Jizo Bodhisattva

by Jan Chozen Bays

  People from places all over the district, some from as far as five leagues distant—young and old, men and women, priests and laity, all social ranks—began filing into the shrine. An unbroken stream of pilgrims that continued without cease for eight or nine days. All who came promptly expressed their respect and undying devotion for National Master Musō. It is a story that has been handed down from generation to generation on the lips of village elders far and wide.

  As Taru maru finished telling his story, the monks were all wringing the tears from their sleeves. “What a splendid story,” “What a splendid story . . .” they mumbled over and over.

  But I thought to myself: “What those village elders admired and revered, what all those pilgrims came to worship—that’s not what I’m after. I value Musō’s deep faith and steadfastness of purpose. I envy his pure, unswerving dedication to the Way. I want to do as he did, find a pure, consecrated spot, quiet and secluded, where no one ever comes. I don’t think I’m quite up to a daily ration of a morsel or two of dried persimmon, but if I could get a fistful of rice to boil up into a daily bowl of gruel, I’d like to spend a summer finding out how strong my dedication to the Way really is.”

  Zen Master Ryokan

  Zen Master Taigu Ryōkan (1758-1831) was a poor monk who lived in a simple hut in Japan’s snow country. He spent his days begging for his meals, and was often accompanied by children, with whom he played games and wrestled. His poetry is much loved.

  This poem is said to have been written to Ryōkan’s prized Buddha statue, a small stone image of the bodhisattva Jizo, which, according to legend, Ryōkan used as a pillow when he napped. The statue, known as the “Pillow Jizo,” is still preserved at the Ryōkan Museum in Izumozaki.

  We sit face to face, and you don’t say a word

  Yet your silence reveals the timeless essence of things

  Open books lie strewn about the floor

  And just beyond the bamboo shade

  a gentle rain soaks the flowering plum

  Shukumon Kera was a village chief and friend of the poet. Ryōkan was particularly fond of the Lotus Sutra and copied it by hand as a gift for Shukumon. The chief buried this copy on the grounds of his home, under a statue of Jizo Bodhisattva. This ritual, traditionally done as a means of preserving the Dharma, also had the purpose of protecting the Kera family tutelary deities and assuring guidance for Shukumon after death.

  Once Ryōkan was caught in a rainstorm. He took shelter with a Jizo, under the straw rain hat that had been placed on the statue. A passerby recognized Ryokan and took him home, then pressed the famous poet for some calligraphy. Ryokan wrote out a children’s song about the alphabet.

  Jizo-sama and the Straw Hats

  This story of Ryōkan and Jizo’s hat is related to a beloved traditional Japanese tale about Jizo.

  Once there was A poor elderly couple who lived a simple and contented life by making traditional straw hats. During a particularly bitter winter they found that they had no more rice or any other kind of food. They had just enough straw in their storeroom to fashion five hats. The old man took the hats to the market, where he walked and sang the virtue of his wares all day, but not a single hat was sold. As he returned home in the dusk, a snowstorm arose. As he trudged along in the wind and thick and swirling snow he almost missed seeing the Six Jizos at the crossroads that marked the path to his hut. He uttered a prayer of thanks for their guidance and then noticed that the Jizos were standing bareheaded in the snow. He took his five new straw hats and placed them on their heads. On the sixth Jizo he put his own old battered hat.

  When he arrived home, his old wife greeted him happily, thinking that he had returned with food for a New Year’s dinner, for it was New Year’s eve. The old man was worried that his wife would be upset, but when he told her that he had no food nor money, and that he had not sold any hats but instead had given them away to the Six Jizos, she kissed him. She said that she had loved him all these years for just this, his generosity and kind nature. They drank some tea to warm themselves and went to sleep.

  The next morning the couple opened the door of their cottage to welcome the first day of the New Year. Outside the door they found several sacks and big baskets filled with food and firewood. Who could have brought these unexpected gifts? In the new fallen snow they saw many small footprints. The tracks led them down the path to the six Jizo statues who stood at the crossroads, straw hats upon their heads, silently smiling.

