Verse IX

dka' spyad khur du 'khyer nus na
bya ba gang yang dka' ba med
chu yi nang du zhugs pa der
char gyis lhag par gnod mi 'gyur

If one is capable of carrying a heavy burden, then whatever the task, it will not be difficult.  Indeed, no more harm will come from the pouring rain to one who enters into the water.

Alternatives:

. . . Indeed, more harm will not come from the pouring rain to one who has already entered into the water.

Textual Notes:

The primary translation is simpler, but the second one is more true to the original Tibetan grammar.  Unfortunately the addition of "already" to the alternative keeps it from being a true direct translation, but I feel it's necessary for the full meaning.  Any second opinions?

Cultural Notes:

It's important to remember that this poem should not be read piecemeal (although that's an inescapable aspect of my presentation of it here) and that all the verses are integrated with eath other in some way.  This verse is a good example, because it ties in nicely with Verse V.  In both he is refering to the practice of stabilizing meditative absorption and immersing oneself in understanding - the Ocean of Dharma/Samsara.

Signing off in Chengdu, Miss A.

Verse VIII

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.

Verses VI & VII

gzur gnas rig par ldan pa des
gzhan gyi yon tan len par byed
spang ljongs gtsang ma'i dal 'gro ma
lhung lhung zer zhing me tog 'thu

ngan pas phyogs mtha' bskor na yang
skyon gyi rigs rnams sdud par byed
ngam grog sa ral can gyi chus
'dam gyi snyigs ma 'dren dang mtshungs

The clean meadow river Deldroma says lhung lhung while gathering flowers, just as those endowed with wisdom, seeking nothing in any direction, receive the virtues of others.

Like water pulling muddy impurities of torn earth from the gorge, so one who is evil collects all kinds of imperfections when seeking the limit in all directions.

Textual Notes:

I have these two verses together because the terms and imagery mirror one another almost perfectly.  Keep in mind that the first verse is passive and the second verse is active.

         Verse VI                               Verse VII
        gzur gnas                       phyogs mtha' bskor
(phyogs res med pa)

These two require some examination.  First, some literal translations: gzur gnas is "abiding at the end," phyogs res med pa (included in a note) is "nothing in any direction," and phyogs mtha' bskor is "wandering to the limits of all directions." 

The note makes clear that the two phyogs are being compared - one which abides, gnas (passive) and one which wanders, bskor (active).  Instead of using two different verbs, I decided to use a positive and negative statement and one verb (to seek) in order to make the juxtaposition more clear in English. 

        Verse VI                    Verse VII
rig par ldan pa des            ngan pas

These are the subjects in both verses.  rig par ldan pa des is literally "by those endowed with wisdom" and ngan pas is "by the one who is evil."  As usual with Tibetan to English translations the subject, implied in Tibetan, needs to be made explicit in English.

       Verse VI                        Verse VII
gzhan gyi yon tan         skyon gyi rigs rnams
virtues of others             all kinds of imperfections

   Verse VI                         Verse VII
len par byed                  sdud par byed

The verbs selected are very telling - len means "to study, receive, accept."  In other words, it has a very passive connotation.  sdud, on the other hand, is much more active and means "to collect, assemble, steal away."  This reflects the not seeking/seeking paradigm already established in the first line: one who is seeking nothing receives the virtues of others, while the one who is seeking the limits collects all kinds of imperfections.

   Verse VI                         Verse VII
spang ljongs                    ngam grog

Now begins the simile and we have two settings: a meadow and a gorge respectively.

Verse VI                      Verse VII
gtsang ma                   sa ral can

The adjectives: just as the subject in the first two lines was first wise then evil, so the subjects in the next two are first clean (gtsang ma) and then imbued with torn earth (sa ral can).

  Verse VI                 Verse VII    
del ‘gro ma                  chus

These are the subjects described by the previous adjectives.  The first is the name of a river and the second is water.  The absence of an agentive sa at the end of del ‘gro ma is very important to the passive/active juxtaposition between the two verses.  When I discuss the verbs below I will point this out again.

Verse VI                          Verse VII
  me tog                      ‘dam gyi snyigs

Flowers, or me tog, symbolize the virtues of others while muddy impurities, or ‘dam gyi snyigs, symbolize all kinds of imperfections.  

Verse VI                 Verse VII
   ‘thu                         ‘dren

Finally the verbs – just as len was a more passive version of sdud, here ‘thu is meant to be a more passive version of ‘dren.  In keeping with this I translate ‘thu as “to gather” instead of “to pick.”  Remember that del ‘gro ma does not have an agentive – that’s because in Tibetan ‘thu is an intransitive verb.  That means it doesn’t need to have an agent.  The sense is that flowers are gathering in the river, NOT that the river is picking flowers. This is an intricacy hard to convey with English; is there a way to integrate that sense gracefully?  I’m open to suggestions.  And ‘dren, like the active sdud, I translate as “to pull.”  Again, “pick” and “pull” would be too synonymous, whereas “gather” hints at that passive interaction which eludes my translating skills at the moment.

