yon tan dang por slob dka' la
shes bzhin med na nyams pa sla
chu thigs bsags pas 'gengs dka' yang
bo na cig car nyid du 'dzad
It is easy to degenerate in skill if one has no attentiveness at the start of a difficult study. Similarly, although it is difficult to fill a pot by accumulating drops of water, the pot is as soon exhausted if it boils over all at once.
Textual Notes:
This verse is elegant and simple to translate into English. But again, the subjects are implied in the Tibetan whereas I make them explicit in English.
Cultural Notes:
In Western culture "boiling over" usually has a good connotation, at least intellectually speaking. It means there is an overflowing of ideas, and that the wellspring of inspiration is in good working order. What Gung Thang is talking about here we usually refer to as "burning out," and I think the converse imagery of water and fire is interesting. The next few verses also have something to do with this problem.
Signing off in Chengdu, Miss A.
No comments:
Post a Comment