The ninth vibration and other stories

by L. Adams Beck

  "HOW GREAT IS THE GLORY OF KWANNON!"

  A JAPANESE STORY

  (O Lovely One-O thou Flower! With Thy beautiful face, with Thy beautifuleyes, pour light upon the world! Adoration to Kwannon.)

  In Japan in the days of the remote Ancestors, near the little village ofShiobara, the river ran through rocks of a very strange blue colour, andthe bed of the river was also composed of these rocks, so that the clearwater ran blue as turquoise gems to the sea.

  The great forests murmured beside it, and through their swaying boughswas breathed the song of Eternity. Those who listen may hear if theirears are open. To others it is but the idle sighing of the wind.

  Now because of all this beauty there stood in these forests a roughlybuilt palace of unbarked wood, and here the great Emperor would comefrom City-Royal to seek rest for his doubtful thoughts and the cares ofstate, turning aside often to see the moonlight in Shiobara. He soughtalso the free air and the sound of falling water, yet dearer to him thanthe plucked strings of sho and biwa. For he said;

  "Where and how shall We find peace even for a moment, and afford Ourheart refreshment even for a single second?"

  And it seemed to him that he found such moments at Shiobara.

  Only one of his great nobles would His Majesty bring with him--theDainagon, and him be chose because he was a worthy and honorable personand very simple of heart.

  There was yet another reason why the Son of Heaven inclined to thelittle Shiobara. It had reached the Emperor that a Recluse of theutmost sanctity dwelt in that forest. His name was Semimaru. He had madehimself a small hut in the deep woods, much as a decrepit silkworm mightspin his last Cocoon and there had the Peace found him.

  It had also reached His Majesty that, although blind, he was exceedinglyskilled in the art of playing the biwa, both in the Flowing Fount mannerand the Woodpecker manner, and that, especially on nights when the moonwas full, this aged man made such music as transported the soul. Thismusic His Majesty desired very greatly to hear.

  Never had Semimaru left his hut save to gather wood or seek food untilthe Divine Emperor commanded his attendance that he might soothe hisaugust heart with music.

  Now on this night of nights the moon was full and the snow heavy on thepines, and the earth was white also, and when the moon shone through theboughs it made a cold light like dawn, and the shadows of the trees wereblack upon it.

  The attendants of His Majesty long since slept for sheer weariness, forthe night was far spent, but the Emperor and the Dainagon still satwith their eyes fixed on the venerable Semimaru. For many hours he hadplayed, drawing strange music from his biwa. Sometimes it had been likerain blowing over the plains of Adzuma, sometimes like the winds roaringdown the passes of the Yoshino Mountains, and yet again like the voiceof far cities. For many hours they listened without weariness, andthought that all the stories of the ancients might flow past them in theweird music that seemed to have neither beginning nor end.

  "It is as the river that changes and changes not, and is ever and everthe same," said the Emperor in his own soul.

  And certainly had a voice announced to His Augustness that centurieswere drifting by as he listened, he could have felt no surprise.

  Before them, as they sat upon the silken floor cushions, was a smallshrine with a Buddha shelf, and a hanging picture of the Amida Buddhawithin it--the expression one of rapt peace. Figures of Fugen andFudo were placed before the curtain doors of the shrine, looking up inadoration to the Blessed One. A small and aged pine tree was in a pot ofgrey porcelain from Chosen--the only ornament in the chamber.

  Suddenly His Majesty became aware that the Dainagon also had fallenasleep from weariness, and that the recluse was no longer playing, butwas speaking in a still voice like a deeply flowing stream. The Emperorhad observed no change from music to speech, nor could he recall whenthe music had ceased, so that it altogether resembled a dream.

  "When I first came here"--the Venerable one continued--"it was not myintention to stay long in the forest. As each day dawned, I said; 'Inseven days I go.' And again--'In seven.' Yet have I not gone. The daysglided by and here have I attained to look on the beginnings of peace.Then wherefore should I go?--for all life is within the soul. Shall thefish weary of his pool? And I, who through my blind eyes feel the moonilluming my forest by night and the sun by day, abide in peace, so thateven the wild beasts press round to hear my music. I have come by a pathoverblown by autumn leaves. But I have come."

  Then said the Divine Emperor as if unconsciously;

  "Would that I also might come! But the august duties cannot easily belaid aside. And I have no wife--no son."

