Japanese Buddhist
Proverbs
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AKUJI MI NI TOMARU
All evil done clings to the body

ATAMA SORU YORI KOKORO WO SORE
Better to shave the heart than to shave the head

AU WA WAKARE NO HAJIME
Meeting is only the beginning of separation

BANJI WA YUME
All things are merely dreams

BONBU MO SATOREBA HOTOKE NARI
Even a common man by obtaining knowledge becomes a Buddha

BONNO KUNO
All lust is grief

BUPPO TO WARA-YA NO AME, DETE KIKE
One must go outside to hear Buddhist doctrine or the sound of rain on a straw roof

BUSSHO EN YORI OKORU
Out of karma-relation even the divine nature itself grows

ENKO GA TSUKI WO TORAN TO SURU GA GOTOSHI
Like monkeys trying to snatch the moon's reflection on water

EN NAKI SHUJO WA DOSHI GATASHI
To save folk having no karm-relation would be difficult indeed!

FUJI SEPPO SURU HOSHI WA, HIRATAKE NI UMARU
The priest who preaches foul doctrine shall be reborn as a fungus

GAKI MO NINZU
Even gaki can make a crowd

GAKI NO ME NI MIDZU MIEZU
To the eyes of gaki water is viewless

GOSHO WA DAIJI
The future life is the all-important thing

GUN-MO NO TAI-ZO WO SAGURU GA GOTOSHI
Like a lot of blind men feeling a great elephant

GWAI-MEN NYO-BOSATSU; NAI SHIN NYO-YASHA
In outward aspect a Bodhisattva; at innermost heart a demon

HANA WA NE NI KAERU
The flower goes back to its root

HIBIKI NO KOE NI OZURU GA GOTOSHI
Even as the echo answers to the voice

HITO WO TASUKERU GA SHUKKE NO YUKU
The task of the priest is to save mankind

HI WA KIYUREDOMO TO-SHIN WA HIYEDZU
Though the flame be put out, the wick remains

HOTOKE MO MOTOWA BONBU
Even the Buddha was originally but a common man

HOTOKE NI NARU MO SHAMI WO HERU
Even to become a Buddha one must first become a novice

HOTOKE NO KAO MO SANDO
Even a Buddha's face--only three times

HOTOKE TANONDE JIGOKU E YUKU
Praying to Buddha one goes to hell

HOTOKE TSUKUTTE TAMASHII IREDZU
Making a Buddha without putting in the soul

ICHI-JU NO KAGE, ICHI-GA NO NAGARE, TASHO NO EN
Even a single shadow or a single flowing of water, is the karma-relations of a former life

ICHI-MO SHU-MO WO HIKU
One blind man leads many blind men

INGWA NA KO
A karma-child

INGWA WA, KURUMA NO WA
Cause-and-effect is like a wheel

INNEN GA FUKAI
The karma-relation is deep

INOCHI WA FU-ZEN NO TOMOSHIBI
Life is a lamp-flame before a wind

ISSUN NO MUSHI NI MO, GOBU NO TAMASHII
Even a worm an inch long has a soul half-an-inch long

IWASHI NO ATAMA MO SHINJIN KARA
Even the head of an iwashi, by virtue of faith

JIGO-JITOKU
The fruit of one's own deeds

JIGOKU DE HOTOKE
Like meeting with a Buddha in hell

JIGOKU GOKURAKU WA KOKORO NI ARI
Hell and Heaven are in the hearts of men

JIGOKU MO SUMIKA
Even Hell itself is a dwelling-place

JIGOKU NI MO SHIRU HITO
Even in hell old acquaintances are welcome

KAGE NO KATACHI NI SHITAGAU GOTOSHI
Even as the shadows follows the shape

KANE WA AMIDA YORI KIHARU
Money shines even more brightly than Amida

KARU-TOKI NO JIZO-GAO; NASU-TOKI NO EMMA-GAO
Borrowing-time, the face of Jizo; repaying-time, the face of Emma

KITTE GOKURAKU, MITE JOGOKU
Heard of only, it is Paradise; seen, it is Hell

KOJI MON WO IDEZU: AKUJI SEN RI WO HASHIRU
Good actions go not outside of the gate: bad deeds travel a thousand ri

KOKORO NO ONI GA MI WO SEMERU
The body is tortured only by the demon of the heart

KOKORO NO SHI TO WA NARE; KOKORO WO SHI TO SEZARE
Be the teacher of your heart: do not allow your heart to become your teacher

KONO YO WA KARI NO YADO
This world is only a resting-place

KORI WO CHIRIBAME; MIDZU NI EGAKU
To inlay ice; to paint upon water

KOROKORO TO/NAKU WA YAMADA NO/HOTOTOGISU,/CHICHI NITEYA ARAN,/HAHA NITEYA ARAN
The bird that cries korokoro in the mountain rice field I know to be a hototogisu; yet it may have been my father; it may have been my mother

