{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_5173/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_5173","id":"gutenberg_5173","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5173","summary":null,"tags":["Buddhism","Buddhism -- China","Buddhism -- Japan","Category: History - Religious","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","China -- Religion","Human beings -- Origin","Japan -- Religion","Philosophy","Zen Buddhism"],"text":"THE RELIGION OF THE SAMURAI\n\nA STUDY OF ZEN PHILOSOPHY AND DISCIPLINE IN CHINA AND JAPAN\n\nby\n\nKAITEN NUKARIYA\n\nProfessor of Kei-O-Gi-Jiku University and of So-To-Shu Buddhist\nCollege, Tokyo\n\n1913\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\n(1) The Southern and Northern Schools of Buddhism\n(2) The Development and Differentiation of Buddhism\n(3) The Object of this Book is the Explaining of the Mahayanistic\nView of Life and the World\n(4) Zen holds a Unique Position among the Established Religions of\nthe World\n(5) The Historical Antiquity of Zen\n(6) The Denial of Scriptural Authority by Zen\n(7) The Practisers of Zen hold the Buddha as their Predecessor, whose\nSpiritual Level they Aim to Attain\n(8) The Iconoclastic Attitude of Zen\n(9) Zen Activity\n(10) The Physical and Mental Training\n(11) The Historical Importance\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\n\nHISTORY OF ZEN IN CHINA\n\n\n1. The Origin of Zen in India\n2. The Introduction of Zen into China by Bodhidharma\n3. Bodhidharma and the Emperor Wu\n4. Bodhidharma and his Successor, the Second Patriarch\n5. Bodhidharma's Disciples and the Transmission of the Law\n6. The Second and the Third Patriarchs\n7. The Fourth Patriarch and the Emperor Tai Tsung\n8. The Fifth and the Sixth Patriarchs\n9. The Spiritual Attainment of the Sixth Patriarch\n10. The Flight of the Sixth Patriarch\n11. The Development of the Southern and the Northern School of Zen\n12. The Missionary Activity of the Sixth Patriarch\n13. The Disciples under the Sixth Patriarch\n14. Three Important Elements of Zen\n15. Decline of Zen\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\n\nHISTORY OF ZEN IN JAPAN\n\n\n1. The Establishment of the Rin Zai School of Zen in Japan\n2. The Introduction of the So To School of Zen\n3. The Characteristics of Do-gen, the Founder of the Japanese So To\nSect\n4. The Social State of Japan when Zen was Established by Ei-sai and\nDo-gen\n5. The Resemblance of the Zen Monk to the Samurai\n6. The Honest Poverty of the Zen Monk and the Samurai\n7. The Manliness of the Zen Monk and the Samurai\n8. The Courage and Composure of Mind of the Zen Monk and the Samurai\n9. Zen and the Regent Generals of the Ho-jo Period\n10. Zen after the Downfall of the Ho-jo Regency\n11. Zen in the Dark Age\n12. Zen under the Toku-gawa Shogunate\n13. Zen after the Restoration\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\n\nTHE UNIVERSE IS THE SCRIPTURE OF ZEN\n\n\n1. Scripture is no More than Waste Paper\n2. No Need of the Scriptural Authority for Zen\n3. The Usual Explanation of the Canon\n4. Sutras used by the Zen Masters\n5. A Sutra Equal in Size to the Whole World 68\n6. Great Men and Nature\n7. The Absolute and Reality are but an Abstraction\n8. The Sermon of the Inanimate\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\n\nBUDDHA, THE UNIVERSAL SPIRIT\n\n\n1. The Ancient Buddhist Pantheon\n2. Zen is Iconoclastic\n3. Buddha is Unnamable\n4. Buddha, the Universal Life\n5. Life and Change\n6. The Pessimistic View of Ancient Hindus\n7. Hinayanism and its Doctrine\n8. Change as seen by Zen\n9. Life and Change\n10. Life, Change, and Hope\n11. Everything is Living according to Zen\n12. The Creative Force of Nature and Humanity\n13. Universal Life is Universal Spirit\n14. Poetical Intuition and Zen\n15. Enlightened Consciousness\n16. Buddha Dwelling in the Individual Mind\nEnlightened Consciousness is not an Intellectual Insight\n18. Our Conception of Buddha is not Final\n19. How to Worship Buddha\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\n\nTHE NATURE OF MAN\n\n\n1. Man is Good-natured according to Mencius\n2. Man is Bad-natured according to Siun Tsz\n3. Man is both Good-natured and Bad-natured according to Yan Hiung\n4. Man is neither Good-natured nor Bad-natured according to Su Shih\n5. There is no Mortal who is Purely Moral\n6. There is no Mortal who is Non-moral or Purely Immoral\n7. Where, then, does the Error Lie?\n8, Man is not Good-natured nor Bad-natured, but Buddha natured\n9. The Parable of the Robber Kih\n10. Wang Yang Ming and a Thief\n11. The Bad are the Good in the Egg\n12. The Great Person and the Small Person\n13. The Theory of Buddha-Nature adequately explains the Ethical\nStates of Man\n14. Buddha-Nature is the Common Source of Morals\n15. The Parable of a Drunkard\n16. Shakya Muni and the Prodigal Son\n17. The Parable of the Monk and the Stupid Woman\n18. 'Each Smile a Hymn, each Kindly Word a Prayer'\n\n19. The World is in the Making\n20. The Progress and Hope of Life\n21. The Betterment of Life\n22. The Buddha of Mercy\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\n\nENLIGHTENMENT\n\n\n1. Enlightenment is beyond Description and Analysis\n2. Enlightenment Implies an Insight into the Nature of Self\n3. The Irrationality of the Belief of Immortality\n4. The Examination of the Notion of Self\n5. Nature is the Mother of All Things\n6. Real Self\n7. The Awakening of the Innermost Wisdom\n8. Zen is not Nihilistic\n9. Zen and Idealism\n10. Idealism is a Potent Medicine for Self -Created Mental Disease\n11. Idealistic Scepticism concerning Objective Reality\n12. Idealistic Scepticism concerning Religion and Morality\n13. An Illusion concerning Appearance and Reality\n14. Where does the Root of the Illusion Lie?\n15. Thing-in-Itself means Thing-Knowerless\n16. The Four Alternatives and the Five Categories\n17. Personalism of B. P. Bowne\n18. All the Worlds in Ten Directions are Buddha's Holy Land\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\n\nLIFE\n\n\n1. Epicureanism and Life\n2. The Errors of Philosophical Pessimists and Religious Optimists\n3. The Law of Balance\n4. Life Consists in Conflict\n5. The Mystery of Life\n6. Nature favours Nothing in Particular\n7. The Law of Balance in Life\n8. The Application of the Law of Causation to Morals\n9. The Retribution in the Past, the Present, and the Future Life\n10. The Eternal Life as taught by Professor M?nsterberg\n11. Life in the Concrete\n12. Difficulties are no Match for an Optimist\n13. Do Thy Best and Leave the Rest to Providence\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\n\nTHE TRAINING OF THE MIND AND THE PRACTICE OF MEDITATION\n\n\n1. The Method of Instruction adopted by Zen Masters\n2. The First Step in the Mental Training\n3. The Next Step in the Mental Training\n4. The Third Step in the Mental Training\n5. Zazen, or the Sitting in Meditation\n6. The Breathing Exercise of the Yogi\n7. Calmness of Mind\n8. Zazen and the Forgetting of Self\n9. Zen and Supernatural Power\n10. True Dhyana\n11. Let Go of Your Idle Thoughts\n12. 'The Five Ranks of Merit'\n13. 'The Ten Pictures of the Cowherd'\n14. Zen and Nirvana\n15. Nature and Her Lesson\n16. The Beatitude of Zen\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX\n\n\nORIGIN OF MAN\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\n\nREFUTATION OF DELUSIVE AND PREJUDICED (DOCTRINE)\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\n\nREFUTATION OF INCOMPLETE AND SUPERFICIAL (DOCTRINE)\n\n\n1. The Doctrine for Men and Devas\n2. The Doctrine of the Hinayanists\n3. The Mahayana Doctrine of Dharmalaksana\n4. Mahayana Doctrine of the Nihilists\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\n\nTHE DIRECT EXPLANATION OF THE REAL ORIGIN\n\n\n5. The Ekayana Doctrine that Teaches the Ultimate Reality\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\n\nRECONCILIATION OF THE TEMPORARY WITH THE REAL DOCTRINE\n\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nBuddhism is geographically divided into two schools[FN#1]--the\nSouthern, the older and simpler, and the Northern, the later and more\ndeveloped faith.  The former, based mainly on the Pali texts[FN#2] is\nknown as Hinayana[FN#3] (small vehicle), or the inferior doctrine;\nwhile the latter, based on the various Sanskrit texts,[4] is known as\nMahayana (large vehicle), or superior doctrine.  The chief tenets of\nthe Southern School are so well known to occidental scholars that\nthey almost always mean the Southern School by the word Buddhism.\nBut with regard to the Northern School very little is known to the\nWest, owing to the fact that most of its original texts were lost,\nand that the teachings based on these texts are written in Chinese,\nor Tibetan, or Japanese languages unfamiliar to non-Buddhist\ninvestigators.\n\n\n[FN#1]  The Southern School has its adherents in Ceylon, Burma, Siam,\nAnan, etc.; while the Northern School is found in Nepal, China,\nJapan, Tibet, etc.\n\n[FN#2]  They chiefly consist of the Four Nikayas: (1) Digha Nikaya\n(Dirghagamas, translated into Chinese by Buddhaya?as, A.D. 412-413);\n(2) Majjhima Nikaya (Madhyamagamas, translated into Chinese by\nGautama Sanghadeva, A.D. 397-398); (3) Sanyutta Nikaya\n(Samyuktagamas, translated into Chinese by Gunabhadra, of the earlier\nSung dynasty, A.D. 420 479); (4) Anguttara Nikaya (Ekottaragamas,\ntranslated into Chinese by Dharmanandi, A.D. 384-385).  