You are on page 1of 10

Tibeto-logic: Padampa's Animal Kingdom Part Two 4/2/17, 1:45 PM

0 More Next Blog Create Blog Sign In

TIBETO-LOGIC
MORE-OR-LESS MONTHLY MUSINGS ON MAINLY ANTIQUARIAN TOPICS OF TIBET-
RELATED INTEREST

MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2008 About the view, ask


the ships crow. -
Padampa's Animal Kingdom Part Two
Padampa

SUBSCRIBE TO TIBETO-LOGIC

Posts

Comments

PRIME RESOURCES

Himalayan Art
Lotsawa House
OTDO Old Tibetan Documents Online
Rigpa Wiki
TBRC Tibetan Buddhist Resource
Center
As promised in the previous blog, here at last I THLib - Tibetan & Himalayan Library
present to you the only source known to me that Treasury of Lives
goes anywhere near to explaining Padampa's
animal metaphors.
SCRIPTURE SEARCHES
It may be the case that Buddhism has a lot to say or Jang Kanjur
suggest about animal rights or human ecological
Many Kanjurs - TBRC
responsibilities. Certainly all Buddhists agree that
Derge & Lhasa Kanjur & Derge Tanjur
animals are 'sentient,' capable of thought, aware of
Search - RKTS
their surroundings, and that their pain must make
Derge Kanjur & Tanjur Search - AIBS
a difference to us as sentient beings. Animals fall
Derge Kanjur Search - THLib
under the umbrella of the compassion Buddhists
Nyingma Tantras - THLib
seek to cultivate. But I'm not sure why Padampa's
Peking Title Search - Otani
metaphors would be all that interesting from a
modern ecological thinker's point of view. Do you Tibskrit 2014

have any idea? I won't even go in this direction.


Not today.
SEARCH THIS BLOG

Taken in its entirety, "Padampa's Animal Kingdom" Search

does appear to much resemble the medieval


bestiary. (I admit that this was in some part my
own doing, since I selected out the animal HEAD LINERS

metaphors and arranged them in this way.) The Nick Danger - Third Eye
accounts of animals in medieval bestiaries, too, Bodhi Bhajans
may tell real or unreal stories involving animals

http://tibeto-logic.blogspot.com/2008/10/padampas-animal-kingdom-part-two.html Page 1 of 9
Tibeto-logic: Padampa's Animal Kingdom Part Two 4/2/17, 1:45 PM

and their observed or even unobservable behavior, The Hardest Language to Spell
but they are hardly ever in fact about the animals Freedom to Blog
themselves. They were intended to tell us Identity Politics & Art
something about humans and the moral life of Horse Milk with His Holiness - Video
humanity. Hollywood Caving
Neural Buddhism - Video
Chances are you've heard this bit of Solomonic
Accepting His Holiness the Dalai
wisdom, "Look to the ant thou sluggard, consider Lama
his ways and be wise!" Solomon tells us to work
Mitra is a Free App
hard. IF he's also telling us that ants work hard, it
UCSD Not Caving
isn't actually anything that requires discussion in
Elliot Sperling
the way our laziness does. I hope this point will be
Per Kvaerne Lecture on Bon History
well taken, and that readers will not spend too
much of their time finding meanings that Padampa Trump Meeting Faked... Sad!

never intended to be found. 67 Facts about Mongolia


Buddhists Blocked
(Still, I have to confess that I personally am *very* Tibetan DNA
curious to know more about actual animal Buddhist Perspectives on Scientific
behavior. Do newly hatched sea turtles really find Discoveries
their way to the sea during the full moon? Some Maps of Greater Tibet
recent research suggests this old folks' tale has real A Dark Side
truth to it; see the Salmon article listed below.) Alphabet Goddess
20 Geshemas
The metaphors from Padampa's Root Text, Great Open View Solid Ground
Sealing Symbol Song, are interpreted in a work by
Mongolia Caves
an anonymous Tibetan author some time during
Jagger Sings Sanskrit
the 12th century. This text, entitled Unravelling
Swat Buddha Restored
Symbolic Expressions of the Supreme Lineage,*
A Strange Doctor Strange
does not give glosses for every single one of the
animal metaphors, but I carefully traced and did Marvel's Erasure

