent ; to appear as , seem , look like , pass for (nom. with or without iva) ; to show , exhibit , manifest
vRkShaaH (nom. pl.): m. tree
praphulla-niil'-otpala-rohiNaH (nom. pl. m.): with full-blown blue lotus flowers growing
praphulla: mfn. blooming forth , blooming , blown; covered with blossoms or flowers
niil'-otpala: n. a blue lotus , Nymphaea Cyanea
niila: mfn. of a dark colour , (esp.) dark-blue or dark-green or black
utpala: n. the blossom of the blue lotus (Nymphaea Caerulea)
rohin: mfn. rising; (ifc.) mounting , ascending towards ; (ifc.) grown on or in; growing
anye (nom. pl. m.): others, different ones
s'-onmiilit-aakShaaH (nom. pl. m.): with opened eyes
sa: (possessive suffix) with
unmiilita: mfn. opened (as an eye or a flower) , caused to come forth , made visible; n. (in rhet.) unconcealed or open reference or allusion to
ud- √miil: to open the eyes
akSha: n. [only ifc. for akShi] the eye.
iva: like
bhaanti: to appear
vRkShaaH (nom. pl.): m. tree
Friday, June 10, 2011
SAUNDARANANDA 10.20: Opposing Earrings
puShyanti ke cit surabhiir udaaraa
maalaaH srajash ca grathitaa vicitraaH
karN'-aanukuulaan avataMsakaaMsh ca
pratyarthi-bhuutaan iva kuNDalaanaaM
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.20
Some produce garlands and wreaths
Which are fragrant and affecting,
with variously interwoven strands,
And small round creations suited to the ear
Which are akin to earrings' opponents.
COMMENT:
Again this verse is ostensibly about fantastic trees in Indra's paradise. But what Ashvaghosha might really have in mind in this verse, as I read it, is just the daily life of earthly buddha-ancestors.
Ashvaghosha himself, for example, as one buddha-ancestor, produces subtly suggestive and affecting verse, with its variously interwoven strands, to convey to others what the Buddha's teaching is about -- and what it is not about. It is not, for example, about being particularly interested in women's jewellery.
The first half of today's verse, then, might be intended to include a play on the words maalaa and sraj both of whose meanings include not only garland but any series of things, like a series of verses, or a series of metaphors. Moreover, maalaa and sraj are names of metre in Sanskrit poetry -- though whether or not these names of metres pre-dated Ashvaghosha I do not know.
The second half of the verse ostensibly describes little floral ear decorations that vie with earrings in attractiveness to the eye, so that two elements of the same order are as if competing on the same basis: posies vs earrings. But the arrangements that Ashvaghosha really has in mind, as I hear him, are not of flowers but rather of words -- words which are designed to pander neither to the eyes not ultimately to the ears, but which on the contrary are designed ultimately to weaken the pull of the power of all the reader's senses.
An example that springs to mind of such words is a particularly affecting pair of verses from Canto 14:
And just as two travellers, in order to cross a wilderness, / Might feed upon the flesh of a child, though grievously pained to do so, as its mother and father, // So food should be eaten, consciously, / Not for display, not for appearance; Not so as to excite hilarity, not to feed extravagance. // [14.13 -14.14]
It is hard to think of this pair of verses purporting to rival a pair of earrings in terms of attractiveness. The words are affecting in a totally different way from anything that is merely decorative or aesthetically pleasing. So line 4, as I read it, is not referring to a same-order opposition, like arm-wrestlers competing on the same terms; the opposition is more like the speaking of truth to power.
In the end, earrings are not opposed by ascetic practice and not opposed by beautiful arrangements of flowers. In the end, how are earrings opposed? In the end, earrings are opposed by a buddha-ancestor doing his one non-doing dharma-duty of sitting in full lotus -- and after that producing or not producing whatever he likes.
Ashvagosha, as I picture him and hear him, was never a poet who adopted Buddhist motifs, any more than he was a Buddhist monk who preached Buddhism. Ashvaghosha was a buddha-ancestor who liked to create verses that express what the Buddha's teaching is, and more particularly what it is not.
Thus, even behind a verse like this, inevitably, the one great matter might be sitting, as the non-doing of wrong -- 諸悪莫作 SHO-AKU-MAKU-SA -- with particular attention to the neck, head, and back.
EH Johnston:
Some bear sweet-smelling noble garlands and wreaths of various kinds, ready for use, and posies so fitted for the ears that they seemed to rival earrings.
Linda Covill:
Some trees produce exquisite fragrant garlands and wreaths variously interwoven, and flower ornaments so suited to the ear that they seem to rival earrings.
