Nihon Ryoiki, Book III

p. 85 some bodhisattva-s & buddha-s

fn. 131

Miroku = "Maitreya, whose future coming is prophesied in ... the Di[r]ghanikaya (iii,76), Mahavastu (iii,240), ... Maitreyavyakaran.a".

fn. 133

Myoken = "bodhisattva ... of the North Pole Star, ... the North Pole at the apex of Mt. Meru".

fn. 135

Yakus^i = "Bhais.ajyaguru, Buddha of healing, who resides in the land of pure emerald {green being likewise the European academic color for medicine} in the east."

pp. 221-222 Praeface to Book 3

p.

Praeface

221

__-bo (‘__ dharma’)

its duration (in years)

s^o (true)

500

zo (counterfeit)

1,000

map- (degenerate)

10,000

222

"I, ... monk Kyokai, have not ... questions in the manner of the Tendai Sage." [p. 14, fn. 51 : "Refers to Chih-I ... (538-597), founder of the T>ien t>ai School".]

 

"My sincere hope is that we may all be reborn in the western land of bliss, leaving no one on the earth, and live together in the jeweled palace in heaven, abandoning our earthly residence."

pp. 223-286 -- Book 3 – 39 tales

t.

p.

narrative

1

223

"In the reign of Empress ... who governed Oyashima ..., there was ... Dhyana Master Eigo ... in the village of Kumano in Muro district, Kii province ... . ... ... the villagers of Kumano ... cut down trees

 

224

to build a boat. They heard a voice reciting ..., and it did not stop for days and months. ... After half a year, they returned to the mountain to draw out the boat. {cf. how, for Kephalos at Cape Leukad-, "Boats were waiting to pick him up" (GM 89.6)} Again they heard the voice continuously reciting the scripture. They reported this to Dhyana Master Eigo, and ... he went ... and ... discovered a corpse hanging over a cliff, its feet tied with hemp rope". {cf. how Kephalos, at Cape Leukad-, "plunged ... from the cliff top." (GM 89.j)}

   

"on Kane-no-take ... [fn. 11 : "Kinpu-sen"] in Yoshino there was a dhyana master who went from peak to peak reciting the scripture. Once he heard a voice reciting ... ahead of him. He stopped to listen to it, and, searching the bushes, he found a skull." {With this ‘skull’ cf. name of [Hellenic] /KePhaLo-/ (‘Head’), possibly cognate with [Skt.] /KaPaLa-/ ‘skull’.}

2

225

"possessed by a spirit, the patient said, "I am a fox. ... This man killed me in his previous life, and ... he will be reborn as a dog and kill me."" {Kephalos retired to Thebai, when and where, in order to hunt an immortal vixen, a hunting-hound was borrowed by that city’s king (GM 89.h).}

 

226

"Virud.haka [fn. 7 : "prince of King Prasenajit"] ... killed ninety-nine million and nine hundred thousand men of the S`akyas".

3

 

"The Venerable Benso ... of Daian-ji ... borrowed thirty kan of coins {cf. the thirty coins for Ioudas Iskariotes} from the ... fund of the temple ... . ... Holding the rope {cf. the rope used by Ioudas Iskariotes } tied to the hand of the Bodhisattva ..., he prayed".

4

228

"Plotting with the sailors, the son tied his father-in-law up and threw him into the sea. ... After two days and nights another ship ... sailed by. The sailors noticed the tip of a rope drifting on the sea, and, seizing it, pulled up the monk on the other end. He looked as well as ever."

5

229

"In Asuka district, Kawachi province ..., ... mountain temple of Shidehara ... his disciple stole five kan of money from the offerings and hid it. Later the disciple went to the spot to retrieve the money {cf. "Bribed by a golden crown, Procris admitted Pteleon to her bed, and being detected by Cephalus she fled"(Apollodoros : Library and Epitome 3:15 – AL)} and discovered nothing but a dead deer with an arrow in it. {cf. "I [Kephalos] spread my nets to catch the antlered deer, ... and hurled my [magic never-failing] javelin. It was my wife!" (Ovidius : Metamorphoses 7:700sq – "LE&C")}

6

230

While being transported to the "mountain temple called Amabe-no-mine ... eight fresh gray mullet [fn. 3 : "nayoshi"] ... [at] the market of Uchi in Yamato province ... had turned into scrolls".

