道元禅師顕彰碑は鎌倉街道、鶴岡八幡宮の休憩所あたりにあり、樹々に囲まれた美しい石碑に「只管打座」と刻まれています。建ったのは確か10年程前と記憶しています。

道元禅師顕彰碑。鎌倉街道に面しています。ちょうど巨福呂坂に向かって曲がるあたりです。

道元禅師は鎌倉時代初期に活躍し、鎌倉幕府第５代執権北条時頼や波多野義重の招きに応じて1247年（宝治元年）11月から1248年（宝治２年）３月までの約半年間、鎌倉に下向し教化を行いました。

鎌倉では半年の教化活動のみであるため、直接鎌倉には曹洞宗の寺院は少なく、浄明寺の松久禅師、大船の大船観音寺、黙山寺、龍宝寺、逗子の岩殿寺と数えるほどです。

1999年に石井恭二さんの正法眼蔵現代語訳 全５巻が河出書房新社から発行され、これがなかなか読みやすく初版にて買い揃えました。数年経ち、同書をちょうど読みなおしていた頃に、この顕彰碑に気がついたためよく覚えています。その頃、筑摩書房から森本和夫さんの『デリダから道元へ』も発行され、これも記憶に残る一冊でした。

曹洞宗の開祖道元（1200-1253）は、鎌倉時代初期に活躍した禅僧。座禅そのものが仏であるとし、只管打座（ただひたすらに座禅に打ち込むこと）、修証一等（無限の修行を続けること）の禅を追求しました。鎌倉幕府の評定衆であった波多野義重らの招きにより越前に永平寺を開きます。

道元は源頼朝死去の翌年、1200年（正治２年）に村上源氏の総本家である京都の久我（こが）家に生まれ、1214年（健保２年）天台座主公円について出家し、園城寺、源頼家創建による建仁寺にて修行の後、1223年（貞応２年）博多から南宋に渡り諸山を巡ります。

1233年（天福元年）京都に興聖寺を開きますが、比叡山からの弾圧を受け、1243年（寛元元年）、幕府評定衆を務めた波多野義重の招きにより越前に入ります。この時、佐々木信綱の領地である朽木（滋賀県湖西）に立ち寄っています。その後1244年（寛元２年）越前に大佛寺を開き、1246年（寛元４年）に永平寺に改めました。

その後、鎌倉での教化を行いましたが、これは約半年にとどまり、1253年（建長５年）永平寺の貫首を弟子に譲り京都にて没します。享年54歳でした。

道元禅師顕彰碑。説明も重厚な石碑に刻まれています。

道元の名著『正法眼蔵』は1231年から示寂する1253年にかけて書き続けられ、全87巻にも及ぶ大著です。当時ほとんどの仏教書は漢文で書かれていましたが、道元は日本語かなにて著し正しい修行の助けとしています。最も重要な仏教書の一つとして数々の版、現代語訳が出版されています。世界の思想界にも影響を与えており、フランスの現代思想家ジャック・デリダやハイデッガーの道元禅師への傾倒は知られるところです。

大著『正法眼蔵』は出家者のためのものであり、明治になって在家信者向けに修証義（しゅしょうぎ）という抜粋本がつくられました。全５章からなるわかりやすいものであり、この機会に道元禅師の思想に触れようと思うなら最適のものといえます。※インターネットにて読むことができます（http://teishoin.net/sutra/501.html）。

説明板の英語文

道元禅師顕彰碑。英語版の説明もあります。※本文に全文掲載しました。

Zen Master Dogen’s Mission Memorial

“About Dogen And His Mission To Kamakura”

The Great Abbot.Zen Master Dogen was born in 1200.Long before his teens he was, initially due to his mother’s death,awakened to uncertain and transitory nature of life in mortality and consequently entered the monkhood at the age of 13.