Out of these\nHinayana books, the English translation of twenty-three suttas by\nRhys Davids exist in 'Sacred Books of Buddhist,' vols. ii.-iii., and\nof seven suttas by the same author in 'Sacred Books of the East,'\nvol. xi.\n\n[FN#3]  The Southern Buddhists never call their faith Hinayana, the\nname being an invention of later Buddhists, who call their doctrine\nMahayana in contradistinction to the earlier form of Buddhism.  We\nhave to notice that the word Hinayana frequently occurs in Mahayana\nbooks, while it does not in Hinayana books.\n\n[FN#4]  A catalogue of the Buddhist Canon, K'-yuen-luh, gives the\ntitles of 897 Mahayana sutras, yet the most important books often\nquoted by Northern Buddhist teachers amount to little more than\ntwenty.  There exist the English translation of Larger\nSukhavati-vyuha-sutra, Smaller Sukhavati-vyuha-sutra,\nVajracchedika-sutra, Larger Prajna-paramita-hradya-sutra, Smaller\nPrajna-paramita-hrdaya-sutra, by Max M?ller, and\nAmitayur-dhyana-sutra, by J. Takakusu, in 'Sacred Books of the East,'\nvol. xlix.  An English translation of Saddharma-pundarika-sutra, by\nKern, is given in 'Sacred Books of the East,' Vol. xxi.  Compare\nthese books with 'Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism,' by D. Suzuki.\n\n\nIt is hardly justifiable to cover the whole system of Buddhism with a\nsingle epithet[FN#5] 'pessimistic' or 'nihilistic,' because Buddhism,\nhaving been adopted by savage tribes as well as civilized nations, by\nquiet, enervated people as well as by warlike, sturdy hordes, during\nsome twenty-five hundred years, has developed itself into beliefs\nwidely divergent and even diametrically opposed.  Even in Japan alone\nit has differentiated itself into thirteen main sects and forty-four\nsub-sects[FN#6] and is still in full vigour, though in other\ncountries it has already passed its prime.  Thus Japan seems to be\nthe best representative of the Buddhist countries where the majority\nof people abides by the guiding principle of the Northern School.  To\nstudy her religion, therefore, is to penetrate into Mahayanism, which\nstill lies an unexplored land for the Western minds.  And to\ninvestigate her faith is not to dig out the remains of Buddhist faith\nthat existed twenty centuries ago, but to touch the heart and soul of\nMahayanism that enlivens its devotees at the present moment.\n\n\n[FN#5]  Hinayanism is, generally speaking, inclined to be\npessimistic, but Mahayanism in the main holds the optimistic view of\nlife.  Nihilism is advocated in some Mahayana sutras, but others set\nforth idealism or realism.\n\n[FN#6]  (1) The Ten Dai Sect, including three sub-sects; (2) The Shin\nGon Sect, including eleven sub-sects; (3) The Ritsu Sect; (4) The Rin\nZai Sect, including fourteen sub-sects; (5) The So To Sect; (6) The O\nBaku Sect; (7) The Jo Do Sect, including two sub-sects; (8) The Shin\nSect, including ten sub-sects; (9) The Nichi Ren Sect, including nine\nsub-sects; (10) The Yu Zu Nen Butsu Sect; (11) The Hosso Sect; (12)\nThe Ke Gon Sect; (13) The Ji Sect.  Out of these thirteen Buddhist\nsects, Rin Zai, So To, and O Baku belong to Zen.  For further\ninformation, see 'A Short History of the Twelve Japanese Buddhist\nSects,' by Dr. B. Nanjo.\n\n\nThe object of this little book is to show how the Mahayanistic view\nof life and of the world differs markedly from that of Hinayanism,\nwhich is generally taken as Buddhism by occidentals, to explain how\nthe religion of Buddha has adapted itself to its environment in the\nFar East, and also to throw light on the existing state of the\nspiritual life of modern Japan.\n\nFor this purpose we have singled out of thirteen Japanese sects the\nZen Sect, [FN#7] not only because of the great influence it has\nexercised on the nation, but because of the unique position it holds\namong the established religious systems of the world.  In the first\nplace, it is as old as Buddhism itself, or even older, for its mode\nof practising Meditation has been handed down without much alteration\nfrom pre-Buddhistic recluses of India; and it may, on that account,\nprovide the student of comparative religion with an interesting\nsubject for his research.\n\n\n[FN#7]  The word Zen is the Sinico-Japanese abbreviation of the\nSanskrit Dhyana, or Meditation.  It implies the whole body of\nteachings and discipline peculiar to a Buddhist sect now popularly\nknown as the Zen Sect.\n\n\nIn the second place, in spite of its historical antiquity, ideas\nentertained by its advocates are so new that they are in harmony with\nthose of the New Buddhists;[FN#8] accordingly the statement of these\nideas may serve as an explanation of the present movement conducted\nby young and able reformers of Japanese Buddhism.\n\n\n[FN#8]  There exists a society formed by men who have broken with the\nold creeds of Buddhism, and who call themselves the New Buddhists.\nIt has for its organ 'The New Buddhism,' and is one of the\ninfluential religious societies in Japan.  We mean by the New\nBuddhists, however, numerous educated young men who still adhere to\nBuddhist sects, and are carrying out a reformation.\n\n\nThirdly, Buddhist denominations, like non-Buddhist religions, lay\nstress on scriptural authority; but Zen denounces it on the ground\nthat words or characters can never adequately express religious\ntruth, which can only be realized by mind; consequently it claims\nthat the religious truth attained by Shakya Muni in his Enlightenment\nhas been handed down neither by word of mouth nor by the letters of\nscriptures, but from teacher's mind to disciple's through the line of\ntransmission until the present day.  It is an isolated instance in\nthe whole history of the world's religions that holy scriptures are\ndeclared to be 'no more than waste[FN#9] paper by religionists, as\ndone by Zen masters.\n\n\n[FN#9]  Lin Tsi Luh (Rin-zai-roku).\n\n\nFourthly, Buddhist as well as non-Buddhist religions regard, without\nexception, their founders as superhuman beings, but the practisers of\nZen hold the Buddha as their predecessor, whose spiritual level they\nconfidently aim to attain.  Furthermore, they liken one who remains\nin the exalted position of Buddhaship to a man bound by a gold chain,\nand pity his state of bondage.  Some of them went even so far as to\ndeclare Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to be their servants and\nslaves.[FN#10]  Such an attitude of religionists can hardly be found\nin any other religion.\n\n\n[FN#10]  \"Shakya and Maitreya,\" says Go So, \"are servants to the\nother person.  Who is that other person?\" (Zen-rin-rui-ju, Vol. i.,\np. 28).\n\n\nFifthly, although non-Buddhist people are used to call Buddhism\nidolatry, yet Zen can never be called so in the accepted sense of the\nterm, because it, having a grand conception of Deity, is far from\nbeing a form of idol-worship; nay, it sometimes even took an\niconoclastic attitude as is exemplified by Tan Hia, [FN#11] who\nwarmed himself on a cold morning by making a fire of wooden statues.\nTherefore our exposition on this point will show the real state of\nexisting Buddhism, and serve to remove religious prejudices\nentertained against it.\n\n\n[FN#11]  A Chinese Zen teacher, well known for his peculiarities, who\ndied in A.D. 824.  For the details of this anecdote, see\nZen-rin-rui-ju, Vol. i., P. 39.\n\n\nSixthly, there is another characteristic of Zen, which cannot be\nfound in any other religion-that is to say, its peculiar mode of\nexpressing profound religious insight by such actions as the lifting\nup of a hair-brush, or by the tapping of the chair with a staff, or\nby a loud outcry, and so forth.  This will give the student of\nreligion a striking illustration of differentiated forms of religion\nin its scale of evolution.\n\nBesides these characteristics, Zen is noted for its physical and\nmental training.  That the daily practice of Zazen[FN#12] and the\nbreathing exercise remarkably improves one's physical condition is an\nestablished fact.  And history proves that most Zen masters enjoyed a\nlong life in spite of their extremely simple mode of living.  Its\nmental discipline, however, is by far more fruitful, and keeps one's\nmind in equipoise, making one neither passionate nor dispassionate,\nneither sentimental nor unintelligent, neither nervous nor senseless.\n It is well known as a cure to all sorts of mental disease,\noccasioned by nervous disturbance, as a nourishment to the fatigued\nbrain, and also as a stimulus to torpor and sloth.  It is\nself-control, as it is the subduing of such pernicious passions as\nanger, jealousy, hatred, and the like, and the awakening of noble\nemotions such as sympathy, mercy, generosity, and what not.  It is a\nmode of Enlightenment, as it is the dispelling of illusion and of\ndoubt, and at the same time it is the overcoming of egoism, the\ndestroying of mean desires, the uplifting of the moral ideal, and the\ndisclosing of inborn wisdom.\n\n\n[FN#12]  The sitting-in-meditation, for the full explanation of which\nsee Chapter VIII.