Hōjōki (方丈記英訳)
An Account of My Hut or The Ten Foot Square Hut
Translated by Iron Kenzo Fujisue
Note: ( ) are notes by the translator. Chapter headings are also by the translator. The original does not have chapter headings.
Overall Interpretation by Translator
I love Buddhist philosophy. I believe that the most fundamental of Buddhist philosophy is the elimination of attachment.
In the Hojoki, Kamo no Chomei explains the impermanence of things that perish or disappear, and that we should seek inner peace instead of being attached to housing, property, or status. This idea is still valid today, some 1,000 years later, and it shows us that human thinking and values have not changed. He explains "impermanence" and "the problem of attachment" using a disaster as a subject, but we think the most fascinating part is that he states at the end that "we ourselves cannot get out of attachment.
Although this is an English translation written by an amateur philosopher, I hope that by making it available free of charge, people around the world will become familiar with Kamo no Chōmei and the Hojoki, which embody Japanese culture and philosophy.
Honestly, I translated it for my own English study.
I'm glad to have the opportunity to publish this here.
Impermanence: as fleeting as the bubbles
The flow of a river never ceases, and the water that flows through it changes constantly. The droplets that appear in the torrent never stop for a moment, and as soon as they appear, they disappear, only to reappear anew.
The fates of people in the world and the rapid changes in their homes and residences can be likened to the flow of a river and are as fleeting as the droplets that appear and disappear in a torrent.
In the magnificent capital of flowers (Heian-kyo, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heian-ky%C5%8D), houses are lined up in rows, competing with their beautifully high "Iraka" (roof tiles). There are many houses of people from all walks of life, and they never cease to exist, but it is impossible to find something unchanged among them. It is extremely difficult to find something that has the beauty of the past. It is very rare to find a beautiful house that has survived to the present day, and it is extremely difficult to find something of the olden days. Or, when you look back and realize that there never used to be such a fine house here, you find that the poor house you used to live in was burned down and is now this fine house. In this way, people who were once rich and lived in beautiful and splendid houses are now living in shanty-like dwellings that pale in comparison to their old homes. Such is the fate that people have to live with.
I looked around to see if I could findany old acquaintances, but I could find nosuch people. It is truly moving to see the path of destiny that people must take.
When I think deeply about this destiny of human beings, a destiny that is so transient that we must be born in the morning and die in the evening, a destiny that is so changeable that it is like the bubbles of a water current that connects and then vanishes, and then reconnects and then reconnects. The destiny of the bubbles, which are connected to the torrent and then disappear, is after all the destiny that people must follow.
Many people come into the world, but where do they come from? Where do they come from and where do they go? Where they come from and where they are going is a mystery that will never be solved, and it is in this mystery that people are born and die. People are born and die in this mystery, just as bubbles on the water are bound together and disappear.
What do those who have to live with such a daring and insoluble destiny enjoy and suffer in this world?
If you were to ask many people what kind of work they find interesting and what kind of things they suffer from in their lives, which must disappear like bubbles, you would get all kinds of answers, but there would never be a single one, and in the end, what they suffer from, what they enjoy, what they should do, and so on, would be a mystery that could never be solved. In the end, what we suffer, what we enjoy, what we should do, and so on, will be a mystery that will never be solved.
Over the years, because of fires, earthquakes, and other various vicissitudes, splendid and beautiful houses have been lost, rich families have become poor, people of noble rank have fallen into lowly status, and the constant changes in people and their homes are just like the morning dew on a morning glory flower and its flower. The extreme changes in these people and their homes are just like the morning dew on a morning glory flower and the flower itself. The flower is the home of the dew. The dew is the inhabitant of the morning glories.
Whether the dew falls to the ground first or the flower shrivels up first, it will always fall and shrivel up. The dew does not remain until the evening sun, and the same is true of morning glories, which are destined to wilt when the morning sun rises high in the sky. People and their homes must after all follow the fate of the morning dew on the morning glories and the fate of the morning glories. It is impossible to know which will fall first, but they will fall after all.
The Disaster of Fire
I have lived in this world for as long as 40 years, and there are many things in the world that I have seen and heard since I can remember that are completely mysterious. I would like to write about some of the things I have seen and heard.
It was a very windy day, and finally a big storm broke out. A fire broke out in a house in the southeastern part of Kyoto. It was a time of strong winds, so it was not an easy time to get out of the house. The fire quickly spread to the northeast. Finally, the Suzaku Gate, Daigoku-den Hall, the University Dormitory, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and other important buildings were all reduced to ashes in a single night.