my best to translate all the ones that are there. I Doctor Strange's Sex & Ethnicity
Change Operation
have no proof to offer right now, but I believe the
most likely author of this text is Patsab (Pa-tshab), Ambassadorial Talkback

one of the main figures in the transmission of the


Zhij teachings. His dates were 1077-1158 CE. I do
TOOLBOX
not propose to justify this hunch or hypothesis at
the moment, although in some other place I may Atlas of Emotions

investigate what is known of his life and try to Translation Tool - THL
make the case for or against Patsab's authorship. Tibetan Character Picker
Tibetan in Digital Communications
If you are like me, you will not always be satisfied
with the commentator's comments. It may be well
to consider that the author was a Tibetan, and as BLOG ARCHIVE

such shouldn't be expected to have complete 2006 (2)


knowledge of Indian animals and their metaphors 2007 (17)
that form part of Indian culture. (And of course he 2008 (20)
was writing for an audience that could not always January (1)
be expected to have such knowledge.) I think, too,
February (2)
that the commentator didn't always want to give
flatly prosaic explanations. He felt that 'A word to March (5)
the wise should be sufficient.' Sometimes he might April (4)
have been unable to resist sending our minds May (1)
reeling in hope of explanations just one more time.
October (2)
Sometimes we just get a hint. Nothing is offered
Padampa's Animal Kingdom
up on a silver platter. Much is left to the Part One
imagination, assuming we have one. Well, I for one
Padampa's Animal Kingdom
assume we do.
Part Two

*Mchog brgyud kyi brda' 'grol, This front title is not to be seen November (3)
in the published version of the text, only in the microfilm of the
original manuscript done by the Nepalese-German Manuscript December (2)
Preservation Project. It also has a very brief title in the
colophon, Brda' lan, "Symbolic Answers," or "Responses to the 2009 (21)
Symbols."
2010 (13)
This title is totally unique to the 2011 (19)
Peacemaking Collection. No other version of it is 2012 (16)

http://tibeto-logic.blogspot.com/2008/10/padampas-animal-kingdom-part-two.html Page 2 of 9
Tibeto-logic: Padampa's Animal Kingdom Part Two 4/2/17, 1:45 PM

known to exist. It uses outdated vocabulary and 2013 (6)


highly irregular spellings (just like the manuscript 2014 (17)
as a whole). In cases where it could not be 2015 (14)
translated with a reasonable degree of confidence,
2016 (11)
a hack translation has sometimes been pushed
forward, but in this case it ought to be enclosed in 2017 (3)

curly brackets { }. Occasionally my own comments


or additions are enclosed in square brackets [ ].
TIBETO-LOGIC'S 1ST 100 BACK-
BLOGS