7

231

"Oma Yamatsugi ... was of the village of Ogawa, Tama district, Musashi province ... . ...

 

232

On his neck could still be seen a scar from the cut inflicted by the sword at the moment he was to have been ... beheaded."

8

233

"All of a sudden, an image of Bodhisattva Miroku ... [fn. 4 : "Maitreya"] appeared on the bark of a branch of the bush."

9

 

"Fujiwara no asomi Hitotari ... went to live at a mountain temple of Makihara, Uda district, Yamato province ... . ...

 

234

Upon close inspection he was found to be dead ..., but they ... they ... three days later ... found him restored to life ... . He answered ... :

"There came men with mustaches growing straight up, clad in red robes and armor and equipped with swords and halberds. ... They forced me to hurry all the way, with one in front and two in the rear escorting me. Ahead of us there was a deep river; the water being black as ink, did not run but stood still. The messenger said ..., ‘... ford it by following in my footsteps.’ Thus he guided me across. {cf. [Skt.] /tirthankara/ ‘ford-maker’} There was a many-stor[e]y pavilion in front of us that was shining brightly ... . Curtains made of precious stone beads closed four sides of the building, so that I could not see the face of the person sitting inside ... When I was led in, the curtain was moved, and ... the king said to me, ‘Go back to the world immediately ... .’ ...

 

235

One finger of his hand was about ten yards around." [p. 60, fn. 60 : "the size of Ks.itigarbha’s finger": "Although the other manuscripts have "about ten yards around," the Maeda manuscript specifies "about five feet around.""]

10

 

"Muro no shami ... was self-ordained ... for ... he led a householder’s life ... . ... a fire broke out and destroyed his whole house. ... only the chest containing the scripture remained unharmed."

11

236

"There was a wooden image of Yakushi-nyorai ... [fn. 2 : "Bhais.ajyaguruvaid.uryaprabhatathagata"] in the village of tadehara, south of the pond of Koshida ... . a blind woman ... was a widow whose only daughter was seven years old. ...

 

237

... the daughter saw something pink and as sticky as gum suddenly oozing from the breast of the image. ... The mother ... wanted to eat it ..., and all at once her eyes were opened."

12

 

"In a village east of Yakushi-ji ..., there was a blind man ... . He ... meditated on Nichimanishu ... [fn. 3 : "Kannon has forty arms in addition to the regular two, and each of them has twenty-five spheres of existence; hence, the figure 1,000 is arrived at. Nichimanishu or Nisshomanishu ... is the eighth right arm of the forty, which holds the jewel of the sun ... . It gives off light continuously."] to restore his eyesight. ... two strangers came to him, saying, "... we have come to cure your eyes." ...

 

238

Before long both his eyes became bright and he recovered his eyesight."

13

 

"In Aita district, Mimasaka province ..., there was a state-owned iron mine." A man became accidentally trapped in the mine-pit, but "the door of the pit opened a little and

 

239

... A novice entered ... and brought him a bowl filled with ... drink". Soon, as skylight, "a hole opened above the man’s head, and sunlight flooded the pit. ... At the same time, about thirty men ... passed near the hole. ... They made a rope and basket of vines, ... and lowered it into the pit ... . When the man at the bottom got into the basket, they pulled him up". {cf. "the young man held the cup [cf. the "bowl"] up toward the sky, then broke through the ceiling and ascended to heaven, whereupon the grandfather named him Kamo Wakeikazuchi (Wakeikazuchi means "divide-thunder," {alluding to the opening of the skylight})." ("T")}

14

 

"In Kaga district, Echizen provice ... [fn. 2 : "dating the compilation of the Nihon ryoiki before 823"], ...

 

240

the official was in the village of Mimakawa ... . ... The official bound the scripture called Senju-kyo ... [sengen dharan.i (p. 86)] with a rope and dragged it along the ground. ... When he reached his house and wanted to get down from the horse, he was immobilized and could not dismount. At that instant he flew through the sky with his horse until he was suspended over the spot where he had hit the

 

241

ascetic. About noon the following day he fell to the ground after having been in the air for one day and one night. His body was broken into pieces, just like a bagful of scattered needles."

