[Buddha-l] Query on Non-Local Consciousness

[Stephen Hodge]

Dear Dan,

Just a few corrections and clarifications to your useful post:

> 3) due to inescapable (unavoidable) imbalance (不避不平等).
This, of course, refers to humoral imbalance (vi.sama).  Your "inescapable" 
should be "not shunned / not avoided" (aparihārata).  In other words, 
humoral imbalances that ARE avoidable, but which one induces because one 
does not shun the causes.

> 4) 生而不吐 (dry heaves – an impulse to throw up, but not actually
> vomiting)
No.  Here 生 is "āma" (raw, undigested). Xuanzang seems to have misunderstood 
the meaning anyway: it is clear from the Sanskrit and Tibetan that the sense 
is "not retaining raw/undigested food" -- quite the opposite !

> 5) 熟而持之 (constipation?)
yes, this is constipation, literally "retaining what has been digested".

>  At this time, because of
> two types of additional power {增上力}, subsequently life ends. This means
> 1) the additional power {增上力} of attachment to pleasure and prapañca; and
> 2) the additional power of pure and impure karma.

No, this is wrong !  增上力故 is the standard idiom that Xuanzang uses for 
"adhipatī-kṛtvā"  which really means little more than "due to, because of, 
on account of". The whole phrase is 由二種因增上力故 hetu-dvayam adhipatī-kṛtvā 
which simply means "on account of / due to two [dominant] causes".

These few items just caught my attention -- I haven't had, and probably 
won't have, time to check the rest of your translation for anything else 
which might attract comment.

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge