“The lecture of Hannyashin sutra” by Kakushyo Takagami The 5th

 ‘One who commit his heart and soul into emptiness.’

48) In May, the season of fresh green every single year. I recall the famous verse.

‘The green leave for eyes, the mountain little cuckoo, the first bonito fish in early summer.’

Japanese people should be able to fully understand it without explanation.

And then, I recall another one in addition. 

‘What a sweet smell of adhered indigo to my palm in seasonal change of clothing.’

This verse is the best expression for a new refreshing feeling of seasonal change of clothing.

49) No matter what your job, when working with all our might, we are unaware of the passage of time. We feel an hour or two hours as five or ten minutes. However, it was not that an hour became five minutes. By transcending time, we feel as that. It seems to exist but nothing. 

50)  Scarcely need saying, ‘The green leave for eyes‘ means the world of eyes. It is the world of being reflected in eyes. And the subject is the world of form as the green leave for eyes. Our eyes noticed the world of form as the green leaves by way of an eyeball, became aware it. Our eyes noticed, ‘It became wholly new greenery.’But if saying, I want to go play somewhere. It is not the eye aria.

“Zoitsu Agon Sutra” teaches that our eyes eat form, our ears eat voice. The food of eyes is form. The food of ears is voice. Wish beautiful scenery. That is rejoice of eyes. Desire good voice, that is rejoice of ears. 

51) Buddhists offer up incense when attending a funeral. It comes from that ‘All beings eat incense after their passing away’. Therefore, we need foods not only for a mouth but also eyes, ears, nose.

52) Everything is related together as an interdependence. The mutually relationship are important not only humans, but also for everything in the world. Therefore, it is not a taking-and-taking, is a relation of a give-and-take. We should understand to giving life and to be receiving life simultaneously. That means the relation of Karma and an interdependence.

53) Moreover, everything is not only existing of a give-and-take, but everything is passing, moving, like a river. We cannot wash our legs with water of the same river. The water of the river continues to flow. The water used to wash my feet is irreversible. Not just the water of river, we are constantly changing. My existence yesterday does not exist today. 

54) I cannot live without society. My life is not just for me merely. I keenly aware of the blessings of society when I fully understanding I am maintained and nurtured by all. Well, have to feel that way.

55) Now that my physiognomy means social aspect and the social aspect means my physiognomy, our feeling of gratitude to the world and people are gushing out from the bottom of our mind. We cannot but say to be out of the question one who make a curse another one and have a grudge the society immoderately by nothing confession.  

56) One who realizes the learning of Karma once and committed himself into the emptiness of Hannya can understand fleeting life and precious life simultaneously. In fact, for fleeting reason, our lives are precious. 

That is ‘I feel joy in cherry blossoms because of scattering’. There is the flower life due to scattering. We have a precious life and gratitude for life. 

57) Just one thousand five hundred years ago, there was a young Buddhist scholar, named Shojyo in China. He was the best scholar among three-thousands of Kumarajiva’s disciples. But owing to the incident, by aroused king’s anger, he just got the death penalty at that time. He begged to be alive to seven days strangely. He completely wrote “The Hozoron; The theory of owned Dharma” in the prison during those days. He was thirty-one years old. 

58) It is said, there are lots of way. However, there is only one way I must do. Giving this lecture of Hannyashin sutra opportunity, learning the path of Hannya truly, I would like to walk this way steadily as it is. 

Translated by Giken Yoshitomi