祓い
(Harai 祓い（Purification）)
道ごころ 平成25年6月号掲載(Published in June 2013 issue)
「祓いは神道(しんとう)の首教(しゅきょう)なり」との御教(みおし)えのように、全国の神社において、いわんや私どもの日々の御神前のつとめ、祈り、祭典においても、神事(しんじ)のほとんどが祓いであると申しても過言ではありません。御祭りのときなど、まず「祓(はらえの)詞(ことば)」の奏上に始まり「大麻(おおぬさ)行事、塩水(えんすい)行事」そして「大(おお)祓(はらえの)詞(ことば)」の唱和と、祓いの時が重ねられます。
As the Divine Founder teaches “Harai 祓い (Purification) is the very essence of Shinto,”indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that almost all Shinto rituals—whether our daily service before the divine presence, prayers, or festivals—are acts of purification. At festivals, for example, everything begins with the recitation of Harae no Kotoba 祓詞 (Purification Prayer), followed by the ritual of the sacred wand (Ōnusa 大麻), the sprinkling of salt water, and then the chanting of Ōharae no Kotoba 大祓詞 (Great Purification Prayer). Thus, moments of purification are repeated and layered throughout the ceremonies.
一方、日常生活におきましても祓いの大切は強く訴えられてきました。「心の祓い」、「常祓(じょう ばら)い」の大事です。「腹を立て物を苦にする事」をはじめ、心の「罪けがれ」は、今日(こん にち)のストレスと称される心の問題も含めて際限がありません。ここに、心身の健康のためにも祓いの大切なことが分かります。
In daily life too, the importance of purification has been strongly emphasized. The purification of the heart and the practice of constant purification (jōbarai 常祓い) are essential. Anger, worry, and the countless “sins and impurities” of the heart—including what today is called stress—are without limit. This shows how vital purification is for maintaining the health of both mind and body.
日常の心の祓いは、次の二つの御神詠の実践につとめることです。
The daily purification of the heart is practiced by living according to two sacred poems of the Divine Founder:
有り難きことのみ思え人はただ
きょうのとうとき今の心の
Think only of what is truly blessed, O people, and keep today’s precious heart of the present.
よきことはつとめてもみな取り給え
あしきことをばはらい給えよ
これみな心の祓いなり
Strive to take hold of all that is good; purify and remove what is evil.
This is all the purification of the heart.
いずれも教祖神のご体験から生まれた御歌ですが、特に「有り難きことのみ思え」は、お若い頃、重症の肺結核の御身で最期(さいご)のお別れにとのお思いで御日拝をなさって御心(みこころ)に明かりが入り、明日をも知れない病床で休みなくつとめられた心の用い方が生々しく詠まれている御神詠です。ここにご自身がおかげをいただかれる心の器ができていったのです。実に、切れば血がほとばしるような御神詠です。
Both of these sacred poems arose from the Divine Founder’s own life. In particular, “Think only of what is truly blessed” was composed when, as a young man suffering from severe tuberculosis and believing the end was near, he continued Nippai 日拝 (the sunrise worship). In that moment, light entered his heart, and even while confined to a sickbed with no certainty of tomorrow, he practiced unceasing devotion. This poem vividly expresses how he used his heart, shaping within himself the vessel to receive divine grace. Truly, it is a sacred verse that feels as if, when cut, living blood would flow forth.
「よきことは」の御歌は、とかく“これさえなければ……”と自分に都合の悪いことを取り除くことに心が向きがちな私たちですが、いわばマイナスの持つ吸引力とも言えるものにとらわれて、大切な「よきこと」と言える嬉(うれ)しいこと、喜びの数々さらには有り難いことを見逃(のが)しがちな私たちへのご注意です。「よきことはつとめてもみな取り給え」と仰(おっ)しゃって“悪(あ)しきことをつとめ皆”と言われていないところに注目していただきたく思います。それは対人関係においてもしかりで、出会う人の「よきこと」を認め称(たた)える日々を目指してまいりましょう。そして特に心掛けるところは、「笑いは祓いなり」の御教えです。日頃の笑顔はもとより高笑いといわれるような笑いは、大きな心の祓いとなります。
The sacred poem “Strive to take hold of all that is good” reminds us that we often focus on removing whatever seems inconvenient—thinking “if only this were not here…”. In doing so, we become trapped by the negative pull of such thoughts and overlook the many blessings, joys, and truly grateful things around us. The Founder’s words draw our attention to this: he says “Strive to take hold of all that is good” but does not say “Strive for all that is evil.”
This is also true in human relationships. Let us aim each day to recognize and praise the “good” in those we meet. Above all, we should remember the teaching: “Laughter is purification.” Smiles in daily life, and even hearty laughter, become a great purification of the heart.
また「祓い」のもうひとつ忘れてはならないことは、習慣的にさらに惰性的にさえなりがちな日常生活から離れて、まさに祓われた目で物を見、既成の考えを祓って真っさらな心で感じ考えることの大切さです。
Another point we must not forget about harai (purification) is the importance of stepping away from daily life, which so easily becomes habitual or even dull. It means seeing with purified eyes, casting off fixed ideas, and thinking and feeling with a heart made completely fresh and new.
