ご縁 Goen - Fateful Connections
昨日「たまたま」の話をしました。今日はこの「たまたま」と「ご縁」について。
ちょっと仏教的な話になるのですが、日本人は特に仏教と意識せずとも「ご縁」を大事にしています。
「たまたま」出会った人や物、お店、仕事なども「きっと何かのご縁があったのだろう」という風に、きっと何か巡り合う理由があったのだろう、この機会を無駄にしてはいけない、と考え丁寧に向き合おうとします。
逆に「ご縁がなかった」という言い方をする時もあります。仕事に採用されなかったとき、欲しかったものが手に入らなかった時、「きっとご縁がなかったんだ」と言って諦める。ご縁がないものを自分の意思で無理に追いかけてもいい事がない、という風に考えて、「きっともっと良いご縁が他にあるのだろう」と考え直す、ということをします。
日本人はどこかで、世の中の全てを人間がコントロールできるわけではない、世の摂理に任せて素直に生きた方がいい、と思っているところがあります。これは諦めではなく、よく生きるための知恵です。
ちなみに「ご縁」は「5円」と音が同じなので、5円玉が縁起物としてよく使われます。
私も昔、ある仕事を辞める時、お世話になった方から「これからもご縁がありますように」と、5円玉に素敵な紐が結ばれたものを頂いたことを覚えています。
皆さんも、ご縁がありますようにと、神社でお賽銭に使ったりするのもいいですよ。
Yesterday I talked about tama tama — chance and coincidence. Today I want to bring in another idea that sits alongside it: go-en.
This touches on Buddhism, though most Japanese people think about go-en without consciously connecting it to any religion at all.
The idea is this: when something happens tama tama — a chance meeting with a person, stumbling upon a shop, a job opportunity — many Japanese people feel that there must have been a reason for it. Some quiet force brought this into your life. And because of that, it deserves to be treated with care. Don't let this moment go to waste.
The phrase works in the other direction too. When something doesn't work out — you don't get the job, you can't get hold of something you wanted — a Japanese person might say go-en ga nakatta: "there was no en between us." Rather than pushing harder or dwelling on the loss, the thinking is: if it wasn't meant to be, forcing it won't lead anywhere good. Perhaps there's a better connection waiting somewhere else.
Somewhere underneath all of this is a belief that not everything in this world can be controlled by human will — that there's a kind of wisdom in flowing with the natural order of things, rather than fighting it. This isn't resignation. It's a way of living well.
One more thing: go-en sounds exactly like go-en — the Japanese word for five yen. Because of this, the five-yen coin has become a lucky charm, associated with good connections and fortune.
I still remember, years ago, when I left a job I'd been deeply involved in. Someone I'd worked closely with gave me a five-yen coin with a beautiful cord tied through it, and said: "I hope our paths will cross again."
If you ever visit a Japanese shrine, try tossing a five-yen coin into the offering box. A small wish for good go-en — it can't hurt.
Iroha
