Reflections in the woods of Ikutajinja

Here on the soils of Kobe, Dou-jou retells her story. In the cool autumn breeze, she remembers Kumagae Yoshitsune who slained the 16 year old samurai Atsumori. This was the legendary tale of violence and war – yet offering a glimpse to a single possibility – of compassion. An honest account of humanity – of terror – surely not a justification to violence – but of man’s constant failure to interact with dou-jou. There are similar stories elsewhere.

Kumagae remembered his own son. Wept and offered prayers for Atsumori. It marked the beginning of his journey to solitary contemplation.

 

Reading from Heike Monogatari:

 

祗園精舎の鐘の声、諸行無常の響きあり。
娑羅双樹の花の色、盛者必衰の理をあらわす。
おごれる人も久しからず、唯春の夜の夢のごとし。
たけき者も遂にはほろびぬ、偏に風の前の塵に同じ。

The sound of the Gion Shōja bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sāla flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. The proud do not endure, they are like a dream on a spring night; the mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind.