1st year of Genroku,
Spring of 1688,
Basho is 45 years old,
Mt. Yamato Katsuragi

Always seeing within
a flower at the break of dawn
— the face of God

Matsuo Basho, Oi no kibumi, Spring 1685

From the travelogue, Oi no kobumi, a trip from Edo to Iga-Ueno (Basho’s hometown), then to Mt. Yamato Kasuragi in Nara prefecture. In Spring, Bashō came to Mt. Katsuragi to see the cherry blossoms. Near the Shinto shrine for the local god, Hitokotonushi, he wrote this haiku:

猶みたし 花に明行 神の顔

nao mitashi | always seeing within
     hana ni ake yuku | a flower at the break of dawn
             kami no kao | the face of God

Matsuo Basho, Oi no kibumi, Spring 1685

The ugly god

Hitokotonushi (一言主), literally, god of one word, meaning that as long as your prayer is short, god will listen to it.

There are several stories about Hitokotonushi-nokami, the god of Mt. Katsuragi. (Dr. Gabi Greve has collected many of them.) One is this: Hitokotonushi had a very ugly face. According to legend, a long time ago, a monk prayed for help, then began building a trail from Mt. Katsuragi to Mt. Kinpu (two Shinto holy sites). Hitokotonushi, embarrassed by his ugly appearance, would only help at night.

David Bowles calls Basho’s haiku “Longing for the Divine.”

And I could use Hitokotonushi’s help.

hana ni ake yuku (花に明行) has given me some trouble translating. First I would say that Goggle Translate gives one “Hana ni myōgyō” with no explanation of myōgyō. Literally, I come up with: hana (flower), but what of ni ake yuku — ni (within) ake (dawn) yuku. Does not 明に mean ‘brightly’? Or perfection? And does not 行くmean ‘going to a place.’

Seeing is believing, if not completely understanding, which is the first step in the “awakening”.

Like David Bowles I am longing for inspiration.