Enlightenment*1 means living with equanimity*平静、平常
May is the glorious month of gentle breezes, but Masaoka Shiki(1868-1902), a haiku poet of the Meiji Era(1867-1912) who suffered chronic spiral caries, dreaded*3ひどく心配する this month. His condition invariably*4いつも決まって worsened every May.
As if to give his own flagging*5気力などが衰える sぴりt亜簿おst、Shiki began writing serial*6 essays in a newspaper in May 1902. It was titled "Byosho 6-shaku". Struggling with pain, he once wrote about satori, or enlightenment. He had always believed that the state of enlightenment freed one from all fear of death, but he was mistaken, he noted. On the contrary*7, he observed,"(being enlightened) means being able to keep living with perfect equanimity under all circumstances."
Permanently bed-ridden, Shiki could not do without his mother or younger sister who cared for him devotedly. Until his death at age 35, he wrote prodigiously from his sickbed while living with "equanimity." Shiki's situation may well apply today to elderly people requiring constant nursing care at home, except that their caregivers*8介護者 are more likely visiting professionals, not their mothers or younger sisters.
But in this day and age, it has become difficult for the elderly to live with the sort of peace of mind attained by Shiki. I hear that caregiver-dispatch operations, which form the core of today's nursing care services for the elderly living at home, are on the decline*9. Concerns are being voiced that this could invite the collapse of our country's nursing care insurence system.
Care service fees paid under the insurence were lawered two years ago. Nursing care operators have gone south*悪化する financially; their staff have had their incomes slashed; and many have switched jobs. This vicious cycle*悪循環 seems to be eroding*次第に減ずる everyone's sense of security. Nobody can escape eventual aging and infirmity*虚弱 Steps must be taken now to prepare for the future, including measures to update the health care system.
Thanks probably to the devoted ministrations*世話・援助 of his mother and sister, Shiki never lost his sense of humor or cheefulness. One poem he penned in bed goes: "An edamame bean/ Tossed three sun(9 centimeters) into the air/ Pops into my month." There is no question that everyone needs this kind of peace of mind every day of their lives. (Herald Asahi, May 17)
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As if to give his own flagging*5気力などが衰える sぴりt亜簿おst、Shiki began writing serial*6 essays in a newspaper in May 1902. It was titled "Byosho 6-shaku". Struggling with pain, he once wrote about satori, or enlightenment. He had always believed that the state of enlightenment freed one from all fear of death, but he was mistaken, he noted. On the contrary*7, he observed,"(being enlightened) means being able to keep living with perfect equanimity under all circumstances."
Permanently bed-ridden, Shiki could not do without his mother or younger sister who cared for him devotedly. Until his death at age 35, he wrote prodigiously from his sickbed while living with "equanimity." Shiki's situation may well apply today to elderly people requiring constant nursing care at home, except that their caregivers*8介護者 are more likely visiting professionals, not their mothers or younger sisters.
But in this day and age, it has become difficult for the elderly to live with the sort of peace of mind attained by Shiki. I hear that caregiver-dispatch operations, which form the core of today's nursing care services for the elderly living at home, are on the decline*9. Concerns are being voiced that this could invite the collapse of our country's nursing care insurence system.
Care service fees paid under the insurence were lawered two years ago. Nursing care operators have gone south*悪化する financially; their staff have had their incomes slashed; and many have switched jobs. This vicious cycle*悪循環 seems to be eroding*次第に減ずる everyone's sense of security. Nobody can escape eventual aging and infirmity*虚弱 Steps must be taken now to prepare for the future, including measures to update the health care system.
Thanks probably to the devoted ministrations*世話・援助 of his mother and sister, Shiki never lost his sense of humor or cheefulness. One poem he penned in bed goes: "An edamame bean/ Tossed three sun(9 centimeters) into the air/ Pops into my month." There is no question that everyone needs this kind of peace of mind every day of their lives. (Herald Asahi, May 17)
