shiilam aasthaaya vartante
sarvaa hi shreyasi kriyaaH
sthaan'-aadyaan' iiva kaaryaaNi
pratiShThaaya vasundharaaM
= - = = - = = =
= = = = - = - =
= = = = - = = =
- = = - - = - =
13.21
For founded on integrity unfurl
All actions in the sphere of higher good,
Just as events like standing unfold
When a force resists the earth.
COMMENT:
A joke told by Irish comic philosopher Dave Allen has stuck in my mind for 35 years. It went something like this:
A priest kneels before God and begs to be forgiven for some terrible sin. The voice of God booms down: "Thou shalt go and play 18 holes of golf." Nervously the priest approaches the first tee, expecting to suffer a lightning strike or some such horror, but nothing happens. Rather, the ball sails straight into the hole. Seventeen further holes-in-one follow. At the eighteenth pin the amazed priest looks up to the heavens and cries out, "Lord, I expected you to punish me for my terrible sin, but in Your great benevolent mercy you have chosen not to punish me!" "On the contrary," booms the voice of God, "Your punishment is that nobody will believe you."
The reason the joke comes back to mind is that I feel my understanding of this verse, on the basis of efforts in sitting practice and Alexander work, is like a hole in one. But if I try to put the understanding in words, and hold it up for public scrutiny, it feels as if nobody is listening to me. Anyway, here is my comment:
Six verses from this verse to 13.26 paint a picture of integrity as the basis of a clear conscience, which is the basis of a sense of fulfillment which is the basis of joy, and so on through buoyancy, psycho-physical ease, balance, insight, consciousness, dispassion, and release. So this verse does the groundwork for the series of six verses, comparing integrity to the earth upon which everything rests.
But besides that, this verse as I read it, is also pointing indirectly to the truth of non-doing.
The verb vRt, translated above as "unfurl" and "unfold," originally means to turn or roll. In this verse, as I read it, vartante carries a connotation of what FM Alexander called "the right thing doing itself" -- as when The Flower of Dharma Turns the Flower of Dharma (the title of Shobogenzo chap. 17, HOKKE-TEN-HOKKE).
Actions that are not on the plane of higher good are done with much grunting, pushing, shoving and holding of breath. This is how FM Alexander saw most of us acting most of the time, as "lowly evolved swine."
To help his pupils up onto what he called "the plane of conscious control," FM taught them primarily NOT to stand up. When his pupils had learned to say NO to their habitual way of standing up, FM gave them a new experience of standing as an unfolding event, a spontaneous happening.
The spontaneity has to do with what Charles Sherrington called "anti-gravity" reflexes. After 15 years looking into it, I understand almost nothing about it. But this verse, as I read it, is touching on that subject. Because what withstands the earth, on the plane of higher good, is basically all the anti-gravity machinery which is driven not so much from the top two inches, but more from the vestibular reflexes.
May the Lotus Universe turn for you.
May your every act of standing be a happening.
And may your God go with you.
EH Johnston:
For by taking your stand on discipline all actions take place in the sphere of the supreme good, just as standing and other actions of the body are performed by taking your stand on the earth.
Linda Covill:
For all actions pertaining to Excellence rest on moral self-restraint, just as the physical activities of standing and so on take place resting on the ground.
VOCABULARY:
shiilam (accusative): discipline, good conduct, integrity
aasthaaya (absolutive of aa-√sthaa):: ind.p. having recourse to , using , employing ; having ascended ; standing , standing by.
aa-√sthaa: to stand or remain on or by ; to ascend , mount ; to stay near , go towards , resort to ; to act according to , follow
vartante = 3rd person plural of vRt: to turn, veer ; to move or go on , get along , advance , proceed , take place , occur , be performed , come off
sarvaaH (nom, pl.): all
hi: for
shreyasi = locative of shreyas: higher good
kriyaaH = nom. pl of kriyaa: f. doing , performing , performance , occupation with (in comp.) , business , act , action ; bodily action
sthaana: the act of standing , standing firmly , being fixed or stationary; position or posture of the body (in shooting &c )
aadya: being at the beginning ; ifc = aadi, et cetera
iva: like
kaaryaaNi = nom. pl. of kaarya: n. work or business to be done , duty , affair ; n. occupation , matter , thing , enterprise , emergency , occurrence , crisis ; n. conduct , deportment
pratiShThaaya = absolutive of pratiShThaa: to stand , stay , abide , dwell; to stand firm , be based or rest on (loc.); to withstand , resist (acc.); to spread or extend over (acc.)
vasundharaaM (accusative): f. the earth ; a country , kingdom ; the soil , the ground
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 13.20: Immersion in Good Conduct
tasmaac caaritra-sampanno
brahmacaryam idaM cara
aNu-maatreShv avadyeShu
bhaya-darshii dRDha-vrataH
= = = = - = = =
= - = - - = - -
- - = = - - = -
- - = = - = - =
13.20
Being steeped in good conduct, therefore,
Lead this wholesome life,
And in what is even minutely blameworthy
See danger, being firm in your purpose.
COMMENT:
To conceive of "wholesomeness" as an end to be gained, and thence to strive towards it, without giving due consideration to whether one's means are wholesome or not, might be somewhat blameworthy.
Even a miniscule amount of that kind of end-gaining causes a gap to open up, so that body and mind become rapidly disconnected from each other. It is a recipe for very unwholesome living. It is a recipe for splitting oneself into two halves -- one half that wants to be wholesome, and the other half that doesn't want to be wholesome. Nothing could be less wholesome than that. Q.E.D.
It seems to me that it is an easy mistake to make to jump to conclusions about how other people are, without really knowing them as individuals, but based only on one's own experience and one's own opinions. I remember Gudo Nishijima pronouncing, in a lecture in the 1980s, that every human being has desire to have sex with another human being. The context was that my teacher was opposing the traditional "unrealistic" interpretation of the four noble truths that (sexual) desire is the cause of suffering, with his own more "realistic" understanding of desire. But it turns out (or so I heard on BBC Radio 4 yesterday morning), that about 1% of people are asexual -- i.e. they are neither heterosexual, nor homosexual, nor bisexual: they find both women and men sexually unattractive. In short, there are asexual people who don't want sex with anybody. So, not for the first time, the "realistic" view seems to me to have been falsified by a fact.
What I was taught in my 20s was not to suppress sexual desire, but just to leave it as is, without following it in my conduct. My teacher used the metaphor of allowing a rubber ball to float on the surface of water, not trying to hold it down. But in the background to this teaching, as I perceived it, was the idea that it was good to be celibate, that although there might be no sin in sex, it was traditional for a Buddhist monk to be celibate, so that if I could be celibate, that would be very good.
What would have been good, in retrospect, would have been to stop trying so hard to be right. For a start it would have been good to stop striving so hard to keep the spine straight vertically. It would have been very good if somebody had explained to me the difference between (a) holding oneself up rigidly with a lot of needless effort, and (b) allowing the spine to lengthen in such a way that the breathing becomes less, not more, restricted.
