人は自己意識した時から苦悩が始まる。しかし自我の意識は我々の存在の根源の中に宿っている。自己意識から生まれる様々な苦悩、そしてその苦悩から解放される無心の道、その相克で過去現在多くの人々が苦悩七点八倒の人生を歩んできた。そしてその苦悩の末、自己を克服し心安らかなる道を残してくれた偉大な先人がいる。今回はその先人達の軌跡を追い、時空を超えて先人達が達した究極の幸福の境地を垣間見ようと幾人かの日本の傑出した禅僧について記したいと思う。 林に住み,童と戯れる「良寛」禅とは？ まず次のブログでは第一回として「天気良ければ町へ托鉢に出かけ、帰路童と戯れる。雨の日は読書したり、文をしたためたりの自由気儘な山林閉居の一人暮らし」を送った「良寛」が達した境地について僕なりの所見を述べたいと思う。 良寛が達した境地の象徴的語録 災難に逢ったら災難に逢うがよき候。死ぬ時は死ぬるがよき候。これ災難を逃れる妙法にて候。 Praying at fireplace after farming Our family were all out in the rice field engaged in hard farming work all day along today as usual. In the evening surrounding the fireplace in the center of shabby soot-covered room , we used to take a simple meal praying with gratitude for being able to work in health today. In those days nature was overwhelming over human life. But time has been drastically changed and what people expect from religions has been also changed. Where is a drop of warmth of heart? Set free from worries about food,clothes and houses , many people of today shed blood of loneliness amid desert-like big cities because of no place for their soul to rely on. They wander around in search of a drop of warm love. Their thirst is imminent. But people of today who were raised in distrust and doubt are too timid to open their heart and trust others. They can't as much as follow their heart honestly. Especially Japanese who were raised with religious allergy find it impossible to accept such words as " Believe me and you will be saved. " The soil for zen to be required Here comes the soil for zen to be required. The root of zen's way of thinking is totally different from that of the ordinary way of thinking. we usually think that birth comes first to be followed by death. But in zen existential true self , unshakable and everlasting peaceful dwelling , lies in no mind over life and death. It is the world of Reality that can't be grasped consciously as an object. As soon as we throw the arrow of consciousness at the object,our true self vanishes away. Looking up at the vast sky above us , we see a mass of cloud passing gracefully uninterruptedly even for one moment.Looking down at the ground, we see wild flowers bloom in spring and wither away in autumn unnoticed. The ultimate goal of zen is to become the cloud or the flowers themselves . We leave ourselves to the eternal stream of change uninterruptedly even for one moment and keep running on the stream
unconsciously.
In such an attitude towards life can be found zen's way of peaceful life based on their truth. The way to peaceful mind left in past Suffering starts only when we become conscious of ourselves. But our self-consciousness dwells in the root of our existence. Many way-seeker of past and present fought against a life of struggle in the conflict between the agony caused by self-consciousness and the way to no mind in which agony and suffering ceases. In the process of peace searching some may sometimes fall down breeding and stand up with their death-ready will to keep walking. Among them are there great figures who conquered the struggle of life and left the way to peace for our generation at the expence of their life. This time I'd like to introduce some Japanese zen masters of such kind in the hope of having a glance at the ultimate stage of unshakable happiness left by the zen masters over time and space by tracing back the footprint of their path on which they walked with sweat, tears blood. How's the zen of "Ryohkan" living in woods and playing with kids To begin with, I'd like to approach the final spiritual stage of Ryohkan who lived a free and self-indulgent life alone in the woods , going to nearby towns to beg for food, playing with kids on his way back home on fine days and reading books or writing poems or playing the Japanese flute on rainy days. His wring I mentioned below shows the essence of his attitude towards life
When we encounter troubles , we encounter them. when the time comes to die, we die. This is the only way to avoid all the troubles.
誰でも各自,生誕時与えられた固有の調べという物がある。しかし生涯一貫して自己の純粋な調べと共に生きその調べを完成させたものはそう多くはない。良寛像を見る。そこには良寛の調べの完成されたすべての具現がある。寂静、無心、諦念、無垢、清澄、謙虚、枯淡、内なる微笑、童心、全てが秋の枯葉舞うある日の夕暮巡錫を持ち、頭陀袋を下げ、夜道を山中幽居の住まいへとトボトボと歩いていく良寛の表出がある。
それは生涯失せることのなかったある晴れた日、晴着を身に纏い声高らかに戯れ興じる乙女たちの艶やかさに反応する
良寛は１８歳の時得度し出家した。その選択した寺が禅寺であった事が良寛その人を物語り後の良寛の調べの展開に特別な意味を見出す。禅は他の仏教宗派と比較し徹底的に心の内を見つめることに重点を置く宗派である。よって衆生救済に力点を置く日蓮宗、浄土宗等と比べ個人主義者に向いている宗派と言われる所以である。良寛は組織の中で抜きんでた指導力を発揮するタイプではなく、むしろ内省的単独者である。良寛像に見られる下がった肩、下を向いた目線がそれを物語る。現在の岡山県の円通寺の１０数年に及ぶ修行は熾烈極まるものであったろう。しかし良寛のようなタイプは人間の組織の中では脆いものの個としての耐性力は一般的に強いものを有しているものである。又、良寛は過酷な修業の苦しみの中に真の生の充実感の喜びを知り、日々の修行の積み重ねの中に後の人生をを支える固い心の地盤が築かれていくのを感じ取っていたとも言えるであろう。無常なる世の中にも肯定的な生き方がある。その肉体の経験を通した実感。そこに良寛固有の調べの発展がある。
精神力を有する天才たちが人知絶する修行の末、人間の理知を超えた霊感的真理を掴んだ道元的禅に禅の典型を見出すが寂し夜は琴を奏で、文を書き、一人ひっそりと孤絶に越後の風光に溶け込んだ良寛禅も又ある禅の形と言えよう。もしかしたら一般の人々にとっては人間的ひ弱さを持つ良寛禅に一人寂しい時より慰められるのかもしれない。
