*Recent posting by Dion, with a spoken introduction to a song he sung over fifty years ago, and which made gold; he posted in response to the present unrest in much of the world.
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Today, I will share one interpretation of the following haiku, following a scholar of the poet's work. You might discover another interpretation that speaks more to you. If so, good. No one knows what the poet meant. So, it is not the one right interpretation, but rather writings often encompass a number of legitimate readings.
a flea jumps in the laughing Buddha's mouth
A Pure Land Buddhist, Jodo Shinshu sect, priest named Issa (Japan, 1763-1828) penned the above haiku. Issa was a wandering monk and is one of the three foremost Japanese haiku poets.
Issa notices a flea leaping into the laughing Buddha's mouth. In the country where I live, one often sees a laughing Buddha, with its round belly and big smile, outside Chinese restaurants. The "Laughing Buddha," also called "Fat Buddha," is Budai, a 10th-century Chinese Chan Buddhist monk known for his spirited personality, not the historical Buddha, Gautama. In Japanese, he is Hotei. This buddha symbolizes joy, contentment, and prosperity. He carries a bag, denoting prosperity and a surplus of gifts for children.
Issa scholar, David G. Lanoue, comments, "Because it isn't aiming for the Buddha, it hits the mark and so embodies Shinran's [founder of Jodo Shinshu] value of jinen: a natural, non-calculating 'leap' of faith." This kind of leap is often referred to in Christianity, as well.
The flea leap represents fortuitousness. Others might prefer the word "luck," but "luck" does not fit the faith of Jodo Shinshu or Christianity regarding this trusting leap. The jump signifies an auspicious act based on wisdom, so this is not a mere act of what many call "blind faith." Auspicious, for it is promising. Intention and sincerity are sure guides.
Issa knows any devotion to a wisdom path, his or any, requires a jump. You do not know where you will land, and you cannot begin without a move from the past, from where you have come to be. Yet, you say "Yes." What to? You might think you know - which is usually the case-, but who does? This is like jumping and landing in the air.
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That we have symbols signifying something inspiring the leap and a destination means we have symbols, but they are not the reality. The inspiration and destination are pointed to, like the word 'sunshine' is not sunshine. This is encapsulated in the saying, "I don't believe in the God you speak about to me, but I do believe in that which your word 'God' points to."
Thus, "God" is not God. You could say, at the leap, "I'm going to follow Jesus," but what "Jesus" is to you may be a different "Jesus" than someone else who says the same. This does not invalidate the symbols, but it does highlight their role - to indicate, not explain or identify. On additional points of leaping along the way, then, the meaning of the symbol may have changed or drop altogether, having lost its energy to support the devotee.
See, there is a forward tilting to a sacred path. So, Jesus says, in the Christian Gospels, "No one looking back is fit for the God-reign." Well, that can be understood as, "We unfit ourselves ... by looking back rather than forward." We only stay in alignment with Life by a release to the flow. And, we do not move on, but allow ourselves to be moved on, for we are part of a subtle, incessant movement within which we live. We already live within this environment; it is our natural, native landscape. Yet, a life out-of-tune with its resonance blocks full participation in the flow. Some persons are so cut-off from the flow, there is no evidence of their sharing any participation in it.
An early Christian scripture , in Hebrews of the Christian Bible, speaks of the lack of yielding to the forward motion, of choosing not to grow onward. The text reads -
You have been trusting ones so long now you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic sacred teachings [lit., oracles of God]. You are like babies needing milk, who can't eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what's right [as babies do not].
"What's right," or "righteousness"; thus, does not know how to live in right relationship with the Sacred and others. Righteousness is a relational term. Morality in this ancient Jewish worldview is right relationship. Wrongly, in Christianity, righteousness has been made into obedience to an objective moral code. One might act righteously, rather, by violating an external code of conduct. Rule-bound 'righteousness' violates and obstructs spiritual life.
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The leap, though into uncharted territory, is promising. In fact, that something prepares one to leap. So, the leap may look sudden, yet it has a prior history. Where does the wish to jump arise from? You do not have to have an answer, for the jump arises from before thought and, also, prior to will.
Why "uncharted," since others precede you on the path you leap toward? In fact, their charting of the path possibly inspired you to follow. Still, one's experience of anything, though shared, is not exact with anyone else's. And this means, too, a wisdom path cannot be adopted from a tradition, like the passing of an heirloom through inheritance, just like no one can breathe your air for you. While any wisdom path can lead to a universal experience, and that is a logical result, it is profoundly personal, never-before, and never-again.
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So, we say "Yes." Yet, that one springing forth is only one of many. The whole Way is leap after leap. Yet, we stall, and stalling is essential. Built into the path is the wisdom of fallowness. Fallow time is another season of preparation.
If we rush along unwisely, that may be counterproductive, like a child trying to leap from crawling to running. Still, stalling and stopping are not the same thing. Stalling is like the gaps between breaths; it is all part of the rhythm of respiration. Stopping is like ceasing to breathe. And in fallow times, a lot can be going on unseen. So, if you sense you are in a fallow season, you keep walking your path. On a path, there are no vacations.
Jesus spoke in the Gospels, "Those born of spirit [or, Spirit] are like wind, which comes from you not where to where you know not." This can read, "Those born of wind [or, Wind] are like wind ..." Here is a sense of leap, an abandon, yet one cannot explain how it arose or where it leads. Literally, one is blown away. Jesus says this does not end with the jump onto a way; it is the whole way. The Way is not a static route. The Way is leap... leap... leap. Some leaps may be so small, you do not notice. Other leaps may shake your world, so to speak.
So, you end up in Buddha's mouth, Christ's lap, Love's embrace, ... And you think, "Wow! How did this happen?" Yet, you sensed from the beginning you were guided and inspired, maybe even felt like you had no other choice but to abandon yourself. The contemplative Christian tradition has spoken of this as Abandonment to Divine Providence (or, governance). The ego takes a step back, yielding to something more than itself.
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Like the flea, devotion to a path begins with that moment of decision to jump from what the past has led you to, what it has made of you, and toward something fresh and new, and unforeseen. Early Christians saw this as so radical a move, they called it being "born from above [or, again]" and being a "new creation."
You leap, not knowing where to, but intuiting you know you do not need to know. You know this is the right thing to do, for you, even if not for everyone. All will be well, you sense. How? The landing is already in the leaping. The whole path is at any point on the path, including what you see as your first conscious moment of "Yes." Yet, the "Yes" begins prior - it always does. And it always continues on.
(C) brian k wilcox, 2025
*David Lanoue. Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa.