The particular metaphorical usages are not Two Dedications


restricted to these two texts, but are found The Mysterious Whitehead
scattered throughout the five (reprint) or four The Third Eye: Plato, Buddhism &
(original manuscript) volumes of the collection. Rampa
Perhaps for some people of more significance is the Lobsang Rampa Good to Think?
fact many of them are found with close or identical Literary Sources for "The
meaning in the anthologies of single verses by Transmigration"?
Phadampa's 54 Indian teachers. Sometimes they Transmigration & Occupation
make more sense in these other contexts, and I Who Was That White Lama?
have made an attempt to search out these parallel The Emergency Death Meditation
materials in a less than systematic way. It's simply Known as Changing Your Dwelling
too much work. Those that I have so far managed Armenian Bell Update
to locate are translated in the footnotes. The Latest Thing in Old Histories
A Few More Early Incidents of
I personally find it most remarkable that some of Drongjug
the most interesting parallels occur in the central Another Disquieting Bell and Its
portions of a set of meditation precepts, the Inscription
Zheldam (zhal-gdams) of Zurchungpa (1014-1074 Renewed Bell Appeal
CE), a very significant figure in the transmission of Katsupari & the Living Slick Factor
certain Nyingmapa teachings at the time. At the China Kid's Drongjug
moment I am inclined to see the explanation for Does History Matter?
this common language lying in an Indian context Pangsa Monastery Closure Report
rather than inside Tibet. These parallels have also Tibet's Nasreddin? Touching on Uncle
been mentioned in the footnotes. Tompa's Elusive Historicity
Greetings Tibeto-logicians
As I think I said before, I am unable to offer a total Everywhere
explanation of Padampa's words. Making use of One Side Makes You Larger
this Tibetan commentary by a member of his Happy New Year
lineage will help illuminate them in part. In an Storming Satan's Citadel? Huh?
upcoming installment, I will pass on a somewhat
Yaks, a Few Useful Bits
technical, but I hope still readable, paper that goes
Now Begins the Silence?
into somewhat greater depth on the questions
A Postscript, March 25, 2008
evoked by Padampa's animal metaphors, both
Tibet Analyst Robert Barnett on
singly and as a group. Perhaps I will go on to
March 14th
present the entire text in translation when I feel
Powerful Words from Women Writers
more confident that it is ready.**
on the Olympics
**While working together with Dr. Penpa Dorjee of the CIHTS Hearing Disabilities?
in Sarnath on a fresh translation of the Tingri Hundreds, I also
consulted with him about some of the more difficult parts of the Three Tibetan Voices to Hear
Root Text and its commentary, and we read through some of it Tibetan Independence
together. In the process the translations of these parts were
thoroughly revised. So he most certainly deserves a share of the What Do Tibetans Want?
merits from whatever is good about these efforts of ours. Tibetan Olympics of 1695
Padampa's Animal Kingdom, Pt. 1
If you printed out the Root Text (=Part 1) a few
Padampa's Animal Kingdom, Pt. 2
weeks ago, try to rediscover it in the pile of papers
on your desk so you can glance back and forth Unpacking a Few Animal Metaphors

between it and the commentary. The Question of Indian-ness


Leeches & Prapacas
The Tingri Hundred
Click on these words to get started
Tibschol Downloadable
Black Bodhisattvas
The Chinese Mask Trick
Losar eCard 2009
Do Dampa's Droids Dare Dream of
Fine links, good reading, worthwhile hearing & significant Desire?
seeing: Men of Stone

http://tibeto-logic.blogspot.com/2008/10/padampas-animal-kingdom-part-two.html Page 3 of 9
Tibeto-logic: Padampa's Animal Kingdom Part Two 4/2/17, 1:45 PM

