🧚 Morning Awakening After a Night’s Rest in a Temple, part 1

Yamadera no Shichō akéyuku: Taki no oto.1

—“_In the mountain-temple the paper mosquito-curtain is lighted by the dawn: sound of water-fall_.”2

WINTER-SCENE3

Yuki no mura; Niwatori naité; Aké shiroshi.4

“_Snow-village;—cocks crowing;—white dawn_.”5

Let me conclude this gossip on poetry by citing from another group of verses—also pictorial, in a certain sense, but chiefly remarkable for ingenuity—two curiosities of impromptu.6 The first is old, and is attributed to the famous poetess Chiyo.7 Having been challenged to make a poem of seventeen syllables referring to a square, a triangle, and a circle, she is said to have immediately responded,—8

Kaya no té wo Hitotsu hazushité, Tsuki-mi kana!9

—“_Detaching one corner of the mosquito-net, lo!10 I behold the moon!11 _” The top of the mosquito-net, suspended by cords at each of its four corners, represents the square;—letting down the net at one corner converts the square into a triangle;—and the moon represents the circle.12

The other curiosity is a recent impromptu effort to portray, in one verse of seventeen syllables, the last degree of devil-may-care-poverty,—perhaps the brave misery of the wandering student;—and I very much doubt whether the effort could be improved upon:—13

Nusundaru Kagashi no kasa ni Amé kyū nari.14

—“_Heavily pours the rain on the hat that I stole from the scarecrow!15

Japanese Buddhist Proverbs16

As representing that general quality of moral experience which remains almost unaffected by social modifications of any sort, the proverbial sayings of a people must always possess a special psychological interest for thinkers.17 In this kind of folklore the oral and the written literature of Japan is rich to a degree that would require a large book to exemplify.18 To the subject as a whole no justice could be done within the limits of a single essay.19 But for certain classes of proverbs and proverbial phrases something can be done within even a few pages; and sayings related to Buddhism, either by allusion or derivation, form a class which seems to me particularly worthy of study.20 Accordingly, with the help of a Japanese friend, I have selected and translated the following series of examples,—choosing the more simple and familiar where choice was possible, and placing the originals in alphabetical order to facilitate reference.21 Of course the selection is imperfectly representative; but it will serve to illustrate certain effects of Buddhist teaching upon popular thought and speech.22

1.—_Akuji mi ni tomaru.23 _ All evil done clings to the body.24 [1]25

[1] The consequence of any evil act or thought never,—so long as karma endures,—will cease to act upon the existence of the person guilty of it.26

2.—_Atama soru yori kokoro wo soré.27 _ Better to shave the heart than to shave the head.28 [2]29

[2] Buddhist nuns and priests have their heads completely shaven.30 The proverb signifies that it is better to correct the heart,—to conquer all vain regrets and desires,—than to become a religious.31 In common parlance the phrase “to shave the head” means to become a monk or a nun.32

3.—_Au wa wakaré no hajimé.33 _ Meeting is only the beginning of separation.34 [3]35

[3] Regret and desire are equally vain in this world of impermanency; for all joy is the beginning of an experience that must have its pain.36 This proverb refers directly to the sutra-text,—_Shōja hitsumetsu é-sha-jori_,—” All that live must surely die; and all that meet will surely part.”37

4.—_Banji wa yumé.38 _ All things[4] are merely dreams.39

[4] Literally, “ten thousand things.”40

5.—_Bonbu mo satoréba hotoké nari.41 _ Even a common man by obtaining knowledge becomes a Buddha.42 [5]43

[5] The only real differences of condition are differences in knowledge of the highest truth.44

6.—_Bonnō kunō.45 _ All lust is grief.46 [6]47

[6] All sensual desire invariably brings sorrow.48

7—_Buppō to wara-ya no amé, dété kiké.49 _ One must go outside to hear Buddhist doctrine or the sound of rain on a straw roof.50 [7]51