VOCABULARY:
puShyanti = 3rd pers. pl. puSh: to cause to thrive or prosper , nourish , foster , augment , increase , further , promote , fulfil (e.g. a wish) , develop , unfold , display
ke cit (nom. pl. m.): some
su-rabhiiH (acc. pl. f.): mfn. sweet-smelling , fragrant
udaaraaH (acc. pl. f.): mfn. high , lofty , exalted ; noble , illustrious ; eloquent ; exciting, effecting
maalaaH = acc. pl. maalaa: f. a wreath , garland , crown ; a string of beads , necklace , rosary; a row , line ; a series , regular succession (with naamnaam , a collection of words arrayed in a series , a vocabulary , dictionary) ; N. of various metres ; (in rhet.) a series of epithets or similes
srajaH = acc. pl. sraj: f. (fr. sRj) turning , twisting , winding a wreath of flowers , garland , chaplet worn on the head , any wreath or garland , circle , series , chain ; f. a kind of metre
ca: and
grathitaaH (acc. pl. f.): mfn. strung , tied , bound , connected , tied together or in order , wound , arranged , classed
grath: to fasten , tie or string together , arrange , connect in a regular series
vicitraaH (acc. pl. f.): mfn. variegated , many-coloured , motley , brilliant; manifold , various , diverse
karN'-aanukuulaan (acc. pl. m.): conformable to the ear
karNa: m. the ear
anukuula: mfn. following the bank (kuula) or slope or declivity; conformable to
avataMsakaan (acc. pl.): m. (√ taMs) , a garland , ring-shaped ornament , ear ornament , ear-ring , crest
√ taMs: (active voice taMsati , to decorate; middle voice taMsate, to decorate one's self )" to move " , pour out (fig. a wish)
ca: and
pratyarthibhuutaan (acc. pl. m.): being inimical
pratyarthin: mfn. hostile , inimical ; m. an adversary , opponent , rival
bhuuta: (ifc.) being or being like anything , consisting of, mixed or joined with
praty- √ arth: to challenge (to combat)
iva: like, as if
kuNDalaanaam = gen. pl. kuNDala: n. a ring , ear-ring
maalaaH srajash ca grathitaa vicitraaH
karN'-aanukuulaan avataMsakaaMsh ca
pratyarthi-bhuutaan iva kuNDalaanaaM
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.20
Some produce garlands and wreaths
Which are fragrant and affecting,
with variously interwoven strands,
And small round creations suited to the ear
Which are akin to earrings' opponents.
COMMENT:
Again this verse is ostensibly about fantastic trees in Indra's paradise. But what Ashvaghosha might really have in mind in this verse, as I read it, is just the daily life of earthly buddha-ancestors.
Ashvaghosha himself, for example, as one buddha-ancestor, produces subtly suggestive and affecting verse, with its variously interwoven strands, to convey to others what the Buddha's teaching is about -- and what it is not about. It is not, for example, about being particularly interested in women's jewellery.
The first half of today's verse, then, might be intended to include a play on the words maalaa and sraj both of whose meanings include not only garland but any series of things, like a series of verses, or a series of metaphors. Moreover, maalaa and sraj are names of metre in Sanskrit poetry -- though whether or not these names of metres pre-dated Ashvaghosha I do not know.
The second half of the verse ostensibly describes little floral ear decorations that vie with earrings in attractiveness to the eye, so that two elements of the same order are as if competing on the same basis: posies vs earrings. But the arrangements that Ashvaghosha really has in mind, as I hear him, are not of flowers but rather of words -- words which are designed to pander neither to the eyes not ultimately to the ears, but which on the contrary are designed ultimately to weaken the pull of the power of all the reader's senses.
An example that springs to mind of such words is a particularly affecting pair of verses from Canto 14:
And just as two travellers, in order to cross a wilderness, / Might feed upon the flesh of a child, though grievously pained to do so, as its mother and father, // So food should be eaten, consciously, / Not for display, not for appearance; Not so as to excite hilarity, not to feed extravagance. // [14.13 -14.14]
It is hard to think of this pair of verses purporting to rival a pair of earrings in terms of attractiveness. The words are affecting in a totally different way from anything that is merely decorative or aesthetically pleasing. So line 4, as I read it, is not referring to a same-order opposition, like arm-wrestlers competing on the same terms; the opposition is more like the speaking of truth to power.
In the end, earrings are not opposed by ascetic practice and not opposed by beautiful arrangements of flowers. In the end, how are earrings opposed? In the end, earrings are opposed by a buddha-ancestor doing his one non-doing dharma-duty of sitting in full lotus -- and after that producing or not producing whatever he likes.
