your prayers, I entreat you, so that I may be soon able to escape from this horrible state of existence" . . .
No sooner had the hermit uttered this petition than he disappeared; and the hermitage also disappeared at the same instant. And Musō Kokushi found himself kneeling alone in the high grass, beside an ancient and moss-grown tomb, of the form called go-rin-ishi,[1] which seemed to be the tomb of a priest.
- ↑ Literally, “five-circle [or ‘five-zone’] stone.” A funeral monument consisting of five parts superimposed, — each of a different form, — symbolizing the five mystic elements: Ether, Air, Fire, Water, Earth.
dition of gaki(pretas), or hungry spirits. For a brief account of such a service, see my Japanese Miscellany.
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