Gradually he come to have a firm aim of more questing for not only his own self-being but also all the self -beings themselves in the mutable cosmos.At the age of 24 he managed to go to China,which was in those days a centre of formal Zen training,and devoted himself entirely to true Zen practice luckily under strict yet courteous guidance of The Righteous Abbot,Zen Master Nyojo at Mt.Tendo’S Zen monastery.No sooner had he experienced “dropping off both body and mind(SHINJIN-DATZURAKU)” one night during the sitting session at the meditation hall than he was thrown into the spheres of enlightenment, grasping the true way of the Buddha’s teachings.

Back home to Nippon in 1228, he first stayed at ken-ninji temple for some three years and then founded his first independent Zen temple, Kosho-horinji, in Uji, close to Kyoto and formed a small pursuing group of followers for the first time.

In 1243 Dogen was driven, for some reason or other, to moved to Shii-no-sho in Echizen Province(now Fukui Pref), followed by a somewhat bigger group of his deciples and followers for the purpose of establishing some mountain retreat monasteries.Kindheartedly offered land and lots of helps for this mission by Yoshishige-Hatano, a samurai who was one of his most devoted lay followers, Dogen thus founded Eiheiji, which later disciples one of the two head monasteries of Soto Zen School in Nippon, where he devoted himself thoroughly to training his deciples in the perfection of Zen practice in every action of daily life. That is; he was to transmit the true Buddhist Dharma teachings to Nippon and he himself, therefore, is regarded as the very first forerunner of Soto Zen School in Nippon.

He died on Sep.29.1253, leaving behind a number of noted volumes on Buddhist teachings including SHOHOGENZO “ The Treasury of the Eyes to see truly the Cosmic Laws “ FUKANZAZENGI”, The General Promotion of the Principles of Zazen”, EIHEIKOROKU “ The General Observations upon the True Laws by Zen Master Dogen”.

The Zen Master Dogen’s authentic Zen has been scrupulously observed by his successors.Even today, all pursuers, from priests and monks down to lay followers, devote themselves to his practice of “ SHIKANTAZA 只管打座(just sitting only in its profound sense)”, which was advocated by him not as a means for enlightenment but as enlightment itself.

This is a short sketch of his lifetime deeds. During his serene yet zealous monastic life at Eiheiji, only once and away, Dogen was interrupted by a visit to Kamakura. The reasons and purposes of that journey are not clear and untraceable by now, and seem to have vanished far into the mist of the history , becoming almost enigma to us,——-he himself was necessitated to visit, together with a few disciples and other followers, to Kamakura, centre of the secular authority then. And there he seems, by our limited inference, to have spent most of his time, a little more than half a year(1247-48), in Kamakura and its vicinities, in making a fervent and earnest attempt to transmit the Buddha Shakyamuni’s true teachings to those who asked for them. He conducted this mission; in fact, he did it simply in a sincere and serene state of mind, probably strange to those who hear this, though. Because it seems that it was not an utterly willing thing to do for him to go down to Kamakura, only not to nestle up to secular authorities even though for the name of his Eiheiji monastery’s benefits.

Finally we would be so honoured and privileged to present you this rather well-known waka, Nippon traditional 31–syllable poem, one of those which were supposedly composed by Dogen while here in Kamakura and handed down to us, in our hands such as a precious parting gift, which reads as follows;

In conclusion;

In spring – the blossoms,

in summer – the cuckoo,

in autumn – the moon,

in winter – the snow;

All is in the pure and clear, that’s it.

※英語の説明板より引用。

道元禅師顕彰碑フォトギャラリー

道元禅師顕彰碑。「只管打座」の文字が刻まれた美しい石碑。目を引きます。

道元禅師顕彰碑。史跡として整備されています。

道元禅師顕彰碑。説明も重厚な石碑に刻まれています。

道元禅師顕彰碑。英語版の説明もあります。※本文に全文掲載しました。

道元禅師顕彰碑。鎌倉街道に面しています。ちょうど巨福呂坂に向かって曲がるあたりです。