 Commentary on the Dhammapada–by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
 The Traits of a Fool
In the drug-soaked ’sixties of the last century, one interesting phenomenon was that of the “underground comics.” Usually incoherent or obscene, on occasion they were discomfitingly insightful. One such was a brief comic strip called “Shuman the Human.” It began: “Shuman the Human went searching for God. And believe me, he packed a lunch,” the idea being that Shuman was not that interested in finding God, just in passing time; but if he should find God, it would take some time.
In the same way, when Buddha decided to expound the nature of a (spiritual) fool in the Dhammapada, he took sixteen verses–a number signifying completeness. So he will be describing a Complete Fool to us. It should not be missed that he will next take fourteen verses to describe a wise man, and only ten to describe an enlightened one. There has to be a meaning here!
Why do we need to know the traits of a fool? For two very crucial purposes: 1) so we can find out if we are fools and amend–not just our ways, but our minds; and 2) so we can tell when others are fools, and avoid and ignore them. This latter is very hard, since there so many of them, and they run all aspects of public life and “set the tone” for the pathetic mess they call “culture.”
Now Buddha speaks: Blind to wisdom
“Long is the night for the sleepless. Long is the road for the weary. Long is samsara (the cycle of continued rebirth) for the foolish, who have not recognized the true teaching.”
The word translated “true teaching” is saddhammam–true dharma. There are many definitions of dharma, but fundamentally dharma is that which unfolds or evolves relative nature and reveals transcendent Reality. It may take the form of many “do’s” and “don’ts,” but essentially it is that which reveals the inmost reality–which is why we have the term swadharma: “the dharma of the Self.”
No thing, no matter how desirable it may seem, is dharma (or dharmic) if it does not reveal the Self or further the possibility of that revelation. What may accomplish that in one person may have the opposite effect in another. For example, a great deal of social interaction may be just what one person needs for his development, but it may be detrimental to another person, whose swadharma would be solitude. This is extremely valuable to keep in mind, lest we try to coerce others into doing what may only be beneficial for us. It is a trait of childish individuals to consider that anything good, bad, or indifferent for them is good, bad, or indifferent for everyone.
True dharma, then, is that which reveals the truth of our own being to us. Without the knowledge–and the practice–of this dharma, life itself is nothing but weariness, like waking for the sleepless and walking for the weary. Human beings engage in all types of frantic activity to cover up this weariness and invent so many things to hide the truth of their own inner misery from themselves and others. If they cannot find an adequate mask, they merely engage in stubborn denial of the truth. And the weariness increases apace with their distraction and denial.
Life is death for such people. Some close friends of mine trained for a long time to be counselors for suicidal people, wanting to be of help to suffering souls. But within two weeks of beginning “practice” they resigned because they could think of no reason why most people should continue their lives if they were not going to change. Why prolong the agony? “The only way their lives could be worth living would be for them to wake up spiritually and change their whole way of thinking and acting,” one of them told me, “but according to the ‘rules’ we were not allowed to speak about spiritual or even philosophical things with them. How could we help them? So we quit. It was all a sham.” Human beings frantically run from the only solution there is: spiritual consciousness. So their lives drag on horribly. They live and die in hopelessness, for only dharma can give them life and hope. Worthless association
Human beings are sometimes described as “social animals,” and they do not change when they take up spiritual life. Recognizing this, Buddha then says: “If on one’s way one does not come across one’s better or an equal, then one should press on resolutely alone. There is no companionship with a fool.” This echoes the Gita: “Adore me only with heart undistracted; turn all your thought toward solitude, spurning the noise of the crowd, its fruitless commotion.”
There is no place in the psychology of Buddha for this “I’m as good as anyone else” fantasy. There are a lot of people is this world better than us in a myriad of ways. And only the inveterate fool refuses to recognize this and give his “betters” their due. We should certainly seek for those who have progressed further along the path than ourselves and learn from them. If we cannot find such people, then let us find those that at least have the same degree of resolve and understanding as ourselves. If we cannot find either kind, then let us go on alone with strong intention. We are never alone on the path. As the Buddhists say: whenever someone decides to follow the Buddha Way, a multitude of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas become aware of the fact and begin helping him.
Buddha is warning us against association with the foolish, telling us that there is no real companionship with them. This is a bitter dose to swallow and digest, but we must do so if we would not relapse into foolishness. Company is greater than will power. In an unsuitable or hostile environment no seed can grow or plant continue to live. So following Buddha’s counsel is a matter of survival. I know myself that this is true. At the beginning of my yoga practice I was literally over a hundred miles from the nearest yogis–and did not know about them at that time. So I nobly but stupidly decided that I should at least seek out people who were sincere and trying for higher life. That was a mistake, and one that nearly cost me my spiritual life. The story is too long to recount here, but I assure you my danger was very real. It is the same with any aspirant. Sri Ramakrishna used the simile of the brick enclosure put around a sapling to keep goats and cows from eating it. We must protect ourselves from our vulnerability to the influence of others. If need be, we must walk on alone. That is a much better choice than may seem in the beginning.
And remember: the spiritually unconscious and indifferent can be much more harmful than the overtly wicked, for their negative influence is not readily perceived. They can infect us with their inertia, even if not with outright evil. As Jesus said: “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” “Mine!”
“‘I’ve got children,’ ‘I’ve got wealth.’ This is the way a fool brings suffering on himself. He does not even own himself, so how can he have children or wealth?” Another good translation is that of Harischandra Kaviratna: “‘I have children, I have wealth,’ thinking thus, the fool torments himself. But, when he is not the possessor of his own self, how then of children? How then of wealth?”
