秋風歩いても歩いても
aki kaze aruite mo aruite mo
autumn wind
still walking
still walking
—Santoka
(Tr. David LaSpina)
(Nikko in Autumn by Shotei Takahashi)
Santoka was once asked "Where is the Way?"
He replied, "Under your feet."
The way, 道, dou in Japanese, but perhaps better known to us in the West by it's Chinese reading Tao, is the word in Eastern religions used to give name to the unnameable, describe the indescribable. As the Tao Te Ching tells us:
The tao that can be spoken of
is not the Eternal Tao.
The name that can be given
is not the Eternal Name.
The basic idea is that reality is just too complex to be described in words, so we use the word Tao as a stand-in to refer to this impossibility of being described.
As a Zen monk, Santoka was very familiar with the idea of the Tao. Knowing that, it is little surprise he would be asked about it. His response is both funny (In addition to the Eternal Tao, 道 also means "road") and is typical of a Zen master, truth but given in such a way as to suddenly redirect the mind and give an unexpected twist, similar to the best koans. Just as a skilled chiropractor might use a sudden twist of one's neck to release stress, a skilled zennie might use a sudden twist in words to bypass logical thought by momentarily confusing, perhaps giving a hint of true understanding.
It brings to mind a story about Hotei (Budai in Chinese), colorfully known in the West as The Laughing Buddha:
One day Hotei ambled into town, hunched under the weight of the bag on his shoulder. A resident saw him and went over and asked him, "Holiness, what is enlightenment like?"
Hotei smiled, wordlessly put his sack down and stood up straight.
"Oh I see I see!" The man exclaimed. "My next question then is: What is after enlightenment?"
Hotei's grin grew even more. He picked up his bag, threw it back over his shoulder, bent under the weight, and wandered off.
Santoka wandered over 40,000 km in his life, crisscrossing Japan, begging, drinking sake, writing his haiku, and occasionally giving cryptic answers to questions.
❦
(note: translation of the Tao te Ching is my own.)
| Don't miss other great haiku in the Haiku of Japan series! |
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 | David LaSpina is an American photographer lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time. More? |
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