What do you see when you look at the clouds?
oni to nari hotoke to naru ya doyo-gumo
becoming a Buddha
dog-day clouds
—Issa
Yesterday I mentioned the dog days of summer, generally referred to as doyō in Japanese. I also shared with you some time ago about doyō-boshi, dog-day airing, or summer airing as I translated it in that haiku, about the traditional activity of airing out clothes and other goods like books during the dog days.
In the above haiku, instead of doing any activity during the dog days, he is enjoying watching the clouds and seeing familiar shapes in them, as all good people do on days with good weather and a sky filled with puffy clouds.
I wonder, when he looked up so long ago, did he actually see the image of the Buddha in a cloud and then the image of a demon in another? Or was this a bit of a joke, seeing both heaven and hell in the same place? Knowing Issa, both could well be true!
In the Christian religions that I assume most of you are familiar with, it's a joke that doesn't make much sense, but in Buddhism we can see that a god or Buddha could easily become a demon in a future rebirth. In that sense, we are all both Buddhas and demons, just as the clouds he was watching.
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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon. |
That is, me! If you like this translation, feel free to use it. Just credit me. Also link here if you can. ↩
