養心塾（ようじんじゅく）受講の皆様へ
(To All Participants of Yōjinjuku)

平成19年6月号掲載(Published in the June 2007 issue)

　本誌別掲の通り4月20日から2泊3日間の日程で、神道山・養心塾“道のいろは”の第1期「いの講」が開講されました。受講生は“お日の出の郷（さと）・神道山”ならではの有り難い御日拝のおかげを受け、本部講師陣より“養心”のための講義を受けました。
　今号の「道ごころ」には、日拝式・大教殿ご拝に続いて行われた教主様の御親教の要旨を掲載いたします。（編集部）

As announced elsewhere in this magazine, Kurozumikyō launched a new training program called Yōjinjuku 養心塾 (literally “the seminar to nurture the heart”). The first session of the First Yōjinjuku, titled the “Lecture A” of “The ABCs of the Way” was held for three days from April 20. The participants received the blessing of the renowned Nippai 日拝(the sunrise worship) of “Shintōzan, the Village of Sunrise,” and attended lectures from the headquarters instructors for the cultivation of the heart (yōjin).
In this issue’s “Michigokoro,” we present the essential points of the Chief Patriarch’s direct teaching, delivered following Nippai and the worship service at Daikyōden 大教殿(the Main Shrine). (Editorial Office)

　皆様方には、神道山養心塾の第1期の受講生としておつとめなさること、まことに有り難く存じます。ようこそお参りお集いになりました。
　教祖神は「心をもって心を養え」と呼びかけられ
　姿なき心一つを養うはかしこき人の修行なるらん
　世のちりをはらい捨てたるわがこころ誠の中に長く遊ばん
とお詠（よ）みになって「心を養い」「誠」の道に生きる大事を説き示されました。

I am truly grateful for your service as the first participants of the Shintōzan Yōjinjuku. Welcome, and thank you for gathering here in worship.
The Divine Founder called out: “Nurture the heart with the heart.”
He composed these verses:
To cultivate the one unseen heart—this is the training of the wise.
Casting away the dust of the world, my heart shall dwell long in sincerity.
Through these words, he taught the great importance of “nurturing the heart” and living in the Way of makoto 誠 (sincerity).

　ここで心を養うということは、心をもって心を養うことで、私たちの心の芯（しん）、心の中の心ともいうべき心の神、すなわち大御神様のご分心を養うことこそお道信仰の正道、神髄であります。

To nurture the heart here means to nurture it with the heart itself. It is to cultivate the divine spirit within— Gobunshin ご分心 (each person’s portion of Amaterasu Ōmikami), the very core of our hearts, the “heart within the heart.” This is the true path of our faith, its essence.

　とりわけ、現実の世に生きるためには、知恵をしぼり、計画を立て臨機応変の利口さがなくては生きていけませんが、利口と賢さはちがうと思います。賢さとは善悪を基準に、心を中心にしたところに生まれるものです。特に団塊の世代といわれる世代をはじめ、これまで世の中の第一線で生きてこられた方々には、これからの人生をこそ心をもって心を養う賢い生き方が求められます。そして、天地とともに一日一瞬を楽しむ誠の積み重ねをしていただきたいと思います。

In living in the real world, we cannot do without cleverness: we must use wisdom, make plans, and adapt flexibly. Yet cleverness and true wisdom are not the same. Wisdom arises from the heart, with good and evil as its measure.
Especially for those of the so-called “baby-boom generation,” and for all who have lived on the front lines of society until now, what is required in the years ahead is precisely this wise way of life—nurturing the heart with the heart. I hope you will build up sincerity day by day, moment by moment, and enjoy each instant together with heaven and earth.