Ashvagosha, as I picture him and hear him, was never a poet who adopted Buddhist motifs, any more than he was a Buddhist monk who preached Buddhism. Ashvaghosha was a buddha-ancestor who liked to create verses that express what the Buddha's teaching is, and more particularly what it is not.
Thus, even behind a verse like this, inevitably, the one great matter might be sitting, as the non-doing of wrong -- 諸悪莫作 SHO-AKU-MAKU-SA -- with particular attention to the neck, head, and back.
EH Johnston:
Some bear sweet-smelling noble garlands and wreaths of various kinds, ready for use, and posies so fitted for the ears that they seemed to rival earrings.
Linda Covill:
Some trees produce exquisite fragrant garlands and wreaths variously interwoven, and flower ornaments so suited to the ear that they seem to rival earrings.
VOCABULARY:
puShyanti = 3rd pers. pl. puSh: to cause to thrive or prosper , nourish , foster , augment , increase , further , promote , fulfil (e.g. a wish) , develop , unfold , display
ke cit (nom. pl. m.): some
su-rabhiiH (acc. pl. f.): mfn. sweet-smelling , fragrant
udaaraaH (acc. pl. f.): mfn. high , lofty , exalted ; noble , illustrious ; eloquent ; exciting, effecting
maalaaH = acc. pl. maalaa: f. a wreath , garland , crown ; a string of beads , necklace , rosary; a row , line ; a series , regular succession (with naamnaam , a collection of words arrayed in a series , a vocabulary , dictionary) ; N. of various metres ; (in rhet.) a series of epithets or similes
srajaH = acc. pl. sraj: f. (fr. sRj) turning , twisting , winding a wreath of flowers , garland , chaplet worn on the head , any wreath or garland , circle , series , chain ; f. a kind of metre
ca: and
grathitaaH (acc. pl. f.): mfn. strung , tied , bound , connected , tied together or in order , wound , arranged , classed
grath: to fasten , tie or string together , arrange , connect in a regular series
vicitraaH (acc. pl. f.): mfn. variegated , many-coloured , motley , brilliant; manifold , various , diverse
karN'-aanukuulaan (acc. pl. m.): conformable to the ear
karNa: m. the ear
anukuula: mfn. following the bank (kuula) or slope or declivity; conformable to
avataMsakaan (acc. pl.): m. (√ taMs) , a garland , ring-shaped ornament , ear ornament , ear-ring , crest
√ taMs: (active voice taMsati , to decorate; middle voice taMsate, to decorate one's self )" to move " , pour out (fig. a wish)
ca: and
pratyarthibhuutaan (acc. pl. m.): being inimical
pratyarthin: mfn. hostile , inimical ; m. an adversary , opponent , rival
bhuuta: (ifc.) being or being like anything , consisting of, mixed or joined with
praty- √ arth: to challenge (to combat)
iva: like, as if
kuNDalaanaam = gen. pl. kuNDala: n. a ring , ear-ring
Thursday, June 9, 2011
SAUNDARANANDA 10.19: A Common Delusion, Or an Oddball's Enlightenment?
Rtaav Rtaav aakRtim eka eke
kShaNe kShaNe bibhrati yatra vRkShaaH
citraaM samastaam api ke cid anye
ShaNNaam RtuunaaM shriyam udvahanti
- = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = -
10.19
There one by one, season by season,
and moment by moment,
Trees convey their individual form;
While some odd ones also bring out
The combined manifold glory of all six seasons.
COMMENT:
From 10.19 to 10.27 Ashvaghosha presents to us a vision of what trees are like in Indra's paradise. From 10.28 to 10.31 the subject changes to birds. There then follows a description of the celestial nymphs, the apsarases, whose effect on Nanda is essential to the overall plot of the poem.
So if we didn't know Ashvaghosha better by now, we might think that the next dozen or so verses are incidental, a kind of poetic interlude that merely sets the scene in heaven for the important action which will ensue there.
But efforts hitherto have led us to suspect that there is no verse without gold for a sitting practitioner to dig for. Rather, those verses which appear on first reading to be least promising are liable to contain the deepest veins of gold.
With that suspicion in mind, what on earth might Ashvaghosha be hinting at in this verse?
This verse ostensibly belongs to the description of a delusion that was common in ancient India, namely, Indra's paradise, a place that has never existed except in people's imagination. But I think the ever-ironic intention of Ashvaghosha might be to describe his real experience, down here on earth, of a different (anya) way of being which is the dialectic opposite of delusion.
Understood like this, today's verse can be read as picking up the thread of yesterday's verse which mentions the Buddha's consideration of a slightly unconventional means, in order to convey a teaching which is nothing if not alternative.
