The 2nd Selected Works
TITLE
Abraxas Festival
(Aburakusasu no matsuri)
(Aburakusasu no matsuri)
AUTHOR
Translator
GERMAN / Lisette Gebhardt 
Originally Published by:
Shinchosha (2001)
(2006) (pb)
KEY POINTS
- A controversial work that was made into a movie selected for viewing at the Sundance Film Festival
- A story of the spiritual wandering and purification of a Zen priest who is approaching middle-age and on a quest for self-discovery
SYNOPSIS
A rock-and-roll celebration that unlocks the heart of a priest suffering from schizophrenia and manic depression
Beginning several days before the live performance, the zen priest Jonen sits naked in the lotus position before a three-fold mirror chanting the mantra "nam-abraxas." What does "abraxas" mean?
Jonen was suffering from schizophrenia and manic depression. As a teenager, he idolized Jim Morrison and was devoted to rock music. He had a rough past—after losing himself in lust with an older woman and being committed to a psychiatric hospital, he attempted suicide at age 27. In the meantime, however, he has continued to create rock pieces. He had never been able to persevere with his studies, Buddhist training, or jobs he was given in his home town, but now he is serving in a small-town temple in north-east Japan and living with his wife, Tae, and his five-year-old son, Riu.
During bouts of depression, he does nothing by lie prone and is unable to converse with his parishioners. During his manic periods, he dances naked before Tae. Although she reviles her husband, calling him "crazy," she loves and supports him. Approaching 40, Jonen has been passing the days with the assistance of drugs and liquor, but he revives his passion for music and decides to present a live concert.
The day of the concert, Jonen becomes ecstatic while he sings, feeling that his mood is being uplifted and that he is being surrounded by light and assimilated into a shining world. When his mood reaches its apex, he hears a voice telling him that he is ok the way he is and then speaking the word "abraxas." Amid the festival atmosphere of the concert, Jonen is purified by great joy.
This is a controversial work that portrays the spiritual growth of Jonen, who persistently seeks to find himself spiritually despite suffering from mental illness.
Genre: Literary fiction
