Post #4197753

@VenusianMars@cupoftea.social post lacks context because long-ass stories are hard to keep in place, told it all on Twitter once. So the ghosts of a particular harrowing battle in the Genpei War in southern Honshu (Japan's main island) had heard that the blind monk Hoichi sang their song with such emotion that it reminded them of living. The dead Emperor Antoku and his grandmother (he was like 6 when he perished at sea during this battle) had his ghostly retainers bring him to where they were honored (a cemetery in most tellings) and every night he played until dawn. This sapped his body more and more, and those around him pondered what he did. Upon discovery, they sought answers in the sutras, with one Buddhist mystic telling them that writing the Heart Sutra on his body would render him invisible to spirits, if he did not move. Hoichi, seeing little else, submitted himself to a day-long treatment where the Sutra was written on every inch of his body but the ears. The samurai sent to retrieve him again was surprised he could not find him, but did find his ears because they had forgotten to write on them. Using fairy tale logic that ghosts often have, he decided he would take the ears back to his masters and explain his failure, so he cut them off when they did not come of their own accord (again, spirit logic; one would think the samurai would realize they were attached to someone invisible to him) and Hoichi lost his ears. The ghosts of the Emperor and his retainers did not come again and Hoichi was free, albeit now earless. He became a famous musician in his lifetime. Basically the story requires some logic to be thrown away for it to make sense. And no worries about the questions, I appreciate it!