The suffering inflicted by hell did not break certain rules. For instance, in the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, food about to enter one's mouth turned to ashes. Unfortunately, the suffering inflicted by life was far less simple.
—Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
In Buddhism, suicide also led to hell, except for Buddhists who sacrificed themselves to save the overwhelming majority.
But Qingxuan and White Chrysanthemum Maru had not done it for such a lofty cause. They had merely died for love.
When Buddhism first entered Japan, as in China, monks were forbidden from marrying. Not only could they not marry, they could not even be alone in the same room as a woman. Monks in Japan's Heian period did not eat meat either.
Japanese monks were allowed to marry and eat meat only after the Meiji Restoration. This anti-Buddhist movement was not as bloody as China's persecutions of Buddhism, but it similarly weakened Buddhism's influence in Japan. After Meiji, the "monks" in Japanese temples were not traditional monks in the true sense, but temple administrators. Temples could even be inherited.
These monks were called "bōzu" in Japan, while their wives were called "bōmori." Aside from generally being wealthier, monks were no different from ordinary people.
Why did people admire eminent monks, great virtuous ones, and sages? Perhaps because they were "extraordinary." Once they became like ordinary people, there was no longer any need to worship them.
Qingxuan, who had made a suicide pact with White Chrysanthemum Maru only to regret it at the final moment, later became the head priest of Kiyomizu Hasedera. The temple enshrined a folding screen passed down from the Heian period. It had originally belonged to a grand duke, then, after passing through several wars and upheavals, had been enshrined at Hasedera. The screen had been painted by a