An Inaugural Lecture on Tibet's


(Creative) Dark Age

David Holler, The Ritual of Freeing Lives, contained in: Death, Rebirth and Being Human in
Henk Blezer & Abel Zadoks, eds., Religion and Secular Tibetan Buddhism
Culture in Tibet: Tibetan Studies II, Brill (Leiden 2002), The Rubin's Situ Panchen Lectures
pp. 207-226. The meritorious act of freeing animals that Tibetan Mirror Revivified
would otherwise be doomed to die is one of those A Prayer for the Happiness of Tibet
practices found all over Buddhist Asia, and not just in
Bell Envy
Tibet. David Holler completed a master's thesis on this
Itches & Scratches: Pt. 1
subject at the Humboldt University in Berlin several years
ago. Itches & Scratches: Pt. 2
Monkey Paw, Salty River
The Monkey & the Croc / Turtle
Khenpo Karthar, Padampa
The Paw This Time
Sangye's 80 Verses of Advice. I
would not under ordinary A New Clue
circumstances be making Prof. Harrison on The Diamond
commercial links (and that Swats Good Feng-Shui
includes advertising of any kind, Bon Bibliography Downloadable
whether for books or any other Take the Cursive Test
salable object) on Tibeto-logic
Buddha's Life Relics Found in
blog. And I'm dreading the day
Antwerp
when Google will catch up with me
and put advertising up on Free Losar Ecard Advice for the Iron
Tibetological website, as is their right, apparently. But Tiger Year
this particular product, which I haven't yet seen, is certain Ownerless Donkey
to be interesting. The advertising blurb for this Innermost Treasury & Zhangzhung
DVD/CD/MP3 unfortunately contains a regrettable Language
historical mistake. Padampa did not, I repeat not, return From Gesar: The Place This Time
to India after giving these words of advice. After all, the Birdhorns
title usually contains the word Zhalchem (zhal chems),
Lord Shenrabs Bodily Marks of
meaning 'Last will and testament' and we know from all
Distinction
early sources that he died at Tingri in Tibet, until then
remaining there for about 20 years straight without ever Bio Refs Are Here
physically returning to India. The teachings recorded South India in Tibetan Geography
here were given in Connecticut in August 2008. Prostrations
Dromton's Encouragement
Michael Salmon & Blair E. Witherington, Artificial Tibetan Histories - Addenda et
Lighting and Seafinding by Loggerhead Hatchlings: Corrigenda
Evidence for Lunar Modulation, Copeia: A Publication of
Bricks, Brilliance & Baking
the American Society of Ichthyologists and
Herpetologists, no. 4 (December 21, 1995), pp. 931-938. E. Gene Smith - An Anecdote
Try finding it at JSTOR if you are lucky enough to have Fake Spotting
access. Or just schmoogle for sea turtle hatchlings and Tibskrit Reloaded
see what you come up with. The Magical Medical Bag Texts
Hare Year Greetings
Lambert Schmithausen, Buddhism and Nature: The
Love & Loveliness in Lalitpur
Lecture Delivered on the Occasion of the Expo 1990, an
Enlarged Version with Notes, Studia Philological Been Serving Leniently?
Buddhica, Occasional Paper Series, vol. VII, The Future of Learning in the Himalayas
International Institute for Buddhist Studies (Tokyo 1991). Padampa Portrait - Part 1
Padampa Portrait - Part 2
Lambert Schmithausen, Buddhism and the Ethics of
End of Tibetology in Sight
Nature, Some Remarks, The Eastern Buddhist, n.s. vol.
New Old Histories
32, no. 2 (2000), pp. 26-78. I warmly recommend these
two articles by Dr. Schmithausen, Professor Emeritus of If All the Land were Paper...
Uni Hamburg, especially if you spend a lot of time Is the Wishing Jewel the Holy Grail
thinking about ecological ethics, sentience of plants, and We Seek?
animal rights. No Jewel (as such) Fell in Tibet
Tibetan Proper Name Index
Francis Story, The Place of Animals in Buddhism.
No Prophet in Buddhism?
Available here.
Marginal Amusements at the
Bodleian
Ivette Vargas, Snake-Kings, Boars' Heads, Deer Parks,
and Monkey Talk: Animals as Transmitters and Two Proto-Berlitz Phrasebooks
Transformers in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist Narratives, New Works on the Works of Lama
contained in: Paul Waldau & Kimberley Patton, eds., A Zhang
Communion of Subjects: Animals in Religion, Science, Dragon Year Losar eCard Greetings
and Ethics, Columbia University Press (NYC 2006). I 3 Traditions of 10 Powers in
haven't seen this book, but it sure looks interesting. Here Buddhism, Judaism, Islam
is a brief review.
Generating Sacred Symbols

http://tibeto-logic.blogspot.com/2008/10/padampas-animal-kingdom-part-two.html Page 4 of 9
Tibeto-logic: Padampa's Animal Kingdom Part Two 4/2/17, 1:45 PM