このことについて、ここにあらためてお知らせしたく思います。
かねて親しくしています美術家高橋秀・藤田桜ご夫妻が、イタリア・ローマでの４０年余の生活を引き払って帰国して、倉敷市玉島の沙美(さみ)海岸に住まうようになって１０年になります。ここで様々(さまざま)な美術活動を展開されていますが、中でも多額の資金を提供しての「秀桜(しゅうおう)留学基金」の創設は実に奇特なことで、毎年公募して選ばれた３人の若き美術家たちが一年間海外に送り出されています。これは高橋画伯夫妻の実体験に基づくもので、秀氏が若き日、安井賞という文学界における芥川賞に匹敵する大きな賞を受けながら、その栄誉に甘んじることなく直ちにイタリアに出発し、しかも画家としての生命とも言える絵筆を一年間一切持たなかった体験がひとつの大きな元となっています。
I wish to share this with you. My close friends, the artists Mr. Takahashi Shū and Mrs. Fujita Sakura, returned to Japan ten years ago after more than forty years of life in Rome, Italy. They now reside at the Sami coast in Tamashima, Kurashiki City, where they have engaged in many artistic activities. Among these, the creation of the Shūō Study Abroad Fund, established with their own substantial resources, is truly extraordinary. Each year, three young artists are selected through open applications and sent overseas for one year.
This initiative is rooted in Takahashi’s own experience. In his youth, after receiving the Yasui Prize—an honor in the art world comparable to the Akutagawa Prize in literature—he did not rest on that achievement but immediately departed for Italy. Remarkably, for an entire year he did not touch a paintbrush, the very lifeline of a painter. That experience became one of the great foundations of this fund.
絵を画かないという画家としての飢餓(きが)状態に自らを追い込むことによって、一年の後、肚(はら)の底から噴き出るような生命感あふれる作品が生まれることとなりました。
By deliberately driving himself into a kind of “hunger state” as a painter—choosing not to paint for an entire year—he later produced works overflowing with vitality, as if life itself burst forth from the depths of his being.
同時に、お二人は日本を離れてわが国の真の良さ、尊さを強く感じ取られたのでした。それは、昔から言われる“親孝行したいときには親はなし”また“また”病気になって健康の有り難みを知る”にも似た、日本を離れた歳月が教えてくれる日本の素晴らしさでした。
At the same time, the couple, having lived away from Japan, came to feel deeply the true goodness and preciousness of their homeland. It was like the old sayings: “When you wish to be filial, your parents are no longer there,” or “Only when you fall ill do you realize the blessing of health.” In the same way, the years spent abroad taught them the greatness of Japan.
今年で７回目となるこの留学制度は今まで２０名の若き美術家を送り出し、その一年間は字のごとく“学を留(とど)め”て自らの内に湧き出るものを待つ時間ともなっているようですし、一様に、わが国を想(おも)う心を強くして帰って来ています。
This study-abroad program, now in its seventh year, has already sent twenty young artists overseas. Their year abroad becomes, in the truest sense, a time to “hold back study” and wait for what wells up naturally from within. Without exception, they return with a deepened love for Japan.
秀氏は、その授賞式の度ごとに海外に出る若き美術家に、「絵筆を持たずに遊んで来い」、「美術家の感性でもって日本を感じて来い」とはなむけの言葉を送っています。
At each award ceremony, Mr. Takahashi sends them off with words of encouragement: “Play around without taking up the paintbrush. With the sensibility of an artist, feel Japan.”
よくお話しすることですが、食事をおいしく食べるためにはその食べ物の美味なることもさることながら、食事をする本人のおなかが減っていることが大切です。空腹感こそ最高においしくいただけるために必須です。祓われた心というのはこの空腹感にも似ていないでしょうか。自らを空っぽにしてまさに無心無我のときの湧き上がるような感動、感激こそ尊い心です。真に生きている、生かされているという感謝の思いが満ちてきて、その自分にまた感動することです。
I often explain it this way: to enjoy food deliciously, it is not only the quality of the food that matters, but also that the person eating is truly hungry. Hunger itself is essential for the greatest taste. In the same way, a purified heart is like this hunger. When one empties oneself, in the state of no-mind and selflessness, the rising waves of emotion and inspiration are the most precious. Gratitude for truly living, for being sustained, fills the heart—and one is moved even by oneself.
御教語の「我を離れよ」は、こういうことをも教えられているように思います。
The Divine Founder’s teaching, “Leave the self behind,” seems to speak to this very point.
いよいよ立教二百年の年を半年後に控えた今日、「黒住の袋に入るな」との教祖神のご忠告をかみしめつつ、「根をしめて風に従う柳かな」の御教えのごとく、二百年の深根の上に立って、時代の風という風に逆らうことなく、この風をほしいままにするくらいの気概をもって立教二百年を迎えたく切望します。
Now, with only half a year remaining before the bicentennial of the founding of Kurozumikyō, I deeply reflect on the Divine Founder’s admonition, “Do not be trapped in the Kurozumi bag.”
As in the teaching, “Like the willow that sets its roots firm and bends with the wind,” I wish to stand upon the deep roots of two hundred years, not resisting the winds of the times but facing them with the spirit of mastering them. With such resolve, I long to welcome the bicentennial.
そのためにも、大きな「祓い」を自らに課して日々を重ねてまいる所存です。
For that very purpose, I commit myself to imposing upon my own life a great purification, day by day.
