Unpenetrated
Appaṭividitā Sutta (SN 1:7)
By comparing the penetration of phenomena to the act of awakening (bujjhati) from sleep, this verse shows that the Pali words related to bujjhati, such as bodhi and buddha, are better translated as “awakening” and “awakened” than as “enlightenment” and “enlightened.”
* * *
Standing to one side, a devatā addressed the Blessed One with a verse:
“Those in whom
phenomena are unpenetrated,
who may be led
by the teachings of others:
Asleep are they;
they haven’t awakened.
It’s time for them
to awaken.”
The Buddha:
“Those in whom
phenomena are well-penetrated,
may not be led
by the teachings of others.
Awakened
through right knowing,
they go among the discordant
harmoniously.”1
Note
1. “Dissonant” and “harmoniously” translate visama and sama, which literally mean, “uneven” and “even.” Throughout ancient cultures, the terminology of music was used to describe the moral quality of people and actions. Discordant intervals or poorly-tuned musical instruments were metaphors for evil; harmonious intervals and well-tuned instruments, metaphors for good. In Pali, the term sama—“even”—described an instrument tuned on-pitch. There is a famous passage (AN 6:55) where the Buddha reminds Soṇa Koḷivisa—who had been over-exerting himself in the practice—that a lute sounds appealing only if the strings are neither too taut or too lax, but “evenly” tuned. This image would have special resonances with the Buddha's teaching on the middle way. It also adds meaning to the term samaṇa—monk or contemplative—which the texts frequently mention as being derived from sama. The word sāmañña—“evenness,” the quality of being in tune—also means the quality of being a contemplative: The true contemplative is always in tune with what is proper and good.
This verse has an added play on words, in that the term “well-penetrated” can also mean “well-tuned.”