According to later investigations, the house that started the fire was a house on a small street in Higuchitomi (the name of a block in the town), where a sick person lived. The flames were fanned by a gust of wind and spread out in a fan-like pattern. Houses far from the fire were completely surrounded by the raging smoke, and people were so choked with smoke that they could not even breathe freely. Roads near the burning houses were blocked off to the public because of the flames pouring out of them. The sky over the city was as red as a sea of fire at night because of the blazing flames, indicating how many houses were about to be set ablaze. The winds were getting stronger and stronger, and did not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
Surrounded by the middle of the storm and fire, the people of Kyoto were in a complete frenzy and did not know what to do. They were so stunned that they could not think of anything to do, and there was nothing they could do. People caught in the smoke stopped breathing, collapsed, and became unconscious, while those caught in the fire often lost their precious lives on the spot. Even those who were fortunate enough to escape with their lives in the midst of such chaos and danger found it impossible to remove their valuable household goods from their homes, and they watched as their precious possessions were reduced to ashes in the fires. And yet, there was nothing they could do about it. The value of the various household goods, tools, and treasures thus destroyed, some of which must have been handed down from ancestors and fathers, must have been so enormous that it is impossible to even imagine how much they must have been worth.
Since as many as 16 residences of the nobility were destroyed by this great fire, the number of residences of low-ranking merchants must have been destroyed beyond count. This great fire reduced as much as one-third of the city of Kyoto to ashes in a short time.
Many people lost their precious lives because of this great fire. Not a few of them were young men and boys who would have done great things in the future, but it is a shame that they had to die. Since even human beings have suffered from such an accident, there must have been countless cases of horses and cows being burntto death. People are naturally capable of doing all kinds of foolish things, but in a city like Tokyo, where there is a great deal of danger of everything being reduced to ashes in a single morning, people spend a great deal of money to build their own houses, without knowing that they are doomed to ashes in a single morning. I realized that there is nothing more stupid and foolish than to spend a great deal of money to build a house, struggling over what to do and how to do it, not knowing that it was destined to turn to ashes in a single morning. Even after all this hard work, if it catches fire one morning, it will be reduced to ashes and dust.
In the fourth month of the fourth year of Jisho, there was another great whirlwind. It originated on the banks of Kyogoku and blew as far as the Rokujo area. It was so powerful that it overturned, destroyed, or damaged almost every house, no matter how large or small, in its path. It blew with such tremendous force.
Some were caught in a whirlwind and knocked flat on the ground, while others were left with only their girders and pillars, and the shoji screens and walls had been completely blown out. Others had their gates blown down four or five streets away, while others had their fences blown down and the boundary between them and their neighbors' houses removed, leaving their yards connected to each other, causing a great deal of tragedy. Various household goods were also uprooted and blown into the sky. The cypress bark shingles that covered the roofs were blown up into the sky in the winter like leaves in the wind.
The sky was so thick with dust and dirt that it seemed as if the smoke had completely covered the entire sky of the city, and even though it was a clear day, it was dark all over. People's voices were drowned out by the raging strong winds, and there was little noise to be heard. The only sound that could be heard in the streets of the city was the tremendous sound of the wind. The winds were so fierce that it seemed as if the winds of hell were blowing in the real world. The cruelty of the houses that were blown down or damaged was beyond description. There were also many people who went outside to work on repairing damaged areas of their homes, only to have something big blow down on them, crippling them in the process. These were truly unfortunate people. This whirlwind also moved toward the southwest, causing various damages and grief to the people living there as it did before. There is never a time when the wind does not blow throughout spring, summer, fall, and winter, but while the winds are always pleasant and tasteful, this wind was tremendous and caused much damage to the people. Such winds may or may not occur every few years and are truly a rare exception. When I think deeply about this catastrophe, I can't help but think that it was a warning from the God of heaven to the people of the earth.
Relocation of the capital city
Around June of the 4th year of Jisho (1180), the capital was suddenly moved to another location. The residents of the capital were surprised and dismayed by this sudden and unexpected move.
It had already been more than 400 years since the capital was established in Kyoto during the reign of Emperor Saga, and it would not be easy to change the capital unless there was some special circumstance. Therefore, people were worried about what special circumstances might exist, and it was quite understandable that their worry disturbed the peaceful mindset of the people. However, the people's concern was nothing to worry about, and finally, not only the Emperor, but also all the ministers and court nobles moved to the new capital, Fukuhara. No one who occupied an important position and worked in the world lived in the old capital of Kyoto any longer. Those who had only one hope or ideal, that of being the highest-ranking person in the world, or those who wished for the blessings of the heavenly son, were determined to leave the old capital behind and move to the new capital, Fukuhara, as soon as possible. However, those who were left behind in the world and had no hopes or ideals were saddened by this event and remained in the old capital, but could not abandon it.
