tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49534384994599507082024-02-20T14:23:52.710-08:00Research Reflective LogResearch Reflective LogWilliam J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-75503628397668270682012-12-18T14:29:00.002-08:002012-12-18T14:29:06.176-08:00<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="288" height="192" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=https%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fwjgiddings%2Falbumid%2F5823409890886765041%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-4524339971669147652011-04-13T02:36:00.000-07:002011-04-13T02:36:00.718-07:00Reflection on the role of Subhuti as the Buddha's sidekick.<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Had some more thoughts in the role of Subhuti. Functionally, the personae of Subhuti, enables the presentation of a new aspect of teaching, on which the Buddha has not done himself. In this respect Subhuti becomes the Buddha's sidekick. He is does not approach the Buddha, it is the Buddha who invites Subhuti to assist and contribute using based upon his own experience and understanding. Subhuti, like the Buddha is a disseminator and not recipient of ideas. His keynote address provides an alternative point of view, one which the Buddha has not presented but later develops. Subhuti is providing guidance to would-be-Buddhas, and so his message, more so than that of the Buddha himself, provides a range of topics more relatable to the audience that that of the Buddha. In, brief, whilst the bodhisattvas in the assembly aspire to be like the Buddha. they can more realistically imagine themselves as being like Subhuti. <br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-54571680255991165562011-03-16T03:42:00.000-07:002011-03-16T03:42:00.911-07:00What textual evidence of the syntagmatic displacement of Sakra?<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Looking at broader patterns in the changing mythology is a simpler process that looking for specific comments within text supportive of such an intent. The former is essentially statistical and deals largely with the shifting of classes, the latter require explicit comments that would substantiate the statistical analysis. Textual analysis, of course, is not a physical science, a text unlike nature be cannot be 'put to the question'. The best that can be expected is the occurrence of passage which would support the interpretations made. Whilst these are not many, some notable incidences can be found:<br/><br/>1) In the Lalitavistarasutra, the infant bodhisattva is reported as declaring that he will become worshipped by men and gods alike, becoming the recipient of their offerings.<br/><br/>2) The Asta provides Sakra describing how the devas approach him, or in his absence, his throne, the 'seat of his power'. This is in the same manner often described when devotees approach the Buddha or even, amongst many faith communities, still circumambulate around the images of the Buddha and stupas. This absent worship is also typical of the earliest iconography of the Buddha, an empty seat beneath the tree.<br/><br/> <br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-53613650029420824782011-02-28T06:18:00.000-08:002011-02-28T06:18:00.996-08:00意識界<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>In his translations Xuang Cang uses 界 'world' to denote the term 'dhatu' as in 意識界. Ordinarily this would translated into English as 'mind-element' but this is problematic. First of all, it implies that whatever the mind is, is irreducible as it is elementary and possesses some atomistic quality. This is not implied in the Buddha's teaching. Dhatu means 'world', in the sense of the older, non-mathematical use of the term 'sphere' similar associations exist. Indeed, as with the Sanskrit, sphere has a number of meanings and in some ways the uncertainty of meaning acts to facility the insubstantial nature of the dhatus as implies in Buddhist thought. Amongst 'senses' found in the OED we find: '..the visible vault of heaven, in which the celestial bodies appear to have their place.' And, 'a place of abode different from the present earth or world; a heaven.' Clearly implied in such terms as rupadhatu etc. When describing the features 'Of deities, persons, or things'. We also find: 'A province or domain in which one's activities or <br />faculties find scope or exercise, or within which they are naturally <br />confined; range or compass of action or study.' The more abstract the defintion, the more appropriate it becomes for use: 'The whole province, domain, or range <em>of</em> some quality, thing, etc.' and '..