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| Surf the Seine River by the Eiffel Tower, Paris |
Surfers, is there any greater danger than waves? Yes, according to the Buddha, there are crocs, whirlpools, and sharks, too. He recognized these dangers as symbolic for a monastic, a Buddhist monk or nun who leaves the low life of the ordinary uninstructed worldling for the high life of the path and precepts, wandering asceticism he used in his awakening to the complete freedom of nirvana. There are dangers to anyone who would escape the simulation, this samsara, the Wheel of Life, Death, and thus far unbounded suffering.- Olympic Surfing: Paris 2024 event guide, athletes, how to watch, daily schedule | NBC Olympics
Numerical Discourses (AN 4.122, 13. Fears), "The Danger of Waves")
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| ALERT: Big surf good, tsunami bad (Japan). |
“Meditators, anyone who enters the water should anticipate [these] four dangers. What are the four? The dangers of waves,
crocodiles, whirlpools, and sharks.
“These are the four dangers that anyone who enters the water should anticipate.
“In the same way, a person gone forth from the lay life to the left home life in this teaching and training (Dhamma-Vinaya) should anticipate four dangers. What are the four? The dangers of waves, crocodiles, whirlpools, and sharks.
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| What leviathans or nagas roam the seas? |
“What, meditators, is
the danger of waves? It is when a person has gone forth out of confidence [
saddha, faith in the enlightenment of the Buddha, the enlightening power of the Dharma, and the enlightenment of disciples in the Noble
Sangha] from the lay life to the left home life, thinking:
“‘I’m swamped [flooded, overtaken, overwhelmed] by rebirth, old age, and death, by sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. I am swamped by disappointment [
dukkha, unsatisfactoriness, ill, woe, suffering, mired in it].
“I hope I can find an [escape, a way out, an] end to this entire mass of suffering.’
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| The waves inside our heads: tsunamis |
“When such a person has gone forth, one’s spiritual companions advise and instruct one: ‘Go out like this, and come back like that. Look ahead like this, and to the side like that. Contract the limbs like this, and extend them like that. This is how to wear the cloak, alms bowl, and monastic robes.’
“Such a person thinks, ‘Formerly, as a lay person, I advised and instructed others. Now these monastics — who I might think were my own children or grandchildren — imagine they can advise and instruct me!’ Angry and upset, one quits the training and returns to the lower life [of a layperson]. This is called a monastic who rejects the training and returns to a lesser life for fear of the danger of waves. ‘Danger of waves’ is a term for anger and distress. This is called the danger of waves.
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| Crocodilian gharials with gaping mouths await. |
“What, meditators, is
the danger of crocodiles? It is when a person has gone forth out of confidence from the lay life to the left home life… When one has gone forth, that person’s spiritual companions advise and instruct: ‘Eat, consume, drink, and taste these things, but not those. Eat what is allowable, but not what is disallowed. Eat at the right time [between dawn and noon], but not at the wrong time.’
“One thinks, ‘Formerly, as a layperson, I used to eat, consume, drink, and taste what I wanted, not what I did not want. I ate and drank both allowable and disallowed things, at the right time and the wrong time. These faithful householders give me delicious fresh and cooked food at the wrong time of day. But these other monastics imagine they can gag my mouth!’ Angry and upset, one quits the training and returns to the lower life. This is called a monastic who rejects the training and returns to a lower life for fear of the danger of crocodiles. ‘Danger of crocodiles’ is a term for gluttony. This is called the danger of crocodiles.
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| Be careful or be sucked in insidiously. |
“What, meditators, is
the danger of whirlpools? It is when a person has gone forth out of confidence from the lay life to the left home life… When one has gone forth, one puts on robes in the morning and, taking alms bowl and cloak, enters a village or town for alms without guarding body, speech, and mind, without first establishing mindfulness, without restraining the sense faculties.
“There one sees householders or children amusing themselves, supplied and provided with the five kinds of sense strands of pleasure. One thinks, ‘Formerly, as a layperson, I amused myself, supplied and provided with the five sense strands of pleasure. And it is true that my family is wealthy. I can both enjoy my wealth and make merit. Why do I not quit the training and return to the lower life so I can enjoy my wealth and make merit?’
“One quits the training and returns to the lower life. This is called a monastic who rejects the training and returns to the lower life for fear of the danger of whirlpools. ‘Danger of whirlpools’ is a term for the five sense strands of pleasure. This is called the danger of whirlpools.
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| Sharks represent the sex we find attractive. |
“What, meditators, is
the danger of sharks? It is when a person has gone forth out of confidence from the lay life to the left-home life…
“When one has gone forth, one puts on robes in the morning and, taking alms bowl and cloak, enters a village or town for alms without guarding body, speech, and mind, without establishing mindfulness, and without restraining the sense faculties.
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| Get back! Get away! I'm leading a pure life! |
“There one sees a female scantily clad, with revealing clothes. Lust infects his mind, so he quits the training and returns to the lower life. This is called a monastic who rejects the training and returns to a lower life because one is afraid of the danger of sharks. ‘Danger of sharks’ is a term for [objects of lust, whether females or males, from the point of view of monks and nuns]. This is called the danger of sharks.
“These are the four dangers that a person gone forth from the lay life to the left home life in this teaching and training (Doctrine and Discipline) should anticipate.”
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