Note 30 — Japanese Buddhist Proverbs

Few popular Buddhist phrases are more often used than this. Jigō signifies ones own acts or thoughts; jitoku, to bring upon oneself,—nearly always in the sense of misfortune, when the word is used in the Buddhist way. “Well, it is a matter of Jigō-jitoku,” people will observe on seeing a man being taken to prison; meaning, “He is reaping the consequence of his own faults.”