第2018回「日日是好日」2026/7/17【毎日の管長日記と呼吸瞑想】｜ 臨済宗円覚寺派管長 横田南嶺老師

[We are looking for thumbnail photos] *Please see the bottom of the description. 　■ Abbot's Diary "Every Day is a Good Day" https://www.engakuji.or.jp/blog/40523/ 　　 ■ Voicy https://r.voicy.jp/ByKobXrgrVn 　 ■ note https://note.com/engakuji/n/n5072627c... 　 　 Finally, there is a breathing meditation to prepare the start of the day. ------------------------------------------------- The other day, I was learning about the Zen phrase "Every Day is a Good Day" at the training dojo. First, it can be read as "kōjitsu" or "kōnichi." This is a matter of reading habits, and the reading differs depending on the master. The previous abbot of Engakuji read it as "kōnichi," so I read it as "kōnichi." Therefore, I read it as "Nichinichi kore kōnichi." Reading it as "Nichinichi kore kōjitsu" is perfectly acceptable. This is a quote from Zen Master Yunmen. It appears in Zen Master Yunmen's collected sayings and in the *Blue Cliff Record*. It is also introduced as a Zen saying in the Zen Culture Research Institute's *Zen Starting from Characters*. The passage from the Yunmen Guanglu is translated into modern Japanese as follows: (Yunmen Wenyan) preached and said, "I won't ask you about anything before the fifteenth day. Tell me a single phrase about anything after the fifteenth day." (He) answered on behalf of the monks, "Every day is a lucky day." That's all there is to it. The question is, what is the fifteenth day? There seem to be various theories. Some say it's the day the rainy season retreat begins, or the day the rainy season retreat ends, or the day of Uposatha, etc. Master Yamada Mumon considers this day to be the day of release at the end of the rainy season retreat. At the end of the rainy season retreat, the monks all confess their sins together for the summer. Having confessed their mistakes, they no longer ask what sins they committed, but rather how they will live their lives from now on. And their own answer is, "Every day is a good day." Master Mumon explains this story. This is a quote from the Zen Culture Research Institute's "Mumon Complete Works, Volume 1." There was an old woman in front of the gate of Nanzenji Temple. Every time the head priest of Nanzenji Temple passed by, she would weep day and night. One day, the head priest stopped by her house and asked her: "Old woman, you're always crying. What makes you so sad that you cry?" "Please listen, Head Priest. I have two sons. One runs an umbrella shop in Sanjo, and the other runs a sandal shop in Gojo. When it rains, I think that the sandals in Gojo won't sell, and I can't help but cry. On sunny days, I think that the umbrellas in Sanjo won't sell either." And so, I can't help but feel sorry for her and cry. How can I not cry? The head priest, after hearing the old woman's plea, "Grandma, that's because you're taking it the wrong way. You can't take things so negatively in this world. On rainy days, rejoice, thinking that the Sanjo umbrellas will sell like they have wings. On sunny days, rejoice, thinking that the Gojo sandals will sell so well that customers will line up." After hearing this, the old woman stopped crying and lived happily every day," the story goes. This story is also frequently used. However, it's not a story where things can be resolved simply by changing your perspective. Master Muwen also explains, "This may be a parable about how life is all about perspective, but you can't attain the realization that every day is a good day just by being in a certain way. Someone like Yunmen wouldn't say something so foolish. Even if it's not an air raid, even if fireballs are falling from the sky, you have no choice but to accept every day as a good day. If a child on their way to kindergarten is run over and killed by a car right in front of you, you can't help but cry, but you have no choice but to accept that every day is a good day, even amidst your tears. Can you do that? That's what he says." In the *Blue Cliff Record*, Zen Master Yuanwu adds his own commentary to this phrase, "Every day is a good day." One of these is, "Whose home is without a bright moon and a gentle breeze?" I think this phrase can be a clue to understanding "Every day is a good day." What home is it that doesn't receive the bright moon and a gentle breeze? No, it means that the moon shines equally on every house, and the wind blows equally on every house. And there's another saying, "The sea god knows what is precious, but does not know its true value." This means that the sea god knows that treasures like coral and pearls in the sea are precious, but does not understand their true value. No matter what day it is, no matter what circumstances we are in, the sun rises and the moon shines. We often say that each day is irreplaceable, but I think we don't truly understand the preciousness of simply being alive for this one day. Master Asahina Sogen also explains, "Even the weather has its ups and downs; it rains, ...