dharma-cchandam imaM tasmaad
vivardhayitum arhasi
sarva-dharmaa hi dharma-jNa
niyamaac chanda-hetavaH
= = = - - = = =
- = - - - = - -
= - = = - = - -
- - = = - = - =
12.31
This wish for the truth of Dharma, therefore,
You should nurture;
For all realisations of the Dharma,
seer of the way of Dharma,
Invariably have wishing as their cause:
COMMENT:
The word dharma appears three times in this verse, once in the 1st line and twice in the 3rd line.
In the 1st line, dharma is the object of Nanda's desire, that which he is tending towards. Dharma in the 1st line, then, would seem to mean Dharma as the truth / practice which the Buddha taught.
The epithet dharma-jNa "Dharma-knower," would seem to praise Nanda for having recognized the direction in which the truth lies. Dharma in this compound, then, would seem to mean Dharma as a way or direction of practice; and knowing would seem to mean noticing, making out, spotting or seeing.
Appearing in the 3rd line in the plural, dharma is used to express all those happenings which have wishing or willing as their cause. The compound sarva-dhaarma, then, would seem to mean all instances of Dharma being realised in action. This usage is clarified, as I read it, in the following verse, which gives examples of actions which happen because a person wishes them. Except maybe the word "wish" is too strong in the contet of the next verse. What the Buddha literally says in the next verse, as I hear him, is that an action takes place because of an idea of doing it.
Fifteen years ago I read a very good book on the work of FM Alexander titled "Thinking Aloud," by Walter Carrington. The memorable title of the first chapter was "Willing, Wishing and Fairy Tales." The theme of the chapter, as I remember it, was that people tend to think that an action like sitting upright is all to do with bones and muscles and reflexes -- and in a sense it is. Still, the business of changing the way a person sits, even more fundamentally, is to do with willing and wishing. "This work," FM said, "is the most mental thing there is." This statement is not at all easy to understand, but I think it is distant echo of what the Buddha was expressing all those centuries ago with words like chanda, wishing or willing, and buddhi, mind or idea. What the Buddha and FM Alexander both struggled with, was how to express in words that supreme and subtle higher good which is the practice of non-doing.
On the one hand, I very much regret that for 11 years when I could have been studying Sanskrit, between 1997 and 2008, I more or less gave up translation work. On the other hand, I could not have done then the translation work I am doing now. I would not have understood then how chanda could really mean nothing more than a wish or how buddhi could mean nothing more than an idea. So maybe that fallow period wasn't entirely wasted.
EH Johnston:
Therefore take heed to foster the desire for the Law ; for desire, O knower of the Law, is specifically the originating cause of all the elements of existence.
Linda Covill:
Therefore you should cultivate this predilection for the dharma, for all factors of existence, dharma-knower, necessarily have desire as their cause.
VOCABULARY:
dharma: teaching, law, method
chandam (accusative): m. pleasure , delight , appetite , liking , predilection , desire , will
imam = accusative of ayam: this
tasmaat: from that , on that account , therefore
vivardhayitum (infinitive from vRdh: to increase, cause to prosper or thrive): to foster, to cultivate
arhasi (2nd person singular of arh): you should, please
sarva: all
dharmaaH (nominative, plural): dharmas, practices, things, teachings, works, truths
hi: for
dharma-jNa: dharma-knower
jNa: knowing, familiar with ; intelligent, having a soul, wise, (m.) a wise and learned man
niyamaat (ablative of niyama): as a rule , necessarily , invariably , surely
chanda: pleasing , alluring , inviting ; m. pleasure , delight , appetite , liking , predilection , desire , will
hetavaH = nominative, plural of hetu: cause, motive
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.30: In Good We Trust
yukta-ruupam idaM c' aaiva
shuddha-sattvasya cetasaH
yat te syaan naiShThike suukShme
shreyasi shraddadhaanataa.
= - = - - = = -
= - = = - = - =
= = = = - = = =
= - = = - = - =
12.30
And this is fitting indeed
For the consciousness
of one whose essence is simplicity:
That in a supreme and subtle
Higher good you should have confidence.
COMMENT:
What the Buddha is talking about here, as I hear him, is the supreme and subtle practice of non-doing, the key to which is the principle of inhibiting unconscious reaction to a stimulus -- a stimulus, for example, such as desire for celestial nymphs. This principle of inhibition is not only a principle to believe in, and is not only a principle to trust, but it is a principle one can actually have confidence in, and that confidence can grow year by year, like an acorn growing into a bush which can, if the conditions are right, become a mighty oak.
The difference between faith and belief as cultivated in spiritual religion, and trust and confidence as cultivated in practical work on the self, it seems to me, is that the former arises out of fear whereas the latter arises out of knowing that there is nothing to fear. And nowhere is this better seen than in the application of the principles of Alexander work to the teaching of very nervous swimmers.
In Alexander work we get to know from our own experience that when we really apply the principle of inhibition, it really works. The supreme and subtle principle of inhibition makes a bridge between wrong doing and non-doing, and non-doing is a higher good.
Non-doing is a higher good. That is to say, in the continuing story of human evolution, non-doing dharma is higher up the food chain than doing dharma.
I keep the ignoble cycle of doing going by blindly acting on the desire to gain some end, based on my faulty sense of feeling which, in turn, is deeply rooted in fear.
The higher principle of non-doing requires me to give up that idea which sets off the cycle of end-gaining and doing.
Doing means I just do it, relying on faulty feeling rooted in fear.
Non-doing means I allow to do itself, based on a decision not to do, that decision being rooted in confidence.
Confidence in the principle of non-doing, moreover, makes for simplicity. In the words of FM Alexander, "I am going to give you as few details as possible, because of the primary control."