I heard a woman named Marjory Barlow who described herself as "a bit of an oddball" repeatedly come back to four verbal directions formulated by her uncle FM Alexander, namely:
(1) allow the neck to be free;
(2) to let the head go forward, and up;
(3) to let the back lengthen, and widen; while
(4) sending the knees forwards and away.
Each of these four directions contains something to be investigated in its own right. At the same time, Alexander talked of coming back to these individual directions and keeping them going until they became one. "Altogether, one after the other," was a teaching phrase he used. Since words cannot be spoken or listened to altogether, the "altogether" part is inevitably something beyond words. And when one is given a taste in an Alexander lesson of what Alexander meant, for example, when he wrote of "the unity underlying all things," one has the sense that this unity is a very natural experience for human beings, but one that most people have strayed from and are out of touch with.
The oddballs are not many who set aside valuable time in order to endeavour -- through altenative practices like Alexander work, or like sitting upright with the legs tied in a knot -- to let this natural state re-assert itself. And a few of these oddballs achieve conspicuous success in their non-doing endeavour, as manifested in stuff they subsequently do -- Ashvaghosha in India and Dogen in China and Japan being two outstanding examples.
Thus Dogen proclaimed when he came back to Japan from China that the secret of sitting-zen has to do with
自成一片
JI-JO-IPPEN,
naturally/spontaneously becoming all of a piece.
So in this verse, I venture to suggest, Ashvaghosha might be intending to point to something (or a bit of nothing) along the same lines that FM Alexander and Zen Master Dogen were pointing to in their ultimately impossible attempts to point to what words cannot adequately describe.
In the experience of Ashvaghosha, we can suppose, as 12th in a line of transmission from the Buddha, one who was odd or different was Punyayashas, who was 11th in that lineage.
And on that subject, incidentally, there is a point I have been wanting to make for some time, which is that if we accept that the Buddha died in around the 5th century BC and that Bodhidharma came to China in around the 5th century AD, given that Bodhidharma was 28th in a line in which Ashvaghosha was the 12th, and assuming that time between transmissions was roughly equal, then that would tend to date Ashvaghosha earlier (maybe 1st century BC) than scholars have dated him hitherto (1st or 2nd century AD).
A final reflection on what it means to be other, or different, or odd (anye) is prompted by Jordan's recent reference to himself -- in contrast to Zen elephants who like to come together and trumpet mutual encouragement -- as "practising the Buddha way in a vacuum."
According to Dogen's teaching, when we sit in full lotus without any tainted agenda, buddhas in all directions in the three times are sitting with us. If Jordan, as befits an old punk rocker, wishes to describe such practice as pretty vacuous, fair enough. Anybody who, after all these years, still hasn't got fed up with reading my unduly long and wordy daily outpourings must himself be bit of an odd one!
EH Johnston:
There some trees at every moment bear the appearance of their own season, while others exhibit the splendid glory of all six seasons in their entirety.
Linda Covill:
Some of the trees there manifest one or other season from moment to moment, while others wear the combined and various glory of all six seasons at once.
VOCABULARY:
Rtau = loc. sg. Rtu: m. an epoch , period (esp. a division or part of the year) , season
aakRtim (acc. sg.): f. form , figure , shape , appearance , aspect
eke (nom. pl.): m. one of two or many (eka - eka , eka - dvitiiya , the one - the other ; esp. pl. eke , some , eke - apare some - others , &c ); (eka repeated twice , either as a compound [cf. ek'aika] or uncompounded , may have the sense " one and one " , " one by one ")
kShaNe (loc. sg.): m. instant, moment (kShaNe kShaNe , every instant , every moment)
bibhrati = 3rd pers. sg. pres. bhR: to bear , carry , convey; to bring , offer , procure , grant , bestow
yatra: ind. wherein
vRkShaaH (nom. pl.): m. a tree
citraam (acc. sg. f.): mfn. conspicuous , excellent , distinguished; bright; variegated ; various , different , manifold
samastaam (acc. sg. f.): mfn. thrown or put together , combined , united , whole , all
ind. (As a separable adv.) and , also , moreover , besides , assuredly , surelyke cid (nom. pl. m.): some [trees]
anye (nom. pl. m.): mfn. other, different
ShaNNaam = gen. pl. ShaSh: six
RtuunaaM = gen. pl. Rtu: m. season ; in later time six seasons are enumerated , viz. vasanta , " spring " ; griiShma , " the hot season " ; varShaas (f. pl. nom. ) , " the rainy season " sharad , " autumn " ; hemanta , " winter " ; and shishira , " the cool season "
shriyam (acc. sg.): f. light , lustre , radiance , splendour , glory , beauty , grace , loveliness
udvahanti = 3rd pers. pl. ud- √ vah : to lead or carry out or up , draw out , save; to bear up , lift up , elevate ; to bear (a weight or burden) , wear (clothes &c ) ; to wear , have , possess ; to show
kShaNe kShaNe bibhrati yatra vRkShaaH
citraaM samastaam api ke cid anye
ShaNNaam RtuunaaM shriyam udvahanti
- = - = = - - = - = =
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = -
10.19
There one by one, season by season,
and moment by moment,
Trees convey their individual form;
While some odd ones also bring out
The combined manifold glory of all six seasons.
