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MN 131 - MN 134: Dhamma must be left untranslated in famous auspicious night gatha


“Atītaṃ nānvāgameyya,
“(The) Past, (one) should-not-chase.
Nap-paṭi-kaṅkhe an-āgataṃ;
Nor-have-expectations [for time] not-arrived (yet).
Yad-atītaṃ pahīnaṃ taṃ,
That-past (has been) left-behind.
appattañca an-āgataṃ.
Un-attained (is the) not-yet-arrived [future].
Pacc-uppannañ-ca yo dhammaṃ,
[Presently]-arisen-** ** Dharmas,
Tattha tattha vi-passati;
[right]-there, [right]-there (he) lucidly-sees.
A-saṃhīraṃ a-saṃkuppaṃ,
Im-movable, un-shakeable,
Taṃ vidvā manubrūhaye.
That is how you develop the heart.
Ajjeva kiccam-ātappaṃ,
Today, (in one’s)-duties-(one should)-ardently-strive.
ko jaññā maraṇaṃ suve;
who knows? death tomorrow?
Na hi no saṅgaraṃ tena,
** indeed no bargain can-be-made
Mahā-senena maccunā.
(with the) great-army (of) death.
Evaṃ-vihāriṃ ātāpiṃ,
Thus-dwelling ardently,
Ahorattam-atanditaṃ;
Day-and-night,-relentlessly,
Taṃ ve bhadd-eka-ratto-ti,
that indeed (is) {one}-auspicious-night,
santo ācikkhate muni.
(the) peaceful ******** sage {declared}.

And the Buddha's commentary on what the presently arisen Dharma is, later in MN 131:

(b. sujato)
Kathañca, bhikkhave, paccuppannesu dhammesu saṃhīrati?
And how do you falter amid presently arisen phenomena?
Idha, bhikkhave, assutavā puthujjano ariyānaṃ adassāvī ariyadhammassa akovido ariyadhamme avinīto sappurisānaṃ adassāvī sappurisadhammassa akovido sappurisadhamme avinīto
It’s when an uneducated ordinary person has not seen the noble ones, and is neither skilled nor trained in the teaching of the noble ones. They’ve not seen good persons, and are neither skilled nor trained in the teaching of the good persons.
rūpaṃ attato samanupassati, rūpavantaṃ vā attānaṃ, attani vā rūpaṃ, rūpasmiṃ vā attānaṃ;
They regard form as self, self as having form, form in self, or self in form.
vedanaṃ … pe …
They regard feeling …
saññaṃ …
perception …
saṅkhāre …
co-doings …
viññāṇaṃ attato samanupassati, viññāṇavantaṃ vā attānaṃ attani vā viññāṇaṃ, viññāṇasmiṃ vā attānaṃ—
consciousness as self, self as having consciousness, consciousness in self, or self in consciousness.
evaṃ kho, bhikkhave, paccuppannesu dhammesu saṃhīrati.
That’s how you falter amid presently arisen phenomena.


You have to leave Dhamma untranslated because both meanings of Dhamma & dhamma are used!

1. Dhamma-[teachings]
2. dhamma-[ideas cognizable by mind/mano] : mano dhammam vinnana


The way most English translators handle this situation, which comes up frequently, they act like it's a Sophie's choice situation where you have to choose between one of the various meanings and kill the others.

Leaving it untranslated, then it retains the double meaning the Buddha intended.



Pacc-uppannañ-ca yo dhammaṃ,
[Presently]-arisen-** ** Dharmas,
Tattha tattha vi-passati;
[right]-there, [right]-there (he) lucidly-sees.

What this means, is whatever dhamma-[idea cognizable by the mind] arises in every present moment, one must bring that into alignment with the Buddha's Dhamma-teaching, seeing it through that framework.

Otherwise, it's just a dry Vipassana exercise that doesn't lead to Nirvana.


Wake up people, Dharma is in the English dictionary, everyone knows the Dharma is the Buddha's teachings, and a secondary meaning of "all dharmas [things, phenomena, mind objects]  are empty."


Dhamma is a smart bomb

Dhamma can delegate to dhammas, form subcommittees of dhammas. Because Dhamma is a smart bomb, it's the boss, the leader, the head honcho.

dhammas are followers, not leaders. They can not delegate to Dharma.


People already know about context sensitive ambiguous words

We use it all the time. When you 'google' something, it's a verb. When you need 'google', it's ambiguous whether you mean you need the searching service, or the company.
'Move' can be a noun, or a verb.

We're not babies. We don't need you to translate 'dhamma' into what you think it is according to context.

Sometimes, it will be ambiguous and tricky. But that's what the Buddha's disciples had to deal with. They knew the 2 (main) meanings of Dhamma. So do we. So let's deal with Dhamma the way they did. By not having it translated away into other words like 'phenomena', 'mind objects', 'things', etc.


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