In order to lead a wholesome life, it seems to me, what we should endeavour to stop is neither sexual desire (which might be impossible for 99% of people) nor sexual conduct (which might also be impossible for many people); what we should endeavour to stop, primarily, is unwholesome end-gaining.
EH Johnston:
Therefore live the holy life, endowed with good conduct, firmly attached to your vows and recognising the danger of even the smallest faults.
Linda Covill:
Therefore live this renunciant life endowed with virtuous conduct, firm in your vowed observances, and seeing danger in what is only very slightly objectionable.
VOCABULARY:
tasmaat: therefore
caaritra: n. good conduct , good character , reputation
sampannaH (nom. m.): mfn. turned out well; ifc. " perfectly acquainted or conversant with "; endowed or furnished with ; (ifc.) become , turned into
brahmacaryam (acc. neuter): study of the veda , the state of an unmarried religious student , a state of continence and chastity (acc. with √car, to practise chastity)
brahma = in compounds for brahman (from √bRh, to make big or fat or strong , increase , expand , further , promote): pious effusion or utterance , outpouring of the heart in worshipping the gods , prayer ; holy life (esp. continence , chastity)
carya: to be practised
brahma-carya: n. study of the veda , the state of an unmarried religious student , a state of continence and chastity (acc. √car , to practise chastity ; cf. -caarin)
brahma-caarin: m. a young Brahman who is a student of the veda (under a preceptor) or who practises chastity , a young Brahman before marriage (in the first period of his life) ; the name brahma-caarin is also given to older unmarried Brahmans , esp. if versed in the veda , and by the tantras to any person whose chief virtue is continence)
idam (acc. neuter): this
cara = imperative of √car: to move oneself, act, practise, live
aNu: fine , minute , atomic
maatra: n. (ifc.) measure , quantity , sum , size
aNu-maatreShv = locative, plural of aNu-maatra: having the size of an atom
avadyeShu = locative, plural of avadya: "not to be praised" , blamable , low , inferior
bhaya: fear, danger
darshii = nom. m. of darshin: ifc. seeing , looking at , observing , examining , finding
dRDha: fixed , firm , hard , strong ; firmly fastened , shut fast , tight ; steady , resolute , persevering ; confirmed , established , certain , sure
vrataH (nom. m): will , command ; a religious vow or practice , any pious observance , meritorious act of devotion or austerity , solemn vow , rule , holy practice (as fasting , continence &c); any vow or firm purpose
brahmacaryam idaM cara
aNu-maatreShv avadyeShu
bhaya-darshii dRDha-vrataH
= = = = - = = =
= - = - - = - -
- - = = - - = -
- - = = - = - =
13.20
Being steeped in good conduct, therefore,
Lead this wholesome life,
And in what is even minutely blameworthy
See danger, being firm in your purpose.
COMMENT:
To conceive of "wholesomeness" as an end to be gained, and thence to strive towards it, without giving due consideration to whether one's means are wholesome or not, might be somewhat blameworthy.
Even a miniscule amount of that kind of end-gaining causes a gap to open up, so that body and mind become rapidly disconnected from each other. It is a recipe for very unwholesome living. It is a recipe for splitting oneself into two halves -- one half that wants to be wholesome, and the other half that doesn't want to be wholesome. Nothing could be less wholesome than that. Q.E.D.
It seems to me that it is an easy mistake to make to jump to conclusions about how other people are, without really knowing them as individuals, but based only on one's own experience and one's own opinions. I remember Gudo Nishijima pronouncing, in a lecture in the 1980s, that every human being has desire to have sex with another human being. The context was that my teacher was opposing the traditional "unrealistic" interpretation of the four noble truths that (sexual) desire is the cause of suffering, with his own more "realistic" understanding of desire. But it turns out (or so I heard on BBC Radio 4 yesterday morning), that about 1% of people are asexual -- i.e. they are neither heterosexual, nor homosexual, nor bisexual: they find both women and men sexually unattractive. In short, there are asexual people who don't want sex with anybody. So, not for the first time, the "realistic" view seems to me to have been falsified by a fact.
What I was taught in my 20s was not to suppress sexual desire, but just to leave it as is, without following it in my conduct. My teacher used the metaphor of allowing a rubber ball to float on the surface of water, not trying to hold it down. But in the background to this teaching, as I perceived it, was the idea that it was good to be celibate, that although there might be no sin in sex, it was traditional for a Buddhist monk to be celibate, so that if I could be celibate, that would be very good.
What would have been good, in retrospect, would have been to stop trying so hard to be right. For a start it would have been good to stop striving so hard to keep the spine straight vertically. It would have been very good if somebody had explained to me the difference between (a) holding oneself up rigidly with a lot of needless effort, and (b) allowing the spine to lengthen in such a way that the breathing becomes less, not more, restricted.
In order to lead a wholesome life, it seems to me, what we should endeavour to stop is neither sexual desire (which might be impossible for 99% of people) nor sexual conduct (which might also be impossible for many people); what we should endeavour to stop, primarily, is unwholesome end-gaining.
EH Johnston:
Therefore live the holy life, endowed with good conduct, firmly attached to your vows and recognising the danger of even the smallest faults.
Linda Covill:
Therefore live this renunciant life endowed with virtuous conduct, firm in your vowed observances, and seeing danger in what is only very slightly objectionable.
VOCABULARY:
tasmaat: therefore
caaritra: n. good conduct , good character , reputation
sampannaH (nom. m.): mfn. turned out well; ifc. " perfectly acquainted or conversant with "; endowed or furnished with ; (ifc.) become , turned into
brahmacaryam (acc. neuter): study of the veda , the state of an unmarried religious student , a state of continence and chastity (acc. with √car, to practise chastity)
brahma = in compounds for brahman (from √bRh, to make big or fat or strong , increase , expand , further , promote): pious effusion or utterance , outpouring of the heart in worshipping the gods , prayer ; holy life (esp. continence , chastity)
carya: to be practised
brahma-carya: n. study of the veda , the state of an unmarried religious student , a state of continence and chastity (acc. √car , to practise chastity ; cf. -caarin)
brahma-caarin: m. a young Brahman who is a student of the veda (under a preceptor) or who practises chastity , a young Brahman before marriage (in the first period of his life) ; the name brahma-caarin is also given to older unmarried Brahmans , esp. if versed in the veda , and by the tantras to any person whose chief virtue is continence)
idam (acc. neuter): this
cara = imperative of √car: to move oneself, act, practise, live
aNu: fine , minute , atomic
maatra: n. (ifc.) measure , quantity , sum , size
aNu-maatreShv = locative, plural of aNu-maatra: having the size of an atom
avadyeShu = locative, plural of avadya: "not to be praised" , blamable , low , inferior
bhaya: fear, danger
darshii = nom. m. of darshin: ifc. seeing , looking at , observing , examining , finding
dRDha: fixed , firm , hard , strong ; firmly fastened , shut fast , tight ; steady , resolute , persevering ; confirmed , established , certain , sure
vrataH (nom. m): will , command ; a religious vow or practice , any pious observance , meritorious act of devotion or austerity , solemn vow , rule , holy practice (as fasting , continence &c); any vow or firm purpose
Saturday, July 25, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 13.19: Walking the Walk
etaavac chiilam ity uktam
aacaaro 'yaM samaasataH
asya naashena n' aaiva syaat
pravrajyaa na gRha-sthataa
= = = = - - = -
= = = = - = - =
= - = = - = = =
= = = - - = - =
13.19
Such is termed "practice of integrity."
