A review by farnz
Three Japanese Buddhist Monks by Yoshida Kenkō, Kamo no Chōmei, Saigyō

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

I love penguin classics & the cover was so gorgeous I couldn’t resist. The blue bits are slightly raised. This collection includes: 1. The Monk Who Built a Hut & Medidtaed in the Depths of Mount Utsu by Saigyō, 2. The 10-Foot Sqaure Hut by kamo no chōmei, & 3. How Will You Spend you Last Days by yoshida kenkō. They are translated by Meredith McKinney. 1st story is 3 pages long, 2nd is 19 pages, & last one is 74 pages long. The 1st story was too short for me to have any real opinion on it. I enjoy the 2nd. I liked the quotations, but I think he was too hard on himself. He enjoyed a simple life & was attached to it & thus questioned whether he was following Buddha’s path for rebirth. I think life is difficult enough, do what brings you peace & joy, but then again I’m not very religious/spiritual. The last story thinks people should die after 40 cause you’re too ugly & old to be in company which is insane. Very judgemental for a monk. I usually disagreed with him, not everyone is suited to a monk lifestyle. He just states what others have said & says ah yes remarkable. He gives a condescending vibe & keeps contradicting himself. For example? He thinks you’re lowly if you like rare flowers. It’s just weird. It’s a diary of someone who says we shouldn’t gossip but is telling us other’s gossip & judging people for enjoying the simplest things. Overall, pretty interesting but nothing special

Now for some of my fave quotations:

- “The world is a hard place to live, & both we & our dwellings are fragile & impermanent“(13)

- “Wealth brings great anxiety, while with poverty comes fierce resentments”(14)

- “Without a peaceful mind, elephants, horses, & the 7 treasures are worthless things, palaces & fine towers mean nothing”(21)

- “Someone who has desires but does not fulfil it, who has money but does not use it, is essentially no different from a poor man”(93)

- Page 39 on foolishness of seeking fame & riches. “Great wealth will drive you to neglect your own well-being in pursuit of it. It is asking for harm & tempting trouble”