お盆
今日はお盆の１３日。ご先祖さまが、あの世からこの世に、一時帰郷する日とか？。その為、今日の夕方は、ご先祖様が家を間違わないように、また、歓迎の意味も込めて、迎え火を焚く。
これは、僕が子供の頃に教えられ、家庭を持ってからもずっとして来た我が家の盆行事である。
ただ、ご先祖は、何処の家に帰るのか？。
普通は、家督を継ぎ、お墓を護っている子孫の所に帰ると思う。ところが、小生は次男であり、直接お墓を見ている訳でもない。従って、いの一番に我が家に顔を出すことはないと思うが、それでも、ご先祖は、一様気には留めてくれ、ついで程度には立ち寄ってくれると思って、迎え火を焚いている。
だって、ご先祖は、肉体を離れ、気の世界で生きているのだから、何時でも何処でも、瞬時に行けるはずだから。次男でも三男でも次女でも三女でも関係なく、迎え火さえ焚けば、立ち寄ってくれるはず。相手（ご先祖）に悪いと、気をつかう必要はないと思う・・・。
又、お盆には、自らも帰郷するのが毎年の事であった。子供が小さい頃は勿論、社会人になってからでも、帰郷するのが普通であった。
ところが、昨年から状況が変わった。
昨年、娘が二人相次いで結婚、別に家庭を築いた。すると、娘にとっては、我が家が故郷（田舎）になった。
それ故、お盆には娘家族が我が家に帰ってくると云う事がおきてきた。よって、小生は田舎（隠岐ノ島）には帰れない。
当たり前の事であるが、何故か不思議な感じである。
と云うのが、よくよく考えてみるに、小生は、早や６０余歳。そうなって当然だが、ところが、自分はそう思っていないところがあり、どこか子供のままの感覚が残っており、お盆には親元に帰るりたい、という感じになるようだ。
ついでに書くと、今年６月６日に孫が産まれた。従って、小生はお祖父さんになった訳である。ところが、どうにもそのお祖父さんと云う感覚がない。自分の子供が出来た時は、俺は父親になったのだ、という感覚に直ぐになった。ところが、お祖父ちゃんはどうもピンとこない。しかし、孫を抱っこすると、自然「お祖父ちゃんだよ・・・」と声をかけている。
そこで、気が付いた。確かに孫にとってはお祖父ちゃんである。しかし、妻や子や、小生の周囲を取り巻く人にとって、小生は決しておじいちゃんでは無いのだ・・・・と云うことが。
Today is the thirteenth day of the Bon Festival. The day when the ancestors return to this world from the other world? Therefore, in the evening today, we will build a welcoming fire so that the ancestors will not make a mistake in their homes, and also to welcome them.
This is my family’s Bon festival, which I was taught when I was a child and have been doing ever since I had a family.
Just where do our ancestors go back home?
Normally, I think they would go back to their descendants who have inherited the viceroyalty and are guarding the grave. However, I am the second son and have not seen the grave directly. Therefore, it is unlikely that they will be the first to come to our house, but even so, we build a welcoming fire, thinking that our ancestors will take care of us and stop by as well.
Because our ancestors left their bodies and lived in the world of chi, they should be able to go anywhere at any time in an instant. It doesn’t matter if it’s your second son, third son, second daughter, or third daughter, as long as you build a welcoming fire, they’ll stop by. I don’t think it’s necessary to worry about the other party (ancestor) being bad….
It was also an annual event for him to return to his hometown on Obon. When my children were small, of course, it was common to return home, even after they became working adults.
However, the situation has changed since last year.
Last year, two daughters were married one after the other and started a separate family. Then, for my daughter, my home became her home (the country).
That’s why my daughter’s family came back to our house on Obon. Therefore, I can’t go back to the country (Oki-no-jima).
It’s an obvious thing, but somehow it’s a strange feeling.
When I think about it, I am now more than sixty years old. However, there is a part of me that doesn’t feel this way, and I still feel like I’m still a child, and I want to go back to my parents in Obon.
On a side note, my grandson was born on June 6th of this year. Therefore, I became a grandfather. However, I don’t feel like I’m his grandfather at all. When I had a child of my own, I immediately felt that I had become a father. However, my grandfather couldn’t figure it out. However, when she carries her grandson, she naturally calls out, “It’s Grandpa…
And then I realized. Indeed, he is a grandfather to his grandchildren. But to my wife, my children, and the people around me, I am not a grandfather at all…..