15

 

"in the village of Saki, ... a novice went to Maoyu’s door ... . ... Maoyu robbed him of his surplice" when the novice said, "I am a self-ordained monk." [fn. 3 : "jido"] "That evening Maoyu cooked some carp in soup and chilled it until it was set. [fn. 4 : "When the soup is chilled, it becomes gelatinous."] ... When he was about to drink some rice wine, however, he ... fell on his side as

 

242

though in a trance, his breathing stopped; as though asleep, his life came to an end." {cf. Ankaios "raised the cup of wine to his lips. But before he could drink, word came that a wild boar was loose in the vineyard. Ancaeus immediately set out to kill the animal, but in the fray was himself set upon and killed by the boar, thus fulfilling the prophecy." ("T-R"; cf. GM 157.e)}

16

 

" Dharma Master Jakurin ..., who was from the village of Noo, Nagusa district, Kii province ..., came to the village of Uneda in Kaga district ... .

 

243

... he had a dream :

He was heading straight east along the path ... . The path was like a mirror, about half a furlong wide, and as straight as a plumb line, with a grove of trees on each side. Jakurin stopped to look into the grove and found a large naked woman crouching there. ... She replied, "I am the mother of Yokoe no omi Narihito ... in the village of Uneda in Ono, Kaga district, Echizen province. In the prime of life I was licentious and used to keep company with many men ... ." Awaking from the dream, Jakurin ... went ... inquiring. ... [Narihito’s] sister ... said, "... Our mother had such good features that she was loved by men, kept company with them, and begrudged giving her breasts to us.""

17

244

In "the village of Mike, Naka district, Kii province ... there was a temple, called Yamamuro-do ... . Inside there were two ... images. They were the attendants of Bodhisattva Miroku, and their broken limbs were placed in the bell hall. ... Novice Shingyo ... tied the fallen limbs to the images with threads ... . ...

 

245

He discovered that it was the images groaning ... . ... (The one on the left is Bodhisattva Daimyosho ..., while the once on the right is Bodhisattva Hoorin ... .)"

18

 

In "Tajihi district, Kawachi province ... there was a temple called Nonakado ... . ... Female devotees gathered in the temple to add purified water to the ink ..., and ... the sky suddenly clouded over and there was a shower ... . The temple was so cramped that hose who sought

 

246

shelter from the shower filled it, and the copier and the woman were sitting in the same place. Then the scripture copier ... crouched behind one of the girls, lifted her skirt, and had intercourse with her. ... his penis entered her vagina, they ... together embracing each other."

19

247

"A divine man flew down from the sky and made as though to impale them with a halberd."

 

248

"In Buddha’s lifetime, ten eggs born from Sumana, a daughter of Sudatta, a wealthy man of S`ravasti, opened to produce ten men, all ... to become arhants. The wife of a wealthy man of Kapilav[a]stu became pregnant and gave birth to a flesh ball, which opened after seven days to bring forth one hundred children, all ... to become arhats." {cf. "he cut the embryo into seven parts ..., he cut each of these seven parts into seven, and thus formed the forty-nine Maruts." (HMV&P, p. 68) Here, the "seven parts" correspond to the "seven days"; while the "one hundred children" correspond to the Marut-s, "one hundred and eighty in number" (HMV&P, p. 67).}

20

249

she [Tayasuko] was copying ... at Sonoyama-dera ... in the Oe district ... [of Awa province] when Imbe no muraji Itaya ... spoke ..., pointing out her mistakes. Immediately he was afflicted with a twisted mouth and a distorted face, which never returned to their normal state. ...

"If you reveal the mistakes of a devotee of this scripture, you will contract leprosy in this world, whether what you say is true or not.""

21

 

"Chogi lost the sight in one of his eyes. Five months elapsed. ... he invited many monks to recite the Kongo hannya-kyo [p. 193, fn. 20 : "Vajracchedikaprajn~aparamitasutra"] for three days and nights. His eye was then cured".