Cultural Notes:

In Tibetan, lhung lhung (pronounced “lhoong lhoong”) is an onomatopoeia for the sound of a babbling brook. 

Signing off in Chengdu, Miss A.

Verse V

chu phran brgal bar mi nus des
rgya mtsho rkyal gyis ga la chod
ya rabs lugs kyang mi shes na
chos kyi de nyid ji ltar rtogs

If one is powerless to cross a small river, how can one hope to swim through the ocean?  Although of a well-respected tradition, how can one understand the essential nature of Dharma without realization?

Alternatives:

By that inability to cross a small river, how could the ocean be passed (cut) through by swimming? 

Textual Notes:

There are so many complexities in this verse.  The most striking difference between the primary and the original is the inclusion of the ergative/agentive (des) in translation.  In English it is a very awkward statement, yet it emphasizes the instrumental action of the crossing rather than the subject who is crossing (implied in the primary translation). 

As with previous verses it should be clear now that the two parts (example and simile) will sometimes mirror one another, but oftentimes they will complement each other instead.  By this I mean that information in one will be missing in the other and vice versa, but taken together the full (and sometimes paradoxical) meaning can be found.  This verse is a good example because of the construction mi + verb + na/des.  Why use des in one context and na in the other?  I think these two constructions are complementary; that is, the first two lines emphasize the instrumental (des) while the second two emphasize contextual probability (na), but since the constructions complement each other the reader should recognize that both functions apply equally to both parts.  The primary translation loses this subtlety in favor of clarity and flow because I choose to have the verses mirror each other instead of complement each other (replacing des with na). 

I was wondering why this subtlety really matters, and it seems to me that it has to do with the relationship between understanding, realization, and knowledge (explained below in Cultural Notes).  In the second two lines Gung Thang includes a subject (ya rabs lugs) in order to distinguish between knowledge (comes from belonging to a tradition), realization, and understanding.  This delineation is important for his argument and there is no getting around it, but within the extremely technical of Buddhist doctrine it is always problematic to have a subject.  Let me clarify - if we take the instrumental function of the first two lines (in which there is no stated subject) and apply it to the second two lines, we find that it is the realization itself rather than the one who realizes which leads to understanding (remember it is the crossing rather than the one who crosses in the first two lines).  This is relevant on a number of levels because it diminishes the subject.  According to Buddhism, a moment of realization is almost always synonymous with achieving no-self (and lasting understanding is synonymous with maintaining that realization of no-self).  So it is more doctrinally acurate to speak of the action of realization, not one who realizes since technically, in the moment itself, there should be no subject at all. 

To wrap up this convoluted matter, let's just say that the literary implications of des and na are interchangable, as is the inclusion/exclusion of a subject.

Next I want to point out that rtogs literally means "to grasp fully," which I translate as "to understand" in order to highlight the well-known relationship between understanding and realization.  I chose to translate shes as "to realize" for the same reasons, but it is also important to note the relationship between nus and shes as they occupy the same position in the mi + verb + des/na construction.  nus means "power" or "ability," and another translation for shes (among many) is "can" or "to be able."  This helps stress the function of realization (again, see below for a more detailed explanation) as a means to reach understanding - it empowers a person, much like an initiation.  This underlying meaning combined with the implied agentive (via complementarity) cements the idea that it is the realization itself which is instrumental in reaching understanding.

Cultural Notes:

The relationship between knowledge, realization, and understanding is a key part of understanding not only this verse but many others to come.  Knowledge, here implicated by the ya rabs lugs, will never lead to true understanding.  There is a second step - realization - which is, like I said, similar to an initiation.  Realization happens in a moment, and understanding comes from the stabilization of that moment. 

In other words, realization is irrelevant to action, while understanding is the practical application of that state of mind to daily activities.  It's the difference between looking at water (knowledge), putting a foot in (realization), and being able to swim (understanding).

And since we're on the topic of water, it's worthwhile to explore the symbolic significance of "ocean" or rgya mtsho.  In Verse I the ocean symbolized the ocean of Dharma.  Here, however, the ocean symbolizes the ocean of Samsara (the cycle of rebirth and suffering).  How can an ocean symbolize two completely different concepts?  Well, it's a common technique in Buddhism to use a paradox - in this case a symbolic paradox - in order to demonstrate the unity of two seemingly polar opposites.  In these two verses the Dharma and Samsara are identified as the same thing.

Signing off in Chengdu, Miss A.