因果応報

いんがおうほう
inga ouhou

Today's Yo-ji post was something I came across by accident. I went to GEO GEO to look for the movie The Crow, starring the late Brandon Lee*. They didn't have the movie but, strangely enough, they had the soundtrack, which they offered me instead. I didn't want it but I felt like it would be rude not to at least look at it and when I did, one of the tracks jumped out at me because it was (are you ready for this?) a Yo-ji-juku-go. And it's an apt selection, because 因果応報　is what The Crow is all about.

*I started wanting to watch the movie, because I've been thinking a lot about crows.^
^I've been thinking a lot about crows because Brett got attacked by crows twice last week.

Definition:
良い行いをした人には良い報い、悪い行いをした人には悪い報いがある。つまり、やった行いに対しての報いが返ってくること。
Translations:
1. What goes around, comes around
2. You reap what you sow.
3. Karma
4. Retribution
5. Karmic retribution
6. Retributional karma.

My net research, ever fruitful, reveals that 因果応報 can be used in both positive and negative connotations, and that when you use it, you can use it with で. There is another yo-ji-juku-go, that means specifically "Sow Evil, Reap Evil." I think I'll hang onto that for a future post though.

例文： ピーター・パーカは本当の力を持ていても、奪おうとしている犯人を逃がしてやった。因果応報で自分のおじさんがその犯人に殺された。その後悔はクモに噛まれたことより、スパイダ・マンと言うヒーローの由来だよ。
Peter Parker had real power, and yet he let the robber go free. It was an act of karma that his own Uncle was then killed by that same criminal. That one regret, more than being bitten by a spider can be considered the origin of the hero called Spiderman.

Question of the day: If 因果応報 was a projectile weapon, what would it be?

Boomerang! You really DO always come back!

2nd Question of the Day: Is there a way I could have possibly been a BIGGER dork in this post?