22

250

"Osada no toneri Ebisu ... was a man of the village of Atome,Chisagata district, Shinano province ... . ... Ebisu died suddenly. ... Seven days passed after his death when he was restored to life and related a story ... :

"There were four messengers who accompanied and guided me. At first we crossed a field and then came to a steep hill. When we had climbed the slope, I saw a tall zelkova tree. Standing there and looking over the path ahead, I saw many men sweeping the road with brooms {this is a particularly Jaina practice} ... . When I reached them ..., In front of me there was a deep river about a hundred and twenty yards wide. There was a bridge over the river. Many men were repairing it ... . ... Having crossed the bridge to the other side, I saw a golden palace, in which a king was seated. Near the bridge, the road was three-

 

251

forked. {implying a crow’s-foot-shaped highway}

The first way was wide and flat;

the second was somewhat overgrown with grass;

the third was obstructed by thick bushes.

The messengers forced me to take the third one ... .The king saw me, and ... Pointing to the second way, he said to the messengers, ‘Take him that way.’ ... Three monks ... took out three tablets, two made of gold, one of iron. [fn. 8 : "Merits were recorded on the tablets."] Then they took out two scales; one weighed on the heavy side by one quart of rice, the other on the light side by one quart. Then they said to me, ‘... you committed a grave sin. You were summoned here because you used the lighter-weight scale for lending rice, but the heavier-weight scale for collecting debts. Now, go home, immediately.’ On my way back, I saw many men sweeping the road with brooms and repairing the road as before ... . {the 2 groups ought to have been in reverse sequence} When I crossed the bridge, I realized that I had been restored to life.""

23

252

"Otomo no muraji Oshikatsu ... [in] the village of Omuna, Chisagata district, Shinano province ... was ... beaten to death ... . ... After five days, however, he was restored to life, and told this story ... :

"Five messengers accompanied me and made me hurry along. Ahead of us there was a very steep slope. Having reached the top of the slope, I stopped to look around and saw three broad paths.

The first was flat and wide,

the second covered with grass, and

the third blocked with thick bushes.

In the center of the three-forked road a king was seated, ... Pointing to the flat path he said to them, ‘Take him this way.’ Surrounding me, the king’s messengers went on that path. At the end of the way, there was a big kettle. The steam rose from it ... and the water boiled ... .

 

253

... But when they threw me into it alive, the kettle turned cold and broke into four pieces. Three monks ... took out three iron tablets for checking and said to me, ‘... you brought destruction on yourself by using property belonging to the temple. Now, go back to ... atone for the loss of the temple’s property.’ Suddenly released, I came back by the three-forked broad way, coming down the slope, and realized at once I had been restored to life.""

24

 

"On the mountain {cf. "the original Japanese mountain deity Ouyamagui 大山咋" ("MJ3-3")} named Mikamu-no-take, in Yasu district, Omi province ..., there was a shrine called the abode of Taga no Okami ... . [fn. 3 : therein, "Izanami and Izanagi are enshrined now."] ... the Venerable Esho ... of Daian-ji was staying at the temple for a

 

254

retreat when he had a dream in which a man appeared, saying, "Please recite the scriptures for me." When he awoke {"false awakening" as continuation of the same dream} ... a tiny white monkey {king Kriki : "One of the king’s dreams involved ten monkeys" ("MJ2-B").} appeared and came to him, saying, "Stay at this temple and recite ... for me. ... I was the king of a state in the eastern part of India. In my state about one thousand men ... became followers of the monks ... . ... At that time I limited the number of followers, but ... to prevent men from following monks was a sin. This is why I was reborn as a monkey and the kami of this shrine. ..." {"The monkey messenger is also known as Sarugami (猿神; literally "monkey kami")." ("MJ3-S")} [When "Buddhist ascetics went to the mountains, they prayed for the protection of {by?} the kami. Even scholar monks sent to China for Buddhist studies prayed to native kami for their safe journey. ... . ... it became a common practice to read Buddhist scriptures before the altar at which a kami was enshrined." (p. 28)]

 

255

There was a tiny white monkey at the all. Then we saw the great hall ... fall down in pieces, along with all the Buddha images". {"MUNAMOCHI-SARU 棟持猿 Literally "pillar-supporting monkey." The buildings at some Hie shrines in Japan use monkey carvings to hold up the beams" ("MJ3-M"). [If this monkey were to withdraw its support, the building would collapse.]} [fn. 12 the hall which collapsed was, in length, "nine ken". {Nine of the ten monkeys seen by king Kriki were evil.}]

25

 

"Ki no omi Umakai ... was a man from the village of Kibi, Ate district, Kii province ... . ... .

