Walking to class on a warm day, I notice water is rushing down the hill.
Streams of melted snow.
A moment of Spring.
“Let death choose its own time… Purify your heart of all your past wickednesses, and follow the way of the Buddha!” (Hibbett, 217) says a previous admirer to the now old woman who spent her life in love. He acknowledges that despite her past, she may still find salvation. The admirer seems to share beliefs with Shinran, who asserted “the only requisite for salvation was to have the heart of the believer, and that external deeds had nothing to do with salvation” (Takahito, 5). If this relates to ‘mono no aware’ in that it recognizes a separation between the inner, spiritual “self” and external actions in the real world, then I’m not sure how ‘mono no aware’ is “a deep feeling about all things” (Inouye, 83). However, Inouye goes on to describe how Norinaga believes that “a person of understanding will always experience things similarly (84). This is where ‘mono no aware’ comes full circle in dictating an appropriate form for living in the moment. Furthermore, I feel like this helps to clarify why those who do not uphold the appropriate form are socially discriminated against in Japan, as poor form would suggest a person was spiritually lacking.