Comments on: Karma, Relation and “En”

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:41:55 +0000

Ha ha ha! Do have a recommended link to That koan by the way? It is a good topic for the blog. I’ve read it once in Brad Warner’s book (which was pretty good), but can’t recall the story in detail.

By: JonJ

JonJ — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:54:49 +0000

Well, there may be “internet karma,” but remember that it’s only virtual karma .

On the Buddhist concept of karma, I have always liked, as a Zen sort of person, the Hyakujo and the fox koan (Mumonkan #2). Not by any means the cut-and-dried idea of karma Westerners usually have in mind.

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:49:11 +0000

Hi guys:

Johnl: Very insightful, thank you. I agree that intention vs. amount is important too. Temples like Sensoji or Kawasaki Daishi draw huge crowds and probably a good income as a result, but there’s plenty of smaller places that could use it. I think it also lessens the dependency of such temples on “funeral work”, but that’s just me.

Jamie: Quite true. A few times I’ve posted how Japanese Buddhist terms become popular vernacular while losing their original meaning, but then we do it too in Christian culture Western socities. It’s kind of a fascinating subject to me.

By: Jaime McLeod

Jaime McLeod — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:25:09 +0000

I think that, often, with cultural idioms, people utter them without even thinking about what they mean. I hear people in this country comment about “fate” all the time. If I know them well, and the conversation leaves space to do so, sometimes I’ll ask if the person literally believes in fate. Usually, the answer is “Well, no, but you know, it’s just a figure of speech.” It’s the same with common expressions that have archaic origins – “rule of thumb,” “pull out all the stops,” “red-handed,” etc. I’m sure it’s much the same with people n Asia.

By: johnl

johnl — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:06:40 +0000

Also, there are shrines and temples where one can pray for ‘en musubi’ or tying the knot of en–meaning ‘find a marriage partner.’ One time I went to a Kabuki performance where an actor was assuming a prestigious new name. Everyone in the audience received a tiny red (good color for 縁) envelope with a shiny five yen (go en) coin in it. And on the other hand, in a cemetery, there may be graves that have become 無縁墓 ‘mu en baka’ or a grave (haka) that has no more en–no survivors or any family members to visit the grave.

Thanks for putting your spare ‘en’ in the temple box! Actually, I have really come to believe that the amount is much much less significant than the intention to make a donation, whatever the amount. And in the case of Sensoji, a very popular temple, it might get a million visitors in just a few days during a very busy season, so only 5 yen per person from a group that size becomes a good chunk of change.

Also, think of all the ‘en’ that is manifesting on the internets! Mind-boggling!
JL