\n\n\nThe historical importance of Zen can hardly be exaggerated.  After\nits introduction into China in the sixth century, A.D., it grew\nascendant through the Sui (598-617) and the Tang dynasty (618-906),\nand enjoyed greater popularity than any other sect of Buddhism during\nthe whole period of the Sung (976-1126) and the Southern Sung dynasty\n(1127-1367).  In these times its commanding influence became so\nirresistible that Confucianism, assimilating the Buddhist teachings,\nespecially those of Zen, into itself and changing its entire aspect,\nbrought forth the so-called Speculative philosophy.[FN#13]  And in\nthe Ming dynasty (1368-1659) the principal doctrines of Zen were\nadopted by a celebrated Confucian scholar, Wang Yang Ming,[FN#14] who\nthereby founded a school, through which Zen exercised profound\ninfluence on Chinese and Japanese men of letters, statesmen, and\nsoldiers.\n\nAs regards Japan, it was first introduced into the island as the\nfaith first for the Samurai or the military class, and moulded the\ncharacters of many distinguished soldiers whose lives adorn the pages\nof her history.  Afterwards it gradually found its way to palaces as\nwell as to cottages through literature and art, and at last permeated\nthrough every fibre of the national life.  It is Zen that modern\nJapan, especially after the Russo-Japanese War, has acknowledged as\nan ideal doctrine for her rising generation.\n\n\n[FN#13]  See 'A History of Chinese Philosophy,' by Ryukichi Endo, and\nA History of Chinese Philosophy,' by Giichi Nakauchi.\n\n[FN#14]  For the life of this distinguished scholar and soldier\n(1472-1529), see 'A Detailed Life of O Yo Mei' by Takejiro Takase, and\nalso 'O-yo-mei-shutsu-shin-sei-ran-roku.'\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\n\n\nHISTORY OF ZEN IN CHINA\n\n\n1. Origin of Zen in India.\n\nTo-day Zen as a living faith can be found in its pure form only among\nthe Japanese Buddhists.  You cannot find it in the so-called Gospel\nof Buddha anymore than you can find Unitarianism in the Pentateuch,\nnor can you find it in China and India any more than you can find\nlife in fossils of bygone ages.  It is beyond all doubt that it can\nbe traced back to Shakya Muni himself, nay, even to pre-Buddhistic\ntimes, because Brahmanic teachers practised Dhyana, or\nMeditation,[FN#15] from earliest times.\n\n\n[FN#15]  \"If a wise man hold his body with its three parts (chest,\nneck, and head) erect, and turn his senses with the mind towards the\nheart, he will then in the boat of Brahman cross all the torrents\nwhich cause fear.\n\n\"Compressing his breathings let him, who has subdued all motions,\nbreathe forth through the nose with the gentle breath.  Let the wise\nman without fail restrain his mind, that chariot yoked with vicious\nhorses.\n\n\"Let him perform his exercises in a place level, pure, free from\npebbles, fire, and dust, delightful by its sounds, its water, and\nbowers; not painful to the eye, and full of shelters and eaves.\n\n\"When Yoga, is being performed, the forms which come first, producing\napparitions in Brahman, are those of misty smoke, sun, fire, wind,\nfire-flies, lightnings, and a crystal moon.\n\n\"When, as earth, water, light, heat, and ether arises, the fivefold\nquality of Yoga takes place, then there is no longer illness, old\nage, or pain for him who has obtained a body produced by the fire of\nYoga.\n\nThe first results of Yoga they call lightness, healthiness,\nsteadiness, a good complexion, an easy pronunciation, a sweet odour,\nand slight excretions \"(Cvet. Upanisad, ii. 8-13).\n\n\"When the five instruments of knowledge stand still together with the\nmind, and when the intellect does not move, that is called the\nhighest state.\n\n\"This, the firm holding back of the senses, is what is called Yoga.\nHe must be free from thoughtlessness then, for Yoga comes and goes\"\n(Katha Upanisad, ii. 10, 11).\n\n\"This is the rule for achieving it (viz., concentration of the mind\non the object of meditation): restraint of the breath, restraint of\nthe senses, meditation, fixed attention, investigation,\nabsorption-these are called the sixfold Yoga.  When beholding by this\nYoga, be beholds the gold-coloured maker, the lord, the person,\nBrahman, the cause; then the sage, leaving behind good and evil,\nmakes everything (breath, organs of sense, body, etc.) to be one in\nthe Highest Indestructible (in the pratyagatman or Brahman) \" (Maitr.\nUpanisad, vi. 18).\n\n\"And thus it has been elsewhere: There is the superior fixed\nattention (dharana) for him-viz., if he presses the tip of the tongue\ndown the palate, and restrain the voice, mind, and breath, he sees\nBrahman by discrimination (taraka).  And when, after the cessation of\nmind, he sees his own Self, smaller than small, and shining as the\nHighest Self, then, having seen his Self as the Self, he becomes\nSelf-less, and because he is Self-less, he is without limit, without\ncause, absorbed in thought.  This is the highest mystery--viz., final\nliberation \" (Maitr. Upanisad, vi. 20).\n\nAmrtab. Upanisad, 18, describes three modes of sitting-namely, the\nLotus-seat (Padmasana), the sitting with legs bent underneath; the\nmystic diagram seat (Svastika); and the auspicious-seat\n(Bhadrasana);--while Yogacikha directs the choice of the\nLotus-posture, with attention concentrated on the tip of the nose,\nhands and feet closely joined.\n\n\nBut Brahmanic Zen was carefully distinguished even by early\nBuddhists[FN#16] as the heterodox Zen from that taught by the Buddha.\n Our Zen originated in the Enlightenment of Shakya Muni, which took\nplace in his thirtieth year, when he was sitting absorbed in profound\nmeditation under the Bodhi Tree.\n\n\n[FN#16]  The anonymous author of Lankavatara-sutra distinguishes the\nheterodox Zen from the Hinayana Zen, the Hinayana Zen from the\nMahayana Zen, and calls the last by the name of the Buddha's Holy\nZen.  The sutra is believed by many Buddhists, not without reason, to\nbe the exposition of that Mahayana doctrine which Acvaghosa restated\nin his Craddhotpada-castra.  The sutra was translated, first, into\nChinese by Gunabbadra, in A.D. 443; secondly, by Bodhiruci in A.D.\n513; and, thirdly, by Ciksanada in A.D. 700-704.  The book is famous\nfor its prophecy about Nagdrajuna, which (according to Dr. Nanjo's\ntranslation) is as follows:\n\n\"After the Nirvana of the Tathagata,\nThere will be a man in the future,\nListen to me carefully, O Mahatma,\nA man who will hold my law.\nIn the great country of South,\nThere will be a venerable Bhiksu\nThe Bodhisattva Nagarjuna by name,\nWho will destroy the views of Astikas and Nastikas,\nWho will preach unto men my Yana,\nThe highest Law of the Mahayana,\nAnd will attain to the Pramudita-bhumi.\"\n\n\nIt is said that then he awoke to the perfect truth and declared: \"All\nanimated and inanimate beings are Enlightened at the same time.\"\nAccording to the tradition[FN#17] of this sect Shakya Muni\ntransmitted his mysterious doctrine from mind to mind to his oldest\ndisciple Mahakacyapa at the assembly hold on the Mount of Holy\nVulture, and the latter was acknowledged as the first patriarch, who,\nin turn, transmitted the doctrine to Ananda, the second patriarch,\nand so till Bodhidharma, the twenty-eighth[FN#18] patriarch.  We have\nlittle to say about the historical value of this tradition, but it is\nworth while to note that the list of the names of these twenty-eight\npatriarchs contains many eminent scholars of Mahayanism, or the later\ndeveloped school of Buddhism, such as Acvaghosa,[FN#19]\nNagarjuna,[FN#20] Kanadeva,[FN#21] and Vasubhandhu.[FN#22]\n\n\n[FN#17]  The incident is related as follows: When the Buddha was at\nthe assembly on the Mount of Holy Vulture, there came a Brahmaraja\nwho offered the Teacher a golden flower, and asked him to preach the\nDharma.  The Buddha took the flower and held it aloft in his hand,\ngazing at it in perfect silence.  None in the assembly could\nunderstand what he meant, except the venerable Mahakacyapa, who\nsmiled at the Teacher.  Then the Buddha said: \"I have the Eye and\nTreasury of Good Dharma, Nirvana, the Wonderful Spirit, which I now\nhand over to Mahakacyapa.\"  The book in which this incident is\ndescribed is entitled 'Sutra on the Great Brahman King's Questioning\nBuddha to Dispel a Doubt,' but there exists no original text nor any\nChinese translation in the Tripitaka.  It is highly probable that\nsome early Chinese Zen scholar of the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1126)\nfabricated the tradition, because Wang Ngan Shih (O-an-seki), a\npowerful Minister under the Emperor Shan Tsung (Shin-so, A.D.\n1068-1085), is said to have seen the book in the Imperial Library.\nThere is, however, no evidence, as far as we know, pointing to the\nexistence of the Sutra in China.  In Japan there exists, in a form of\nmanuscript, two different translations of that book, kept in secret\nveneration by some Zen masters, which have been proved to be\nfictitious by the present writer after his close examination of the\ncontents.  See the Appendix to his Zen-gaku-hi-han-ron.