Dedicatory Verse of Mūlamadhyamakakārikā

For some reason, I keep on remembering a recent dinner when I was asked to discuss many aspects of Chinese language to an English speaker. I feel lacking that I talked about the introduction but not the most beautiful part, IMHO: the poetic nature. A single syllable language, I supposed, could be made to rhythm in each sentence. I don't find it possible to do so in, e.g., English.

I could list many many great Tang dynasty poems in here but just an example of the Dedicatory Verse of Mūlamadhyamakakārikā could illustrate the idea.

In English:
I salute the Fully Enlightened One, the best of orators,
who taught the doctrine of dependent origination,
according to which there is
neither cessation nor origination,
neither annihilation nor the eternal,
neither singularity nor plurality,
neither the coming nor the going [of any dharma, for the purpose of nirvāṇa characterized by]
the auspicious cessation of hypostatization.

In Chinese:
不生亦不滅　　不常亦不斷
不一亦不異　　不來亦不出
能說是因緣　　善滅諸戲論
我稽首禮佛　　諸說中第一

There are 3 syllables in cessation and 5 in origination but 生 and 滅, respectively, have 1. So, the translation could be much more organized and rhythm.

Not recoginzing the non-recoginzing mind

In the Buddhist class tonight, we had some discussion about the topic. I think it is the key to a practitioners, on their path, to realize this idea.

When I arrived home, the usual browsing led me to this page. I would like to share this poetry:

Waking from a crazy dream,
a dream that feels rich with meaning,
one might be inclined to analyze.

Thus books are sold,
experts paid.
Years later, the old dream returns,
but now, penniless, one just
washes his face,
sips her tea,
stretches
and gets on with the day.

Both ideas match each other, don't they?

An excerpt from a book

I have read so many analysis of phonomenal, but this excerpt from a book is exactly what we would say, taking it literally:

In a number of suttas,2 it says the Buddha, on the night of his awakening, after
moving through the four jhānas, spent the first watch of the night remembering
his previous births as described in this power. Because India is near the equator,
a night there is about 12 hours long all year round. Since there are three watches
of the night, the length of each watch is about four hours. If we “do the math”
and compute how long the Buddha-to-be had to remember each of a hundred
thousand births, it comes to one-seventh of a second.d He had to remember eight
things about each birth in one-seventh of a second and repeat that in the next
one-seventh of a second and so on nonstop for four hours. The human mind can
only process at most about 40 conscious moments per second.3 If he had to know
eight pieces of information in one-seventh of a second, that’s 56 conscious
moments per second—and we haven’t even addressed the “many aeons,”
whatever that number might be. And you can’t say, “He’s the Buddha!” because
that won’t happen for another four to eight hours. So it seems we cannot take the
description of remembering past lives literally, at least for the Buddha on the
night of his awakening.

Yes, the analysis is really detail. I wonder if it is necessary though since whether it is one watch or two watches is not important but that the Buddha saw through his previous life. 

Disillusion

I somehow write more blog this year. I guess I realized some more. My friend told me about his brother getting discourage in Buddhism many years ago. She didn't want to go into details. And I just put it deep down in my "alaya". Recently, I read some comments on my friend brother's master in some public internet forum. They said the master Wong accepted many students but never really taught. Most of the teaching were from senior students. Also, he never really knew Tibetan but just copied a translation from an existing English translation and declared he translated it directly from Tibetan.

The clues matched my friend's scant description about my friend's brother "disillusion". However, my friend and I are getting farther apart and we couldn't talk about it again.

In Buddhist precepts, there are rules about not to lie and steal. They must know that they violated the precepts. As a master, by knowingly having the offense, I am concerned their karma by hindering other's "wisdom" life. Some thinks it is serious

Cult

In Varjayana Buddhism, I have heard many abuses. In https://buddhism-controversy-blog.com/, the editor has posted many interesting articles on this issue. In this article, the author was expecting some criticism of Rigpa/Dalai Lama but felt DKR shrugged his shoulder. However, I would like discuss DKR's other point on cult & mahayana. In mahayana, people are supposed to have compassion to everybody, including your enemy. If one doesn't follow the book, then, it becomes a cult. Simple. I learned from this blog some other teachers didn't like Islam though I know many people from this center. So, I realize DKR's judgement is precise because this center followers is much more enthusiastic than the one I always go to. Compassion to everybody is difficult and I dare not say I am at that level. However, know exactly your position and what to work with rather resorting to dislike should clean up my confusion on this point.

Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 7, the Social Background, Part 1, Language and Logic in Traditional China by Christoph Harbsmeier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am not a professional historian but I've heard the famous "Science and Civilisation in China" series since many years ago. Only recently that I need to cross read some Buddhist book that I found out Volume 7's introduction to Buddhist logic. I am not sure if I can find a better introduction (Chinese Buddhist logic in particular and Indian Buddhist logic on a whole) in any book anywhere. Though one can read the Yogacarabhumisastra and its available translations/commentaries for the logic, one couldn't find a better summary than what was written in here. The standard set by the author makes me want to buy the whole book series and read them. The only regret is their lofty price (~ $250 each).

View all my reviews

A Random Coincidence 2

When I left the gathering yesterday (5/9) night and prepared to drive home , the tune "The Girl with Flaxen Hair" came up again. I don't consider it a "Trend" since I was thinking about the popping-up of the tune while I was in the parking lot last time. It should be more like a co-incidence than a trend...

The reason I write about this topic again is that I questions more about my modelling of the world. In MulaMadhyamakaKarika (MMK), our reasoning about time/cause and effect are all challenged. If we follow the arguments, things just happen and we used our "flawed" reason to justify our way. I.e. there is some fruits on the tree, we tend conclude that someone planted a tree and irrigated it. The reasoning is a forward-going time line. What if the time line is not really forward-going? What if, on the contrary, somehow, it is determined that there needs to have a fruit tree? So, a couple of months before it, someone planted a tree there. What if, the these events popped-up in a predetermined way and we just used our reason to connect time?

Our perception of the world is based on our eight consciousnesses but what if our consciousnesses is flawed? There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

L'Existence Precede L'Essence

During a weekly Buddhist gathering, our teacher taught about 12 links of dependent origination several months ago. One of the attendees asked why ignorance was before birth, for, it should be the reverse. I don't remember the teacher's answer and I think I don't like it since the question still stays with me but not the answer. I wanted to discuss further with the attendee but I haven't seen her in the class for a while. Even though she might forget her question already, I remember it and would like to write down before I forget.

Most of the them, for a being, we think we can adapt to changes. Therefore, there is a French saying: L'EXISTENCE PRECEDE L'ESSENCE. So, there is a body (a "brith") before it can become "ignorant". However, in Buddhist world, from an Indian tradition, people believe in reincarnation. There is a consciousness (or mind stream), which can enter the embryo, before someone can be born. Also, the 12 links should be seen as a cycle instead of a straight process where "birth" could appear "ignorance", depending on how one sees it.

Another explanation is that "birth" in here is not about body but about "consciousness" that re-affirm oneself. We do have sense faculty that sample the world. However, how does this sense faculty become an inborn sense/security that one feels the existence of oneself? So, the 12 links of dependent origination talks about this process. Therefore, this cycle happens in a fraction of second time. That is how some saying about life's existence in a matter of breathing.

I am not sure which explanation above is right. Maybe they are both right and talk about the same thing. I can only write it down now and hope to reflect on it later.