She Dreams of the Buddha
She dreams of the Buddhist temple. She dreams of the purist Buddha. She dreams of the Buddha in his purity. This is not the largest Buddha. This is not the most golden, perhaps. But this is the purist of the purist Buddhas.
It is spiritual purity, she means. This purity. Not the worldly understanding, but the spiritual notion. A Buddha of light, perhaps. A Buddha of the Inner Light.
Zenchi. She tries to remember she word. Shall she call this the Buddha of the all-knowing, the omniscience. Or is this the Buddha of the almost all-knowing. Butsuda.
She dreams herself a Buddhist monk, learning of their teachings, the highest philosophies, according to her understanding, the purist philosophies.
She writes Japanese poetry. But it is not the poetry she intends to write. Ranshin. Some call her ranshin. Insanity. The thing itself. Shall she choose now to battle with ranshin. Or shall she accept being ranshin? Shall she bow many times to ranshin.
Perhaps she should have a zeal for ranshin. Perhaps ranshin is the whole universe. Perhaps ranshin has its own universe.
She is not even sure if ranshin is the word. She does not mean to chatter so. She tries to devise theories. The science of art and the art of science. Kosen. A ray of light. Is this the divine light? The radiance. Is this the divine radiance?
She dreams of the Buddha. The purist Buddha. The Buddha of the Inner Light.
She dreams she is the wife of this Buddha. The Buddha of the Inner Light. Shall she call herself Koi. Is that not the Japanese word for love? Or for what reason than love has she chosen this Buddha?
She dreams at the gate of the Buddhist temple. She tries to remember all the Buddha's wise sayings. She imagines the language of the poet-scholars. She imagines the language of the poet-sages. She imagines the language of the poet-the Great Teacher.
She perhaps is just another Westerner in Japan. Another Westerner seeking wisdom from the East.
Or perhaps she's an Easterner seeking wisdom from the West?
Could she, speaking simply, be perceived as wise? Could she, thinking simply, be perceived as wise? Could she, dreaming simply, be perceived as wise?
She dreams of the Buddha. The purist Buddha. The Buddha of the Inner Light.
In a hotel in Japan, she finds her writing paper, made by a master in the craft of making paper. She finds her Japanese dictionary, made by a master in the craft of making dictionaries. Shall she become a translator? Then what shall she translate?
Shall she translate the purity of the Word Itself, the meaning beyond words.
How do you translate the Inner Light? How do you translate the Word Itself?
In Japan, she dreams. In Japan, she writes.