  And Semimaru, playing very softly on the strings of his biwa madeno other answer, and His Majesty, collecting his thoughts, which hadbecome, as it were, frozen with the cold and the quiet and the strangemusic, spoke thus, as if in a waking dream;

  "Why have I not wedded? Because I have desired a bride beyond thewomen of earth, and of none such as I desire has the rumor reached me.Consider that Ancestor who wedded Her Shining Majesty! Evil and lovelywas she, and the passions were loud about her. And so it is with women.Trouble and vexation of spirit, or instead a great weariness. But if theBlessed One would vouchsafe to my prayers a maiden of blossom and dew,with a heart calm as moonlight, her would I wed. O, honorable One, whosewisdom surveys the world, is there in any place near or far--in heavenor in earth, such a one that I may seek and find?"

  And Semimaru, still making a very low music on his biwa, said this;

  "Supreme Master, where the Shiobara River breaks away through the gorgesto the sea, dwelt a poor couple--the husband a wood-cutter. They had nochildren to aid in their toil, and daily the woman addressed her prayersfor a son to the Bodhisattwa Kwannon, the Lady of Pity who looketh downfor ever upon the sound of prayer. Very fervently she prayed, with suchofferings as her poverty allowed, and on a certain night she dreamedthis dream. At the shrine of the Senju Kwannon she knelt as was hercustom, and that Great Lady, sitting enthroned upon the Lotos of Purity,opened Her eyes slowly from Her divine contemplation and heard theprayer of the wood-cutter's wife. Then stooping like a blown willowbranch, she gathered a bud from the golden lotos plant that stood uponher altar, and breathing upon it it became pure white and living, and itexhaled a perfume like the flowers of Paradise, This flower the Ladyof Pity flung into the bosom of her petitioner, and closing Her eyesreturned into Her divine dream, whilst the woman awoke, weeping for joy.

  "But when she sought in her bosom for the Lotos it was gone. Of all thisshe boasted loudly to her folk and kin, and the more so, when in duetime she perceived herself to be with child, for, from that augustfavour she looked for nothing less than a son, radiant with the FiveOrnaments of riches, health, longevity, beauty, and success. Yet, whenher hour was come, a girl was born, and blind."

  "Was she welcomed?" asked the dreaming voice of the Emperor.

  "Augustness, but as a household drudge. For her food was cruelty and herdrink tears. And the shrine of the Senju Kwannon was neglected by herparents because of the disappointment and shame of the unwanted gift.And they believed that, lost in Her divine contemplation, the Great Ladywould not perceive this neglect. The Gods however are known by theirgreat memories."

  "Her name?"

  "Majesty, Tsuyu-Morning Dew. And like the morning dew she shines instillness. She has repaid good for evil to her evil parents, servingthem with unwearied service."

  "What distinguishes her from others?"

  "Augustness, a very great peace. Doubtless the shadow of the dream ofthe Holy Kwannon. She works, she moves, she smiles as one who has tastedof content."

  "Has she beauty?"

  "Supreme Master, am I not blind? But it is said that she has no beautythat men should desire her. Her face is flat and round, and her eyesblind."

  "And yet content?"

  "Philosophers might envy her calm. And her blindness is without doubta grace from the excelling Pity, for could she see her own exceedingugliness she
must weep for shame. But she sees not. Her sight is inward,and she is well content."

  "Where does she dwell?"

  "Supreme Majesty, far from here--where in the heart of the woods theriver breaks through the rocks."

  "Venerable One, why have you told me this? I asked for a royal maidenwise and beautiful, calm as the dawn, and you have told me of awood-cutter's drudge, blind and ugly."

  And now Semimaru did not answer, but the tones of the biwa grew louderand clearer, and they rang like a song of triumph, and the Emperor couldhear these words in the voice of the strings.

  "She is beautiful as the night, crowned with moon and stars for himwho has eyes to see. Princess Splendour was dim beside her; PrinceFireshine, gloom! Her Shining Majesty was but a darkened glory beforethis maid. All beauty shines within her hidden eyes."

  And having uttered this the music became wordless once more, but itstill flowed on more and more softly like a river that flows into thefar distance.

  The Emperor stared at the mats, musing--the light of the lamp wasburning low. His heart said within him;

  "This maiden, cast like a flower from the hand of Kwannon Sama, will Isee."

  And as he said this the music had faded away into a thread-likesmallness, and when after long thought he raised his august head, he wasalone save for the Dainagon, sleeping on the mats behind him, and thechamber was in darkness. Semimaru had departed in silence, and HisMajesty, looking forth into the broad moonlight, could see the track ofhis feet upon the shining snow, and the music came back very thinly likespring rain in the trees. Once more he looked at the whiteness of thenight, and then, stretching his august person on the mats, he slept amiddreams of sweet sound.

