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A review by dragonlilly
Hojoki: Visions of a Torn World by Kamo No Chomei
5.0
A story of impermanence, seeking to live a peaceful life, and the slight conflict between both.
Quotes that impacted me:
"On flows the river ceaselessly, nor does its water ever stay the same. The bubbles that float upon its pools now disappear, now form anew, but never endure long. And so it is with people in this world, and with their dwellings."
"And I saw other pitiful things besides. Where a man could not bear to part from his wife, or a woman loved her husband dearly, it was always the one whose love was the deeper who died first - in their sympathy for the other they would put themselves second, and give their partner any rare morsel that came their way. So also, if parent and child lived together the parent was always the first to die; a baby would still lie suckling, unaware that its mother was dead."
"In winter, the snow fills me with pathos. The sight of it piling high only to melt and vanish is like the mounting sins that block our path to redemption, which penitence will erase."
"My skill [in the biwa] is poor, but then I do not aim to please the ears of others. I play alone, I sing alone, simply for my own fulfilment."
"The hermit crab prefers a little shell for his home. He knows what the world holds. The osprey chooses the wild shoreline, and this is because he fears mankind. And I too am the same. Knowing what the world holds and its ways, I desire nothing from it, nor chase after its prizes. My one craving is to be at peace, my one pleasure to live free of troubles."
Quotes that impacted me:
"On flows the river ceaselessly, nor does its water ever stay the same. The bubbles that float upon its pools now disappear, now form anew, but never endure long. And so it is with people in this world, and with their dwellings."
"And I saw other pitiful things besides. Where a man could not bear to part from his wife, or a woman loved her husband dearly, it was always the one whose love was the deeper who died first - in their sympathy for the other they would put themselves second, and give their partner any rare morsel that came their way. So also, if parent and child lived together the parent was always the first to die; a baby would still lie suckling, unaware that its mother was dead."
"In winter, the snow fills me with pathos. The sight of it piling high only to melt and vanish is like the mounting sins that block our path to redemption, which penitence will erase."
"My skill [in the biwa] is poor, but then I do not aim to please the ears of others. I play alone, I sing alone, simply for my own fulfilment."
"The hermit crab prefers a little shell for his home. He knows what the world holds. The osprey chooses the wild shoreline, and this is because he fears mankind. And I too am the same. Knowing what the world holds and its ways, I desire nothing from it, nor chase after its prizes. My one craving is to be at peace, my one pleasure to live free of troubles."