In doing sitting practice, for example, learning how to control one's posture by direct doing leads to enormous complications What looks or feels like improvement in one area, gained by direct intervention, leads to unintended side effects in another area, and so, as one direct intervention follows another, the whole becomes more and more 'controlled' i.e. held, and spontaneity is lost. Finally, as all the fiddling about and subtle fixing causes the breathing gradually to become restricted, one has to become an expert in abdominal breathing. Thus would-be Zen masters write web pages to share with the unenlightened the secrets of how to breathe, and so the cycle of doing goes on and on.
The indirect principle of non-doing, in contrast, though by no means easy to apply, is enormously simple: Just stop doing the wrong thing and allow the right thing to do itself.
Sitting with the body is doing. Sitting with the mind is effort not to do. Sitting as body and mind dropping off is non-doing. The three can be seen as forming a triangle, whose base is body and mind, and whose apex is body and mind dropping off.
The essence of Master Dogen's teaching, as I understand it, is to practice all three, with the understanding that body and mind dropping off is the higher good.
A final observation I would like to make is that the 3rd and 4th line are particularly rich in long syllables: of 16 syllables, 12 are long. To my admittedly inexperienced Sanskrit ear, this gives the Buddha's voice a re-assuringly unhurried, confidence-inspiring quality.
EH Johnston:
And truly your belief in the ultimate immaterial good befits the mind of one whose being is purified.
Linda Covill:
This is surely an appropriate course for your mind when purified in its essence -- that you might have confidence in the ultimate, subtle Excellence!
VOCABULARY:
yukta-ruupam (accusative): suitably formed , fit , proper (with loc. or gen.)
idam: this
ca: and
eva: (emphatic) truly, surely
shuddha: cleansed , cleared , clean , pure , clear ; free from error , faultless ; pure i.e. simple , mere , genuine , true , unmixed ; upright (» comp.)
sattvasya = genitive of sattva: being , existence ; true essence , nature , disposition of mind , character ; vital breath , life
cetasaH = genitive of cetas: consciousness , intelligence , thinking soul , heart , mind
yat: which
te (genitive): of you, in you
syaat (optative): there might be
naiShThike locative of naiShThika: forming the end , final , last ; definitive , fixed , firm ; highest , perfect , complete
suukShme = locative of suukShma: minute, small ; acute , subtle , keen ; intangible
shreyasi = locative of sreyas: higher good, ultimate good
shraddadhaana: having faith , trustful , believing
shraddadhaanataa: f. belief , faith
shuddha-sattvasya cetasaH
yat te syaan naiShThike suukShme
shreyasi shraddadhaanataa.
= - = - - = = -
= - = = - = - =
= = = = - = = =
= - = = - = - =
12.30
And this is fitting indeed
For the consciousness
of one whose essence is simplicity:
That in a supreme and subtle
Higher good you should have confidence.
COMMENT:
What the Buddha is talking about here, as I hear him, is the supreme and subtle practice of non-doing, the key to which is the principle of inhibiting unconscious reaction to a stimulus -- a stimulus, for example, such as desire for celestial nymphs. This principle of inhibition is not only a principle to believe in, and is not only a principle to trust, but it is a principle one can actually have confidence in, and that confidence can grow year by year, like an acorn growing into a bush which can, if the conditions are right, become a mighty oak.
The difference between faith and belief as cultivated in spiritual religion, and trust and confidence as cultivated in practical work on the self, it seems to me, is that the former arises out of fear whereas the latter arises out of knowing that there is nothing to fear. And nowhere is this better seen than in the application of the principles of Alexander work to the teaching of very nervous swimmers.
In Alexander work we get to know from our own experience that when we really apply the principle of inhibition, it really works. The supreme and subtle principle of inhibition makes a bridge between wrong doing and non-doing, and non-doing is a higher good.
Non-doing is a higher good. That is to say, in the continuing story of human evolution, non-doing dharma is higher up the food chain than doing dharma.
I keep the ignoble cycle of doing going by blindly acting on the desire to gain some end, based on my faulty sense of feeling which, in turn, is deeply rooted in fear.
The higher principle of non-doing requires me to give up that idea which sets off the cycle of end-gaining and doing.
Doing means I just do it, relying on faulty feeling rooted in fear.
Non-doing means I allow to do itself, based on a decision not to do, that decision being rooted in confidence.
Confidence in the principle of non-doing, moreover, makes for simplicity. In the words of FM Alexander, "I am going to give you as few details as possible, because of the primary control."
In doing sitting practice, for example, learning how to control one's posture by direct doing leads to enormous complications What looks or feels like improvement in one area, gained by direct intervention, leads to unintended side effects in another area, and so, as one direct intervention follows another, the whole becomes more and more 'controlled' i.e. held, and spontaneity is lost. Finally, as all the fiddling about and subtle fixing causes the breathing gradually to become restricted, one has to become an expert in abdominal breathing. Thus would-be Zen masters write web pages to share with the unenlightened the secrets of how to breathe, and so the cycle of doing goes on and on.
The indirect principle of non-doing, in contrast, though by no means easy to apply, is enormously simple: Just stop doing the wrong thing and allow the right thing to do itself.
Sitting with the body is doing. Sitting with the mind is effort not to do. Sitting as body and mind dropping off is non-doing. The three can be seen as forming a triangle, whose base is body and mind, and whose apex is body and mind dropping off.
The essence of Master Dogen's teaching, as I understand it, is to practice all three, with the understanding that body and mind dropping off is the higher good.
A final observation I would like to make is that the 3rd and 4th line are particularly rich in long syllables: of 16 syllables, 12 are long. To my admittedly inexperienced Sanskrit ear, this gives the Buddha's voice a re-assuringly unhurried, confidence-inspiring quality.
