−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−− Upajāti
(Indravajrā)
ity-ātma-vijñāna-guṇānurūpaṁ
mukta-sphaṁ hetumad-ūrjitaṁ ca |
−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
śrutvā
narendrātmajam-uktavantaṁ
pratyuttaraṁ
mantra-dharo 'py-uvāca || 9.52
9.52
Words that reflected
his facility for knowing the self,
Free of eager desire,
reasonable, yet powerful,
The son of the king
thus spoke.
Having listened, the
counsellor also spoke his piece:
COMMENT:
Having truly come to
the forest, holding, as it were, the mirror up to nature, the
bodhisattva is one who, being true to his own self, suits his action
to his word, and his word to his action.
As for the counsellor,
the mantra-dharaḥ, “bearer of the instrument of thought,” we
shall hear now what he has to say for himself. My suspicion is that
his words, though displaying a certain familiarity with numerous
elements of sāṁkhya philosophy (saṁkhya literally means
counting), will carry even less weight than the words of the veteran.
The contrast being
suggested by today's verse, then, as I read it, is the contrast
between the bodhisattva who had a talent for knowing himself, and the
counsellor who knew numerous elements of sāṁkhya philosophy.
A big step on my own
path towards knowing myself was beginning to understand, from around
my mid-30s, what FM Alexander meant by “faulty sensory
appreciation,” or “wrong sense of feeling.” This faulty
feeling, my Alexander head of training Ray Evans taught, was centred on the
sense of balance, or in other words on the vestibular system. Ray said
that one way of describing Alexander work was “vestibular
re-education.”
So that if a Zen practitioner is stiffening unduly
and pulling his head back and down in a misguided effort to sit in a
good posture, that misguidance is coming primarily from his own
faulty vestibular system. What he feels, through his vestibular
system, to be up, is actually down. This, for anybody who is really
on a path to self-knowledge is quite an eye-opener.
So in the matter of
self-knowledge, at least in the book of this Cross, the vestibular
system turned out to be crucial. And the four foundation stones of
vestibular functioning turn out to be four primitive vestibular
reflexes:
(1) An immature Moro
Reflex is generally implicated with undue stiffening of the neck.
(2) An immature Tonic
Labyrinthine Reflex is implicated with either pulling the head
forward and down (as in a Theravada slump) or pulling the head back
and down (as in deluded Zen striving for right posture).
(3) An immature
Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex is implicated with postural
twists and lack of co-ordination between left and right sides.
(4) An immature
Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex is implicated with undue tightening
of the hip flexors whenever the neck is extended, and lack of co-ordination between top and bottom.
Alexander's four
primary directions, I have ventured to submit, can be meaningfully
understood in this light. Thus
(1) To let the neck
be free is to let the neck be released from the grip of an
aberrant Moro reflex;
(2) To let the head
go forward and up is to let the head be released from the grip of
an aberrant Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex;
(3) To let the back
lengthen and widen is to let the whole double-spiral musculature
of the torso be released from the grip, on each side, of an aberrant
Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex;
(4) To let the knees
go forward and away is to release the pelvis from the grip of an
aberrant Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex – so that, in sitting, the
pelvis and legs form an excellent base from which to allow the neck
to be more free.... and so the virtuous circle continues.
Somewhat mysteriously,
since I was ill in February, at which time I expressed on this blog
the recognition that the best way to help others is to point them in the
right direction, I have suddenly become much busier than usual – busier than is comfortable for me – with enquiries seeking my
help as a developmental therapist.
With a view to learning more about
the vestibular system, I followed in Ray Evans' footsteps in training
as a developmental therapist, under the auspices of Peter Blythe and
his wife Sally Goddard up at INPP Chester from 1998-99, and I have
been working in that field, in a small way, ever since.
In a small way might
be the operative phrase. I am good friends with a local osteopath who
visited us at Christmas and told me – observing the size of my
professional practice (if it can be called that) – that he felt I
needed a kick up the backside. Since then referrals from him have
increased, and those referrals have begotten other referrals. So,
though my feelings are admittedly faulty, it feels as if the
Universe, aided and abetted by my osteopath friend, has heard me
express my desire to point others in the right direction, and
delivered a kick up the backside as if to say, “Go on then, get on
with it.”
I sort of thought I was
getting on with doing my bit (albeit in an amateurish way) by doing this translation and writing this blog.
But the truth may be that, without me demonstrating in practice and
in person what I mean by the body being held in the twisted grip of
immature ATNR, nobody really understands, just from reading a post
like this one, what I am going on about.
But I think this is
something that Zen practitioners in particular really ought to
understand, if we are really interested in knowing ourselves, as
opposed to trying to be right.
VOCABULARY
iti:
“...,” thus
ātma-vijñāna-guṇānurūpam
(acc. sg. m.): befitting his self-knowledge and good qualities
ātman:
m. the self
vijñāna:
the act of distinguishing or discerning , understanding ,
comprehending , recognizing , intelligence , knowledge
guṇa:
m. good quality , virtue , merit , excellence
anurūpa:
mfn. conforming to, befitting
mukta-spṛham
(acc. sg. m.): free from desire
spṛhā:
f. eager desire , desire , covetousness , envy , longing for
spṛh:
to be eager , desire eagerly , long for
hetumat
(acc. sg. n.): mfn. mfn. having a reason or cause ; accompanied with
arguments , provided with reasons or proofs , well-founded ; open to
arguments , reasonable
ūrjitam
(acc. sg. n.): mfn. endowed with strength or power , strong , mighty
, powerful , excellent , great , important , gallant , exceeding
ca:
and
śrutvā
= abs. śru: to hear, listen
narendrātmajam
(acc. sg. m.): the self-begotten of an indra among men, the king's
son
uktavantam
= acc. sg. m. past. part. vac: to say, speak
pratyuttaram
(acc. sg.): n. a reply to an answer , rejoinder , answer
mantra-dharaḥ
(nom. sg.): m. 'the bearer of the instrument of thought'; a
counsellor , adviser
api:
also (emphatic)
uvāca
= 3rd pers. sg. perf. vac: to say, speak
大臣内思惟 太子大丈夫
深識徳隨順 所説有因縁
而告太子言
深識徳隨順 所説有因縁
而告太子言
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