+++ Vajra as Implement, Emblem &


Symbol
Comments on Padampa's iconography, his name, its spelling,
and the Tibetan words for animal:

For one of the most wonderfully evocative portraits of OLD PHOTOS AND NEW
Padampa (his legs crouched up in his Zhij form, not his Bernard et al. Photos
Ch form with bone trumpet), kept at the LACMA, go to
Milwaukee Photos
Himalayan Art website. (The quality of the scan is not so
wonderful, which is really unfortunate. So better if you go The Tibet Album
here and use the zoom. Still, there is a mistake in the 40 Rare Images
LACMA's description. "Nagpopa" is not among the names View of Great Tibet
of Padampa. There were several historic Indian
Buddhists with the Tibetan name Nag-po-pa, which
corresponds to Indic Ka[pda], quite a common MY BLOG LIST
Indian name today. For more on the most famous
$
Mahsiddha with this name, see Trantha's Life of {.}
Kcrya/ Kha, tr. by David Templeman, Library of
Tibetan Works and Archives [Dharamsala 1989]).
s78 :;

For Padampa's iconography, see the essay in Rob Indian Philosophy Blog
Linrothe, ed., Holy Madness: Portraits of Tantric God and realism. Marginal notes
on a workshop in Hawaii, part 2
Siddhas, Rubin Museum of Art (New York 2006), pp.
108-123. And if you still feel inclined to know more, read Waymarks
about and admire some Ladakhi portraits of Padampa in 1904 - Tibet's Marriage with
Rob Linrothe's article Strengthening the Roots: An Modernity

Indian Yogi in Early Drigung Paintings of Ladakh and Tibet Sun


Zangskar, Orientations (May 2007), pp. 65-71. Swiss parliamentarians assure
continued support for Tibetan
cause
A note on pronunciation & spelling & internet searches: I
spell the complete Tibetan title or name in phonetic form Fake Buddha Quotes
as Padampa Sanggy. The correctly transliterated The Buddha on Fake Buddha
Quotes (6)
Tibetan is Pha Dam-pa Sangs-rgyas. I phoneticize as "Pa"
rather than "Pha" in order to prevent the pronunciation Perfumed Skull
"Fa" (and there is no reason to use the 'h' to represent the A Banquet of Nectar: Dilgo
aspiration, since most people who are not from Tibet or Khyentse Rinpoches Advice for
the Rebgong Tantric Community
India will aspirate initial 'p' automatically). If you want to
do an internet search, you will have to try both Padampa Rubin Museum of Art
and Phadampa. Try also "pha dam pa," "pha dampa," etc. Whats real? Whats illusion? Test
Your Perception!
etc. Your efforts to locate Padampa ought to be met with
success one way or another. Tibet Archaeology
April 2017
There are at least four Tibetan words that correspond to Khyung-mkhar
the concept of 'animal' in the broader senses, but they are Dra Thelgyur Quotes &
not equal in their semantic coverage. Commentaries # 12

