Ženska, ki je v templju Kiyomizu prejela sveti zastor

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Ženska, ki je v templju Kiyomizu prejela sveti zastor

Long ago, there was a woman with no one to turn to who prayed fervently at Kiyomizu Temple. Months and years passed, yet she saw not the slightest sign that her prayers had been answered. Her circumstances grew ever more desperate, until at last, for no particular reason, she drifted away even from the place where she had lived for years and had nowhere to take shelter. Weeping, she reproached Kannon. “Whatever deeds in a former life have brought me to this, please grant me just a little help,” she pleaded, wringing her hands, and fell prostrate before the sacred image. That night she dreamed that a message came from Kannon: “Your earnest pleading moves the Compassionate One to pity, but there is no means of helping you, even a little, and this is a cause of sorrow. Take this.” She saw the curtain from before the image neatly folded and set down in front of her. When she awoke and looked by the light of the votive lamps, there lay the folded curtain, just as in her dream. “Then there truly is nothing else to give me,” she thought. The realization of how wretched her lot must be filled her with grief, and she said, “I cannot possibly accept this. If I had even a little means, I would wish to sew a curtain of brocade and offer it to you. How could I leave with this curtain, the only one you have? I must return it.” With that, she put it inside the railing before the image. She dozed again and dreamed that she was told, “Why must you be so clever? Rather than simply accepting what you are given, you return it like this. What strange behavior!” Once more she saw the curtain being given to her. When she awoke, it lay before her as before, and again she tearfully returned it. Three times she gave it back in this fashion, but each time it was given to her again. At last she was warned that to return it once more would be an act of disrespect. Yet she was troubled by the thought that the temple monks, knowing nothing of what had happened, might suspect her of stealing the curtain. While it was still deep night, she tucked it into the bosom of her robe and left. Wondering what she should do with it, she unfolded it and spread it out to look. Since she had no proper clothes to wear, the thought came to her that she might make it into a robe. Once she had made the robe and put it on, everyone who saw her, whether man or woman, felt affection and compassion for her, and she received many gifts even from people she scarcely knew. When someone was in serious trouble, she would put on that robe and go to a noble household where she was not even known to plead their case, and her request was invariably granted. In this way she received gifts from many people, won the love of a good man, and came to live in comfort. Thereafter she kept the robe carefully put away, taking it out to wear only when there was something she was determined to accomplish. And every time, her wish was fulfilled.