16.68
ity evam a-nyaaya-nivartanaM ca
nyaayaM ca tasmai sugato babhaaShe
bhuuyash ca tat-tac caritaM viditvaa
vitarka-haanaaya vidhiin uvaaca
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16.68
Thus, on retreat from muddling through
And on the principle to come back to,
the One Who Went Well spoke to him;
And knowing the varieties of behaviour,
He detailed further
the directions for letting go of ideas.
16.69
yathaa bhiShak pitta-kaph'aanilaanaaM
ya eva kopaM samupaiti doShaH
shamaaya tasy' aiva vidhiM vidhatte
vyadhatta doSheShu tath" aiva buddha
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16.69
Just as a physician,
for a disorder of bile, phlegm, or wind,
-- For whatever disorder of the humours
has manifested the symptoms of disease --
Prescribes a course of treatment
to cure that very disorder,
So did you, Awakened One, prescribe for the faults:
16.70
ekena kalpena sacen na hanyaat
sv-abhyasta-bhaavaad a-shubhaan vitarkaan
tato dvitiiyaM kramam aarabheta
na tv eva heyo guNavaan prayogaH
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16.70
“It may not be possible,
following a single method, to destroy
Inauspicious ideas that habit has so deeply entrenched;
In that case, one should commit to a second course
But never give up the practice and its merits.
16.71
an-aadi-kaal' opacit'-aatmakatvaad
baliiyasaH klesha-gaNasya c'aiva
samyak-prayogasya ca duSh-karatvaac
chettuM na shakyaaH sahasaa hi doShaaH
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16.71
Because of the instinct-led accumulation,
from time without beginning,
Of the powerful mass of afflictions,
And because true practice is so difficult to do,
The faults cannot be cut off all at once.
16.72
aNvyaa yath"aaNyaa vipul-aaNir anyaa
nirvaahyate tad-viduShaa nareNa
tadvat tad ev' aakushalaM nimittaM
kShipen nimitt'antara-sevanena
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16.72
Just as a deep splinter,
by means of the point of another sharp object,
Is removed by a man skilled in that task,
Likewise an unfavourable stimulus
May be despatched through the use of a different stimulus.
16.73
tath" aapy ath' aadhyaatma-nava-grahatvaan
n' aiv' opashaamyed a-shubho vitarkaH
heyaH sa tad-doSha-pariikShaNena
sa-shvaapado maarga iv' aadhvagena
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16.73
Even then, stemming from inexperience within the self,
An inauspicious idea might still not subside.
One should abandon the idea by eyeing the fault therein,
As a traveller abandons a path
on which there is a wild beast.
16.74
yathaa kShudh-aarto 'pi viSheNa pRktaM
jijiiviShur n'ecchati bhoktum annaM
tath" aiva doSh-aavaham ity avetya
jahaati vidvaan a-shubham nimittaM
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16.74
A man who wishes to live, even when starving,
Declines to eat poisoned food.
Likewise, observing that it triggers a fault,
A wise person leaves alone a noxious stimulus.
16.75
na doShataH pashyati yo hi doShaM
kas taM tato vaarayituM samarthaH
guNaM guNe pashyati yash ca yatra
sa vaaryamaaNo pi tataH prayaati
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16.75
When a man does not see a fault as a fault,
Who is able to restrain him from it?
But when a man sees the good in what is good,
He goes towards it despite being restrained.
16.76
vyapatrapante hi kula-prasuutaa
manaH-pracaarair a-shubhaih pravRttaiH
kaNThe manasv" iiva yuvaa vapuShmaan
a-caakShuShair a-prayatair viShaktaiH
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16.76
For those brought up well are ashamed
Of continued impure workings of the mind,
As one who is bright, young and good-looking is ashamed
Of unsightly, ill-arranged necklaces.