 

256

... on the sixth of the sixth month ..., ... Umakai ... made the collected timber into a raft ... . ... . ... cast by the waves onto the beach at a salt makers’ village, Tamachino no ura, in the southwestern part of Awaji province ... on the sixth day ..., ... Umakai ... went home after two months. When his family saw his face and protruding eyes, they ... said,

 

257

"... Is it a dream, or is he a ghost?" Thereupon, Umakai ... entered the mountains".

26

 

"Tanaka no mahito Hiromushime ... gave birth to nine children and was very rich. ... She did not

 

258

show any mercy in forcibly collecting interest, sometimes ten times and sometimes a hundred times as much as the original loan. ... Hiromushime ... told ... about the dream she had experienced.

"I was summoned to the palace of King Yama, and told my ... sins :

... of using such of the property of the Three Treasures and not repaying it; ... of using two kinds of measuring cups and scales, giving seven-tenths for a loan and collecting twelve-tenths for a debt. ‘I summoned you because of these sins. I just want to show ... that you ... receive a penalty in this life,’ said the king."

She passed away on the same day she told the dream. ... On the evening of the seventh day she was restored to life and opened the lid of the coffin. ... Her body above the waist had already turned into an ox with four inch horns on the forehead ... . ... The lower body below the waist was human in form. She did not like rice but grass ... . She did not wear any clothes".

27

259

"Homuchi no Makihito ... from the village of Oyama, Ashida district, Bingo province ..., ... slept in the bamboo grove at Ashida in Ashida district. ...

 

260

The next morning he discovered a skull with a bamboo shoot growing up through the eye socket. He pulled out the bamboo ... . ... he stayed overnight in the same bamboo grove. Then the skull appeared {in his dream?} as a live being, saying, "I am Ananokimi no Otogimi ... of the village of Yanakuni, Ashida district ... . ... On New Year’s Eve will you visit my home ...?" ... On New Year’s Eve ... Taking his hand, the spirit led him into the house where ... The spirit ... gave ... to Makihito ... some treasures. Then the spirit suddenly disappeared."

28

261

"In the village of Kishi, Nagusa district, Kii province ..., there was a temple ... . ... a lay brother lived in this temple. ... .

 

262

... he discovered that the head of the sixteen-foot image of Miroku [fn. 5 : "Maitreya"] had been severed and had fallen to the ground. [This was among the wooden structures which "had been left to lie on the and decay for a long time." (p. 261)] About a thousand large ants {termites} were gathered there, devouring the head."

29

 

"In the village of Hamanaka, Niki, Ama district, Kii province, there ... was a path running along the mountain between Ama ... and Ate ... . It was called Tamasaka ... . ... Once a child ... played by that mountain path, carving a piece

 

263

of wood into a Buddha image and piling stones into a pagoda. {Piling cairns of stones at remote sites is a Bodish and a Mongolian practice.} ... an ignorant man laughed at the statue carved by the child in his play, chopping and breaking it with an axe."

30

 

"Elder Master Kanki’s ... secular name was Mimana no Kanuki .. . [fn. 1 : "Kanuki is a popular name for ancient Korean royal families."] ... In the village of Noo ... in Nagusa district, ...

 

264

When he was over eighty, he passed away in bed ... . After two days he was restored to life and called his disciple Myoki ..., saying, "I forgot to say one word and, since I could not endure it, I came back to the world." ...

 

265

... on the fifteen of the same month, he called Myoki and said to him, "Today is the anniversary of Buddha’s entry into nirvana [fn. 16 : "Butsu-nehan; the fifteenth of the second month"], and I, too, will end my life." ... he died ... in the afternoon of the same day."