EH Johnston:
And truly your belief in the ultimate immaterial good befits the mind of one whose being is purified.
Linda Covill:
This is surely an appropriate course for your mind when purified in its essence -- that you might have confidence in the ultimate, subtle Excellence!
VOCABULARY:
yukta-ruupam (accusative): suitably formed , fit , proper (with loc. or gen.)
idam: this
ca: and
eva: (emphatic) truly, surely
shuddha: cleansed , cleared , clean , pure , clear ; free from error , faultless ; pure i.e. simple , mere , genuine , true , unmixed ; upright (» comp.)
sattvasya = genitive of sattva: being , existence ; true essence , nature , disposition of mind , character ; vital breath , life
cetasaH = genitive of cetas: consciousness , intelligence , thinking soul , heart , mind
yat: which
te (genitive): of you, in you
syaat (optative): there might be
naiShThike locative of naiShThika: forming the end , final , last ; definitive , fixed , firm ; highest , perfect , complete
suukShme = locative of suukShma: minute, small ; acute , subtle , keen ; intangible
shreyasi = locative of sreyas: higher good, ultimate good
shraddadhaana: having faith , trustful , believing
shraddadhaanataa: f. belief , faith
Sunday, June 21, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.29: Nanda's Consciousness Blossoms
saa jighaaMsus tamo haardaM
yaa samprati vijRmbhate
tamo naishaM prabhaa saurii
vinigiirN" eva meruNaa
= - = = - = = =
= = - - - = - =
- = = = - = = =
- - = = - = - =
12.29
Seeking to dispell darkness of the heart
It now blossoms forth
Like the light of the sun
dispelling the darkness of the night
When poured forth by mount Meru.
COMMENT:
In this verse, light and darkness may be understood as symbolizing consciousness and unconsciousness.
What is light? Nobody knows. Not even Einstein knew. But light is not dark. That much we know.
What is consciousness? Consciousness is not unconscious reaction. That much, with the help of Marjory Barlow in particular, I figured out for myself.
I don't believe in Buddhism. I believe in the truth of the Buddha's teaching, which each of us has to work out for himself or herself, by working on the self.
Aged 8-9, while attending Ms. Higgin's class at Chilcote Primary School, I gained an overblown confidence in my ability to solve problems, and to some extent this confidence has stayed with me all my life. As a teenager, however, I came up against a problem that I couldn't figure out, which was chronic blushing, wherein fear of the reaction would set off the reaction. The mere thought of a girl sitting next to me on the bus would make me go hot and red, and sweat, and go redder and hotter, and sweat more, until eventually by the time I got off the bus I would have the sense of being reduced to a deathly cold and pale dribble of sweat. A struggle was going on within my system between two opposing fear responses: the red of the panic reflex vs the white of fear paralysis.
For the past 35 years, this is a problem I have been working on, and I am still working on it -- how not to be a slave to this kind of unconscious emotional reaction, rooted in undue excitement of fear reflexes.
My initial lines of enquiry were physical. Doing things with the body, like weight training and rugby, and then karate, and eventually doing Zazen, clearly seemed to help, up to a point.
For the past 15 years, I have been gradually waking up to the other side, through Alexander work -- "the most mental thing there is."
I still don't consider that I have got close to solving the problem, but maybe like Nanda at this point in his story, my trials and tribulations to this point have caused me to gain a hold on the problem.
The essence of the problem is how to be more conscious, and less at the mercy of emotional reactions rooted in fear.
So to return to the verse in question, I think that tamo haaRdaM, the darkness of Nanda's heart means unconsciousness rooted in his fear paralysis response -- this response having been described, as I read it, in verse 12.8.
Growth of consciousness is stimulated, I think, insofar as I understand the process at all, by inhibiting unconscious reactions which are rooted in such fear paralysis, or rooted in the Moro reflex which is the antagonist of fear paralysis, or rooted in an unresolved struggle between those two opposing fear responses.
When exactly does "inhibiting unconscious reactions" mean? It means myriad different things in myriad situations, but it always means:
Not that.
EH Johnston:
It strives now to destroy the darkness of your heart, as the light of the sun, when poured forth by mount Meru, diffuses itself to dispel the darkness of night.
Linda Covill:
Now it spreads out, seeking to dispell the darkness that is your emotionality, just as the sunny radiance put forth by Mount Meru seeks to disperse noctural darkness.
VOCABULARY:
saa: (f.) it (buddhi)
jighaaMsu: desirous of destroying or ruining
tamaH = accusative of tamas: darkness
haardaM = accusative of haard (fr. and = hRd): the heart, as seat of emotion
yaa: (f) which
samprati: now
vijRmbhate = 3rd person singular of vi-√jRmbh: to open the mouth , yawn , gape ; to open (intr.) , expand , become expanded or developed or exhibited , spread out , blossom ; to extend , become erect (said of the membrum virile) ; to arise , appear , awake
tamaH (accusative): darkness
naisham = accusative of naisha: relating to night , happening at night , nightly , nocturnal
prabhaa: light
saurii: f. the wife of the sun
vi-: prefix, sometimes giving a meaning opposite to the idea contained in the simple root (e.g. √ krI , " to buy " ; vi- √krI , " to sell ")
nigiirNa: swallowed , devoured ; left out , not expressed
vinigiirNaa: spewed out, poured forth
iva: like
meruNaa = instrumental of meru: N. of a fabulous mountain
yaa samprati vijRmbhate
tamo naishaM prabhaa saurii
vinigiirN" eva meruNaa
= - = = - = = =
= = - - - = - =
- = = = - = = =
- - = = - = - =
12.29
Seeking to dispell darkness of the heart
It now blossoms forth
Like the light of the sun
dispelling the darkness of the night
When poured forth by mount Meru.
