Surprised by the very autumn wind we longed for in summer

From this month’s second Zen maxim in Japanese site of Rinzai-Obaku Zen.

When we were suffering through the oppressive heat of summer, we longed for the autumn wind from the west. Yet when autumn finally arrived, that very wind scattered the falling leaves and took us by surprise.

These days, there is hardly a day without talk of AI. In a sense, AI may be the very form of the future computer that we have long hoped for. Yet now that it has finally arrived, many of us find ourselves bewildered rather than prepared. AI is only one example. In life, it is worth remembering not to be caught off guard by the very things we have been waiting for.

幾時苦熱念西風 九月西風驚落葉 (いくときかねつとくるしみてせいふうをおもう、くがつせいふうらくようをおどろかす)

臨黄ネットの今月のふたつ目の禅語から。

暑苦しい夏に西からの秋風を待ち望んでいたのに、いざ秋になると、その秋風は落ち葉を散らし、人を驚かせる。

最近は、AI の話題を聞かない日がないほどですが、AI とは実は私たちが長年待ち望んできた未来のコンピューターの姿そのものではないでしょうか。ところが、ようやく実現したその未来を前にして、人々は期待よりも戸惑いを感じているようにも見えます。AI はひとつの例にすぎません。人生においても、自分が待ち望んでいたものに、いざそれが現れたとき慌てないよう心がけたいものです。

Ka ohorere i te hau ngahuru i wawatahia i te raumati

Hei tā te kōrero tuarua o te marama i te wāhanga Hapani o te Rinzai-Obaku Zen.

I te wā e pāngia ana tātou e te werawera taumaha o te raumati, i wawata tātou ki te hau mātao o te uru. Heoi, nō te taenga mai o te ngahuru, ko taua hau tonu i whakamarara i ngā rau e taka ana, ā, ka ohorere te tangata.

I ēnei rā, kāore e tino puta he rā kāore e kōrerotia ai te AI. Tērā pea ko AI tonu te āhua o te rorohiko ā mua i wawata nuitia e tātou mō ngā tau roa. Heoi anō, nō tōna taenga mai, he tokomaha kē e rongo ana i te rangirua, kāore i te tino rite mō taua hurihanga. He tauira noa iho te AI. I roto i te ao, he mea pai kia kaua tātou e pōkaikaha i te wā ka puta mai ngā mea i tino wawatahia e tātou.

Talking to the Fullest of the Sentiment of Mountains, Clouds, Sea, and Moon

From this month’s first Zen maxim in Japanese site of Rinzai-Obaku Zen.

Leaving aside the gains and losses of human affairs for a moment, we listen to what the mountains, clouds, sea, and moon have to say. Perhaps this is the spirit of “Talking to the Fullest of the Sentiment of Mountains, Clouds, Sea, and Moon” (Wa-jin San’un Kaigetsu-jō). What a grand and expansive vision it is.

Humanity has now acquired a new intellectual tool in the form of practical artificial intelligence. Why not let our thoughts wander beneath the mountains, clouds, sea, and moon?

話尽山雲海月情(かたりつくす さんうんかいげつのじょう)

臨黄ネットの今月の最初の禅語から。

人の世の利害得失はひとまず措いて、山雲海月の語るところを聴く。そこに現れている宇宙自然の理を語り尽くそうというのが「話尽山雲海月情」でしょうか。なんとも気宇壮大な一句です。

人類は今、実用的な人工知能という新たな知的道具を手にしました。ならば日々の雑事だけでなく、宇宙や自然、人間とは何かという根源的な問いにも、思索の翼を伸ばしてみたいものです。

Whakarongo ki ngā kōrero a ngā maunga, ngā kapua, te moana me te marama

Hei tā te kōrero tuatahi o te marama i te wāhanga Hapani o te Rinzai-Obaku Zen.

Me waiho ake ngā painga me ngā mate o te ao tangata ki te taha mō tētahi wā, ā, me whakarongo ki ngā kōrero a ngā maunga, ngā kapua, te moana me te marama. Tērā pea koinei te wairua o te kōrero Zen “話尽山雲海月情”; he tirohanga whānui, he tirohanga hōhonu hoki.

Kua riro i te tangata ināianei tētahi taputapu hou mō te hinengaro, arā ko te mōhiotanga horihori ka taea te whakamahi i roto i te ao. Nō reira, kaua e whakamahia mō ngā mahi o ia rā anake, engari me whakawhānui hoki ngā parirau o te whakaaro ki ngā pātai matua: He aha te ao tūroa? He aha te taiao? He aha te tikanga o te noho tangata?