A poem on how Mahāyāna[i] develops the viewpoint of the Middle Way.[ii]
世の中はかがみにうつるかげにあれやあるにもあらずなきにもあらず
yo no naka wa kagami ni utsuru kage ni are ya aru ni mo arazu naki ni mo arazu
Is this mundane world A mirror’s reflected Shape, perhaps? Not existing, and Not not existing…
653
[i] Mahāyāna (the ‘Great Vehicle’) (Jp.: daijō 大乗) is the largest major tradition of Buddhism.
[ii] The ‘Middle Way’ (Madhyamāpratipada) (Jp.: chūdō 中道) refers to a spiritual practice of Buddhism that steers clear of both extreme asceticism and sensual indulgence.
On the 29th day of the Eighth Month, Taiji 3,[i] Head of the Department of Shinto, His Excellency Akinaka gave a lecture before the Hirota Shrine, and various people from among his friends and relative met together in the same place.
Judge Mototoshi, Former Assistant Captain in the Palace Guards, Left Division.
Personal Grievances and the Moon
Round One
Left
難波江のあしまにやどる月みれば我が身ひとつも沈まざりけり
naniwae no ashima ni yadoru tsuki mireba wa ga mi hitotsu mo shizumazarikeri
When, at the inlet at Naniwa Between the reeds a’lodging The moon I see, My sorry self, alone, Is sunk in sadness, am I not?
Lord Akisuke, Former Governor of Mimasaka 1
Right
かがみ川影見る月にそこ澄みて沈むみくづのはづかしきかな
kagamigawa kage miru tsuki ni soko sumite shizumu mikuzu no hazukashiki kana
In the mirror of Kagami River, The shape, I see, of the moon Clear down to the bed of Sunken flotsam— How terrible that I am so!
His Excellency Akinaka, Head of the Department of Shintō 2
While both Left and Right show awareness of the conventions, I find it difficult to be beguiled more by coming to the realisation that ‘My sorry self, alone, / Is sunk in sadness, am I not’ on seeing the moon lodging between the reeds, than I am by the conception of the one who seems to have seen the moon over Mount Obasute[1], so I could say that it has a bit of conception about it at present.
[1] Topic unknown. わが心なぐさめかねつさらしなやをばすて山にてる月を見て wa ga kokoro / nagusamekanetsu / sarashina ya / obasuteyama ni / teru tsuki o mite ‘My heart / Cannot be consoled— / In Sarashina / Above Mount Obasute / On seeing the shining moon…’ Anonymous (KKS XVII: 878)
kage kiyoku tsuki yokogiru ukigumo wa aki no na sae kegashitsuru kana
The pure light of The moon crossing go The drifting clouds— The very name of autumn Have they besmirched!
Arifusa 65
Right (Win)
照る月を浪のうへにてみる時ぞますみのかがみいる心ちする
teru tsuki o nami no ue nite miru toki zo masumi no kagami iru kokochisuru
The shining moon Rests atop the waves, and When I gaze upon it, Within the clearest of mirrors Does it lie, I feel.
Narinaka
66
What to make of the sound of the Left’s ‘besmirched the very name of autumn’? The Right does not seem to differ markedly from the conception of ‘Hundredfold Polished Mirror’[1] where it says that the moon ‘atop the waves’ is ‘all apiece with the autumn waters’ deeps’, does it. The Right should win.
[1] This is a reference to a poem by Bai Juyi, Bailianjing 百練鏡, contained in the Collected Works of Master Bai (Hakushi monjū 白氏文集), about a mirror which had been polished a hundred times. Kiyosuke quotes from the poem in his judgement, referring to the following passage: 江心波上舟中鋳 五月五日日午時 瓊粉金膏磨瑩已 化為一片秋潭水 jiangxinbo shang zhou zhong zhu / wu yue wu ri ri wushi / qiong fen jin gao mo ying yi / hua wei yipian qiu tan shui ‘In a boat atop the waves at the heart of the Yangtse / At noon on the 5th day of the Fifth Month / Polished with gemmed powdered seashells in golden oil / ‘Tis transformed and becomes all apiece with the autumn waters’ deeps.’
