第64回 宝に囲まれて
There is an English translation at the bottom of this article. It’s a little bit long, however, please read it when you have time
修行所の同期であり友人、そのお父さまの葬儀に参列。
明石海峡を渡って淡路島に入る。所変われば樹木も違い、高い山のない風景、南国風なテイストの店舗。旅行のつもりはないが、そのどれも真新しさを帯びるものだ。
同時に、施主となった友人の横顔を見ながら、お経を唱えることもなかなかない。
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思えば、不安だけを持って修行所に入行した際、最初のペア？となったのが彼だ。
短い睡眠、水は飲めず、トイレも行けない。
やること覚えることに追われ、ミスすればそれはそれは大変で…必死で補い合う。
そんな極限状態を過ぎ、はじめて外へ買い物、昼食に行くことが出来た。彼と2人、怪しい商店街を1本脇に逸れ、回転寿司を食べた。
味を感じず、量も食べれず、でも外の空気を吸って、少しだけほっとしたあの感情、未だに忘れない。
頭の良い彼は、そんな生活でも、仲間に勉学を教えることを厭わなかった。ちなみに、ブログ冒頭に毎回使用している英文、「There is an English～」も、彼にお願いしたもの。
筆を持てば御礼状を書く係、僧侶としての弁も立ち、最終学年の弁論大会で最優秀賞。
才覚はもちろん、努力家でいて、それ以上にホスピタリティのある男だ。
もうそれもこれも十数年前か、と追想にふけりながら、いつしかまた横顔を追っていた。
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遠近からの弔問者に目を合わせてお礼をしている。
何かにぶつかればすぐに手を添え、弟が合わせられるよう動きを少しゆっくりにして。
導師のことばに、父との思い出で溢れそうになり、下くちびるを震わせ我慢している。
読経が終わり、長くてすみませんと前置きし、ありったけの感謝を言葉にした。
その中に、こんなニュアンスの話があった。
「師匠（父）は自分の寺のことは一切自分で行い、すべて準備万端にしてから弟子たちが手伝っていた」と。
すでに立派なお弟子さんに育ってますよ。
そう思いつつ、私は、彼の後ろに見える、小さいこどもや甥っ子たちを目に入れながらこうも思った。
お父さまは、その準備の時間が好きだったのだろう、と。
この順番なら運転しやすいか、たまには多く回ってもらうか、このお檀家さんとならこんな話をするんじゃないか、あそこに行ったら友達の家の近くだから様子を見てくるかも。
そんな想像をしながら、弟子の成長を確認できる時間。
何よりの楽しみ、喜びだったのではないか、と。
あるご住職が、「故人が残した宝物は、この息子2人です」と口にされた。
お経の最中、施主となった息子たちが通りやすいよう、そっと椅子をひくお母さま、それを見て他の椅子に気を配るお嫁さん。小さい子がいても、みんなで囲い、居づらい雰囲気を作らないご親族。それを見守っているお檀家さんたち。
ほんとに、どこを見ても宝物だらけ、最高のお葬式です。
日蓮聖人のお言葉を借りると、
【昼夜に影のごとくまほらせ給ふ教えにて候ふ】
とある。
亡きお父さまは、息子をはじめとするご親族、みなさまのことを昼夜に見守れるよう、南無妙法蓮華経の種をこの世で撒きつづけましたから、一足先に菩薩さま、ほとけさまとなってお守りくださるようです。
お父さま（お上人）、本当にありがとうございました。
No. 64 Surrounded by Treasures
Attending the funeral of the father of a friend and fellow student at the training center.
Crossing the Akashi Strait, we entered Awaji Island. The trees are different in different places, the scenery is free of high mountains, and the stores have a tropical feel. I didn’t intend to travel, but everything I saw was new.
At the same time, I rarely chant sutras while looking at the profile of my friend who became the client.
Thinking back, he was the first person I was paired with when I entered the training center with only anxiety.
Short sleep, no water to drink, no toilet.
We were busy learning what to do, and if we made a mistake, it was a big deal… we made up for each other desperately.
After getting past that extreme situation, we were able to go out shopping and have lunch for the first time. The two of us went off to a side street, down a suspicious shopping street, and had conveyor belt sushi.
I still remember the feeling of relief I felt as I breathed in the fresh air, even though I couldn’t taste anything and couldn’t eat much.
Even in that kind of lifestyle, he was intelligent and didn’t hesitate to help his friends with their studies.
By the way, I also asked him to write the English sentence that I always use at the beginning of my blog, “There is an English…”.
Whenever he picked up a pen, he was the one to write thank-you letters, and as a monk he was also good at speaking, winning the top prize in the speech contest in his final year.
He was not only talented, but also a hard worker, and even more than that, he was a man of hospitality.
It all happened more than a decade ago, I thought to myself, as I was engrossed in chasing him, and before I knew it, I was looking at his profile again.
He made eye contact with mourners from near and far and thanked them.
If he bumped into something, he immediately put his hand to it, and moved a little slower so that his younger brother could adjust.
He continued to be attentive as ever.
Memories of my father threatened to overflow as the reverend spoke, but he held it in with a trembling lower lip.
After the sutra reading, I apologized for the length of the speech and expressed all my gratitude.
Along with that, there was a line that I heard. “My master (my father) did everything for his temple himself, and his disciples would help him after everything was ready.”
They have already grown into fine disciples. While thinking this, I looked at my small children and nephews behind him and thought to myself.
I think my father must have enjoyed this time of preparation.
He might have thought about how easy it would be to drive in this order, or how he might ask them to make more trips sometimes, or what conversation he might have with this parishioner, or maybe he’ll go over there because it’s close to a friend’s house and check it out.
It was a time when he could see his disciples’ growth while imagining such things.
I think it was the greatest joy and pleasure of all.
One chief priest said, “The treasures left behind by the deceased are his two sons.”
During the sutra recitation, the mother gently pushed chairs so that the sons, who were the beneficiaries, could pass easily, and the daughter-in-law, seeing this, kept an eye on the other chairs. Even though there were small children, the relatives all surrounded them, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. The parishioners watched over them.
It was truly a wonderful funeral, with treasures everywhere you looked.
To borrow the words of Saint Nichiren,
[It is a teaching that surrounds us like a shadow day and night.]
Your late father continued to sow the seeds of Namu Myoho Renge Kyo in this world so that he could watch over his sons and all of his relatives, day and night, and it seems that he has become a Bodhisattva and Buddha to protect us before anyone else.
Thank you so much, Father (Reverend).