Emma Dai-ō
42.—Kiité Gokuraku, mité Jigoku.
Heard of only, it is Paradise; seen, it is Hell.[[37]]
[37] Rumor is never trustworthy.
43.—Kōji mon wo idézu: akuji sen ni wo hashiru.
Good actions go not outside of the gate: bad deeds travel a thousand ri.
44.—Kokoro no koma ni tadzuna wo yuru-suna.
Never let go the reins of the wild colt of the heart.
45.—Kokoro no oni ga mi wo séméru.
The body is tortured only by the demon of the heart.[[38]]
[38] Or “mind.” That is to say that we suffer only from the consequences of our own faults.—The demon-torturer in the Buddhist hell says to his victim:—“Blame not me!—I am only the creation of your own deeds and thoughts: you made me for this!”—Compare with No. 36.
46.—Kokoro no shi to wa naré; kokoro wo shi to sezaré.
Be the teacher of your heart: do not allow your heart to become your teacher.
47.—Kono yo wa kari no yado.
This world is only a resting-place.[[39]]
[39] “This world is but a travellers’ inn,” would be an almost equally correct translation. Yado literally means a lodging, shelter, inn; and the word is applied often to those wayside resting-houses at which Japanese travellers halt during a journey. Kari signifies temporary, transient, fleeting,—as in the common Buddhist saying, Kono yo kari no yo: “This world is a fleeting world.” Even Heaven and Hell represent to the Buddhist only halting places upon the journey to Nirvâna.