In sum, it is conduct;
Without it there could truly be
No going forth, nor state of being at home.
COMMENT:
In sum, it is walking the walk.
These comments of mine are so much talking the talk. But the work of translation is walking the walk. Each verse is four steps in a walk, in a "going into movement," one foot in front of the other.
It is good to be on a long path that is going somewhere. It is not a path I imagined I would be walking, but the point is not to pick and choose a path. "Beggars can't be choosers," as my grandparents used to say. Any path will do.
When Gudo Nishijima and Jeff Bailey returned from a trip to America in the mid-1980s, Gudo reported back to me that Jeff had come up with the idea that I should be "the champion of Dogen Sangha." What did it mean in terms of my actual conduct, I wondered? It didn't mean anything. It was only an idea, a good bit of talking the talk. But my deluded reaction to the idea was all too real. And sadly at that time I was not possessed of any means for dealing with emotional reaction to an idea -- and neither would I be possessed of the means until I met Marjory Barlow many years later.
Even now, day by day, verse by verse, step by step, I am struggling to give up the idea that I am destined to play some great role as a "Buddhist" leader: I wish to be free from the undesired reactions, the energetic leakages, that the idea seems to mobilize in me. But the idea has buried itself a long way down. I think I am free of it, then I notice some emotional reaction in myself and realise I was not free after all. Have to dig deeper.
GRha-sthataa at the end of the verse could be translated "lay practice" or "practice as a householder." I considered those two translations, but they didn't sound right to my (admittedly faulty) ear, based on my experience over the past 30 years of sometimes going forth and sometimes being at home, sometimes failing to go forth, and sometimes failing to be at home. "State of being at home" sounds right to my ear: it has overtones that hint at the backward step of turning one's light and shining -- the backward step that is always available to anybody, regardless of social status, caste, colour, or creed.
Who am I? A Buddhist monk? A Buddhist householder undergoing a solitary summer retreat? No, I am neither of those two. A non-Buddhist monk, then? A non-Buddhist householder? Or a non-Buddhist scrounger? A non-Buddhist dosser enjoying another long holiday? I don't know. On a good day, I don't care two hoots either.
Not knowing who I am, I devote myself as best I can to the conscious practice of integrity, as far as I understand it, as a backward step, and I get on with this translation work in forward steps, one foot in front of the other.
The mainspring of integrity, as FM Alexander rightly observed, is a person's central alignment such that the head, arms, and legs are all as if spilling out from the expanding depths of one's being. When this integrity is truly practised, it seems to me, it doesn't matter who I am. After a heavy downpour, the birds begin again to sing.
EH Johnston:
This much is said to be discipline. To put it briefly, it is good behaviour ; in its absence there can be no proper life either as a mendicant or as a householder.
Linda Covill:
Such is what is termed moral self-restraint. To summarize, it is virtuous conduct; were it to disappear, neither true going forth nor true household life would be possible
VOCABULARY:
etaavat: ind. so far , thus far , so much , in such a degree , thus
shiilam = accusative of shiila: habit , custom , usage , natural or acquired way of living or acting , practice , conduct , disposition , tendency , character , nature ; good disposition or character , moral conduct , integrity , morality , piety , virtue ; (with Buddhists, " moral conduct " , is one of the 6 or 10 perfections or pAramitAs [q.v.] and is threefold , viz. sambhAra , kuzala-saMgrAha , sattvA*rtha-kriyA Dharmas. 106) ;
a moral precept (with Buddh. there are 5 fundamental precepts or rules of moral conduct cf. paJca-zIla)
iti: " "
uktam (accusative): uttered, said, spoken
aacaaraH: conduct , manner of action , behaviour , good behaviour , good conduct ; custom , practice , usage , traditional or immemorial usage (as the foundation of law) ; an established rule of conduct , ordinance , institute , precept ; (with Buddhists) agreeing with what is taught by the teacher
ayam: this, this is
samaasa: aggregation , conjunction , combination , connection , union , totality
-taH: ablative suffix
asya (genitive): of it
naashena = instrumental of naasha: the being lost , loss , disappearance
na: not
eva: (emphatic)
syaat: might be
pravrajyaa: f. going forth from home (first rite of a layman wishing to become a Buddh. monk) ; f. roaming , wandering about (esp. as a religious mendicant ; f. the order of a religious mendicant
na: not
gRha: home, house
stha: standing, staying , abiding , being situated in , existing or being in; occupied with , engaged in , devoted to performing , practising
- taa: -ness, state of, being
gRhasthataa: being a householder, [being-at-home]-ness
aacaaro 'yaM samaasataH
asya naashena n' aaiva syaat
pravrajyaa na gRha-sthataa
= = = = - - = -
= = = = - = - =
= - = = - = = =
= = = - - = - =
13.19
Such is termed "practice of integrity."
In sum, it is conduct;
Without it there could truly be
No going forth, nor state of being at home.
COMMENT:
In sum, it is walking the walk.
These comments of mine are so much talking the talk. But the work of translation is walking the walk. Each verse is four steps in a walk, in a "going into movement," one foot in front of the other.
It is good to be on a long path that is going somewhere. It is not a path I imagined I would be walking, but the point is not to pick and choose a path. "Beggars can't be choosers," as my grandparents used to say. Any path will do.
When Gudo Nishijima and Jeff Bailey returned from a trip to America in the mid-1980s, Gudo reported back to me that Jeff had come up with the idea that I should be "the champion of Dogen Sangha." What did it mean in terms of my actual conduct, I wondered? It didn't mean anything. It was only an idea, a good bit of talking the talk. But my deluded reaction to the idea was all too real. And sadly at that time I was not possessed of any means for dealing with emotional reaction to an idea -- and neither would I be possessed of the means until I met Marjory Barlow many years later.
Even now, day by day, verse by verse, step by step, I am struggling to give up the idea that I am destined to play some great role as a "Buddhist" leader: I wish to be free from the undesired reactions, the energetic leakages, that the idea seems to mobilize in me. But the idea has buried itself a long way down. I think I am free of it, then I notice some emotional reaction in myself and realise I was not free after all. Have to dig deeper.
GRha-sthataa at the end of the verse could be translated "lay practice" or "practice as a householder." I considered those two translations, but they didn't sound right to my (admittedly faulty) ear, based on my experience over the past 30 years of sometimes going forth and sometimes being at home, sometimes failing to go forth, and sometimes failing to be at home. "State of being at home" sounds right to my ear: it has overtones that hint at the backward step of turning one's light and shining -- the backward step that is always available to anybody, regardless of social status, caste, colour, or creed.
