Japanese Buddhist Proverbs
175
29.—Ingwa wa, kuruma no wa.
Cause-and-effect is like a wheel.[1]
30.—Innen ga fukai.
The karma-relation is deep.[2]
31.—Inochi wa fū-zen no tomoshibi.
Life is a lamp-flame before a wind.[3]
32.—Issun no mushi ni mo, gobu no tamashii.
Even a worm an inch long has a soul half-an-inch long.[4]
- ↑ The comparison of karma to the wheel of a wagon will be familiar to students of Buddhism. The meaning of this proverb is identical with that of the Dhammapada verse:—“If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.”
- ↑ A saying very commonly used in speaking of the attachment of lovers, or of the unfortunate results of any close relation between two persons.
- ↑ Or, “like the flame of a lamp exposed to the wind.” A frequent expression in Buddhist literature is “the Wind of Death.”
- ↑ Literally, “has a soul of five bu,”—five bu being equal to half of the Japanese inch. Buddhism forbids all taking
torious karma and its results. While an unfortunate child is spoken of as “a child of ingwa,” a very lucky person is called a “kwahō-mono,”—that is to say, an instance, or example of kwahō.
