−⏑−−¦⏑−−−¦¦⏑−−−¦⏑−⏑−
ity upāyaś ca mokṣaś
ca mayā saṁdarśitas tava |
⏑−−−¦⏑⏑⏑−¦¦⏑−−⏑¦⏑−⏑− navipulā
yadi jñātaṁ yadi
rucir yathāvat pratipadyatām || 12.66
12.66
Thus the means, and the
liberation,
I have revealed to you;
If you have understood
it, and if it pleases you,
Undertake it properly.
COMMENT:
Śīla, samādhi, and
prajñā, it occurred to me just now, on this Thursday morning, can
be translated in any number of ways, but one way is as integrity
(śīla), integration (samādhi), and integral wisdom (prajñā).
The means which the Buddha taught can be summarized as those three, which are all embodied together in the practice of sitting in full lotus and allowing oneself, in Dogen's words, “naturally to become one piece.”
The means which the Buddha taught can be summarized as those three, which are all embodied together in the practice of sitting in full lotus and allowing oneself, in Dogen's words, “naturally to become one piece.”
The means which Arāḍa
has just outlined, also, when we are awake to the sub-text of Arāḍa's
words, contains those three elements of integrity (śīla),
integration (samādhi), and integral wisdom (prajñā).
It is thus
ironic that when it came to discussing the end of liberation, Arāḍa
was seduced by the ancient escapist notion that something spiritual
might be able to slip away from the grubby material realm and realize
itself as Brahma.
Arāḍa can be heard
as saying, in so many words, “The means is all about psychophysical
integration, but the end is all about psychophysical
dis-integration.”
And yet the awakened Buddha,
the Pali Suttas inform us, recognized Arāḍa as one of the people most
likely to be able to understand what he, as the awakened Buddha, had
realized. The Buddha, we are told, saw Arāḍa as having only a
little dust on his eye.
And so here is the
evidence of that bit of dust.
Exhibit A, it might be
argued, is the separation implied by the two ca in the 1st
pāda of today's verse, so that release or liberation is conceived of as the end to
which the means is subordinate. Whereas in the Buddha's teaching,
even the samādhi which is king of samādhis itself is included in
what the Buddha described as upāyaḥ, a means:
iti duḥkham etad
"This is
suffering;
iyam asya samudaya-latā
pravartikā
this is the tangled
mass of causes producing it;
śāntir iyam
this is cessation;
ayam upāya iti
and here is a means."
[SN3.12 ]
But more damningly
still, Exhibit B, is Arāḍa's conviction that he has shown,
displayed, manifested or revealed (saṁdarśitaḥ) to the
bodhisattva a liberation or release that, in the history of mankind,
has never ever taken place – except in people's deluded
imagination. That liberation or release is the liberation of
something spiritual from the material, like a bird released from a
cage.
In conclusion, it would
therefore be easy to dismiss today's verse as representing only the
dust in Arāḍa's eye....
“I have revealed to
you nothing less than Liberation!”
Oh, really, Master? Are
you sure you are not deluding yourself.
To dismiss Arāḍa like this, however, might not be entirely fair. I think the truth is that Aśvaghoṣa has been taking pains in his
construction of Arāḍa's speeches not only to shine a light on the
dust on Arāḍa's eyeball, but also
to let Arāḍa's eyeball shine its light.
Thus, even though
Arāḍa's teaching concludes with very dusty talk of liberation as
an end, below the surface of today's verse, as I read it, what Arāḍa
is telling the bodhisattva is essentially true; namely:
“I have
manifested to you a means.”
VOCABULARY
iti:
thus
upāyaḥ
(nom. sg.): m. coming near , approach , arrival ; that by which one
reaches one's aim , a means or expedient (of any kind) , way ,
stratagem , craft , artifice ; (esp.) a means of success against an
enemy
ca:
and
mokṣaḥ
(nom. sg.): m. release, liberation
ca:
and
mayā
(inst. sg. ): by me
saṁdarśitaḥ
(nom. sg. m.): mfn. shown , displayed , manifested
saṁ-
√ dṛś: to see together or at the same time » well or completely
, behold , view , perceive , observe , consider ; to be observed ,
become visible , appear ; Caus. -darśayati , to cause to be seen ,
display , show
tava
(gen. sg.): for you
yadi:
if
jñātam
(acc. sg. m.): mfn. known , ascertained , comprehended , perceived ,
understood
yadi:
if
ruci
(nom./acc. sg. n.): mfn. pleasant , agreeable
EHJ
notes that ruci, neuter, does not seem possible.
ruciḥ
[EHJ] (nom. sg.): f. light; liking , taste , relish , pleasure
yathāvat:
ind. ind. duly , properly , rightly , suitably , exactly
pratipadyatām
= 3rd pers. sg. passive imperative prati- √ pad: to set
foot upon , enter , go or resort to , arrive at , reach , attain ;
to get into (acc.) , meet , with , find , obtain , receive , take in
or upon one's self.
汝所問方便 及求解脱者
如我上所説 深信者當學
如我上所説 深信者當學
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