\n\n[FN#18]  The following is the list of the names of the twenty-eight\npatriarchs:\n\n1. Mahakacyapa.\n2. Ananda.\n3. Canavasu.\n4. Upagupta.\n5. Dhrtaka.\n6. Micchaka.\n7. Vasumitra.\n8. Buddhanandi.\n9. Buddhamitra.\n10. Parcva.\n11. Punyayacas.\n12. Acvaghosa.\n13. Kapimala.\n14. Nagarjuna.\n15. Kanadeva.\n16. Rahulata.\n17. Samghanandi.\n18. Samghayacas.\n19. Kumarata.\n20. Jayata.\n21. Vasubandhu.\n22. Manura.\n23. Haklanayacas.\n24. Simha.\n25. Vacasuta.\n26. Punyamitra.\n27. Prajnyatara.\n28. Bodhidharma.\n\nThe first twenty-three patriarchs are exactly the same as those given\nin 'The Sutra on the Nidana of transmitting Dharmapitaka,' translated\nin A.D. 472.  King Teh Chwen Tang Iuh (Kei-toku-den-to-roku), a\nfamous Zen history of China, gives two elaborate narratives about the\ntransmission of Right Dharma from teacher to disciple through these\ntwenty-eight patriarchs, to be trusted without hesitation.  It would\nnot be difficult for any scholar of sense to find these statements\nwere made from the same motive as that of the anonymous author who\ngives a short life, in Dirghagama-sutra, of each of the six Buddhas,\nthe predecessors of Shakya Muni, if he carefully compare the list\ngiven above with the lists of the patriarchs of the Sarvastivada\nschool given by San Yin (So-yu died A.D. 518) in his Chuh San Tsung\nKi (Shutsu-san zo-ki).\n\n[FN#19]  One of the founders of Mahayana Buddhism, who flourished in\nthe first century A.D.  There exists a life of his translated into\nChinese by Kumarajiva in A.D. 401-409.  The most important of his\nworks are: Mahayanacraddhotpada-castra, Mahalankara-sutra-castra,\nBuddha-caritakavya.\n\n[FN#20]  The founder of the Madhyamika school of Mahayana Buddhism,\nwho lived in the second century A.D.  A life of his was translated\ninto Chinese by Kumarajiva in A.D. 401-409.  Twenty-four books are\nascribed to him, of which Mahapraj\u00f1aparamita-castra, Madhyamika-castra,\nPrajnyadipa-castra, Dvadacanikaya-castra, Astadacakaca-castra, are\nwell known.\n\n[FN#21]  Sometimes called Aryadeva, a successor of Nagarjuna.  A life\nof his was translated into Chinese by Kumarajiva in A.D. 401-409.\nThe following are his important works: Cata-castra, 'Castra by the\nBodhisattva Deva on the refutation of four heretical Hinayana schools\nmentioned in the Lankatvatara-sutra'; 'Castra by the Bodhisattva Deva\non the explanation of the Nirvana by twenty Hinayana teachers\nmentioned in the Lankavatara-sutra.'\n\n[FN#22]  A younger brother of Asamga, a famous Mahayanist of the\nfifth century A.D.  There are thirty-six works ascribed to\nVasubandhu, of which Dacabhumika-castra, Aparimitayus-sutra-castra,\nMahapari-nirvana-sutra-castra, Mahayana-catadharmavidyadvara-castra,\nVidya-matrasiddhi-tridaca-castra, Bodhicittopadana-castra,\nBuddha-gotra-castra, Vidyamatrasiddhivincatigatha-castra,\nMadhyantavibhaga-castra, Abhidharma-koca-castra, Tarka-castra, etc.,\nare well known.\n\n\n\n2. Introduction of Zen into China by Bodhidharma.\n\nAn epoch-making event took place in the Buddhist history of China by\nBodhidharma's coming over from Southern India to that country in\nabout A.D. 520.[FN#23]  It was the introduction, not of the dead\nscriptures, as was repeatedly done before him, but of a living faith,\nnot of any theoretical doctrine, but of practical Enlightenment, not\nof the relies of Buddha, but of the Spirit of Shakya Muni; so that\nBodhidharma's position as a representative of Zen was unique.  He\nwas, however, not a missionary to be favourably received by the\npublic.  He seems to have behaved in a way quite opposite to that in\nwhich a modern pastor treats his flock.  We imagine him to have been\na religious teacher entirely different in every point from a popular\nChristian missionary of our age.  The latter would smile or try to\nsmile at every face he happens to see and would talk sociably; while\nthe former would not smile at any face, but would stare at it with\nthe large glaring eyes that penetrated to the innermost soul.  The\nlatter would keep himself scrupulously clean, shaving, combing,\nbrushing, polishing, oiling, perfuming, while the former would be\nentirely indifferent to his apparel, being always clad in a faded\nyellow robe.  The latter would compose his sermon with a great care,\nmaking use of rhetorical art, and speak with force and elegance;\nwhile the former would sit as absolutely silent as the bear, and kick\none off, if one should approach him with idle questions.\n\n\n[FN#23]  Buddhist historians differ in opinion respecting the date of\nBodhidharma's appearance in China.  Compare Chwen Fah Chan Tsung Lun\n(Den bo sho ju ron) and Hwui Yuen (E-gen).\n\n\n\n3. Bodhidharma and the Emperor Wu.\n\nNo sooner had Bodhidharma landed at Kwang Cheu in Southern China than\nhe was invited by the Emperor[FN#24] Wu, who was an enthusiastic\nBuddhist and good scholar, to proceed to his capital of Chin Liang.\nWhen he was received in audience, His Majesty asked him: \"We have\nbuilt temples, copied holy scriptures, ordered monks and nuns to be\nconverted.  Is there any merit, Reverend Sir, in our conduct?\"  The\nroyal host, in all probability, expected a smooth, flattering answer\nfrom the lips of his new guest, extolling his virtues, and promising\nhim heavenly rewards, but the Blue-eyed Brahmin bluntly answered: \"No\nmerit at all.\"\nThis unexpected reply must have put the Emperor to shame and doubt in\nno small degree, who was informed simply of the doctrines of the\northodox Buddhist sects.  'Why not,' he might have thought within\nhimself, 'why all this is futile?  By what authority does he declare\nall this meritless?  What holy text can be quoted to justify his\nassertion?  What is his view in reference to the different doctrines\ntaught by Shakya Muni?  What does he hold as the first principle of\nBuddhism?'  Thus thinking, he inquired: \"What is the holy truth, or\nthe first principle?\"  The answer was no less astonishing: \"That\nprinciple transcends all.  There is nothing holy.\"\n\n\n[FN#24]  The Emperor Wu (Bu-Tei) of the Liang dynasty, whose reign\nwas A.D. 502-549.]\n\n\nThe crowned creature was completely at a loss to see what the teacher\nmeant.  Perhaps he might have thought: 'Why is nothing holy?  Are\nthere not holy men, Holy Truths, Holy Paths stated in the scriptures?\n Is he himself not one of the holy men?'  \"Then who is that confronts\nus?\" asked the monarch again.  \"I know not, your majesty,\" was the\nlaconic reply of Bodhidharma, who now saw that his new faith was\nbeyond the understanding of the Emperor.\n\nThe elephant can hardly keep company with rabbits.  The petty\northodoxy can by no means keep pace with the elephantine stride of\nZen.  No wonder that Bodhidharma left not only the palace of the\nEmperor Wu, but also the State of Liang, and went to the State of\nNorthern Wei.[FN#25]  There he spent nine years in the Shao\nLin[FN#26] Monastery, mostly sitting silent in meditation with his\nface to the wall, and earned for himself the appellation of 'the\nwall-gazing Brahmin.'  This name itself suggests that the\nsignificance of his mission was not appreciated by his\ncontemporaries.  But neither he was nor they were to blame, because\nthe lion's importance is appreciated only by the lion.  A great\npersonage is no less great because of his unpopularity among his\nfellow men, just as the great Pang[FN#27] is no less great because of\nhis unpopularity among the winged creatures.  Bodhidharma was not\npopular to the degree that he was envied by his contemporary\nBuddhists, who, as we are told by his biographers, attempted to\npoison him three times,[FN#28] but without success.\n\n\n[FN#25]  Northern Gi dynasty (A.D. 386-534).\n\n[FN#26]  Sho-rin-ji, erected by the Emperor Hiao Ming of Northern Wei\nA.D. 497.\n\n[FN#27]  Chwang-tsz in his famous parable compares a great sage with\nthe Pang, an imaginary bird of enormous size, with its wings of\nninety thousand miles.  The bird is laughed at by wrens and sparrows\nbecause of its excessive size.\n\n[FN#28]  This reminds us of Nan Yoh Hwui Sz (Nan-gaku-e-shi, died\nA.D. 577), who is said to have learned Zen under Bodhidharma. He says\nin his statement of a vow that he was poisoned three times by those\nwho envied him.\n\n\n\n4. Bodhidharma and his Successor the Second Patriarch.\n\nChina was not, however, an uncultivated[FN#29] land for the seed of\nZen--nay, there had been many practisers of Zen before Bodhidharma.\n\n\n[FN#29]  The translation of Hinayana Zen sutras first paved the way\nfor our faith.  Fourteen Zen sutras, including such important books\nas Mahanapanadhyana-sutra, Dhyanacarya-dharmasanyjnya-sutra,\nDhyanacarya-saptatrimcadvarga-sutra, were translated by Ngan Shi Kao\n(An-sei-ko) as early as A.D. 148-170.  Cullamargabhumi-sutra was\ntranslated by K' Yao (Shi-yo) in A.D. 185; Dharmatara-dhyana-sutra by\nBuddhabhadra in A.D. 398-421;\nDhyananisthitasamadhi-dharma-parygya-sutra by Kumarajiva in A.D. 402;\n'An Abridged Law on the Importance of Meditation' by Kumarajiva in\nA.D. 405; Pancadvara-dhyanasutra-maharthadharma by Dharmamitra in\nA.D. 424-441.  Furthermore, Mahayana books closely related to the\ndoctrine of Zen were not unknown to China before Bodhidharma.