16.77
nirdhuuyamaanaas tv atha leshato 'pi
tiShTheyur ev' aakushalaa vitarkaaH
kaary-aantarair adhyayana-kriy"-aadhyaiH
sevyo vidhir vismaraNaaya teShaaM
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16.77
If, though they are being shaken off,
A trace persists of unconstructive ideas,
One should resort to different tasks,
such as study or physical work,
As a means of consigning those ideas to oblivion.
16.78
svaptavyam apy eva vicakShaNena
kaaya-klamo v"aapi niShevitavyaH
na tv eva saMcintyam a-san nimittaM
yatr' aavasaktasya bhaved an-arthaH
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16.78
A clear-sighted person should even sleep
Or resort to physical exhaustion,
But should never dwell on a bad stimulus
Which might bring with it an adverse reaction.
16.79
yathaa hi bhiito nishi taskarebhyo
dvaaram priyebhyo 'pi na daatum icchet
praajNas tathaa saMharati prayogaM
samaM shubhasy' aapy ashubhasya doShaiH
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16.79
For just as a man afraid of thieves in the night
Would not open his door even to friends,
So does a wise man withhold consent to the doing
Of anything bad or anything good
that involves the faults.
16.80
evaM-prakaarair api yady upaayair
nivaaryamaaNaa na paraaN-mukhaaH syuH
tato yathaa-sthuula-nibarhaNena
suvarNa-doShaa iva te praheyaaH
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16.80
If, though fended off by such means,
Faults do not turn back,
Then, eliminated in order of their grossness,
They must be driven out like impurities from gold.
16.81
druta-prayaaNa-prabhRtiiMsh ca tiikShNaat
kaama-prayogaat parikhidyamaanaH
yathaa naraH saMshrayate tath"aiva
praajNena doSheShv api vartitavyaM
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16.81
Just as a man who feels depressed
Following a torrid love affair
Takes refuge in activities like quick marching,
So should a wise person proceed with regard to the faults.
16.82
te ced a-labdha-pratipakSha-bhaavaa
n' aiv' opashaamyeyur a-sad-vitarkaaH
muhuurtam apy aprativadhyamaanaa
gRhe bhujaMgaa iva n'aadhivaasyaaH
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16.82
When it is impossible to realise their opposite side,
In which case unreal ideas might not fade away,
They must not for a moment be left unchecked:
No whiff of them should be tolerated,
as if they were snakes in the house.
16.83
dante' pi dantaM praNidhaaya kaamaM
taalv-agram-utpiiDya ca jihvay" aapi
cittena cittaM parigRhya c' aapi
kaaryaH prayatno na tu te 'nuvRttaaH
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16.83
Grit tooth against tooth, if you will,
Press the tongue forward and up against the palate,
And grip the mind with the mind,
But, whatever effort it takes, do not yield to them.
16.84
kim atra citram yadi viita-moho
vanaM gataH svastha-manaa na muhyet
aakShipyamaaNo hRdi tan-nimittair
na kShobhyate yaH sa kRtii sa dhiiraH
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16.84
Is it any wonder that a man without delusion,
Who has repaired to the forest in full mental health,
should not become deluded?
That man who, when challenged to the core
by the stimuli of the aforementioned ideas,
Is not shaken:
he is a true man of action; he is a steadfast man.
16.85
tad aarya-saty'-aadhigamaaya puurvaM
vishodhay' aanena nayena maargaM
yaatraa-gataH shatru-vinigrah-aarthaM
raaj-eva lakShmiim ajitaaM jigiiShan
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16.85
So, in order to make the noble truths your own,
First clear a path according to this plan,
Like a king going on campaign to subdue his foes,
Wishing to conquer unconquered riches.
16.86
etaany araNyaany abhitaH shivaani
yog'-aanukuulaany a-jan'-eritaani
kaayasya kRtvaa praviveka-maatraM
klesha-prahaaNaaya bhajasva maargaM
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16.86
These salubrious wilds that surround us
Are suited to practice and not thronged with people.
Furnishing the body with ample solitude,
Cut a path for abandoning the afflictions.