KO WA SANGAI NO KUBIKASE
A child is a neck-shackle for the Three States of Existence

KUCHI WA WAZAWAI NO KADO
The mouth is the front-gate of all misfortune

KWAHO WA, NETE MATE
If you wish for good luck, sleep and wait

MAKANU TANE WA HAENU
Nothing will grow, if the seed be not sown

MATEBA, KANRO NO HIYORI
If you wait, ambrosial weather will come

MEIDO NO MICHI NI O WA NASHI
There is no King on the Road of Death

MEKURA HEBI NI OJIZU
The blind man does not fear the snake

MITSUREBA, KAKURU
Having waxed, wanes

MON ZEN NO KOZO NARAWANU KYO WO YOMU
The shop-boy in front of the temple-gate repeats the sutra which he never learned

MUJO NO KAZE WA, TOKI ERABAZU
The Wind of Impermanency does not choose a time

NEKO MO BUSSHO ARI
In even a cat the Buddha-nature exists

NETA MA GA GOKURAKU
The interval of sleep is Paradise

NIJIU-GO BOSATSU MO SORE-SORE NO YAKU
Even each of the Twenty-five Bodhisattvas has his own particular duty to perform

NIN MITE, HO TOKE
See the person, preach the doctrine

NINSHIN UKEGATAKU BUPPO AIGATASHI
It is not easy to be born among men, and to meet with Buddhism

ONI MO JIU-HACHI
Even a devil at eighteen

ONI MO MI, NARETARU GA YOSHI
Even a devil, when you become accustomed to the sight of him, may prove a pleasant acquaintance

ONI NI KANABO
An iron club for a demon

ONI NO NYOBO NI HIJIN
A devil takes a goblin to wife

ONNA NO KE NI WA DAI-ZO MO TSUNAGARU
With one hair of a woman you can tether even a great elephant

ONNA WA SANGAI NI IYE NASHI
Women have no homes of their own in the Three States of Existence

OYA NO INGWA GA KO NI MUKUU
The karma of the parents is visited upon the child

RAKKWA EDA NI KAERAZU
The fallen blossom never returns to the branch

RAKU WA KU NO TANE; KU WA RAKU NO TANE
Pleasure is the seed of pain; pain is the seed of pleasure

ROKUDO WA, ME NO MAE
The Six Roads are right before your eyes

SANGAI MU-AN
There is no rest within the Three States of Existence

SANGAI NI KAKI NASHI; ROKUDO NI HOTORI NASHI
There is no fence to the Three States of Existence; there is no neighborhood to the Six Roads

SANGE NI WA SANNEN NO TSUMI MO HOROBU
One confession effaces the sins of even three years

SANNIN YOREBA, KUGAI
Where even three persons come together, there is a world of pain

SAN NIN YOREBA, MONJU NO CHIE
Where three persons come together, there is the wisdom of Monju

SHAKA NI SEKKYO
Preaching to Sakyamuni

SHAMI KARA CHORO
To become an abbot one must begin as a novice

SHINDAREBA, KOSO IKITARE
Only by reason of having died does one enter into life

SHIRANU GA, HOTOKE; MINU GA, GOKURAKU
Not to know is to be a Buddha; not to see is Paradise

SHOBO NI KIDOKU NASHI
There is no miracle in true doctrine

SHO-CHIE WA BODAI NO SAMATAGE
A little wisdom is a stumbling-block on the way to Buddhahood

SHOSHI NO KUKAI HETORI NASHI
There is no shore to the bitter Sea of Birth and Death

SODE NO FURI-AWASE MO TASHO NO EN
Even the touching of sleeves in passing is caused by some relation in a former life

SUN ZEN; SHAKU MA
An inch of virtue; a foot of demon

TANOSHIMI WA KANASHIMI NO MOTOI
All joy is the source of sorrow

TONDE BI NI IRU NATSU NO MUSHI
So the insects of summer fly to the flame

TSUCHI-BOTOKE NO MIDZU-ASOBI
Clay-Buddha's water-playing

TSUKI NI MURAKUMO, HANA NI KAZE
Cloud-wrack to the moon; wind to flowers

TSUYU NO INOCHI
Human life is like the dew of morning

U-KI WA, KOKORO NI ARI
Joy and sorrow exist only in the mind

URI NO TSURU NI NASUBI WA NARANU
Egg-plants do not grow upon melon-vines

USO MO HOBEN
Even an untruth may serve as a device

WAGA YA NO HOTOKE TATTOSHI
My family ancestors were all excellent Buddhas

YUKI NO HATE WA, NEBAN
The end of snow is Nirvana

ZEN NI WA ZEN NO MUKUI; AKU NI WA AKU NO MUKUI
Goodness is the return for goodness; evil is the return for evil

ZENSE NO YAHUSOKU-GOTO
Promised from a former birth

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