どうも最近、イキモノに対してその「けなげさ」に深く癒され続けている。自分のいのちもやがて無に返っていくことが自然と受け止め始めてきて、その分、いま輝いている存在、未来がたっぷりと感じられる存在に対してこころが向かってきて仕方がない。それは植物に対しても、動物・虫に対しても同様なこころが働いてくるのだ。
きのうもセミの必死の鳴き声とウグイスについて書いたけれど、けさ蒸暑の朝の散歩路で、さかんに泣き叫んでいるセミの声を聞いて癒されていたら、ふと道端で、すべてを燃やし尽くした個体が、干からびて横たわっていた。まだ動くかも知れないと軽くついてみても無反応。諸行無常、かれに成仏のときは至ったのだろう。
以前であれば、こういう死骸にはまったく無反応だったのに、この小さないのちのためにも「祈りたい」という心理がかすかに目覚めてきていることを感じている。
昨日はある大きな集会に先立って上野の国立博物館を参観していた。そこでは空海が朝廷から管掌を委託された「神護寺」の展覧会が開かれていた。展示のいちばん初めの位置で、空海の管掌に至るまでの神護寺、その前身である寺院についての「縁起」を記した漢文書類を飲み始めていた。こういう展覧会で、漢文の文章を読むのは初めての経験だったが、なぜかその書き手と心理を同期できるように思って一字一句ごとに読み進めてみた。
もちろん不明箇所も多いし、現代の文字とは違う漢字も書かれているので、ときどきわかる大筋に踏まえて読んでいる内に、前身の寺院は和気清麻呂が勅許を得て開山したことがきちんと記録され、同時に弓削道鏡のことも触れられている。前身の寺院は道鏡の専横を阻止した宇陀神宮の神宣への感謝で創建されたことが記されていた。
そういった縁起について、その時代人の空気感とともに読んでいると、いきなり現代語訳を読むよりもずっと、その時代人と対話している実感が強くなっていた。なんとなく前段で書いたようないのちとの対話みたいな心理。AIを使って、こういった人間の内面領域を開発するというのも、興味が湧く。バーチャルで昔人の人格を「再構成」して、その人格を可視化して「対話」をさせるというのは有り得るかも。〜妄想ですね（笑）。
しかし、午前中早めに終わって集会会場に向かいたいと思っていたのに、すっかり遅刻寸前までその時間を超えた昔人との対話が、こころの海を満たしていく。「え、空海さんって右上がり系のくせ字だったんだ？」。さらに空海の「自筆」書類までもが登場してきて、切り上げる寸暇を与えてくれないではないか。最後は立ち去りがたく「もう一回来たい」と心理を納得させながら会場を去っていた。
English version⬇
The Life of a Cicada is Short. An Encounter with Kukai at Jingoji Temple
Guided by a simple dialogue with life, we visited an exhibition at Jingoji Temple. Tracing the history from Wake-no-Kiyomaro to Kukai. A time capsule called a Buddhist temple. The Time Capsule of Buddhist Temples
Recently, I have been deeply healed by the “spirit” of the creatures. I have naturally begun to accept the fact that my own life will eventually return to nothingness, and because of this, my heart cannot help but go out to beings that are shining now and that I can feel have a bright future ahead of them. The same mindset is at work for plants, animals, and insects.
Yesterday, I wrote about the desperate cries of cicadas and Japanese bush warblers, but this morning, as I was being soothed by the cicadas crying out on a hot and humid morning walk, I suddenly noticed a dried-up animal lying on the side of the road, having burned itself to death. I lightly poked it to see if it might still be moving, but it did not respond. I thought to myself, “All things are in flux, and the time for Buddhahood has come to him.
In the past, I would not have reacted at all to such a corpse, but now I feel that I am faintly awakening a psychological desire to “pray” for this little life.
Yesterday, I visited the National Museum in Ueno prior to a large gathering. There was an exhibition of Jingo-ji Temple, which Kukai was entrusted by the Imperial Court to administer. At the very beginning of the exhibition, the visitors were drinking Chinese documents describing the “Engi” (auspicious omens) of Jingo-ji Temple and its predecessor temples before Kukai took control of the temple. It was my first experience to read Chinese texts at such an exhibition, but somehow I felt as if I could synchronize my mind with the writer of the texts and read through them word by word.
Of course, there were many unclear passages and kanji characters that were different from those used today, so I read the text based on the main idea that I could understand from time to time. It was also noted that the predecessor temple was founded in gratitude to the divine decree of the Uda Shrine, which had prevented the tyranny of Michikagami.
When I read about such a history with the atmosphere of the people of the time, I felt that I was talking to the people of the time much more strongly than if I had suddenly read a modern translation. I am also interested in using AI to develop this kind of inner realm of human beings. It might be possible to “reconstruct” a person's personality virtually, visualize that personality, and have a “dialogue” with it. 〜I'm delusional (laughs).
However, although I had wanted to finish early in the morning and head to the meeting place, the dialogue with the old people, which exceeded the time, filled the sea of my mind until I was almost late. 'Eh, Kukai-san, did you have a right ascending type of habitual writing?' (Kukai's own handwriting). He even included Kukai's “autograph” document in the book, which left no time for me to finish the story. In the end, he was reluctant to leave the venue, convincing his mind that he wanted to come back one more time.