母の一年祭と義母の昇天
(My Mother’s First-Year Memorial and My Mother-in-law’s Passing)
平成19年5月号掲載(Originally published in the May 2007 issue)
昨年の5月9日、享年96をもって昇天しました母千鶴子に続いて、去る3月5日、家内の母田原節子（ときこ）が享年91で息を引きとりました。母と呼んだ2人の人生の大先輩に、改めて敬仰（けいぎょう）の思いが募（つの）るきょうこの頃です。
On May 9 of last year, my mother Chizuko passed away at the age of ninety-six. Then, on March 5 of this year, my wife’s mother, Tahara Tokiko, breathed her last at the age of ninety-one. At this time, my heart is filled with renewed reverence and gratitude for these two women whom I called “Mother,” both great seniors in life.
母は私を頭（かしら）に三男二女を産み育て、先代教主五代様を支え、終戦間もない頃に黒住教婦人会を再結成し、婦人会活動こそ教団の礎とばかりに献身していました。年をとって老衰の名のごとく足から衰え、半年ほど次女の主人が院長をつとめる病院の床に就（つ）いたままの生活でしたが徐々に全身が衰弱していき、大阪から来ていた長女の目の前で、息を引きとったのが分からないほど静かに昇天しました。それは、5月8日、神道山で開催された婦人会総会を見届けたかのような翌9日のことでした。しかも、4日後の5月13日は、五代様33回目の年祭という日でした。
My own mother bore and raised five children—three sons and two daughters—with me as the eldest. She supported the Fifth Chief Patriarch, and in the years just after the war, she reestablished the Kurozumikyō Women’s Association, devoting herself to its activities as if they were the very foundation of the organization. In her later years, she grew frail, her legs weakening as if in step with the name “old age.” For about half a year she remained bedridden in the hospital where her younger daughter’s husband served as director. Gradually her whole body declined, until at last, before the eyes of her eldest daughter who had come from Osaka, she passed so quietly that one could hardly tell the moment of her final breath.
This was on May 9, as though she had waited to see the Women’s Association General Assembly held at Shintōzan on May 8. Moreover, just four days later, May 13, was the thirty-third memorial of the Fifth Chief Patriarch.
一方、家内の母は岡山市内から新見（にいみ）（岡山県）に嫁ぎ家内をはじめ四女一男の子供に恵まれ、大店（おおだな）の主婦として義父を助け、また市の教育委員長をつとめるなど社会奉仕にも忙しくしながら年を重ねてきていました。今年の正月過ぎ頃から、弱ってきた足のリハビリにと、自宅から程近い施設でお世話になり、朝に夕に訪ねて来る息子夫婦をはじめ娘たち、孫曾（ひ）孫とのひとときを楽しんでいました。ところが3月5日、午前1時には安らかな寝息だったのが、3時には息を引きとっていました。寝乱れたところひとつない実に安らかな、しかも美しい顔もとでした。この日は曾孫の1人である私の次男の息子の誕生日でしたし、その四十九日（しじゅうくにち）の法要の日は義母自身の満90歳の誕生日に当たりました。田原家は、神棚は黒住教で祀（まつ）り仏壇は禅宗という、いわば本教信徒の典型的な家で、翌6日の密葬から7日の告別式まですべてを、見るからに修行を重ねて磨き上げたお人柄のご住職がつとめて下さいました。
My wife’s mother married from Okayama City into the Tahara family of Niimi in Okayama Prefecture. She was blessed with five children—four daughters and one son. As the mistress of a large household, she supported her husband, while also serving society, even holding the position of Chair of the City Board of Education.
From shortly after New Year this year, she entered a nearby facility for rehabilitation of her weakening legs. There she enjoyed the visits of her son and his wife, who came morning and evening, as well as her daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Yet on March 5, though she was breathing peacefully at 1 a.m., by 3 a.m. she had passed away. Her face was serene and beautiful, without the slightest trace of disturbance.
