14-016
喜應 (日本 山梨県)
Yoshimasa (Yamanashi, JAPAN)
本人が書いた文／Original text／本人原文／본인이 쓴 글
☆

喜應です。18歳です。ぼくの家は静岡県にあるお寺で、父はお坊さんです。山梨県にある身延山高校という日蓮宗系の高校で3年間、寄宿生活を送りながらお坊さんになるための勉強をしました。
My name is Yoshimasa. I am 18 years old. I live in a temple in Shizuoka prefecture where my father is a priest. I spent three years at Minobusan High School, a boarding school located in Yamanashi prefecture run by the Nichiren sect of Buddhism, in order to study to become a priest.
☆

家族：ぼくの父はただ法要をやるのではなく、お寺のいろいろな行事で檀家さんといっしょに歌を歌ったり、料理を作っておもてなしをしたりして楽しんでいます。ぼくは、そんな父の姿にあこがれてお坊さんになろうと思ったんだと思います。
My family. When the temple parishioners gather for a temple function, my father does a lot more than just conduct the service. He tries to get everyone to have a good time by singing songs with them and serving them food he cooks himself. I think my admiration for my father is what made me decide to become a priest.
☆

授業：身延山高校は、日蓮宗総本山久遠寺という由緒ある寺によって設置された700年以上の歴史を持つ普通科の高校です。一学年約20人という小さい学校です。全国各地からやってきた僧侶の卵たちが、久遠寺や周辺の寺で寄宿、修行しながら学校に通っています。学校の授業は、普通の高校の授業のほかに、仏教知識を学ぶ授業があります。
During class. Minobusan High School was established over seven hundred years ago by Kuonji, a temple with a long and distinguished history that stands at the head of all the temples belonging to the Nichiren sect of Buddhism. The school is small and has only about twenty students per year. Future priests from all over Japan attend classes here while boarding and training at Kuonji or other temples nearby. Aside from the regular high school curriculum, we also take classes on Buddhism.
☆

朝の勤行：1時間半から2時間の間、ずっと正座していなくてはなりません。最初は5分も持たないのですが、少しずつ時間を延ばしていって、全部できるようになるのに1ヵ月以上かかります。
Morning prayers. We must sit in formal kneeling position (seiza) for the hour and a half to two hours the service lasts. At first none of us could stay in this position for even five minutes, but we slowly got accustomed to sitting for longer and longer periods of time. It takes over a month to be able to sit correctly through the whole service.
竜笛：クラブ活動として、茶道やダンス、バスケットボールなどをしました。お寺の行事に必要な雅楽もとりました。
Playing ryuteki, a horizontal flute made of bamboo. At school I joined the tea ceremony, dance, and basketball clubs. I also studied gagaku music, since it is a required part of Buddhist temple ceremonies.
コンビニ：休みは1ヵ月か2ヵ月に1回か2回くらい。その日は、CDを買ったり、ボーリングやカラオケに行ったりしていました。外出することはめったにないので、久しぶりに出かけるときはおしゃれをしていました。
At the convenience store. We had one or two days off every one to two months. On those days we went out to do things like buying CDs, going bowling or singing karaoke. Since I had very little chance to go out, I always made sure to look nice whenever I went shopping or for karaoke.
法要：将来は、法要のときに自分で料理を作って檀家さんをもてなしたり、お寺の花も自分で生けて飾ったりしたいです。そのようにして檀家さんといっしょに楽しみながら、お寺を地域の人びとが集まる場にして、市民の人たちと力を合わせて平和運動をしていきたいです。仏教もキリスト教もイスラム教も、それぞれの宗教がもっている歴史背景や環境、教えの内容は違いますが、「祈ることは同じ」です。大切なことは、思いやりの心、自分の子どもを愛し許すように、民族や宗教の違いをこえて人間として許しあうことだと思います。
During services. In the future, I want to be able to do things for my temple like entertaining the parishioners with my own cooking whenever there is a service and arranging the flowers myself. I want the temple to be an enjoyable gathering place for the whole community and a force from which citizens can work together for world peace. Though Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam all differ in terms of their historical background, social environment, and teachings, the spirit of their prayers is still the same. I think that the important thing is to try to understand each other and to transcend our ethnic and religious differences so we can be tolerant of each other as human beings, just the same as we would be tolerant of our own children.
写真撮影：栗原啓文、吉田忠正 (☆印)
Photographs: Kurihara Hirofumi, Yoshida Tadamasa (☆)
キャプション、エッセイ：本人へのインタビューをもとに構成 (吉田忠正 / TJF)
Captions and essay: Yoshida Tadamasa (Based on interview with Yoshimasa / TJF)
  