\nPratyutpanna-buddhasammukhavasthita-samadhi was translated by K' Leu\nCia Chan (Shi-ru-ga-sen) in A.D. 164-186; Vimalakirttinirdeca-sutra,\nwhich is much used in Zen, by Kumarajiva in A.D. 384-412;\nLankavatara-sutra, which is said to have been pointed out by\nBodhidharma as the best explanation of Zen, by Gunabhadra in A.D.\n433; Saddharma-pundarika-sutra, in its complete form, by Kumarajiva\nin A.D. 406; Avatamsaka-sutra by Buddhabhadra in A.D. 418;\nMahaparinirvana-sutra by Dharmaraksa in A.D. 423.\n\nIf we are not mistaken, Kumarajiva, who came to China A.D. 384, made\na valuable contribution towards the foundation of Zen in that\ncountry, not merely through his translation of Zen sutras above\nmentioned, but by the education of his disciples, such as Sang Chao\n(So-jo, died A.D. 414), Sang Shang (So-sho, whose writings\nundoubtedly influenced later Zen teachers.  A more important\npersonage in the history of Zen previous to the Blue-eyed Brahmin is\nBuddhabhadra, a well-known Zen master, who came over to China A.D.\n406.  His translation of Dharmatara-dhyana-sutra (which is said to\nhave been preached by Bodhidharma himself when he was in India) and\nthat of Avatamsaka-sutra may be said without exaggeration to have\nlaid the corner-stone for Zen.  He gave a course of lectures on the\nZen sutra for the first time in China in A.D. 413, and it was through\nhis instruction that many native practisers of Zen were produced, of\nwhom Chi Yen (Chi-gon) and Huen Kao (Gen-ko) are well known.  In\nthese days Zen should have been in the ascendant in India, because\nalmost all Indian scholars-at least those known to us-were called Zen\nteachers-for instance, Buddhabhadra, Buddhasena, Dharmadhi, and some\nothers were all Zen scholars.\n\nChinese Buddhist scholars did no less than Indian teachers toward the\nuprising of Zen.  The foremost among them is Hwui Yuen (E-on, died\nA.D. 414), who practised Zen by the instruction of Buddhabhadra.  He\nfounded the Society of the White Lotus, which comprised eighteen\neminent scholars of the age among its members, for the purpose of\npractising Meditation and of adoring Buddha Amitabha.  We must not\nforget that during the Western and the Eastern Tsin (Shin) dynasties\n(A.D. 265-420) both Taoism and Buddhism grew prosperous to no small\nextent.  And China produced, on the one hand, Taoists of an eccentric\ntype, such as the Seven Wise Men of the Bamboo Forest, while she gave\nbirth to many recluse-like men of letters, such as Tao Yuen Ming\n(To-yen-mei, died A.D. 427) and some others on the other.  Besides\nthere were some scholars who studied Buddhism in connection with\nTaoism and Confucianism, and led a secluded life.  To the last class\nof scholars belonged Chwen Hih (Hu dai shi), known as Chwen the\nGreat.  He is said to have been accustomed to wear a Confucianist\nhat, a Buddhist robe, and Taoist shoes.  It was in A.D. 534 that he\npresented a memorial to the Emperor Wu, in which he explained the\nthree grades of good.  \"The Highest Good consists,\" says he, \"in the\nemptiness of mind and non-attachment.  Transcendence is its cause,\nand Nirvana is its result.  The Middle Good consists in morality and\ngood administration.  It results in a peaceful and happy life in\nHeaven and in Earth.  The Lowest Good consists in love and protection\nof sentient beings.\"  Thus his idea of good, as the reader will see\nwithout difficulty, is the result of a compromise of Taoism and\nBuddhism.  Sin Wang Ming (Sin-o-mei, On the Mind-King), one of his\nmasterpieces, together with other minor poems, are still used as a\ntextbook of Zen.  This fact unmistakably proves that Taoist element\nfound its way into the constituents of Zen from its very outset in\nChina.\n\n\nAll that he had to do was to wait for an earnest seeker after the\nspirit of Shakya Muni.  Therefore he waited, and waited not in vain,\nfor at last there came a learned Confucianist, Shang Kwang (Shin-ko)\nby name, for the purpose of finding the final solution of a problem\nwhich troubled him so much that he had become dissatisfied with\nConfucianism, as it had no proper diet for his now spiritual hunger.\nThus Shang Kwang was far from being one of those half-hearted\nvisitors who knocked the door of Bodhidharma only for the sake of\ncuriosity.  But the silent master was cautious enough to try the\nsincerity of a new visitor before admitting him to the Meditation\nHall.  According to a biography[FN#30] of his, Shang Kwang was not\nallowed to enter the temple, and had to stand in the courtyard\ncovered deep with snow.  His firm resolution and earnest desire,\nhowever, kept him standing continually on one spot for seven days and\nnights with beads of the frozen drops of tears on his breast.  At\nlast he cut off his left arm with a sharp knife, and presented it\nbefore the inflexible teacher to show his resolution to follow the\nmaster even at the risk of his life.  Thereupon Bodhidharma admitted\nhim into the order as a disciple fully qualified to be instructed in\nthe highest doctrine of Mahayanism.\n\n\n[FN#30]  King Teh Chwen Tang Luh (Kei-toku-den-to-roku), published by\nTao Yuen (Do-gen) A.D. 1004, gives a detailed narrative concerning\nthis incident as stated here, but earlier historians tell us a\ndifferent story about the mutilation of Shang Kwang's arm.  Compare\nSuh Kas San Chwen (Zoku-ko-so-den) and Hwui Yuen (E-gen).\n\n\nOur master's method of instruction was entirely different from that\nof ordinary instructors of learning.  He would not explain any\nproblem to the learner, but simply help him to get enlightened by\nputting him an abrupt but telling question.  Shang Kwang, for\ninstance, said to Bodhidharma, perhaps with a sigh: \"I have no peace\nof mind.  Might I ask you, sir, to pacify my mind?\"  \"Bring out your\nmind (that troubles you so much),\" replied the master, \"here before\nme!  I shall pacify it.\"  \"It is impossible for me,\" said the\ndisciple, after a little consideration, \"to seek out my mind (that\ntroubles me so much).\"  \"Then,\" exclaimed Bodhidharma, \"I have\npacified your mind.\"  Hereon Shang Kwang was instantly Enlightened.\nThis event is worthy of our notice, because such a mode of\ninstruction was adopted by all Zen teachers after the first\npatriarch, and it became one of the characteristics of Zen.\n\n\n\n5. Bodhidharma's Disciples and the Transmission of the Law.[FN#31]\n\n\n[FN#31]  For details, see Chwen Tang Luh and Den Ka Roku, by Kei Zan.\n As for the life of Bodhidharma, Dr. B. Matsumoto's 'A Life of\nBodhidharma' may well be recommended to the reader.\n\n\nBodhidharma's labour of nine years in China resulted in the\ninitiation of a number of disciples, whom some time before his death\nhe addressed as follows: \"Now the time (of my departure from this\nworld) is at hand.  Say, one and all, how do you understand the Law?\"\n Tao Fu (Do-fuku) said in response to this: \"The Law does not lie in\nthe letters (of the Scriptures), according to my view, nor is it\nseparated from them, but it works.\"  The Master said: \"Then you have\nobtained my skin.\"  Next Tsung Chi (So-ji), a nun, replied: \"As\nAnanda[FN#32] saw the kingdom of Aksobhya[FN#33] only once but not\ntwice, so I understand the Law\".  The master said: \"Then you have\nattained to my flesh.\"  Then Tao Yuh (Do-iku) replied: \"The four\nelements[FN#34] are unreal from the first, nor are the five\naggregates[FN#35] really existent.  All is emptiness according to my\nview.\"  The master said: \"Then you have acquired my bone.\"  Lastly,\nHwui Ko (E-ka), which was the Buddhist name given by Bodhidharma, to\nShang Kwang, made a polite bow to the teacher and stood in his place\nwithout a word.  \"You have attained to my marrow.\"  So saying,\nBodhidharma handed over the sacred Kachaya, [FN#36] which he had\nbrought from India to Hwui Ko, as a symbol of the transmission of the\nLaw, and created him the Second Patriarch.\n\n\n[FN#32]  A favourite disciple of Shakya Muni, and the Third Patriarch\nof Zen.\n\n[FN#33]  The: name means I Immovable,' and represents the firmness of\nthought.\n\n[FN#34]  Earth, water, fire, and air.\n\n[FN#35]  (1) Rupa, or form; (2) Vedana, or perception; (3) Samjnya,\nor consciousness; (4) Karman (or Samskara), or action; (5) Vijnyana,\nor knowledge.\n\n[FN#36]  The clerical cloak, which is said to have been dark green.\nIt became an object of great veneration after the Sixth Patriarch,\nwho abolished the patriarchal system and did not hand the symbol over\nto successors.\n\n\n\n6. The Second and the Third Patriarchs.\n\nAfter the death of the First Patriarch, in A.D. 528, Hwui Ko did his\nbest to propagate the new faith over sixty years.  On one occasion a\nman suffering from some chronic disease called on him, and requested\nhim in earnest: \"Pray, Reverend Sir, be my confessor and grant me\nabsolution, for I suffer long from an incurable disease.\"  \"Bring out\nyour sin (if there be such a thing as sin),\" replied the Second\nPatriarch, \"here before me.  I shall grant you absolution.\"  \"It is\nimpossible,\" said the man after a short consideration, \"to seek out\nmy sin.\"  \"Then,\" exclaimed the master, \"I have absolved you.\nHenceforth live up to Buddha, Dharma, and Samgha.