Proverb 8: Biting your navel.

Here is today's proverb:

ほぞを嚙む

And in romaji:

hobo wo kamu

And English: "Biting your navel."

This is a physical impossibility, and I chose to include this proverb because it reminded me of the paradox of meditation: striving to not strive can seem as impossible as biting your navel.

The Japanese proverb is traditionally applied to two kinds of absurdities, either future or past: worrying about something that has not happened yet OR regret for something that happened in the past which you cannot change.
When I first found this proverb, it was written with 噛, the simplified form, but I've put the traditional form here: 嚙

This child might be pondering a nibble on the navel... but it's not going to happen!

My vocabulary for today:

嚙
かむ = 噛む
"bite, chew, gnaw"