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1811: Ichigetsu-ji Honsoku Credo Revisited
- Did Edo Period 'Komusō' Ever Write About "Meditating"?
- Quite Obviously: They Never Did Anything like That
- Never a Word About Personal, Egocentric Self-affirming "Enlightenment"
1811 Ichigetsu-ji 'Honsoku' presented by Kurihara Kōta in 1918/1975, on pages 159-162:
Part 1 in the 1811 'Honsoku': Fuke Zenji's 'Myō-An' statement in Chapter 29 of 'Rinzai roku'.
Part 2: About the 'Shakuhachi' in the 1811 'Honsoku'.
Part 3: A short text about the 'Tengai' basket hat of the 'Komusō'.
1811 'honsoku' presented by Kurihara Kōta in 1918, on pages 159-162.
1811 'honsoku' presented by Nishiyama Matsunosuke in 1982, on pages 520-521.
Kurihara 1918 version of 'honsoku': The 'Shakuhachi' chapter.
0: 尺八
1： 夫尺八者法器也。
2： 謂尺八者大數也。
3： 取三節之中定上下之長短各有所表三節者三才也。
4：上下之二竅者日月也。
5：表裏之五竅者五行也。
6： 是萬物之深源也。
7： 吹之則萬物與我融冥而心境之一如也。
JAMES H. SANFORD's English translation, 1977 Monumenta Nipponica article, page 422
- based on Nishiyama Matsunosuke's 1956 version of the text, see above:
0: SHAKUHACHI
1 & 2: "The shakuhachi is an instrument of the Dharma and there are numerous meanings to be found in it.
3-a: The shakuhachi is made of three joints of bamboo and is divided into two sections.
3-b: Each of these elements symbolizes something.
3-c: The three joints are the Three Powers [Heaven, Earth and Man].
4: The [differentiation between the four] upper and [one] lower fingerholes represents the sun and the moon.
5: The five holes are also the Five Elements [Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Space].
6: Taken as a whole, the shakuhachi is the profound wellspring of all phenomenal things.
7-a: If a man plays the shakuhachi, all things will come to him.
7-b: His mind and the realm of light and dark will become one."
RILEY KELLY LEE's English translation, 1992-1993 thesis, Chapter 3
- based on Kurihara Kota's 1918 version of the text, see above:
0: SHAKUHACHI
1: "The shakuhachi is an instrument of the Dharma (
法器, hōki).
2: There are numerous meanings in the shakuhachi.
3-a: It is made with three nodes (of bamboo) and always with two sections, long and short.
3-b: Each of its features manifests something.
3-c: The three joints are the Three Powers [Heaven, Earth and Man].
4: The two holes, upper and lower, are the Sun and the Moon.
5: The five holes, front and back, are the Five Elements.
6: It is the profound source of all creation.
7-a: Playing [the shakuhachi] imparts the Dharma of the Myriad Things.
7-b: One's ego dissolves into darkness and the objective realm and the [subjective] heart/mind become oneness."
Focusing in in terms of actual Buddhist ideology, these three sentences can be highlighted:
1： 夫尺八者法器也。
6： 是萬物之深源也。
7： 吹之則萬物與我融冥而心境之一如也。
Supplementary interpretative translations:
1; "The 'Shakuhachi' is a Buddhist Instrument"/" - an Instrument of the Law of Buddhism."
6: "It is the Deep Origin of All Things/the Whole Universe."
7: "Blow It, and the Universe Bestows on/causes the Ego/the Self the Elimination of Illusion,
and the Oneness/Non-Duality of the Mind."
In 1, the subject is 'Shakuhachi'.
The verb is 'nari', the so-called "copula" in classical Japanese and 'Kanbun', pseudo-Chinese.
In 6, the subject is 'Kore', "This", i.e. the 'Shakuhachi'.
7, however, presents more of a challenge, linguistically:
'Manbutsu', "All Things"/"the Universe", is the subject, 'Yo'/'ataeru', "cause"/"bestow on" is the verb.
In other words, in these central sentences in the 1811 Ichigetsu Temple 'Honsoku', there are no persons in play, acting,
no subcect, and no mention of anything like "Shakuhachi meditation"!
No reference to any person. any individual, who "meditates" with a shakuhachi in order to experience personal,
self-centered, egotistical "spiritual relief", or "salvation", from "Darkness", "Illusion", "Duality" ... or the like.
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