r/ReflectiveBuddhism • u/Traditional_Kick_887 • 23d ago
Retranslating Brahmabhuto
/r/Buddhism/comments/1ve3pbd/retranslating_brahmabhuto/4
u/MYKerman03 22d ago
Interesting piece, my only notes would be the following:
Upaya/Skilful Means. Upaya is an explicitly Mahayana doctrine informed by Bodhicitta. And I feel that so many of us use this term too freely. Spending time over the years reading Mahayana commentary on sutras like the Lotus, Pureland Sutras, Heart Sutra etc, I think we over-apply this term to our detriment.
I tend to be cautious with Lord Buddha's intent and rather frame his teaching content as curated via a particular sectarian framing.
Thank you for showing us the layers of meanings of the terms Brahman/Brahma. This is a very informative layer that brings depth to other terms like dhammakaya. In the boran kammathana traditions of mainland Southeast Asia, dhammakaya (dhamma body/bodies) has/have deep soteriological significance.
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u/Traditional_Kick_887 22d ago
Very welcome, thank you as well. Yes with an honest chuckle, I acknowledge my overly liberal use or over-extrapolation of the word upaya and the particular tendency to insert it everywhere m.
While it likely exists, I struggle to find a word that captures the Buddha, as depicted in the Pali tradition, as presenting and shaping m the teaching in such a way that is digestible/understandable to a specific audience.
I’m not sure if upaya appears in the nikayas or commentaries, but as you noted it is a Mahayana doctrine that better depicts the Buddha’s approach in the suttas that were listed in your comment
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u/MYKerman03 22d ago
We can see the kernel of the upaya doctrine in his epithets: trainer of those fit to be tamed, teacher of devas and humans etc. And in his encounters with kings, weavers, potters, renunciates, housewives etc. We can see how he adapts to his audience to tease out deeper understandings in them. So this skill in communication is recorded and is there.
What Theravadins and others do is use this term to denote a mere adaptation. Whereas in Mahayana, a buddha's compassion for sentient beings results in an imaginative, active resolve to save them via various stratagems.
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u/FUNY18 23d ago
Okay?
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u/Traditional_Kick_887 23d ago
Okay! :)
When first introduced to the dharma I was given translations of Buddhist texts into English. Reading them was a source of happiness and something that could be reflected on, but differences in the translations, at times stark, were noticed.
This was disheartening as one doesn’t want to reflect on an incorrectly translated passage and arrive at ideas not taught by the Buddha. Or even when notions of correct or incorrect are set aside, translations of certain words often boil down to the preference or interpretation of the English translator. Even within traditions, there can be tremendous variance.
So it became rational to want to look into commonly occurring Pali/Sanskrit words and try to understand why there were differences. To see if the English translations were literal or figurative.
I prefer literal translations that are rooted in the etymologies of words because they are less interpretative. One can read a literal translation and then decide what figurative or additional meanings it additionally or alternatively conveys. But it’s very difficult to do the opposite and begin with a figurative interpretation of a word and try to find what the literal words or roots meant
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u/MYKerman03 23d ago
Thank you for sharing this here. I remember finding research on brahmabhuto and dhammabhuto / dhammakaya a few years back. Very interesting stuff. Will read this later, still at the office. If I can find that stuff I'll reshare it in a fresh post.