Hita, Ōita

Hita (日田市, Hita-shi) is a city located in Ōita Prefecture, Japan, that was founded on December 11, 1940. It is an agricultural and industrial centre that primarily produces lumber, furniture, and pottery. Its attractions and scenic beauty also make it a popular tourist destination.

On March 22, 2005, the towns of Amagase and Ōyama, and the villages of Kamitsue, Maetsue and Nakatsue (all from Hita District) were merged into Hita.

As of December 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 71,537, with 26,846 households, and a population density of 107.38 persons per km². However, the estimated population of central Hita is about 5,000 people. The total area of the city is 666.19 km².

Geography

Hita is located in the far west of Ōita Prefecture, and borders the neighbouring prefectures of Fukuoka, and Kumamoto. Surrounding cities include Kurume to its west, Nakatsu to the north, and Kusu to the east. Hita itself lies in a plain at the confluence of several rivers that flow west, eventually becoming the Chikugo River. The surrounding landscape is mountainous, typical of Ōita Prefecture. Due to this connection, although Hita is placed within Ōita Prefecture, it shared a deeper historical connection with Fukuoka Prefecture. The dialect used in Hita has the same characteristic to the Hichiku dialect, used in Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Saga Prefecture.

Hitā

Hitā (Sanskrit: हिता) means 'causeway' or 'dike'. In the Upanishads this word is used to mean 'subtle connections' or 'canals of subtle energies', or particular 'nerves' or 'veins'. The journey to the heart is said to be through seventy-two thousand subtle channels called Hitā; they are the beneficent active veins (filled with different types of serums).

Dilemma of Balaki

Proud Balaki skilled in expounding, eloquent, went to Ajatsatru, the King of Benares, to impart superior wisdom to him which he knew only as the conditioned Brahman; he knew about the physical and physiological categories and therefore, the king soon realized that Balaki did not know about Brahman. Balaki was not aware of the fact that whatever he knew was the result of ignorance, that the results of ignorance, being finite things, are separated from him. Ajatsatru then tells Balaki Gargya that reality is to be found in the deep-sleep-consciousness. Pippalada, the sage of the Prashna Upanishad, holds that sleep is caused by the senses being absorbed in that highest 'sensorium' the mind, which is why in deep sleep man is not able to hear, not to see, nor to smell because the mind is then merged into an ocean of light.