<em>of</em> action, activity, operation, etc.'<br/><br/>The notion of concentric spheres also applies, 'One or other of the concentric, transparent, hollow<br /> globes imagined by the older astronomers as revolving round the earth <br />and respectively carrying with them the several heavenly bodies (moon, <br />sun, planets, and fixed stars).' Whilst the skandha model is not concerned with cosmology the creation of the world as lived as a psychological process can be depicted as a set of rings. <br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-48368209186546280452010-10-07T03:06:00.000-07:002010-10-07T03:06:00.074-07:00On the origins of the word Mara<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>After trawling through volumes of dictionaries, glossaries and texts, I've come pretty well to the conclusion of this line of enquiry. I'm sure that specialists in the field of Proto-Indo European culture would be able to extend the study further but this, I guess if for another day. So, what are my conclusions:<br/><ol><li>Whilst the Māra as found within Buddhist mythology can be demonstrated to by a modification of the Indra/Namuci myth, the origins of the term are derived from other sources.</li><li>The Buddha's initial quest was to find the deathless condition, i.e. amṛta. He overcome death in the form of Māra. but he does not eradicate Māra. The Buddha does not become Māra-mārāka, 'the killer of death'.</li><li>Māra does not come as pain, old age, sickness and death itself but as a plaguing spirit which seeks to 'rub-away' at the emotional stability of the Buddha.</li><li>There are other roots from which a word Māra could plausibly be obtained: i.e. mṛd and not mṛt. </li><li>Māra does not seek to destroy the Buddha or cut short his life, but to 'hinder' or 'thwart' the revelation of his teaching.</li><li>Māra appears in the hypogogic sate of mind between full awakening and sleep. Māra, is then, a mare.</li><li>Māra originates from within some pre-existing Proto-Indo European mythplex which is still reflected in extant European languages but becomes apotheosized in Buddhist subculture as Māra Deputra. Within Indo-Iranian mythology, the role of Māra is absorbed into Yakṣa mythplex whose origins are most likely founded within the mythologies of pre-aryan indigenous peoples. <br/></li></ol><br/> <br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-53049896312179765202010-09-25T05:57:00.000-07:002010-09-25T05:57:00.348-07:00A new semester begins...<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>The summer is over and I return to work towards the completion of my thesis. Over the summer I've done a number of things:<br/><br/><ol><li>re-read the Chinese text and my translation.</li><li>made corrections/amendments based upon information obtained from Karashima's glossary.</li><li>resolved ambiguities in the reading of the text.</li><li>resolved a number of topics which were unclear including 12 ascetic practices. the rishi, the division of the bodhisattva path.</li><li>completed a chapter-by-chapter summary of the text.</li><li>examined the text for key questions which underpin the specific development of the narrative of the text</li><li>explored the topic of threshold experiences between altered states of consciousness. </li><li>read-up how research in such altered states contribute to our understanding of prehistoric culture</li><li>broadened the examination for evidence that might indicate how the Mara mytheme has origins in proto-indo-european culture. The evidence for this relies heavily upon comparative phonology, mythology and reconstructed phonology. This cannot rely upon Jungian ideas of the Archetype as, in general, the mythologies he considered are closely related.<br/></li><li>reviewed Maleksara's view of the nature of Mara, metaphor vs psychological reality.</li><li>found an interesting reference to a parallel to Mara, but not developed in Jaina commentaries.<br/></li><li>began to structure the list questions into a chapter</li><li>reflecting on how the prototype descriptions of the bodhisattva path can be contribute to the discussion of the text.