VAJRA BELL Volume 6 Issue I
January 2008
Four glimmerings on wisdom Candradasa is a member of the Order from Scotland. He was ordained in 2001, having been involved with the FWBO since 1996. He is the Director of the Dharmachakra Archives and Free Buddhist Audio, and now lives and works in Portsmouth, NH. In his spare time (when he has any!), he is also a poet and graphic designer...
By Candradasa
W
hen Samayadevi asked me to write about ‘Wisdom’, my first instinct was to refuse – nicely! I think it’s very difficult to write anything satisfactory on an experience that, by definition, is elusive in my own life and, I guess, in many other lives. Not just elusive, in fact, but completely beyond! But, I don’t like saying ‘no’ to requests related to the Dharma, so I am writing something, though I wouldn’t make any claims for its relationship to ‘Jnana’ or ‘knowledge of things as they really are’. And to attest to the provisionality of anything I have to say here, I’ve decided to do it in the form of notes only – the ‘glimmerings’ of the title. These are just the things I’ve caught sight of in my own practice when thinking about this article, little glimpses, seen out of the corner of my eye. I hope any light they cast proves useful! 1. ‘Pratitya Samutpada’ – the DNA of the Buddha’s teaching
ing, which I would say is more like a poem. But, also like a doctor’s prescription to make things well!
The doctrine of ‘pratitya samutpada’ (often translated as ‘conditioned co-production’ or ‘dependent origination’) is the building block of the Buddha’s Dharma, and therefore the quintessential expression of transcendental Wisdom in Buddhist terms. It is the baseline for all Buddhist thought and practice. If any evocation of the nature of Reality does not correspond with this insight, then it’s not Buddhist, and (according to the Buddha) not adequate for understanding things. It may have some resonance and some partial value for us – but it won’t really do justice to the complexity of our lives. That’s quite a thought in itself! It’s worth writing out the whole classic formula for this teach-
“This being, that becomes, From the arising of this, that arises; This not being, that does not become, From the ceasing of this, that ceases.” For me, there is a beautiful harmony and weighted balance to these verses. You can feel the mutuality implied between things – and the space in the process being described; there’s something
Aryaloka Buddhist Center 14 Heartwood Circle, Newmarket, NH 03857
GLIMMERINGS
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