COMMENT:
In this verse, light and darkness may be understood as symbolizing consciousness and unconsciousness.
What is light? Nobody knows. Not even Einstein knew. But light is not dark. That much we know.
What is consciousness? Consciousness is not unconscious reaction. That much, with the help of Marjory Barlow in particular, I figured out for myself.
I don't believe in Buddhism. I believe in the truth of the Buddha's teaching, which each of us has to work out for himself or herself, by working on the self.
Aged 8-9, while attending Ms. Higgin's class at Chilcote Primary School, I gained an overblown confidence in my ability to solve problems, and to some extent this confidence has stayed with me all my life. As a teenager, however, I came up against a problem that I couldn't figure out, which was chronic blushing, wherein fear of the reaction would set off the reaction. The mere thought of a girl sitting next to me on the bus would make me go hot and red, and sweat, and go redder and hotter, and sweat more, until eventually by the time I got off the bus I would have the sense of being reduced to a deathly cold and pale dribble of sweat. A struggle was going on within my system between two opposing fear responses: the red of the panic reflex vs the white of fear paralysis.
For the past 35 years, this is a problem I have been working on, and I am still working on it -- how not to be a slave to this kind of unconscious emotional reaction, rooted in undue excitement of fear reflexes.
My initial lines of enquiry were physical. Doing things with the body, like weight training and rugby, and then karate, and eventually doing Zazen, clearly seemed to help, up to a point.
For the past 15 years, I have been gradually waking up to the other side, through Alexander work -- "the most mental thing there is."
I still don't consider that I have got close to solving the problem, but maybe like Nanda at this point in his story, my trials and tribulations to this point have caused me to gain a hold on the problem.
The essence of the problem is how to be more conscious, and less at the mercy of emotional reactions rooted in fear.
So to return to the verse in question, I think that tamo haaRdaM, the darkness of Nanda's heart means unconsciousness rooted in his fear paralysis response -- this response having been described, as I read it, in verse 12.8.
Growth of consciousness is stimulated, I think, insofar as I understand the process at all, by inhibiting unconscious reactions which are rooted in such fear paralysis, or rooted in the Moro reflex which is the antagonist of fear paralysis, or rooted in an unresolved struggle between those two opposing fear responses.
When exactly does "inhibiting unconscious reactions" mean? It means myriad different things in myriad situations, but it always means:
Not that.
EH Johnston:
It strives now to destroy the darkness of your heart, as the light of the sun, when poured forth by mount Meru, diffuses itself to dispel the darkness of night.
Linda Covill:
Now it spreads out, seeking to dispell the darkness that is your emotionality, just as the sunny radiance put forth by Mount Meru seeks to disperse noctural darkness.
VOCABULARY:
saa: (f.) it (buddhi)
jighaaMsu: desirous of destroying or ruining
tamaH = accusative of tamas: darkness
haardaM = accusative of haard (fr. and = hRd): the heart, as seat of emotion
yaa: (f) which
samprati: now
vijRmbhate = 3rd person singular of vi-√jRmbh: to open the mouth , yawn , gape ; to open (intr.) , expand , become expanded or developed or exhibited , spread out , blossom ; to extend , become erect (said of the membrum virile) ; to arise , appear , awake
tamaH (accusative): darkness
naisham = accusative of naisha: relating to night , happening at night , nightly , nocturnal
prabhaa: light
saurii: f. the wife of the sun
vi-: prefix, sometimes giving a meaning opposite to the idea contained in the simple root (e.g. √ krI , " to buy " ; vi- √krI , " to sell ")
nigiirNa: swallowed , devoured ; left out , not expressed
vinigiirNaa: spewed out, poured forth
iva: like
meruNaa = instrumental of meru: N. of a fabulous mountain
Saturday, June 20, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.28: Consciousness Gains Hold
iidRshii naama buddhis te
niruddhaa rajas" aabhavat
rajasaa caNDa-vaatena
vivasvata iva prabhaa
= - = = - = = =
- = = - - = - -
- - = = - = = -
- = - - - = - =
12.28
This consciousness awakening so evidently in you
Was blocked by the dust of passion,
Just as the dust of a sand-storm
Blocks the light of the sun.
COMMENT:
The word buddhi in the first line could be translated in many equally valid ways: mental prowess, power of reason, presence of mind, mental power, brain power, power of discernment, and so on. I decided on "consciousness awakening" because that translation fits well with the following verse, which seems to describe a blossoming forth, opening up, spreading out.
The title of Canto 12, pratyavamarsha, Gaining Hold, in its maybe deliberate ambiguity can be seen as fitting at least three metaphors:
Firstly, it could suggest the gaining of a foothold on a path, the metaphor of verse 12.20, which seems to be picked up in the title of Canto 14, aadi-prasthaana, Marching Out.
Secondly, it could suggest gaining hold of the nectar of deathlessness, the metaphor of verse 12.25, which seems to be picked up in the title of Canto 17, amRt'aadhigama, Making the Nectar of Deathlessness One's Own.
Thirdly, this verse and 12.29, along with later verses including particularly 12.41 and 12.43, seem to describe the gaining hold of a seed of consciousness that awakens into willpower, and thence grows into a tree of confidence. Perhaps the title of Canto 15, vitarka-prahaaNa, Dropping Off Ideas, can be seen as the culmination of this metaphor.
As I sit
more or less upright
aware of breathing
what is consciousness?
Not thoughts
not feelings
not habit
not instinct
not emotion
not desire
not attachment
not views and opinions
not -isms.
Not ideas.
Not body.
Not mind.
Not that.
EH Johnston:
Such a decision of yours was indeed obstructed by the dust of passion, as the light of the sun by the dust of a sand-storm.