高校入学の日、入学式のあと、本山に入るための入寮式があり、夜には先輩から頭をバリカンで刈られます。次の日からは修行の生活が始まります。朝5時に起きて、1時間半から2時間の朝の勤行をします。その間、ずっと正座していなくてはなりません。最初は5分も持たないのですが、少しずつ時間を延ばしていって、全部できるようになるのに1ヵ月以上かかります。そのあと、朝食、諸堂内の掃除をして学校に行きます。学校から帰るとまた掃除、食事、風呂、夜のお勤めと休む間はありません。1年生のときは、掃除の仕方、敬語の使い方や給仕の仕方など、先輩の2年生から徹底的に指導されます。掃除がいちばん辛い作業でした。早く短時間でやらなければならないので、足がつったりしました。また冬の寒い中でも凍りつくような冷水で雑巾をゆすぐので、手は赤ぎれだらけでした。
   学校に行くと気持ちが休まるので、みんな早く学校に行きたいという気持ちになります。慣れない生活でホームシックにかかって精神的に耐えられなくなってしまう人や、長時間の正座で膝をだめにしてやめていく人もいました。入学したとき、寮生はぼくを入れて12人いましたが、卒業できたのは半分の6人でした。
   ぼくも何度もやめたいと思いました。１年生をもう一度やれといわれてもやれるかどうかというくらい、1年生のときは一日中動いているので、肉体的にはつらいです。ただ、先輩の言うことをしっかり聞いてさえいれば怒られないのでなんとかやり抜けられます。2年生になると後輩に教えて面倒を見なくてはならないし、上の人の意見も聞かなくてはならないので精神的に辛く、疲れました。2年生になって教える難しさを実感します。教え方が悪いと後輩もわからなくなり、教えた意味がありません。そして後輩のほうも聞く耳を持たなくなるのです。教える側は相手に合わせた教え方をし、相手の気持ちに寄り添わなければならないということを学びました。3年生になって、高校生を束ねる役員に任命されました。この仕事をやるにつれ、集団の中で人の上に立つという難しさに気づかされました。上に立つ人がだらしなくすれば、下の後輩たちもだらしなくなります。そしてしっかりした考えをもっていなければ、人の上に立てないのです。
   一年生のときは一方通行で前しか見えませんでしたが、二年生になると前とうしろが見える。そして三年生になると360度まわりが見えるようになります。それは一番上に立つことによって、養われることだと思います。
  
Right after the entrance ceremony on the first day of high school we attended a welcoming ceremony for new boarders held at the temple where we were to stay. That night the older students shaved our heads with barber's clippers. Our training for the priesthood started the next day. Every morning we got up at five and attended prayers for about an hour and a half to two hours. After prayers were over we had breakfast and then cleaned the temple halls before going to school. After school we came back to do another round of cleaning, followed by dinner, baths, and evening prayers. There was no time at all to rest. During our first year the second-year students taught us in great detail how to clean, how to speak respectfully to our elders, how to serve food at mealtimes, and the like. I found cleaning the hardest task. We had to work very quickly to get the job done in time and sometimes I would get cramps in my legs. My hands got red and chapped from rinsing the mops in icy cold water in the winter.
      Every day we all wanted to go to school as soon as possible, as school was the only place we could get any sort of break. Some students were emotionally unable to go on because they couldn't adjust to the new life and became unbearably homesick. Others had to leave because their knees become inflamed from sitting in the seiza position too long. There were twelve boarders at the temple including myself when we started out, but only six, or half, were able to graduate.
      I felt like quitting many times as well. The first year was very hard physically, since I was on the move the whole day through. I don't know whether I could do it again if I had to. But I was able to get through it all right as long as I did what the older students said so I would not get scolded. My second year was psychologically hard, since I had to instruct and take care of the younger students while at the same time continuing to learn from the older students. During this year I experienced firsthand how hard it is to teach others. If you cannot teach well your efforts are wasted, since the younger students get confused and soon stop listening to you. I learned that you have to adjust your approach according to each student and pay attention to their individual feelings. During my third year I was made one of the leaders of the student body. As I did this work I became aware of how difficult it is to be at the head of a group. If those in the lead do not set a good example, those who are following them will become careless and sloppy. You also cannot lead others if you do not have firm ideas and convictions of your own.
      During my first year I could only see one way: ahead. In my second year I became able to look back at the way I had come as well as to see what was coming up. Finally, in my third year I was able to see all 360 degrees around me. I think it was the experience with leadership that made this new perspective possible.
コメント｜Comment ｜评语｜코멘트 2007/06/05
Title :
Name : Patrick Age : 15 Country : USA
  • (Original)
    Yoshimasa has a unique experience that few people have. Living and learning in Buddhist temple is both an honor and a challenge. Living in a monastery is a demanding job that many people can not handle. Yoshimasa explained that half of his class quit within a month because of physical or emotional stress. Most people can not deal with the work that Yoshimasa did. However, the trials and hardships that Yoshimasa had to endure shaped him into a stronger person and a powerful leader. More interesting than the challenges of being a monk is how, despite learning to be a Buddhist monk, Yoshimasa is a normal teenager in most aspects. It shows that regardless of the environment, people are fundamentally the same.
2007/06/05
Title :
Name : Jasmine Age : 16 Country : Australia
  • (Original)
    I love this essay because the writer shows such determination and endurance. His is a higher path, but i believe that if we all take that approach towards life we can achieve everything we want, and i know that is how i have achieved so much in my life and fulfilled my goals.
2006/11/11
Title : 励ましをもらいました
Name : たか Age : 16 Country : USA
2006/10/11
Title : It is really worthwhile
Name : ronanmilton Age : 16 Country : USA
  • (Original)
    I think that it is really worthwhile to do something like that. I thoughｔ my school was hard but its not nearly as hard a yours.
2006/10/11
Title : I can relate
Name : Kay Age : 16 Country : USA
  • (Original)
    Your school sounds hard, i can relate. My classes at school are all advanced classes and they are very dificult.
2006/10/10
Title : I can relate
Name : Kasumi Age : 15 Country : USA
  • (Original)
    Wow. Thats alot of work to do, but at least you did not have to teach many students. My School holds about 2,500 people currently. Few actually are learning to speak Japanese.
2006/05/15
Title : Good luck!
Name : zack Age : 17 Country : USA
  • (Original)
    Wow, that sounds like a very difficult yet rewarding experience. My school is also very difficult but it is not as intense. Good luck in the future!
  • (翻译)
    哇，那听起来真是艰难但又很有收获的经历。我的学校课程也很难，不过没那么难。祝你好运！
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