February 7, 2023 at 3:08 pm
#43505
Keymaster
As I have explained, two translations of the same verses can differ.
- The author of that video tries to translate word-by-word.
- I don’t do that. I can understand what Thero is trying to say. Sometimes when one speaks, one or two words may come out the wrong way. In translating a discourse, we should try to grasp the overall message instead of hanging on to each word.
It is incorrect to say that we can not change anyone’s mind. We may not be able to change it right then, but our merit offers will work towards that, along with many other influences.
- Please read what I wrote carefully.
- Here is what I wrote: “It is better to do it the following way: “May ALL living beings gain wisdom (by learning Buddha Dhamma) and may these merits help them gain āyu ( long life), vanna (health), sukha (living comfortably), bala (influence over others) in setting the necessary background to attain Nibbana.”
- It does not say they should gain merits to lengthen their CURRENT LIFE, etc. That is what Thero explains about the 12 min mark.
- As I phrased it, our merits are not intended to support their CURRENT way of life.
The bottom line is we need to understand the basic ideas/concepts.