Linda Covill:
This kind of reasoning was obviously blocked in you by the dust of passion, just as the light of the sun is obscured by a strong gust of dust.
VOCABULARY:
iidRshii: (f) of this kind, such
naama: ind. (acc. of naaman) by name i.e. named , called; indeed , certainly , really , of course
buddhiH = nominative, singular of buddhi: f. the power of forming and retaining conceptions and general notions , intelligence , reason , intellect , mind , discernment , judgement ; comprehension, understanding ; the faculty of mental perception ; presence of mind, ready wit ; intention, purpose, design
te (genitive): of you
niruddhaa: held back , withheld , held fast , stopped , shut , closed , confined , restrained , checked , kept off , removed , suppressed; covered, veiled
rajasaa = instrumental of rajas: vapour , mist , clouds , gloom , dimness , darkness; impurity , dirt , dust , any small particle of matter; the " darkening " quality , passion , emotion , affection
abhavat: was
rajasaa = instrumental of rajas: dust, passion
caNDa: fierce , violent , cruel , impetuous , hot , ardent with passion , passionate , angry
vaatena = instrumental of vaata: the wind
vivasvata = instrumental of vivasvat: " the Brilliant one " , N. of the Sun
iva: like
prabhaa (nominative, singular): (f.) light
niruddhaa rajas" aabhavat
rajasaa caNDa-vaatena
vivasvata iva prabhaa
= - = = - = = =
- = = - - = - -
- - = = - = = -
- = - - - = - =
12.28
This consciousness awakening so evidently in you
Was blocked by the dust of passion,
Just as the dust of a sand-storm
Blocks the light of the sun.
COMMENT:
The word buddhi in the first line could be translated in many equally valid ways: mental prowess, power of reason, presence of mind, mental power, brain power, power of discernment, and so on. I decided on "consciousness awakening" because that translation fits well with the following verse, which seems to describe a blossoming forth, opening up, spreading out.
The title of Canto 12, pratyavamarsha, Gaining Hold, in its maybe deliberate ambiguity can be seen as fitting at least three metaphors:
Firstly, it could suggest the gaining of a foothold on a path, the metaphor of verse 12.20, which seems to be picked up in the title of Canto 14, aadi-prasthaana, Marching Out.
Secondly, it could suggest gaining hold of the nectar of deathlessness, the metaphor of verse 12.25, which seems to be picked up in the title of Canto 17, amRt'aadhigama, Making the Nectar of Deathlessness One's Own.
Thirdly, this verse and 12.29, along with later verses including particularly 12.41 and 12.43, seem to describe the gaining hold of a seed of consciousness that awakens into willpower, and thence grows into a tree of confidence. Perhaps the title of Canto 15, vitarka-prahaaNa, Dropping Off Ideas, can be seen as the culmination of this metaphor.
As I sit
more or less upright
aware of breathing
what is consciousness?
Not thoughts
not feelings
not habit
not instinct
not emotion
not desire
not attachment
not views and opinions
not -isms.
Not ideas.
Not body.
Not mind.
Not that.
EH Johnston:
Such a decision of yours was indeed obstructed by the dust of passion, as the light of the sun by the dust of a sand-storm.
Linda Covill:
This kind of reasoning was obviously blocked in you by the dust of passion, just as the light of the sun is obscured by a strong gust of dust.
VOCABULARY:
iidRshii: (f) of this kind, such
naama: ind. (acc. of naaman) by name i.e. named , called; indeed , certainly , really , of course
buddhiH = nominative, singular of buddhi: f. the power of forming and retaining conceptions and general notions , intelligence , reason , intellect , mind , discernment , judgement ; comprehension, understanding ; the faculty of mental perception ; presence of mind, ready wit ; intention, purpose, design
te (genitive): of you
niruddhaa: held back , withheld , held fast , stopped , shut , closed , confined , restrained , checked , kept off , removed , suppressed; covered, veiled
rajasaa = instrumental of rajas: vapour , mist , clouds , gloom , dimness , darkness; impurity , dirt , dust , any small particle of matter; the " darkening " quality , passion , emotion , affection
abhavat: was
rajasaa = instrumental of rajas: dust, passion
caNDa: fierce , violent , cruel , impetuous , hot , ardent with passion , passionate , angry
vaatena = instrumental of vaata: the wind
vivasvata = instrumental of vivasvat: " the Brilliant one " , N. of the Sun
iva: like
prabhaa (nominative, singular): (f.) light
Friday, June 19, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.27: Towards More Conscious Direction
raag-oddaamena manasaa
sarvathaa duShkaraa dhRtiH
sa-doShaM salilaM dRShTvaa
pathinena pipaasunaa
= = = = - - - =
= - = = - = - =
- = = - - = = =
- - = - - = - =
12.27
With a mind unbridled by passion
It is exceedingly difficult to be steadfast,
As when dirty water is seen
By a thirsty traveller.
COMMENT:
This verse, as I read it, is not opposed to unbridling of the mind per se: it is rather opposed to allowing the mind to be unbridled by an instinctive, unconscious impulse.
A mind that is habitually bridled, by its intellect and by its attachments, can become rapidly unbridled through passion, with sometimes comical results, as happened to John Cleese's character in A Fish Called Wanda; and with sometimes tragic results, as in Othello. This kind of unconscious unbridling of the mind tends to lead not to steadfastness but to errant unconscious behaviour, to breaking of promises, and failure to stick to decisions.
Unbridling of the mind corresponds to the breaking down of activation energy barriers in a spontaneous process of energy release. This can be seen in spontaneous explosions of lust and anger, or in the mass reactions of a mob. Another kind of spontaneous unbridling is realised in learning the backward step, so that body and mind spontaneously drop off and the original face of a true individual emerges.
