CAVEAT DVMPTRVCK

“Buddha. I bow and turn today to the realm of Buddha now in generosity and kindness.”
This is the last of a series of 108 daily Buddhist affirmations that I have been attempting to translate. I started, almost accidentally, in September of 2010, and now I’ve reached the last one.  I can’t guarantee the results, as I don’t really know Korean very well, but it’s been nice to try.

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106. 부처님. 저는 선지 식을 만날 수 있기를 발원하며 절합니다.
           “Buddha. I bow and pray to be able to find the ways of the prophets.”
107. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 부처님이 오시기를 발원하며 절합니다.
           “Buddha. I bow and pray that Buddha comes into the world.”
108. 부처님. 오늘 지은이 인연 아낌없이 시방 법계에 회향하며 절합니다.

I would read this one hundred eighth affirmation as: “Buddha. I bow and turn today to the realm of Buddha now in generosity and kindness.”
This was difficult. I didn’t know what to do with “인연” (probably “karma” in this context) – so I ignored it as a gratuitous extra noun.  There was nothing for it to “attach to,” grammatically. I had all these adverbs (“in kindness,” “in generosity,” “today,” “now”) but no verbs to attach to.
So I finish with the same doubts and ambivalences as I started with. As I’ve said in other places in this blog, I’m feeling very discouraged about my progress in learning Korean. I’m not doing very well with it. Having these little translations to turn to over the last year has been a good way to recover some focus on this project, so I’m going to miss it.  I’m fishing around for a replacement project, but so far I haven’t come up with anything.
“We are here on Earth to fart around. Don’t let anybody tell you any different.” – Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country, 2005.

“Buddha. I bow and pray to grow in wisdom.”
This is #104 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).

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100. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 전쟁이 없기를 발원하며 절합니다.
           “Buddha. I bow and pray not to be at war with the world.” 
101. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 가난이 없기를 발원하며 절합니다.
          “Buddha. I bow and pray not to be destitute in the world.” 
102. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 질병이 없기를 발원하며 절합니다.
           “Buddha. I bow and pray not to suffer sickness in the world.”
103. 부처님. 저는 보살행을 실천하며 살아가기를 발원하며 절합니다.
            “Buddha. I bow and pray to live and practice toward becoming a bodhisattva.”
104. 부처님. 저는 반야 지혜가 자라기를 발원하며 절합니다.

I would read this one hundred fourth affirmation as: “Buddha. I bow and pray to grow in wisdom.”
I have no idea what “반야” is – is it a verb with a “-야” ending, or a noun that I can’t find in the dictionary? The only dictionary meaning found was “midnight” which makes no sense. I basically ignored it in the above effort at translation.

“Buddha. I bow and pray to live and practice toward becoming a bodhisattva.”
This is #103 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).

…
100. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 전쟁이 없기를 발원하며 절합니다.
           “Buddha. I bow and pray not to be at war with the world.” 
101. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 가난이 없기를 발원하며 절합니다.
          “Buddha. I bow and pray not to be destitute in the world.” 
102. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 질병이 없기를 발원하며 절합니다.
           “Buddha. I bow and pray not to suffer sickness in the world.”
103. 부처님. 저는 보살행을 실천하며 살아가기를 발원하며 절합니다.

I would read this one hundred third affirmation as: “Buddha. I bow and pray to live and practice toward becoming a bodhisattva.”
I was completely stumped by the -행 ending in 보살행.  It’s not in online Korean-English dictionaries, but it’s in the Korean only ones, where the definition is: “보살이 부처가 되려고 수행하는, 자기와 남을 이롭게 하는 원만한 행동.”  I decided to take 보살행 as meaning something like “bodhisattvaism,” but then basically to disregard it in my effort to translate, and use a phrase like “becoming a bodhisattva” instead.  I have no idea if this the right meaning.