The readings for the next several class meetings will be taken from various collections of setsuwa

that is, short, anecdotal tales, often with a Buddhist message, composed between the ninth and
thirteenth centuries.
Sources of Original Tales:
A Record of Miraculous Events in Japan (Nihon ryiki), compiled by the Buddhist monk Kykai
and completed in 822.
Tales of Times Now Past (Konjaku monogatarish), compiled by an unknown Buddhist monk or
monks, possibly associated with Enryaku Temple on Mt. Hiei; completed in the mid-twelfth century
sometime after 1120.
Tales from an Old Book (Kohon setsuwash), compiled by an unknown person in the mid-twelfth
century.
Tales Gleaned from Uji (Uji shi monogatari), compiled by an unknown person and completed in the
early thirteenth century.
A Companion in Solitude (Kankyo no tomo), compiled by the Buddhist monk Keisei and completed
in 1222.
Ten Moral Teachings (Jikkinsh), compiled by an unknown person in 1252.
Things Seen and Heard, Old and New (Kokon chomonj), compiled by the aristocrat Tachibana
Narisue and completed in 1254.
A Collection of Sand and Pebbles (Shasekish) compiled by the Buddhist monk Muj and completed
in 1283.
A Record of the Origins of Kfukuji (Kfukiji ranshki), a collection of tales about the great
temple Kfukuji, of uncertain date.

Sources of Translations:
Koriyama, Naoshi and Bruce Allen, trans. Japanese Tales of Times Past: Stories of Fantasy and
Folklore from Konjaku Monogatari Shu. Intr. Karen Thornber. Singapore: Tuttle, 2015.
Morrell, Robert E., trans. and intr. Sand and Pebbles (Shasekish): The Tales of Muj Ichien, a Voice
for Pluralism in Kamakura Buddhism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1985.
Tyler, Royall, trans. and intr. Japanese Tales. New York: Pantheon Books, 1987.
Ury, Miriam, trans. and intr. Tales of Times Now Past. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Center for
Japanese Studies, 1979.
Watson, Burton, trans. Record of Miraculous Events in Japan: The
Shirane. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013.

Nihon ryiki. Intr. Haruo

____________, trans. The Demon at Agi Bridge and Other Japanese Tales. Ed. Haruo Shirane.
New York: Columbia University Press, 2011

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Setsuwa I: MONKS AND Miracles

A Record of Miraculous Events in Japan 1:5

On Having Faith in the Three Treasures and Receiving an Immediate Reward

{Watson, Record of Miraculous Events in Japan, 21-25}

Lord tomo no Yasunoko no Muraji of the Great Flower Rank was an ancestor
of the tomo no Muraji in Uji, in the Nagusa district of Kii province. * He was endowed
by Heaven with a clear mind, and he revered the Three Treasures.
According to the annals, in the reign of Emperor Bidatsu, sounds of musical
instruments were heard o the coast of Izumi province. There were sounds of flutes,
panpipes, and various types of stringed instruments, or others that sounded like rolls of
thunder. They were heard in the daytime, and at night a bright light spread to the east.
Lord tomo no Yasunoko reported this to the emperor, but he was silent and
disbelieving. When it was reported to the empress, however, she said, Yougo and
find out! He accordingly went to see and found that it was just as reported. While
there, he came on a camphor-tree log that had been struck by lightning. On his return,
he reported to the empress, While I was at the beach at Takashi-no-hama, I found this
log. I humbly request permission to make Buddhist images out of it. The empress
replied, Your request is granted.
Yasunoko, delighted at this, announced the imperial decree to Soga no Umako,
who, in great joy, commissioned Ikebe no Atai Hita to carve three the bodhisattvas. They
were placed in the Toyura Hall to inspire awe and reverence. However, Lord Mononobe
no Yuge no Moriya no muraji addressed the empress, saying, These Buddhist images
should not be displayed in our country. Put them away somewhere far away!
Hearing this, the empress said to Yasunoko, Quickly hide these images!
Thereupon, he had Hita no Atai hide them among the rice sheaves. Lord Yuge no
muraji eventually set fire to the hall and had the images thrown into the canal at
Naniwa. He upbraided Yasunoko, saying, The cause of our present trouble lies in
keeping unauthorized images sent from a nearby country to our own land. Throw them
away at once and let them flow back to the land to the west! (Unauthorized images
means Buddhist images.) But Yasunoko firmly refused. Yuge no muraji, his mind
deranged, began to plot rebellion, looking for a chance to carry out evil. But Heaven
disliked him, and Earth too hated him. In the reign of Emperor Ymei, he was at last

* Muraji was a hereditary title for high-ranking administrators.

The Three Treasures of Buddhism are the Buddha; the Dharma, or doctrine; and the Order, or community of believers.

68

overthrown, and the Buddhist images were brought into the open and handed down to
later ages. At present, the image of Amida enshrined at the Hiso Temple in Yoshino and
casting out its light is one of them.
In the first month of spring in the year with the cyclical sign mizunoto-ushi
[593],* the empress was enthroned at the Owarida Palace and reigned for thirty-six
years. In the first year of her reign, in the summer, the Fourth Month, the month
kane-uma, on the day tsuchinoto-u, Prince Shtoku was appointed prince regent, and
Yasunoko no Muraji was made his personal attendant. In the thirteenth year of her
reign, the year kinoto-ushi [605], in the summer, the Fifth Month, the month kine-tora,
on the day tsuchine-uma, the empress gave him the Great Faith Rank, saying, Your
distinguished services shall long be remembered. In the seventeenth year, the year
tsuchinoto-mi [609], in the spring, the Second Month, the prince regent bestowed on
him 273 acres of rice fields in the Iibo district of Harima province. When the prince
regent died at the Ikaruga Palace in the twenty-ninth year, the year kanoto-mi [621],
Yasunoko no Muraji expressed a desire to leave lay life and become a monk, but the
empress would not permit this.
In the thirty-second year, the year kine-saru [624], in the summer, the Fourth
Month, a high monk took an ax and struck his father. Seeing this, Yasunoko no Muraji
immediately petitioned the throne, saying, Monks and nuns should be examined and a
presiding ocer appointed to regulate them. If there are any found guilty of evil, they
should by all means be discharged. The empress gave her assent to this proposal.
Yasunoko no Murajis proposal revealed a total of 837 monks and 579 nuns. The monk
Kanroku was appointed Daisj, and Yasunoko no Muraji and Kurabe no Tokosaka were
appointed Szu.
In the thirty-third year, the year kinoto-tori [625], in the winter, on the eighth day
of the Twelfth Month, Yasunoko no Muraji died suddenly at his home in Naniwa. His
corpse gave out an unusually fragrant odor. The empress decreed that it be retained for
seven days in honor of his loyalty. But on the third day, he came back to life and spoke
to his wife and children. There was a five-colored cloud, he said, like a rainbow
stretching to the north. I was walking along it, and that cloud was fragrant, as though
fine incense were burning nearby. At the end of the road, I could see a golden

* From very early times, the Chinese have used a combination of two sets of signs, the so-called Ten Stems and Twelve

Branches, to form a sixty-term chronological sequence that, when it ends, begins again. This may be used to designate years,
months, or days. When the Japanese adopted the use of the sixty-term cycle, they read the terms in the Japanese equivalents
of the Chinese names.
Prince Shtoku (577-622, also known as Prince Umayado) championed Buddhism shortly after its introduction to Japan, and
came to be revered as a saint-like defender of the faith.
Both Daisj and Szu are high officers charged with the regulation of the clergy.