Who am I? A Buddhist monk? A Buddhist householder undergoing a solitary summer retreat? No, I am neither of those two. A non-Buddhist monk, then? A non-Buddhist householder? Or a non-Buddhist scrounger? A non-Buddhist dosser enjoying another long holiday? I don't know. On a good day, I don't care two hoots either.
Not knowing who I am, I devote myself as best I can to the conscious practice of integrity, as far as I understand it, as a backward step, and I get on with this translation work in forward steps, one foot in front of the other.
The mainspring of integrity, as FM Alexander rightly observed, is a person's central alignment such that the head, arms, and legs are all as if spilling out from the expanding depths of one's being. When this integrity is truly practised, it seems to me, it doesn't matter who I am. After a heavy downpour, the birds begin again to sing.
EH Johnston:
This much is said to be discipline. To put it briefly, it is good behaviour ; in its absence there can be no proper life either as a mendicant or as a householder.
Linda Covill:
Such is what is termed moral self-restraint. To summarize, it is virtuous conduct; were it to disappear, neither true going forth nor true household life would be possible
VOCABULARY:
etaavat: ind. so far , thus far , so much , in such a degree , thus
shiilam = accusative of shiila: habit , custom , usage , natural or acquired way of living or acting , practice , conduct , disposition , tendency , character , nature ; good disposition or character , moral conduct , integrity , morality , piety , virtue ; (with Buddhists, " moral conduct " , is one of the 6 or 10 perfections or pAramitAs [q.v.] and is threefold , viz. sambhAra , kuzala-saMgrAha , sattvA*rtha-kriyA Dharmas. 106) ;
a moral precept (with Buddh. there are 5 fundamental precepts or rules of moral conduct cf. paJca-zIla)
iti: " "
uktam (accusative): uttered, said, spoken
aacaaraH: conduct , manner of action , behaviour , good behaviour , good conduct ; custom , practice , usage , traditional or immemorial usage (as the foundation of law) ; an established rule of conduct , ordinance , institute , precept ; (with Buddhists) agreeing with what is taught by the teacher
ayam: this, this is
samaasa: aggregation , conjunction , combination , connection , union , totality
-taH: ablative suffix
asya (genitive): of it
naashena = instrumental of naasha: the being lost , loss , disappearance
na: not
eva: (emphatic)
syaat: might be
pravrajyaa: f. going forth from home (first rite of a layman wishing to become a Buddh. monk) ; f. roaming , wandering about (esp. as a religious mendicant ; f. the order of a religious mendicant
na: not
gRha: home, house
stha: standing, staying , abiding , being situated in , existing or being in; occupied with , engaged in , devoted to performing , practising
- taa: -ness, state of, being
gRhasthataa: being a householder, [being-at-home]-ness
Friday, July 24, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 13.18: How Not to Wash the Stubborn Stain of "What's In It For Me?"
gRha-sthena hi duH-shodhaa
dRShTir vividha-dRShTinaa
aajivo bhikShuNaa c' aaiva
pareShv aayata-vRttinaa
- = = - - = = =
= = - - - = - =
= - = = - = = -
- = = - = = - =
13.18
For hard to be washed clean
is the view of the househoulder
With his many and various concerns,
As too is the livelihood of the beggar
Whose subsistence depends on others.
COMMENT:
A householder's practice is liable to be tainted by having various fish to fry, while a beggar's practice is liable to be tainted by contributions either not obtained morally or not given freely.
In either case, impurity originates with a thought in the back of somebody's mind of "what's in it for me?"
There are Buddhist priests in Japan and Buddhist monks in Thailand who actively encourage the "what's in it for me?" attitude by selling supposedly auspicious posthumous names to the highest bidder, and by selling trinkets to the superstitious who hope to win the lottery.
Behind the hypocrisy of the -ism, Buddhist "What's in it for me?" begets Buddhist "What's in it for me?"
Even though I write this as a non-Buddhist, a non-Buddhist also is tainted by "What's in it for me?"
The big difference between a Buddhist hypocrite and a follower of non-Buddha is this: the Buddhist hypocrite thinks that he and his Buddhist teacher and his Buddhist chums are pure, that they are, to use the words of Venerable Jundo Cohen "the good guys"; the follower of non-Buddha, in contrast, is awake to what impurity is, primarily in himself.
I spent a past life of serving a buddha called Dogen, but those efforts were not always untainted by a view of "What's in it for me?" In this present life I am serving a buddha called Ashvaghosha, and these efforts are probably still so tainted.
How hard it is for the stain of "What's in it for me" to be washed off, is nowhere more clearly expressed than in the sutra quoted in Shobogenzo chap. 87, Kuyo-shobutsu, Serving Buddhas.
Re-translating that long passage, which I was doing at this very table in France this time last year, really helped me to find the job that I am enjoying doing now, in the service of Ashvaghosha. The point of this very long and repetitive passage is not to worry about impurity or to strive for purity, which is a kind of trying to be right. The point is to keep on serving buddhas, which is a kind of going into movement.
I come back to the golden teaching of Marjory Barlow, which might be paraphrased like this:
When you feel that you are wrong, remember that what you want is not to become right but rather to direct the energy which is your life in a direction that you are consciously choosing for yourself, not letting yourself be manipulated by others on the grounds of blind reaction. Remember this, and then get on with your work, without a care in the world.
What Marjory actually said was this: "When you feel that you are wrong, say 'No,' give your directions, and go into movement, without a care in the world. Let it come out in the wash."
Washing away untaintedness, as Marjory taught it, is a very indirect process. The Buddha as I hear him, and Marjory as I heard her, are chanting from the same scroll.
To let untaintedness come out in the wash, indirectly, through the process of serving buddhas, is very difficult. It requires many lifetimes of effort and sacrifice. To wash away taintedness directly is not difficult. It is totally impossible. Because "I want to be free of taintedness" is taintedness itself.
EH Johnston:
For it is difficult for the householder attached to many varied doctrines to attain purity of doctrine and for the mendicant whose means of existence are dependent on others to obtain purity of livelihood.
Linda Covill:
For a householder who subscribes to various doctrines has difficulty in maintaining an uncontaminated doctrine, while a monk who depends for his subsistence on other people has difficulty in keeping his livelihood clean.
VOCABULARY:
gRha: house, home; householder
sthena = instrumental of stha: standing , staying , abiding , being situated in , existing or being in
hi: for
duH-shodhaa (nom. f.): difficult to be cleaned
dRShTiH (nom.): f. seeing , viewing ; view, notion
vividha:. of various sorts , manifold , divers
dRShTinaa = instrumental of dRShTin: having an insight into or familiar with anything ; having the looks or thoughts directed upon anything
aajivaH (nom.): m. livelihood
bhikShuNaa = instrumental of bhikShu: m. a beggar , mendicant , a Buddhist mendicant or monk
ca: and
eva: (emphatic)
pareShu (locative, plural): to others
aayata: stretching , extending , extended , spread over ; directed towards , aiming at
vRttinaa = instrumental of vRtti/vRttin: mode of life or conduct , course of action , behaviour , (esp.) moral conduct; practice (often ifc practising) ; profession , maintenance , subsistence , livelihood
dRShTir vividha-dRShTinaa
aajivo bhikShuNaa c' aaiva
pareShv aayata-vRttinaa
- = = - - = = =
= = - - - = - =
= - = = - = = -
- = = - = = - =
13.18
For hard to be washed clean
is the view of the househoulder
With his many and various concerns,
As too is the livelihood of the beggar
Whose subsistence depends on others.
