When I went to name my blog, I always knew that it would have to be based on the Sutta about the two darts. If you don't want to go read it now, the basic idea is that in life we experience unavoidable pains, like getting hit with a dart (or arrow), but that everything beyond the basic physical pain we experience in these situations is of our own doing. If an arrow is too abstract for your experience, imagine stubbing your toe. Yes, it hurts, but is the cursing necessary? Must you involve everyone within earshot in your suffering?
When first reading the suttas in Bikkhu Bodhi's excellent anthology, I was put off by the abundance of otherworldy concerns, but a few passages really stood out as relevant to me, particularly this bit about our own self-inflicted suffering. I really identified with this 'uninstructed worldling' (Bodhi's translation) and yet could see that the path to the single-dart experience of the 'instructed noble disciple' was not only desirable but feasible. Here was something practical that I could strive for from these teachings that would really improve my experience in my daily life.
For me, a software engineer at the time, the most immediate application was in dealing with 'bad' legacy code. Whenever I had to implement a new feature or fix a bug, I had to deal with this 'ugly' legacy code. In fact, these labels are often used by software engineers to refer to anything they themselves didn't write. And if it has been long enough since they wrote it, it may even apply to their own code. I would often exclaim to my coworkers that this was "the worst code I've ever seen!" Then I would bemoan the decisions made by my predecessors and compare my state to that perfect world in which the code I was working with had been written in exactly the way I imagined that I would have written it given the level of expertise and judgment that I had acquired and developed at the time I was judging it.
How much did I suffer unnecessarily in this practice? How much less stress would my life have if I simply said "This is the state of the world in which I must now accomplish my goals"? Well, I never really accomplished that state of mind, but I did make some progress. I decided that I could still discern the defects in the existing code and work to make it better without all the drama. I did find however that I clung to the drama as part of the 'fun' of the job. I guess it was about demonstrating to myself and others that I could do better than whomever had gone before? But one can do better without the drama as well. I never did manage to fully separate the necessary judgments about what needed to be done from the unnecessary judgments about the people who had created whatever I was working with and the desire not to have to 'fix' certain things that 'never should have been done that way in the first place'.
Anyway, back to the purpose at hand. The term that is being translated as 'uninstructed worldling' is puthujjano. But when I looked into this a little more, I decided I didn't want the URL for the blog to use that word, since it seems to imply someone who is still bound by the ten fetters. I don't mind identifying with an 'uninstructed worldling', since I will always have more to learn. But I would hope to make some progress with these fetters. Even if I never overcome any of them completely, it still seemed too 'permanent' to use as part of the URL. So I've made the URL upaasako (upāsako), which just means 'lay disciple'. I don't foresee becoming a monk, so I think that's a safe term to use.
Hopefully, this will be a good place to follow along if you're interested in my upcoming adventures and (hopefully) insights in Sri Lanka. Welcome!
Update: Whoops, puthujjano only corresponds to the 'worldling' part, the 'uninstructed' is actually assutavant, which literally means 'one who has not heard'. Since we're dealing with an oral culture 'not having heard' is equivalent to 'unlearned' or 'uninstructed'. But that's ok, I still like upaasako for the URL.
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I have to admit that the first thing that leapt to my mind as I read this was Spock. His response to badly written code might have been, "Curious..." and then a merely descriptive, emotionless remark about the disadvantages of the method used by the previous programmer.
ReplyDeleteWe actually tried that on my team when I introduced the "one dart" approach to programming. However, I don't think we ever managed to say "Isn't this curious how this person decided to implement this?" without a clear element of sarcasm. This is actually the kind of thing I had in mind when I mentioned the 'fun' of complaining above. We would laugh at these ironic attempts at detachment instead of actually being detached.
DeleteLife during high capitalism can often be very meta.
DeleteSpock might also have said, Captain, the incompetence behind this coding is evident, putting this ship and all its crew in imminent danger of a backdoor attack. Starfleet should have him removed from duty immediately.
DeleteOr he might say, stick that in my backdoor, Captain.
Or he might say, Starfleet should have him killed.
Or he might say, I have to peepee, can you show me your corn?
Or he might say, I Kant conceive of such bad code.
Or he might say, how many imbecile programmers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? (How many imbecile programmers fit in a lightbulb, and how much room extra do they need to screw?)
I like Spock. He says the darndest things. That darn Spock.
Oh, and PS: FIRST!
ReplyDelete(Whoops. I have now been caught while being attached to fame.)
Addendum (excerpt from a post on 'Spock Lives'):
ReplyDelete"Buddhism. This faith is most strongly associated with meditation, which Spock practices. This exercise requires and promotes concentration and the direction of the mind to a single point. While for humans this sharpens the senses and promotes health, for Spock it has some more tangible results. We are told his great mental discipline allows him to practice the Vulcan mind meld; not every Vulcan can. He consistently demonstrates quick and clear thinking, and catches details his fellow officers overlook. Even off-duty, he is keenly aware of sensory experiences. (In music, food, etc.)"
"The Vulcan kolinar is similar to nirvana: both aim to free one from the bonds of desire. However, the Vulcans seek to terminate their passion, while Buddhists seek to experience bliss. Spock does not succeed at the kolinar, since his feelings call him elsewhere. While unable to meet the rigorous demands of the Vulcans, he would have a fine Buddhist."
http://www.spocklives.com/spirituality.php
"The Buddha said as to when his disciples meet they should do either of two things: discuss the dharma, or maintain noble silence. Mr. Spock in Star Trek may have been modelled after the Buddhist ideal of right speech. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek had a Buddhist Wedding ceremony in Japan when he married the woman who played nurse Chapel on the show. So, he was influenced by Buddhism. Mr. Spock spoke so honestly and consisely, that his character won a cult following, which was unexpected by NBC. Role models are a good thing for you to use for any area of your life, so if you use Spock be sure to add the human side of humour and warmth. Spock already had plenty of compassion."
DeleteFrom Brian Ruhe, _Freeing the Buddha: Diversity on a Sacred Path --- Large Scale Concerns_ (Motilal Banarsidass Publishers of India, 2001) [ISBN 978-8120818354], p. 47
You wrote: "the 'uninstructed' is actually assutavant, which literally means 'one who has not heard.'"
ReplyDeleteThis makes me think not only of (as I mentioned earlier) the Pythagorean 'akousmatikoi' (those who competed to have heard the most Pythagorean sayings) but also of the German word, "Gelehrte," which means "an educated person" [or "academic," "scientist," etc.] but is literally "a taught person"...
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"There are two kinds of the Italian philosophy called Pythagorean, since two types of people practiced it --- the akousmatikoi and the mathematikoi. Of these, the akousmatikoi were admitted to be Pythaogorean by the others, but they, in turn, did not recognize the mathematikoi but claimed that their pursuits were not those of Pythagoras, but of Hippasus.... The philosophy of the akousmatikoi consists of unproved and unargued akousmata to the effect that one must act in appropriate ways, and they also try to preserve all the other sayings of Pythagoras as divine dogma. These people claim to say nothing of their own invention and say that to make innovations would be wrong. But they suppose that the wisest of their number are those who have got the most akousmata."
--- Iamblichus, Life of Pythagoras 81, 21; from Aristotle? [Diels/Kranz 58C4]
Translation from S. Marc Cohen, Patricia Curd, C. D. C. Reeve, eds., _Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy_, 4th edition (Hackett, 2011), p. 21, Pythagoras and Early Pythagoreanism #11.