  Zen Master Soko Morinaga

  Soko Morinaga Roshi was a modem Rinzai Zen Master and successor of Zuigan Roshi.

  Jizo Bodhisattva and Children

  Today we had an eye-opening ceremony for Jizo Bodhisattva. In Japan Jizo is considered to be a protector of children. On scrolls we often see Jizo with several children clinging to him, standing on the banks of the River Sai. Here children who have died very young must come and pile stones as offerings saying, “This one is for my father, the next for my mother.” No sooner have they done this than blue and black devils come to demolish the piles of stones. When the devils disappear the children return to begin piling up stones again.

  When my mother told me this story it touched me deeply and moved me almost to tears. When I was a child I was a very picky eater and [in] poor health. My mother often told me stories of Jizo Bodhisattva in order to encourage me to eat. She would tell me that children have to eat a lot to build a health body and live a long life. To die earlier than one’s parents is totally against filial duty.

  Isn’t it interesting that the way Jizo protects children is just to shelter them under his sleeve? He doesn’t send the devils away in order to make it easier for the children. If Jizo is so compassionate and is the King of Vows, why doesn’t he wipe out the devils so the children can pile stones with ease? The real compassion of Jizo is to raise children who patiently pile stones without saying “I give up” even if devils endlessly demolish their piles of stones. Jizo protects those who courageously try again and again.

  I am afraid that we have made a big mistake in raising our children. The big misunderstanding is about the devil named hardship. Many years ago our grandparents thought hardship was very important for building character, saying “The young should struggle with adversity.” But after we were defeated in World War II, the idea spread that we should avoid hardship as much as possible, viewing it as unlucky to have excessive hardship. As it is troublesome to open the door, we have invented the automatic door opener. In the kitchen alone we have developed the electric stove, saving all the trouble of cooking with charcoal. Now we have the dishwasher, lemon squeezer, food chopper, mix master. People began to think that time and labor saving was equal to happiness. We used to use grandmother’s worn out kimonos for diapers, and washed them one-by-one. Now people use paper diapers and throw them away after one use. Children used to take lunches to school in a box wrapped in cloth. They struggled to learn to tie a bow knot, a vertical knot and a horizontal knot. But no body does such troublesome business anymore. They don’t even tie shoes or sharpen pencils. Everything is made easy.

  In this way people have begun to think that if they take all the troublesome things from children’s lives they will live a life without hardship. If today’s parents were Jizo Bodhisattva they would kill all the devils and make a machine to pile up the stones for the children. But, with all hardship removed, have children become happy?

  We have to recognize that we are not born to live without hardship. We cannot enjoy true freedom until we go through hardship. When you play the piano you work hard and are corrected many times by your teacher. Sometimes you might be discouraged but if you continue patiently gradually your skill improves and you can play well. The devils at the River Sai might be called the partners of Jizo Bodhisattva. They contribute their half to his virtuous action. Hardship and effort always accompany us to insure our happiness and help us avoid misfortune. If we accept our hardships with a gentle mind, believing in the Buddha Way and praying quietly before him
, our hardships will give us happiness. Jizo shelters the children from the devils but he also sends them out to pile the stones up once more. This is the very Buddha, the essence of religion.

  Transmission of the Light

  Nagarjuna and the Cintamani Jewel

  The Transmission of the Light, a record of enlightenment stories of the ancestors in the Zen lineage, contains a story and verse about the cintamani jewel.

  The Fourteenth ancestor was the Venerable Nagarjuna. Once the thirteenth ancestor Kapimala paid a visit to a Naga king and was given a wish-fulfilling jewel. His student Nagarjuna asked about it, “This jewel is the most precious in the world. Does it have a form or not?” Kapimala replied, “You only understand having form and not having form, but you do not understand that this jewel neither has form nor is without form. Furthermore you do not yet know that this jewel is not a jewel.” Hearing this Nagarjuna was deeply enlightened.

  Its solitary light, marvelously vast, is never darkened;

  The wish-fulfilling mani jewel shines, illuminating everything.

  A Hymn to Jizo Bodhisattva

  Several hymns to Jizo Bodhisattva have been attributed to the Buddhist priest Kuya (903-72). They describe the scene at the bank of the River Sai.

