The Pillow Book: Sections 30–32 Summary & Analysis

According to Sei, a priest giving a sermon ought to be handsome, because his teaching hits home most effectively if one is gazing at the priest’s face. If one’s attention drifts because of an unattractive face, it “has the effect of making you feel quite sinful.”

An ex-Chamberlain who no longer has enough to do will often turn up at many sermons, in part to be seen by others. Sometimes he’ll have an abstinence tag attached to his cap, just to let everyone know that even though he’s supposed to be staying at home, such rules don’t apply to someone of his level of piety. Often he ends up chatting with an old friend throughout the sermon anyway.

One day, while Sei was attending the Salvation Lotus Discourses at the temple, she received a note summoning her home. Sei wrote back, “You long for my return, / but I long only to be drenched / with Lotus dews of Truth.”

Sei recalls attending a particularly important set of Salvation Lotus Discourses where everyone important, including the Regent at that time, showed up. She remembers the specific style of clothing everyone wore and that everyone’s red fans created the effect of a field of flowers. Sanekata, the finest poet of that day, sent a message to a woman in an outlying carriage. Everyone in attendance watched the exchange of messages with bated breath, wanting to overhear the poems being exchanged. Once the sermon began, the lady’s carriage quietly slipped away, and Sei never found out who it was.