　心をもって心を養うために、私はここで3つのことを申し上げたく存じます。
　そのひとつは、申し上げるまでもないことですが、祈りです。およそ宗教という宗教で祈りのない宗教はないといっても過言でないと思いますが、教祖神は特に「祈りは日乗り」と仰（おっ）しゃって、御日拝の祈りのときをはじめとして、お日の出に現れる大御神様とひとつになるためのつとめが祈りであることを身をもって教え示されました。私たちにとって祈りのときは“お祓いを上げる”ときでもあります。大祓詞（おおはらえのことば）を下腹からの声で一言ひとこと歯切れよく唱えていきます。それは名のごとく心の祓いのときであり、ご分心の器、ご分心のご座所である心のクリーニングであります。一心にひたすらお祓いを上げていくところに心が清められ、同時にご分心が大御神様そしてご一体の教祖神に直結するときです。まさに日乗りなる祈りです。一本でも数多くお祓いを上げること、特に先に申し上げましたように下腹からの声でお祓いを上げることが大切です。

To nurture the heart with the heart, I would like to speak of three things.
The first, needless to say, is prayer. In truth, there is no religion without prayer. The Divine Founder especially declared: “Prayer is to join the sun (Inori wa hinori 祈りは日乗り).” He taught by his own example that prayer—beginning with the worship of the rising sun—is the practice of becoming one with Amaterasu Ōmikami who appears in the sunrise.
For us, the time of prayer is also the time of purification. We recite Ōharai no Kotoba 大祓詞 (Great Purification Prayer) with a firm voice from the lower abdomen, each word clear and distinct. As its name suggests, this is the purification of the heart, the cleansing of the vessel and dwelling place of Gobunshin. In the single-minded offering of purification, the heart is cleansed, and at the same time Gobunshin is directly connected with Amaterasu Ōmikami and with the Divine Founder, who is one with Amaterasu Ōmikami. This is truly prayer as daily joining the sun.
It is important to offer as many purifications as possible, and especially—as I have already said—to recite them with a voice rising from the lower abdomen.

　祈りは、大御神様、教祖神と直結するという意味でもっと大切な祈りは御陽気修行です。只今（ただいま）、ともに唱和しました「道の理（ことわり）」の一節「御陽気をいただきて下腹に納め、天地と共に気を養い」の、このところです。先ほどの日拝どころでの御日拝、これは教祖神ご自身が御日拝で重い病をおかげを受けて本復され、御日拝によって大御神様直授（じきじゅ）の天命を受けられて立教なった本教にとって、御日拝は本教の“いのち”であります。

Prayer is important because it directly connects us with Amaterasu Ōmikami and with the Divine Founder. Yet even more essential is the prayer of Goyōki Shugyō 御陽気修行 (the training to receive the sun’s divine energy). Just now, in our shared recitation of “The Principle of the Way,” we spoke the line: “Receive Goyōki 御陽気 (the sun’s divine energy), place it in the lower abdomen, and nurture the vital energy together with heaven and earth.”
This is the very heart of the matter. The Nippai (the sunrise worship) was the practice through which the Divine Founder himself was healed from grave illness, and it was through this Nippai that he received directly from Amaterasu Ōmikami the heavenly mission to establish our faith. For this reason, Nippai is truly the “life” of our religion.

　この御陽気修行(Goyōki Shugyō)は、物理的には朝の空気が下腹に入ってくるわけですが、精神的、信仰的にはお日の出のご陽徳、み光を呑（の）み込んで下腹に納め、もって大御神様、教祖の神様とひとつになっていこうとする祈りです。大御神様のご神徳、天地のいのちがわが五体にみなぎり、わが内なるものと通い合うのを体感するときです。「たしかに生きている。いや生かされている……」有り難くも心清々（すがすが）しくおだやかなとき、これが御陽気をいただいているときです。

This Goyōki Shugyō is, in physical terms, the morning air entering the lower abdomen. Yet spiritually and in faith, it is the prayer of receiving the sun’s divine virtue and light, swallowing it, and placing it in the lower abdomen, so as to become one with Amaterasu Ōmikami and with the Divine Founder.
It is the moment when the divine virtue of Amaterasu Ōmikami, the life of heaven and earth, fills our whole body and communicates with what is within us. Then we feel: “Truly I am alive—no, I am being given life…” In that grateful, clear, and serene state of heart, we are receiving Goyōki.

