Poetic Offering to
Abbess Mugai Nyodai


Poem as Composed by Daishoin Abbess Kasanoin JikunPoem by: Daishoji Abbess, Kasanoin Jikun
Soloist: Eric Rice

 
This waka poem offertory to Abbess Mugai Nyodai, written by the current Abbess of Daishoji, Kasanoin Jikun, appeared on the Buddhist altar throughout the memorial ceremony. With an East-West collaboration in remembering and honoring Abbess Mugai Nyodai, and in the tradition of Hildegard von Bingen, the poem was set to Western plainchant and sung by tenor Eric Rice.
 

Poem by Daishoin Abbess Kasanoin Jikun
 
 
Offered on the occasion of the 700th memorial for the great Zen master, Abbess Nyodai.
-- Shungaku

let us venerate as one
the bright moon
of a mind polished
throughout life's journey
 
 

Shungaku is the "brush name" (pen name) of Abbess Kasanoin Jikun, the 27th and current abbess of Daishoji Imperial Convent. There is no punctuation in the original, and so, in English translation, the first letter of her poem has not been capitalized, and there is no period at the end. This is intended to emphasize the potential for reading it in a repeating cycle. The last line goes back to the beginning to repeat the process "of venerating, throughout the life journey of each of us gathered here, the great master Abbess Mugai Nyodai, who polished so brightly her mind, heart, and spirit throughout her own life journey." Abbess Kasanoin Jikun offers obeisance to Abbess Nyodai while inviting us all to polish our own minds and hearts and pursue Abbess Mugai Nyodai's spiritual path.
 
 

translation and note by Herschel Miller,
Columbia University
                                                                  
 

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