COMMENT:
From 10.19 to 10.27 Ashvaghosha presents to us a vision of what trees are like in Indra's paradise. From 10.28 to 10.31 the subject changes to birds. There then follows a description of the celestial nymphs, the apsarases, whose effect on Nanda is essential to the overall plot of the poem.
So if we didn't know Ashvaghosha better by now, we might think that the next dozen or so verses are incidental, a kind of poetic interlude that merely sets the scene in heaven for the important action which will ensue there.
But efforts hitherto have led us to suspect that there is no verse without gold for a sitting practitioner to dig for. Rather, those verses which appear on first reading to be least promising are liable to contain the deepest veins of gold.
With that suspicion in mind, what on earth might Ashvaghosha be hinting at in this verse?
This verse ostensibly belongs to the description of a delusion that was common in ancient India, namely, Indra's paradise, a place that has never existed except in people's imagination. But I think the ever-ironic intention of Ashvaghosha might be to describe his real experience, down here on earth, of a different (anya) way of being which is the dialectic opposite of delusion.
Understood like this, today's verse can be read as picking up the thread of yesterday's verse which mentions the Buddha's consideration of a slightly unconventional means, in order to convey a teaching which is nothing if not alternative.
I heard a woman named Marjory Barlow who described herself as "a bit of an oddball" repeatedly come back to four verbal directions formulated by her uncle FM Alexander, namely:
(1) allow the neck to be free;
(2) to let the head go forward, and up;
(3) to let the back lengthen, and widen; while
(4) sending the knees forwards and away.
Each of these four directions contains something to be investigated in its own right. At the same time, Alexander talked of coming back to these individual directions and keeping them going until they became one. "Altogether, one after the other," was a teaching phrase he used. Since words cannot be spoken or listened to altogether, the "altogether" part is inevitably something beyond words. And when one is given a taste in an Alexander lesson of what Alexander meant, for example, when he wrote of "the unity underlying all things," one has the sense that this unity is a very natural experience for human beings, but one that most people have strayed from and are out of touch with.
The oddballs are not many who set aside valuable time in order to endeavour -- through altenative practices like Alexander work, or like sitting upright with the legs tied in a knot -- to let this natural state re-assert itself. And a few of these oddballs achieve conspicuous success in their non-doing endeavour, as manifested in stuff they subsequently do -- Ashvaghosha in India and Dogen in China and Japan being two outstanding examples.
Thus Dogen proclaimed when he came back to Japan from China that the secret of sitting-zen has to do with
自成一片
JI-JO-IPPEN,
naturally/spontaneously becoming all of a piece.
So in this verse, I venture to suggest, Ashvaghosha might be intending to point to something (or a bit of nothing) along the same lines that FM Alexander and Zen Master Dogen were pointing to in their ultimately impossible attempts to point to what words cannot adequately describe.
In the experience of Ashvaghosha, we can suppose, as 12th in a line of transmission from the Buddha, one who was odd or different was Punyayashas, who was 11th in that lineage.
And on that subject, incidentally, there is a point I have been wanting to make for some time, which is that if we accept that the Buddha died in around the 5th century BC and that Bodhidharma came to China in around the 5th century AD, given that Bodhidharma was 28th in a line in which Ashvaghosha was the 12th, and assuming that time between transmissions was roughly equal, then that would tend to date Ashvaghosha earlier (maybe 1st century BC) than scholars have dated him hitherto (1st or 2nd century AD).
A final reflection on what it means to be other, or different, or odd (anye) is prompted by Jordan's recent reference to himself -- in contrast to Zen elephants who like to come together and trumpet mutual encouragement -- as "practising the Buddha way in a vacuum."
According to Dogen's teaching, when we sit in full lotus without any tainted agenda, buddhas in all directions in the three times are sitting with us. If Jordan, as befits an old punk rocker, wishes to describe such practice as pretty vacuous, fair enough. Anybody who, after all these years, still hasn't got fed up with reading my unduly long and wordy daily outpourings must himself be bit of an odd one!
EH Johnston:
There some trees at every moment bear the appearance of their own season, while others exhibit the splendid glory of all six seasons in their entirety.
