From this month’s first Zen maxim in Japanese site of Rinzai-Obaku Zen.
Now that Japan’s general election has come to an end, the clamour of voices that filled the campaign period has begun to settle. We may have found ourselves agreeing with some opinions and resisting others, and the results themselves may evoke many different feelings. The same can be said of elections in any country. Yet beyond elections, are we truly listening to what others are trying to express? Can we sense the living breath of the person behind the words they have put forward?
耳聞不似心聞好（にもんはしかずしんもんのすきに）
臨黄ネットの今月の最初の禅語から。
百家争鳴の選挙戦が終わり、さまざまな意見に賛同したり、反発したりした人も多いことでしょう。
その結果についても、それぞれに異なる思いがあるはずです。
しかし選挙に限らず、私たちは本当に他者の思いに耳を傾けているでしょうか。
発せられた言葉の奥にある、その人が今ここで生きている息遣いを、感じ取れているでしょうか。
He pai ake te whakarongo a te ngākau i te whakarongo a te taringai ana ngā puāwai ume ki te huka
Hei tā te kōrero tuatahi o te marama i te wāhanga Hapani o te Rinzai-Obaku Zen.
Kua mutu ināianei te kōwhiringa pōti whānui o Hapani, ā, kua tau haere ngā reo maha i rangona i te wā o te pakanga pōti. Tērā pea i whakaae tātou ki ētahi whakaaro, i whakahē rānei i ētahi atu, ā, he maha hoki ngā kare ā-roto ka ara ake i runga i ngā hua. He āhua rite tēnei ki ngā pōtitanga o ngā whenua katoa. Engari ehara tēnei i te kōrero mō te pōti anake. E whakarongo pono ana rānei tātou ki ngā whakaaro o ētahi atu? Ka taea rānei e tātou te rongo i te hā ora o te tangata e ora tonu ana i roto i ngā kupu kua whakapuakina e ia?