\"[FN#37]  \"I know,\nyour reverence,\" said the man, \"that you belong to Samgha; but what\nare Buddha and Dharma?\"  \"Buddha is Mind itself.  Mind itself is\nDharma.  Buddha is identical with Dharma.  So is Samgha.\"  \"Then I\nunderstand,\" replied the man, \"there is no such thing as sin within\nmy body nor without it, nor anywhere else.  Mind is beyond and above\nsin.  It is no other than Buddha and Dharma.\"  Thereupon the Second\nPatriarch saw the man was well qualified to be taught in the new\nfaith, and converted him, giving him the name of Sang Tsung (So-san).\n After two years' instruction and discipline, he[FN#38] bestowed on\nSang Tsung the Kachaya handed down from Bodhidharma, and authorized\nhim as the Third Patriarch.  It is by Sang Tsung that the doctrine of\nZen was first reduced to writing by his composition of Sin Sin[FN#39]\nMing (Sin zin-mei, On Faith and Mind), a metrical exposition of the\nfaith.\n\n\n[FN#37]  The so-called Three Treasures of the Buddha, the Law, and\nthe Order.\n\n[FN#38]  The Second Patriarch died in A.D. 593--that is, sixty-five\nyears after the departure of the First Patriarch.\n\n[FN#39]  A good many commentaries were written on the book, and it is\nconsidered as one of the best books on Zen.\n\n\n\n7. The Fourth Patriarch and the Emperor Tai Tsung (Tai-so).\n\nThe Third[FN#40] Patriarch was succeeded by Tao Sin (Do-shin), who\nbeing initiated at the age of fourteen, was created the Fourth\nPatriarch after nine years' study and discipline.  Tao Sin is said\nnever to have gone to bed for more than forty years of his\npatriarchal career.[FN#41]  In A.D. 643 the Emperor Tai Tsung\n(627-649), knowing of his virtues, sent him a special messenger,\nrequesting him to call on His Majesty at the palace.  But he declined\nthe invitation by a memorial, saying that be was too aged and infirm\nto visit the august personage.  The Emperor, desirous of seeing the\nreputed patriarch, sent for him thrice, but in vain.  Then the\nenraged monarch ordered the messenger to behead the inflexible monk,\nand bring the head before the throne, in case he should disobey the\norder for the fourth time.  As Tao Sin was told of the order of the\nEmperor, he stretched out his neck ready to be decapitated.  The\nEmperor, learning from the messenger what had happened, admired all\nthe more the imperturbable patriarch, and bestowed rich gifts upon\nhim.  This example of his was followed by later Zen masters, who\nwould not condescend to bend their knees before temporal power, and\nit became one of the characteristics of Zen monks that they would\nnever approach rulers and statesmen for the sake of worldly fame and\nprofit, which they set at naught.\n\n\n[FN#40]  He died in A.D. 606, after his labour of thirteen years as\nthe teacher.\n\n[FN#41]  He died in A.D. 651-that is, forty-five years after the\ndeath of the Third Patriarch.\n\n\n\n8. The Fifth and the Sixth Patriarchs.\n\nTao Sin transmitted the Law to Hung Jan (Ko-nin), who being educated\nfrom infancy, distinguished himself as the Abbot of the Hwang Mei\nMonastery at Ki Cheu.  The Fifth Patriarch, according to his\nbiographer, gathered about him seven hundred pupils, who came from\nall quarters.  Of these seven hundred pupils the venerable Shang Sin\n(Jin-shu) was most noted for his learning and virtues, and he might\nhave become the legitimate successor of Hung Jan, had not the Kachaya\nof Bodhidharma been carried away by a poor farmer's son of Sin Cheu.\nHwui Nang, the Sixth Patriarch, seems to have been born a Zen\nteacher.  The spiritual light of Buddha first flashed in his mind\nwhen he happened to hear a monk reciting a sutra.  On questioning the\nmonk, be learned that the book was\nVajracchedika-prajnya-paramita-sutra,[FN#42] and that Hung Jan, the\nAbbot of the Hwang Mei Monastery, was used to make his disciples\nrecite the book that it might help them in their spiritual\ndiscipline.  Hereupon he made up his mind to practise Zen, and called\non Hung Jan at the Monastery.  \"Who are you,\" demanded the Fifth\nPatriarch, \"and whence have you come?\"  \"I am a son of the farmer,\"\nreplied the man, \"of Sin Cheu in the South of Ta Yu Ling.\"  \"What has\nbrought you here?\" asked the master again.  \"I have no other purpose\nthan to attain to Buddhahood,\" answered the man.  \"O, you, people of\nthe South,\" exclaimed the patriarch, \"you are not endowed with the\nnature of Buddha.\"  \"There may be some difference between the\nSouthern and the Northern people,\" objected the man, \"but how could\nyou distinguish one from the other as to the nature of Buddha?\"  The\nteacher recognized a genius in the man, but he did not admit the\npromising newcomer into the order, so Hwui Nang had to stay in the\nMonastery for eight months as a pounder of rice in order to qualify\nhimself to be a Zen teacher.\n\n\n[FN#42]  The book was translated into Chinese by Kumarajiva in A.D.\n384. 417; also by Bodhiruci in A.D. 509, and by Paramartha in A.D.\n592; then by Hiuen Tsang in A.D. 648.  Many commentaries have been\nwritten on it by the prominent Buddhist authors of China and Japan.\n\n\n\n9. The Spiritual Attainment of the Sixth Patriarch.\n\nSome time before his death (in 675 A.D.) the Fifth Patriarch\nannounced to all disciples that the Spirit of Shakya Muni is hard to\nrealize, that they should express their own views on it, on condition\nthat anyone who could prove his right realization should be given\nwith the Kachaya and created the Sixth Patriarch.  Then the venerable\nSung Siu, the head of the seven hundred disciples, who was considered\nby his brothers to be the man entitled to the honour, composed the\nfollowing verses:\n\n\"The body is the Bodhi-tree.[FN#43]\nThe mind is like a mirror bright on its stand.\nDust it and wipe it from time to time,\nLest it be dimmed by dust and dirt.\"\n\n\n[FN#43]  The idea expressed by these lines is clear enough.  Body is\nlikened to the Bodhi-tree, under which Shakya Muni attained to his\nsupreme enlightenment; for it is not in another body in the future\nexistence, but in this very body that one had to get enlightened.\nAnd mind is pure and bright in its nature like a mirror, but the dirt\nand dust of passions and of low desires often pollute and dim it.\nTherefore one should dust and wipe it from time to time in order to\nkeep it bright.\n\n\nAll who read these lines thought that the writer was worthy of the\nexpected reward, and the Fifth Patriarch also, appreciating the\nsignificance of the verses, said: \"If men in the future would\npractise Zen according to this view, they would acquire an excellent\nresult.\"  Hwui Nang, the rice-pounder, hearing of them, however,\nsecretly remarked that they are beautiful, but hardly expressive of\nthe Spirit of Shakya Muni, and wrote his own verses, which ran as\nfollows:\n\n\"There is no Bodhi-tree,[FN#44]\nNor is there a mirror stand.\nNothing exists from the first\nWhat can be dimmed by dust and dirt?\"\n\n\n[FN#44]  These verses have often been misunderstood as expressive of\na nihilistic view, but the real meaning is anything but nihilistic.\nMind is pure and bright in its essence.  It is always free from\npassions and mean desires, just as the sun is always bright, despite\nof cloud and mist that cover its face.  Therefore one must get an\ninsight into this essential nature of Mind, and realize that one has\nno mean desires and passions from the first, and also that there is\nno tree of Bodhi nor the mirror of Enlightenment without him, but\nthey are within him.\n\n\nPerhaps nobody ever dreamed such an insignificant fellow as the\nrice-pounder could surpass the venerable scholar in a religious\ninsight, but the Fifth Patriarch saw at once an Enlightened Soul\nexpressed in those lines; therefore he made up his mind to give the\nKachaya to the writer, in whom he found a great spiritual leader of\nfuture generations.  But he did it secretly at midnight, lest some of\nthe disciples from envy do violence to Hwui Nang.  He was, moreover,\ncautious enough to advise his successor to leave the Monastery at\nonce, and go back to the South, that the latter might conceal his\nEnlightenment until a time would come for his missionary activities.\n\n\n\n10. Flight of the Sixth Patriarch.\n\nOn the following morning the news of what had happened during the\nnight flew from mouth to mouth, and some of the enraged brothers\nattempted to pursue the worthy fugitive.  The foremost among them,\nHwui Ming (E-myo), overtook the Sixth Patriarch at a mountain pass\nnot very far from the Monastery.  Then Hwui Nang, laying down the\nKachaya on a rock by the road, addressed the pursuer: \"This is a mere\nsymbol of the patriarchal authority, and it is not a thing to be\nobtained by force.  Take it along with you, if you long for it.\"\nUpon this Hwui Ming, who began to be ashamed of his base act, tried\nto lift the Kachaya, but in vain, for it was, as he felt, as heavy as\nthe rock itself.  At last he said to the Sixth Patriarch: \"I have\ncome here, my brother, not for the sake of this robe, but for the\nsake of the Law.  Grant my hearty desire of getting Enlightened.\"\n\"If you have come for the Law,\" replied Hwui Nang, \"you must put an\nend to all your struggles and longings.  