In the time that the historical Buddha was teaching he had some interactions with a certain King Udayana
This king was about to go to war… again!
He had won all his previous battles and was confident that his next venture would, doubtless, have a successful outcome…
Although, within relative reality, some might see that it’s usual in battles for many people on both sides to die, so many in the ensuing generations are marked by and carry the emotional fall-out…resources are squandered, the land is scarred…and there is action and reaction pulsing through time… from this king’s position all that was irrelevant.
He had yet to encounter any dharma teachings so in his opinion he was truly ‘a winner’… his kingdom would surely increase in size, riches and power… so why hold back?
The Buddha knew that now was the time to engage with this particular King, and was very skilful in working with his intention ….
Having shocked the King by the way he repulsed his attack ( the King had regarded his arrival as a bad omen)… from the Buddha’s unshakeable position of equanimity free from aversion (having realised the basis of all phenomena) he was able to work with the king’s pride…inviting him to engage with a far greater challenge – that of defeating the greatest enemy …
The king’s curiosity was piqued… and with that he started to listen to what the Buddha had to say…and began to examine his views and long held certainties under the different lenses of the profound teachings being offered for his benefit and the benefit of many others…including… us!
If you are wondering whether I just made this up …you too can now read the Mahayana Sutra, Advice to a King 2, Advice to Udayana King of Vatsa and check.
You’ll find the whole of the sutra on that link and see that what I’ve written is my interpretation… by way of an introduction to this sutra. It is freshly translated, just this July, and published by the group 84000 Translating the Words of the Buddha …. along with other translations, including the sutra Advice to a King 1 which the Buddha gave to his friend King Bimbisara.
As the Buddha offered so many different teachings for different students at different times in different situations…it seems wonderful that these reliable translations are being brought out and offered freely, into connection with us and our world at this time…so we can read them or speak them out, and contemplate on the deep wisdom offered… and the manner of its presentation.
James recently mentioned how much richness of dharma is yet to be made available…for our benefit and that of others, in whatever our native language is… and was inviting us to consider how we might help.
Donating money towards those engaged in producing translation of such a high calibre as those of the 84000 is just one such possibility…
If it should appeal to you’ll see on their site they offer different ways to do this… including doubling the impact of any regular donation.
There are other groups e.g. The Padmakara group, also offering similar high quality, group worked and peer reviewed translations. That the source of the translation is of such quality is vital for we dharma students… A deep understanding of the way both languages are used by native speakers… and a deep understanding of the dharma, as close as possible to that of the depth of the meaning of the text…will offer the greatest clarity
Clearly there are many different ways of bringing our life energy into connection with the world, inspired by the dharma…People are writing, talking, teaching, transcribing, typing, translating (lots of t’s!)… involved in art, making music, tsa-tsas, earth pots and so on… we find our own way for this to flower
Grand or overtly dharmic gestures may not be called for… communal litter-picking was another of James’ suggestions – decreasing a sense of hopelessness and passivity by increasing connectivity, sharing and participating free from judgment and with the warmth of an open heart… whatever is fitting is perfect.
Image from 84000 translation July update.