All things are merely dreams.
Thought the flame be put out, the wick remains.
Even Hell itself is a dwelling place.
Even the touching of sleeves in passing is caused by some relation in a former life.
Even a devil is pretty at eighteen.
A devil takes a goblin to wife.
Be the teacher of your heart; do not allow your heart to become your teacher.
Never let go of the reins of the wild colt of the heart.
Fish that escaped was never small; child that died was never bad.
With one hair of a woman you can tether even a great elephant.
Not to know is to be Buddha; not to see is Paradise.
Amanda’s Top Five!
5. The mouth is the front gate of all misfortune.
4. Nothing will grow if the seed be not sown.
3. Human life is like the dew of morning.
2. The fallen blossom never returns to the branch.
And my absolute favorite:
1. The interval of sleep is Paradise.
The shop boy by the temple gate repeats the sutra which he never studied.
I really like this one. It’s all about learning. In this case a young boy who works near a temple hears the priests chant the sutra every day and eventually he learns the words himself. It goes along well with another proverb, “Rather than study an art, keep in constant contact with it.”
Like a lot of blind men feeling a great elephant.
This one means to criticize without having a full idea of what you are talking about and refers to a fable in which a bunch of blind men try to describe what an elephant is by touching it. One guy feels only the leg and proclaims that an elephant is like a tree. Another feels only the truck and says that an elephant is a like a snake. One feels the elephant’s side and says that it is like a wall. Another only feels the tail and says that it’s like a rope. It’s easy to see that they are all very wrong and that by singling in on a small detail they have missed the big picture. Rather they have jumped to conclusions without taking the time to study further.
Even as the echo answers to the voice.
Even as the shadow follows the shape.
This one refers to the idea that however you act you will get the same type of thing back. If you yell harshly, your echo will return in harsh tones. But if you call out happily your echo will answer back happily. Kinda like what goes around comes around, reminding us to watch how we act. This is especially true for Buddhism where we have reincarnation as a factor. Every good thing done for us is a return of a good thing we did in a past life and every wrong inflicted on us is because we did wrong in a past life. It’s a giant balancing act and your life now (like an echo or a shadow) reflects what came before.
Borrowing time, the face of Jizo; repaying time, the face of Enma.
My book used pictures to describe this one and I’ll do the same.
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| Jizo |
Enma
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