841Uif

PRESENTIMENT OF DEATH f 291considering her delicate health, sapped her strength by an overexertionwhich hastened her death. Her greatest fear was that the cause of her deathmight be misunderstood by people [who, laying the blame upon the Dharmain its excessive demands upon her] would come to despise it.1Be that as it may, the virtue of her lifo lies in its sterling example of howit is entirely feasible to practice Zen properly, and even experience perfectenlightenment, right in one's own home and partly from a sickbed. If therebe strong determination, one can always practice zazen even with a frailconstitution and without being able to attend sesshin. This it is which exaltsher remarkable experience and must be recorded in the modern history ojZen.Yaeko is dead now-a truly great loss. Her courageous life, however, is soinspiring and its influence so far-reaching that it is certain to promote thespread of Buddhism and benfit mankind.1 Yaeko' s deep concern over possible misunderstandings as to her death mayseem unreasonable: why need she feel answerable fo r the way others choose toConstrue the cause of her passing ? But her feelings are understandable when weremember that true enlightenment, by revealing the interrelation of all livingbeings and the repercussions on other lives of every action, generates a sense ofresponsibility not only fo r what one has done but also fo r what one has failed todo in any given situation.