Bitter Sea

Japanese: 苦海 - くかい

〘Noun〙 (also "kugai") A Buddhist term. A word that compares the boundless suffering of this world to the sea. The world of suffering. ※Man'yoshu (late 8th century) 5/794 Right poem "The waves of the river of love have already disappeared, and the ocean of suffering is also _{free of} all _afflictions . I have never been so tired of leaving this impure _world , and I will be reborn in _another pure land _. " ※Blind and Safe Staff (1619) 2 "The Buddha and God, with their vast mercy, have pity on all living beings drowning in the ocean of suffering." [Mahayana Rishuku Rokuharamitasa Sutra - Preface]

Painful Sea

(Kun-reading of " Kukai" (sea of suffering) ) A Buddhist term. This world of endless suffering is likened to a vast ocean. The ocean of suffering. ※Kin'yo (1124-27), Zosha, 639 "Will the voices chanting "Amida Buddha" be like rudders as we row away from the ocean of suffering? (Minamoto no Toshiyori)"

Source: The Selected Edition of the Japanese Language Dictionary About the Selected Edition of the Japanese Language Dictionary Information

Japanese:

〘名〙 (「くがい」とも) 仏語。この世の苦しみの際限なく大きいことを海にたとえた語。苦界。※万葉（８Ｃ後）五・七九四右詩「愛河波浪已先滅、苦海煩悩亦無_レ結、従来厭_二離此穢土_一、本願託_二生彼浄刹_一」※盲安杖（1619）二「仏神は広大の慈悲をもって、〈略〉苦海に沈む衆生をあはれみたまひ」〔大乗理趣六波羅蜜多経‐序〕