COMMENT:
A householder's practice is liable to be tainted by having various fish to fry, while a beggar's practice is liable to be tainted by contributions either not obtained morally or not given freely.
In either case, impurity originates with a thought in the back of somebody's mind of "what's in it for me?"
There are Buddhist priests in Japan and Buddhist monks in Thailand who actively encourage the "what's in it for me?" attitude by selling supposedly auspicious posthumous names to the highest bidder, and by selling trinkets to the superstitious who hope to win the lottery.
Behind the hypocrisy of the -ism, Buddhist "What's in it for me?" begets Buddhist "What's in it for me?"
Even though I write this as a non-Buddhist, a non-Buddhist also is tainted by "What's in it for me?"
The big difference between a Buddhist hypocrite and a follower of non-Buddha is this: the Buddhist hypocrite thinks that he and his Buddhist teacher and his Buddhist chums are pure, that they are, to use the words of Venerable Jundo Cohen "the good guys"; the follower of non-Buddha, in contrast, is awake to what impurity is, primarily in himself.
I spent a past life of serving a buddha called Dogen, but those efforts were not always untainted by a view of "What's in it for me?" In this present life I am serving a buddha called Ashvaghosha, and these efforts are probably still so tainted.
How hard it is for the stain of "What's in it for me" to be washed off, is nowhere more clearly expressed than in the sutra quoted in Shobogenzo chap. 87, Kuyo-shobutsu, Serving Buddhas.
Re-translating that long passage, which I was doing at this very table in France this time last year, really helped me to find the job that I am enjoying doing now, in the service of Ashvaghosha. The point of this very long and repetitive passage is not to worry about impurity or to strive for purity, which is a kind of trying to be right. The point is to keep on serving buddhas, which is a kind of going into movement.
I come back to the golden teaching of Marjory Barlow, which might be paraphrased like this:
When you feel that you are wrong, remember that what you want is not to become right but rather to direct the energy which is your life in a direction that you are consciously choosing for yourself, not letting yourself be manipulated by others on the grounds of blind reaction. Remember this, and then get on with your work, without a care in the world.
What Marjory actually said was this: "When you feel that you are wrong, say 'No,' give your directions, and go into movement, without a care in the world. Let it come out in the wash."
Washing away untaintedness, as Marjory taught it, is a very indirect process. The Buddha as I hear him, and Marjory as I heard her, are chanting from the same scroll.
To let untaintedness come out in the wash, indirectly, through the process of serving buddhas, is very difficult. It requires many lifetimes of effort and sacrifice. To wash away taintedness directly is not difficult. It is totally impossible. Because "I want to be free of taintedness" is taintedness itself.
EH Johnston:
For it is difficult for the householder attached to many varied doctrines to attain purity of doctrine and for the mendicant whose means of existence are dependent on others to obtain purity of livelihood.
Linda Covill:
For a householder who subscribes to various doctrines has difficulty in maintaining an uncontaminated doctrine, while a monk who depends for his subsistence on other people has difficulty in keeping his livelihood clean.
VOCABULARY:
gRha: house, home; householder
sthena = instrumental of stha: standing , staying , abiding , being situated in , existing or being in
hi: for
duH-shodhaa (nom. f.): difficult to be cleaned
dRShTiH (nom.): f. seeing , viewing ; view, notion
vividha:. of various sorts , manifold , divers
dRShTinaa = instrumental of dRShTin: having an insight into or familiar with anything ; having the looks or thoughts directed upon anything
aajivaH (nom.): m. livelihood
bhikShuNaa = instrumental of bhikShu: m. a beggar , mendicant , a Buddhist mendicant or monk
ca: and
eva: (emphatic)
pareShu (locative, plural): to others
aayata: stretching , extending , extended , spread over ; directed towards , aiming at
vRttinaa = instrumental of vRtti/vRttin: mode of life or conduct , course of action , behaviour , (esp.) moral conduct; practice (often ifc practising) ; profession , maintenance , subsistence , livelihood
Thursday, July 23, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 13.17: Being Simple Is Not Easy
karmaNo hi yathaa-dRShtaat
kaaya-vaak-prabhavaad api
aajiivaH pRthag ev' okto
duH-shodhatvaad ayaM mayaa
= - = - - = - =
= - = - - = - -
= = = - - = = =
= = = = - = - =
13.17
So separately from overt action
And from the origin of use of body and voice,
I have spoken of making a living
Because it is so hard to make a pure one --
COMMENT:
If I have understood the first two lines correctly, I have understood them on the basis of Dogen's teaching that there is sitting with mind, as opposed to sitting with body; and sitting with body, as opposed to sitting with mind.
To sit with the body is to attend to overt action, i.e, action as seen from the outside. Japanese and French Zazen practitioners tend to be strong in that direction, maybe reflecting the highly developed aesthetic sensibilities of their culture, cuisine, et cetera. Rule no. 1, they seem to understand, is that one has to look the part. I heard of a French Zen practitioner who tried to stretch his ears with weights, so that he might have long ears like the Buddha. How French can you get?
To sit with the mind, as opposed to sitting with the body, is to attend to stopping those wrong inner patterns from which misuse of body and voice originates. This latter approach relates to what FM Alexander called "thinking in activity," and to what followers of the Buddha in places like Thailand and Tibet call "mindfulness" or "training the mind." This seems to me to be no easy thing in itself, but quite apart from this difficulty the Buddha has been speaking of something which he himself (mayaa: "by me") now calls difficult: the cleansing or purification of one's livelihood.
The gold standard for purity might be the filthy rags that beggars of old would pick up, sort out, wash, dye and wear as a kashaya.
Purity as the Buddha uses the word, if I hear him correctly, means not being tainted. The non-taintedness of filthy rags, as I see it, has to do with the separateness between, on the one hand, the end-gaining of the world, and on the other hand, the attention followers of the Buddha are required to pay to a process. In the world of end-gaining, rags chewed by rats or soiled by shit or menstruation have no value. They are like CO2 emissions, something polluted and polluting -- unavoidable side-effects of the gaining of valuable ends -- something to be discarded. But beggars who followed the Buddha saw value in these waste products that had zero or negative value in the world, seeing them not as impure but as the most pure kind of cloth for making a robe.
If that is the sense in which the Buddha uses the term duH-shodhatva, "difficulty of cleansing," what does it mean for us to purify our means of making a living?
For a start, to sit as the dropping off of body and mind might be a condition of cleanness, i.e., of untainted simplicity, clarity, and indifference. I think that in the time of Ashvaghosha this practice and this understanding, in mutual accord with each other, were still flowing like a torrent in India. Nowadays river-beds everywhere are hardly overflowing, and anybody who really wants water had better be prepared to dig deep for it -- starting afresh from here.
