The Safflower and Buddhism

I chose to write on this topic because a lot of the women in Genji seem to turn to becoming nuns when they feel that they have no other option and this seems funny to me as it might be to others who read "A Mirror for women" which follows. Also the Safflower though praticing Buddhism openly was unladylike and her father in his time thought it too serious for a woman and I was interested as to why. The ironic part is that even though she doesn't pratice she sure makes a great hermit!
The Safflower's brother is also a monk.
"Only her most reverend brother lookied in on her, on the rare occasions when he came to the City, but he too was so impossibly old-fashioned that even for a monk he made a stikingly improvershied, unworldly sort of hermit..."(302).
(seems to be an instance where the Japanese value of seijaku is taken too far)
Yet "she shrank in embarrassment from chanting scriptures or performing devotions, as many people do these days, and she never touched a rosary, even though no one would have seen her anyway. Such was her prime mode of life" (303). footnote bottom of pg 303: She thought it unladylike to betray any active interest in Buddhism, which in her father's time was judged too serious for a woman.

A Mirror for Women?
The title of this article is taken from a popular medieval religious tract written in 1300 by Muju Ichien, a Rinzai Zen monk. The title is derived from a passage in the text where Muju encourages his female readers to 'make these precepts her constant companion [as she would a mirror]' and thereby establish herself as 'a person of sensibility, a follower of the Way'. Despite the fact that the readership of the text is envisaged as female, the advice offered by Muju is remarkably non sex-specific; indeed it is standard Buddhist ethical teaching, liberally sprinkled with citations and examples from Canonical scriptures.

In Relation to Genji: In Suma Genji is leaving and he tells (Murasaki?)
"I may have to go and wander far, far away, yet forever near, this your mirror will retain the presence I leave with you" and she replies:
"Were is only so true that the image may linger when the person goes, then a glance in this mirror would be conforting indeed" (233).

This is ironic because Muju the monk is telling women to make precepts women's constant companion as they would a mirror and it seems as though Genji is likining himself to the same.

One of the reasons maybe why Buddhism was "too serious for a woman"
It is not until near the end of the text that Muju directly addresses women when he states that 'Many serious instances of the sins of women, among the unregenerate who are all deluded, are cited in the sacred scriptures and commentaries.' Referring to a list drawn up by the seventh-century Chinese monk Dosen, he outlines the 'Seven grave vices of women'. These are: (1) they arouse desire in men; (2) they are jealous; (3) they lack empathy; (4) they are only concerned with their appearance; (5) they are deceitful; and (6) they are without shame. The first six in the list are hardly surprising and, indeed, could have been listed in the same order in a Christian tract of the same era. What is most interesting about this list is the seventh 'sin' of women. Seventhly, their bodies are forever unclean, with frequent menstrual discharges. Seeing that both pregnancy and childbirth are both foul and the afterbirth unclean, the evil demons vie for possession while the good deities depart (cited in Morrell 1980:68).

While the first six sins of women are character traits that some women might be expected to embody more than others, just as some men might, the last sin is a physiological condition which affects all women equally. It is only the seventh sin that can be characterised as specifically female.(http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol4/mirror_for_women.html)

Rain from Ryujin
In both China and Japan, the dragon is associated closely with rain, storms, and clouds, and it is the dragon who produces rain. In the Heian Period, two Buddhist temples -- To-ji (East Temple) and Sai-ji (West Temple) -- shared control of Japan's religious world, and an interesting legend grew out of the power struggle between the two temples. Envious of Kukai (Kobo Daishi) for his fame as head of To-ji Temple, a priest named Shubin of Sai-ji Temple used a charm to entrap Ryujin in a jar, thereby causing an extensive drought. Challenged by Shubin to a contest at Shinsen Garden, Kukai dispelled the curse of Shubin, and set the Ryujin free to cause rain to fall. In Chinese myth, the dragon rain god is often depicted with a pearl or ball, which symbolizes thunder.
www.onmarkproductions.com/html/dragon.shtml

In Relation to Genji:
The Dragon rain god seems to be unhappy with Genji and unleashs his fury: Genji's good and evil side at war?
"Myriads of gods must feel pity in their hearts when they look on me:
There is nothing I have done that anyone could call a crime" Suddenly the wind began to blow, and the sky darkened. The purification broke off in the ensuing confusion....The thunder roared the "rain drove down hard enough to pirece what it struck" Reading on ....He woke up and understood that the Dragon king of the sea, a lover of great beauty, must have his eye on him" (253)