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mountain, which, when I reached it, dazzled my eyes. There the Imperial Prince
Shtoku, who has departed this life, was waiting for me and together we climbed the
golden mountain. On top of the golden mountain was a monk, who bowed to the
prince and said, I am a servant in the Eastern Palace. In eight days you will encounter a
sharp sword. Please drink this elixir of immortality! The monk then handed the prince
a goblet in which a jewel had been dissolved, which he drank. Then the monk said,
Recite three times the words Homage to the Bodhisattva of Miraculous Power, after
which he withdrew. The prince then said, Go home at once and prepare for the making
of a Buddhist image! When I have finished the rite of repentance, I will come to your
place to make it! So I came back here along the road Ive mentioned. And so, to my
surprise, Ive returned to life!
Accordingly, people called him the Returned-to-Life Muraji. In the sixth year
of the reign of Emperor Ktoku, the year kane-inu, in the autumn, the Ninth Month,
he was granted the rank of the Great Flower, Upper Grade, and died at over the age of
ninety.
In appraisal we say: How praiseworthy, this member of the tomo family! He
revered the Buddha, honored the doctrine, was pure in nature, and valued loyalty. He
was blessed by both heredity and good fortune, living a long life without fault. His
military might was boundless, and his filial piety has passed to his descendants. Truly,
in his devotion to the Three Treasures of Buddhism, he was aided by the protection of
the good deities.*
Looking back, it is apparent that the sentence In eight days, you will encounter
a sharp sword refers to the rebellion raised by Soga no Iruka. Eight days means
eight years. By The bodhisattva of Miraculous Power is meant the bodhisattva
Majur. The jewel that he drank refers to the medicine that allowed him to avoid
danger. The golden mountain is Mount Wutai in China, and the Eastern Palace is
Japan. When he was told go home at once and prepare for the making of a Buddhist
image, this was made manifest by the birth of Emperor Shmu, who was from Japan,
built a temple, and fashioned a statue of the Buddha. The Most Venerable Gyki, a

* This appraisal section, in four character phrases with occasional rhyme, imitates similar sections in Chinese histories such as

Ban Gus History of the Han. It was also used in Chinese Buddhist works, which probably served as Kykais inspiration.
Similar commentaries appear at the end of most tales from A Record of Miraculous Events in Japan.
Soga no Iruka (610-645) was the head of the powerful Soga clan, which held considerable influence over the throne. He was
assassinated by the imperial prince Naka no e and Nakatomi no Kamatari, a member of a rival clan. History was written by
the victors of this power struggle, and Soga no Iruka was painted as a rebel and a traitor.
Mount Wutai, one of the four sacred mountains in Chinese Buddhism, is devoted to the worship of the bodhisattva Majur.
Reigned 724-749

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contemporary of Emperor Shmu, is an incarnation of the bodhisattva Majur. This

was a miraculous event.

A Record of Miraculous Events in Japan 1:14

On a Monk Who Recited the Heart Sutra and, Receiving

an Immediate Reward, Manifested an Extraordinary Sign
{Watson, Record of Miraculous Events in Japan, 34-35}

Shaku Gigaku was originally from Paekche,* but when that country was overthrown, in
the reign of the sovereign who resided in the later Okamoto Palace, he came to our
country and lived at the Kutara Temple in Naniwa. He was seven feet tall, well read in
the Buddhist scriptures, and particularly skilled in reciting the Heart Sutra.
Egi, a fellow monk at the same temple, happened to go out alone one night
around midnight. He found a bright light coming out of the room where Gigaku lived.
Thinking this strange, he secretly poked a hole in the paper panel and peered in. He
saw Gigaku sitting up straight and reciting the sutra, and light was pouring out of his
mouth. Being very startled and frightened by this, the next day he confessed what he
had done to the congregation of monks.
Once Gigaku was talking with his disciples, and he said, One evening, when I
had recited the Heart Sutra a hundred times, I found that, when I opened my eyes and
looked at the walls of the room, I could see right through all four walls and could see
into the garden. Thinking this very strange, I then went out of the room and walked
around outside, but when I looked, all the walls were closed up. When I stayed outside
and recited the Heart Sutra, however, they once more became transparent. This shows
you the extraordinary power of the sutra!
In appraisal we say: How great is this child of kyamuni! He has heard much
and expounds the teachings. When he recites the sutra in a closed room, his mind
expands and moves abroad. It manifests itself in extreme quietude: What motion could
it know? Yet when it passes through the walls of the room, it shines everywhere
around!

* Paekche was on the three ancient kingdoms occupying the Korean peninsula. It was overthrown in 660.
In 660, in the reign of Empress Saimei (r. 655-661).
Shakyamuni, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, was the historical Buddha (traditional dates 563 BCE - 483 BCE).

71

A Record of Miraculous Events in Japan 1:18

On Remembering and Reciting the Lotus Sutra

and Gaining an Immediate and Wondrous Award
{Watson, Record of Miraculous Events in Japan, 37-39}

In the Kazuraki upper district of Yamato province, there was once a devotee of the
Lotus Sutra. He was a member of the Tajihi family. Even before he was eight years old,
he could recite the Lotus Sutra, but with the exception of one character that always
escaped his memory.
Even when he was in his twenties, it continued to escape him.
He prayed to Kannon, confessing his oense, and had a dream. In it, a man said
to him, In a previous existence, you were a child of Kusakabe no Saru of the Wake
district of Iyo province. At that time, while reciting the sutra, you burned one character
with a lamp so that you could not read it. Now, go and see!
When he awoke, he was filled with wonder. He said to his parents, I have
urgent businessI want to go to Iyo! His parents gave their consent. Setting out, in
time he reached Kusakabe no Sarus house and knocked on the door. A woman
answered, and then reported to the lady of the house, Theres a visitor here who looks
exactly like your deceased son! On hearing this, she came to the door and found that
the man was indeed the image of her dead son. Then the head of the house, Kusakabe
no Saru, appeared and, wondering, asked, Who are you? The man replied, giving the
name of his district and province. Then he asked the same question, and Kusakabe no
Saru gave his full name. It thus became apparent to the man that these had been his
father and mother in a previous existence. He knelt down in a gesture of respect, but
Kusakabe no Saru greeted him warmly, invited him in, and, seating him in the parlor,
asked respectfully, Are you the spirit of our deceased son? The man then described
his dream in detail, exclaiming, You elderly couple are my former parents!
Kusakabe no Saru then began reminiscing, saying, My former son was named
such-and-such. He lived in the room over there, recited sutras, and used that water
pitcher. The man, hearing him, entered the room, picked up the copy of the Lotus
Sutra, and examined it. He found that the character he could never remember had been
burned by a lamp and was missing. Once he had repented of this accident and had repaired the text, he was thereafter able to recite it without fault. Both the parents and
the son looked on this with wonder and rejoicing, and the man never failed to honor
his bond with his parents.
In appraisal we say: How happy, the members of the Kusakabe family! He read
the sutra and sought the Way in two lives, past and present, reciting the Lotus Sutra!

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He was filial to two fathers, his fine reputation handed down to posterity. This was
extraordinary, surely not commonplace. Truly we know the authority of the Lotus Sutra
and the wonderful workings of Kannon! As the Sutra on the Eects of Good and Evil
says: If you want to know past causes, look at present eects. If you want to know
future eects, look at present causes. This is what it means!

A Record of Miraculous Events in Japan 1:19

On Ridiculing a Reciter of the Lotus Sutra and

Getting a Twisted Mouth as an Immediate Retribution
{Watson, Record of Miraculous Events in Japan, 39}

Long ago in Yamato province, there was a self-ordained monk. His family and given
name are unknown. He used to play go incessantly. One day when he was playing go
with a white-robed layman, a beggar came along, reciting the Lotus Sutra and asking
for alms. The monk laughed scornfully at him, and then purposely twisted his mouth
around in imitation of the man reciting the sutra. The layman was shocked, saying with
each play of the game, How disrespectful! He won every time at the game, while the
monk lost. But while this was going on, the monks mouth became twisted. No
medicine could cure it, and in the end it never healed.
The Lotus Sutra says: If anyone disparages or laughs at that person,* then in
existence after existence he will have teeth that are missing or spaced far apart, ugly
lips, a flat nose, hands and feet that are gnarled or deformed, and eyes that are
squinty. This is what it means. It is better to be possessed by evil devils and talk
nonsense than to abuse the devotees of the Lotus Sutra. Remember that the mouth is
often the source of evil.

A Record of Miraculous Events in Japan 1:30

On Taking Goods from Others Unjustly and Causing Evil,

Receiving Retribution, and Manifesting a Miraculous Sign
{Watson, Record of Miraculous Events in Japan, 50-53}

Kashiwade no Omi Hirokuni was an assistant governor of the Miyako district of Buzen
province. In the reign of the emperor at the Fujiwara Palace, in the second year of the
Kyun era, the year kinoto-mi [705], on the fifteenth day of the Ninth Month, the day
* The person refers to one who reveres the Lotus Sutra.
Emperor Monmu (r. 697-707).