31

 

"In the village of Kusumi, Mizuno, Katakata district, Mino province ..., there was a woman whose surname was

 

266

Agata-no-uji ... . She ... became pregnant without any sexual intercourse. ... she gave birth to two stones after a three-year pregnancy. ... One was blue and white mixed together, while the other was pure blue. ... In Atsumi ... district, ... a great kami, whose name was Inaba ... took possession of a diviner and spoke through him, saying, "The two stones which were born are my own children.""

32

267

Kurehara no imiki Nanimomaro went out upon the sea nigh "Iwataki Island ... . ... All at once a gale came up, destroying the three boats ... . ... He awoke on a bright moonlit night to discover himself lying on the grass on the beach of Kata ..., Ama district, Kii province. Having been saved, he took his own measurements and made a statue as tall as himself."

33

 

"Ki no atae Yoshitari ... was popularly called Lord Hashi no iegimi ... in the village of Wake, Hidaka district, Kii province ... . ... .

 

268

... a self-ordained monk who was called Ise no shami ... followed the official who was distributing the rice [in loans] and came to the gate of [lord Has^i]. ... [Lord Has^i] said, "Recite the divine names of the Twelve Yaks.a, and bind me with a charm.""

   

"accordingly, the Jurin-gyo ... says, "As an orchid ... excels other flowers, so monks, even if they violate

 

269

precepts, excel ... .""

"The Zobo ketsugi-kyo ... says, "In the future secular officials should not make monks pay taxes. ... Laymen should not ... whip the slaves and the six kinds of domestic animals belonging to the sangha. ...""

34

270

"Kose no Asame ... a woman from the village of Haniu, Nagusa district, Kii province ... contracted ... a growth as big as a melon on her neck. {goitre?} ... When fifteen years had passed, an ascetic named Chusen ... tried to cure her disease by reciting a formula ... ... . Twenty-eight years passed from the time she contracted the disease, but ...

 

271

her growth ... of its own accord ... was healed as she had prayed."

35

 

"a man by the name of Hi no kimi ... [fn. 2 : "The Lord of Hi in Tsukushi was sent to escort a prince of Paekche."] of Matsura district, Hizen province in Tsukushi ... [Kyus^u (fn. 2)], died suddenly and reached the land of Yama. ... he was sent back home.

On his way back he saw a hell which looked like a boiling kettle in the ocean. In it something black like a stump ... called to him saying, "... I am Mononobe no Komaro ... from Harihara district in Totomi province ... . During my life I worked as an official for many years in charge of transporting hulled rice ... . Because of this ..., I have been ... here. ..." {scil., in the "boiling kettle", on account of "hulled rice" to be boiled}

 

272

When Hino kimi came back from the Land of the dead, he wrote a precise report of what he had seen and heard and sent it to the local government."

36

273

"Fujiwara no asomi Nagate ... was Chancellor ... .[fn. 2 : "The title of Chancellor was conferred ... posthumously."] ... his son Ieyori ... had a ... dream about his father, and said to him, "More than thirty soldiers came to summon you, Father. .." In spite of this warning, his father ... died. ... At that time one dhyana master ... put hot charcoals ... to burn incense, walked round the Buddha, chanting dharani, and suddenly began to run around and roll on the ground.

 

274

Then the patient [Ieyori] talked, being possessed by a spirit, saying, "I am Nagate. I had the banners of Hokke-ji ... [fn. 5 : "the headquarter of all provincial nunneries."] taken down and later was responsible for the pagodas of Saidai-ji ... having four corners instead of eight and five stor[e]ies instead of seven. Because of this ..., I was summoned to the office of King Yama ... . Thereupon, the king released me and sent me back to the world. my body, however, has perished, and I have nothing to live in, and must float about in the air.""

37

275

"once a man ... went to Chikuzen ... and died of a sudden illness, arriving at the palace of King Yama. Though he did not see anybody, he heard the voice of a man ... . ... "This is Saheki no sukune Itachi." When he returned from the Land of the Dead unexpectedly and was restored to life, he remembered the name very well and sent a report on the Land of the Dead to the local government."

