A partisan reflection after "The Aggañña Sutta...", SN12.4-10

The Watercooler
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Reading with interest the thread on The Aggañña Sutta, V…" and from this into SN12.4-10 I recalled a small “meditation” which I had done in 1984 or so, without knowing more about buddhism than what the courses on “religion” in school (germany) would have covered.

It might easily be seen as an early exercise in “spiritual bypassing” :wink:, but today, when rereading this and resonating with the readings in “discuss&discover” it seems to me a lovely, small, partisan :slightly_smiling_face: attempt to the cycle of samsara… have fun!

Note: the “tango” was not only meant as the dance, but reflecting its latin root: to be/to get in touch (with reality, of course, and the world, and the friends, around). :whale:

(the reference/german original. Next msg translation to english (with help from deepl.com) and a reflection of the verses on the Buddha Vipassin… )

Ein Tango oder: Ein Leben im Kampf? (1984)
Schade, −
daß wir uns dauernd
im Kreis drehen.

Normal wäre,
einmal einen Ausweg suchen!
Aber, −
heißt: „sich im Kreis drehen“
nicht auch:
„tanzen“?

Ein Leben, das aus dem Lösen
von Problemen besteht.
Wir finden einen Ausweg
nach dem andern.

Wohin wollen wir?
Während unseres Tangos
vergeht die Zeit.
Haben wir sie
gut verbracht?
Ist es Spiel,
Probleme zu lösen?

Am Tod, am Ziel,
war alles nur ein Spiel?

Deinen Tango tanzt du
auch wenn du es nicht weißt
Seine Takte
sind ein jeder deiner Impulse
− wer weiß, was − zu tun,
− vielleicht sogar
einen Ausweg zu suchen.

Selbst wenn du aufhörst zu suchen
war dein Kampf ein Rundtanz
und ich hoff’,
du hast Spaß daran gehabt .

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SN12.4 Vipassin (tr.: Ven. Sujato) A tango or: A life of struggle?
“Mendicants, Vipassī the Blessed One,
the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha
had this thought before his awakening,
when he was still unawakened
but intent on awakening:
‘Alas,
this world has fallen into trouble.
It’s born, grows old, dies, passes away,
and is reborn,		 It’s a pity -
that we turn
round and round
in circles.
Normal would be
to look for a way out!
But, -
does „going round in circles“
not mean as well:
„dancing“?
yet it doesn’t understand
how to escape
from this suffering,
from old age and death.		 A life that consists
of solving problems.
We find a way out one after the other.
Where do we want to go?
Oh, when will an escape
be found

from this suffering,

from old age and death?’		 During our tango
time passes.
Do we have
spent it well?
Is it play,
solving problems?
At death, at the finish,
was it all just a play?
You dance your tango
even if you don’t know it.
Its beats are
each of your impulses
- who knows what - to do -
maybe even to look
for a way out.
Even when you stop searching:
your struggle has been a round-dance
and I hope
you’ve had fun with it.
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How the arahant deals with the tango:

“An arahant monk,
one who is done,
effluent-free, bearing his last body:
Would he say, ‘I speak’?
Would he say, ‘They speak to me’?”

“An arahant monk,
one who is done,
effluent-free, bearing his last body:
He would say, ‘I speak’;
would say, ‘They speak to me.’

Skillful,
knowing harmonious gnosis
with regard to the world,
he uses expressions
just as expressions.”

“An arahant monk,
one who is done,
effluent-free, bearing his last body:
Is it from conceit
that he’d say, ‘ I speak’?—
that he’d say, ‘They speak to me’?”1

“For one whose conceit is abandoned,
whose knot of conceit is dispersed,
no knots exist
at all.
He, beyond any concept, wise,
would say, ‘I speak’;
would say, ‘They speak to me.’

Skillful,
knowing harmonious gnosis
with regard to the world,
he uses expressions
just as expressions.”—Samyutta Nikaya 1.25

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