“I bow in repentance of all the stupidity which comes alive to dirty the world’s air.”
This is #46 out of a series of 108 daily Buddhist affirmations that I am attempting to translate with my hands tied behind my back (well not really that, but I’m deliberately not seeking out translations on the internet, using only dictionary and grammar).
…
44. 삼생의 모든 인연들을 위해 지극한 마음으로 참회하며 절합니다.
“I bow in repentance with a sincere heart, taking care of all ties to past lives.”
45. 내가 살고있는 지구를 생각하지 않은 것을 참회하며 절합니다.
“I bow in repentance of not thinking about the world in which I live.”
46. 세상의 공기를 더럽히며 살아 온 어리석음을 참회하며 절합니다.
I would read this forty-sixth affirmation as: “I bow in repentance of all the stupidity which comes alive to dirty the world’s air.”
This is more of that “purity narrative,” of course, which is perhaps one of the aspects of Buddhist thinking that I find least appealing. The metaphorical relation between concepts of cleanness and moral or virtuous behavior is, of course, almost universal in ethical systems, but I think that overthinking these kinds of purity-obsessed metaphors is insiduous vis-a-vis a social system’s ability to promote tolerance of otherness and difference. I have a lot of ideas on the topic, but I’ve never done very well at setting them down in writing – most notably, during my 10 day Vipassana retreat in December, 2009, I tried to develop this thinking and failed miserably.