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kane-saru, he suddenly died. Three days passed, and on the fourth day, the Day of the
Boar, around four in the afternoon, he came back to life and told the following tale:
There were two messengers, one with the hairstyle of an adult, and the other
with that of a child. They accompanied me, and we went about two stages.* There was
a big river along the way, with a bridge that was painted in gold. When we crossed the
bridge, we found ourselves in a very wonderful land. I asked the messengers, What
land is this?
This is the southern land, they said. When we reached the capital, we found
that there were eight ocers carrying arms and following us. Before us was a golden
palace, and when we went in the gate, we saw the king sitting on a golden throne. He
said to me, I have summoned you because of a complaint brought by your wife. Then
he called in a woman. When I looked, it was my wife, who had died long ago. Iron nails
pierced her from top to bottom and ran from her forehead to the nape of her neck,
while her four limbs were wrapped with an iron chain.
Eight men carried her in. The king asked me, Do you know this woman? I
replied, Indeedshe is my wife. Then he asked, Do you know what oense you are
accused of? I replied, No, I do not. Then he asked the woman the same question. She
answered, I do indeed! He drove me out of the house, and therefore I hate him, loathe
him, and still bear him a grudge. The king then said, You are guilty of no real crime.
You may go home. But take care that you do not speak rashly of the aairs of the land
of the dead! If you want to see your father, go to the south.
When I went in the direction I had been told, I found my father. He stood,
embracing an extremely hot copper pillar. His body was pierced by thirty-seven iron
nails, and he was beaten every day with an iron rod, three hundred strokes in the
morning, three hundred strokes at noon, and three hundred strokes in the evening
nine hundred strokes in all! I looked at him in sorrow and said, Ah, how could I have
known that you suered such pain?
As we talked together, my father said, I brought these suerings on myself. I
dont know if you know or not. In order to support my wife and family, I killed many
living creatures, lent eight ry worth of cloth and demanded payment of ten ry in
return, or lent a little measure of rice and demanded a big measure in repayment. Or I
took by force the goods of others or committed adultery with their wives. I did not take
proper care of my father and mother or show respect for my elders, and, even when
they were not slaves, abused them as though they were. Because of these oenses, I
have thirty-nine iron nails driven into my body, little though it is, and daily receive nine
* One stage (umaya) was about twelve miles.

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hundred beatings with an iron whip. How painful, how unbearable! When will I escape
from these penalties? When will my body ever find rest? Please, as quickly as you can,
for my sake make Buddhist images and copy sutras to pay for the burden of my
oenses. Never forget this! When I was starving, on the seventh day of the Seventh
Month, I turned into a large snake, went to your house, and was about to enter the
kitchen, but you used a stick to drive me away. Again, on the fifth day of the Fifth
Month, I turned into a red dog and went to your house. But you called a big dog to
chase me away, and I came back hungry and exhausted. When, on the first day of the
New Year, I turned into a cat and went to your house, I was able to eat my fill of the
oerings of rice and meat and other things and was thus able to make up for three
years lack of food. It was because I and my younger brothers got all mixed up and lost
our proper relationship that all this happened. Therefore, I became a dog, eating foul
things and fouling myself as well. And I suppose I will end up a red dog. But if you
make an oering of one quart of rice, you will gain a reward of thirty days of food; and
if you make an oering of one set of clothes, you will gain a reward of one year of
clothing. Those who have sutras recited will live in the golden palace of the east and
afterward will, in accordance with their wishes, be reborn in Heaven; and those who
make images of Buddhas and the bodhisattvas will be reborn in the Land of Eternal Life
in the western direction; those who free living creatures will be reborn in the Land of
Everlasting Life in the northern direction; and those who fast for a day will gain the
reward of ten years of food.
Having heard all this talk of retribution for good or evil, I became frightened
and decided to go. When I got to the bridge, the guards watching the gate stopped me,
saying, You cant go out the gate after having once been inside! I wandered around
there for a while, when a child appeared. The gatekeepers, seeing him, knelt in
greeting. The child called to me, led me to a side gate, opened the door there, and,
pointing, said, Hurry out! I asked him, Whose child are you? He answered, If you
want to know who I am, Im the Kannon Sutra that you first copied when you were
little.* Then he went back inside the gate, and when I looked around, I had come back
to life.
As Kashiwade Hirokuni had visited the land of the dead and observed the
rewards and retributions meted out for good or evil behavior, the results are recorded
here for general circulation. The causes and conditions that bring about retribution for
sins are just as they are generally expounded in the Mahayana sutras. Who could fail to

* The Kannon Sutra, which is chapter twenty-five of the Chinese version of the Lotus Sutra, describes the salvific power of the

bodhisattva Kannon, or Kanzeon. It is often treated as a separate sutra.

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believe them? Therefore, the sutra says: The sweet dew of the present life is the iron
ball of the future life. This is what it means. Hirokuni, for the sake of his father,
fashioned Buddhist images, copied sutras, and paid honor to the Three Treasures of
Buddhism, thereby repaying his debt to his father and atoning for the oenses he had
committed. Therefore, he turned from aberrant ways and followed what is right.

A Record of Miraculous Events in Japan 3:11

On a Woman, Blind in Both Eyes, Whose Sight was Restored

Through her Devotion of a Wooden Image of Yakushi
{Watson, Record of Miraculous Events in Japan, 149-150}

In the Tadehara Hall in the village of Tadehara, south of the pond of Koshide in the
capital of Nara, there was a wooden image of Yakushi Nyorai, or the Buddha of
Healing.* During the reign of Empress Abe, a woman blind in both eyes lived in the
village. She was a widow whose only daughter was seven years old. Having no husband
and being so poor, she had great diculty living. Lacking any way to acquire food, she
was on the verge of starvation. She said to herself, This is due to the deeds of my past
lives. It is not a retribution from those of my present life alone. Rather than die of
hunger in vain, it is better to practice goodness!
Taking her daughters hand, she went to the hall, where she prayed to the image
of Yakushi Buddha for the restoration of her eyesight, saying, I do not care about my
own life, but that of my daughter depends on metwo lives dependent on one! Please
restore the sight to my eyes! A patron of the temple who happened to be present
opened the door and let her in, so she could pay her respects to the image.
Two days later, the daughter, who had accompanied her, saw something like sap
from a peach tree oozing from the breast of the image. The daughter told her mother,
who expressed a desire to eat it, saying, Put some of it in my mouth, please! When
the daughter did so, she ate it and found it sweet. And with that, her eyes were
opened. Truly we know that with all her heart she voiced her wish, and when such a
wish is expressed, it can never be denied. This was a miraculous event!

* Yakushi, or Baishajyaguru, is the Medicine Master Buddha. Despite the events of this story, Yakushi is conceived of as a male

deity.

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A Record of Miraculous Events in Japan 3:19

On a Girl Born of a Flesh Ball Who Practiced Good and Converted People
{Watson, Record of Miraculous Events in Japan, 160-161}

The wife of Toyobuku no Hirogimi of the village of Toyobuku in the Yatsushiro district
of Higo province became pregnant. In the second year of the Hki era, the year kanoto-i
[771], in the winter, on the fifteenth dayof the Eleventh Month, about four oclock in
the morning, she gave birth to a flesh ball. It looked like an egg. Both husband and
wife, considering this inauspicious, put it in a container and stored it in a cave in
themountains. After seven days had passed, they went to look at it and found that the
ball had broken open and a girl child had emerged. The father and mother took her
home and nursed and raised her. Of those who saw or heard of this, there was no one
in the province who did not think it amazing.
After eight months had passed, she suddenly grew very large. But her head and
neck were joined together, without any chin as in an ordinary person. She was three
and a half feet in height and could speak very clearly, being endowed with natural
intelligence. Before she was even seven years old, she could recite the Lotus Sutra and
the eighty-volume Flower Garland Sutra perfectly without flaw. In the end, she decided
to renounce the world, shaving her head and wearing a surplice, practicing good and
converting others. There were none who did not have faith in her. She spoke in a loud
voice, which overawed her listeners. In her body, she diered from others; she had no
vagina or any way of coupling, only an opening for urine. Ignorant people laughed at
her, calling her a Monkey Sage.
At one time, a monk of the provincial temple of Kokubun-ji in the Takuma
district and a monk of the Daijin-ji in Yahata in the Usa district of Michinoku province
of Toyokuni, the two of them, joined in denouncing the nun, saying, You are a
follower of heretic teachings! They criticized her in very harsh terms. A divine man
flew down from the sky, bearing a halberd, and made as though to strike them. They
screamed in terror and eventually died.
When the Most Reverend Kaimy, a monk of Daian-ji, was appointed as
superior provincial preceptor of Tsukushi province, about the seventh or eighth year of
the Hki era [776 or 777], Sagano Kimi Kogimi, of the Senior Seventh Rank, Upper
Grade, governor of the Saga district of Hizen province, held a retreat and invited
Dharma Master Kaimy to lecture on the eighty-volume Flower Garland Sutra. The nun
was among those in the congregation, always present. Seeing her, Kaimy said
accusingly, What is that nun doing seated there?