The former spontaneity is governed by instinct, by unconscious impulses; the latter is consciously guided by reason.
What the Buddha's teaching is now progressing toward, as I read this and the following verses, is the growth of consciousness, reason, will and confidence as opposed to unconsciousness, emotion, instinct and irresolution.
EH Johnston:
Self-control is ever as difficult for the mind which has given a free rein to passion as for the thirst-stricken traveller who sees water which is foul.
Linda Covill:
Steadfastness is in every respect hard to accomplish when the mind is given to unfettered passion, just as it is hard for a thirsty traveler to maintain self-control when he sees dirty water.
VOCABULARY:
raaga: redness, passion
uddaamena = instrumental of uddaama: unrestrained , unbound ; violent , impetuous, fiery ; wanton
manasaa = instrumental of manas: mind
sarvathaa: in every way , in every respect , by all means ; altogether, entirely, in the highest degree ; at all times
duShkaraa: hard to be done or borne , difficult , arduous
dhRtiH = nominal, singular of dhRti: holding , seizing , keeping , supporting ; firmness , constancy , resolution, will, command
sa: (possessive suffix) having, with
doSha: fault, vice, badness, disease
salilam (accusative): water
dRShTvaa = absolutive of dRsh: to see
pathinena = instrumental of pathin: a way , path , road , course
pipaasunaa = instrumental of pipaasu: thirsty
sarvathaa duShkaraa dhRtiH
sa-doShaM salilaM dRShTvaa
pathinena pipaasunaa
= = = = - - - =
= - = = - = - =
- = = - - = = =
- - = - - = - =
12.27
With a mind unbridled by passion
It is exceedingly difficult to be steadfast,
As when dirty water is seen
By a thirsty traveller.
COMMENT:
This verse, as I read it, is not opposed to unbridling of the mind per se: it is rather opposed to allowing the mind to be unbridled by an instinctive, unconscious impulse.
A mind that is habitually bridled, by its intellect and by its attachments, can become rapidly unbridled through passion, with sometimes comical results, as happened to John Cleese's character in A Fish Called Wanda; and with sometimes tragic results, as in Othello. This kind of unconscious unbridling of the mind tends to lead not to steadfastness but to errant unconscious behaviour, to breaking of promises, and failure to stick to decisions.
Unbridling of the mind corresponds to the breaking down of activation energy barriers in a spontaneous process of energy release. This can be seen in spontaneous explosions of lust and anger, or in the mass reactions of a mob. Another kind of spontaneous unbridling is realised in learning the backward step, so that body and mind spontaneously drop off and the original face of a true individual emerges.
The former spontaneity is governed by instinct, by unconscious impulses; the latter is consciously guided by reason.
What the Buddha's teaching is now progressing toward, as I read this and the following verses, is the growth of consciousness, reason, will and confidence as opposed to unconsciousness, emotion, instinct and irresolution.
EH Johnston:
Self-control is ever as difficult for the mind which has given a free rein to passion as for the thirst-stricken traveller who sees water which is foul.
Linda Covill:
Steadfastness is in every respect hard to accomplish when the mind is given to unfettered passion, just as it is hard for a thirsty traveler to maintain self-control when he sees dirty water.
VOCABULARY:
raaga: redness, passion
uddaamena = instrumental of uddaama: unrestrained , unbound ; violent , impetuous, fiery ; wanton
manasaa = instrumental of manas: mind
sarvathaa: in every way , in every respect , by all means ; altogether, entirely, in the highest degree ; at all times
duShkaraa: hard to be done or borne , difficult , arduous
dhRtiH = nominal, singular of dhRti: holding , seizing , keeping , supporting ; firmness , constancy , resolution, will, command
sa: (possessive suffix) having, with
doSha: fault, vice, badness, disease
salilam (accusative): water
dRShTvaa = absolutive of dRsh: to see
pathinena = instrumental of pathin: a way , path , road , course
pipaasunaa = instrumental of pipaasu: thirsty
Thursday, June 18, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.26: Re-directing the Energy of Fear & Passion
an-arha-saMsaara-bhayaM
maan'aarhaM te cikiirShitam
raag'-aagnis taadRsho yasya
dharm'-onmukha paraaN-mukhaH
- = - = = - - =
= = = = - = - -
= = = = - = = -
= = - - - = - =
12.26
In its fear of worthless flux
Your intention is worthy of respect,
For a fire of passion such as yours
Is being re-directed, upwards,
in the direction of the Dharma.
COMMENT:
I wish I could be more confident in my understanding of Sanskrit grammar, but the 3rd and 4th lines, as I read them, are constructed in the style of a nominal sentence whose essence is nominal subject (raag’-aagniH; a fire of passion) and nominal non-verbal predicate (paraaN-mukhaH; a turning away).
So a literal reading, as I understand it, is:
“A fire of passion such as yours is a turning away which is Dharma/upwards-looking.”
I suspect that EH Johnston veered from the literal translation, as translators are ever prone to do, because he could not understand it. But maybe it is me who has got it wrong, in which case, if anybody knows or thinks I have got it wrong, I would be grateful to be corrected or happy to be challenged.
What the Buddha is praising, as I hear him, is Nanda’s intention to re-direct his emotional energy of fear and lust. The Buddha in this verse is encouraging Nanda, I think, not to disown or deny his emotional energy, not to turn his back on it, but rather to channel it for a higher good -- to “sublimate” his energy, to borrow a word from the alchemists who, in their own way, were also after gold.
This description of energy being re-directed then leads to the Buddha’s description in the following verse of how difficult it can be to keep one’s re-directed libido flowing constantly in the new, consciously-chosen direction -- which might primarily be up along the spine.