EH Johnston:
For this livelihood is explained by Me separately from the physical actions, namely those of body and voice, because it is so difficult to purify.
Linda Covill:
Because of the difficulty of keeping it clean, I have explained making a living separately from actions as they are seen in body and speech.
VOCABULARY:
karmaNaH = ablative, singular of karmaN: act , action , performance , business ; work, labour, activity ; product , result , effect ; former act as leading to inevitable results , fate (as the certain consequence of acts in a previous life)
hi: for
yathaa: as, in accordance with
dRShtaat = ablative of dRShta: seen
kaaya: body
vaak = in compounds fo vaac: speech , voice , talk
prabhavaad = ablative of prabhava: m. production , source , origin , cause of existence ; birthplace (often ifc. springing or rising or derived from , belonging to)
api: also
aajiivaH (nom. m.): livelihood
pRthak: widely apart , separately
eva: (emphatic)
ukta: uttered, said, spoken
duH: (prefix indicating difficulty)
shodha: purification, cleansing ; correction, setting right
- tva: (abstract noun suffix)
duH-shodhatvaad (ablative): from the difficulty of cleansing
ayam (nom. m.): this
mayaa (instrumental): by me
kaaya-vaak-prabhavaad api
aajiivaH pRthag ev' okto
duH-shodhatvaad ayaM mayaa
= - = - - = - =
= - = - - = - -
= = = - - = = =
= = = = - = - =
13.17
So separately from overt action
And from the origin of use of body and voice,
I have spoken of making a living
Because it is so hard to make a pure one --
COMMENT:
If I have understood the first two lines correctly, I have understood them on the basis of Dogen's teaching that there is sitting with mind, as opposed to sitting with body; and sitting with body, as opposed to sitting with mind.
To sit with the body is to attend to overt action, i.e, action as seen from the outside. Japanese and French Zazen practitioners tend to be strong in that direction, maybe reflecting the highly developed aesthetic sensibilities of their culture, cuisine, et cetera. Rule no. 1, they seem to understand, is that one has to look the part. I heard of a French Zen practitioner who tried to stretch his ears with weights, so that he might have long ears like the Buddha. How French can you get?
To sit with the mind, as opposed to sitting with the body, is to attend to stopping those wrong inner patterns from which misuse of body and voice originates. This latter approach relates to what FM Alexander called "thinking in activity," and to what followers of the Buddha in places like Thailand and Tibet call "mindfulness" or "training the mind." This seems to me to be no easy thing in itself, but quite apart from this difficulty the Buddha has been speaking of something which he himself (mayaa: "by me") now calls difficult: the cleansing or purification of one's livelihood.
The gold standard for purity might be the filthy rags that beggars of old would pick up, sort out, wash, dye and wear as a kashaya.
Purity as the Buddha uses the word, if I hear him correctly, means not being tainted. The non-taintedness of filthy rags, as I see it, has to do with the separateness between, on the one hand, the end-gaining of the world, and on the other hand, the attention followers of the Buddha are required to pay to a process. In the world of end-gaining, rags chewed by rats or soiled by shit or menstruation have no value. They are like CO2 emissions, something polluted and polluting -- unavoidable side-effects of the gaining of valuable ends -- something to be discarded. But beggars who followed the Buddha saw value in these waste products that had zero or negative value in the world, seeing them not as impure but as the most pure kind of cloth for making a robe.
If that is the sense in which the Buddha uses the term duH-shodhatva, "difficulty of cleansing," what does it mean for us to purify our means of making a living?
For a start, to sit as the dropping off of body and mind might be a condition of cleanness, i.e., of untainted simplicity, clarity, and indifference. I think that in the time of Ashvaghosha this practice and this understanding, in mutual accord with each other, were still flowing like a torrent in India. Nowadays river-beds everywhere are hardly overflowing, and anybody who really wants water had better be prepared to dig deep for it -- starting afresh from here.
EH Johnston:
For this livelihood is explained by Me separately from the physical actions, namely those of body and voice, because it is so difficult to purify.
Linda Covill:
Because of the difficulty of keeping it clean, I have explained making a living separately from actions as they are seen in body and speech.
VOCABULARY:
karmaNaH = ablative, singular of karmaN: act , action , performance , business ; work, labour, activity ; product , result , effect ; former act as leading to inevitable results , fate (as the certain consequence of acts in a previous life)
hi: for
yathaa: as, in accordance with
dRShtaat = ablative of dRShta: seen
kaaya: body
vaak = in compounds fo vaac: speech , voice , talk
prabhavaad = ablative of prabhava: m. production , source , origin , cause of existence ; birthplace (often ifc. springing or rising or derived from , belonging to)
api: also
aajiivaH (nom. m.): livelihood
pRthak: widely apart , separately
eva: (emphatic)
ukta: uttered, said, spoken
duH: (prefix indicating difficulty)
shodha: purification, cleansing ; correction, setting right
- tva: (abstract noun suffix)
duH-shodhatvaad (ablative): from the difficulty of cleansing
ayam (nom. m.): this
mayaa (instrumental): by me
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 13.16: Yes, You Can!
parituShTaH shucir maNjush
caukShayaa jiiva-saMpadaa
kuryaa duHkha-pratiikaaraM
yaavad eva vimuktaye
- - = = - = = =
= - = = - = - =
= = = = - = = =
= - = - - = - =
13.16
As a person who is contented, pristine, pleasant,
Through making a living cleanly and well,
You can thwart suffering
All the way to liberation.
COMMENT:
In this verse, as I read it, the Buddha is giving his positive affirmation that, primarily by virtue of negative means, the possibility exists of living happily and agreeably, being true to oneself.
"The wrong inner patterns are the doing that must be stopped," said Marjory Barlow. I understand duHkha-pratiikaaram, the thwarting of suffering, in accordance with that preventive principle.
The deeper the roots of the wrong inner patterns, the deeper we are required to dig in order to thwart suffering. And digging deep is never easy. What I hear the Buddha saying in this verse is that what is never easy is not impossible.
To do this digging, no sophisticated technological tool is needed, not even a spade. The discontent induced by a computer programme saying "Not Responding," while one is impatiently striving to complete some computer task, need not come into it. What is required is a human body, time and space, and a real understanding of what it means to be tainted. Not to be tainted, as I understand this practice on the basis of Alexander work, entails the giving up of an end-gaining idea that unconsciously triggers the tangle of wrong inner patterns which is associated with faulty sensory appreciation. In order to transcend the influence of faulty sensory appreciation, therefore, and be one who is content, pristine, and pleasing, a return to "simple, conscious living" is required.
With this in mind, in an hour or so I shall set off for France. The last words I shall type before I set off are from FM Alexander's book Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual:
I venture to predict that before we can unravel the horribly tangled skein of our present existence, we must come to a full STOP, and return to conscious, simple living, believing in the unity underlying all things, and acting in a practical way in accordance with the laws and principles involved.
EH Johnston:
Contented, upright, pleasing in voice and pure in livelihood, you should practise the remedy for suffering till you reach emancipation.
Linda Covill:
contented, pure and lovely through making your living in a successful and clean manner, counteract suffering until the moment of liberation.
