219 lines
8.5 KiB
Plaintext
219 lines
8.5 KiB
Plaintext
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CROSSING THE WATERS
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The religions born in India share a common symbol of salvation as
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crossing the waters. The waters represent the painful existence in the
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world, plagued by ills, a continual passing from life to death in samsara.
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Tossed about on the turbulent sea, the wayfarer finds rest only on the
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other shore, the firm ground of Nirvana. In the Judeo-Christian
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scriptures, crossing the waters is also a symbol of salvation, drawn from
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the historical tradition of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea under
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divine protection and later crossing the Jordan River to reach the
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promised land.
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Carry us across, as by a boat
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across the sea, for our good.
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Shining bright, drive away our sin.
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Hinduism. Rig Veda 1.97.8
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The body, they say, is a boat and the soul is the sailor. Samsara is the
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ocean which is crossed by the great sages.
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Jainism. Uttaradhyayana Sutra 23.73
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Rig Veda 1.97.8: Cf. Satapatha Brahmana 4.2.5.10, p. 871. Uttaradhyayana
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Sutra 23.73: See Uttaradhyayana Sutra 10.34, p. 746.
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Even if you were the most sinful of sinners, Arjuna, you could cross
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beyond all sin by the raft of spiritual wisdom.
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Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 4.36
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Strive and cleave the stream. Discard, O brahmin, sense-desires. Knowing
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the destruction of conditioned things, be a knower of the Unmade.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 383
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As they call the great ocean a boundless flood of water, difficult to
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traverse with the arms alone, so should the learned one know and renounce
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it [samsara]: that sage is called "Maker of the End."
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Jainism. Acarangasutra 2.16.10
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Few are there among men who go across to the further shore; the rest of
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mankind only run about on the bank. But those who act rightly according
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to the teaching, as has been well taught, will cross over to the other
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shore, for the realm of passions is so difficult to cross.
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Buddhism. Dhammapada 85-86
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Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.
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I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold;
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I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.
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Judaism and Christianity. Psalm 69.1-2
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The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty;
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the Lord is robed, he is girded with strength.
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Yea, the world is established;
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it shall never be moved.
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Your throne is established from of old,
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You are from everlasting.
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The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
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the floods have lifted up their voice,
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the floods lift up their roaring.
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Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
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mightier than the waves of the sea,
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The Lord on high is mighty!
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Bhagavad Gita 4.36: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 12.5-7, p. 761; Mundaka Upanishad
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2.2.6, p. 839; Narada Dharma Sutra 1.210, p. 159; Svetasvatara Upanishad
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2.8, pp. 842f. Dhammapada 383: Cf. Sutta Nipata 948, p. 531; Dhammapada
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414, pp. 231f. Dhammapada 85-86: On desires as the stream, see Dhammapada
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338-47, p. 418. On the metaphor of the teaching as a raft for crossing to
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the other shore, see Majjhima Nikaya i.134-135, p. 802.
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Your decrees are very sure;
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holiness befits your house,
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O Lord, for evermore.
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Judaism and Christianity. Psalm 93
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Once Rabbi Phinehas was going to the house of study, and the river Ginai
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which he had to pass was so swollen that he could not cross it. He said,
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"O river, why do you prevent me from getting to the house of study?"
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Then it divided its waters, and he passed over. And his disciples said,
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"Can we too pass over?" He said, "He who knows that he has never insulted
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an Israelite can pass over unharmed."
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Judaism. Jerusalem Talmud, Demai 22a
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Suppose, monks, a man is carried along a river by a current which
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looks delightful and charming. Then a sharp-sighted man standing on the
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bank sees him and calls out, "My friend! Though you are being carried
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along in the river by a current which seems delightful and charming, yet
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further down here is a pool with waves and whirlpools, with monsters and
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demons. My friend, when you get there you will come by your death or
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mortal pain!" Hearing the other's call, that man struggles against the
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stream with hands and feet.
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This parable, monks, I use to explain my meaning. The river
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current is craving; 'looking delightful and charming' refers to one's own
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sphere of perception. The pool lower down is the five fetters belonging
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to this lower world; its waves are the five pleasures of sense; monsters
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and demons refer to women. His going against the stream refers to
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renunciation; struggle with hands and feet means to put forth energy. The
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sharp-sighted man standing on the bank is the Wayfarer, Arahant, a
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Rightly-awakened One.
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Buddhism. Itivuttaka 114-15
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Man's life is a poison-laden ship, tossed into the ocean;
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The shore is not visible as it floats in the midst of the waters.
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Neither is there oar in hand, nor is there a pilot
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in this terrible vast sea.
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Friend! The world is caught in a mighty snare,
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Only by Divine grace and meditating on the holy Name
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May man remain afloat.
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God is the ship; the holy Word the pilot.
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Where there is God's Word, neither wind nor fire, nor waves,
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Nor any frightful forms have power:
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There the holy eternal Name alone abides,
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Which carries man across the ocean of worldliness.
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Those going over it, by divine grace reach the other shore.
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Engrossed in devotion to the Eternal;
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Their transmigration is ended;
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Demai 22a: Stories of sages crossing a physical body of water are common
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to many traditions. There are stories of the Buddha crossing a river to
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his disciples; Jesus walking on water in Matthew 14.24-31, p. 759; a
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Taoist sage walking through a cataract in Chuang Tzu 19; and Moses
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crossing the Red Sea in Exodus 14, pp. 615f. Itivuttaka 114-15: Cf.
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Dhammapada 338-47, p. 418. 'Wayfarer,' etc. are titles of the Buddha.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Their light is merged into the light of the infinite.
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Sikhism. Adi Granth, Maru Ashtpadi, M.1, p. 1009
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Awake, awake, put on strength,
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O arm of the Lord;
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awake, as in days of old,
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the generations of long ago.
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Was it not you that cut Rahab in pieces,
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that pierced the dragon?
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Was it not you that dried up the sea,
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the waters of the great deep;
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that made the depths of the sea a way
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for the redeemed to pass over?
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And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
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and come to Zion with singing;
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everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
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they shall obtain joy and gladness,
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and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
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Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah 51.9-11
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When you go over the Jordan, and live in the land which the Lord your God
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gives you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies
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round about... you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.
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Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Deuteronomy 12.10-12
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The rocky stream flows on: hold you all together,
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quit you like heroes, and cross over, my friends!
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Leave here all those that are evil-minded,
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let us cross to powers who are undiseased.
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Stand erect, and cross you over, my comrades!
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This rocky river flows on before us.
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Abandon here all those that are malicious,
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let us cross to powers, benign and pleasant.
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Hinduism. Atharva Veda 12.2.26-27
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Maru Ashtpadi, M.1: Cf. Suhi Chhant, M.5, p. 898. Isaiah 51.9-11: Isaiah
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likens the new salvation of God to God's mighty acts in history. At the
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creation, He pierced the dragon of chaos (Rahab), which ancient cosmogony
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identified with the waters of the deep (cf. note to Laws of Manu 1.5-16,
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p. 131) and dried up the primeval waters to construct the world. At the
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Exodus God divided the Red Sea and opened a way for the Israelites to
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cross dry-shod; cf. Exodus 14, pp. 615f. Deuteronomy 12.10-12: In the
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faith of Black Americans, crossing the Jordan River is a metaphor for
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crossing from the troubles of this world to the peaceful abode of Heaven.
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Atharva Veda 12.2.26-27: These verses are sung at funeral ceremonies. On
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a bridge to cross over the waters of hell, cf. Yasna 46.10-11, p. 349;
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Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim, p. 349.
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