38

277

The "Emperor ... was attacked by ex-Empress Abe and dethroned. [fn. 13 : "he ... died an unnatural death"] ... In the reign of Empress Abe, Dharma Master

 

278

Dokyo ... ["from Wakae district, Kawachi province" (fn. 13)] of the Yuge ... family had intercourse with the empress on the same pillow, ... ruling the country together. ... Also in the reign of the empress dowager, there was ... the participation in state affairs of ... Dharma Master Ingo ... [fn. 16 "Ongo; ... of the Kamo-no-asomi family."] of the Kamo ... family as spiritual councillor.

Or, in the reign of ex-Emperor Shoho-ojin ..., this song was sung ... :

... West of the Toyura-dera ...,

A white jewel sinks at Sakurai" [fn. 18 : "The name of a well. See Shoku Nihongi, XXXI"] ...

Later, in the reign of Empress Abe, ... when a turtle was presented from Tsukushi province, the era name was once again changed ... .

 

279

In the reign of Emperor Yamabe, ... all heavenly stars moved and flew about wildly from eight in the evening to four in the morning. On ... the same month, the emperor ... moved the palace from Nara ... to Nagaoka ... [fn. 24 : "located at present Muko-machi, Otokuni-gun, Kyoto-fu"]. The flight of the heavenly stars was a sign that the imperial palace would be moved."

 

280

"Then at midnight, while sleeping, he [Kyokai] had a dream :

a mendicant came to his door, ... saying :"

   

if thou practice the good of the __ grade,

thou wilt become __ feet tall

   

upper [fn. 31 : "jobon no zen"]

17

   

lower [fn. 32 : "gehon no zen"]

10

   

"Having heard this, Kyokai looked around ... and ... found a wooden tablet about twenty feet long and one foot wide. On the tablet there were two marks, one at the height of ten feet, and the other at the height of seventeen feet."

 

282

"Again Kyokai had another dream ... . In the dream, Kyokai died, and his corpse was burned with firewood. Thereupon his spirit watched his corpse burn, but ... he took a stick to skewer his corpse and broil it. ... His legs, knees, joint bones, elbows, head and other parts were all burned and fell off. {This resembleth a typical Siberian initiation as granted by spirits in the otherworld (viz., in a dreaming).} Then Kyokai’s spirit cried aloud, putting his mouth to the ear of a bystander to tell him his wish, but the voice sounded hollow and the bystander did not answer. Then Kyokai thought that he could not hear his voice as the spirit of the dead was voiceless."

39

284

"when Dhyana Master Zenshu was about to pass away, a diviner [fn. 8 : "kamnagi"] was called to give an oracle about his life after death, ... by boiling rice. Then the divine spirit, having possessed the diviner, said, "I will ... be reborn as a prince. You shall know his identity owing to the same birthmark as mine on the prince’s face." the prince had the same birthmark as the late Dhyana Master Zenshu ... . He died after three years, however. When the diviner was called, the prince’s spirit said through the diviner, "I am none other than the Dhyana Master Zenshu. I have lived as a prince for a while. ...""

"LE&C" = http://www.villa-aurora.gr/Eos.html

"T" = ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SHINTO, article "Tamayorihime". http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=152

AL = Apollodoros : Library. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022:text%3DLibrary:book%3D3:chapter%3D15:section%3D1

"T-R" = http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/11/messages/307.html

HMV&P = W.J. Wilkins : Hindu Mythology, Vedic and Puranic. 1900. http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/hmvp/hmvp11.htm

"MJ3-3" = http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/monkey-koushin-p3.html#sannou

"MJ2-B" = http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/monkey-india-china-p2.html#india-buddhism

"MJ3-S" = http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/monkey-koushin-p3.html#sannogongen

"MJ3-M" = http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/monkey-koushin-p3.html#masaru

HARVARD-YENCHING INSTITUTE MONOGRAPH SERIES, Vol. 20 = Kyoko Motomochi Nakamura (transl.) : Miraculous Stories from the Japanese Buddhist Tradition : the Nihon Ryoiki of the Monk Kyokai. Cambridge (MA), 1973.