Japanese Proverb 5

Here is today's proverb:

百聞は一見に如かず

And in romaji:

hyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu

And English: "Hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once."

This is like the English saying, "Seeing is believing," and it's also a bit like "A picture is worth a thousand words," although that's more about pictures and written words, rather than seeing the thing itself versus hearing with your ears about it. I would relate this in my practice not so much to the contrast between hearing and seeing but instead to the contrast between reading-about and experiencing. I am definitely one of those people who spends more time reading about Buddhism rather than practicing. I'm book-addicted, and writing these blog posts I suppose is proof of that. Ha!

Looking for an image, I found this at a blog for French-speaking learners of Japanese, with French parallels that are like the English parallels I cited here! From haiku, I'm used to "mi" as the pronunciation of this kanji 見, so it was good to learn "ken" today.

My vocabulary for today:

見
ken
"see"

Japanese Proverb 4

Here is today's proverb:

頭隠して尻隠さず

And in romaji:

atama kakushite shiri kakusazu

And English: "Covering your head, but not covering your butt."

This is like the ostrich with its head in the sand: if you cover up your head but leave your butt sticking out, that's not good; you are not protected that way. I suppose I could relate this saying to the general foolishness of the human condition: we worry about so many material things, while neglecting the path. And the satirical sense of having your butt sticking out has a nice Zen bite to it I suppose! The head as illusion; the butt as reality.

I wasn't sure what image I could use for this, but when I googled the saying in Japanese, lots of images came up: this must be a popular saying in Japan! And there are other people, like me, who obsess about cat images ha ha. Here's one I found as an illustration for this proverb... the page has lots of cute pictures, but I liked this one best:

My vocabulary for today:

頭
atama
"head"

Japanese Proverbs 3

Here is today's proverb:

犬も歩けば棒に当たる

And in romaji:

inu mo arukeba bo ni ataru

And English: "Even a dog, if it goes walking, can run into a pole."

The idea is that there are hazards everywhere: even a dog just going for a walk can run into a pole. Life is full of unexpected events! I was on the receiving end of some unexpected events this week, so I could definitely relate to this saying. Life is suffering; there are poles everywhere! But dogs still love to go for walks, wagging their tails. I will try to wag the tail of my spirit today, even though I might run into a pole!

Wikimedia

My vocabulary for today:

犬

 inu — "dog"

Japanese Proverb 2

Here is today's proverb:

猿も木から落ちる

Here it is just in hiragana:

さるもきからおちる

And in romaji:

saru mo ki kara ochiru

Literally, "Even monkeys fall from trees."

The idea is that someone can be a complete expert, as monkeys are experts in climbing out in trees, but even an expert can make a mistake, as monkeys can fall from trees. I can relate this to meditation practice because of the "monkey mind" that is always distracting us... and monkeys have monkey-minds too! They are very good at climbing trees, of course, but when they fall down, I wonder if it is not because they let their own monkey-mind distract them!

My vocabulary for today:

猿
さる
"monkey"

木
き
"tree"

落
お
"fall" (verb)

monkeys in a plum tree

Japanese Proverb 1

Here is today's proverb:

朝題目に宵念仏

Here it is just in hiragana:

あさ  だいもく  に  よい  ねんぶつ

And in romaji:

asa daimoku ni yoi nenbutsu

Literally, "At morning, daimoku; at night, nenbutsu."

The meaning depends upon the contrast between these two different Buddhist prayer practices: the daimoku is associated with Nichiren Buddhism and the chant "Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō," while the nenbutsu is the homage to the Amitabha Buddha associated with Jodoshu (Pure Land) Buddhism and also with Zen. I have seen quite a few references in haiku to the nenbutsu, and I knew about the diamoku from... Tina Turner. 

But this saying is really satirical, not devotional: it applies to someone who is playing "both sides" as it were, without any particular loyalty or steadfast principles of any kind!

My vocabulary for today:

朝
あさ
"morning / afternoon"

宵
よい
"evening / night"

念仏
ねんぶつ
"nenbutsu"

Nenbutsu gathering in Kyoto