Early Buddhist Texts - perhaps the most important reason for trying to understand/accurately translate them

[anon29387788]

Continuing the discussion from Lay Arahats. Why not?:

@anon29387788

Perhaps memorising the Dhamma became more important after the Buddha passed away.

I have a notion that during his lifetime, things would’ve been more in flux.

Also, perhaps the life of a householder at that time was less cerebral and more conducive to being present to the realities of life. Thus perhaps it wasn’t the lack of literacy (as we know it), so much as the clarity and presence to reality and nature that may have existed then, in a way that it does not, now; unless of course you live, very simply and purely as a householder.

I suggest that the householders of the Buddha’s time had a far better chance of attaining any stage of enlightenment, than we do today. Today, we have Sutta Central, books and talks about suttas and we spend endless hours trying to work out what it all means. Surely in the Buddha’s time, they didn’t have to think about it so much and figure it out so much, surely the language used had to have been ordinary to that time and place, meant to speak and relate directly to things known in daily life. Simple and clear and able to go into those illiterate minds, basically, deeply and “un-cerebrally”; those minds that would’ve been so much more present to their lives, their deaths, the seasons and things that were real and concrete and tangible and emotional and clear. The reason I think this is because of the agrarian nature of those societies. Surely, being close to nature and being unable to control and keep thoughts through writing, would’ve freed them up to be present to and closer to nature and particularly to their own nature - their bodies and minds.

So perhaps they didn’t need to memorise whole heaps of stuff. Perhaps it was enough to hear the teachings a few times. Also, I imagine, (going on what it’s like to be around monastics today who inspire me) that it would’ve left an indelible mark on your mind to have been taught by the Buddha himself, or even one of his enlightened disciples. Such experiences probably amply balanced out the lack of modern literary conveniences

I decided to pull this out and place it here because, reflecting on this recently, I felt such gratitude to all those who have tried to make sense of the EBTs. In contemporary times, within the English speaking world, Bhikkhu Bodhi comes to mind. However, the work that Bhante Sujato, Ajahn Brahmali and Ajahn Brahm and others like Ven Analayo, and I’m sure there are many others that I do not know of, including many of the contributers and commentators and readers that visit here, should be applauded and hugely appreciated.

In trying to work out the nuts and bolts of grammar and semantics, in trying to work out what it would’ve meant to the original audience, we come close to what the Buddha would have meant when he spoke the words that have been attributed to him.

Yes, of course, we would come closest to him when we go within, and see our own hearts, the workings of our mind and body, clearly and fully. Yet, to look at the EBTs in a way which makes it easy for us to go within, in a way which makes own hearts appear more clearly, in a way which gives us a framework with which to approach body, mind and spiritual practice; a framework that is the Buddha’s but is built up with words, phrases and images that are local and immediate to us…well…those who translate the EBTs to make them clearer, to make them make Dhamma sense within our modern paradigms…these people and the work they do are gold.

May they and such work, always be well supported. For all our sakes.

[anon29387788]

…So “Thank you” to all you translators out there.