未体験の光 | Light that you never saw

何もない空間に光だけがあっても、光は見えないにちがいない。照らされる物によってはじめて光の存在を知る。物はいわば、光の器だ。

人は何の器だろうか。人間の身体も物にちがいないので、人もまず光の器だ。デザイナーはその素材と色彩について考え、フィギュアスケーターはそれを動く器に変える。未体験の光を見せるために、かれらは技を磨きつづける。光だけではない。音も、風も、法もある。法とは仏法、覚めたる者 “buddha” の智慧だ。人よ、法の器となれ。そう諸仏は教えた。

万象これ月光にして、万象にあらず。

｜正法眼蔵第二十三・都機

煌々たる月夜。山も河も草も石も、もはや月光そのものと区別がつかない。

 

Light would not be visible if there were no objects to reflect it. By objects and only by objects, light can acquire its shape, color and presence.

What would it be that acquires its presence on us, human beings. One thing is light, of course, because our body is a kind of object. Fashion designers explore how light could express itself over our body with various materials and forms. Dancers try to discover how light could move with their motions. They seek to experience light that has never been experienced.

Likewise, dharma would not be real if there were no human beings who learn and practice it. By human beings dharma acquires its reality. Buddhism is about realizing dharma on each of us.

Dōgen remarks on moonlight, that may symbolize dharma:

Myriad objects are moonlight, not objects.

“The Moon” in Shōbōgenzō.

Imagine the moonlight and myriad objects it illuminates to become one.