A Legend of Fugen-Bosatsu 19 



the company dispersed in great sorrow. Last 

 of all, the priest departed, bewildered by the 

 emotions of the evening. But scarcely had he 

 passed beyond the gate, when the yujo appeared 

 before him, and said : " Friend, do not speak 

 yet to any one of what you have seen this 

 night." And with these words she vanished 

 away, leaving the air filled with a delicious 

 fragrance. 



* * 



The monk by whom the foregoing legend was 

 recorded, comments upon it thus : The condi- 

 tion of a yujo is low and miserable, since she is 

 condemned to serve the lusts of men. Who 

 therefore could imagine that such a woman 

 might be the nirmanakaya, or incarnation, of 

 a Bodhisattva. But we must remember that 

 the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas may appear 

 in this world in countless different forms ; choos- 

 ing, for the purpose of their divine compassion, 

 even the most humble or contemptible shapes 

 when such shapes can serve them to lead men 

 into the true path, and to save them from the 

 perils of illusion. 