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The nun replied, The Buddha, out of his compassion, promulgated the correct
teachings for the sake of all living beings. Why do you single me out for discriminatory
treatment? Then she asked a question, quoting a verse from the sutra, and the lecturer
was unable to explain it. All the eminent and wise persons present, amazed at this,
questioned and examined her, but she never failed to answer them. Thus they knew
that she had the understanding of a sage. The clergy and lay believers alike revered her
and made hertheir teacher.
Long ago, when the Buddha was in the world, Suman, a daughter of Sudatta, a
wealthy man of the city of rvasti, gave birth to ten eggs. They opened to produce ten
men, all of whom renounced the world and became arhats.* And the wife of a wealthy
man of Kapilavastu became pregnant and gave birth to a flesh ball. After seven days, it
opened to produce a hundred children, all of whom renounced the world at the
same time and became arhats. Even in a country as paltry as ours, we, too, have a
similar case. This also is an extraordinary event!

Tales of Times Now Past 19:2

How e no Sadamoto, Governor of Mikawa, Became a Buddhist Monk
{Watson, Record of Miraculous Events in Japan, 155-160}

Long ago, in the reign of Emperor Eny [970-984], there was a man named e no
Sadamoto who was governor of Mikawa Province. He was the son of the Confucian
scholar e no Narimitsu, an Imperial Adviser, a Major Controller of the Left, and a
Commissioner in the Ministry of Ceremony. He had a nature marked by pity and
compassion and was a person of superior talent. After serving in the Chamberlains
Oce, he was promoted to the post of governor of Mikawa.
In addition to the wife with whom he had lived from past times, Sadamoto was
much taken with an attractive young woman of upright character. He found it all but
impossible to dismiss her from his thoughts. His wife reacted with intense jealousy,
and as a result the couple, forgetful of their matrimonial vows, abruptly parted.
Sadamoto then made the young woman his wife, and she accompanied him when he
went to his new post as governor of Mikawa.
After they reached Mikawa, the woman came down with a grave illness that
caused her prolonged suering. Sadamoto, grieved and distressed, did everything in his
power to help, oering prayers for her recovery, but the illness showed no sign of
mending. As the days went by, the womans beautiful looks faded away. Observing this,
* An arhat is a saint-like figure, a dedicated religious practitioner who has attained enlightenment and may possess superhuman

powers.

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Sadamotos grief passed all description, but the womans condition continued to
worsen until she died.
Thereafter, plunged into bottomless despair, Sadamoto for a long time could not
bear to carry out the funeral. He continued to cling to the corpse, but as the days
passed and he kissed the womans lips, a strange, foul-smelling odor emerged from
them. Repelled in heart by this, he agreed to a funeral, weeping all the while. After
that, Sadamoto came to look on the world as a hateful place, and his thoughts all at
once began to turn to religion.
In the province to which he had been assigned, the local people carried out what
was known as the Wind Festival.* At that time, Sadamoto observed how the people
caught a wild boar and, while it was still alive, cut it up as an oering. I must get out
of this province at once! he thought, and he became more determined than ever to
enter religious life.
In addition to the boar, the people caught a pheasant and brought that also as a
live oering. The governor said, Well, now, are we going to eat the pheasant alive too?
We might try to see how delicious it is that way. Hearing this, some of his underlings,
not stopping to consider but hoping to ingratiate themselves with the governor, said,
That would be splendid! The flavor would be even better that way, and they urged
him to proceed.
Those in the group who had some feeling about such matters thought to
themselves, What a barbarous way to do things! But the others brought the pheasant
and began to pluck its feathers while it was still alive. For a time, the bird fluttered its
wings in alarm, but they pinned it down and went on plucking. Tears of blood began to
flow from the birds eyes as it batted its eyelids and looked from one in the group to
another, so that some of them, unable to bear the sight, stopped what they were doing.
Others, however, exclaimed, Lookthe bird is crying! and, laughing and heartless,
went on with their plucking.
When the plucking was done and the carving began, the blood gushed out in
torrents under the blade. Again and again, they had to wipe the blade, until the bird,
emitting an unbearably piteous cry, finally died. This done, they began to roast it over a
fire. Youd be surprised! they said. It tastes much better than roasting a bird thats
already been dead!
Sadamoto, watching all this intently and listening to what was said, burst out
crying, huge tears rolling from his eyes, appalled that anyone could talk about how
good something tastes at such a time. That very day, he left the provincial oce and

The ceremony petitions the wind god to spare the region from wind damage.

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journeyed to the capital, resolved once and for all to enter religious life. Cutting o his
topknot, he became a priest, taking the religious name Jakush. The people of the time
referred to him as the lay monk of Mikawa.* He had observed these strange events of
the Wind Festival in order to arm beyond all doubt his determination to enter
religious life.
Thereafter, Jakush went from place to place in the capital, spreading the
doctrine and soliciting contributions. Arriving at a certain house, he was invited to
come in, shown to a seating mat, served a splendid meal, and urged to eat. The curtain
to the inner apartments was then raised, and a woman dressed in fine clothes
appeared. When Jakush looked closely, he saw that it was none other than the wife
from whom he had separated long ago.
You beggar! she said, as they stared at each other. I always thought Id see the
day when you were begging for your food!
But Jakush showed not the slightest sign of embarrassment. You honor me
greatly! he said, and proceeded to eat the fine food that had been served him and then
take his leave. His attitude was one of sincere gratitude. Because of his adherence to
religious principles, though he was treated as some sort of pariah, he did not allow this
to disturb him. This was most admirable.
Later, Jakush decided that he wanted to journey to China to pay his respects at
the outstanding holy places associated with the Buddhist faith. At the time he made
this decision, he had a son, a monk named -, living on Mount Hiei. In order to
take his leave before setting o for China, Jakush climbed Mount Hiei, visited the
Konponchd, and paid his respects at the Hie Shrine. On his way back, he stopped at
the lodge where his son, the monk -, was living and knocked at the door. The door
opened, and appeared on the veranda. It was the middle of the Seventh Month and the
moon was shining brightly.
Jakush, addressing his son on the veranda, said, I am determined to pay my
respects to the holy sites of Buddhism, worthy as they are of veneration, and so I am
setting out for China. It may be dicult for me to return from such a journey, and so
tonight will perhaps be our last meeting. You must without fail remain on this

A lay monk (nyd), whose head is shaven, observes certain monastic precepts while continuing to live in society
rather than in a temple.
Mount Hiei, northeast of Kyoto, is the headquarters of the Tendai school and one of the most important centers
of Japanese Buddhism. The Konpunchd and the Hie Shrine, mentioned in the next sentence, are among the
main sites of worship on the mountain.
There is a blank in the text wherever the monks name would have appeared. Apparently, the compiler intended
to fill in the blanks but was not able to do so.
*

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mountain, continue your religious practice, and never be remiss in your studies.
Jakush shed tears as he spoke these words, and - too wept endlessly.
When Jakush started on his return to the capital, - went as far as Great
Peak to see him o. The moon was exceedingly bright, and dew bathed the
surroundings in a white sheen. Autumn insects with their varied voices lent an air of
sadness. Everything contrived to fill one with melancholy and wake sorrow in the
heart. The son was about to accompany Jakush down the mountain, but Jakush said,
You must hurry back now! With this, the son, weeping all the while, turned back, his
figure fading from sight in the mist.
In time, Jakush, having journeyed to China, paid his respects at the various
holy places as he had planned. The emperor of the country received him in audience,
treated him with the utmost respect, and gave ear to his teachings.
At that time, the emperor called together all the most outstanding religious
figures of the realm, decorated a hall to receive them, had food suitable for monks
prepared, and cordially invited them to help themselves. The emperor announced, At
todays religious feast, we wont be having any attendants to serve the food. So may I
ask each of you to take the bowl that is placed in front of you, cause it to fly through
the air, and in this way receive your portion of the food. His object in doing this was
to put Jakush to a test.
Following the emperors instructions, each of the monks, beginning with the
one seated in the place of honor, caused his bowl to fly through the air and in this way
received his helping of the food. Jakush, since he had entered the monastic order at a
more recent date than the others, had been assigned to the lowest seat. When his turn
came, he picked up his bowl and rose from his seat. But others in the group said, Why
are you doing that? Make your bowl fly through the air and get your fare that way!
At that time, Jakush, holding up his bowl, said, To make ones bowl fly
through the air requires a very special technique. One must learn the art before one can
do so. But I have never studied that art. It is said that in Japan in ancient times there
were a few people who performed this feat, but now in this latter age there is no one
who can do so. Hence the art has been lost. How, then, could I possibly make my bowl
fly through the air?
The reverend from Japan is too slow, too slow with his bowl! said the others
accusingly.
Jakush, greatly troubled in his mind, exerted all his mental energy, saying to
himself, You Three Treasures of Japanese Buddhism, help me! If I cannot make my
bowl fly through the air, it will mean extreme disgrace for the country of Japan! With