The old city was so lonely without its high-ranking officials and wealthy people. The imposing houses, whose beauty had been admired by all, gradually fell into disrepair as the days went by, with no one to live in them and no one to take care of them. Many of the houses were torn down and sent to Fukuhara on rafts floating on the Yodo River. The ruins of the damaged houses were turned into fields before we could see them. There was no way to see even a trace of the old days. Such a great change had a tremendous impact on people's minds. The graceful urban atmosphere was completely gone. This sentiment appeared in many places, first of all in the ox-drawn carts that court nobles used to ride in the old days, and then in the horses they used to ride in the style of the samurai, preferring the agility of the horse. The elegant and leisurely style of the past is gone. In addition, although the people now looked for a place in the southwestern sea that had many ties to the Heike clan, there was no longer any desire for a place in the northeastern part of the country, far from the new capital. In this way, everything has changed.
I happened to have a chance to see the new capital of Fukuhara in Settsu Province, and I would like to describe it as follows: First of all, the size of the city is much smaller than Kyoto. The northern part of the city is high in the mountains, while the southern part is low and faces the sea. The southern part of the city is low and faces the sea, and because it is close to the coast, the sound of the waves is constantly echoing noisily. The sea breezes from the ocean are extremely strong, and the area cannot be said to be very blessed. The most important imperial palace was built in the mountains. Looking at the building, I wondered if the wooden palace of Emperor Saimei (the 35th and 37th emperors of the 7th century) in Asakura was like this, and thought that it might have been elegant and elegant in its own way. This was the state of the new Imperial Palace and the new capital.
In Kyoto, people were busy moving day after day. Many houses were broken and transported down the river on rafts, so much so that even the wide Yodo River was filled with rafts to the point that it seemed almost too narrow. Many houses were transported to Fukuhara in this way, but if you look at the land in Fukuhara, there was still a lot of vacant land because not as many houses had been built as had been sent from here. There were only a few houses that had been built. It was hard to tell where the houses that had been sent to Fukuhara were going to be built, or where they were being built, since the river seemed so narrow.
Kyoto is becoming more and more desolate by the day, and it will take many more days before the new capital, Fukuhara, is fully equipped as a capital. There is no reason for the people living in the city to feel at ease during these times. Like clouds floating in a blue sky, they moved with the wind and were truly unstable, and people's hearts were dark. The people who had originally lived in Fukuhara were grieving because their land had been taken away from them by the new officials who had come with the Heavenly Prince. The new officials had to build their own houses, and they were suffering from the troublesome work. When I looked at the people passing by, I saw that those of noble rank who should be riding in oxcarts were riding horses instead of oxen, and that the court nobles, who should be wearing the garments of the common people, were flirting with the rising power and wearing hinatai, the traditional garb of the samurai class. Finally, the graceful and elegant customs of the capital disappeared, and the people were left in a truly pitiful state, no different from the rough and rugged warriors of the countryside.
I have heard faintly that during the reign of the Holy Son of Heaven, the central point of His government was to sympathize with the general populace. When the common people were suffering due to poverty or some other calamity, His Imperial Highness did not pay the slightest attention to the Imperial Palace where He resided, and when there was no rice for the common people to eat, He did not even cut off the uneven edges of the thatched roof. Furthermore, when there was no rice for the people to eat, they were even exempted from paying tribute. These actions are the result of His gracious and merciful desire to rule the world in peace, and we are grateful for that. But what about the present state of affairs? Instead of ruling the world in peace, we are plunging it into the depths of anxiety with talk of the relocation of the capital and other such matters. It is truly deplorable.
Severe famine
I remember it was around the time of the Yowa Period, but it was so long ago that I cannot say for sure when it happened. It was a terrible famine, and the situation was truly disastrous. During the long period from spring to summer, not a drop of rain fell, and the daily drought caused all the crops in the fields to wither and die. Then, in the fall, there were heavy winds and heavy rains that caused a huge flood, and there was no harvest at all. So there was no rice for a year. So there was not enough rice and food for the whole year.
Life in the land of one's ancestors without food must be a series of hardships. So people abandoned the land where they had lived for generations and began to wander around the country. Others abandoned their homes and arable lands and went to live in the mountains, as if they had forgotten all about them. This was probably because there was still more food in the mountains, such as nuts.
In such a truly disastrous situation, the people had no other choice but to destroy themselves, and even the Heavenly Prince became concerned and had people perform various prayers and practices that were said to be particularly efficacious.
The people of Kyoto had always received all of their supplies from the countryside, and when the countryside, their supplier, was unable to obtain any supplies due to the natural disaster, the people of Kyoto of course began to complain of a shortage of supplies. Kyoto had lost all of its suppliers. The people of Kyoto were in trouble. First of all, they could not obtain food.
In order to obtain such food, they would throw away their household goods and go to those who had rice to buy it, but they could not sell their precious rice when supplies were scarce, and they would only sell it at a very high price. In such a situation, no matter how much money or treasures they had, they could not do anything about it. So, as the days went by, the number of beggars gradually increased, and the roads became filled with their pitiful cries for food. The first year of the Yohe Era, however, ended in such a miserable state of affairs.