</li><li>exploring the notion that the traditional etymology of the word Mara be reconsidered in the light of comparative linguistics and mythologies which describe of evil spirits approaching during sleep. The significant issue here is that the English word 'mare' denotes such a dream-spirit and in the earliest texts that contribute to the current Mara mythplex typically denotes and approach at the sleep threshold. (ie during night, raining and victim in a possible semi-samadhi/sleep condition.<br/></li></ol><br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-82595306757116175822010-09-02T14:44:00.000-07:002010-09-02T14:44:01.000-07:00Chapter 30 Finished!<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Today is a good day. It means that after all these years a full review of my working translation has been completed! This means that I can put the text aside for now and work solidly on my thesis. I can tell that some of the terms used need reviewing in the light of Karashima's glossary but this does not alter the narrative rendering. Unlike Karashima whose work is largely philological in that it he largely seeks to match Chinese words with Indic counterparts and lists word usage which might be considered representative of the period in which the Daoxing was produced. He is not concerned with the narrative content. I've sought to produce a working English rendering of a Chinese text, not a deconstruction and in the hope of reconstructing a lost Indic original. The future revisions that I would look at modifying are those relating to binomes, ie. two ideas placed together to create a new, third notion, eg 看见 would ordinarily be translated as 'have seen', whereas I would have reduced this to 'look and saw'. <br/><br/>I've also had a dabble at the formatting of the TOC and, at long last, can see how the formatting options are set for the content styles.<br/><br/>Other issues today, include recieving an Email from Chuck Muller, the maintainer of the DDBT, for clarification of some propsed entries. Also, the PDF of my translation crashed PDFStudio and makes Acrobat think twice returning an error on what I now believe to be some of the highlighting or comments that I've created. I'll remove the highlights and lets see what happens!<br/> <br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-75439117708502581342010-09-01T13:33:00.000-07:002010-09-01T13:33:00.476-07:00Chapter 30, penultimate page!!<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Just at the bottom of the penultimate page and my mental juices are drying up. I'll call it quits for the day and start again early tomorrow. I can tell when the day's peak has been crossed, the meaning of even the simple phrases seems just out of arms length!<br/><br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-1946689038439760022010-08-31T16:16:00.000-07:002010-08-31T16:16:00.436-07:00Re-Enrolment<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>I must remember to re-enrol with KCL tomorrow!<br/><br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-56246974321621720432010-08-31T16:15:00.000-07:002010-08-31T16:15:00.731-07:00Chapter 30<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>More than half-way through this, the final chapter. Again there is something of a translation style change. A number of sections are quite minimal and rely heavily upon narrative to clarify meanings. Also there have been a couple of phrases whose wording is relatively unique given the overall lexis of the text. In fact I would have thought that Karashima would have picked these up an added them into his glossary. The first is the occurrence of 薩和薩 which is usually a transliteration if the skt. sarvasattva, 'all beings'. In the text this doesn't make sense and the only possible meaning could be 'bodhisattva and bodhisattva'. The context being the writing down of the prajnaparamita sutra. It is an absurdity that all beings would do such a thing. Next to cause me to pause and think was 諦. This usually translated as 'truth' as in the Four Noble Truths (四諦). But no, we have 諦念 and 諦受. Here 諦 has the rarer literary meaning of 'something to think about', which is really what is implied in 四諦. In practice, this 諦 is not pondering, but taking care over something. Also 念 is not simply to think, but to recall.<br/><br/>Whilst Karashima's T224 glosses have no reference to 諦, his glosses on Dharamaraksha's Lotus Sutra did have 諦觀 and 諦聽: 'to observe minutely' and 'listen carefully'.<br/><br/>After modifying my text I sent a comment to the DDBT for the 諦 entry to add an additional meaning.<br/><br/>With some luck and peace and quiet I should have Chapt.30 finished by this time tomorrow night.