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that, the bowl in front of Jakush suddenly began to spin around and around like a top,
sailing through the air even faster than the bowls of the other monks, and returned to
him filled with his portion.
At that time, everyone, from the emperor down to the high ministers and the
hundred ocials, applauded Jakush and paid him unlimited respect. And thereafter,
the emperor was more heedful than ever of his doctrines.
Jakush also made a pilgrimage to Mount Wutai. * There he performed various
acts designed to bring religious benefit, such as having water heated to provide a bath
for the community of monks. When the monks had gathered at that time to enjoy a
communal meal, a very dirty-looking woman, carrying a child and accompanied by a
dog, appeared in front of Jakush. Because the woman was covered with unspeakably
ugly sores, the others in the group, seeing her, were repulsed and tried to drive her
away. But Jakush, restraining them, gave the woman her helping of the food and
prepared to send her o.
The woman said, My body is covered with sores that are almost too much to
endure. Ive come so I can bathe in the water. Please let me receive a little benefit from
the hot water! The others, hearing this, drove her back, so she was forced to withdraw
to a distance. Nevertheless, she managed to steal into the bathhouse, where, holding
the child and accompanied by the dog, she splashed about in the hot water.
When the others heard what she was doing, they cried, Drive her out! But
when they looked in the bathhouse, she had disappeared as though by magic. They
were startled and mystified by this, but when they emerged from the bathhouse and
looked around, they saw a purple cloud gleaming and rising beyond the eaves. It must
have been Manjusri, who changed into the shape of a woman and appeared here! they
exclaimed. Weeping tears of regret, they bowed to the ground in obeisance, but by that
time it was too late.
These last events took place when Jakush was accompanied by his disciple, the
monk Nengu. When Nengu returned to Japan, he relayed an account of them. He told
how Jakush had won over the emperor of China to his teachings, and how the latter
had bestowed on him the title Great Teacher and the religious name Ents. Thus we
learn how a man, impelled by certain causes, entered religious life and, traveling to a

Mount Wutai, a center of Buddhist activity in northeastern Shanxi province, is noted in particular for the worship
of Manjusri, the bodhisattva of wisdom.
Nengu return to Japan in 1013. Some texts identify Nengu as a Chinese monk, but, as the text indicates here, he
was originally from Japan.
The History of the Song (Ch. Song shi, Jp. Sshi, 1346) records that Jakush went to China in 1004 and was honored
with the name Great Teacher Yuantong or Ents. Because he could not speak Chinese, he communicated with
the emperor by brushthat is, in writing. He died in China in 1034.
*

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foreign country, was received with honor there. Such, then, is the story that has been
handed down.

Tales of Times Now Past 20:11

How a Dragon Was Captured by a Tengu *

{Tyler, Japanese Tales, 52-53}

In Sanuki province there still is a large body of water named Mano Pond that Kb
Daishi made out of kindness toward the people who live nearby. It is so big, and the
dikes around it are so high, that it looks more like a lake than a pond. Its deep waters
harbor countless fish great and small, and at the bottom there once lived a dragon.
One day this dragon came out of the water to sun himself, and slithered around
on an isolated section of the dike in the shape of a little snake. Just then the tengu of
Mount Hira, far o in Omi province, flew over in the form of a kite. He dove at the
little snake, caught him in his talons, and soared up again into the sky.
A dragon is, of course, immensely strong, but this one had been taken so
suddenly that all he could do was hang in the tengus claws. The tengu for his part
meant to crush the snake and eat him, but that turned out to be impossible since, after
all, it was a mighty dragon he had seized and no weakling serpent. Not knowing quite
what else to do, the tengu took the dragon back to his lair on Mount Hira and stued
him into a hole in the rocks so small that the dragon could hardly move. The poor
dragon was miserable. Not having a drop of water he could not fly away, and for several
days he lay there waiting to die.
Meanwhile the tengu was planning a little foray to Mount Hiei to catch himself a
nice fat monk. That night he perched in a tall tree and kept his eyes on the dormitory
across the valley on the side of the hill. A monk came out on the veranda to relieve
himself. When he picked up the water jar to wash his hands, the tengu pounced, seized
him, and carried him o to Mount Hira, where he stued him into the hole with the
dragon. The terrified monk thought he was done for, but the tengu went o again.
From out of the darkness a voice asked, Who are you? Where did you come
from? The monk explained what had happenedhow he had been carried o so
suddenly that he was still holding his water jarand asked who had spoken. The
dragon introduced himself and told his own story. Its very tight in this hole, you
know, he groaned, but I cant fly away because I havent a drop of water!
gMaybe theres some left in this jar, suggested the monk.
*

A tengu is a kind of winged mountain demon.

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Oh, how wonderful! What luck youre here! If there is, I can save us both. Ill
take you back home!
With joyous anticipation the monk turned the jar upside down over the dragon
and a drop of water fell out. The dragon was wet. All right, said the dragon, dont be
afraid. Just close your eyes and sit on my back. Ill never forget what I owe you.
The dragon turned into a small boy, took the monk on his back, smashed the
rock walls of their hole, and burst forth amid thunderclaps and bolts of lightning. Huge
clouds gathered in the sky and heavy rain fell. The monk was frightened but trusted the
dragon enough to hang on. He was deposited instantly right where he had started, on
the veranda of his dormitory on Mount Hiei. The dragon flew o.
With all the crashing and roaring, the other residents of the dormitory were sure
that any second a bolt would destroy them. Then suddenly the thunder stopped and
blackness fell. When the sky cleared, they discovered their colleague who had vanished
the other night, and he answered their astonished questions by telling them his story.
The dragon pursued the tengu everywhere in search of revenge. At last when the
tengu was cruising the streets of the Capital, disguised as a warrior-monk soliciting
donations for his temple, the dragon swooped down and killed him with one blow.
Suddenly the tengu was a kestrel with a broken wing, and he was trampled underfoot
by the passersby.
On Mount Hiei the monk repaid his debt by reading the sutras faithfully on
behalf of his friend the dragon. Each had saved the others lifesurely the result of a
deep karmic bond between them in lives gone by.

Tales of Times Now Past 13:34

How the Monk Dk of Tennji Brought Salvation

to a Road God by Chanting the Lotus Sutra
{Tyler, Japanese Tales, 226-227}

Dk, a monk and Lotus devotee who lived at Tennji, confined himself each year for
the summer retreat at Kumano. He was on his way back from Kumano when, one
evening at sundown, he found himself passing along the shore in Minabe county of the
province of Kii; so he camped on the spot under a large tree.
In the middle of the night a lot of horsemen rode up nearby. Who in the world
could they be? Dk heard one call out, Are you there, you old man under the tree?
Here I am! answered a voice.

