📜 A Symphony of Agama and Shinto — Two People by the River
—
A riverside before dawn.
The city lights were still asleep,
and only the wind blew across the water’s surface.
One was Eshin, a monk who had come down from a temple in the mountains.
The other was Haruto, a young priest serving at the shrine.
The two of them stared wordlessly at the flow of the river.
The water was clear, as if reflecting the depths of their hearts,
and gently radiated with light.
Finally, Eshin spoke.
“Like this river, our hearts also flow.
But humans place a rock called ‘ego’ in the flow.
It is this rock that creates the turbidity.”
Haruto nodded and exhaled a cloud of white breath.
“In Shinto, this is called ‘impurity.’
That’s why we purify it.
But… even after purification, it becomes impure again.
Is there any point in continuing to purify it?”
Keshin smiled quietly.
“In the Agamas, it’s called ‘cutting off.’
But cutting off doesn’t mean throwing away,
but recognizing your attachment and letting go.
It’s the same with purification.
In this endlessly impure world,
Continuing to remember purity —
That is the ‘path.'”
Haruto scooped water into his palm and gazed at the particles of light.
“To purify is to remember…
Purity is not something that is given to you from the outside,
but something that is inherently present deep within your heart —
That’s what it means.”
Keshin nodded.
“Buddhas call it the ‘Tathagata-zo,’
and gods call it the ‘direct spirit.’
Although the names are different, the source of life is the same light.”
The eastern sky brightened,
and the surface of the river swayed golden.
The two of them gazed at the light in silence.
“The one who severs and the one who exorcises.
You and I stood on opposite banks of the same river.”
Keima smiled and replied to Haruto’s words.
“And the river is one.
The name of that stream is… Purity.”
The wind stopped,
and the water reflected the sky.
The two of them melted into a single light.
—
Time passed,
and it was morning in the city.
Keima was among the crowd of commuters.
But there was silence in his steps.
The moment the light turned green,
he gently stopped,
calming the waves in his heart with his breath.
In that moment,
the light of the riverside was revived within him.
Meanwhile, Haruto was sweeping fallen leaves in the shrine grounds.
The light shining in between the skyscrapers sparkled
on the tip of his broom.
As he chanted the purification prayer,
he let his yesterday self flow away like a leaf in the wind.
“May you exist anew today as well…”
No one heard his voice,
but it undoubtedly rose into the sky.
At dusk, the two met again by chance,
by the city’s river.
Keishin said.
“A city is like the heart.
We can be bewildered by the swiftness of the current,
but if we look closely, we can find stillness deep within.”
Haruto replied.
“That is why purification is also practiced here.
Purifying our words, purifying our attitude,
and caring for others—that is also ‘purification’.”
The river breeze blew between the two.
The lights of the city flickered on the water’s surface.
“Both cutting and purifying are practices that focus
on life head-on.
Continuing these practices in this city is our training.”
Haruto smiled and nodded at Keiishin’s words.
“The riverside is no longer outside.
It flows always within each of our hearts.”
The two began walking side by side.
The sound of the river echoed quietly,
like a distant prayer.
—
Purity is not a distant mountain or an old shrine,
but a state of mind that embraces living in the present.
When a person suddenly stops,
takes a breath,
and listens for a moment to the clear sounds of the world—
deep within their hearts,
an invisible river still flows.
–The End–
