Name: Prescilla Pascua
ASU Email: pmpascua@asu.edu
Class Time: Tuesday & Thursday at 10:30AM
Text: Hojoki
Question: How can one save themselves from the consequences of greed?
Thesis: Detachment from materialistic items and a high social status will avoid one from facing the consequences of
greed.
Claim 1: The more people want, the
more destruction their greed causes.
Evidence: Greed is the source of
destruction done upon the people who
are constantly seeking for power.
According to Chomei, “When you see
the ridgepoles of the impressive houses
in Heian-Kyo competing to rise above
one another – dwellings of people of
high status or of low – they look like
they might stand for generations”
(Chomei 2019, 1). However, we see that
even though their buildings that
demonstrate social status rise high over
the others, they don’t withstand the
destruction of nature, which in turn
causes more emotional destruction
amongst the people. For example, when
the earthquake hit and caused a building
to collapse on a seven-year-old boy, that
caused permanent heartbreak within his
family (Chomei 2019, 5). This is why
Chomei chooses to live in a ten-foot
square house that can easily be moved
from place to place and rebuilt in times
of destruction (Chomei 2019, 6).
Reasoning: We can see that in the city,
people’s concerns are with money, and
with more money comes a higher social
status. In the case of the buildings,
although the higher the building signifies
greater wealth and social power, it also
causes greater destruction when natural
disaster strikes the city. As for Chomei,
he decides to detach himself from this
society after recognizing how much
greed dictated the lives of those living in
the city. As he moved to a more rural
area in the mountains, he found that he
couldn’t be attached to anything
materialistic, which ultimately allowed
him to avoid being governed by pure
greed.
Claim 2: Status defines who you are and
what your job is in society, which
determines the problems you must face.
Evidence: In the city, those with a lower
social status must serve the man in
power. They also face the consequences
of shame as they walk through the rich
neighborhood of their master’s. Though
the one of lower social class is often the
one who undergoes great suffering, the
man in power also faces his own
struggles of not being self-sufficient
since they rely on other people to do their
dirty work for them (Chomei 2019, 6).
As for Chomei, since he decided to
detach himself from a selfish, greedy
society, he found that there was no one to
look down on him and no one for him to
please. According to him, “If reciting the
nembutsu becomes troublesome, or I do
not feel I have time to read the sutras, no
one is here to accuse me of being lazy.
There is no one to interfere in any way”
(Chomei 2019, 7).
Reasoning: In the busy life of the city,
people are constantly trying to please
other people. No one really cared to
focus on themselves. The poor, lower
status individuals were focused on
serving the rich and barely getting by
with surviving. The rich focused on
gaining more power and riches so that
they can remain in their high social
standing. As for Chomei, ever since he
removed himself from a corrupt society,
no one was there to criticize how he
chose to live life. No one was there to tell
him what he was doing wrong or what he
should improve on. Chomei was his own
governor and because of this, he wasn’t
obsessed with pleasing other people that
greed often causes people to do. He was
only concerned with pleasing himself
and following the regulations under his
religion.
Claim 3: Forming an identity with
oneself that is detached from a greedy
society allows one to live in harmony.
Evidence: The more Chomei spent time
in solitary the more he was able to see
reflect on himself through observing
nature. For example, he says, “In summer
I can hear the cry of the cuckoo,
promising to be my guide on the
mountain road to death” and “When,
after a boat passes, the white waves
immediately fade away, I see my own
transient experience in that, and am
provoked to try imitate the priest
Mansei’s elegant poetry” (Chomei 2019,
7). Greed is absent in both these
instances, and he can reflect on how he
can be more like nature. Additionally,
Chomei is able to view the capital from
an outside perspective. The more he
reflects on that society, the more he
realizes the corruption they undergo due
to their obsession with materialistic
items. He describes how, “I have heard of
happenings in Heian-Kyo since I have
retreated to the mountain, of how many
of the people in high social position have
died” and that, “If you are insecure living
in the capital, you should not busy
yourself with worldly desires” (Chomei
2019, 8).
Reasoning: As we can see, the endless
cycle of destruction still occurs in the
capital even after years since Chomei
retreated to the mountains. Those of high
and low social position eventually die
dissatisfied with life. Chomei, on the
other hand, lives life with gratitude and is
content with the limited items he utilizes
to survive off of. He doesn’t feel the
pressure that those in the capital feel to
please other people. Because he refrains
from attaching himself to materialistic
things, he avoids the consequences of
greed and finds harmony in what nature
offers him.
Conclusion: Greed allows individuals to be obsessed over their self-image over the well-being of others and themselves. To
avoid the negative consequences of greed, Chomei encourages that people detach themselves from materialistic goods and
instead live a simple life with what nature naturally provides us with to survive.

Intertextual Relationships: Similar to The Hojoki by Kamo Chomei, Krishna in The Bhagavad Gita also encourages the
notion that one must refrain from becoming engulfed in greed. As Arjuna is seen contemplating whether to kill his own kin,
Krishna emphasizes him to, “Be intent on action, not the fruits of action; avoid attraction to the fruits and attachment to
inaction!” (Miller 1991, 36). Here, Krishna highlights that focusing solely on the outcomes of action leads to one
performing their duties out of greed, which doesn’t lead to full contentment with oneself. Similarly, with The Hojoki, if one
is consumed by greed, they will never find contentment with themselves nor with life.

Bibliography:

Chomei, Kamo no. 2019. The Hojoki. Translated by Robert N. Lawson. Accessed August 15, 2019.
https://washburn.edu/reference/bridge24/Hojoki.html
Miller, Barbara Stoler, trans. 1991. The Bhagavad-Gita. Krishna’s Counsel in Time of War. New York:
Bantam Books.