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Dk was surprised to learn that someone else was under the tree too. Hurry
up, then! Come with us! the rider called again.
The voice under the tree declined. Not tonight, Im afraid, it said. My horses
legs are broken and I cant ride him. Ill have to fix him tomorrow or find another
horse. And Im just too old to walk, you know.
The horsemen rode away. At dawn the worried Dk checked all around the
tree. He found nothing but the crumbling image of a road god, obviously very old.
Images like this were supposed to have a man part and a woman part, but the woman
part was missing. In front of the god was a votive plaque with a picture of a horse on it.
The legs were broken o. Dk realized that it was the gods voice that he had heard
last night. He tied the piece with the legs on it back in place with some string so that
the picture was whole again, then stayed to see what might happen next.
That night he lay under the tree again and the riders came as before. This time the
god got on his horse and rode off with them. Toward dawn Dk heard him come back.
In a moment an old man came to Dk and bowed. Holy man, he said, your
curing my horse allowed me to do my duty. I owe you more than I can ever repay! Im
the road god under this tree. All those riders were gods of disease. Normally I clear the
way for them as they go through the land, and if I dont go with them they beat and
abuse me cruelly. But now Im sure that thanks to you I can cast o this poor shape of
mine and be reborn in some far nobler form.
Dk expressed his wonder and protested he could not possibly bring about any
such happy change. Holy man, the god replied, stay under this tree for three days,
chanting the Lotus Sutra. Ill listen, and by the power of the Sutra Ill leave this
suering body and be reborn into the Land of Bliss. Then he vanished.
Dk complied. For three days and three nights he chanted the Lotus Sutra and
on the fourth day the old man appeared again. By your compassion, holy man, he
said, Tm leaving this body forever and taking on a much better one. Im going to be
reborn far away to the south, on Mount Fudaraku where the blessed Kannon lives, as a
follower of the bodhisattva. This is because Ive heard the Lotus. If you want proof that
I speak the truth, make a little boat out of branches, put my wooden image in it, and
launch the boat on the sea. Then watch what happens. And once again the old man
disappeared.
Dk made the boat and laid the image in it. The sea was perfectly calm when
he put it in the water, and there was not a breath of wind, but the boat sailed straight
toward the south. Having watched it go, Dk prostrated himself toward it till it faded

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from view. Meanwhile an old man in the village nearby dreamed he saw the road god,
now decked in glory, flying amid strains of heavenly music toward the south.

Tales of Times Now Past 13:1

How the Monk Giei Met a Holy Man in the mine Mountains
{Tyler, Japanese Tales, 141-143}

The monk Giei spent his life roaming from province to province, visiting every holy site
in the land. In his travels he made a pilgrimage to Kumano and from there passed
northward into the mine Mountains.
He was headed for Golden Peak, but got so lost on the way that he could no
longer tell east from west. A good blast on the conch he had slung at his waist got no
answer. Next he climbed a peak for a better view, but all he could see from the top was
valley after dim valley.
After ten days Giei was so desperate that he begged the buddha of his portable
altar to lead him back to civilization. As he prayed he came to a handsome wood with a
pretty little house inside it, surrounded by a broad garden strewn with white sand. The
shrubs were as green as green could be, and it was a marvel to see flowers blooming
everywhere amid a profusion of ripe berries and fruit.
What a cheering sight! In the house a monk no older than twenty was chanting
the Lotus Sutra in a sublime voice that touched the depths of Gieis being. Each
chapter was a separate scroll. As soon as the monk had finished one and laid it on his
desk, the scroll would rise into the air, roll itself back up cover and all, tie its own cords
neatly, and settle back down. Scroll by scroll, the monk went through the whole Sutra.
Giei was awed and frightened.
The holy man stood up. He did not hide his astonishment on seeing his visitor.
No human has ever been here before, he said. Im so high in the mountains that I
seldom even hear the birds singing in the valleys. Who are you?
Giei explained that he was a monk and lost. The holy man invited him in, and
some beautiful acolytes served him a delicious meal that made him forget all about
hunger and starvation. He asked the holy man how long he had lived here and why he
lacked nothing.
Ive been here eighty years, the holy man answered. Once I was a monk on
Mount Hiei, but Im sorry to say there was a little trouble between me and my master
and he refused to keep me with him any longer. I couldnt think of anything else to do
but go roaming. Of course I was young and strong then, and I worshipped at all the

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holy places. When I got old I took refuge in these mountains, and Ive been here ever
since, waiting for death.
Giei listened with growing amazement. You say no one comes here, he
insisted, but you have three beautiful acolytes serving you. Surely you cant be
serious!
The Sutra itself says, Celestial boys will come to serve the one who upholds
this Sutra. Is it really so strange?
You say youre old, but as far as I can see youre in the flower of youth. Are you
sure youre telling me your real age?
The Sutra says, He who hears this Sutra will never be ill, nor will he grow old
and die. Im only telling you the truth.
When the holy man told Giei it was time for him to leave, Giei spoke of the
suering he had just gone through, and reminded the holy man of his starved and
weakened condition. He assured the holy man that he wanted to serve him for the rest
of his life.
Its not that I dislike you, the holy man answered. But Ive spent all these
years far away from people, and thats why I have to insist that you go. If you want to
stay one night and no more, you must promise me you wont move or make a sound.
Giei promised and got himself out of sight.
Soon after dark an eerie little breeze sprang up. From his hiding place Giei
watched supernatural beings arrive in all sorts of extraordinary forms. Some had the
heads of horses, oxen, or birds, while some were shaped like deer. They crowded in
with oerings of incense, flowers, nuts, fruit, and drink, and after placing all these
good things before the hut they prostrated themselves in perfect order with palms
pressed together. Suddenly one among them remarked, Strange! Its dierent here
tonight! I smell man! Giei was so upset he moved, but the holy man came to his
rescue by intoning the Sutra and kept it up all night long. At dawn he ended by
dedicating the merit of his chanting to all beings, and the bizarre company dispersed.
Giei crept out and asked where all the creatures had come from. The holy man
reminded him that the Buddha says in the Sutra, If there is no one to hear the Law,
then I will send celestial beings, dragon kings, earth spirits, and demons to be the
congregation.
Though ready to leave now, Giei still did not know the way. The holy man told
him to go straight south. He put a water jar outside the house, and it rose into the air
and headed slowly southward. Giei followed it for hours to a mountaintop, where he
looked down and saw a large village below him. The jar soared into the sky and

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disappeared. Giei realized that he was back where he had started from. He told the
villagers, with tears of emotion, how he had met the Immortal. and all who heard him
bowed their heads in awe.
No human ever found the Immortals retreat again.

A Record of the Origins of Kfukuji

The Kannon in the Pine*

{Tyler, Japanese Tales, 37}

One hall at Kfukuji, the great temple in Nara, enshrines a miraculous statue of the
Eleven-Headed Kannon. This is how the statue came to be there.
On the very first day of 1007, a monk called Chkon was on his way back to the
place called Deer Park, a little way south of the temple, when a small boy came up to
him, asking to go home with him and serve him. Chkon readily agreed.
Six years later, in 1013, the boy lay dying. I wont last much longer, he told
Chkon. When my breathing stops, dont disturb my body in any way. Put me exactly
as I am in a con, then hang the con in the pine tree at Deer Park where we first
met. After seven days, but not earlier, you may open the con and look at me. Then
he died as though he was falling asleep.
Weeping, Chkon followed the boys instructions and hung him in the pine. He
walked on from there several hours to Hasedera and went into retreat before that
temples own most holy Eleven-Headed Kannon. Now and again he could not help
bewailing his advancing age and charging Kannon with having neglected him.
Seven days later he headed back to Nara. A delicious fragrance filled the air
around the pine at Deer Park, and when he opened the con a blaze of light burst
forth. Inside was a life-sized statue of Eleven-Headed Kannon. Astonished and
overjoyed, Chkon regretted all his complaints. He carried the statue on his back to
Kfukuji and enshrined it in its present hall.
After he died an oracle revealed that he had passed on to Fudaraku, Kannons
paradise.

* The original tale is untitled; this is the title that the translator assigns to it.

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Tales Gleaned from Uji 8:3

The Holy Man of Shinano Province
{Tyler, Japanese Tales, 95-98}

Once a monk from a remote part of Japan went to get properly ordained at Tdaiji in
Nara. Afterwards he decided to stay on, rather than return to his primitive hinterland,
and prayed to the Great Buddha of Tdaiji to help him choose where to live. At that
moment he noticed Mount Shigi looming in the distance toward the southwest. He
settled there, built a little chapel, and took up the ascetic life. Soon a fine little image of
Bishamon materialized for his modest altar.
The monks begging bowl would fly down every day for alms to a rich man who
lived below the mountain, and every day the rich man would fill it. But one day the rich
man happened to be working in his big storehouse when the begging bowl arrived.
Bother that greedy bowl! he muttered, and instead of filling it, tossed it into a corner.
The bowl waited patiently, but eventually the man tidied up and left, locking the
storehouse door behind him. He had forgotten all about the bowl.
The storehouse began to tremble and shake, much to the households
amazement, till it shook itself loose and hovered, vibrating, a foot o the ground. Of
course! the rich man realized. Of course! It must be that bowl! I left it in there!
Meanwhile the bowl squeezed its way out, got under the storehouse, and carried it o
a hundred feet up in the air.
There was an uproar below. The rich man could only follow to see where his
storehouse would go, and everyone else trooped in confusion after him. The
storehouse flew to the top of the mountain and came down with a thud next to the
monks hut.
The rich man was certainly awed, but he still felt be should say something. He
reminded the monk how faithfully he normally filled the bowl and explained how today
he just happened to have shut it thoughtlessly in the storehouse. He ended with a plea
for the return of his property.
This is all very strange, the monk replied, but now the storehouse is here I
dont see how I can give it back. I have nothing like it myself and I can certainly use it.
But youre welcome to the contents.
How am I going to get all that rice back down the mountain? There are a
thousand sacks in there!
Thats easy. Ill do it for you.

