[2] Buddhist nuns and priests have their heads completely shaven. The proverb signifies that it is better to correct the heart,—to conquer all vain regrets and desires,—than to become a religious. In common parlance the phrase “to shave the head” means to become a monk or a nun. 3.—_Au wa wakaré no hajimé._ Meeting is only the beginning of separation.[3] [3] Regret and desire are equally vain in this world of impermanency; for all joy is the beginning of an experience that must have its pain. This proverb refers directly to the sutra-text,—_Shōja hitsumetsu é-sha-jori_,—” All that live must surely die; and all that meet will surely part.” 4.—_Banji wa yumé._ All things[4] are merely dreams. [4] Literally, “ten thousand things.” 5.—_Bonbu mo satoréba hotoké nari._ Even a common man by obtaining knowledge becomes a Buddha.[5] [5] The only real differences of condition are differences in knowledge of the highest truth. 6.—_Bonnō kunō._ All lust is grief.[6] [6] All sensual desire invariably brings sorrow. 7—_Buppō to wara-ya no amé, dété kiké._ One must go outside to hear Buddhist doctrine or the sound of rain on a straw roof.[7] [7] There is an allusion here to the condition of the _shukké_ (priest): literally, “one who has left his house.” The proverb suggests that the higher truths of Buddhism cannot be acquired by those who continue to live in the world of follies and desires. 8.—_Busshō en yori okoru._ Out of karma-relation even the divine nature itself grows.[8] [8] There is good as well as bad karma. Whatever hap-piness we enjoy is not less a consequence of the acts and thoughts of previous lives, than is any misfortune that comes to us. Every good thought and act contributes to the evolution of the Buddha-nature within each of us. Another proverb [No. 10],—_En naki shujō wa doshi gatashi_,—further illustrates the meaning of this one. 9.—_Enkō ga tsuki wo toran to suru ga gotoshi._ Like monkeys trying to snatch the moon’s reflection on water.[9] [9] Allusion to a parable, said to have been related by the Buddha himself, about some monkeys who found a well under a tree, and mistook for reality the image of the moon in the water. They resolved to seize the bright apparition. One monkey suspended himself by the tail from a branch overhanging the well, a second monkey clung to the first, a third to the second, a fourth to the third, and so on,—till the long chain of bodies had almost reached the water. Suddenly the branch broke under the unaccustomed weight; and all the monkeys were drowned. 10.—_En naki shujō wa doshi gatashi._ To save folk having no karma-relation would be difficult indeed![10] [10] No karma-relation would mean an utter absence of merit as well as of demerit. 11.—_Fujō seppō suru hōshi wa, birataké ni umaru._ The priest who preaches foul doctrine shall be reborn as a fungus. 12.—_Gaki mo ninzu._ Even gaki (_prêtas_) can make a crowd.[11]