−⏑−−¦⏑−−−¦¦−⏑−⏑¦⏑−⏑−
tatra ke-cid vyavasyanti
mokṣa ity abhimāninaḥ |
⏑⏑−⏑¦⏑−−−¦¦−−−−¦⏑−⏑−
sukha-duḥkha-parityāgād
avyāpārāc ca cetasaḥ || 12.57
12.57
Some settle for that
stage
Thinking it, in their
conceit, to be liberation –
Because of the giving
up of ease and suffering
And because of the
inactivity of the mind.
COMMENT:
In today's verse also,
as I read it, Arāḍa is still on the right track. No gap is
discernible yet between Arāḍa's Zen teaching and the Buddha's Zen
teaching. Both teachings caution us against conceitedly mistaking the
fourth dhyāna for ultimate liberation.
In Nāgārjuna's
parable of the monk who mistook the fourth dhyāna, as Dogen quotes
the story in Shobogenzo chap. 90 Shizen-biku, it is conceit
that causes the monk who mistook the fourth dhyāna vainly to live
alone in solitude, instead of seeking to make further progress (in
Arāḍa's words viśeṣāya, towards higher distinction) by
visiting the Buddha and receiving instruction. It is also conceit
that causes the monk who mistook the fourth dhyāna – on facing rebirth in an unexpectedly lowly realm – to blame the Buddha for having deceived him.
Despite a lifetime of
practising sitting-meditation and keeping the precepts, the monk who
mistook the fourth dhyāna thus ends up in avīci hell, much to the
surprise of his fellow monks. “Everything” the Buddha tells them,
“stems from his conceit.”
In the story as Dogen
quotes it, translated into Chinese, the Buddha tells the monks
彼皆因増上慢
Jap: kare mina
zo-jo-man ni yoru.
“Everything stems
from his conceit.”
増上慢
(ZO-JO-MAN) are the Chinese characters which exactly represent
the Sanskrit word abhimāna, conceit, the adjectival form of which
Arāḍa uses in the 2nd pāda of today's verse.
増上
represents the prefix abhi-, over; and 慢
represents māna, conceit.
The second half of
today's verse highlights the fact that transcendence of ease and
suffering, and quietness of the mind, do not necessarily, in
themselves, represent the ultimate step – even in Arāḍa's
teaching. Those virtues of transcendence and quietness are
characteristics of the fourth dhyāna. But, as illustrated by the
example of the monk in Upagupta's order who mistook the fourth
dhyāna, a monk who has attained only the fourth dhyāna (but not yet
attained the fourth effect) is liable to lose his transcendence and
quietness of mind when, for example, attacked by robbers or attracted
by a beautiful woman. Whereas for an arhat who has conclusively
realized the worthy state, I am guessing, the mind is not only
unperturbed but imperturbable. Conclusive realization of the worthy
state, I am guessing, involves what Nāgārjuna describes as the
whole edifice of suffering being well and truly demolished:
saṁsāra-mūlaṁ
saṁskārān avidvān saṁskaroty ataḥ |
avidvān
kārakas tasmān na vidvāṁs tattva-darśanāt ||MMK26.10||
The
doings which are the root of saṁsāra
Thus
does the ignorant one do.
The
ignorant one therefore is the doer;
The
wise one is not, because of the act of reality making itself known.
avidyāyāṁ
niruddhāyāṁ saṁskārāṇām asaṁbhavaḥ |
avidyāyā
nirodhas tu jñānasyāsyaiva bhāvanāt ||MMK26.11||
In
the ceasing of ignorance,
There
is the non-coming-into-being of doings.
The
cessation of ignorance, however,
Is
because of the bringing-into-being of just this act of knowing.
tasya
tasya nirodhena tat-tan nābhipravartate |
duḥkha-skandhaḥ
kevalo 'yam evaṁ samyaṅ nirudhyate ||MMK26.12
By
the destruction of each,
Each
is discontinued.
This
whole edifice of suffering
Is
thus well and truly demolished.
Today's verse, then,
though it is spoken by the non-Buddhist Arāḍa, contains an
important principle for us to reflect on as Zen practitioners who are
hungry for the Buddha's teaching.
The fourth dhyāna is a
vital step on the way to demolishing the whole edifice of suffering.
But if we mistake the transcendence of ease and suffering in the
fourth dhyāna for the fourth effect which is the demolition of the
whole edifice of suffering, that is a mistake born of conceit.
VOCABULARY
tatra:
ind. there
ke-cid
(nom. pl. m.): some
vyavasyanti
= 3rd pers. pl. vy-ava- √ so: to settle down or dwell
separately ; to differ (in opinion) , contest , quarrel ; to
separate, divide ; to determine , resolve , decide , be willing to
(acc. dat. , artham ifc. , or inf.) ; to settle , ascertain , be
convinced or persuaded of , take for (acc.) ; to reflect, consider
mokṣaḥ
(nom. sg.): m. liberation, release
iti:
“....,” thus
abhimāninaḥ
(nom. pl. m.): mfn. thinking of one's self , proud , self-conceited;
(ifc.) imagining one's self to be or to possess , laying claim to ,
arrogating to one's self
abhimāna:
m. high opinion of one's self , self-conceit , pride , haughtiness;
conception (especially an erroneous one regarding one's self)
sukha-duḥkha-parityāgāt
(abl. sg.): because of the transcendence of ease and hardship
parityāga:
m. ) the act of leaving , abandoning , deserting , quitting , giving
up , neglecting , renouncing ; separation from
a-vyāpārāt
(abl. sg.): m. cessation from work
vy-āpāra:
m. (ifc. f(ā).) occupation , employment , business , profession ,
function; doing , performance , action , operation , transaction ,
exertion , concern
ca:
and
cetasaḥ
(gen. sg.): n. mind, consciousness
苦樂已倶息 或生解脱想
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