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The monk had a sack loaded onto the bowl, then sent the bowl flying into the
air. All the other sacks followed it like a flock of geese. Wait, cried the rich man.
Dont return them all! Keep a couple of hundred for yourself!
The monk refused on the grounds that he would not know what to do with so
much rice.
Then keep a couple of dozen sacks anyway, the rich man pleaded, as much as
you can use! Theyre yours!
The monk said this was still far too much and refused again. Every single sack
arrived in good order back at the rich mans house. The monks fame spread far and
wide.
About that time Emperor Daigo happened to become very ill. All sorts of prayers
and rites tried on his behalf brought him no relief. Finally an ocial thought of the
holy man of Mount Shigi. He never comes down from his mountain at all, the ocial
reported. He has such extraordinary powers, you see, that he can have his begging
bowl fly down by itself to get him food, so he has what he needs without going
anywhere. If you summon him, Your Majesty, I think you will find that he can cure
you. The emperor agreed and sent for the holy man. The messenger was awed, too,
when he delivered the imperial summons. The monk just asked what His Majesty
wanted him for and gave no sign of moving. The messenger explained that the emperor
was ill and that his prayers were required.
I dont have to go to him, the monk said. I can heal him perfectly well from
here!
But if you do, how will he know youre the one he has to thank?
What dierence does it make whether or not he knows who cured him? As
long as hes cured, thats all that matters.
Still, the messenger insisted, there are a lot of people praying for him and it
would be better to be clear about whose prayers worked.
All right, then, the monk conceded. Ill send my spirit-helper, the Sword
Guardian. If His Majesty sees the spirit in a dream or vision, hell know that he
comes from me. The Sword Guardian wears a cloak woven of swords. As for me, Im
staying here.
The messenger returned to the capital and reported what the holy man had
said. Three days later the emperor was napping in broad daylight when he saw
something glitter. He realized it must be the holy mans guardian spirit. Instantly he
felt perfectly well. The court was immensely relieved and impressed with the
evidence of the monks powers.

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Once again an imperial messenger made his way to Mount Shigi, this time with
the oer of rich rewards. Would you like to be a bishop or an archbishop? the
emperors message ran. Would you like an estate to provide income for your temple?
But the monk said he had no use for titles and protested that an estate would be far
more trouble than it was worth. Ill just stay as I am, he declared, till the messenger
gave up and went away.
All that was many years ago. The holy mans flying storehouse is still on the
mountain, with relics of him still inside, though now it is crumbling with age. Those
who are blessed to obtain the smallest fragment of its wood make it into a buddha like
the monks own, and are sure to enjoy good fortune, peace, and ease. The monks
Bishamon, too, is still on the mountain, and countless pilgrims pay homage to it there.

Tales Gleaned from Uji 8:7

How a Monk of Senjuin Temple Met an Immortal

{Tyler, Japanese Tales, 124}

Jkan, a holy monk of Senjuin Temple on Mount Hiei, had spent every night for years
chanting an invocation called the Sonsh Darani. Whever heard him was struck
with awe.
One night an Immortal named Ysh flew over Jkans dwelling, heard Jkans
voice, and came down to the railing outside his room. Startled, Jkan asked who it was.
Ysho answered in a thin, reedy voice like a mosquitos buzzing, and Jkan recognized
him as a former disciple. He opened the door and Ysh flew inside.
The two talked over old times till the Immortal felt it was time to leave. But the
company of a mortal man had weighed him down, and he found he could not rise.
Would you move the incense burner over here? he asked, and Jkan did so. Ysh
mounted the smoke and rose up into the sky.
Jkan had always wondered about his students disappearance, and now he
understood. He wept with emotion that Ysh should have come to see him again.

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Ten Moral Teachings 7:1

An Awful Fall*

{Tyler, Japanese Tales, 130-131}

An ascetic at a mountain temple in Yamato province once decided that from now on he
would eat only pine needles. He was quite happy to give up rice and the other grains,
and in fact much preferred this austere diet, because he had heard that this was the
way others in the past had made themselves into immortals who could fly.
After two or three years of nothing but pine needles, the ascetic really did feel
very light. He began telling his disciples that he would soon be an immortal too, and
was so sure of success that he secretly prepared to fly up into the sky. When the
moment seemed at hand, he announced his coming ascension and gave away his hut
and all his belongings.
He knew that when he took to the air he would find himself clothed in the robe
of an immortal, so he put on nothing but the simplest and most abbreviated wrap; for,
he said, he now needed nothing more. Then he strode forth with his water jar (his last
and most prized possession) slung from his waist.
A large crowd had gathered to watch him go to the Land of the Immortals. When
all the spectators were in place, he climbed to a spur of rock that jutted from the
mountainside. Of course, Id rather go straight up, he explained, but since all these
people are here I suppose I really ought to give them a good look at a proper Immortal in
action. So first Ill glide down from here to those pines and land on a branch.
It was forty or fifty feet down to the tops of the pines. The ascetic dove o head
first and the crowd roared. Unfortunately, his body was heavier than he expected, and
his strength far less. Missing his target entirely, he crashed to the ground. Though
shaken, the crowd remained confident (after all, he must surely have known what he
was doing!) that at any moment he would rise again into the air.
Actually he had smashed into a rock. His water jar was in smithereens and so
was he, or very nearly. His horrified disciples desperately called his name but got no
reply. Since he was at least still breathing, though, they hauled him back to his hut
while the crowd dispersed, laughing derisively.
He survived in the end, but was so twisted and broken that he could hardly even
stand. He had to take back the hut and possessions he had so bravely given away, and
lived on crooked and hopeless.
Not everyone gets to be an immortal.

* The original tale is untitled; this is the title that the translator assigns to it.

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A Collection of Sand and Pebbles 1:1

The Great Shrine at Ise

{Morrell, Sand and Pebbles, 72-75}

While I was on a pilgrimage to the Great Shrine during the Koch era,* an ocial
explained to me why words associated with the Three Treasures of Buddhism were
forbidden at the shrine, and why monks could not closely approach the sacred
buildings.
In antiquity, when this country did not yet exist, the deity of the Great Shrine,
the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, guided by a seal of the Great Sun Buddha inscribed on the
ocean floor, thrust down her august spear. Brine from the spear coagulated like drops of
dew, and this was seen from afar by Mara, the Evil One, in the Sixth Heaven of Desire.
It appears that these drops are forming into a land where Buddhism will be
propagated and people will escape from the round of birth-and-death, he said, and
came down to prevent it.
Then the deity of the Great Shrine met with the demon king. I promise not to
utter the names of the Three Treasures, nor will I permit them near my person. So
return quickly back to the heavens. Being thus mollified, the demon king withdrew.
Monks to this very day, not wishing to violate that august promise, do not
approach the sacred shrine, and the sutras are not carried openly in its precincts.
Things associated with the Three Treasures are referred to obliquely: Buddha is called
The Cramp-Legged One; the sutras, colored paper; monks, longhairs; and
temples, incense burners, and so on.
Outwardly the deity is estranged from the Law, but inwardly she profoundly
supports the Three Treasures. Thus, Japanese Buddhism is under the special protection
of the deity of the Great Shrine.
This shrine is father and mother to all the gods of this land. When Amaterasu
closed the Rock Door of Heaven and dwelt in seclusion, disgusted by the heavenly
improprieties committed by Susanoo, all the world was plunged in darkness. In their
distress the eight hundred myriad deities built a ceremonial fire and performed the
sacred kagura dance, that they might coax her forth. When the Sun Goddess, curious at
the sport of the divine maidens, narrowly opened the Rock Door and looked out, the
world was illuminated. As everyone was thus enabled to distinguish the faces of others

* 1261-1264
The Three Treasures of Buddhism are the Buddha, the Buddhist Law (Dharma), and the monastic community (sangha).

