Part 15

There is an allusion here to the condition of the shukké (priest): literally, “one who has left his house.” 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.

8.—Busshō en yori okoru. Out of karma-relation even the divine nature itself grows.

There is good as well as bad karma. 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. Every good thought and act contributes to the evolution of the Buddha-nature within each of us. Another proverb [No. 10],—En naki shujō wa doshi gatashi,—further illustrates the meaning of this one.

9.—Enkō ga tsuki wo toran to suru ga gotoshi. Like monkeys trying to snatch the moon’s reflection on water.

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. They resolved to seize the bright apparition. 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. Suddenly the branch broke under the unaccustomed weight; and all the monkeys were drowned.

10.—En naki shujō wa doshi gatashi. To save folk having no karma-relation would be difficult indeed!

No karma-relation would mean an utter absence of merit as well as of demerit.

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

12.—Gaki mo ninzu. Even gaki (prêtas) can make a crowd.

Literally: “Even gaki are a multitude (or, ‘population’).” This is a popular saying used in a variety of ways. 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. 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.”

13.—Gaki no mé ni midzu miézu. To the eyes of gaki water is viewless.

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.

14.—Goshō wa daiji. The future life is the all-important thing.

The common people often use the curious expression “gosho-daiji” as an equivalent for “extremely important.”

15.—Gun-mō no tai-zō wo saguru ga gotoshi. Like a lot of blind men feeling a great elephant.

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. 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.

16.—Gwai-men nyo-Bosatsu; nai shin nyo-Yasha. In outward aspect a Bodhisattva; at innermost heart a demon.

Yasha (Sanscrit Yaksha), a man-devouring demon.

17.—Hana wa né ni kaeru. The flower goes back to its root.

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

18.—Hibiki no koë ni ozuru ga gotoshi. Even as the echo answers to the voice.

Referring to the doctrine of cause-and-effect. The philosophical beauty of the comparison will be appreciated only if we bear in mind that even the tone of the echo repeats the tone of the voice.

19.—Hito wo tasukéru ga shukhé no yuku. The task of the priest is to save mankind.

20.—Hi wa kiyurédomo tō-shin wa kiyédzu. Though the flame be put out, the wick remains.

Although the passions may be temporarily overcome, their sources remain. A proverb of like meaning is, Bonnō no inu oëdomo sarazu: “Though driven away, the Dog of Lust cannot be kept from coming back again.”

21.—Hotoké mo motowa bonbu. Even the Buddha was originally but a common man.

22.—Hotoké ni naru mo shami wo beru. Even to become a Buddha one must first become a novice.

23.—Hotoké no kao mo sando. Even a Buddha’s face,—only three times.