In the second year of the new year, people had hoped that this year would bring a return to a peaceful world with abundant supplies, but their hopes were sorely disappointed. However, their hopes were sorely disappointed. As if to compound the devastation of the famine, an epidemic of disease broke out. The devastation of the people was beyond description, and it became worse and worse. It was almost to the point of envy, and one wondered where the peaceful days of the past had gone.
Many people, weakened by famine, fell victim to the plague, and many lost their lives. Meanwhile, the scarcity of goods became more and more severe, and people fell into the depths of hardship. This situation was just like putting too many fish in too little water, and everyone was doomed to be deprived of life. Finally, even people of high social standing were forced to wear leg bands (kyahan: a cloth/leather garment worn around the shins. Even people of considerable social standing had to wrap their legs in guêtre (a cloth or leather garment wrapped around the shins and covering their faces with shades to hide their shame as they walked along the street, begging for food. It was so pathetic that it was quite common for people to walk along the streets begging for food and then, just as they were walking along, they would fall to the ground and lose their precious lives. It has become so pathetic that it is now quite commonplace for a man to fall to the ground and lose his life. So, wherever one went, one could find the corpses of the poor people who had fallen ill. One in front of a mud wall there, another in front of a gate there, and so on. Moreover, since there was nothing but the corpses of the starved to death and the dead to clean up the spring, the corpses were gradually rotting and losing their shape as the days went by, and the stench was spreading far and wide throughout the city. The city was so full of corpses that there was not even a road for oxen or horse-drawn wagons.
The lowly people and lumberjacks who went to the mountains to get firewood and sold it to the people in the capital for their daily livelihood could no longer do their daily work due to hunger. Therefore, people in the capital were running out of firewood. So, those who have no family at all try to sell their houses to those who need firewood, but the price of firewood they sell is not enough to sustain even one person. What was even more bizarre, or perhaps pathetic, was the fact that among the wood that was to make up for the lack of firewood, there were sometimes pieces of wood that had been painted with a fine paint job or had gold or silver leaf on them. I thought this was truly bizarre, and after thinking about it for a while, I came to understand that people who were in dire need of firewood had sold everything they had left to sell, so they sneaked into temples and stole Buddhist statues and other temple implements, and sold them as firewood. The scarcity of goods had taken a toll on the people's lives. It was darkening to see how the scarcity of goods could cloud people's minds. It is truly shameful to have been born into such a difficult world, and to have to see such a muddle in a life that should have been so easy.
Among all the miseries of the world, the most pitiful is the fate of those who love each other. It is human nature for those who are in love with each other, those who have husbands and wives whom they love deeply, to give what little food they have to their beloved husbands and wives first, leaving themselves aside. It is so obvious that the one who loves the other deeply must always die of starvation first.
Disasters and the Fragility of Human Life
This is most evident between parents and their children. There are children who do not love their parents, but there are no parents who do not love their children. Therefore, parents must always give their food to their children, and the parents must always starve to death first. The strongest love is the love of parents for their children. It is most clearly manifested in times of trouble. The sight of a child crying for its mother's breast, even though the mother is already dead, is not an exaggeration to say that it is hell on earth to see a helpless baby crying over her corpse. The city of Kyoto is no longer the peaceful place it once was, but is now suffering the torments of a living hell.
At that time, there was an ordained priest named Ryuho Hoin at Ninna-ji Temple. Whenever he found a corpse, he would write the character "A" on its forehead and pray for its rebirth in paradise. The number of corpses that had the character "a" written on their foreheads during the two months of April and May was a total of more than 42,300 corpses in the southern part of Ichijo, the northern part of Kujo, the western part of Kyogoku, and the eastern part of Suzaku. This is a very large number, and it is easy to understand how big an event it was. The death toll was so high even within a short period of two months, and when the number of deaths before and after the earthquake is included, the number is so large that one might have thought that all the inhabitants of the capital had perished. If we add the deaths in Kawahara, Shirakawa, and the western part of Kyoto to the above number, and then add the number of deaths in all of Japan, it is needless to say that the total number of deaths would have been unlimited and staggering. I have heard that there was a famine like this during the reign of Emperor Shotoku, but I did not see the situation at that time from my own eyes, so I do not know anything about it. However, seeing the devastation of this famine, I was struck by how terrible it was, and this was a rare and unprecedented tragedy.
Disaster called Earthquake
Around the same time, we also suffered another calamity: a major earthquake. The earthquake was stronger than any earthquake I had ever experienced, and the damage was not as severe as usual. Large mountains collapsed due to the earthquake, burying the rivers flowing beneath them. The land was split in two and water gushed out between the two, and large rocks tumbled down into the valley. Ships on the sea were tossed about like leaves in a tree by the massive waves caused by the earthquake, and people, horses, and cattle walking along the roads lost their footholds and fell over.
Not a single house, large or small, in the city is satisfactory, and all of them have been destroyed. Shrines and temples have also been destroyed, many of them magnificent structures. Dust and ashes were rising like a thick cloud of smoke around the houses that had been completely or half destroyed. When the ground shook from the earthquakes and large houses were toppled, there was a tremendous sound like thunder.
