442 LESSON 20 11 2011 Guhatthaka suttaniddeso Upon the Tip of a Needle
COURSE PROGRAM
LESSON 438
Translator’s note
This remarkable and powerful poem, found buried amid the rather dry linguistic commentary of the Niddesa (a canonical commentary on the Atthakavagga of the Sutta Nipata attributed to Sariputta), speaks to the dual themes of impermanence and selflessness. In the later systematic psychology called Abhidhamma, these themes are developed into the doctrine of momentariness and the thorough enumeration of impersonal phenomena.
All human experience is ever-changing, but is known in fleeting moments of perceptive and affected consciousness. Close awareness of these moments, using heightened attention which can be developed through concentration and insight meditation, reveal a plethora of non-personal mental factors (dhammas) arising and passing away in innumerable unique combinations.
The poem captures something of this dance of dhammas, yet steers us away from identifying it as “ours.” The elements out of which the mind so quickly constructs these glimpses of experience are universal โ pleasure and pain, for example, are felt equally by all.
Every mental state is certainly unique, partly because each moment’s sense data changes and partly because the causal matrix from which they arise, the personality, is so different for each person. But the characteristics of the basic aggregates that comprise all human experience โ materiality, feeling, perception, formations and consciousness โ have remained similar from time immemorial.
Our subjective world is created by these states emerging in a moment of mind’s awareness, and when no longer aware โ in deep sleep or death, for example โ our world dies with us. (There is little place in the more profound levels of Buddhist thought for the notion of an “objectively real” world independent of experience).
The image of a tiny seed balancing on the point of a needle is striking โ it so poignantly describes the exquisite precision of the human condition. With the past long gone and the future unmanifest, all we have access to is the present moment, and this is only as accessible as we are attentive to it. How much of our legacy we neglect when we fail to attend!
Meditation can train the mind to be as sharp as a needle point, to notice phenomena as fleeting as a flash of lightning. So whether we live 84,000 years or only a few dozen, each life can be as infinitely deep as our mindfulness can penetrate.
Who is Bodhidharma? The question, popularised by the Telugu movie โ7th Sense’ is shrouded in mystery, and director A. R. Murugadoss has attempted to bring back the forgotten chapter into public gaze after a โthorough’ background research.
But, the founder of Sailum Zen Monastery in Bangalore, Babu T. Raghu disputes the โhistorical’ account on โBodhidharma’ in the movie and terms it as โcompletely erroneous’.
โThe life and legend of the 28th Zen Patriarch Bodhidharma was distorted to suit the requirement of the movie script, and hence, the character of the monk suffered extensively. None of the โhistorical’ aspects as shown in the movie are correct,โ he argues.
โHistorical accounts say that Bodhidharma took up Buddhism at an age of seven years and travelled to China, at an age of 150 years, to spread the Dhyana culture of Mahayana Buddhism.
But the movie depicts him as a married man with two children, and that he took to Buddhism on the way to China. And even worse, he was shown as going to China to cure a disease and teach fighting skills to the villagers,โ Mr. Raghu said.
โBodhidharma confined himself to a cave and never spoke to people for nine years, and there was no mention of Bodhidharma fighting with anyone,โ Mr. Raghu, a Buddhist researcher said. His life and death were also depicted wrongly in the movie, he added.
โThe young Bodhidharma was shown as practicing martial arts in Kanchi town, whereas my research shows that he practiced at the โSri Parvata’ (Nagarjunakonda) area in Andhra Pradesh. Bodhidharma, who attained the โvajra kaya’ status, which means that he was immune to diseases and poisons, had to be away from the bustling metropolis like Kanchi town to attain this state,โ the researcher maintained.
โBody never found’
The movie also showed the exhumation of his body, but historical accounts indicate that Bodhidharma’s body was never found when the tomb was reopened, Mr. Raghu said.
Mr. Raghu felt that the director should have exercised caution in declaring his version as authentic.
โWhile appreciating the freedom of artistic expression, the director should have at least made a disclaimer that this is one of the versions of the available legends, or that he adapted the story to suit the movie. Forgetting or neglecting a history is much better than distorting it,โ he felt.
Director Murugadoss was not available for comments
Mayawati: Centre harassing U.P.
โDeliberately creating surcharged atmosphere before Assembly electionsโ
Taking a tough line on the face-off between the Centre and the State over MGNREGS, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday sought to know from the UPA government whether the implementation of the rural job scheme in Uttar Pradesh should be stopped.
Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh addressed a press conference on behalf of Ms. Mayawati.
Referring to the missives sent to her by Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, Ms. Mayawati wanted to know whether similar practices had been adopted in other States as well, considering that the programme was being implemented in the entire country.
She asked whether the other States were being โharassedโ and โneedledโ in a similar manner by the Centre. Indicating that the war of words on the rural job scheme was a poll-eve gimmick (of the Congress), Ms. Mayawati said a โsurcharged atmosphereโ was being created deliberately.
When such deliberate surcharged atmosphere is created by the traditionally angry domnating hatred & jealousy people against untouchables means that the path followed by them is cent percent correct. Such an atmosphere is not new & they withstand the test of time.