Proverb 1: At morning, daimoku...

I'll be sharing the proverbs here that I am using as I learn Japanese, which is prompted by my passion for haiku, and my favorite haiku are those very much in the spirit of Zen. Of course, not all haiku are Zen, and the same with proverbs... although as a wisdom genre, I think the proverbs are all potentially Zen-adjacent. Today's proverb, however, is situated very much within the realm of Japanese Buddhism, and poking fun at it... and I consider poking-fun to be a Zen thing too. So, here is today's proverb:

朝題目に宵念仏

Here it is just in hiragana:

あさ  だいもく  に  よい  ねんぶつ

And in romaji:

asa daimoku ni yoi nenbutsu

Literally, "At morning, daimoku; at night, nenbutsu."

The meaning depends upon the contrast between these two different Buddhist prayer practices: the daimoku is associated with Nichiren Buddhism and the chant "Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō," while the nenbutsu is the homage to the Amitabha Buddha associated with Jodoshu (Pure Land) Buddhism and also with Zen. I have seen quite a few references in haiku to the nenbutsu, and I knew about the diamoku from... Tina Turner. 

But this saying is really satirical, not devotional: it applies to someone who is playing "both sides" as it were, without any particular loyalty or steadfast principles of any kind!

Nenbutsu gathering in Kyoto

My vocabulary for today:

朝
あさ
"morning / afternoon"