VOCABULARY:
parituShTaH (nom. sing. m.): one who is completely satisfied , delighted, very glad
shuciH (nom.): clear , clean , pure (lit. and fig.) , holy , unsullied , undefiled , innocent , honest
maNjuH (nom.): beautiful , lovely , charming , pleasant , sweet
caukShayaa = instrumental f. of caukShaa: pure , clean (persons)
jiiva: mf(/A)n. living , existing , alive; living by ; m. life , existence
sampadaa = instrumental of sampad: f. success , accomplishment , completion , fulfilment , perfection
kuryaaH (2nd person singular, optative of kR): you can do
duHkha: suffering
pratiikaaram (accusative): opposition , counteraction , prevention , remedy
yaavat: until, as long as
eva: (emphatic)
vimuktaye = dative of vimukta: mfn. unloosed , unharnessed ; set free , liberated
caukShayaa jiiva-saMpadaa
kuryaa duHkha-pratiikaaraM
yaavad eva vimuktaye
- - = = - = = =
= - = = - = - =
= = = = - = = =
= - = - - = - =
13.16
As a person who is contented, pristine, pleasant,
Through making a living cleanly and well,
You can thwart suffering
All the way to liberation.
COMMENT:
In this verse, as I read it, the Buddha is giving his positive affirmation that, primarily by virtue of negative means, the possibility exists of living happily and agreeably, being true to oneself.
"The wrong inner patterns are the doing that must be stopped," said Marjory Barlow. I understand duHkha-pratiikaaram, the thwarting of suffering, in accordance with that preventive principle.
The deeper the roots of the wrong inner patterns, the deeper we are required to dig in order to thwart suffering. And digging deep is never easy. What I hear the Buddha saying in this verse is that what is never easy is not impossible.
To do this digging, no sophisticated technological tool is needed, not even a spade. The discontent induced by a computer programme saying "Not Responding," while one is impatiently striving to complete some computer task, need not come into it. What is required is a human body, time and space, and a real understanding of what it means to be tainted. Not to be tainted, as I understand this practice on the basis of Alexander work, entails the giving up of an end-gaining idea that unconsciously triggers the tangle of wrong inner patterns which is associated with faulty sensory appreciation. In order to transcend the influence of faulty sensory appreciation, therefore, and be one who is content, pristine, and pleasing, a return to "simple, conscious living" is required.
With this in mind, in an hour or so I shall set off for France. The last words I shall type before I set off are from FM Alexander's book Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual:
I venture to predict that before we can unravel the horribly tangled skein of our present existence, we must come to a full STOP, and return to conscious, simple living, believing in the unity underlying all things, and acting in a practical way in accordance with the laws and principles involved.
EH Johnston:
Contented, upright, pleasing in voice and pure in livelihood, you should practise the remedy for suffering till you reach emancipation.
Linda Covill:
contented, pure and lovely through making your living in a successful and clean manner, counteract suffering until the moment of liberation.
VOCABULARY:
parituShTaH (nom. sing. m.): one who is completely satisfied , delighted, very glad
shuciH (nom.): clear , clean , pure (lit. and fig.) , holy , unsullied , undefiled , innocent , honest
maNjuH (nom.): beautiful , lovely , charming , pleasant , sweet
caukShayaa = instrumental f. of caukShaa: pure , clean (persons)
jiiva: mf(/A)n. living , existing , alive; living by ; m. life , existence
sampadaa = instrumental of sampad: f. success , accomplishment , completion , fulfilment , perfection
kuryaaH (2nd person singular, optative of kR): you can do
duHkha: suffering
pratiikaaram (accusative): opposition , counteraction , prevention , remedy
yaavat: until, as long as
eva: (emphatic)
vimuktaye = dative of vimukta: mfn. unloosed , unharnessed ; set free , liberated
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 13.15: Grounds of Integrity (II)
praani-dhaanya-dhan'-aadiinaaM
varjyaanaam a-pratigrahaat
bhaikSh'-aaNgaanaaM nisRShTaanaM
niyataanaaM pratigrahaat
= - = - - = = =
= = = = - = - =
= = = = - = = =
- - = = - = - =
13.15
On the grounds of not accepting
living beings, grain, money, and so on,
As things to be avoided;
On the grounds of accepting
the established rules for begging,
With their definite limits;
COMMENT:
This verse, as I read it, is not primarily about making a living as a beggar. This verse is primarily about integrity ; and, again, it is about the primacy, in making a living with integrity, of NOT giving consent.
Making one's living as a beggar is no guarantee of integrity.
Neither is making one's living as an Alexander teacher. Alexander work is all about not giving consent in order to realise integrity -- and in particular to realise a certain integrity in the central alignment of one's whole self (but do not call it "good posture," because it is not something fixed). Still, making one's living as an Alexander teacher is no guarantee of integrity. That is clear to me from observing teachers who are selling Alexander lessons as a kind of bodywork, not as Marjory Barlow, Nelly Ben-Or and others have endeavoured to teach it to me, as "the most mental thing there is." In purporting to teach others what integrity is, we Alexander teachers are thus liable to manifest a fundamental lack of integrity. A gap appears, and tends to grow bigger, unless prevented from doing so. This is how it is. I do not claim to be immune to that tendency. I hope that I am not asleep to it.
In teaching an Alexander pupil how to work on himself, I make use of both negative feedback ("No, not that!") and positive feedback ("Yes, that's it."). But in so doing, I see the negative feedback as primary, and the positive feedback as secondary. And I see exactly the same primacy, the primacy of the negative, in this verse, as also in the previous verse.
Thus, the primary thing to attend to in alms-taking as a means of practising integrity, the Buddha is teaching Nanda, is not what to accept. The primary thing to attend to is what NOT to accept. The primary thing is not the giving of consent. The primary thing is the withholding of consent, the NOT giving consent.
People who show integrity in their making of a living, it seems to me, tend to be not easily swayed by greed or personal ambition or impatience to get where they are going. That may be why I am finding it helpful to limit myself in this translation work to one verse per day. The slow pace acts as a kind of brake, giving me more time to attend to the process.
I would like this process of translating Ashvaghosha to be, above all, an exercise in practising integrity, so that this translation will have succeeded -- regardless of how widely read or well received it is, and regardless of what kind of reward I get for doing it -- where the Shobogenzo translation process ultimately failed.
With regard in particular to financial reward, the wiser course might be to adhere to the injunction stated in this verse, not to accept any money. This decision is much easier for me to make now that my sons are 18 and 16 than it was when they were 3 and 1.
In 1998, when I asked him in questions and answers after a lecture at the temple, why he and the publishers had taken the decision to make unilateral changes to our translation, Gudo Nishijima told me that he took the decision which so shocked me "as a businessman in the modern age." The truth was that my teacher had made not insubstantial financial sacrifices to support me through our joint translation process, and the publication was being funded mainly out of his own pocket. But the statement that he took the decision, which I felt to be a betrayal of our translation partnership, "as a businessman in the modern age" made no sense. If he wanted to make a change, all he had to do was let me know. The decision was actually the manifestation of a kind of anger, emanating from a deeper fault, and veiled behind the professed viewpoint of the "realism" for which, in truth, I had begun to feel a visceral disgust as far back as 1986, when I shaved my head and quit my job and was accused of not being "realistic." That is when I began to understand that "realism," along with every other kind of "-ism," can be a screen that prevents reality from being seen, by self and others.
