Book of Eights: Chapter 14

Jeroen

In the interest of making a little headway so that people who have read ahead can put in any comments, I’m going to make at least one extra thread today. I’ll do the last two chapters next Monday.

This chapter is titled, “Tuvataka Sutta, the discourse on being quick”. It discusses how monastics should train. It is essentially a list of behaviours that should be avoided. It’s a significant change in tone and content from previous poems.

What struck me...

Let them completely destroy the root,
Of conceptual differentiation,
That is, the idea ‘I am the thinker.’
Ever mindful, they train to subdue their cravings.

So no ‘cogito ergo sum’ after all. Lol.

Touched by sense experience, a monastic shouldn’t
Despair about anything
Wish for states of becoming,
Or tremble at terrors.

It is of course one thing to avoid these behaviours, but the impulse may still arise. Discernment, skilful behaviour, effort and commitment are all necessary for being a monastic. Not that most of us aspire to that giddy height but we can pick up a few tips.