Japan Discovery Zen words is the best word ”年々歳々花相似 Nennen saisai hana ainitari Nennen saisai hito onazikarazu”
Flowers bloom the same way every year, but people grow older every year.
Zen is difficult. Zen word is also difficult. That’s why I interpret it as I please. I think that’s fine. Enou Zenji, Dogen Zenji, Ikkyu-san, and Ryokan-san are likely to say, “That’s fine, that’s fine. Let it be."
Today’s Zen word is “Nennen saisai hana ainitari Nennen saisai hito onazikarazu" It means “Flowers bloom the same way every year, but people do not the same"
Flowers bloom the same way every year, but people grow older every year.
The cherry blossom season has come again. Even as the world changes, the cherry blossoms bloom the same every year. The flowers bloom quietly on those who suffer from disasters and wars, and on those who live in peace. Whether they are suffering or happy, when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, they all look up to see the flowers. That alone makes the flowers wonderful.
“The flowers are the same every year, but the people are different every year" is a line from the fourth stanza of the Tang Dynasty poem “In Place of the Sad White-Toed Old Man" by Liu Tingzhi. The flowers bloom the same every year, but the people who look at them grow older with each passing year. This poem laments the impermanence of life, in which nature does not change but people grow old quickly.
As Tingzhi wrote, life is short and fleeting compared to the eternity of nature. Regardless of such people’s thoughts, the flowers bloom to the best of their ability. Rather than lamenting old age, I would like to rejoice in the fact that I was able to see the same flowers again.
Zen is difficult, you just have to feel it.
“D.T. Suzuki Zen" (English version) was written in English to introduce Zen to foreign countries. This book was translated into Japanese again as “D.T. Suzuki Zen" (Chikuma Shobo). I thought it would be easy to understand because it was translated from English, but it was as difficult as a huge mountain, and I couldn’t get through it at all. The style is old and the content is difficult. Even if you think you understand it, you lose it quickly. It’s like a fish that you are about to grab and it slips away. It’s exactly like a “picture of catching a catfish with a gourd".
The purpose of Zen is to attain enlightenment. When you attain enlightenment, you can know your true self. If you can understand your true self, your mind will be freed from various constraints. The only way to attain enlightenment is through training. That’s why Zen monks continue their rigorous training.
If you try to understand your true self through intellect, your true self and the intellect that tries to understand you will exist separately and separately. That does not mean you know your true self. Rather than understanding, essence and intellect must become one.
But this is difficult to understand. I feel like I understand, but still don’t understand. Zen monks undergo rigorous training to attain enlightenment. It is natural that ordinary people cannot attain enlightenment without doing anything. Wouldn’t it be better to interpret Zen in your own way and apply it to your life?
Here is a Zen question and answer.
A monk asks his teacher
What kind of person is the person before experiencing enlightenment?
It ’s the same ordinary person as us.
So what about after enlightenment?
His head is full of ash and his face is muddy
What does that mean after all
It’s just that.
Hmmm, what is it.