<= > ?@
[1] The word drowa ('gro-ba 'goer,' or perhaps BC@ErHIK
'transmigrator,' in Sanskrit gamana) we might translate NE;O
as 'creature' (ignoring the 'creation' etymology of the
word, which isn't relevant here). There are 5 or 6 kinds in The 17th Karmapa
traditional Buddhist cosmology: the lower rebirths are the A talk on healing the heart and
animals, hungry ghosts (pretas), and hell beings; the mind by Karmapa
higher rebirths humans, titans (asuras) and gods High Peaks Pure Earth
(devas). High Peaks Pure Earth Readers
Survey Please Take Part!
[2] The word semchan (sems-can) that you can see in Dans le sillage
Tibetan script floating in the middle of Part One, includes d'Advayavajra
all animals including humans in the Buddhist texts (in Le bouddhisme pour les nuls
Sanskrit, sattva). In translations of Buddhist texts it is Dechen's Blog
rather routinely translated as 'sentient being.' It might be Tibets Creative Resistance at the
used to cover all beings that undergo mental events, that Lush Summit
are able to suffer. The beings in hells, for example. This is
Naomi Appleton's Blog
true of the Buddhist texts, so it is seeming odd that On slowing down at work
nowadays it's commonly used in Tibetan to cover
livestock in general. If you want to ask a nomad how Zen tibtain
Registre des matres et disciples du
many are in her or his herd, you ask 'em, How many Laka, Guabhadra
semchan?
Philologia Tibetica
O
[3] The other word for 'animal' is rather peculiar because,
although it can be used to include all animals, it does not Tibetan Bod Blog at the
seem to include human beings, at least not normally. This Bodleian
Bob Dylan review in Tibetan by
word, sogchag (srog-chags), meaning 'life[-force] loving,'
Oxford scholar Lama Jabb
was used to translate Sanskrit praka. This praka has

http://tibeto-logic.blogspot.com/2008/10/padampas-animal-kingdom-part-two.html Page 5 of 9
Tibeto-logic: Padampa's Animal Kingdom Part Two 4/2/17, 1:45 PM

a slight difference in meaning, something like '[those Bhaisajya


Emeralds
who] possess life-force,' but like the Tibetan word, it
sometimes is intended in an even narrower sense to mean Tibetan Pen
'insects' (the whole range of bugs and worm-like QR
creatures) instead of the broader class of animals. War on Tibet
Achievements are predominant,
[4] The word ddro (dud-'gro) is understood primarily as mistakes are secondary
describing a mode of locomotion in a 'bent over' or prone BabelStone
position. Those who walk in this way are distinguished What's new in Unicode 9.0 ?
from the 'two legged' ones. Two-legged primarily means
Mountain Phoenix over
humans and I suppose also chickens. Like all but one of Tibet
the other words that we might translate as 'animal,' this Book Review: "In The Land of The
one is a clear translation from a Sanskrit word, in this Eastern Queendom" by Tenzin
case tiryac, which has the same meaning. The only word Jinba
for animal where the Tibetan doesn't correspond quite Tibetan Geeks
closely to the [Buddhist] Sanskrit is semchan. It is not a WordPress site from localhost to
literal translation of sattva, a Sanskrit word derived from live server
the verb of being that means 'being.' The Tibetan Plateau Blog
Update on big dam
My only point in bringing all this up is just to stress that (Shuangjiangkou) in Ngawa
categorical concepts like 'animal' or 'feelings' or Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
'emotions' or 'blue' don't always translate well or simply, 7 R | Tibet
but it is also quite important to understand how they are Library Development Site
routinely used in differing contexts with different
meanings, even within the same language. What DO we
mean by 'animal'? PAST AND IMPENDING MEETINGS

Amdo Seminar - Prague 2017


6th Conference on Nepal & the
Himalayas - KTM 2017
Translation & Transmission - Boulder
2017
Himalayan Studies Conference -
Boulder 2017
1st Int'l Chod-Zhije Conference July
2017
INALCO - Paris, Tibet Mirror
November 2016
4th TTM Congress - Tallinn
IATS - Bergen 2016
Sino-Tibetan Borderlands - Paris
2016
If you only had the time to spare you could spend many fascinating
hours (with considerable edification and profit) at this marvelous site: SOAS - London 2015
The Medieval Bestiary.
ISYT - Leipzig 2015
P O S T E D B Y D A N AT 1 1 : 0 0 A M
L A B E L S : A N I M A L M E TA P H O R S, A N I M A L S , G R E AT S E A L I N G , H I D D E N M E A N I N G S , IATTM - Kathmandu 2014
PA D A M PA S A N G G Y , Z H I J Translation & Transmission 2014
Evolution of Tantric Ritual - Berkeley
2014
6 COMMENTS: Workshop on Indigenous Elements -
Olomouc 2014
Short Person Sunday, November 02, 2008 Buddhist Studies IABS - Vienna 2014
Well, I may have swallowed the same species of wild bee that Taxing Tibet - Fontainebleau 2013
EarlyTibet talked about earlier. Although many of these 13th International Association of
sayings are understandable, I am still amply bamboozled.
Tibetan Studies - Ulan Bator,
In the "Insects, Worsm, Spiders" Section: Mongolia 2013
Recapturing the Tibetans - Bonn 2013
Saying #1: Sorry, I still don't get it (even with your notes). How
does this pun(?) work again? Manuscripts & Xylographic Traditions
- Hamburg 2013
#2: Do I read the commentator aright that this leech's behavior
Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman
is helpful? I thought the saying was warning about the danger
of obsession. Area

#3: A nice one.

#4: Love this one. DISCUSSIONS

Langues du Tibet
#5: Speaking of the bee, whaaaaaat? Virtuous discplines
results in suffering, eh. Okay, now what was Padampa really Lotsawa Discussion List
getting at? Tibetan Studies Forum
Reply

http://tibeto-logic.blogspot.com/2008/10/padampas-animal-kingdom-part-two.html Page 6 of 9
Tibeto-logic: Padampa's Animal Kingdom Part Two 4/2/17, 1:45 PM

Dan Thursday, November 06, 2008 ENGAGING VIDEOS

Dear Person, 1940 Videos by Basil Gould


Chinese Overcome Their Difficulties
I put up a response and then took it down again, thinking I
would try to respond to at least some of your questions in the in Tibet
next blog entry. I don't know how long that will be. The Power of Truth Will Prevail

Yes. Virtuous disciplines result in suffering. It's the rule. I can Gyalwa Rinpoche Channel
see how that could be hard to accept, though. Learn Tibetan Letters - David Curtis

Thanks for writing, and thank you in advance for your


patience.
JOURNAL PORTALS
Yours, Dan
CEEOL
Reply
CiNii
Gallica
earlyTibet Friday, November 14, 2008 JIABS
Dear Dan, JSTOR - by subscription
Journals of Himalayan Studies
Thank you for the translation of the commentary. It helps,
though I wonder how much faith we ought to have in the Kyoto - KURENAI
author of the commentary? And how much you have?
Open Access
Back to the leech. I find I can only approach these materials Persee
one animal at a time. Perhaps I will never get past the leech. In
Project Muse
the light of the commentary, it seems that we could, and
probably should, translate the root verses with 'the blood-sated Public Knowledge
leech' rather than 'blood-sucking'.

I also think that 'meat' or 'flesh' (sha) could well mean living
flesh, as in our phrase 'flesh and bone'. I'm still attracted to the
'water illness' translation but I'm not sure how to defend it.

Here's an interesting thing though: leeches are studied by


modern scientists precisely because they produce diuretic and Tibeto-logic Archived by Wayback
anti-diuretic chemicals. That is, they are experts in 'hydric
Machine!
balance' and should never themselves suffer from fluid
retention.

For some abstracts see here and here. (I'm not pretending to
BIBLIO LINKS
any actual understanding of these abstracts!)
Bon Bibliography
Now, were leeches used in Tibet, or India, for the cure of fluid Tibschol 2010, Tibskrit 2014 &
retention? If so, the (surface) meaning of the text could be that
there's no point trying to use a leech who's sated with blood to TibHist
cure water retention because he/she simply won't be interested WorldCat Search - Press here to go
in the piece of (living) flesh you're trying to stick him/her on there
to.

