立秋 Risshu, The First Day of Autumn
今日は暦の上では「立秋」、秋の始まりです。信じられます？
今目の前の現実は「夏真っ盛り」。8月に入ったばかりの日本はいよいよこれから夏本番、といった雰囲気ですが、暦は「秋が始まるよ」という合図してくれています。
この暦というのは「二十四節気」と言って、一年を春夏秋冬の４つに分け、それをさらに６つに分けたもので、日本の伝統的な季節感を表しています。
人間、目の前のものに囚われがちです。今夏真っ盛りでも、気がついたら秋になっていたという経験はありませんか？
しかし昔は農作業のために、季節に敏感になり、行動することが大切だったんだろうと思います。
さらに仏教の教えとして「今、ここ」を大切にする一環として、どんな小さな季節の気配も見逃さないで、感じていく、そんなことを大切にしていたんだと思います。
ですので、今「秋」の始まりらしい、と聞いたら、どこかにそんな気配はあるだろうか？と少し考えてみるのも良いかもしれませんね。
実際、少し涼しくなった夕暮れには、秋を思わせる瞬間もありそうですよ。
いろは
Risshuu — the First Day of Autumn
Can you believe it? Today, according to the traditional calendar, autumn begins.
The reality outside the window tells a different story — Japan is in the full heat of summer, and August has only just started. And yet the calendar is sending a quiet signal: autumn is on its way.
This calendar is called the nijuushi sekki — the 24 solar terms. It divides the year into four seasons, and each season into six, mapping the subtle shifts of nature across the year. It is Japan's traditional way of feeling time.
We humans tend to be caught by what's directly in front of us. Has it ever happened to you — you're deep in the heat of summer, and then suddenly, without quite noticing, autumn has arrived?
In earlier times, people needed to be finely attuned to the seasons. Farming depended on it. Reading the signs of nature and acting accordingly was simply part of life.
And within Buddhist teaching, there is also this: the importance of being fully present to now, to here — of not letting even the smallest hint of seasonal change pass unnoticed. To feel it. To be awake to it.
So perhaps, now that you know autumn has officially begun somewhere in the calendar — it's worth pausing to ask: is there any trace of it nearby? Any small sign?
In the early evening, when the air feels just a little cooler than the heat of the day — there might be a moment, quiet and brief, that already feels like autumn.
Iroha