Think neither of good nor of\nevil (make your mind pure from all idle thoughts), then see how is,\nHwui Ming, your original (mental) physiognomy!\"  Being thus\nquestioned, Ming found in an instant the Divine Light of Buddha\nwithin himself, and became a disciple of the Sixth Patriarch.\n\n\n\n11. The Development of the Southern and of the Northern School of Zen.\n\nAfter the death of the Fifth Patriarch the venerable Shang Siu,\nthough not the legitimate successor of his master, was not inactive\nin the propagation of the faith, and gathered about him a number of\nenthusiastic admirers.  This led to the foundation of the Northern\nschool of Zen in opposition to the Southern school led by the Sixth\nPatriarch.  The Empress Tseh Tien Wa Heu,[FN#45] the real ruler of\nChina at that time, was an admirer of Shang Siu, and patronized his\nschool, which nevertheless made no further development.\n\n\n[FN#45]  The Emperor Chung Tsung (Chu-so, A.D. 684-704) was a nominal\nsovereign, and the Empress was the real ruler from A.D. 684 to 705.\n\n\nIn the meanwhile the Sixth Patriarch, who had gone to the South,\narrived at the Fah Sing Monastery in Kwang Cheu, where Yin Tsung\n(In-shu), the abbot, was giving lectures on the Mahayana sutras to a\nnumber of student monks.  It was towards evening that he happened to\noverhear two monks of the Monastery discussing about the flag\nfloating in air.  One of them said: \"It is the wind that moves in\nreality, but not the flag.\"  \"No,\" objected the other, \"it is the\nflag that moves in reality, but not the wind.\"  Thus each of them\ninsisted on his own one-sided view, and came to no proper conclusion.\n Then the Sixth Patriarch introduced himself and said to them: \"It is\nneither the wind nor the flag, but your mind that moves in reality.\"\nYin Tsung, having heard these words of the stranger, was greatly\nastonished, and thought the latter should have been an extraordinary\npersonage.  And when he found the man to be the Sixth Patriarch of\nZen, he and all his disciples decided to follow Zen under the master.\n Consequently Hwui Nang, still clad like a layman, changed his\nclothes, and began his patriarchal career at that Monastery.  This is\nthe starting-point of the great development of Zen in China.\n\n\n\n12. Missionary Activity of the Sixth Patriarch.\n\nAs we have seen above, the Sixth Patriarch was a great genius, and\nmay be justly called a born Zen teacher.  He was a man of no\nerudition, being a poor farmer, who had served under the Fifth\nPatriarch as a rice-pounder only for eight months, but he could find\na new meaning in Buddhist terms, and show how to apply it to\npractical life.  On one occasion, for instance, Fah Tah (Ho-tatsu), a\nmonk who had read over the Saddharma-pundarika-sutra[FN#46] three\nthousand times, visited him to be instructed in Zen.  \"Even if you\nread the sutra ten thousand times,\" said the Sixth Patriarch, who\ncould never read the text, \"it will do you no good, if you cannot\ngrasp the spirit of the sutra.\"  \"I have simply recited the book,\"\nconfessed the monk, \"as it is written in characters.  How could such\na dull fellow as I grasp its spirit?\"  \"Then recite it once,\"\nresponded the master; \"I shall explain its spirit.\"  Hereupon Fah Tah\nbegan to recite the sutra, and when he read it until the end of the\nsecond chapter the teacher stopped him, saying: \"You may stop there.\nNow I know that this sutra was preached to show the so-called\ngreatest object of Shakya Muni's appearing on earth.  That greatest\nobject was to have all sentient beings Enlightened just as He\nHimself.\"  In this way the Sixth Patriarch grasped the essentials of\nthe Mahayana sutras, and freely made use of them as the explanation\nof the practical questions about Zen.\n\n\n[FN#46]  One of the most noted Mahayana sutras, translated by\nDharmaraksa (A.D. 286) and by Kumarajiva (A.D. 406).  The reader has\nto note that the author states the essential doctrine in the second\nchapter.  See \" Sacred Books of the East,\" vol. xxi., pp. 30-59.\n\n\n\n13. The Disciples under the Sixth Patriarch.\n\nSome time after this the Sixth Patriarch settled himself down at the\nPao Lin Monastery, better known as Tsao Ki Shan (So-kei-zan), in Shao\nCheu, and it grow into a great centre of Zen in the Southern States.\nUnder his instruction many eminent Zen masters qualified themselves\nas Leaders of the Three Worlds.  He did not give the patriarchal\nsymbol, the Kachaya, to his successors, lest it might cause needless\nquarrels among the brethren, as was experienced by himself.  He only\ngave sanction to his disciples who attained to Enlightenment, and\nallowed them to teach Zen in a manner best suited to their own\npersonalities.  For instance, Huen Kioh (Gen-kaku), a scholar of the\nTien Tai doctrine,[FN#47] well known as the Teacher of Yung\nKia[FN#48] (Yo-ka), received a sanction for his spiritual attainment\nafter exchanging a few words with the master in their first\ninterview, and was at once acknowledged as a Zen teacher.  When he\nreached the zenith of his fame, he was presented with a crystal bowl\ntogether with rich gifts by the Empress Tseh Tien; and it was in A.D.\n705 that the Emperor Chung Tsung invited him in vain to proceed to\nthe palace, since the latter followed the example of the Fourth\nPatriarch.\n\n\n[FN#47]  The Teacher of Tien Tai (Ten-dai, A.D. 538-597), the founder\nof the Buddhist sect of the same name, was a great scholar of\noriginality.  His doctrine and criticism on the Tripitaka greatly\ninfluenced the whole of Buddhism after him.  His doctrine is briefly\ngiven in the second chapter.\n\n[FN#48]  His Ching Tao Ko (Sho-do-ka), a beautiful metrical\nexposition of Zen, is still read by most students of Zen.\n\n\nAfter the death[FN#49] of the Sixth Patriarch (A.D. 713), the\nSouthern Zen was divided into two schools, one being represented by\nTsing Yuen (Sei-gen), the other by Nan Yoh (Nan-gaku.)  Out of these\ntwo main schools soon developed the five[FN#50] branches of Zen, and\nthe faith made a splendid progress.  After Tsing Yuen and Nan Yoh,\none of the junior disciples of the Sixth Patriarch, Hwui Chung\n(E-chu), held an honourable position for sixteen years as the\nspiritual adviser to the Emperor Suh Tsung (A.D. 756762) and to the\nEmperor Tai Tsung (A.D. 763-779).  These two Emperors were\nenthusiastic admirers of Zen, and ordered several times the Kachaya\nof Bodhidharma to be brought into the palace from the Pao Lin\nMonastery that they might do proper homage to it.  Within some one\nhundred and thirty years after the Sixth Patriarch, Zen gained so\ngreat influence among higher classes that at the time of the Emperor\nSuen Tsung (A.D. 847-859) both the Emperor and his Prime Minister,\nPei Hiu, were noted for the practice of Zen.  It may be said that Zen\nhad its golden age, beginning with the reign of the Emperor Suh\nTsung, of the Tang dynasty, until the reign of the Emperor Hiao Tsung\n(1163-1189), who was the greatest patron of Buddhism in the Southern\nSung dynasty.  To this age belong almost all the greatest Zen\nscholars[FN#51] of China.\n\n\n[FN#49]  There exists Luh Tan Fah Pao Tan King\n(Roku-so-ho-bo-dan-kyo), a collection of his sermons.  It is full of\nbold statements of Zen in its purest form, and is entirely free from\nambiguous and enigmatical words that encumber later Zen books.  In\nconsequence it is widely read by non-Buddhist scholars in China and\nJapan.  Both Hwui Chung (E-chu), a famous disciple of the Sixth\nPatriarch, and Do-gen, the founder of the Soto Sect in Japan, deny\nthe authority of the book, and declare it to be misleading, because\nof errors and prejudices of the compilers.  Still, we believe it to\nbe a collection of genuine sections given by the Sixth Patriarch,\nthough there are some mistakes in its historical narratives.\n\n[FN#50]  (1) The Tsao Tung (So-to) Sect, founded by Tsing Yuen (died\nin A.D. 740) and his successors; (2) the Lin Tsi (Rin-Zai) Sect,\nfounded by Nan Yoh (died in 744) and his successors; (3) the Wei Yan\n(Yi-gyo) Sect, founded by Wei Shan (Yi-san, died in 853) and his\ndisciple Yen Shan (Kyo-zan, died in 890); (4) the Yun Man (Un-mon)\nSect, founded by Yun Man (died in 949); (5) the Pao Yen (Ho-gen)\nSect, founded by Pao Yen (died in 958).\n\n[FN#51]  During the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-906) China produced,\nbesides the Sixth Patriarch and his prominent disciples, such great\nZen teachers as Ma Tsu (Ba-so, died in 788), who is probably the\noriginator of the Zen Activity; Shih Teu (Seki-to, died in 790), the\nreputed author of Tsan Tung Ki (San-do-kai), a metrical writing on\nZen; Poh Chang (Hyaku-jo, died 814), who first laid down regulations\nfor the Zen Monastery; Wei Shan (Yi-san), Yang Shan (Kyo-zan), the\nfounders of the Wei Yang Sect; Hwang Pah (O-baku, died in 850), one\nof the founders of the Lin Tsi Sect, and the author of Chwen Sin Pao\nYao, (Den-sin-ho-yo), one of the best works on Zen; Lin Tsi (Rin-zai,\ndied in 866), the real founder of the Lin Tsi Sect; Tung Shan\n(To-zan, died in 869), the real founder of the Tsao Tung Sect; Tsao\nShan (So-zan, died in 901), a famous disciple of Tung Shan; Teh Shan\n(Toku-san, died in 865), who was used to strike every questioner with\nhis staff; Chang Sha (Cho-sha, died in 823); Chao Cheu (Jo-shu, died\nin 897); Nan Tsuen (Nan-sen, died in 834); Wu Yeh (Mu-go, died in\n823); who is said to have replied, 'Away with your idle thoughts,' to\nevery questioner; Yun Yen (Un-gan, died in 829); Yoh Shan (Yaku-san,\ndied in 834); Ta Mei (Tai-bai, died in 839), a noted recluse; Ta Tsz\n(Dai-ji, died in 862); Kwei Fung (Kei-ho, died in 841), the author of\n'The Origin of Man,' and other numerous works; and Yun Ku (Un-go,\ndied in 902).