People had nowhere to settle down. If they stayed in their houses, they could not stay still for fear that their houses would be crushed at any moment. If they ran outside, the ground would crack and they would have nowhere to go. It would have been best if they could have escaped into the sky, but they had no wings and were unable to do so.
If I were a dragon in this case, I might even be able to ride the clouds and ascend to heaven.
I have come to realize that there are many other terrifying things in the world, but nothing is more terrifying than a big, strong earthquake. The earthquake, which shook so strongly and violently that people had nowhere to settle down, stopped after a while, but the aftershocks that followed did not seem to stop anytime soon. Even the aftershocks were of a strength that would normally surprise anyone, and they occurred at least two or three dozen times a day. However, as the days went by, ten days passed, then twenty days, the aftershocks, which had been so severe, gradually became less frequent and more frequent, with intervals between them. The number of aftershocks became four or five times a day, then two or three times a day, finally every other day, and then once every two or three days, but aftershocks continued throughout the month of March. Fire, water, and wind are always causing disasters to people, but the earth does not cause many disasters, and yet this time it caused a terrible disaster that was quite unexpected. Comparing this earthquake to the one that occurred in the year of the Great Saikyo Earthquake, when the head of the Great Buddha of Todaiji Temple, the head temple of the Kegon sect in Nara City (formerly Heijo-kyo Capital), fell to the ground, this earthquake was a small thing compared to that of the previous one. That is how bad it was this time.
Encountering such a variety of calamities, people began to think that life itself is boring, and even life itself is tasteless. They began to think that they would like to help each other, at least while they are still in this world, and live pleasantly and without greed. The continuing calamities must have changed people's minds, which had been a little clouded. As the days, months, and years went by, people gradually forgot about such a great disaster, and the desire to help each other and to live comfortably without greed for personal gain or profit disappeared, The world has gradually become a disgusting place, where people are now only concerned with their own self-interests. It is truly a shameful thing.
As mentioned above, the world is a cruel and difficult place to live in, and it is also true that one's own destiny is fearless and unreliable, and that even one's home is not guaranteed to be struck by disaster at any time and at any place. And there is no telling how much trouble people are in because of the restrictions imposed by the bonds of the world, depending on where they live and their status. Thus, the world is a difficult place to live in. On the one hand, there are natural disasters, and on the other hand, each person lives on his or her own without loving one another.
As for a place to live, if you live in a small town where houses are crammed together, you are bound to suffer the consequences of a raging fire once you encounter it. Even if you could escape the fire hazard, you would still have to walk long distances along poor country roads to go out or take a walk, and you would also have to be prepared for the fact that you would often be attacked by bandits in a secluded area. It is not an easy way to live a peaceful life.
A person with power is never satisfied with the power he or she currently possesses, but wants to have more power, and goes through a lot of trouble to achieve it. If they have too much wealth, they cannot sleep peacefully at night for fear of being robbed by thieves. If you are poor, you have to worry and struggle day and night for your daily bread, and this is also very painful. If you are a slave to others, you are treated like a slave and have to suffer. If I try to live my life in accordance with the laws and moral codes of ordinary people, there is a void in my life, and I am never truly satisfied with my life. But if I were to leave the life of ordinary people and live as I wish, I would be treated as a madman by the people of the world, and I would also have to suffer. When I think of it this way, in a world where I must suffer no matter what I do, I am at a loss as to how I can live a life of peace and tranquility without suffering. What should I do and where should I live in order to achieve eternal peace of mind, to be satisfied with my true heart, and to live a peaceful life? In the end, I still feel attached to this mundane world, don't I? If this is the case, then escaping from this mundane world may be the thing that gives me the most satisfaction, peace, and calmness in my life.
Moving to Kamo no Chomei 's Hut/Hermitage
I had been living on the land where my grandmother had lived for a long time in order to inherit my paternal grandmother's family and to live there, but my family members had preceded me in death, and I had suffered so many misfortunes that I had lost all my energy and finally, living there reminded me of many past misfortunes that I had experienced, so I decided to abandon the land. I finally decided to abandon the place. I could no longer be satisfied in the mundane world, so I decided to abandon it as well and build a small hermitage (a simple hut made of grass, bamboo, or other materials) in a place where no one would come to visit me. I was exactly 30 years old at the time. This hermitage was about one-tenth the size of the house I had inherited from my grandmother, and it was very small. Even so, I was able to build a living room in it, but not enough room to call it a home. He made a small roughly woven hedge (magaki), but could not build a splendid gate to display it. He used bamboo poles to make a place for cars to enter. The hermitage was a very dangerous building, as I was afraid that it might be blown away if the wind blew a little too strong, and I did not know when it would be crushed if there was a snowstorm. Moreover, the building is located so close to the riverbank that if a flood were to occur, it would be swept away without a trace. Even after leaving the mundane world behind, the worries of the people are constant.