<br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-91997749605410949802010-08-29T14:53:00.000-07:002010-08-29T14:53:00.831-07:00Chapter 27 -DONE!<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Well, started at 9am this morning and apart from lunch and a two hour walk with my family and evening tea, I've pushed on with reviewing and ironing out issues in my rendering of Chapt.27! Unlike the previous few chapters, this one varies greatly in content as compared to the extant Sanskrit and the Conze English rendering. My general observation is that the key narrative elements are pretty well the same, the differences lie in the expansion and elaboration of descriptions and attributes.<br/><br/>There were a couple of phrases which I needed to ponder over, indeed, I pondered over them so much that I can't remember what they are now! I'm pretty well-brain numbed. Its almost 11pm and I need to call it a day.<br/><br/>Chapt 28/29 I remember working on last autumn and so I expect most of this to be fine with the exception of a few minor corrections. I know that there will be some issues with the final chapter but, fortunately this is something of an epilogue and is quite brief (5 pages). <br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-35852785968975363682010-08-27T15:04:00.000-07:002010-08-27T15:04:00.574-07:00Chapter 26 -DONE!<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Been quite successful today, revised a complete chapter. Mind, I did start a little after 9 am and its now 22:58pm! Its a hard slog. There were some interesting changes of context which weren't easy to pick-up before. Indeed, there was a couple of sentences of reported speech which I hadn't picked up before. So, Chapt.27 tomorrow. Following that the large Chaps on Sadhuprarudita and Dharmodgata should be relatively simple as I remember working on these chapters quite extensively. The final chapter will need some polishing.<br/><br/>Today I was looking at FineReader Pro Version 10. This will also handle Chinese OCR. That would be useful! Downloaded the trial version but it wouldn't install using wine nor would it far any better in my Windows XP laptop. Perhaps it needs a more recent service pack. I'll try it on my Windows 7 box tomorrow.<br/><br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-2980090406999058642010-08-26T05:49:00.000-07:002010-08-26T05:57:23.239-07:00Hurray Done!<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Finished Chapter 25. Not much care taken here by the original translators! I think that they were working to a tight deadline and within a restricted set of glosses.<br />
<br />
Make extensive use of PDFStudio today, adding Taisho page references to the Conze text and improving the range of bookmarks in both the Conze & Karashima PDFs.<br />
<br />
Well, onto the next chapter!<br />
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</div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-11711963882669908612010-08-25T15:03:00.000-07:002010-08-25T15:03:00.042-07:00Still not done!<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Spent most of my free time today working on this chapter and still haven't finished. I've only a page and a half to rework so lets hop for completion tomorrow. I feel behind somewhat due to checking out some new software -PDF Studio. Whilst I have Acrobat it doesn't work well under wine on my Linux box. I guess that I could use a virtual desktop running XP but no. PDF Studio only cost me US$60 and works well. Its a little slower than I expected but then I'm regularly loading 800+ page bitmap documents. What I really needed it for was highlighting and commenting. So, one of the tasks that I've worked on is adding more bookmarks to Karashima's glossary.<br/><br/>There's one slight deficiency with PDF Studio, it doesn't like UTF-8 input. Strange. I've emailed Qoppa, the developers of PDF Studio for their comments and feedback.<br/><br/>Lets see what happens!<br/><br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-22671418474692207282010-08-25T00:53:00.000-07:002010-08-26T05:54:48.712-07:00Chapters 23, 24 reviewed, Chapter 25 almost done!<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Wow, its almost been a month since my last post! Ok, for the better part of the first half of August we were on holiday in Egypt -lots of snorkelling around the Red Sea coral reefs. But, I have been busy since getting back home. Chapters 23/24 were pretty grim, in an extremely rough format. But, I've now taken a good look at these and feel that they are now in good shape. The English is not what one might call publication-prose but it is a good reflection of the Chinese text. Just as with Classical Chinese texts, there's little point reading works such as the Daoxing unless you already know what's written there. The use of language is spartan and there are so many instances where otherwise familiar words are used in a totally unique way. <br />
