My OU Essay 1

TMA 02 - Diana McDonald A755615X


This assignment is in two parts:
•          Part 1 is a reflective commentary on your work for Assignment preparation task 02. It is worth 40 per cent of the total marks for the assignment.
•          Part 2 offers you a choice of three questions, based on the first three chapters of Book 2. It is worth 60 per cent of the total marks for the assignment.
Part 1
Write a reflection on your experience of working in an online team for Assignment preparation task 02. This reflective piece should be up to 500 words long and written in continuous prose

For this part of the essay, I have been tasked to write about my work with a group assignment. Due to various factors, I was not able to participate on the online work, but I have worked on the assignment and I can still write about my development and things that I have learnt throughout this so this I feel this can be considered a reflective piece. As Ron Barnett states: ‘Reflection and critical thinking … have to contain moments of the creation of imaginary alternatives’ (Barnett, 1997, p.6)

To begin, I will go over the activity. We were tasked to write a wiki entry on a page from the Gutenberg Bible. When the forum was opened, I introduced myself and read the few messages posted there. I felt a little apprehensive with the task as I am used to working alone and so I started by working on the object description without posting anything on the page.
I found that this caused problems for me as I was not co-operating with the others and also as time went on, I began to read other peoples work and I became concerned that my work would seem to similar in style. I know this is something I need to work on as if I had communicated to my fellow students, this would not have happened as it would have been a joint effort with my thoughts in the work.
I feel a part of the issue I encountered was the freedom which we had. In past experience, any group project I had worked in had formal structure made by the teacher and therefore I felt afloat at the prospect of working so freely. Now I reflect on this, I believe it was a disadvantage in the sense of it felt to me as slightly intimidating, but I also believe that it is actually good for us to be independent to build up team work.
My next issue was time. I was aware that we only had a set amount of time to work on a group activity and I found it very hard to work. The few times I felt that I could and contribute to the piece, I was looking forward to actually talking to my fellow students, and I did notice later that a fellow student had similar issues and rightly suggested a chat group would be useful to communicate, although I felt it was hard to arrange. So in this part, the lack of co-ordination was a factor I would like to improve on in order to make our group more effective and able to talk to each other in real time.

To finish, I can honestly say that my time spent on this work was not totally a waste as I have learned many places where I need to improve. These include confidence, helping to organise, as I believe that a structure benefits all (including appointing a leader for example) and most of all, my time management. These things I plan on tackling throughout the course and hopefully I will be ready by TMA 05.


Barnett, R. (1997) Higher Education: A Critical Business, Buckingham, SHRE/ Open University Press.

Part 2
Choose one of the following three options (relating to Religious Studies, Music and Art History), each of which invites you to analyse a text or image and then to relate it to the Book 2 theme of authority. Your answer should be no more than 1000 words.

Option 1 Religious Studies
Read the text of the ‘Mahamangala Sutta’ below and an alternative translation of the text that you can find, with a brief introduction, in the Assessment resources[Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]. In the first half of your answer, write up to 500 words comparing the two translations of the sutta, in order to bring out their similarities as well as their differences. In the second half, write up to 500 words discussing the ways in which this sutta can be related to the theme of authority in Book 2.
Mahāmangala Sutta
The Auspicious Performance1
The definition of the highest blessing
Thus have I heard: Once the Buddha was living near Sāvatthi in the Jeta Grove at Anāthapindika’s monastery. Then, one beautiful night, a certain devatā, having illumined the whole Jeta Grove with surpassing splendour, came to the Buddha and, making salutations, stood on one side and addressed the Buddha in [the following] verse:
1 Many gods and men, wishing for well-being, have pondered over those things that constitute auspicious performances. Tell us what is the highest auspicious performance.2
The Buddha:
2 Not to associate with fools, but to associate with the wise and to honour those who are worthy of honour; this is the most auspicious performance.
3 To reside in a congenial environment, to have done meritorious deeds in the past and to set oneself in the right course; this is the most auspicious performance.
4 A good, all-round education, [appreciation of] the Arts, a highly-trained discipline and pleasant speech; this is the most auspicious performance.
5 Supporting one’s father and mother, cherishing wife and children and a peaceful occupation; this is the most auspicious performance.
6 Liberality, dutiful conduct, the helping of relatives and blameless actions; this is the most auspicious performance.
7 Ceasing and abstaining from evil, abstention from intoxicating drinks and diligence in virtue; this is the most auspicious performance.
8 Reverence, humility, contentment, gratitude and timely hearing of the Dhamma; this is the most auspicious performance.
9 Forbearance, obedience, association with exemplars of the Dhamma-life and participation in religious discussions; this is the most auspicious performance.
10 Self-control, perception of the Noble Truths and the realization of Nibbāna; this is the most auspicious performance.
11 If one’s mind is sorrowless, stainless and secure [in Nibbāna] and is not disturbed when affected by worldly vicissitudes;3 this is the most auspicious performance.
12 Those who thus acting are everywhere unconquered, attain happiness everywhere – to them these are the most auspicious performances.
Notes
1 [A note on the translation of the word ‘Mahamangala’ into English: ‘Maha’ can be translated as ‘great’. In English, there isn’t an exact term for ‘mangala’ (which means something like ‘conducive to well-being’). Hence, ‘mangala’ has been translated as ‘protection’ as well as ‘blessing’ and ‘auspicious performance’.]
2 Highest performance, great happiness or blessing.
3 Primarily the following pairs of worldly vicissitudes or conditions are connected with one’s life: gain and loss, success and defeat, praise and blame, happiness and sorrow.