That day was the birthday of one of her great-grandchildren—the son of my second son. Moreover, the memorial service on the forty-ninth day after her passing fell exactly on her own ninetieth birthday.
The Tahara household was a typical Kurozumikyō family: it has the household altar dedicated according to Kurozumikyō, and also the Buddhist altar maintained in the Zen tradition. From the private funeral on March 6 through the farewell service on March 7, all was conducted by a venerable priest whose character, refined through years of training, was evident to all.
この5日の日は主人である義父の命日の3日後で、奇しくも私の親はそれぞれ同じ月の昇天となりました。昇天が同月といえば、三代様ご夫妻は同じ9月、四代様ご夫妻は7月と、いずれも年は異なりますが同じ月に昇天されています。実に、単なる偶然とはいえないものを感じます。
On March 5, the day of my mother-in-law’s passing, it was three days after the death anniversary of her husband, my father-in-law. By coincidence, my own parents also passed away in the same month. Speaking of such coincidences, the Third Chief Patriarch and his wife both passed in September, and the Fourth Chief Patriarch and his wife in July—different years, but the same months. It is hard to feel this is mere chance.
昨年の母のときも、そしてこの度も“ご本人が日を選んで逝（ゆ）かれたような……”という声を何人かの方々から耳にしました。両人とも傍目（はため）には眠ったままの全く意識のない中での昇天でした。一般的には偶然ということになるのでしょう。
Last year at my mother’s passing, and again this time, I heard several people say: “It is as if she chose the day herself to depart.” Both women passed as if in sleep, without any outward sign of awareness. In general terms, it would be called coincidence.
実はここにこそ、教祖神御教えの「ご分心」のお働きがあるのです。いわば人の本体たる大御神様の“みわけみたま”（ご分心）は天地と直結していて、自（みずか）らの神上るときを自ら決める、いや、ご分心を通じて大御神様はその方にふさわしいときに昇天させられる、ということを2人の母は身をもって教えてくれたのです。
In truth, here is precisely where the working of the Divine Founder’s teaching on Gobunshin ご分心(each person’s portion of Amaterasu Ōmikami) is revealed. Amaterasu Ōmikami’s miwake mitama みわけみたま (same as “Gobunshin”: Translator’s note), which is the true essence of human life, is directly connected with heaven and earth. Thus, a person determines the time of their own return to the divine—or rather, through Gobunshin, Amaterasu Ōmikami appoints the time most fitting for that person’s passing. This is what both of my mothers taught me through their own lives.
かつて私の高校時代の親友は、彼がすべて用意してくれた私たちの卒業40年記念の集いの日に亡くなりました。その四十九日は彼の誕生日でした。また、今は本教の教師でもありますある地方政治家は、その娘婿が若くして亡くなった悲しみの中で、この人の四十九日がその誕生日に当たることを知って、娘婿が若い身ながら天寿を全うした証（あかし）として厳粛にしかも有り難く受け止めました。それは、娘ともどもその悲しみを乗り越える大きなきっかけとなりました。
A close friend from my high school days died on the very day of our 40th graduation reunion for which he had done all the preparations. His forty-ninth day memorial fell on his birthday. Likewise, a local politician—now a teacher of Kurozumikyō—lost his son-in-law at a young age. In the midst of grief, he learned that the forty-ninth day memorial coincided with the son-in-law’s birthday. He accepted this solemnly and gratefully as proof that, though young, his son-in-law had fulfilled his allotted span of life. For him and his daughter, this realization became a powerful turning point in overcoming their sorrow.