COMMENT:
For 16.83 EH Johnston proposed te 'nuvartyaaH ("they are not to be pursued/obeyed/yielded to") instead of te 'nuvRttaaH ("they are not compliant") as an alternative Sanskrit reading of the last two words of the verse.
After reviewing this series of verses, I decided to go with the alternate reading. My previous interpretation of 16.83 strikes me now as too convoluted. When this series of verses is read in the round, the Buddha is simply exhorting Nanda by any means (but preferably by preventive and indirect means) to let go of the faults -- and equally to let go of ideas.
In this series of verses vitarkaaH, ideas, are variously described as a-shubha, inauspicious/impure/noxious (16.70, 16.73); a-kushala, unconstructive/unfavourable (16.77); and a-sad, unreal/wrong/bad (16.82). Exactly the same adjectives are used to describe nimitta, a stimulus.
So these verses shed further light on what the Buddha meant, as discussed yesterday, by the word nimitta, which literally means target or cause, and which I have transated as stimulus. In 16.72 a-kushala nimitta "an unfavourable stimulus" seems to be synonymous with a-kushala vitarka, an unfavourable idea; in 16.74 a-shubha nimitta "a noxious stimulus" seems to be synonymous with a-shubha vitarka, a noxious or inauspicious idea; and in 16.78 a-sad nimitta "a bad stimulus" seems to be synonymous with a-sad vitarka -- a bad or unreal idea, a misconception.
But what I am particularly struck by in reviewing this series of verses again is how the Buddha seems to use vitarkaaH, "ideas," almost interchangeably with doShaaH "faults" -- in a way that suggests an inextricable linkage.
Is the Buddha's intention that faults give rise to ideas (as, for example, per 16.73)? That would be consistent with what my teacher Gudo Nishijima spent his life saying about imbalance of the autonomic nervous system giving rise to idealistic and materialistic ideas.
At the same time, is the Buddha's intention also that inauspicious ideas act as stimuli for the faults (as, for example, 16.74)? That would be consistent what Marjory Barlow took detailed pains to demonstrate to me, as recorded here.
Or is the whole thing a great tangled mess of inauspicious conceptions and faulty sensory appreciation and sensory stimuli and faults? Is the whole thing, as I described it in a comment a few days ago, when my cage had been rattled by endlessly revving car engines, one big fucking mess?
Finally, at the end of this series of verses, is the Buddha suggesting that, when all else fails, the natural energy of the forest can help a man to let go of his faults/ideas, in the same way that when a dirt-washer separates dirt from gold what is really doing the work of taking away impurities is not the dirt-washer himself, but rather the natural action of water?
I am reminded again of Marjory Barlow's teaching to say 'No' to one's habitual patterns of doing, to re-direct one's energy along new pathways, and then to go into movement without a care in the world... and "let it come out in the wash!"
That is sometimes how I experience solitary retreats by the forest -- something coming out in the wash, simply by virtue of me being there. It might be called a kind of "detox," to use a trendy term, but it is a detoxification not only of the body. I suppose it must relate to what the Buddha called "cleansing one's own mind."
What I have termed one big fucking mess, FM Alexander called, rather more eloquently, "the horribly tangled skein of our present existence."
He used that phrase in the following passage from his book Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual. It is one of my favourite passages from FM's writings:
"Life has become so complex." In my opinion we have here the crux of the whole matter, and 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.
On 22nd June 2004, during an Alexander lesson with Nelly Ben-Or, I asked Nelly where she thought that unshakeable and unerring belief of Alexander's came from, and I made a note of her answer: "From within. I think it came from FM's experience of freedom from inner conflict."
Have I truly glimpsed that freedom from inner conflict for myself? As Buddha? As an arrogant beggar of the fourth dhyana? I do not know; if I have approached it, I have probably come closest to it during times of sitting alone by the forest. What I do know for sure is that when engines are droning overhead or revving over the road, and I am profoundly bothered by the noise, even though my body is sitting in full lotus, the state is very far from freedom from inner conflict.
So I am here, if for nothing else, at least to bear witness to the truth of what the Buddha tells Nanda in 16.71.
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