[7] There is an allusion here to the condition of the _shukké_ (priest): literally, “one who has left his house.”52 The proverb suggests that the higher truths of Buddhism cannot be acquired by those who continue to live in the world of follies and desires.53

8.—_Busshō en yori okoru.54 _ Out of karma-relation even the divine nature itself grows.55 [8]56

[8] There is good as well as bad karma.57 Whatever hap-piness we enjoy is not less a consequence of the acts and thoughts of previous lives, than is any misfortune that comes to us.58 Every good thought and act contributes to the evolution of the Buddha-nature within each of us.59 Another proverb [No. 10],—_En naki shujō wa doshi gatashi_,—further illustrates the meaning of this one.60

9.—_Enkō ga tsuki wo toran to suru ga gotoshi.61 _ Like monkeys trying to snatch the moon’s reflection on water.62 [9]63

[9] Allusion to a parable, said to have been related by the Buddha himself, about some monkeys who found a well under a tree, and mistook for reality the image of the moon in the water.64 They resolved to seize the bright apparition.65 One monkey suspended himself by the tail from a branch overhanging the well, a second monkey clung to the first, a third to the second, a fourth to the third, and so on,—till the long chain of bodies had almost reached the water.66 Suddenly the branch broke under the unaccustomed weight; and all the monkeys were drowned.67

10.—_En naki shujō wa doshi gatashi.68 _ To save folk having no karma-relation would be difficult indeed!69 [10]70

[10] No karma-relation would mean an utter absence of merit as well as of demerit.71

11.—_Fujō seppō suru hōshi wa, birataké ni umaru.72 _ The priest who preaches foul doctrine shall be reborn as a fungus.73

12.—_Gaki mo ninzu.74 _ Even gaki (_prêtas_) can make a crowd.75 [11]76

[11] Literally: “Even gaki are a multitude (or, ‘population’).”77 This is a popular saying used in a variety of ways.78 The ordinary meaning is to the effect that no matter how poor or miserable the individuals composing a multitude, they collectively represent a respectable force.79 Jocosely the saying is sometimes used of a crowd of wretched or tired-looking people,—sometimes of an assembly of weak boys desiring to make some demonstration,—sometimes of a miserable-looking company of soldiers.—Among the lowest classes of the people it is not uncommon to call a deformed or greedy person a “gaki.”80

13.—_Gaki no mé ni midzu miézu.81 _ To the eyes of gaki water is viewless.82 [12]83

[12] Some authorities state that those _prêtas_ who suffer especially from thirst, as a consequence of faults committed in former lives, are unable to see water.—This proverb is used in speaking of persons too stupid or vicious to perceive a moral truth.84

14.—_Goshō wa daiji.85 _ The future life is the all-important thing.86 [13]87

[13] The common people often use the curious expression “_gosho-daiji_” as an equivalent for “extremely important.”88

15.—_Gun-mō no tai-zō wo saguru ga gotoshi.89 _ Like a lot of blind men feeling a great elephant.90 [14]91

[14] Said of those who ignorantly criticise the doctrines of Buddhism.—The proverb alludes to a celebrated fable in the _Avadânas_, about a number of blind men who tried to decide the form of an elephant by feeling the animal.92 One, feeling the leg, declared the elephant to be like a tree; another, feeling the trunk only, declared the elephant to be like a serpent; a third, who felt only the side, said that the elephant was like a wall; a fourth, grasping the tail, said that the elephant was like a rope, etc.93

16.—_Gwai-men nyo-Bosatsu; nai shin nyo-Yasha.94 _ In outward aspect a Bodhisattva; at innermost heart a demon.95 [15]96

[15] _Yasha_ (Sanscrit _Yaksha_), a man-devouring demon.97

17.—_Hana wa né ni kaeru.98 _ The flower goes back to its root.99 [16]100

[16] This proverb is most often used in reference to death,—signifying that all forms go back into the nothingness out of which they spring.101 But it may also be used in relation to the law of cause-and-effect.102