And this might help us understand the hidden or spiritual


meaning, but I won't attempt that. I'm exhausted with all this FOLLOWERS
thinking and my mental juices are leeching away.
Followers (109) Next
S.
Reply

earlyTibet Friday, November 14, 2008


Oops. I guess those links I put in that last comment were to
temporary URLs. Anyway, if you're so inclined, google "leech"
alongside "diuretic" and you get a whole host of scientific
articles. Wow - I think perhaps there really are Two Cultures.
Reply

Follow
Dan Sunday, November 16, 2008
Dear Early, I sincerely hope that someday and somewhere,
with the right professional help, you might finally be able to
move your mind past the leech. It just won't do to get your ABOUT ME
mind stuck with creatures of the lowest phylum. I'm afraid I DAN
am unable to offer you all the equipment and prescriptions
that may be required. That is, unless you can first explain to Copying these
me and to the viewing audience at home in very simple but
words is not
precise English what the real meaning of prapaca (Tibetan
spros-pa) might be. Then and perhaps only then we might be acceptable. Make
able to take you to the physical therapists for a recovery links. But dont copy. No copycats.
program so you'll stop all that squirming and get your legs
This is a noncommercial educational
working again (really, I don't think you are getting out
enough). But no, I really mean the part about not getting stuck blog. I screen comments. Spams will
on something when it doesn't entirely make sense. If I had never get posted. No need to even try.
followed that method I would have never made sense of or
No comments with advertising links
learned anything. Yours, Dan
will ever be put up. Neither will
Reply
(joking and satire aside) any personal

http://tibeto-logic.blogspot.com/2008/10/padampas-animal-kingdom-part-two.html Page 7 of 9
Tibeto-logic: Padampa's Animal Kingdom Part Two 4/2/17, 1:45 PM

Dan Sunday, November 16, 2008 libel, unless its directed only at me.
Dear Early, (For obvious reasons, I will not put up
comments that contain email
Also wanted to say something in response to your suggestion
addresses. Yes, you may send me
'blood-sated leech' for the words in the Root Text, padmas
khrag ngoms... comments and request that they not
be posted, and yes, I will not post
You suggest we should translate "'the blood-sated leech' rather
them.) Except for the types just
than 'blood-sucking'."
mentioned, all comments, anonymous
I don't translate it either way. But I think you're right, anyway. comments included, are welcomed.
Anonymity (or use of monikers) will
Rngub would be your verb for sucking (with most general
meaning of inhaling). be respected; no (serious) attempt will
be made to 'out' your 'real'-life
There may be a quibble about the grammar of it (perhaps we
identity. Use obscenities and
would want to emend the text to read pad-pa khrag-gis
ngoms, or something like that, taking the instrumental ending expletives if you feel moved to or have
off of one noun and attaching it to the other), but I would still your reasons. I dont mind.
just translate, "The leech, sated with blood, doesn't go after
meat that is in the water." VIEW MY COMPLETE PROFILE

But we have to visualize leeches as ordinarily (in their unsated


state) doing what prapacas do...
PRIMARY RESOURCES

Thanks for writing, and thank you for your help. Himalayan Art

Yours, Lotsawa House


Dan Old Tibetan Documents Online -
Reply OTDO
Pandit Project - Indic Prosopography
Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
Enter your comment... Reading Room 84000
Rigpa Wiki
Tibetan & Himalayan Library
Tibetan Buddhism Resource Center -
Comment as: Unknown (Google) Sign out TBRC
Treasury of Lives

Publish Preview Notify me

Please write what you think. But please think about what you write.
What's not accepted here? No ads, no links to ads, no back-links to
commercial pages, no libel against 3rd parties. These comments won't
go up, so no need to even try. What's accepted? Everything else, even
1st- & 2nd-person libel, if you think they have it coming.

Newer Post Home Older Post

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

http://tibeto-logic.blogspot.com/2008/10/padampas-animal-kingdom-part-two.html Page 8 of 9
Tibeto-logic: Padampa's Animal Kingdom Part Two 4/2/17, 1:45 PM

Follow me on Academia.edu

http://tibeto-logic.blogspot.com/2008/10/padampas-animal-kingdom-part-two.html Page 9 of 9

You might also like