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Only a about five pages left in Chapter 25 which I should have finished by tomorrow evening or thursday by the latest.<br />
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</div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-33071587717183799012010-07-31T17:00:00.000-07:002010-07-31T17:00:00.801-07:00T224 Chapt 23<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Just finished my recent review of Chapt 23. Translating T224 has been a challenge. Apart from the content of the chapter being complex, the use of terms, particularly 生, have been pushed to the full limit of their meanings. Its not sufficient to terms such as 'produce' or 'give rise' during the current, machine age, because production is the associated with process rather than volition. For modern man, it is a cliche. To those living in the past, actions required volution. Nothing made itself, there were no machines, no computers that could 'do things'. Even the forces of nature act because of animistic forces. So, the more organic tones of the term have been preserved.<br/><br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-48254568937874734582010-07-21T15:04:00.000-07:002010-07-21T15:04:00.932-07:00離本<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Hithero I have translated 離本 as 'free from any basic' or 'turning away from roots of' or similar, in which basic or the root is understood as being the cause of something. Karashima notes this as being the construction used in this text for the Sanksrit 'atyanta' which he translates as 'absolute' in the manner of Conze and others. The OED defines 'absolute' as 'Free from dependence'. <br/><br/>Karashima pairs 離本 with antyanta, which is composed of ati (extreme, very) and antaḥ , (end, boundary) (Coulson)<br/><br/>I need to think about this one....</div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-22710778333967340652010-07-18T11:59:00.000-07:002010-07-18T15:11:56.476-07:00無對法.離本亦無對亦無證.亦無守.亦無行<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>With so many 無s how is the passage to be interpreted? Sometimes its possible to construct meaningful sentences out of cryptic pieces of Chinese text which are at best, erroneous, at worst totally wrong. Here the balance of meaning lies in the construction <font face='Times New Roman'>無對. </font>At first glance it looks like the negative of <font face='Times New Roman'>對</font> which has a gamut of meanings ranging form 'correct' to 'opposite'. One might suggest then that <font face='Times New Roman'>無對法 </font>could be 'without any right dharmas', 'without any right method' or even something along the lines 'without opposing any....'<font face='Times New Roman'> </font> None of these are satisfactory. As can be seen in the corresponding Sanskrit passage Conze has 'isolated dharma' which doesn't make much sense either. <br/><font face='Times New Roman'><br/>T08n0224_p0466a24 - T08n0224_p0466a29<br/>...須菩提白佛言.設爾般若波羅蜜離本無對法.離本亦無對亦無證.亦無守.亦無行. 亦無有法當有所得.何以故.離般若波羅蜜 本無形故.本無遠離.何因當於般若波羅蜜中得佛.佛者離本無所有.何所本無所有當 得佛者.佛語須菩提.如須菩提所言離.今般 <br/>...Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘If that which is prajñāpāramitā is turning away from that which is basically any isolated method, turning away from parts, there is nothing to see, nothing to take-up, nothing to pursue, there is no method to be found. For what reason? Turning away from prajñāpāramitā basically has no appearance as basically there is no turning far away. How, then, is awakening found within prajñāpāramitā? If awakening is turning away from that which does not exist, how can that which basically does not exist result in finding awakening?’