Buddhist Amok

Which would be the better for you, that you should go in search of a woman, or that you should go in search of yourselves? . . . Brethren, I exhort you: Work out your salvation with diligence!

BUDDHA

At Tokyo the respected Masaomi Hirayama, priest of Buddha, author of admired tracts concerning The Four Noble Truths and The Holy Eightfold Path, was gravely congratulated by his fellow priests, last week, on having observed for 48 years those virtues which caused the ancient sages to exclaim : "Serene and blessed is the Buddha. . . . Lo, so many distinguished nobles lead now a religious life under the direction of the Blessed One that fathers will soon beget no more children. . . ."

Priest Masaomi Hirayama found himself possessed of yet another blessing last week: he had been stricken with consumption and had not much longer of this life to live. Concerned for the welfare of his fellow men, Masaomi Hirayama determined to end his life with a dramatic gesture planned to direct Japanese attention to much needed moral and political reforms.

Diligent, the priest wrote out a petition to the Emperor, setting forth the sins of his countrymen, especially the politicians. Serene, he donned the death robe of one about to commit harakiri, and purchased a disemboweling knife. Shrewd, he covered the white death robe with a dark overgarment and lay in wait for Prince Regent Hirohito near the Regent's Palace.

Soon the sleek motor of the Prince Regent purred forth, on its way to the Imperial Palace. Darting from the crowd, Hirayama tried to leap upon the running board and force his petition into Prince Hirohito's hand. Swift, a police sergeant seized him before he could touch the Imperial car. At the police station he said: "Had my mission been successful would have committed hara kiri immediately in atonement for disrespectfully approaching the Prince Regent."

Meanwhile the Chief of Police of Tokyo, bowed by the scandal that a member of the Goddess-descended Imperial House had thus suffered indignity, offered his resignation. Prince Regent Hirohito, clement, refused to allow the Chief of Police to resign, directed moreover that the priest Hirayama be not prosecuted.

Japanese observed that the act of Priest Hirayama was, for a serene and gentle Buddhist, equivalent to "running amok."