If I have got the grammar wrong then by continuing with this comment I am only digging myself into a deeper hole. Anyway, here goes:
At the place Master Dogen called “the inside of sitting,” there might not be any Dharma to look up at. But going up might be the Dharma itself.
So in the compound dharma’onmukha, or “Dharma/upwards” as I read it, there may be a hint that the up of upright sitting is the Dharma, and the Dharma is the up of upright sitting.
The syllable pronounced as on in the compound dharm’onmukha is originally ud, which means up.
ud + mukha = un-mukha;
dharma + unmukha = dharm’onmukha.
If we find a place where nobody can hear us and try reciting the verse in Sanskrit, the first two syllables of the fourth line are heavy, or long, and they are bordered by four light syllables. So those two long syllables seem to have pride of place in the verse.
dharm’on
Dharma / Up
I think Ashvaghosha is giving us a clue here as to what is of primary importance.
The ud of dharm’onmukha is the up of upright sitting. The difficulty for many of us who sit is that our senses, centred on faulty vestibular functioning, are set against it: what we feel to be up is liable to be down. For such a faulty individual, learning the backward step includes learning not to feel up but to think up.
EH Johnston:
Your intention deserves to be honoured, in that it holds the dangers of the cycle of existence to be unworthy ; for you are facing towards the Law and have turned your back on so great a fire of passion.
Linda Covill:
Worthy of honour is your intention and its fear of a worthless samsara. You have put that kind of fiery passion behind you; you are facing the dharma.
VOCABULARY:
an-arha: unworthy
saMsaara: flowing together, mass unconscious reaction
bhayam (accusative): fear , alarm, dread, danger
maana: consideration , regard , respect , honour
arham (accusative): worthy
te (genitive): of you
cikiirShitam (accusative): n. " intended to be done , designed " , purpose , design , intention
raaga: redness, passion
aagniH (nominal): fire
taadRshaH (nominal): of such a kind, so
yasya (genitive): of whom
dharma: the teaching, the Dharma, the Truth
unmukha (ud + mukha): mf(i)n. raising the face , looking up
ud: up, upwards
mukha: face
paraaN-mukhaH (nominative): having the face turned away or averted , turning the back upon
maan'aarhaM te cikiirShitam
raag'-aagnis taadRsho yasya
dharm'-onmukha paraaN-mukhaH
- = - = = - - =
= = = = - = - -
= = = = - = = -
= = - - - = - =
12.26
In its fear of worthless flux
Your intention is worthy of respect,
For a fire of passion such as yours
Is being re-directed, upwards,
in the direction of the Dharma.
COMMENT:
I wish I could be more confident in my understanding of Sanskrit grammar, but the 3rd and 4th lines, as I read them, are constructed in the style of a nominal sentence whose essence is nominal subject (raag’-aagniH; a fire of passion) and nominal non-verbal predicate (paraaN-mukhaH; a turning away).
So a literal reading, as I understand it, is:
“A fire of passion such as yours is a turning away which is Dharma/upwards-looking.”
I suspect that EH Johnston veered from the literal translation, as translators are ever prone to do, because he could not understand it. But maybe it is me who has got it wrong, in which case, if anybody knows or thinks I have got it wrong, I would be grateful to be corrected or happy to be challenged.
What the Buddha is praising, as I hear him, is Nanda’s intention to re-direct his emotional energy of fear and lust. The Buddha in this verse is encouraging Nanda, I think, not to disown or deny his emotional energy, not to turn his back on it, but rather to channel it for a higher good -- to “sublimate” his energy, to borrow a word from the alchemists who, in their own way, were also after gold.
This description of energy being re-directed then leads to the Buddha’s description in the following verse of how difficult it can be to keep one’s re-directed libido flowing constantly in the new, consciously-chosen direction -- which might primarily be up along the spine.
If I have got the grammar wrong then by continuing with this comment I am only digging myself into a deeper hole. Anyway, here goes:
At the place Master Dogen called “the inside of sitting,” there might not be any Dharma to look up at. But going up might be the Dharma itself.
So in the compound dharma’onmukha, or “Dharma/upwards” as I read it, there may be a hint that the up of upright sitting is the Dharma, and the Dharma is the up of upright sitting.
The syllable pronounced as on in the compound dharm’onmukha is originally ud, which means up.
ud + mukha = un-mukha;
dharma + unmukha = dharm’onmukha.
If we find a place where nobody can hear us and try reciting the verse in Sanskrit, the first two syllables of the fourth line are heavy, or long, and they are bordered by four light syllables. So those two long syllables seem to have pride of place in the verse.
dharm’on
Dharma / Up
I think Ashvaghosha is giving us a clue here as to what is of primary importance.
The ud of dharm’onmukha is the up of upright sitting. The difficulty for many of us who sit is that our senses, centred on faulty vestibular functioning, are set against it: what we feel to be up is liable to be down. For such a faulty individual, learning the backward step includes learning not to feel up but to think up.
EH Johnston:
Your intention deserves to be honoured, in that it holds the dangers of the cycle of existence to be unworthy ; for you are facing towards the Law and have turned your back on so great a fire of passion.
Linda Covill:
Worthy of honour is your intention and its fear of a worthless samsara. You have put that kind of fiery passion behind you; you are facing the dharma.
