mayne@nu.cs.fsu.edu (William Mayne) (10/17/90)
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[A nice poem (not my own) follows some comments. Skip forward if you like.]
A popular anthology of Buddhist writings which introduced many people in
the West to Buddhism is "The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha",
editted by E.A. Burtt, published by Mentor. It was one of the first
books I found when I became interested in Buddhism, some time around the
mid 1960s. Even though I have gone way beyond it I still have the copy
I bought way back then for $0.75.
It contains about half of the Dhammapada and many short passages from
both Theravada and Mahayana sources. Unfortunately it does not identify
the original sources for most of the selections. This makes it
difficult to find the sources in order to either get the whole
sutta/sutra (most are selections are abridged) or to compare with other
translations.
I would like to hear from others out there in net land who are familiar
with this anthology. I'd especially be interested if anyone can
identify the original sources for the selections which are from the Pali
canon. I can identify some, but a complete list would be nice. Have
any later editions come out with better annotation?
Finally, for those who may not have seen it, I would like to quote a
beautiful poem which is the last passage in the book. As with most
other selections no source is indicated. It is identified only as
"Epilogue: Buddha'a Pity."
I would be most interested in finding the source for this. Although it
is beautiful as it stands it contains some lines which reflect Western
and/or Christian thought and sound very un-Buddhist. Numbers in []
indicate foot notes which I have added to some of the most questionable
lines. I suspect a poor translation and would like to find others. [1]
in particular is as bad as many of the renderings in Juan Mascaro's
notoriously inaccurate translation of the Dhammapada for Penguin
classics.
I don't mean to fault translators (except for Mascaro, who was a modern
scholar and should have known better, IMHO). It is natural for those
with little understanding of the cultural and historical context to
render things in terms more familiar to them. And I stress again that I
don't know the original source for "Buddha's Pity", nor even other
translations. It could be a much later work. The original author could
have even been enfluenced by Christianity and the translation accurate.
But I doubt that and would really like to find a better translation if
there is one. (Preferably accompanied by the original in the unlikely
event that it is in Pali; not that I can read Pali without references
and literal translations to compare.)
The whole area of gross mistranslations of Eastern scriptures into
English is very interesting to me. Does anyone have some particularly
interesting examples?
In spite of the problems I point out I find this poem verying moving.
By all means put any controversy aside and just enjoy on your first
reading.
Buddha's Pity
(Source unknown)
My children,
The Enlightened One, because He saw Mankind drowning in the Great Sea of
Birth, Death, and Sorrow, and longed to save them,
For this He was moved to pity.
Because He saw men of the world straying in false paths, and none to
guide them,
For this He was moved to pity.
Because He saw that they lay wallowing in the mire of the Five Lusts, in
dissolute abandonment,
For this He was moved to pity.
Because He saw them still fettered to their wealth, their wives and
their children, knowing not how to cast them aside,
For this He was moved to pity.
Because He saw them doing evil with hand, heart, and tongue, and many
times receiving the bitter fruits of sin, yet ever yielding to their
desires,
For this He was moved to pity.
Because He saw that though they longed for happiness, they made for
themselves no karma of happiness; and though they hated pain, yet
willingly made for themselves a karma of pain; and though they
coveted the joys of Heaven, would not follow His commandments on
earth. [1]
For this He was moved to pity.
Because He saw them consumed by the fires of pain and sorrow, yet
knowing not where to seek the still waters of samadhi,
For this He was moved to pity.
Because He saw them living in an evil time, subjected to tyrannous kings
and suffering many ills, yet heedlessly following after pleasure,
For this He was moved to pity.
Because He saw them living in a time of wars, killing and wounding one
another; and knew that for the riotous hatred that had flourished in
their hearts they were doomed to pay an endless retribution, [2]
For this He was moved to pity.
Because many born at the time of His incarnation heard Him preach the
Holy Law, yet could not receive it, [3]
For this He was moved to pity.
Because some had great riches that they could not bear to give away,
For this He was moved to pity.
Because He saw the men of the world ploughing their fields, sowing the
seed, trafficking, huckstering, buying and selling; and at the end
winning nothing but bitterness,
For this He was moved to pity.
[1] The last part hardly needs any comment. I think the translator
understood something in terms of Christian theology, but what?
The Buddha obviously never layed down commandments as conditions for
the joys of Heaven, but only pointed out the kinds of actions which
lead to happiness or suffering.
[2] Buddhism does not postulate retribution at all, just consequences
according to actions which may be unpleasant. Besides, unless the
killing and wounding is continued infinitely (and it is unlikely this
was meant) the consequent suffering can't be endless. This may be
hyperbole, however.
[3] "His incarnation" may be a reasonable translation, but I have never
known a Buddhist translator to use that phrase. Again, I think a
Christian is translating and sees things in light of Western concepts.
Bill Mayne
Florida State University
mayne@nu.cs.fsu.edu