An Atheist Explores the Dhammapada Part Thirteen: Where Yoda Meets George Bernard Shaw (12 The Self/Attavagga)

Dhammapada Part Twelve: The Self (Attavagga)

Where Yoda Meets George Bernard Shaw.

“If one holds oneself dear, one should diligently watch oneself. Let the wise man keep vigil during any of the three watches of the night.”

Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Dhammapada).

In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Dhammapada, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.

For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/3IbwtwE

For the online Dhammapada that I use, see here https://bit.ly/3IgCiJr

And now:

Dhammapada Part Twelve: The Self (Attavagga)

This is a very short section of verses, the theme of which centres on a kind of virtue ethics idea – that ultimately it is down to one’s self to learn control and wisdom, and further than that, to want to do so and to have the awareness of self to recognise the need for improvement – “One truly is the protector of oneself; who else could the protector be? With oneself fully controlled, one gains a mastery that is hard to gain”.

The Dhammapada teaches that to teach others, you must first “establish oneself in what is proper”, and also when teaching to “do what one teaches others to do”. Which seems reasonable, despite the frequently misunderstood George Bernard Shaw quote about “those who cannot, teach”. Shaw meant that if one wasn’t physically able to take part in revolutionary activities, one should teach others one’s knowledge, not (as it’s usually used), people become teachers because they’re rubbish at what they teach. As far as the Dhammapada is concerned, things like wisdom and self control (“Difficult, indeed, is self-control”) can only be taught to others by somebody that has attained them.

We also get a little bit of Yoda wisdom, where the Dark Side is quicker, easier, more seductive – “Easy to do are things that are bad and harmful to oneself. But exceedingly difficult to do are things that are good and beneficial”. And the verses go into detail about you’re your own worst enemy by ignoring wisdom – “The evil a witless man does by himself, born of himself and produced by himself, grinds him as a diamond grinds a hard gem”. This unwitting self-harm is also likened to a vine strangling a tree, and a certain species of bamboo that dies after fruiting.

The notion that it’s entirely down to the self to achieve good or evil is hammered home (no helpful deities here to offer quick salvation) – “By oneself is evil done; by oneself is one defiled. By oneself is evil left undone; by oneself is one made pure”. It’s up to you which path you wish to take, understanding that the path to wisdom is “difficult indeed”.

Finally the Dhammapada warns against neglecting one’s own “welfare for the sake of another, however great”. This seems a little like extreme solipsism, ignoring the needs of others for the sake of one’s own improvement. But I think, interpreting the next line (“Clearly understanding one's own welfare, let one be intent upon the good”) that it’s more a case that you should always bear one’s own wellbeing in mind and not become lost; it’s a very real thing to become defined by your work with others, and not as yourself. Carers, particularly those caring for family members, can easily neglect themselves in the pursuit of tending to the needs of a loved one; it’s a good reminder that it’s okay to take some time for yourself and to be kind to yourself, that doing so isn’t a selfish thing