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TOKIMUNE’S THING BELOW THE NAVEL

At the outbreak of war in the first year of Ko¯an (1278) Tokimune visited Bukko¯ and gave the Katzu! shout of dashing straight forward. Priest Gio¯ said: ‘The general has got something great below his navel, so the shout too is great.'

The Field of the Elixir (tanden, the energy-center an inch below the navel) of Taoist doctrine was called in the Szechuan dialect Shii-ku-ii-mo, "the thing under the navel." Gio¯ was a priest from Szechuan who had come with Daikaku to Kencho¯ji in Japan, and in praising the greatness of Ho¯jo¯
Tokimune’s tanden energy, he used this Szechuan phrase.

(Like many remarks of the Chinese priests, it was transcribed into Chinese characters, and the Japanese, not knowing the colloquial Szechuan phrase, took it in a literal sense – Translator)

One of the regent’s ministers, Masanori, when he came to know what Gio¯ had said, asked him indignantly: ‘When did Your Reverence see the size of what our lord has below his navel?’
The priest said: ‘Before the general was born, I saw it.’
The courtier did not understand.
The priest said: ‘If you do not understand the greatness of what is below the general’s navel, then see through to before you yourself were born, the greatness of the thing below the navel. How would that thing become greater or less by the honour or contempt of high or low?’
The courtier was still more bewildered.
The priest gave a Katzu! shout and said: ‘Such is the voice of it, of that thing.’
At these words the courtier had an insight and said: ‘This petty official today has been fortunate enough to receive a Katzu! from you. I have known the greatness of that thing below our lord’s navel.’
The priest said: ‘What is its length and breadth, say!’
The courtier said: ‘Its length pierces the three worlds: its breadth pervades all ten directions.’
The priest said: ‘Let the noble officer present a Katzu! of that greatness to show the proof.’
The courtier was not able to open his mouth.

The only Buddhist I ever met, that I know of told me it's a philosophy, not a religion.  She was a friend of an old boss.  She was from Thailand.  A very old lady.  I guess she was a very famous artist there.  She showed me pictures of her apartment.  it was like the greatest museum of Asian history you'd ever set foot in.  Incredible.  I remember her pointing to a sword in a glass case.  She said the sword was evil because it killed people.  Which kind of didn't make sense.  Evil is a religious concept, which she claimed Buddhism wasn't.  Maybe there's a lot of nuances to it.  Maybe she wasn't entirely Buddhist.  I don't know.

>>1145
If evil means merely just taking a life, then i can see what she meant if thats what it is.

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No. 26. BENZAITEN OF ENOSHIMA
Doi Yorimune came up to Mizugaoka and visited Mugaku (Bukkō), a general of the Zen sect, and asked about the worship of Benzaiten (goddess of prosperity) of Enoshima Island. He recalled how on the fifth day of the fourth month of the second year of Yōwa (1182), the Minamoto general Yoritomo had been strolling on the beach at Namigoe on the way to Enoshima, and there had met the holy man Bungaku who was a devotee of Benzaiten. He said he would pray for the general’s success in arms, and arrangements were made for sacrificial ceremonies, and the erection of a stone torii. This was, he added, really with the motive of exorcising the curse pronounced by Fujiwara Hidehara (on the Minamotos). He concluded: ‘I have brought a picture of the blessing being conferred by Benzaiten.’

The teacher said: ‘The devotee of Benzaiten prayed to Benzaiten for the military glory of the Minamoto general, and to avert the curse of the other general of those days – is that a male divinity or a female?’ 

Doi said: ‘Whether Benzaiten is a god or a goddess, I do not know. I only know that the form in the picture here is a goddess.’ 

The teacher said: ‘So you go by the form. I suppose you would think that a woman warrior dressed in man’s clothes would be a man?’ 

Doi said: ‘Well then, is Benzaiten a male dressed as a female?’ 

The teacher replied: ‘Do you worship Benzaiten as a god or do you worship Benzaiten as a goddess?’ 

Doi said: ‘The reason I worship is nothing to do with whether it is a god or a goddess. I just pray for my welfare.’

The teacher at once caught hold of Doi and rubbed his face, first against the grain of the beard, and then with the grain. Doi did not understand what he meant. The teacher said: ‘This fellow! He has never believed in Benzaiten at all. Why does he come here wanting to get approval from me?’