Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Report Share Posted September 15, 2006 P: Excellent post! Thanks On Sep 15, 2006, at 5:35 AM, Insight wrote: > > > Oh! the stillness - > the voices of the cicadas > penetrating the rocks. > > > Here the cicadas, noisy in one sense, are > with their voices revealing the voicelessness of the > silent whole of the landscape. As the cicadas' chorus, > like showers, penetrate the rocks, so the stillness of the > place where he stands sinks deep into the heart of Basho. > There he stands still, and does not move an inch. Even > the slightest movement on his part would make the > cicadas stop at once. > > Thus the hearer participates in the stillness. One's > hearing a bird or a cicada, and one's existing there > as a bird or a cicada, are one and the same thing, since > in the pure experience the reality of a thing includes one's > realization of it. > > One might think the bird remains the same, both before > and after the hearer's presence at the place, thus reducing > the feeling of stillness to his private emotion. But there > is no way of meeting the bird as an individuum communicating > to you the mountain-stillness, nor of meeting anyone whom > you may address " thou. " For the compassionate relationship > of " I " and " Thou " always implies a mutual participation in > being. The bird participates in the stillness of the mountains; > and the hearer participates in meeting the bird's cry and the > mountains silence. > > The " objective " way of seeing and hearing does not reveal > the true nature of the thing seen or heard. It is rather by > self-negation on both the side of the subject and the object > that true communication between them is established. On > the one hand, the hearing of a voice as an isolated sound > is to be negated and on the other hand, the apparent objective > being of the bird is also negated. Only in this way, the > voice of stillness will be realized both on the side of the subject > and object. Thus a poet opens his eyes in the " place " > where the bird he hears is transfigured, and the bird on > its part gets its living environment wherein to fly and sing > as a true individuum. The poet and the bird, " I " and " Thou, " > are joined on the same spot, to exchange words of silence, > whereby the stillness of the whole atmosphere is enhanced > the more. And now the stillness widens its expanse > more and more - into a locus of Nothingness. > > Therefore, the appreciation of the poem may be made > easier by repeating the first lines after the last. Thus: > > Oh! the stillness - > the voices of the cicadas > pentrating the rock; > Oh! the stillness! > > The old pond - > a frog jumps in; > the water sounds- > The old pond! > > The description of the scene is itself part of the reality; > the poet himself belongs to the activity of the locus > of Nothingness. On one hand the poet who sees and > describes the scene belongs to the scene in its entirety: > the whole description is done from within the scene itself. > He himself is the point of self- reflection of the world within > itself, in the Stillness in which he whole-heartedly participates. > On the other hand, stillness is there in contrast with an > action in which the poet himself participates. The the stillness > of the old pond is contrasted with the motion of the frog > jumping in. But at the same time, the stillness and action > work on each other and out of their interaction and > interrelation in the deepest dimensions comes the > " sound of stillness " , the sound of the still water prevailing > ripple by ripple over the whole length and breadth of > the pond as a wave of voiceless voice. > > In order to hear a bird or cicada as a voiceless voice of the mountain, > the ordinary way of hearing and seeing is first to be negated, so that > one may participate in the Stillness of the mountains by returning > to the depth of one's own being. But, even if one could > apprehend the voiceless voice of the bird, thus to be overwhelmed by > it- > even so, if one could not make a poem to describe it, one's > understanding of the Stillness would not be complete. Therefore, > the distinction of subject and object should be negated > to enable one to return to the common ground of absolute negativity, > to Nothingness. And then from there, from the profoundity of the > negation, one will be able to let the thing appoear in absolute > Stillness, in which both subject and object stand as they really > and truly are. - Nishitani > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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