Disuse of the impersonal pronoun *one*

Ayya Khema used the impersonal “one” a lot. If you need an excuse for bringing it back, say you’re using it in her memory. Nobody can argue with Ayya Khema :grin:

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But I’m complaining against just that. I want to bring back impersonal one.

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Whoops, wrote “you” where it was meant to say “one”. That’s what I get for saying things before I’ve woken up properly :flushed:

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Implied question: Who imparted blessing on the Buddha?
Alternate and/or simultaneous question: Doesn’t ‘blessed’ require a blessing giver?

If you define blessed as becoming holy, I don’t think it requires a blessing giver, as the Buddha purified himself.

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I’ve never stopped using it. Why would one give up a good tool - for fashion or approval? :rofl:

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I’m non-native English speaker, so what do I know, but doesn’t the other meaning of nobles interfere too much if you skip “ones”?

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I had a TA who taught an intro to tech writing course insist that this distinction exists solely the minds of the grammarians who programmed Microsoft Word. Everyone else uses that and which interchangeably.

I’ve often heard the recommendation when speaking to form “I” statements rather than “you” statements to avoid that directness, which is often taken as an accusation; though, an “I” statement can sound like boasting. Which is probably why we used to have the rule to just avoid both in formal writing. There was a time when we didn’t even call people by their first names unless we actually knew them.

Which reminds me that in Classical Chinese, it was consider bad form to use the first personal pronoun: Too presumptuous! The culture was very self-deprecatory. So, the early translations always dropped the “I” from “Thus I have heard,” etc. A later translator Yijing actually commented on that and explained that it was just a dislike of “I” statements in Chinese writing.

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Yes. I think many English translators capitalize Noble Ones for this very reason. We are redefining noble to mean something other than it’s ordinary use. If I were to drop the “One” in a passage that it would make sense, I’d probably still capitalize “Noble.” Also, unfortunately, English doesn’t really have opinion about whether “the Noble” (used like “the wise”) is singular or plural, so if it needs to be specific, it gets awkward. Overall, I’m really just carping about the dissonance I sometimes feel coming from a mainstream writing background and deciding what to do with some these non-standard things we do in Buddhist translations. Often, the conclusion is: Nothing. It’s a convention everyone knows.

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I think the two meanings are intertwined and ambiguous in the society of the Buddha’s time and in contemporary society alike. The Buddha of course always uses “arya” to mean “noble” in the sense of holy and not in the sense of “the nobility” for instance, but the nobility often among themselves historically have entertained all sorts of pseudo-scientific naivety about their “breeding” and how they are exemplary specimens of humanity, set apart from the common folk – " holier" than thou. Very similar to how ancient Brahmins thought themselves “noble by birth” rather than “noble by merit.” The Buddha has a “noble meritocracy.”

I’m not good at explaining myself, sorry.

But yes, the other meaning interferes, as you say.

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Don’t get too caught up on the connotations of the English words. The Pāli might also be translated as “the lucky one” or “the fortunate one.” It’s “blessed” in that sense, not in the sense of “ordained.”

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It was an Australian who informed me some years ago that the use of “one” is old-fashioned, overly formal, and to be avoided. I went into mourning. (One wouldn’t know what to do without so handy a reference point!) So far I can’t tell that its use has diminished in my part of the world (the USA South), but it is only a matter of time.

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No, When we say “Blessed One” it is pronounced as “Bless-ed One.” In this case Blessed is not so much a past participle functioning as an adjective as it’s just an adjective.

Example, when we say that a person is “aged” (i.e. age-ed) it is an inherent quality. It’s totally different that when we say a cheese is aged, as in blue cheese. As well, someone can be learned (learn-ed). No one actually learned them.

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I think these uses are actually the same, but that we have preserved an archaic pronunciation for certain terms, like “Blessed” and “Aged.” Why do you say it’s “totally different?”

“Blessed One” is in the sense of “bhaj” being “to revere, to adore.” The World-Honoured One is a Chinese translation of the term, but they add “World” for whatever reason. So he’s blessed in the sense that he is blessed/worshiped/revered/adored by his followers. That’s how I would read the English “Blessed One.”

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Fashion aside…

The use of “one” is a remarkably effective crowbar for dealing with the persistent and mindlessly reflexive use of “I” or “he” or “she” or “we” or “they”.

Indeed, one might find it…indispensable and inclusive.

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An “aged” (pronounced ayjd) cheese means that a human being subjected milk curds to a certain process over time. An “aged” (pronounced ay-jed) human being is an older person. The terms have different meanings.

I “learned” something is different from referring to a someone as a “learned” (pronounced learn-ed) person.

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“Indeed, it may be found indispensable and inclusive.” (if the crowbar isn’t nearby)

Anyway, I realize I accidentally sidetracked the topic. I am The Guilty One.

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I believe it’s called Buddhist Hybrid English, lol.

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As a noun, one is fairly standard religious English. I guess biblical language, which often maintains fairly archaic words, has influenced some of these translations. “One” is often used in biblical language in connection with some significant being, e.g. the Holy One or the Anointed One or the Evil One (so not always necessarily associated with good :slight_smile: ).

In everyday English, IMO one still has its uses, e.g. she’s the quiet one of the group, or when referring to some formulaic 1990s girl band :laughing:, one can talk about the “posh one” or the “ginger one” or the “sporty one”! :wink:

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Wow, that’s a very subtle yet obvious altering of the text clearly stemming from cultural conditioning.