Linda Covill:
Some of the trees there manifest one or other season from moment to moment, while others wear the combined and various glory of all six seasons at once.
VOCABULARY:
Rtau = loc. sg. Rtu: m. an epoch , period (esp. a division or part of the year) , season
aakRtim (acc. sg.): f. form , figure , shape , appearance , aspect
eke (nom. pl.): m. one of two or many (eka - eka , eka - dvitiiya , the one - the other ; esp. pl. eke , some , eke - apare some - others , &c ); (eka repeated twice , either as a compound [cf. ek'aika] or uncompounded , may have the sense " one and one " , " one by one ")
kShaNe (loc. sg.): m. instant, moment (kShaNe kShaNe , every instant , every moment)
bibhrati = 3rd pers. sg. pres. bhR: to bear , carry , convey; to bring , offer , procure , grant , bestow
yatra: ind. wherein
vRkShaaH (nom. pl.): m. a tree
citraam (acc. sg. f.): mfn. conspicuous , excellent , distinguished; bright; variegated ; various , different , manifold
samastaam (acc. sg. f.): mfn. thrown or put together , combined , united , whole , all
ind. (As a separable adv.) and , also , moreover , besides , assuredly , surelyke cid (nom. pl. m.): some [trees]
anye (nom. pl. m.): mfn. other, different
ShaNNaam = gen. pl. ShaSh: six
RtuunaaM = gen. pl. Rtu: m. season ; in later time six seasons are enumerated , viz. vasanta , " spring " ; griiShma , " the hot season " ; varShaas (f. pl. nom. ) , " the rainy season " sharad , " autumn " ; hemanta , " winter " ; and shishira , " the cool season "
shriyam (acc. sg.): f. light , lustre , radiance , splendour , glory , beauty , grace , loveliness
udvahanti = 3rd pers. pl. ud- √ vah : to lead or carry out or up , draw out , save; to bear up , lift up , elevate ; to bear (a weight or burden) , wear (clothes &c ) ; to wear , have , possess ; to show
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
SAUNDARANANDA 10.18: Alternative Approach, Unconventional Means
tato munis tasya nishamya vaakyaM
hetv-antaraM kiM cid avekShamaaNaH
aalambya nandaM prayayau tath" aiva
kriiDaa-vanaM vajra-dharasya raajNaH
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.18
Then the Sage, hearing his protestation,
And having in mind a slightly unconventional means,
Took hold of Nanda as before
And proceeded to the pleasure-grove
of the royal bearer of the thunderbolt.
COMMENT:
"The pleasure-grove of the royal bearer of the thunderbolt" means Indra's paradise, soon to be portrayed in vivid detail.
A key word in line 2 of this verse, a word on which the whole of Saundara-nanda may be said to turn, is hetv-antaram, which means an alternative approach, or an unconventional means.
The word by which hetv-antaram is modified, kim cit ("slightly, somewhat, a bit"), which is mirrored from the previous verse, is also important.
In general, human society works on the same principle that animals work on, which is the lowly-evolved end-gaining principle. A hunting dog sees its master's prey and becomes dead set. A religious person gets an idea in his head and becomes dead fixed. The difference is that hunting dogs tend to pursue their ends with near-perfect coordination, whereas religious people very rarely do.
In this sense the Buddha's teaching of four noble truths is not a somewhat alternative approach, it is a totally alternative approach. It is an approach which is totally opposed to conventional human approaches in fields such as medicine, education, politics, religion, and bad science. It is an approach which is totally opposed to our evolutionary inheritance as human beings.
Because the Buddha's approach is a not somewhat alternative but totally alternative, it is difficult to describe it as kiM cit, "a bit alternative," -- unless irony is intended -- and so I have opted to translate hetv-antaraM kiM cit as "a somewhat unconventional means."
For the past 16 years since returning to England I have been working professionally -- though admittedly not very hard -- in the middle way between medicine and education, basically using a combination of developmental movements (e.g. crawling on hands and knees) and Alexander work to help people improve their use of themselves. Working in this way, for my sins, has taught me more about the human condition, I hope, than I understood before -- especially in regard to end-gaining and faulty sensory appreciation as fundamental factors in human wrong-doing.
There is no drug, nor any surgical operation, nor anything that teachers teach in British classrooms, that can help a person improve his or her use of himself. Any approach based on the end-gaining principle will only make the problem worse. So an alternative approach is necessary.
And the cornerstone of the alternative approach is the tendency for the right thing to do itself, so long as the wrong thing is stopped first. Therefore, whether we are talking the Buddha's teaching, or Alexander's teaching, or primitive reflex inhibition, the cornerstone is first "to stop doing the wrong thing" -- or as this truth was expressed in Chinese 諸悪莫作 SHO-AKU-MAKU-SA.