I have been living in this difficult and painful world for as long as 30 years, complaining about how difficult and unpleasant it is to live in. And through the various events that have occurred during that time, the many times I have been sadder than happy, the unexpected mishaps and failures, I have come to realize the pitiful nature of my destiny. In the spring of his fiftieth year, he decided to leave his home and the bitter world behind him, and to live a life of complete seclusion.
I am a solitary person with no wife or children, so I am not drawn to the love of my family at all, and I am not bothered by such things. I had no need for a high-ranking position, a noble office, or a large salary, so I was not attracted to the mundane world in any way, and I was able to leave the world behind very easily.
It has been a long time since I lived a completely secluded life deep in the snowy mountains of Ohara, and I have been back and forth between spring and autumn several times.
When I was nearly sixty years old and had very little time left to live, I once built a new house to live in. This was just likea traveler whohas finally found a place to stay for the night and is relieved. This new house was not even a hundredth of the size of the one we had built and lived in before. As I grew older, my house gradually became smaller and smaller, as if it were my own destiny.
If I were to compare my current house with what is commonly known as a "home," I would say that it is so shabby that it cannot even be called a home anymore. However, it is a very comfortable house for one person to live in, and there is no doubt that it is a good place to live. It is only about 3 meters square, and its height is correspondingly less than 7 meters (2.1 meters). I have no idea where I have to live, so I don't even think about whether I like it here or there. However, it is convenient in that it can be easily erected wherever you feel like it. If something happens to the roof after it has been erected, it can be torn down and moved to another location.
If you want to move to another place, you only need to spend a little money. As long as you pay for the rental of a car, you can do the labor yourself and move out with ease.
After the construction of the present hermitage on Mt. Hino, a crude but 3-foot-high (about 1 m) eaves shade was installed on the east side of the hermitage to provide a shade from the sun and make it easier to fold bushes under it. To the south, a bamboo porch was built, and to the north, a shoji (sliding door) separated the porch from a picture of Amida, and a statue of Fugen was hung beside it, with the Lotus Sutra placed in front of it. At the west end, he built an akadana (a cabinet for storing water and flowers offered to the Buddha) to make it convenient for storing things, and made various other facilities that resembled a dwelling. For his own bed, he picked up ears of bracken at the east end and laid them out. In the southwestern part of the house, he built a bamboo hanging shelf. In these baskets were several books on waka poetry, music, and excerpts from "Ōjōyōshū: The Essentials of Rebirth in the Pure Land" and other books. These are to be read and comforted at any time of the day. Next to it, I have placed a koto and a biwa, one each named "ori-koto (a koto with a body that can be separated into two parts)" and "tsugi-biwa (a biwa with the handle removed for everyday use and joined together when used)," on a stand. The above-mentioned is my current residence.
The house is surrounded by a stone gutter to the south to draw water to a cistern. Firewood, a daily necessity, can be gathered without any difficulty because there is a forest in the immediate neighborhood. There is a mountain called Sotoyama (Mt. Sotoyama)just next to the house, but the road to this mountain is overgrown with a thick growth of Japanese chervil, which completely fills the road and makes it difficult to climb up. The valley is so thick with vegetation that it is a little dark, but the view to the west is clear and open, making it a good place to meditate on the Pure Land and the Buddha, which is said to be located in the west.
In spring, wisteria flowers bloom all over the valley, and purple clouds are shelving in the west, creating an enchanting view.
When summer arrives, the kakko gulls will sing with their sad voices, as if they are promising to guide you on your journey to the land of the dead, as the old people used to say.
In autumn, evening cicadas (evening cicadas) begin to sing all over the mountains, and I can hear their mournful voices. I feel as if they are singing to me a dirge about the fleeting fate of this world, and it makes me feel somewhat sad and pensive.
In winter, sometimes the entire mountain is covered with snow, and this gives me a deep appreciation of the beauty of snowy mountains. When I watch the snow gradually disappear and accumulate again, I cannot help but remember how human sins, just like the snow, accumulate and are purified and lost by the great will of the Buddha, and how we commit sins and are purified again.
I have been reciting the Nembutsu every day, but sometimes I feel too lazy to do so, or when it is too difficult for me to recite the sutras, I sometimes neglect to do so myself. I have no friends here who would feel ashamed of my laziness, so I just end up being lazy. Living alone in the mountains in the middle of nowhere, I naturally have to do silent work, and I am not necessarily diligent in obeying the precepts of the Buddha. In such a mountainous environment, there is no temptation to break the Buddha's precepts. I am not trying to become a saint or a prince, but in a place like this, where there is no one to talk to, I naturally do my silent acts and naturally follow the path of the Buddha, not because of any help from myself.
