A Tale for the Time Being (61 page)

54
. Shinia Kesshitai (
).

55
. 
k
ū
ge
(
)—lit.
“emptiness” or “sky” flowers; an idiom for cataracts; also the title of Chapter 43 in Zen Master D
ō
gen’s
Sh
ō
b
ō
genz
ō
. The kanji
k
ū
(
) has several meanings, including “sky” or “space,” or “emptiness,” as in
(sky soldier). The phrase
sky flowers
refers to the clouding of vision from cataracts, but in traditional Buddhist teaching,
flowers in the sky
refers to delusion
brought on by a person’s karmic obstructions. D
ō
gen seems to have reinterpreted it to mean a “flowering of emptiness”; in other words, an
enlightened state. All things in the world, he says, are the cosmic flowering of emptiness.

56
. 
kotodama
(
)—lit. “speech” (
koto)
+ “spirit or soul” (
tama
).

57
. Giant staghorn beetle.

58
. 
zen-in shikato
(
)—lit. “all-person
ostracizing” or “everybody ignoring.”

59
. 
baikin
(
)—germ.

60
. 
Nanka kusai yo!
—something stinks!

61
. 
genkan
(
)—entryway, foyer.

62
. 
Urusai yo! Tabako katte koy
ō
ka?
—You’re so noisy! You want me to get you
some cigarettes?

63
. 
Nakami o misero!
—Show me what’s inside!

64
. 
sukeban
(
)—boss girl, a delinquent girl.

65
. 
kagome
(
)—a style of open bamboo weaving used for
baskets or cages.

66
. 
oni
(
)—demon, ogre.

67
. 
rinchi
—from English
lynch.

68
. 
Usotsuke!
—Liar!

69
. A central text in Mahayana Buddhism.

70
. Form is emptiness and emptiness is form.

71
. Sanskrit.

72
. 
kanashibari
(
)—lit. “metal” +
“binding.” A kind of sleep paralysis.

73
. cosplay (
)—dressing up in costume, especially of favorite
manga and anime characters Japanese slang, from “costume” + “play.”