This teaching, it should be noted, is totally alternative to the preaching of propriety, in which the primary thing is trying to be right.
A few weeks ago I read a leader in the Economist on the subject of "Alternative Medicine." If I was going to cancel my subscription to the Economist anyway, this leader clinched it. Suffice to say that the ancient truth that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts was not at the forefront of the limited mind which was responsible for the smug piece of invective. If Ashvaghosha's striver had gone into medicine or journalism, I think he might very well have ended up as the kind of ignorant know-it-all who wrote that leader for the Economist.
To recap, I think that the whole of Saundara-nanda can be seen as the elucidation of a truly alternative approach -- that is to say, an approach which is totally alternative to end-gaining. Therefore kim cit ("somewhat"), as I read it, indicates that what the Buddha has in mind in today's verse is something more specific, namely, a means of teaching Nanda that is unconventional, but not too unconventional.
諸悪莫作
Not to do wrong is the traditional teaching of all the buddhas. This teaching is traditional, conventional, safe, not controversial. And yet in seeking a means to cause Nanda really to understand what the teaching is, to make the teaching his own, the Buddha was not afraid to adopt a means that was unconventional -- but only moderately unconventional.
EH Johnston:
Then the Sage, hearing his reply, looked for some other incentive and, supporting Nanda as before, went to the pleasure grove of the royal bearer of the thunderbolt.
Linda Covill:
Then the sage heard his answer, and with a further motivating illustration in mind he took hold of Nanda just as before and departed for the pleasure garden of the thunderbolt-wielding king.
VOCABULARY:
tataH: ind. from this, thence, then
muniH (nom. sg.): m. the sage
tasya (gen. sg. m.): his
nishamya = abs. ) ni- √ sham: to observe , perceive , hear , learn
vaakyam (acc. sg.): n. speech , saying , assertion , statement , command , words ; an express declaration or statement (opp. to liNga , " a hint " or indication)
hetv-antara (acc. sg. n.): n. a different means
hetu: m. " impulse " , motive , cause , reason ; a logical reason or deduction or argument ; (with Buddhists) primary cause (as opp. to pratyaya); a means, manner
antara: n. (ifc.) , different , other , another
kiM cid: ind. somewhat, a little
avekShamaaNaH = nom. sg. m. pres. part. ava - √iikSh: to look towards; to have in view , have regard to , take into consideration
aalambya= abs. aa- √ lamb: to lay hold of , seize , cling to ; to support , hold
nandam (acc. sg. ): m. Nanda
prayayau = 3rd pers. sg. perfect pra- √ yaa: to go forth , set out , progress , advance towards or against , go or repair to
tathaa: ind. thus, in such a manner, similarly
eva: (emphatic)
kriiDaa-vanam (acc. sg.): n. a pleasure-grove , park
kriiDaa: f. sport , play , pastime , amusement , amorous sport
vana: n. a forest , wood , grove
vajra-dharasya (gen. sg. m.): mfn. holding a thunderbolt; m. N. of indra
vajra: mn. " the hard or mighty one " , a thunderbolt (esp. that of indra);
dhara: mfn. ifc. holding , bearing , carrying , wearing , possessing; a diamond (thought to be as hard as the thunderbolt or of the same substance with it);
raajNaH = gen. sg. raajan: m. king
hetv-antaraM kiM cid avekShamaaNaH
aalambya nandaM prayayau tath" aiva
kriiDaa-vanaM vajra-dharasya raajNaH
- = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
= = - = = - - = - = =
10.18
Then the Sage, hearing his protestation,
And having in mind a slightly unconventional means,
Took hold of Nanda as before
And proceeded to the pleasure-grove
of the royal bearer of the thunderbolt.
COMMENT:
"The pleasure-grove of the royal bearer of the thunderbolt" means Indra's paradise, soon to be portrayed in vivid detail.
A key word in line 2 of this verse, a word on which the whole of Saundara-nanda may be said to turn, is hetv-antaram, which means an alternative approach, or an unconventional means.
The word by which hetv-antaram is modified, kim cit ("slightly, somewhat, a bit"), which is mirrored from the previous verse, is also important.
In general, human society works on the same principle that animals work on, which is the lowly-evolved end-gaining principle. A hunting dog sees its master's prey and becomes dead set. A religious person gets an idea in his head and becomes dead fixed. The difference is that hunting dogs tend to pursue their ends with near-perfect coordination, whereas religious people very rarely do.
