Buddhism; Folklore -- Japan; Japan -- Social life and customs
IV.—_The Conch-Shell_ (Jap. “_Hora_”) or _Trumpet_. Emblem of the
preaching of the Law. The book _Shin-zoku-butsu-ji-hen_ calls it the
symbol of the voice of the Buddha. The _Dai-hi-kyō_ calls it the token
of the preaching and of the power of the Mahayana doctrine. The
_Dai-Nichi-Kyō_ says:—” At the sound of the blowing of the shell, all
the heavenly deities are filled with delight, and come to hear the
Law.”
V.—_The Flower-Vase_ (Jap. “_Hanagamé_”). Emblem of _murō_,—a mystical
word which might be literally rendered as “not-leaking,”—signifying
that condition of supreme intelligence triumphant over birth and death.
VI.—_The Wheel-of-a-Thousand-Spokes_ (Sansc. “Tchakra “). This emblem,
called in Japanese _Senfuku-rin-sō_, is curiously explained by various
quotations. The _Hokké-Monku_ says:—“The effect of a wheel is to crush
something; and the effect of the Buddha’s preaching is to crush all
delusions, errors, doubts, and superstitions. Therefore preaching the
doctrine is called, ‘turning the Wheel.’”… The _Sei-Ri-Ron_ says: “Even
as the common wheel has its spokes and its hub, so in Buddhism there
are many branches of the _Hasshi Shōdo_ (‘Eight-fold Path,’ or eight
rules of conduct).”
VII.—_The Crown of Brahmâ_. Under the heel of the Buddha is the
Treasure-Crown (_Hō-Kwan_) of Brahmâ (_Bon-Ten-O_),—in symbol of the
Buddha’s supremacy above the gods.
But I think that the inscriptions upon any of these _Butsu-soku-séki_
will be found of more significance than the above imperfect attempts at
an explanation of the emblems. The inscriptions upon the monument at
Dentsu-In are typical. On different sides of the structure,—near the
top, and placed by rule so as to face certain points of the
compass,—there are engraved five Sanscrit characters which are symbols
of the Five Elemental Buddhas, together with scriptural and
commemorative texts. These latter have been translated for me as
follows:—
The HO-KO-HON-NYO-KYO says:—“In that time, from beneath his feet, the
Buddha radiated a light having the appearance of a wheel of a thousand
spokes. And all who saw that radiance became strictly upright, and
obtained the Supreme Enlightenment.”
The KWAN-BUTSU-SANMAI-KYO says:—“Whosoever looks upon the footprints of
the Buddha shall be freed from the results even of innumerable
thousands of imperfections.”
The BUTSU-SETSU-MU-RYO-JU-KYO says:—“In the land that the Buddha treads
in journeying, there is not even one person in all the multitude of the
villages who is not benefited. Then throughout the world there is peace
and good will. The sun and the moon shine clear and bright. Wind and
rain come only at a suitable time. Calamity and pestilence cease. The
country prospers; the people are free from care. Weapons become
useless. All men reverence religion, and regulate their conduct in all
matters with earnestness and modesty.”
[Commemorative Text.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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