Sometimes, when I am too bored to do anything else, I watch the boats passing by Okanoya and ponder the daring nature of human destiny as I watch the foam disappear and reappear in the wake of the boats. I also try to imitate the customs of the ancient poet Manshami (Man'yosha poet), and compose poems in his style. Or, when the evening breeze rustles the laurel trees in the evening, they think of the evening scenery of the Jinyang River. Sometimes, when I play a song called "Akikaze" on my biwa, imitating Katsura Dainagon (a Japanese poet from 1016 to 1097), the sound of the pine wind seems to harmonize with it. When I play a piece called "Ryusen," I hear water flowing through the valley as if it were harmonizing with it. My biwa playing skills are not what one would call proficient, but this is enough for me, as I play for no one else, but only for myself and enjoy myself. It is enough for me to play for myself and enjoy myself, not for anyone else. If I can play a song and feel refreshed, calm down, enjoy my life, and comfort the loneliness of the mountains, that is all I need to do.
There is a small hut at the foot of a mountain, a short distance from the hermitage, where a mountain guardian lives. There is a child who sometimes visits my hermitage to talk with me. I like to say that he is the only guest in my hut. When I had nothing to say or do, I would take the child as a friend and we would wander around the mountains. We are good friends and enjoy each other's company. Sometimes they would pick flowers or rock pears while walking in the mountains. Sometimes we would pick up nukago (the shoots that grow at the base of a yam leaf), and other times we would pick seri (Japanese parsley). When we are tired of such activities, we go to the foot of the mountain to pick up fallen ears in the rice paddies and make ear mounds. When the weather was fine and pleasant, he would go up to the top of the mountain and look at the sky over his hometown in the distance, or look out over Mount Kohata, the village of Fushimi, Toba, Hazukashi, and other areas. Since there is no one who can take advantage of the beautiful scenery of these mountains, there is no obstacle to enjoying them to the fullest, making it a truly enjoyable experience. When I have a good heart and am not even a little tired of walking, I sometimes go far away from home. On such occasions, I would go over Sumiyama, past Kasatori, pay a visit to the Iwama shrine, and then pay a visit to Ishiyama. A little farther away, in Awazu-no-hara, they would visit the ruins of a temporary house where Semimaru is said to have lived in ancient times, to comfort his spirit, or pay a visit to the grave of Sarumaru-tayu, located on the banks of the Tagami-Tanakami River. On the way back from these excursions, they would fold a branch of cherry blossoms in the spring and a branch of maple in the fall, or a bunch of sheep's teeth in the spring and a branch of maple in the fall. They would also take a sheaf of sheep's teeth or a basket of nuts to offer to the Buddha or to use as food for themselves.
On nights when the moon is beautifully bright and shining brightly, I sit by the window, remembering old friends I used to have with each other in the past, and when I hear a monkey crying sadly to the moon, I can'thelp but feel tears in my eyes.
The fireflies in the grassy knolls, shining so brightly in the valley that it seems as if they are the torches of Makishima, comfort my lonely heart, and the shower at dawn, which awakens me from sleep, seems like a storm that blows the leaves off the trees. The sound of the rain is like a storm that blows the leaves off the trees, and I listen to it with a sense of loneliness.
Whenever I hear the chirping of wild birds, I wonder if it was my father's voice or my mother's voice that I hear now, and I remember with nostalgia the life I used to lead when my parents lived here. When I see deer, which also live deep in the mountains, come close to the hermitage, I sometimes feel as if they are showing me how far away from the mundane world I live, and it makes me feel lonely.
In my sixty-plus years of old age, there are times when I cannot sleep at night, and the only thing I can look forward to is stirring up a charcoal fire and warming myself by it. In these times, even a charcoal fire can become an important friend. It is not so deep in the mountains that there is anything to be afraid of, but when I hear the gloomy cry of an owl, I can't help but feel a sense of loneliness and pity.
As you can see, each spring, summer, fall, and winter has its own unique charms, and there is no end to the variety of scenery to be found in the mountains. If people with deeper introspection and keener perception than we have, they would have been able to discover and enjoy more interesting things than what I have felt, but as for me, I can only find enjoyment in such things, which makes me feel somewhat sorry for myself.
Lived in the hermitage for 5 years
It has been five years since I came to live here in the mountains. As the years have passed, the hermitage has become torn in places, the leaves have piled up deeply under the eaves, and the leaves have been left to rot. Moss has even begun to grow all over the floor.
I have heard from time to time in the wind from Kyoto that many people of noble birth have died, and I am sure that many people of lowly birth have died as well.
I have heard that many houses have been destroyed by fire, but my own lowly house has never caught fire, and I feel very peaceful. No matter how small it was, I had a place to sleep at night and a place to read books in the daytime, so I did not feel any inconvenience or shortage of space. The hermit crab lives in a small shellfish because it knows its own size, and the hermit crab is a suitable home for a small shellfish, while theheron (a hawk bird that eats only fish) is too afraid of people to stay away from the rough seashore. Like the hermit crab and the heron, they live in their own small houses, and knowing the boldness of the world and the sorrow of their destiny, they leave the world and live in the mountains, seeking neither wealth nor rank, much less worldly companionship, and live alone and without anxiety, just as the heron and the heron crab enjoy their own peace and tranquility. They live alone and without anxiety, just as the Misagos and Dodokari enjoy their own private peace.