  The next day, forbidding any to follow save the Dainagon, His Majestywent forth upon the frozen snow where the sun shone in a blindingwhiteness. They followed the track of Semimaru's feet far under the pinetrees so heavy with their load of snow that they were bowed as if withfruit. And the track led on and the air was so still that the crackingof a bough was like the blow of a hammer, and the sliding of a load ofsnow from a branch like the fall of an avalanche. Nor did they speak asthey went. They listened, nor could they say for what.

  Then, when they had gone a very great way, the track ceased suddenly,as if cut off, and at this spot, under the pines furred with snow, HisMajesty became aware of a perfume so sweet that it was as though all theflowers of the earth haunted the place with their presence, and a musiclike the biwa of Semimaru was heard in the tree tops. This sounded faroff like the whispering of rain when it falls in very small leaves, andpresently it died away, and a voice followed after, singing, alone inthe woods, so that the silence appeared to have been created that such amusic might possess the world. So the Emperor stopped instantly, and theDainagon behind him and he heard these words.

  "In me the Heavenly Lotos grew, The fibres ran from head to feet, And my heart was the august Blossom. Therefore the sweetness flowed through the veins of my flesh, And I breathed peace upon all the world, And about me was my fragrance shed That the souls of men should desire me."

  Now, as he listened, there came through the wood a maiden, bare--footed,save for grass sandals, and clad in coarse clothing, and she came up andpassed them, still singing.

  And when she was past, His Majesty put up his hand to his eyes, like onedreaming, and said;

  "What have you seen?"

  And the Dainagon answered;

  "Augustness, a country wench, flat--faced, ugly and blind, and with avoice like a crow. Has not your Majesty seen this?"

  The Emperor, still shading his eyes, replied;

  "I saw a maiden so beautiful that her Shining Majesty would be a blackblot beside her. As she went, the Spring and all its sweetness blew fromher garments. Her robe was green with small gold flowers. Her eyes wereclosed, but she resembled a cherry tree, snowy with bloom and dew. Hervoice was like the singing flowers of Paradise."

  The Dainagon looked at him with fear and compassion;

  "Augustness, how should such a lady carry in her arms a bundle offirewood?"

  "She bore in her hands three lotos flowers, and where each foot fell Isaw a lotos bloom and vanish."

  They retraced their steps through the wood; His Majesty radiant asPrince Fireshine with the joy that filled his soul; the Dainagondarkened as Prince Firefade with fear, believing that the strange musicof Semimaru had bewitched His Majesty, or that the maiden herself mightpossibly have the power of the fox in shape-changing and bewildering thesenses.

  Very sorrowful and careful was his heart for he loved his Master.

  That night His Majesty dreamed that he stood before the kakemono of theAmida Buddha, and that as he raised his eyes in adoration to the BlessedFace, he beheld the images of Fugen and Fudo, rise up and bow downbefore that One Who Is. Then, gliding in, before these Holinesses stooda figure, and it was the wood-cutter's daughter homely and blinded. Shestretched her hands upward as though invoking the supreme Buddha, andthen turning to His Majesty she smiled upon him, her eyes closed as inbliss unutterable. And he said aloud.

  "Would that I might see her eyes!" and so saying awoke in a greatstillness of snow and moonlight.

  Having waked, he said within himself

  "This marvel will I wed and she shall be my Empress were she lower thanthe Eta, and whether her face be lovely or homely. For she is certainlya flower dropped from the hand of the Divine."

  So when the sun was high His Majesty, again followed by the Dainagon,went through the forest swiftly, and like a man that sees his goal,and when they reached the place where the maiden went by, His Majestystraitly commanded the Dainagon that he should draw apart, and leave himto speak with the maiden; yet that he should watch what befell.

  So the Dainagon watched, and again he saw her come, very poorly clad,and with bare feet that shrank from the snow in her grass sandals, bowedbeneath a heavy load of wood upon her shoulders, and her face flat andhomely like a girl of the people, and her eyes blind and shut.

  And as she came she sang this.

  "The Eternal way lies before him, The way that is made manifest in the Wise. The Heart that loves reveals itself to man. For now he draws nigh to the Source. The night advances fast, And lo! the moon shines bright."

  And to the Dainagon it seemed a harsh crying nor could he distinguishany words at all.

  But what His Majesty beheld was this. The evening had come on and themoon was rising. The snow had gone. It was the full glory of spring, andthe flowers sprang thick as stars upon the grass, and among them lotosflowers, great as the wheel of a chariot, white and shining withthe luminance of the pearl, and upon each one of these was seated anincarnate Holiness, looking upward with joined hands. In the trees werethe voices of the mystic Birds that are the utterance of the BlessedOne, proclaiming in harmony the Five Virtues, The Five Powers, the SevenSteps ascending to perfect Illumination, the Noble Eightfold Path, andall the Law. And, bearing, in the heart of the Son of Heaven awoke theThree Remembrances--the Remembrance of Him who is Blessed, Remembranceof the Law, and Remembrance of the Communion of the Assembly.