<br/><br/>Conze (1974,256)<br/>Subhuti: No, Lord, I do not. In consequence, to what dharma could I point, and say that "it is" or "it is not"? But a dharma which is absolutely isolated, to that one cannot attribute that "it is" or that "it is not.' Also an absolutely isolated dharma does not know full enlightenment. Because a dharma which has no existence cannot know full enlightenment. </font><br/><br/>Vaidya (1960, p.217)<br/>so'haṁ bhagavan anyatra māyāyā māyopamādvā cittāt taṁ dharmasamanuśyan katamaṁ dharmamupadekṣyāmi astīti vā nāstīti vā? yaśca atyantavivikto dharmaḥ, na so'stīti vā nāstīti vā upaiti| yo'pi dharmo'tyantatayā viviktaḥ, nāsāvanuttarāṁ samyaksaṁbodhimabhisaṁbudhyate|<br/><br/>Karashima (2010, p.509) Suggest that <font face='Times New Roman'>無對 </font>means 'having no counterparts' but does not substantiate the basis of this view. Indeed, the term 'counterpart' which means 'equivalent' is not a tenable alternative. Edgerton (1953, p.500) does not have the term 'atyanta~vivikto' or 'absolutely isolated' but has 'viveka' -solitude. This too is not satisfactory. Whilst the practice of certain methods may lead to the practice of solitude, the idea in the texts is one of 'particular method or any other particular (method)'.<br/><br/>In the end, I don't that a simple translation is possible. The closest that I can get is without adding more to the text is:<br/><br/><font color='#ff0000'>Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘If prajñāpāramitā is some basic, singular method; that which is basic and singular, there is nothing to see, nothing to take-up, nothing to pursue,...</font><br/><br/>A real conundrum this one. There is no clear literal interpretation. In essence Subhuti is saying that if prajnaparamita doesn't exist and is itself illusory, then what is the cause of awakening?<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-89015603759976935502010-07-18T04:16:00.000-07:002010-07-18T11:59:10.993-07:00得佛 -obtaining the correct idiomatic context.<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>得佛 can be translated in two ways:<br/><br/>1) find buddhahood<br/>2) become awake (bodhi)<br/><br/>The implication is significant as the former implies a static condition, as buddhahood is a noun, whereas the later implies a process as awake is a verb. The later is the right choice as it is consistent with the purport of the text.<br/><br/>It is unfortunate that these earlier text did not differentiate 佛 and 佛陀<br/><br/>Also....<br/><br/>Conze (1974, 256) has the following passage. It is a question Socratic question that the Buddha puts to Subhuti.<br/><br/>The Lord: When you see neither illusion, nor the thought which is like illusion, as a real separate entity, do you then perhaps see that dharma which knows full enlightenment as something other than illusion, or as something other than the thought which is like illusion?<br/><br/>The problem here, as is consistent with many others (including myself) who translate such passages is that the term 'dharma' is translated in a manner implying a substance rather than a method. 'That dharma' implies a thing, rather than what is simply is.<br/><br/>T08n0224_p0466a19 ..幻心雖離.是見異法.當得佛道不須菩提<br/><br/>[The Buddha said:] The illusory heart is to be turned away from, is it seen as a method that finds some buddha path or not?’<br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-62430826586907043422010-07-13T15:54:00.000-07:002010-07-14T01:56:36.716-07:00More on Bodhisattva Bhumis<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Hikata(1958) provides a useful comparative study between the various Chinese recessions of the Asta and the larger PP texts in which he substantiates the view that the larger texts revised in the light of developing doctrinal interpretations. He concludes that during the period of the emergence of this text there were simply four stages:<font face='sans-serif'><font size='3'><br/></font></font><br/><ol><li><font face='sans-serif'><font size='3'>新發意菩薩 Newly Resolved</font></font></li><li><font face='sans-serif'><font size='3'>隨次第上菩薩 Gradually progressing (Kumarajiva describes this as 行六波羅蜜, ṣaṭ-pāramitācāra)</font></font></li><li><font face='sans-serif'><font size='3'>阿惟越致</font></font><font face='sans-serif'><font size='3'> avivarti(ka) (Never Falling Back)</font></font></li><li><font face='sans-serif'><font size='3'>阿惟顏</font></font> abhiṣeka (consecration to Buddhahood)</li></ol><br/>Karashima (2010) provides more reliable sanskrit equivalents but does not discuss doctrinal issues.