Path of Freedom [Vimuttimagga]

In MemoriamWhen we arrived at Kawatana-Machi, Jozaiji was being rebuilt. By theend of April, the building operations over, our host set apart the new guesthousefor our use and called it the Lion Hall, "in honour", as he said,"of the Lion Isle, the home of my friends". We spent a most pleasant andfruitful year in our Lion Hall, for, it was here that the whole of the GedatsuDo Ron (the Chinese translation of the Vimuttimagga) was translated intoEnglish for the first time. Perhaps it will not be out of place to mention herethat when the late Ven. Nyanatiloka Maha Thera was in Japan during theyears that followed the First World War, he tried, but failed, to persuade anyJapanese scholar to undertake this translation. So when we sent him a copy ofour translation he heartily welcomed it. The word for word translationthe draft translation, copying, cyclostyling, binding, packing for the post,were all done by the three of us and that during the brief space of four months.Besides, the section on virtue had to be cyclostyled thrice before Victor wassatisfied with it.This is how the translation began. Some days after we went into residencein the Lion Hall, our friend showed us around his new library. Pointing tothree thin volumes he said that that was the Chinese translation of the Vimuttimagga,and that originally it was supposed to have been written in Pali inCeylon by a Sinhalese Thera. With one voice both of us exclaimed that wewere ready to begin translating it that very instant,—of course, with his help.And our friend, with his great big ringing laughter, readily agreed. And weimmediately translated the first few pages though he had much to do, it beingvery close to Hanamatsuri, the Flower Festival, which corresponds to Vesakin Theravdda lands. Working incessantly we managed to issue the translationof the first fascicle on Hanamatsuri, May 28, 1936. Continuing to workeven up to twenty hours a day sometimes we were able to post the last copyof the last section of the translation to fifty scholars by the last day of September,1936. During this period Victor knew no fatigue in that most agreeableclimate of South Japan.Jozaiji is beautifully situated a third of the way up the hill which risesabruptly from the broad paddy fields that stretch right up to the sea. Infront is the river Kawa, the beauty of which they sing in Kawa-no-Kawatana>the song of the Kawa of Kawatana. Behind, the hill rises higher and higherand is level at the top. The temple was here in ancient times, and here Victorand I used to stroll under those attractively twisted and gnarled suhgi trees,the cypresses, that adorn the grounds of Japanese temples. One summer daywhile walking there our attention was drawn to some plants we seemed torecognize. At first we thought they were well-grown violets. But soon foundthey were gotukola {Hydrocotyle Asiatica). Their stalks were nearly eighteeninches long with large leaves. We took a handful of them to the temple, andour host was agreeably surprised to hear that this was eaten in Ceylon. Heliked it so much that he introduced it to the whole village. They call ithorseshoe.XIV