VOCABULARY:
an-arha: unworthy
saMsaara: flowing together, mass unconscious reaction
bhayam (accusative): fear , alarm, dread, danger
maana: consideration , regard , respect , honour
arham (accusative): worthy
te (genitive): of you
cikiirShitam (accusative): n. " intended to be done , designed " , purpose , design , intention
raaga: redness, passion
aagniH (nominal): fire
taadRshaH (nominal): of such a kind, so
yasya (genitive): of whom
dharma: the teaching, the Dharma, the Truth
unmukha (ud + mukha): mf(i)n. raising the face , looking up
ud: up, upwards
mukha: face
paraaN-mukhaH (nominative): having the face turned away or averted , turning the back upon
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.25: Gaining Hold of Good, Preventive Medicine
sarva-duHkh'-aapahaM tat tu
hasta-stham amRtaM tava
viShaM piitvaa yad agadaM
samaye paatum icchasi
= - = = - = = -
= = - - - = - -
- = = = - - - =
- - = = - = - -
12.25
But that which prevents all suffering,
The nectar of deathlessness,
you have in your hands:
It is an antidote which, having drunk poison,
You are going in good time to drink.
COMMENT:
Nanda, in 12.16, expresses his belief to the Buddha that "it is your most excellent teaching that is the eradicator/destroyer/terminator (kShaya-kare) of all suffering." Here is the Buddha's response: what not so much terminates but repells or prevents all suffering is not only abstract teaching or even eternal law. Dharma is real preventive medicine, like liquid nectar that can be cupped in the hands here and now, and drunk. Neither is this nectar of immortality a matter only of the gods; its real substance might be a drop of the bodhi-mind which, the Buddha seems to be saying, neither belongs exclusively to me nor exists out there: you already have it, in the midst of your shame, as you stand devoutly listening, with head slightly lowered and palms slightly cupped. In the sincerity of Nanda's wish to listen to the truth, as is embodied in his manner of standing, the Buddha seems to be saying, Nanda already has the real substance of deathlessness in his own hands, and he is about to drink it.
The Buddha seems to have intuited already that Nanda is going, in time, to realise the realisation described in Canto 18, amRt'aadhigama, Making the Nectar of Deathlessness His Own. Here in Canto 12, Nanda has not realised that realisation yet, because his senses are still set against it, but he is going to start, when he begins in earnest to address the problem of faulty sensory appreciation, which is the theme of Canto 13.
EH Johnston:
But you have within your reach that elixir which removes all suffering, the antidote which you wish, as having drunk poison, to take in good time.
Linda Covill:
Having drunk poison, you wish to drink a timely antidote; that cup of deathlessness is within your reach, and it destroys all suffering.
VOCABULARY:
sarva: all
duHkha: suffering
apaham = accusative of apaha: mfn. ifc. keeping back , repelling , removing , destroying
tat (correlative of yat): that [which]
tu: but
hasta: hand
stha: standing , staying , abiding , being situated in
hastastha: mfn. being in or held with the hand
amRtam (accusative): immortality; the nectar (conferring immortality , produced at the churning of the ocean) , ambrosia ; antidote against poison
tava (genitive): of you
viSham (accusative): poison
piitvaa = absolutive of paa: to drink
yat: [that] which
agadam (accusative): m. freedom from disease; m. a medicine , drug , (especially) antidote
samaye: at the appointed time; at the right moment; in good time
paatum = infinitive of paa: to drink
icchasi = 2nd person singular of ish: to wish or be about to do anything
hasta-stham amRtaM tava
viShaM piitvaa yad agadaM
samaye paatum icchasi
= - = = - = = -
= = - - - = - -
- = = = - - - =
- - = = - = - -
12.25
But that which prevents all suffering,
The nectar of deathlessness,
you have in your hands:
It is an antidote which, having drunk poison,
You are going in good time to drink.
COMMENT:
Nanda, in 12.16, expresses his belief to the Buddha that "it is your most excellent teaching that is the eradicator/destroyer/terminator (kShaya-kare) of all suffering." Here is the Buddha's response: what not so much terminates but repells or prevents all suffering is not only abstract teaching or even eternal law. Dharma is real preventive medicine, like liquid nectar that can be cupped in the hands here and now, and drunk. Neither is this nectar of immortality a matter only of the gods; its real substance might be a drop of the bodhi-mind which, the Buddha seems to be saying, neither belongs exclusively to me nor exists out there: you already have it, in the midst of your shame, as you stand devoutly listening, with head slightly lowered and palms slightly cupped. In the sincerity of Nanda's wish to listen to the truth, as is embodied in his manner of standing, the Buddha seems to be saying, Nanda already has the real substance of deathlessness in his own hands, and he is about to drink it.
The Buddha seems to have intuited already that Nanda is going, in time, to realise the realisation described in Canto 18, amRt'aadhigama, Making the Nectar of Deathlessness His Own. Here in Canto 12, Nanda has not realised that realisation yet, because his senses are still set against it, but he is going to start, when he begins in earnest to address the problem of faulty sensory appreciation, which is the theme of Canto 13.
EH Johnston:
But you have within your reach that elixir which removes all suffering, the antidote which you wish, as having drunk poison, to take in good time.
Linda Covill:
Having drunk poison, you wish to drink a timely antidote; that cup of deathlessness is within your reach, and it destroys all suffering.
VOCABULARY:
sarva: all
duHkha: suffering
apaham = accusative of apaha: mfn. ifc. keeping back , repelling , removing , destroying
tat (correlative of yat): that [which]
tu: but
hasta: hand
stha: standing , staying , abiding , being situated in
hastastha: mfn. being in or held with the hand
amRtam (accusative): immortality; the nectar (conferring immortality , produced at the churning of the ocean) , ambrosia ; antidote against poison
tava (genitive): of you
viSham (accusative): poison
piitvaa = absolutive of paa: to drink
yat: [that] which
agadam (accusative): m. freedom from disease; m. a medicine , drug , (especially) antidote
samaye: at the appointed time; at the right moment; in good time
paatum = infinitive of paa: to drink
icchasi = 2nd person singular of ish: to wish or be about to do anything
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