The truth behind the screen was that, after starting a family in 1990, I was too anxious to get money; while my teacher, having begun the Shobogenzo translation process on his own, was too eager to be seen, by self and others, as the main translator, which in truth he had ceased to be. And so, because of our respective desires for profit and for fame, a very small gap opened up -- a gap that was just big enough to allow our Shobogenzo translation process to be poisoned.
From the mistake there is a lesson to be learned. It is a mistake that I am determined shall NOT be repeated.
EH Johnston:
By refusing what is to be avoided, living beings, rice, wealth, etc. and by accepting the authorised rules of mendicancy with their definite limits.
Linda Covill:
by refusing to accept those gifts which should be avoided, such as living beings, grain and money, and by accepting the restrictions prescribed for alms-taking,
VOCABULARY:
praanin: mfn. breathing , living , alive; m. a living or sentient being , living creature
dhaanya: n. corn , grain
dhana: any valued object , (esp.) wealth , riches , (movable) property , money , treasure , gift
aadiinaam (genitive): beginning with, et cetera
varjyaanaam = genitive, plural of varjya: mfn. to be excluded or shunned or avoided or given up
a: not
pratigrahaat = ablative of pratigraha: receiving, accepting
bhaikSha: n. asking alms , begging , mendicancy
aNgaanaam = genitive, plural of aNga: limb, subordinate division
nisRShTaanaam = genitive, plural of nisRShTa: sent forth , dismissed , set free; allowed , authorized
niyataanaam = genitive, plural of niyata: fixed , established , settled , sure , regular , invariable , positive , definite
pratigrahaat (ablative): by accepting
varjyaanaam a-pratigrahaat
bhaikSh'-aaNgaanaaM nisRShTaanaM
niyataanaaM pratigrahaat
= - = - - = = =
= = = = - = - =
= = = = - = = =
- - = = - = - =
13.15
On the grounds of not accepting
living beings, grain, money, and so on,
As things to be avoided;
On the grounds of accepting
the established rules for begging,
With their definite limits;
COMMENT:
This verse, as I read it, is not primarily about making a living as a beggar. This verse is primarily about integrity ; and, again, it is about the primacy, in making a living with integrity, of NOT giving consent.
Making one's living as a beggar is no guarantee of integrity.
Neither is making one's living as an Alexander teacher. Alexander work is all about not giving consent in order to realise integrity -- and in particular to realise a certain integrity in the central alignment of one's whole self (but do not call it "good posture," because it is not something fixed). Still, making one's living as an Alexander teacher is no guarantee of integrity. That is clear to me from observing teachers who are selling Alexander lessons as a kind of bodywork, not as Marjory Barlow, Nelly Ben-Or and others have endeavoured to teach it to me, as "the most mental thing there is." In purporting to teach others what integrity is, we Alexander teachers are thus liable to manifest a fundamental lack of integrity. A gap appears, and tends to grow bigger, unless prevented from doing so. This is how it is. I do not claim to be immune to that tendency. I hope that I am not asleep to it.
In teaching an Alexander pupil how to work on himself, I make use of both negative feedback ("No, not that!") and positive feedback ("Yes, that's it."). But in so doing, I see the negative feedback as primary, and the positive feedback as secondary. And I see exactly the same primacy, the primacy of the negative, in this verse, as also in the previous verse.
Thus, the primary thing to attend to in alms-taking as a means of practising integrity, the Buddha is teaching Nanda, is not what to accept. The primary thing to attend to is what NOT to accept. The primary thing is not the giving of consent. The primary thing is the withholding of consent, the NOT giving consent.
People who show integrity in their making of a living, it seems to me, tend to be not easily swayed by greed or personal ambition or impatience to get where they are going. That may be why I am finding it helpful to limit myself in this translation work to one verse per day. The slow pace acts as a kind of brake, giving me more time to attend to the process.
I would like this process of translating Ashvaghosha to be, above all, an exercise in practising integrity, so that this translation will have succeeded -- regardless of how widely read or well received it is, and regardless of what kind of reward I get for doing it -- where the Shobogenzo translation process ultimately failed.
With regard in particular to financial reward, the wiser course might be to adhere to the injunction stated in this verse, not to accept any money. This decision is much easier for me to make now that my sons are 18 and 16 than it was when they were 3 and 1.
In 1998, when I asked him in questions and answers after a lecture at the temple, why he and the publishers had taken the decision to make unilateral changes to our translation, Gudo Nishijima told me that he took the decision which so shocked me "as a businessman in the modern age." The truth was that my teacher had made not insubstantial financial sacrifices to support me through our joint translation process, and the publication was being funded mainly out of his own pocket. But the statement that he took the decision, which I felt to be a betrayal of our translation partnership, "as a businessman in the modern age" made no sense. If he wanted to make a change, all he had to do was let me know. The decision was actually the manifestation of a kind of anger, emanating from a deeper fault, and veiled behind the professed viewpoint of the "realism" for which, in truth, I had begun to feel a visceral disgust as far back as 1986, when I shaved my head and quit my job and was accused of not being "realistic." That is when I began to understand that "realism," along with every other kind of "-ism," can be a screen that prevents reality from being seen, by self and others.
The truth behind the screen was that, after starting a family in 1990, I was too anxious to get money; while my teacher, having begun the Shobogenzo translation process on his own, was too eager to be seen, by self and others, as the main translator, which in truth he had ceased to be. And so, because of our respective desires for profit and for fame, a very small gap opened up -- a gap that was just big enough to allow our Shobogenzo translation process to be poisoned.
From the mistake there is a lesson to be learned. It is a mistake that I am determined shall NOT be repeated.
EH Johnston:
By refusing what is to be avoided, living beings, rice, wealth, etc. and by accepting the authorised rules of mendicancy with their definite limits.
Linda Covill:
by refusing to accept those gifts which should be avoided, such as living beings, grain and money, and by accepting the restrictions prescribed for alms-taking,
VOCABULARY:
praanin: mfn. breathing , living , alive; m. a living or sentient being , living creature
dhaanya: n. corn , grain
dhana: any valued object , (esp.) wealth , riches , (movable) property , money , treasure , gift
aadiinaam (genitive): beginning with, et cetera
varjyaanaam = genitive, plural of varjya: mfn. to be excluded or shunned or avoided or given up
a: not
pratigrahaat = ablative of pratigraha: receiving, accepting
bhaikSha: n. asking alms , begging , mendicancy
aNgaanaam = genitive, plural of aNga: limb, subordinate division
nisRShTaanaam = genitive, plural of nisRShTa: sent forth , dismissed , set free; allowed , authorized
niyataanaam = genitive, plural of niyata: fixed , established , settled , sure , regular , invariable , positive , definite
pratigrahaat (ablative): by accepting
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