　御日拝におけるお祓いも祝詞（のりと）も、御陽気修行という“本番”の前の準備のときとさえ思います。それほど御陽気修行は重要なときなのです。心を養うことは、同時に身も養うことで、ご神徳を身体いっぱいにいただく御陽気修行は健康のためにもまことに尊い行（ぎょう）です。

Even Ōharai no Kotoba and the norito 祝詞 (ritual prayers) offered in Nippai may be thought of as preparation for the “main event,” which is Goyōki Shugyō. That is how important this practice is. To nurture the heart is at the same time to nurture the body, and Goyōki Shugyō, in which we receive the divine virtue into our whole being, is a truly precious discipline for health as well.

　その２として申し上げたいことは、おだやかな人間関係が心を養うときであるということです。現役で仕事の場にある方はどうしても損得が行動の基準となりがちで、丁々発止と火花が散るような、また陰湿な人間関係もあるでしょうが、日常生活の主たる時間はおだやかなものであって初めて幸せな生活といえましょう。

The second point I wish to make is that gentle human relationships are also times when the heart is nurtured. For those still active in the workplace, actions are often guided by gain and loss, with sharp clashes or even insidious relationships. Yet in daily life, only when the greater part of our time is peaceful can we truly call it a happy life.

　教祖神は、「人が茶碗を投げたら真綿で受けよ。そうすれば茶碗は割れないし、音すらしない」と御教えになり、「物を買うときは売手の心になって買え」とまで仰しゃって、人間関係の大切を説かれました。それはいずれも御身をもって教え示されたもので「教祖様の御逸話（ごいつわ）」（日新社刊）に詳しいですが、このようにつとめるところに心の養いがあるのです。

The Divine Founder taught: “If someone throws a teacup at you, catch it with soft cotton. Then the cup will not break, nor will it even make a sound.” He also said: “When buying something, take on the heart of the seller.” In this way he emphasized the importance of human relationships. These teachings, demonstrated through his own life, are recorded in detail in Anecdotes of the Divine Founder (published by Nisshinsha). It is precisely in practicing such ways that the heart is nurtured.

　3つめは、まさに「親を大切に、先祖を敬おう」で、これはお互いの心の根を養うことです。ご存じのようにここ十数年、神道山では“深根（しんこん）”（直根（ちょっこん）ともいう）の切られていないポット苗を皆様に植えていただいて、たくましくも美事（みごと）な緑の山になってまいりました。この深根は、樹木の生命線なのです。人間における深根、それは親、先祖につながる生命の流れです。今日この流れが切れて、いわば根なし草、根ぐされしたような人のなんと多いことでしょう。

The third point is, indeed, “Cherish your parents, revere your ancestors.” This is to nurture the roots of our hearts. As you know, for more than ten years on Shintōzan, everyone has planted seedlings with “deep roots” (shinkon, also called chokkon) that have not been cut. These have grown into a vigorous and splendid green mountain. Deep roots are the lifeline of trees. For human beings, deep roots are the flow of life that connects us to parents and ancestors. Today, how many people have lost this flow—becoming like rootless weeds, or like trees whose roots have rotted away.

　皆様、親思いの人であって下さい。亡くなられたおじい様おばあ様の霊祭、仏教における法要を大切にして下さい。親子兄弟姉妹が、それぞれの連れ合い、子や孫を連れて集い霊前に額（ぬか）ずき、教会所の先生、あるいはご住職とともに拝んでご先祖様に感謝の誠を捧（ささ）げるのです。そして直会（なおらい）としての会食をともにし、年長者が、おじい様、おばあ様のことについて語るのです。これは年輩の人はもとより若い人、幼い人へも大きな心の根を培うこととなります。

Therefore, I ask you: be people who think of your parents. Treasure the memorial services for your departed grandparents, whether in the form of Shintō rites or Buddhist observances. Let parents, children, brothers, sisters, together with their spouses, children, and grandchildren, gather before the spirits, bow in reverence, and offer gratitude with the teachers of the church or the temple priests. Then share a meal as the naorai, and let the elders speak of the grandparents. This nurtures deep roots in the hearts not only of the older generation, but also of the young and even the very small.

　どうぞ皆様、この養心塾を通じてあなた方ご自身の心を養うことの大事を再確認され、同時に周囲の方々をも啓発する人になっていただきたく願います。

Through this Yōjinjuku, I hope you will reaffirm the importance of nurturing your own hearts, and at the same time become people who inspire and enlighten those around you.