In order to discuss the two translations the first point of order would be to compare the language of the texts with the intent to highlight the comparisons and contrasting factors.
At first glance, the two texts look quite different. In the translation above the language is quite formal and gives the impression that it is a literal translation rather than a translation that is made to give the impression and general feel of what the text is saying. It also does not flow in English as the literal translation does not allow for the meaning of the sentence, only the equivalent words. For example, in both introductions are practically identical  in meaning but while the text above has left in words in the native language as opposed to attempting to translate it and the second text, The Discourse on Blessings actually translate the words into English with the exception of the names of places. (For example, devatā in one text, deity in the other.) This distinction is important as it is a variation of how the authors of the translations are attempting to get the message of the Sutta across. I will illustrate the differences of both the literal translation and other similar variations with several other examples. In verse 7, the above text is;  "Ceasing and abstaining from evil, abstention from intoxicating drinks and diligence in virtue; this is the most auspicious performance." This is a very good example of a variation of meaning. In this verse, it states that abstention of intoxication drinks is important, whereas the translation in The Discourse on Blessings is written as;  "To loathe more evil and abstain from it, to refrain from intoxicants,[12] and to be steadfast in virtue – this is the greatest blessing." Which differs as it only says intoxicants, not drinks in particular. The commentaries on this second piece does add this in the notes but it was not in the original text. Another example of the language differences is in verse 10. In the above piece, the text reads; "Self-control, perception of the Noble Truths and the realization of Nibbāna; this is the most auspicious performance." This is a very generalised verse and while it gets the message across, it misses out (potentially) significant point that the Discourse text has; "Self-restraint,[15] a holy and chaste life, the perception of the Noble Truths and the realisation of Nibbana – this is the greatest blessing." The major difference here is the word chaste. This is obviously important in the context of the verses meaning and it is a glaring comparison of the differences of the two texts. 
The next points some of the similarities of the texts. Both translations have a small introduction to explain the situation in order to set the context of the text. They both also use very descriptive words to embellish the verses and to emphasise the beauty and importance of the teachings. one example is the use of the word surpassing splendour and highly-trained discipline. Both words are used to re-emphasise the moment and to embellish it.



Some of the examples illustrated above compare and contrast the two texts. With this in mind, I will now discuss the relation of the translations to the authority in which these texts were made.
The idea behind authority varies according to the area it is applied. In the religious context, authority comes from scripture that has be deemed canonical in the eyes of the believers and the associated hierarchy. Canonical text is a way to set a standard or level to which all can use and understand, in many cases, a substantial amount of works, both written and verbal accounts that had been recorded.
In the case of the two translations of the Mahamangala Sutta, the issues that arise for the authority of the text is complex. It has two major areas that I will explore, the origins of the text and the translators. The teachings that originated from the Buddha and his Disciples were first delivered orally and were presented at the First Council and thus often have the phrase "Thus I have heard." This oral tradition was a way for the authority of the information to be highlighted as the words came directly from the Buddha or his closest disciples and many monks witnessed these events and therefore could confirm the authenticity of the teachings. This can be a factor when considering the authority of the Mahamangala Sutta, as while the teachings were delivered in person which makes them more powerful in the eyes of the witnesses at the time and the consequential way in these were passed down, this is a double edged knife as the same point could be made to question any of the texts as they were not always recorded until much later and could have lost something in the repeating (and translation) of the teachings. 
My next point is based on the authority of translators.
To translate a text, certain skills are required. The ability to understand both the languages in question is the most important one but there are others that make the differences in the translations. One is how to keep the context of the text and the second, which is a more grey area, is how to portray the meaning.
With regard to the Mahamangala Sutta, the two translations had a few differences, both in the language and the attempt of conveying the meaning. This was mostly because there were two authors. The first text (The Discourse on Blessings) has good prose and is easy to understand in the English language. While it is formal, it flows quite well and thus makes it easier to understand. The second text (Above) has the same information but it is not as clear in English as the sentences are patchy and incomplete. This example shows that techniques vary according to the translator. If you take away the skill part of the analysis, it boils down to what the author was trying to do (The context). The aims would be understanding and while some would argue that the text in its purest form may be the best way to go, others would argue that the meaning of the teachings is more significant. For example, Saddhatissa wrote with regard to his translation of the Metta Sutta: "It should be understood that it is not a strict translation but rather a rendering of the spirit of the Suttas." (1994, p.vii, Open University Book 2 Chapter 1, p. 28) 


Sources: Saddhatissa, H. (1994) The Sutta-Nipāta, Richmond, Curzon, pp. 29–30,
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