The belief that any thing, internal or external, is “ours” is the terrible snare of samsara. But we are not helpless victims; rather, we are willing enslavers of our own selves. There is an internal application to Jesus’ statement that “a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
We often, and glibly, speak of someone as “his own worst enemy,” but fail to realize that this is the truth about all of us. Consequently Krishna says: “Man’s will is the only friend of the Atman: his will is also the Atman’s enemy. For when a man is self-controlled, his will is the Atman’s friend. But the will of an uncontrolled man is hostile to the Atman, like an enemy. That serene one absorbed in the Atman masters his will.”
But we wilfully torment ourselves with the “mine” whip, driving ourselves from absurdity to absurdity. “I must fulfill my…;” “I must satisfy my …;” “I must protect my…;” “I must look after my…;” “I must pay attention to my…;” “But I have my…;” “I must increase my…;” “It is my duty to love and care for my….” There are thousands of “my’s” that demand our attention–none of them real, and therefore none of them legitimate. Who will heed the insistence of Jesus that only “one thing is needful”? And who will adopt as his own the wise words of David: “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.” We are ourselves the temple of God, “the house of the Lord.” Those who cultivate interior consciousness through meditation and purification will find this to be so. This is the only way to freedom from fear and sorrow.
Yet the fool stumbles on, increasing his fears and sorrows. Truly “dreaming the impossible dream,” for Buddha asks: “But, when he is not the possessor of his own self, how then of children? How then of wealth?”
No thing is ours, because the “me” who cries out “Mine!” is the ego, itself a mirage. How can a dream possess a dream? Awakening is the only course for us. All shall come to it in time, but until then fools pursue folly with the avidity of madness. A “tough truth”
In the annals of all authentic religions the rosters of saints are filled with the names of monastics, with very few “seculars” named. Why so? Monastic life is no guarantee of enlightenment–millions (or even billions) of ignorant monks and nuns are proof of that. Nevertheless history shows that monastics have a better chance, a better percentage, at winning the race and gaining the prize. In this verse Buddha has shown us why. Monastics are free from the delusion: “I’ve got children,’ ‘I’ve got wealth.” And these are the strongest delusions a human being can indulge. It is not external monasticism that is the key, but rather freedom from the psychology that is inherent in secular life. It is not family and money that does the harm, but their effects in the mind and heart of those who mistakenly think they possess them. Few are those who can resist and rise above that error. This sad fact is seen every day. Materiality is the School of Fools. A real fool
“A fool who recognizes his own ignorance is thereby in fact a wise man, but a fool who considers himself wise–that is what one really calls a fool.”
Is there really a need to comment on this? The problem is that we are in the grip of utter inconsistency. We may have the most sophisticated philosophy while living the most primitive or degraded lifestyle. “As a man thinketh, so he is,” is outright bunkum. We should not disregard or deny our wisdom, but we must also recognize the presence of ignorance in our minds as well. Otherwise we will be unable to cultivate the one and eliminate the other. Constant vigilance is needed; we must be always sensitive to the arising of foolishness, for a great deal is hidden in our heart.
The Kena Upanishad gives a fine exposition of the problem of “knowing.” I will relay it here and nothing more will be needed on the subject.
“If you think that you know well the truth of Brahman, know that you know little. What you think to be Brahman in your self, or what you think to be Brahman in the gods–that is not Brahman. What is indeed the truth of Brahman you must therefore learn.
“I cannot say that I know Brahman fully. Nor can I say that I know him not. He among us knows him best who understands the spirit of the words: “Nor do I know that I know him not.”
“He truly knows Brahman who knows him as beyond knowledge; he who thinks that he knows, knows not. The ignorant think that Brahman is known, but the wise know him to be beyond knowledge.
“He who realizes the existence of Brahman behind every activity of his being whether sensing, perceiving, or thinking–he alone gains immortality. Through knowledge of Brahman comes power. Through knowledge of Brahman comes victory over death.” The company of the wise
Sri Ramakrishna often spoke of the legend that when the Malaya breeze blew all trees turned into sandalwood trees–all except the ironwood trees. Some people, he commented, were ironwood trees. No matter how beneficial the company or environment, they would not learn or progress an inch. We see this in the lives of great master teachers like Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus. Comparatively few “struck fire” from their company, sometimes the most incorrigible being close disciples.
Buddha was speaking from experience when he said: “Even if a fool lived with a wise man all his life, he would still not recognize the truth, like a wooden spoon cannot recognize the flavor of the soup.” All the “wisdom” and the “wise” in the world mean nothing as long as they remain external to us. There must be an inner awakening for us to even recognize either wisdom or the wise. It truly does take one to know one. That is why Buddha continues: “Even if a man of intelligence lives with a wise man only for a moment, he will immediately recognize the truth, like one’s tongue recognizes the flavor of the soup.”
The question is: Are we tongues or spoons?
1) Dhammapada 60 [Go back]
2) Dhammapada 61 [Go back]
3) Bhagavad Gita 13:10 [Go back]
4) Matthew 12:30 [Go back]
5) Dhammapada 62 [Go back]
6) Matthew 10:36 [Go back]
7) Bhagavad Gita 6:5-7 [Go back]
8) Luke 10:42 [Go back]
9) Psalms 27:4 [Go back]
10) “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (I Corinthians 3:16) [Go back]
11) Dhammapada 63 [Go back]
12) Kena Upanishad 2:1-4 [Go back]
13) Dhammapada 64 [Go back]
14) Dhammapada 65 [Go back]
|