私どもにおけるご分心、世にいう霊（みたま）の働きは、このような神秘なしかもまさに“ありがたい”ことと素直に感動をもって受け入れることが肝要です。しかし、ここから更に一歩踏み出して詮索（せんさく）してたずねることは、えてしてその人生を損ない誤らすいわゆるオカルト的なものになる恐れがあります。ある新しい宗教の教祖の言葉に「霊の問題は子供が古井戸をのぞくようなものだ」とありますが、今日、どんなに多くのしかも有為（ゆうい）の若い人たちが、ここにはまり込んで人生をゆがめていることでしょうか。まさに霊の問題は紙一重なのです。
For us, the working of the Gobunshin—what the world calls the spirit (mitama みたま)—must be received with simple gratitude and heartfelt awe, as something mysterious yet truly “blessed.” What is essential is to accept it with reverence, not to probe further. To go beyond this and pry into it risks distorting life itself, turning into what is commonly called the occult.
One founder of a new religion once said: “Matters of the spirit are like children peering into an old well.” How many promising young people today have fallen into this and warped their lives? Truly, the matter of the spirit stands on a razor’s edge.
3月6日、義母の通夜が終わった夜、私は久方ぶりにお会いした義母の弟、叔父からいろいろな貴重な話を聞かせてもらいました。義母の若き頃のこと、両親のこと、古い岡山の町の出来事、さらに叔父が学徒動員で出征したときのことにまで話は及びました。
On the night of March 6, after my mother-in-law’s wake, I spoke at length with her younger brother—my uncle—whom I had not seen for some time. He shared many precious stories: about his sister’s youth, their parents, events in old Okayama, and even his own experience when he was sent to war as part of the student mobilization.
慶応義塾大学の学生から学徒出陣した叔父は、数少ない生還者の1人ですが、東京の三田（みた）の大学構内の掲示板に書かれていた塾長（学長）小泉信三先生の訓辞について熱っぽく語り、後日その写真を届けてくれました。
My uncle, who had been a student at Keio University, was one of the few who returned alive. He spoke with deep emotion about the words of President Koizumi Shinzō, which had been posted on the bulletin board at the Mita campus. Later he even sent me a photograph of it.
そこには次のようにあります。
告 塾生諸君徴兵検査の為め帰郷の際は心して父母の膝下（しっか）に事（つか）へ他日出征して決戦に臨むに当り心に遺憾とするところなからんことを期せられたし又検査終了帰塾の後は再び精励して学事に力（つと）め以（もっ）てよく入営前学生生活の始終を完（まっと）うせんことを望む
昭和十八年十月十九日 塾長小泉信三（ルビは編集部）
It read as follows:
Notice
When returning home for conscription examinations, serve your parents with devotion, so that when you later depart for the front and face decisive battles, you will have no regrets in your heart. After completing the inspection and returning to the university, apply yourself diligently once again to your studies, so that you may fulfill your student life in its entirety before entering military service.
October 19, 1943
President Koizumi Shinzo
小泉先生御自らの令息がすでに戦死されていた中でのこの一文は、今の私たちにも胸迫るものがあります。
小泉先生は、戦後、請われて今上陛下の若き皇太子時代を薫陶され、その高潔なお人柄は万人の敬うところでした。
Professor Koizumi’s words carry deep weight even today, knowing that his own son had already fallen in the war when he wrote this notice. After the war, Professor Koizumi was invited to guide the young Crown Prince, now His Majesty the Emperor, and his noble character won the respect of all.
それにしましても、葬儀とか年祭は、「法事は孫の正月」ということを聞いたことがありますが、日常は会うこともない親族をはじめ旧知の人に会い、昔の話、先祖、親のことなど尊い話を伺える貴重なときです。それもこれも祀られ祈られる霊様のなさしめることと思うとき、日頃この御祭りの大切さを説いている私自身が現実におかげをいただいた義母の葬儀でありました。
In any case, funerals and memorial services are precious occasions. I once heard the saying: “A memorial service is the grandchild’s New Year.” It is a time when we meet relatives and old acquaintances whom we seldom see in daily life, and hear treasured stories about the past, our ancestors, and our parents. When I think that such encounters are brought about by the spirits who are being honored and prayed for, I realize that even I, who often speak of the importance of these rites, was personally blessed through my mother-in-law’s funeral.