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once more, they exclaimed: Ara omoshiroshi!, meaning How delightful it is to see
each others faces again! This was the origin of the expression.
Then the god Tajikara-no-O carried her forth and drew a sacred rope across the
Rock, asking her not to enter again into the cave. On being brought forth, she
immediately became sun and moon, and illumined the earth. Thus, even our now being
aected by the light of the sun and moon is through the benevolent virtue of this deity.
Since all of this arose by virtue of the seal of the Great Sun Buddha on the ocean floor,
we have come to identify the deities of the Inner and Outer Shrines with the Great Sun
Buddha of the Two-Part Mandala;* and that which is called the Rock Door of Heaven is
the Tusita Heaven of the Buddha Maitreya, also known as the High Plain of Heaven.
Events which took place during the Age of the Gods all have their Buddhist
interpretation. In the Shingon view the Tusita Heaven, indeed, is spoken of as the Great
Sun Buddhas World-of-Dharma Palace of Inner Realization, his Land of Esoteric
Grandeur. The Great Sun Buddha came forth from this capital of Inner Realization to
assume local manifestations in Japan, the land of the sun. Thus, the deity of the Inner
Shrine at Ise is the Great Sun of the Matrix World; and the several shrine fences
tamagaki, mizugaki, aragaki, and so onare patterned after the Four-Enclosure
Mandala. Likewise, there are nine logs on the roof of the main hall of the Inner Shrine
symbolizing the nine Holy Ones of the Matrix World.
We are accustomed to identifying the deity of the Outer Shrine with the Great
Sun Buddha of the Diamond World, and also with Amida. It is doubtless to symbolize
the Five Wisdoms of the Diamond World that its design consists of five moon-circles.
When the Two-Part Matrix-Diamond Mandala is viewed in the light of the Yin-Yang
teaching, wherein the Yin is female and the Yang male, the eight petals of the Matrix
parallel the shrines Eight Maidens; and it is because the Five Wisdoms of the Diamond
World are represented by male divinities that there is a group of five male shrine
dancers.
[]
In Japan the illustrious native deities who soften their light first manifested their
traces the Buddha using this as an expedient means to soften the rough disposition of
the people and to lead them to belief in the Law. If we rely on the profound ecacy of

* The inner and outer shrines at Ise are dedicated respectively to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu and Toyoukehime, an agricultural

goddess of fertility. A mandala is an intricate geometrical design representing Buddhist cosmology.

The Inner Shrine is surrounded by a series of fences forming rectangular enclosures. Beginning with the innermost fence

they comprise a mizugaki, then an inner and outer tamagaki, and finally an aragaki. The design indeed suggests that of
the Four-Enclosure mandala.
Expedient means (hben in Japanese, upaya in Sanskrit) is the Buddhist notion that even misguided beliefs and incomplete
understanding can ultimately lead to proper religious practice and the apprehension of deeper spiritual truths.

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the Original Ground while believing in the expedient means,close to hand, of gods who
soften their light, we will realize our hope for peace and the end of calamities in this
life, and attain the eternal enlightenment, not subject to birth-and-death in the next.
Those born in our land should be thoroughly aware of this fact.

A Collection of Sand and Pebbles 4:7

One Should Be Wary of Attachment at the Time of Death
{Morrell, Sand and Pebbles, 148-149}

In hara there lived a monk who had religious aspirations, but who was without
understanding. Deciding that there was no point in continuing to live in this miserable,
floating world, he prepared himself to observe thirty-seven days of silence, and then,
on the final day of services, to meet his end by hanging. He discussed his plan with two
or three fellow-monks and retired into the practice hall.
News of the aair having spread abroad, the Superintendant of Priests in hara,
moved by admiration and respect, conducted a sermon expounding on rebirth in the
Pure Land and other services in order to establish karmic anities with the holy man.
As the event was newsworthy, Kenshin wrote to high-ranking prelates in the capital,
inviting them to attend, in the hope that the holy man might hear their recitation of
Amidas name and his desire for birth in the Pure Land would be reinforced. Then he
inaugurated a seven-day service for the continuous repetition of the Amida Buddhas
holy name.
When word reached the capital, laymen and clerics of both sexes assembled that
they might establish a karmic bond with the holy man. They asked to meet with him,
and the monk went out to receive them, although this confidants did not approve,
considering his behavior unseemly and ostentatious.
The allotted number of days having been fulfilled, the monks final bath was
prepared.
Now that you have come this far, nothing should be bothering you, said one of
his companions. But the mind of man is fickle; so if there are any attachments
standing in your way, speak up. You must face death with no mental blocks. Now is not
the time for silence.
When I first made my decision, I was stout-hearted, replied the monk. And
when I heard about the fellow who died the other day in the bath-house fire, I thought
that I should like to go as soon as possible, that I would no longer know such tragedy.
But now my resolution fails me and I am no longer in any hurry.

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Among the monks long-standing disciples was a sharp-witted lay priest who
lived in the capital and who had come to hara for the occasion. Perhaps because he
was piqued at not being permitted into the practice hall, he edged up close to the
sliding panel and, when he heard the holy man speak, called out in a loud voice.
Deliberations are in order before the aair has been decided. But having made a
noisy announcement of your intentions, and having set the day and the hour, you
cannot now come out with sage reasons for changing your mind. This is the work of
the devil, so take your bath and get on with it. Youre just trying to stall!
Thus reproached, the monk was silent. Then, making a wry face, he performed
his ablutions, hung a rope from a nettle-tree in front of the hall, and hanged himself by
the neck. The people venerated and revered him, each taking something which he left
behind as a memento.
Some six months after this aair, the Abbot Superintendent fell ill. Signs
indicated that a supernatural force was at work, so they protected his body by covering
it with mystic formulas. The Abbot babbled, saying many strange things. The ghost of
the monk who had hanged himself had taken possession of his faculties.
Alas! You should have stopped me, said the voice. It irks me that when I
wanted to abandon my plan, you did nothing to help!
Unable to forget and to cast o his delusive thoughts and attachments, the
monk had entered into the path of the demons. What a futile undertaking! We should
be well aware and fearful of delusive and binding thoughts.
This is a true story, having been related to me by a monk of my acquaintance
from hara who witnessed it with his own eyes.

A Collection of Sand and Pebbles 4:8

The Monk Who Drowned Himself
{Morrell, Sand and Pebbles, 149-150}

On a mountain lived a monk with a deep understanding of the Way whose heart was
not fixed on this floating world. Wishing to enter quickly into Paradise, he decided to
meet his end by drowning. With the support of a fellow monk, he prepared a boat and
rowed out on a lake.
The moment of death is the most important in ones entire life, said the holy
man. Now even when one is accustomed to a situation, mistakes occur, and he may
blunder through carelessness. Since I have never before attained birth in the Pure Land
nor experienced death, I am uncertain how I shall behave. If, after I go into the water,
delusive and binding thoughts arise so that I begrudge my life, and should extraneous

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notions distract me from my purpose, my birth in the Pure Land is not assured. Should
I want to return after I enter the water, I will jerk the line. Then pull me out.
The monk tied a rope to his side and dived into the water, reciting the name of
Amida, but soon felt uncomfortable. So he jerked the line and his companion hauled
him out, soaking wet.
Although his friend did not know what was going through his mind, he brought
him back as promised.
It was painful in the water and when delusive thoughts arose, I knew that in
this state of mind I should never attain birth in the Pure Land. So I came back,
explained the monk.
After several days passed, the monk decided that this time he would surely not
fail, and again rode out in the boat. But after diving in, he pulled on the line as before,
and his companion hauled him back. Two or three unsuccessful attempts later the
monk went out again without any high hopes.
But this time after diving in, he did not jerk the rope. In the sky, celestial music
was heard and a purple cloud trailed over the waves. When his friend beheld these
auspicious signs, tears of gratitude fell with the water dripping from the oars.
Truly, the mind which clings to the thought of self and desires fame cannot be
born into the Pure Land. But with genuine faith one can realize his cherished desire.
Unlike the monk who hanged himself, wise indeed was this one who kept trying and
attained birth in the Pure Land!

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