  This is a tale that comes not from this world,

  But is the story of the Riverbank of Sai

  By the road on the edge of Death Mountain.

  Hear it and you will know its sorrow.

  Little children of two, three, four,

  Five—all under ten years of age—

  Are gathered at the Riverbank of Sai

  Longing for their fathers and mothers;

  Their “I want you” cries are uttered

  From voices in another world.

  Their sorrow bites, penetrates

  And the activity of these infants

  Consists of gathering river stones

  And of making merit stupas out of them;

  The first storey is for their fathers

  And the second for their mothers,

  And the third makes merit for siblings

  Who are at home in the land of the living;

  This stupa-building is their game

  During the day, but when the sun sets

  A demon from hell appears, saying

  “Hey! Your parents back in the world

  Aren’t busy doing memorial rites for you.

  Their day-in, day-out grieving has in it

  Much that’s cruel, sad, and wretched.

  The source of your suffering down here is

  That sorrow of your parents up there.

  So don’t hold any grudges against me!”

  With that the demon wields his black

  Iron pole and smashes the children’s

  Little stupas to smithereens.

  Just then the much-revered Jizo

  Makes an awe-inspiring entrance, telling

  The children, “Your lives were short;

  Now you’ve come into the realm of darkness

  Very far away from the world you left.

  Take me, trust me always—as your father

  And as your mother in this realm.”

  With that he wraps the little ones

  Inside the folds of his priest’s robes

  Showing a wondrous compassion.

  Those who can’t yet walk are helped

  By him to grasp his stick with bells on top.

  He draws them close to his own comforting,

  Merciful skin, hugging and stroking them,

  Showing a wondrous compassion.

  Praise be to Life-sustaining

  Bodhisattva Jizo!”

  Jizo the Sky Is Crying

  by John Wentz

  This poem was written on the passing of John B., an infant with multiple congenital anomalies and who was considered to be blind. It was written by a medical worker who had cared for this special little person. There were three days of showers after John died. This poem can be used in mizuko services.

  Your face so serene, beggar’s staff in your right hand,

  wish-fulfilling jewel in your left,

  my brother, please escort him,

  give him to comfort, as today the sky is crying.

  One of my special people, he never caused harm.

  Over the years he came to know my touch.

  He allowed me to pick up his fragile body,

  bloated with fluids, little movement in his arms and legs.

  They told me, “Don’t go too near him,

  he will convulse in seizures and fracture.

  He must always stay in bed.

  You know, he can neither see nor hear.

  Let the nurses take care of him.”

  But I brought him along anyway,

  The doctor said to go ahead and try.

  Each day I lifted him, placing him on his belly

  for a little ease in breathing.

  Softly I would tap the fluids loose.

  He became accustomed to my ways.

  One day I sat him up in front of me, John supporting John.

  His swollen body held in my arms adjusted its balance.

  and he breathed a little deeper.

  He pursed his mouth, swallowed and grimaced.

  Each day he sat for shorter periods.

  We faced a mirror, I behind him, watching his little signs.

  One day he tracked me as I went to tend another special one.

  As I returned he smiled—he could see!

  That day I held him longer.

  Another day his belly shook with laughter, frail arms extended, rolls of flesh like a Chinese Buddha.

  Looking at us in the mirror, he shook from the marrow.

  Ahhhh—ha, ha, ha. Ahhhhhh.

  Jizo, guide my friend to the Buddha’s Western Paradise playground.

  He wants to run and play at last. When I come,

  I will play tag with him, and hold him in my arms once more.

  Mind him for me, gentle Jizo.

  References by Chapter

  Preface

  Nanamoli, Bikkhu, and Bikkhu Bodhi, trans. Majjhima Nikaya. Sutta 19:6. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995.

  Vajirarama, Narada Thera, trans. Dhammapada: Pali Text and Translation with Stories in Brief and Notes. New Delhi: Sagar Publications, 1972.

  Chapter One: Jizo in America

  DeVisser, M. W. The Bodhisattva Ti-tsang (Jizo) in China and Japan. Berlin: Oesterheld Verlag, 1914-

  White, Helen C. Tudor Book of Saints and Martyrs. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1963.