People in general build houses not for themselves, but for their parents, wives and children, or other family members. They build houses for the sake of their own appearance, their lord, or their master. They are sometimes built to store possessions or treasures, and they are never built just for themselves. However, my current building was built purely for myself. I don't have parents, a wife, children, friends to live with, or servants, and no one to build a house for me under my current circumstances. In today's world, to be a friend to others, you must first and foremost be rich, and you must be able to relate to them, and it is not necessary that you be deeply compassionate and honest. If you would rather have such frivolous friendships, how much better it would be to stay in the mountains and live each day with nature and music as your friends.
Those who want to become servants of others first want to be paid well and only want to go where there is money to be made, and even if they are loved, cared for, and provided for, if the salary is small, they will never understand that they are being used. In this case, they must suffer even though they use others. It is best to make yourself a servant instead of using a servant. Although it may be troublesome to do so, you do not know how much better it is than suffering through the use of others. If you must walk, walk on your own feet. If I must walk, I will walk on my own feet, and although it will be more or less painful, I do not know how much easier it will be than having to take the trouble of riding in an ox cart or a carriage. I have two servants in my body. One is my hand, which serves as a servant, and the other is my foot, which serves as a vehicle, both of which satisfy me to the full. When my body starts to suffer, I stop using them and give them a good rest, and when my body is strong again, I use them again. Even when I feel sluggish and don't feel like walking or working, there is nothing to worry about. Working and walking every day is the best way to nourish your body and soul. Therefore, we cannot just sit idle and do nothing.
To walk or to ask for help from others to take care of oneself is clearly a sin.
The same can be said for food and clothing. Rattan robe and linen nightgowns are sufficient for clothing, and anything more than that is unnecessary. They can survive on the camellias found in the fields and the saplings found in the mountains and have no need for anything more. Since I do not socialize with other people at all, no matter how poor I am, no one will say anything about it, and since I am in the mountains where food is extremely scarce, I can eat delicious food no matter how bad it tastes. I am not writing about my present life as a lesson to other wealthy people to live this way, but only to compare my life when I was still living in the secular world with the life I lead now.
The world can be either a painful or a joyful place, depending on one's attitude of mind. If one's mind is not in a state of peace and tranquility, no matter how much money one has and how nice a house one lives in, it will be nothing. I am living in a small house in a lonely mountainous area, but my spirit is truly at peace, and I am enjoying my life day after day.
Moreover, I love this house more than anything else, even though it is as shabby as this.
I happen to go out to the capital to beg for alms, and at such times I sometimes feel ashamed that I have become such a beggar monk, but when I look back at my small home, I think about the worldly people who live their lives clinging only to the benefits of the floating world, and I even feel pity for them. I even feel pity for them. If I say such things, people may say that I am dreaming, but if you think deeply about the lives of fish and birds, you will see that fish live in water all their lives. Fish live their whole life in the water and never run out of water, and birds wish to spend their whole life in the forest. Only the fish and birds themselves can know the feelings of the birds and fish. I, too, have to live alone in the mountains, away from the world, to understand this feeling. The joy and loneliness of a quiet life in the mountains has a deep taste that cannot be experienced in the mundane world, and only those who have truly experienced it can understand this taste. This taste is more pleasurable and enjoyable to me than climbing to a high position or becoming rich.
Now that I am about to embark on the journey of death, there is nothing more to mourn or grieve over. The Buddha's teachings tell us not to be attached to anything, and even loving this hermitage in the mountains, where I can live peacefully and happily, is a manifestation of attachment and is a sin. I have wasted my time rattling on about pleasures that have no value in the eyes of the Buddha's world.
As I continue to ponder these truths in the quiet dawn and reflect deeply on my own mind, I realize that my initial purpose in escaping from the floating world and entering the mountains was to devote myself to the path of the Buddha. However, when I look at my own life, although I may look like a saint on the outside, my mind is still far from being a saint, and I am as muddled as a layman. My dwelling was built in imitation of the hermitage of an ancient Indian merchant and disciple of the Buddha, but in terms of conduct and faith, it is inferior even to that of a disciple of the Buddha, Shurihandatu, who is said to have been the most stupid and slow-witted of all. He is said to have been a poor and dull person. I asked myself why I could not attain enlightenment, but I could not give any answer. So, with the help of my mouth and my tongue, I would chant the name of Buddha Namu Amidabutsu two or three times and pray for his blessings.
It was written by the monk Renin (ordained name of Kamo no Chomei ) at his hermitage in the outer mountains on the last day of the third month of the second year of Kenryaku era.