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Exhibit A: why 'dhamma' needs to be left untranslated: The skillful thief and skillful murderer are "skillful qualities", but not "skillful Dharmas"

 

Re: What does it mean to be skillful?

Post by frank k » 

Without pointing to a specific pāḷi word, you can't answer that question.
Translators most often are referring to 'kusala' (skillful, or wholesome is the usual translation).
The kind of general skillfulness, like a skillful liar or skillful thief, skillful craftsman, could be the pāḷi word 'nipako'
nipaka 1
adj. intelligent; wise; discerning; astute [nipa + ka] ✓
grammarexamplesdeclensionword familycompound familyfrequencyfeedback
nipaka 2
masc. chief; master ✗
This is one of the big objections I have for people overtranslating 'dhamma' instead of leaving 'dhamma' untranslated.
This happens most often with Thanissaro's and Sujato's "skillful qualites" (instead of "skillful Dharmas")
which leads to the very common misunderstanding causing you consternation.

If you had been reading my translations instead, seeing "skillful and unskillful Dharmas" all over the place, that should be clear then that a skillful thief skillful at killing and lying and stealing is not in accordance with Dharma, therefore not a skillful dharma.



Lester wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 7:27 pmThe dhamma puts an emphasis on being skillful. But what is it exactly?

Being honest is good as is pointed out in the 5 precepts. But how about being a honest person without skillfulness?

As evident in the first story of the Jataka, the Buddha was a clever merchant in his previous life. Seeing through the deception of a goblin king. He could not see a dark cloud in the distant sky, nor hear thunder, nor see lightening strikes.

A skillful mind is the mind of a thief. But not skillful in the sense of formulating lies, rather he is skillful in detecting lies. A honest heart with a mind of a thief. This is the skillful mind.

But what about a skillful mind with a deceptive heart? The cowardly heart is dishonest. He is a narcissist.

The heart of a warrior is honest, but the heart of a thief is deceptive and opportunistic.

But what about the mind of a warrior? The mind of a warrior is dumb, for there is a thin line between the brave and the asinine. The honest mind is not skillful, for it is easy prey for deceptions.

But what if someone is dumb with a dishonest heart? For sure he is to fall into hell. For an unskilful mind is a guarantee for wrong view and delusion.

But skillfulness is not the sole domain of the mind. Some are skillful in using the sword. Some are skillful to forge a sword. Some are skillful with words. Some are skillful with commerce. Some are skillful hunters with the bow. Some are skillful with computers and cars. Some are skillful to deal with people.

:namaste:

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