  So, looking upward to the heavens, he beheld the Infinite Buddha,high and lifted up in a great raying glory. About Him were the exaltedBodhisattwas, the mighty Disciples, great Arhats all, and all thecountless Angelhood. And these rose high into the infinite until theycould be seen but as a point of fire against the moon. With this goldenmultitude beyond all numbering was He.

  Then, as His Majesty had seen in the dream of the night, thewood-cutter's daughter, moving through the flowers like one blind thatgropes his way, advanced before the Blessed Feet, and uplifting herhands, did adoration, and her face he could not see, but his heartwent with her, adoring also the infinite Buddha seated in the calms ofboundless Light.

  Then enlightenment entered at his eyes, as a man that wakes from sleep,and suddenly he beheld the Maiden crowned and robed and terrible inbeauty, and her feet were stayed upon an open lotos, and his sou
l knewthe Senju Kwannon Herself, myriad-armed for the helping of mankind.

  And turning, she smiled as in the vision, but his eyes being now clearher blinded eyes were opened, and that glory who shall tell as thoseliving founts of Wisdom rayed upon him their ineffable light? In thatocean was his being drowned, and so, bowed before the Infinite Buddha,he received the Greater Illumination.

  How great is the Glory of Kwannon!

  When the radiance and the vision were withdrawn and only the moon lookedover the trees, His Majesty rose upon his feet, and standing on thesnow, surrounded with calm, he called to the Dainagon, and asked this;

  "What have you seen?"

  "Augustness, nothing but the country wench and moon and snow."

  "And heard?"

  "Augustness, nothing but the harsh voice of the wood-cutter's daughter."

  "And felt?"

  "Augustness, nothing but the bone-piercing cold." So His Majesty adoredthat which cannot be uttered, saying;

  "So Wisdom, so Glory encompass us about, and we see them not for weare blinded with illusion. Yet every stone is a jewel and every clodis spirit and to the hems of the Infinite Buddha all cling. Through thecompassion of the Supernal Mercy that walks the earth as the BodhisattwaKwannon, am I admitted to wisdom and given sight and hearing. And whatis all the world to that happy one who has beheld Her eyes!"

  And His Majesty returned through the forest.

  When, the next day, he sent for the venerable Semimaru that holy reclusehad departed and none knew where. But still when the moon is full astrange music moves in the tree tops of Shiobara.

  Then His sacred Majesty returned to City-Royal, having determinedto retire into the quiet life, and there, abandoning the throne to akinsman wise in greatness, he became a dweller in the deserted hut ofSemimaru.

  His life, like a descending moon approaching the hill that should hideit, was passed in meditation on that Incarnate Love and Compassion whoseglory had augustly been made known to him, and having cast aside allsave the image of the Divine from his soul, His Majesty became even asthat man who desired enlightenment of the Blessed One.

  For he, desiring instruction, gathered precious flowers, and journeyedto present them as an offering to the Guatama Buddha. Standing beforeHim, he stretched forth both his hands holding the flowers.

  Then said the Holy One, looking upon his petitioner's right hand;

  "Loose your hold of these."

  And the man dropped the flowers from his right hand. And the Holy Onelooking upon his left hand, said;

  "Loose your hold of these."

  And, sorrowing, he dropped the flowers from his left hand. And again theMaster said;

  "Loose your hold of that which is neither in the right nor in the left."

  And the disciple said very pitifully;

  "Lord, of what should I loose my hold for I have nothing left?"

  And He looked upon him steadfastly.

  Therefore at last understanding he emptied his soul of all desire, andof fear that is the shadow of desire, and being enlightened relinquishedall burdens.

  So was it also with His Majesty. In peace he dwelt, and becoming a greatArhat, in peace he departed to that Uttermost Joy where is the BlessedOne made manifest in Pure Light.

  As for the parents of the maiden, they entered after sore troubles intopeace, having been remembered by the Infinite. For it is certain thatthe enemies also of the Supreme Buddha go to salvation by thinking onHim, even though it be against Him.

  And he who tells this truth makes this prayer to the Lady of Pity;

  "Grant me, I pray, One dewdrop from Thy willow spray, And in the double Lotos keep My hidden heart asleep."

  How great is the Glory of Kwannon!