Sleeping Too Late?

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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theravada_guy
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Sleeping Too Late?

Post by theravada_guy »

Greetings all,

I found this passage in the Sigalovada Sutta, translation by Venerable Narada, Thera (I think anyway):

"Sleeping till sunrise, adultery, irascibility, malevolence, evil companions, avarice — these six causes ruin a man."

What does the part I have bolded mean? I know back in the Buddha's time, people in India woke up before sunrise and bathed and stuff like that, but does it mean that every lay person should get up before sunrise?
With mettā,

TG
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jcsuperstar
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Re: Sleeping Too Late?

Post by jcsuperstar »

try another translation see if it helps you.

also this may have meant in general, being lazy.
สัพเพ สัตตา สุขีตา โหนตุ

the mountain may be heavy in and of itself, but if you're not trying to carry it it's not heavy to you- Ajaan Suwat
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theravada_guy
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Re: Sleeping Too Late?

Post by theravada_guy »

jc,

I did find another translation on Access to Insight. The second translation, by John Kelly, Sue Sawyer and Victoria Yareham does say just 'sleeping late'. The first one was, indeed, Venerable Narada Thera. The only question is, which one is more accurate and reliable?
With mettā,

TG
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cooran
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Re: Sleeping Too Late?

Post by cooran »

Hello theravada_guy,

Sue Sawyer passed away a month or two back. John Kelly goes to the same Forest Monastery that I do. He is highly respected - so much so, that he is helping Bhikkhu Bodhi with his final editing of the Anguttara Nikaya. A question to consider is "Was Narada Thera a native speaker of English?" Apart from that, any translation could be phrased in a number of ways.

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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mikenz66
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Re: Sleeping Too Late?

Post by mikenz66 »

Perhaps it is also relevant that in the tropics night and day are roughly the same length year round, so if one sleeps past dawn one is wasting the day... Whereas one would struggle to get up before dawn in Scandinavia in the summer...

Mike
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retrofuturist
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Re: Sleeping Too Late?

Post by retrofuturist »

That's right Mike... roughly equatorial regions are going to have a much more consistent length of day throughout the year than those further from the equator.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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