  Chapter Two: Jizo in Japan

  Agency of Cultural Affairs. Japanese Religion: A Survey. New York: Kodansha International, 1972.

  Arai, Abbot Yusei. Shingon Esoteric Buddhism: A Handbook for Followers. Fresno: Shingon International Buddhist Institute, 1997.

  Dykstra, Yoshiko Kurata. “Jizo, the Most Merciful: Tales from Jizo Bosatsu Reigenki.” Monumenta Nipponica, 33: 2. Tokyo: Sophia University, 1978. 179-200.

  Kitagawa, Joseph M. Religion in Japanese History. New York: Columbia University Press, 1966.

  Sakuma, Ryu. “Gyōgi,” Shapers of Japanese Buddhism. Ed. Yusen Kashiwahara and Koyu Sonoda. Kyoto: Kyosei Publishing Company, 1994.

  Wilson, William Scott, trans. The Buddha’s Sutra on the Bodhisattva, Enmei Jizo. Self published. (available from Gentle Jizos—see Sources for Jizo Images)

  Yamada, Patricia. “The Worship of Jizo.” Kyoto Journal 2, Spring, 1987: 22-26.

  Yamada, Patricia. “A Friend in Need: The Bodhisattva Jizo,” Japanese Religions (Kyoto) 16 (1991): 76-92.

  Chapter Three: The Water Baby Jizo

  Brooks, Ann Page. “Mizuko Kuyo and Japanese Buddhism,” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies (Nagoya, Japan: Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture) 8 (1981): 119-47.

  Hardacre, Helen. Marketing the Menacing Fetus in Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.

  LaFleur, William R. Liquid Life: Abo
rtion and Buddhism in Japan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992.

  Miura, Archbishop Domyo. The Forgotten Child. Trans. Jim Cuth-bert. Oxon, UK: Aidan Ellis Publishing Ltd., 1983.

  Nitta, Mitsuko. “Mizuko Kuyo and Foreign Scholars,” Bulletin of the Faculty of Sociology (Shiga, Japan: Ryukoku University) 14 (1999): 59-67.

  Nyanaponika, Thera, and Hellmuth Hecker. Great Disciples of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1997.

  Smith, Bardwell. “Buddhism and Abortion in Contemporary Japan: Mizuko Kuyo and the Confrontation with Death,” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 5 (1988): 3-22.

  Vajirarama, Narada Thera, trans. Dhammapada: Pali Text and Translation with Stories in Brief and Notes. New Delhi: Sagar Publications, 1972. 107-108.

  Yuasa, Nobuyuki, trans. Matsuo Basho: The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches. London: Penguin Books, 1966.

  Chapter Four: Jizo Bodhisattva, Protector of Children

  Hall, Manly P. “Jizoji: House of the Comforter,” Buddhism and Psychotherapy (Los Angeles: Philosophical Research Society, 1967): 225-249.

  Hoff, Benjamin, ed. The Singing Creek Where the Willow Grows: The Rediscovered Diary of Opal Whitely. New York: Warner Books, 1986.

  Mitchell, Stephen, trans. Tao Te Ching. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1988.

  Morinaga, Soko. Jizo Bodhisattva and the Children. Trans. Giko Shimazaki with Susan Postal. Available through Gentle Jizos, see Sources for Jizo Images, page 273.

  Yamada, Patricia. “Jizo and the Festivals of August,” Kansai Time Out (Kobe, Japan) 54 (August 1981).

  Chapter Five: The Stone Woman Dances

  Bays, Jan Chozen. “What the Buddha Taught about Sexual Harassment,” Tricycle: The Buddhist Review 8 (1998): 55-59.

  Deal, William E. “Buddhism and the State in Early Japan,” Buddhism in Practice. Ed. Donald Lopez. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.

  Glassman, Hank. “The Nude Jizō at Denkō-ji: Notes on Women’s Salvation in Kamakura Buddhism,” Engendering Faith: Women and Buddhism in Pre-Modem Japan. Ed. Barbara Ruch. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies, 2001.