In this sense the Buddha's teaching of four noble truths is not a somewhat alternative approach, it is a totally alternative approach. It is an approach which is totally opposed to conventional human approaches in fields such as medicine, education, politics, religion, and bad science. It is an approach which is totally opposed to our evolutionary inheritance as human beings.
Because the Buddha's approach is a not somewhat alternative but totally alternative, it is difficult to describe it as kiM cit, "a bit alternative," -- unless irony is intended -- and so I have opted to translate hetv-antaraM kiM cit as "a somewhat unconventional means."
For the past 16 years since returning to England I have been working professionally -- though admittedly not very hard -- in the middle way between medicine and education, basically using a combination of developmental movements (e.g. crawling on hands and knees) and Alexander work to help people improve their use of themselves. Working in this way, for my sins, has taught me more about the human condition, I hope, than I understood before -- especially in regard to end-gaining and faulty sensory appreciation as fundamental factors in human wrong-doing.
There is no drug, nor any surgical operation, nor anything that teachers teach in British classrooms, that can help a person improve his or her use of himself. Any approach based on the end-gaining principle will only make the problem worse. So an alternative approach is necessary.
And the cornerstone of the alternative approach is the tendency for the right thing to do itself, so long as the wrong thing is stopped first. Therefore, whether we are talking the Buddha's teaching, or Alexander's teaching, or primitive reflex inhibition, the cornerstone is first "to stop doing the wrong thing" -- or as this truth was expressed in Chinese 諸悪莫作 SHO-AKU-MAKU-SA.
This teaching, it should be noted, is totally alternative to the preaching of propriety, in which the primary thing is trying to be right.
A few weeks ago I read a leader in the Economist on the subject of "Alternative Medicine." If I was going to cancel my subscription to the Economist anyway, this leader clinched it. Suffice to say that the ancient truth that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts was not at the forefront of the limited mind which was responsible for the smug piece of invective. If Ashvaghosha's striver had gone into medicine or journalism, I think he might very well have ended up as the kind of ignorant know-it-all who wrote that leader for the Economist.
To recap, I think that the whole of Saundara-nanda can be seen as the elucidation of a truly alternative approach -- that is to say, an approach which is totally alternative to end-gaining. Therefore kim cit ("somewhat"), as I read it, indicates that what the Buddha has in mind in today's verse is something more specific, namely, a means of teaching Nanda that is unconventional, but not too unconventional.
諸悪莫作
Not to do wrong is the traditional teaching of all the buddhas. This teaching is traditional, conventional, safe, not controversial. And yet in seeking a means to cause Nanda really to understand what the teaching is, to make the teaching his own, the Buddha was not afraid to adopt a means that was unconventional -- but only moderately unconventional.
EH Johnston:
Then the Sage, hearing his reply, looked for some other incentive and, supporting Nanda as before, went to the pleasure grove of the royal bearer of the thunderbolt.
Linda Covill:
Then the sage heard his answer, and with a further motivating illustration in mind he took hold of Nanda just as before and departed for the pleasure garden of the thunderbolt-wielding king.
VOCABULARY:
tataH: ind. from this, thence, then
muniH (nom. sg.): m. the sage
tasya (gen. sg. m.): his
nishamya = abs. ) ni- √ sham: to observe , perceive , hear , learn
vaakyam (acc. sg.): n. speech , saying , assertion , statement , command , words ; an express declaration or statement (opp. to liNga , " a hint " or indication)
hetv-antara (acc. sg. n.): n. a different means
hetu: m. " impulse " , motive , cause , reason ; a logical reason or deduction or argument ; (with Buddhists) primary cause (as opp. to pratyaya); a means, manner
antara: n. (ifc.) , different , other , another
kiM cid: ind. somewhat, a little
avekShamaaNaH = nom. sg. m. pres. part. ava - √iikSh: to look towards; to have in view , have regard to , take into consideration
aalambya= abs. aa- √ lamb: to lay hold of , seize , cling to ; to support , hold
nandam (acc. sg. ): m. Nanda
prayayau = 3rd pers. sg. perfect pra- √ yaa: to go forth , set out , progress , advance towards or against , go or repair to
tathaa: ind. thus, in such a manner, similarly
eva: (emphatic)
kriiDaa-vanam (acc. sg.): n. a pleasure-grove , park
kriiDaa: f. sport , play , pastime , amusement , amorous sport
vana: n. a forest , wood , grove
vajra-dharasya (gen. sg. m.): mfn. holding a thunderbolt; m. N. of indra
vajra: mn. " the hard or mighty one " , a thunderbolt (esp. that of indra);
dhara: mfn. ifc. holding , bearing , carrying , wearing , possessing; a diamond (thought to be as hard as the thunderbolt or of the same substance with it);
raajNaH = gen. sg. raajan: m. king
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