‘Pure mature faith’ — a brief thought by Tsunashima Ryōsen — being a holding post for the month of August

「神と偕にたのしみ神と偕にはたらく」 
Enjoying together with God, and working together with God
Calligraphy by Tsunashima Ryōsen (Source)

 

A little while ago, whilst doing some general background research into Japanese religion in the Meiji (1868–1912) and Taishō (1912–1926) eras, I was wondering what I might publish here as a short holding post for August whilst I am on annual leave.

It was in the midst of that research, that I came across the following short thought by Tsunashima Ryōsen, whose important 1905 work, ‘My [Spiritual] Experiment of Seeing God’, I translated last year. Given that my own winding journey of faith into free-religion has given me an equal passion for the teachings of Christ and those of Hōnen and Shinran, I felt that Tsunashima’s reflection was the perfect piece to leave you with for the summer.

So, thank you for reading and supporting me and my work, both in uncovering some of the forgotten figures of free-religion (jiyū shūkyō), and as a free-religious minister in Cambridge. I am most grateful to you all, and wish you a happy, creative and fruitful summer.

 

In gassho, as always,

 

Andrew 

‘Pure mature faith’ by Tsunashima Ryōsen

The deeper one penetrates into the profound truth of faith, the simpler and more luminously transparent it becomes. Gathering into itself all the meaning of heaven, earth, and human life in a state of serene, crystalline wholeness, condensing into a single point of light that shines with the spirit of the divine law—surely this is the very consummation of faith. Christ said, ‘The Father is in me, and I am in the Father.’ Hōnen and Shinran said, ‘Namu Amida Butsu.’ Was it not this single, simple faith that, for them, was the unhindered truth encompassing all things?

純熟の信仰

信仰の事、その深き消息に分け入るほど、倍々單純化し來たり、玲瓏透徹し來たる。天地人生の一切の意義を萃めて、湛然渾然、凝つて寸光帝則の靈と輝けるもの、正さしく信仰の極致乎。基督は曰く「父吾れに居り、吾れ父に居る」と。法然、親鸞は曰く「南無阿彌陀佛」と。唯だこの一個單純の信仰、これ即ち彼等にありて一切無碍の眞理なりしにあらずや。

Source: Tsunashima Ryōsen (綱島梁川). 梁川全集 別集 (回光録・雑篇) Ryōsen Zenshū: Besshū [The Complete Works of Ryōsen: Supplementary Volume (The Record of Reflected Light and Miscellaneous Pieces)]. Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 1925 (Taishō 14). National Diet Library Digital Collection, https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/969995.