<font face='sans-serif'><font size='3'><br/></font></font><br/><ol><li>阿闍浮 ādhibhū(mika)<font face='sans-serif'><font size='3'> <br/>新發意菩薩 prtahama-yāna-samprasthita 'those who have newly awakened the mind' (p.544<br/></font></font><font face='sans-serif'><font size='3'>隨次第菩薩 caryā-pratipanna 'progress step by step' (p.471)</font></font></li><li><font face='sans-serif'><font size='3'>阿惟越致 avivarti(ka) 'irreversible' (pp.13-16)</font></font></li><li><font face='sans-serif'><font size='3'>阿惟顏</font></font> abhiṣeka (p.13)</li></ol>MAHAVASTU bodhisattva bhūmis<br/><br/>1) durārohā 'Difficult to enter'<br/>2) baddhamāna 'Fastening'<br/>3) puṣpamaṇḍitā 'Adorned with Flowers'<br/>4) rucirā 'Beautiful'<br/>5) cittvistarā 'Expansion of the Heart'<br/>6) rūpavatī 'Lovely'<br/>7) durjayā 'Difficult to Conquer'<br/>8) janmanideśa 'Ascertainment of Birth'<br/>9) yauvarājya 'Installation as Crown Prince'<br/>10) abhiṣeka 'Coronation'<br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-83185144953359984792010-07-13T15:51:00.001-07:002010-07-13T15:51:39.175-07:00阿闍浮 mistranslationJust noticed an error in my translation. Its useful to have the relevant reference materials to hand to check this out. I originally rendered this as avivartin but it should be ādhibhū(mika) . A nasty mistake. Reference to the Sanskrit identifies that this is a bodhisattva at the outset of his career which is something quite dissimilar to my rendering. I should have spotted this earlier, after all, Lancaster (1968) does list this in Appendix B. Karashima has helped resolve this issue though and I'm now glad to have this really useful book.William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-43416060848649543442010-07-12T11:01:00.000-07:002010-07-12T11:01:00.387-07:00歡欣 or 歡喜<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Just passed the following comment to the DDB, entry 歡喜. Interestingly, Karashima doesn't pick this up.<br/><br/>歡欣 found in approx. 40 locations within the T224 also has the meaning of 'joyful'. Although the text does not discuss the bodhisattvabhumi, some differentiation is found. Chapt 23, for instance, discuses the 'joy' of those bodhistattvas new to raising the thought. It could be argued that if the first stage of the bodhisattva path was formally recognised at the time of translation, then the experience would have most likely have been transliterated rather than translated. The other key un-numbered stage in the path within the T224 is that of the Avivartin, which is transliterated.<br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-92005043530300600732010-07-11T16:06:00.000-07:002010-07-11T16:09:28.471-07:00Chapter 30. Enjoining Others<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Completed the synopsis of Chapt 29, now working on Chapt 30. Again, some tricky passages and so Karashima has been useful here. I've not had to revise my interpretation of the text based on his notes but they have confirmed my interpretation. The English text does need some revision.<br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-66549588442898965702010-07-11T15:54:00.000-07:002010-07-11T15:54:00.866-07:00天上天下<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>I was going to add a note into my translation on this phrase which occurs about a dozen times in the Daoxing. It may well be worth comparing passages which contain this phrase in the Daoxing with the extant Sanskrit. My hunch is that it will probably be a short-hand version of 'gods, men and asura' and similar lists of sentients. The term 天下, is well established meaning 'everywhere', in the sense of 'the world'. 天上 does occur in a number of pre-qin texts as denoting something from above, but the compound 天上天下 is not found.<br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4953438499459950708.post-20900254747704157652010-07-10T14:25:00.000-07:002010-07-10T14:25:00.544-07:00Sarvajna and changing views of the path...<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Gombrich (2009) puts forward the view that textutal examination shows that the buddha modified his teaching on a number of occasions. Whilst the fundamental experiences upon which he builds his teaching reamains the same, there are differences in interepretation. This discovery is useful in a number of ways. <br/><br/>1) It helps explain the division in the early sangha as to what the Buddha's teachings actually were.<br/>2) This corresponds to the accounts given in the Mahayana about the the 'turnings of the teachings' ie three fold turn of the 12 spoked wheel.<br/>3) It demonstrates parallels found in the daoxing itself where at the outset of the text the key topic is the acquisition of sarvajna which then becomes tranformed into the quest for prajnaparamita.<br/><br/><br/></div>William J Giddingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09926372796691364278noreply@blogger.com0