\n\nTo the period of the Five Dynasties (A.D. 907-959) belong such\nteachers as Sueh Fung (Set-po, died in. 908); Huen Sha (Gen-sha, died\nin 908); Yun Man (Un-mon, died in 949), the founder of the Yun Man\nSect; Shen Yueh (Zen-getsu, died in 912), a renowned Zen poet; Pu Tai\n(Ho-tei, died in 916), well known for his peculiarities; Chang King\n(Cho-kei, died in 932); Nan Yuen (Nan-in, died in 952); Pao Yen\n(Ho-gen, died in 958), the founder of the Pao Yen Sect.  During the\nSung dynasty (A.D. 960-1126) appeared such teachers as Yang Ki\n(Yo-gi, died in 1049), the founder of the Yang Ki School of Zen; Sueh\nTeu (Set-cho, died in 1052), noted for poetical works; Hwang Lung (O\nryu, died in 1069), the founder of the Hwang Lung School of Zen;\nHwang Lin (Ko-rin, died in 987); Tsz Ming (Ji-myo, died in 1040); Teu\nTsy (To-shi, died in 1083); Fu Yun (Fu-yo, died in 1118); Wu Tsu\n(Go-so, died in 1104); Yung Ming (Yo-myo, died in 975), the author of\nTsung King Luh (Shu-kyo-roku); Ki Sung (Kai-su, died in 1071), a\ngreat Zen historian and author.  In the Southern Sung dynasty (A.D.\n1127-1279) flourished such masters as Yuen Wu (En-go, died in 1135),\nthe author of Pik Yen Tsih (Heki-gan-shu); Chan Hieh (Shin-ketsu,\nflourished in 1151); Hung Chi (Wan-shi, died in 1157), famous for his\npoetical works; Ta Hwui (Dai-e, died in 1163), a noted disciple of\nYuen Wu; Wan Sung (Ban-sho), flourished in 1193-1197), the author of\nTsung Yun Luh (Sho-yo-roku); Ju Tsing (Nyo-jo), died in 1228), the\nteacher to Do-gen, or the founder of the So-to Sect in Japan.\n\n\nTo this age belong almost all the eminent men of letters,[FN#52]\nstatesmen, warriors, and artists who were known as the practisers of\nZen.  To this age belongs the production of almost all Zen\nbooks,[FN#53] doctrinal and historical.\n\n\n[FN#52]  Among the great names of Zen believers the following are\nmost important: Pang Yun (Ho-on, flourished in 785-804), whose whole\nfamily was proficient in Zen; Tsui Kiun (Sai-gun, flourished in\n806-824); Luh Kang (Rik-ko), a lay disciple to Nan Tsun; Poh Loh Tien\n(Haku-raku-ten, died in 847), one of the greatest Chinese literary\nmen; Pei Hiu (Hai-kyu, flourished 827-856), the Prime Minister under\nthe Emperor Suen Tsung, a lay disciple to Hwang Pah; Li Ngao (Ri-ko,\nlived about 806), an author and scholar who practised Zen under Yoh\nShan; Yu Chuh (U-teki, flourished 785-804), a local governor, a\nfriend of Pang Yun; Yang Yih (Yo-oku, flourished in 976), one of the\ngreatest writers of his age; Fan Chung Ngan (Han-chu an, flourished\n1008-1052), an able statesman and scholar; Fu Pih (Fu shitsu,\nflourished 1041-1083), a minister under the Emperor Jan Tsung; Chang\nShang Ying (Cho-sho-yei, 1086-1122), a Buddhist scholar and a\nstatesman; Hwang Ting Kien (Ko-tei-ken, 1064-1094), a great poet; Su\nShih (So-shoku, died in 1101), a great man of letters, well known as\nSo-to-ba; Su Cheh (So-tetsu, died in 1112), a younger brother of\nSo-to-ba, a scholar and minister under the Emperor Cheh Tsung; Chang\nKiu Ching (Cho-Kyu-sei, flourished about 1131), a scholar and lay\ndisciple of Ta Hwui; Yang Kieh (Yo-ketsu, flourished 1078-1086), a\nscholar and statesman.\n\n[FN#53]  Of doctrinal Zen books, besides Sin Sin Ming by the Third\nPatriarch, and Fah Pao Tan King by the Sixth Patriarch, the following\nare of great importance:\n\n(1) Ching Tao Ko (Sho-do-ka), by Huen Kioh (Gen-kaku).\n(2) Tsan Tung Ki (San-do-kai), by Shih Ten (Seki-to).\n(3) Pao King San Mei (Ho-kyo-san-mai), by Tung Shan (To-zan).\n(4) Chwen Sin Pao Yao (Den-sin-ho-yo), by Hwang Pah (O-baku).\n(5) Pih Yen Tsih (Heki-gan-shu), by Yuen Wu (En-go).\n(6) Lin Tsi Luh (Rin-zai-roku), by Lin Tsi (Rin-zai).\n(7) Tsung Yun Luh (Sho-yo-roku), by Wan Sung (Ban-sho).\n\nOf historical Zen books the following are of importance:\n\n(1) King teh Chwen Tan-Luh (Kei-toku-den-to-roku), published in 1004\nby Tao Yuen (Do-gen).\n(2) Kwan Tang Luh (Ko-to roku), published in 1036 by Li Tsun Suh\n(Ri-jun-kyoku).\n(3) Suh Tang Luh (Zoku-O-roku), published in 1101 by Wei Poh (I-haku).\n(4) Lien Tang Luh (Ren-O-roku), published in 1183 by Hwui Wang\n(Mai-o).\n(5) Ching Tsung Ki (Sho-ju-ki), published in 1058 by Ki Sung\n(Kwai-su).\n(6) Pu Tang Luh (Fu-O-roku), published in 1201 by Ching Sheu (Sho-ju).\n(7) Hwui Yuen (E-gen), published in 1252 by Ta Chwen (Dai-sen).\n(8) Sin Tang Luh (Sin-W-roku), published in 1280-1294 by Sui (Zui).\n(9) Suh Chwen Tang Luh (Zoku-den-to-roku), by Wang Siu (Bun-shu).\n(10) Hwui Yuen Suh Lioh (E-gen-zoku-ryaku), by Tsing Chu (Jo-chu).\n(11) Ki Tang Luh (Kei-to-roku), by Yung Kioh (Yo-kaku).\n\n\n\n14. Three Important Elements of Zen.\n\nTo understand how Zen developed during some four hundred years after\nthe Sixth Patriarch, we should know that there are three important\nelements in Zen.  The first of these is technically called the Zen\nNumber--the method of practising Meditation by sitting cross-legged,\nof which we shall treat later.[FN#54]  This method is fully developed\nby Indian teachers before Bodhidharma's introduction of Zen into\nChina, therefore it underwent little change during this period.  The\nsecond is the Zen Doctrine, which mainly consists of Idealistic and\nPantheistic ideas of Mahayana Buddhism, but which undoubtedly\nembraces some tenets of Taoism.  Therefore, Zen is not a pure Indian\nfaith, but rather of Chinese origin.  The third is the Zen Activity,\nor the mode of expression of Zen in action, which is entirely absent\nin any other faith.\n\n\n[FN#54]  See Chapter VII.\n\n\nIt was for the sake of this Zen Activity that Hwang Pah gave a slap\nthree times to the Emperor Suen Tsung; that Lin Tsi so often burst\nout into a loud outcry of Hoh (Katsu); that Nan Tsuen killed a cat at\na single stroke of his knife in the presence of his disciples; and\nthat Teh Shan so frequently struck questioners with his staff.[FN#55]\n The Zen Activity was displayed by the Chinese teachers making use of\ndiverse things such as the staff, the brush[FN#56] of long hair, the\nmirror, the rosary, the cup, the pitcher, the flag, the moon, the\nsickle, the plough, the bow and arrow, the ball, the bell, the drum,\nthe cat, the dog, the duck, the earthworm--in short, any and\neverything that was fit for the occasion and convenient for the\npurpose.  Thus Zen Activity was of pure Chinese origin, and it was\ndeveloped after the Sixth Patriarch.[FN#57]  For this reason the\nperiod previous to the Sixth Patriarch may be called the Age of the\nZen Doctrine, while that posterior to the same master, the Age of the\nZen Activity.\n\n\n[FN#55]  A long official staff (Shu-jo) like the crosier carried by\nthe abbot of the monastery.\n\n[FN#56]  An ornamental brush (Hos-su) often carried by Zen teachers.\n\n[FN#57]  The giving of a slap was first tried by the Sixth Patriarch,\nwho struck one of his disciples, known as Ho Tseh (Ka-taku), and it\nwas very frequently resorted to by the later masters.  The lifting up\nof the brush was first tried by Tsing Yuen in an interview with his\neldest disciple, Shih Ten, and it became a fashion among other\nteachers.  The loud outcry of Hoh was first made use of by Ma Tsu,\nthe successor of Nan Yoh.  In this way the origin of the Zen Activity\ncan easily be traced to the Sixth Patriarch and his direct disciples.\n After the Sung dynasty Chinese Zen masters seem to have given undue\nweight to the Activity, and neglected the serious study of the\ndoctrine.  This brought out the degeneration severely reproached by\nsome of the Japanese Zen teachers.\n\n\n\n15. Decline of Zen.\n\nThe blooming prosperity of Zen was over towards the end of the\nSouthern Sung dynasty (1127-1279), when it began to fade, not being\nbitten by the frost of oppression from without, but being weakened by\nrottenness within.  As early as the Sung dynasty (960-1126) the\nworship of Buddha Amitabha[FN#58] stealthily found its way among Zen\nbelievers, who could not fully realize the Spirit of Shakya Muni, and\nto satisfy these people the amalgamation of the two faiths was\nattempted by some Zen masters.[FN#59]\n\n[FN#58]  The faith is based on Larger Sukhavati-vyuha, Smaller\nSukhavati-vyuha, and Amitayus-dhyana-sutra.  It was taught in India\nby Acvaghosa, Nagariuna, and Vasubandhu.  In China Hwui Yuen (E-on,\ndied in A.D. 416), Tan Lwan (Don-ran, died in 542), Tao Choh\n(Do-shaku), and Shen Tao (Zen-do) (both of whom lived about 600-650),\nchiefly taught the doctrine.  It made an extraordinary progress in\nJapan, and differentiated itself into several sects, of which Jodo\nShu and Shin Shu are the strongest.\n\n[FN#59]  It is beyond all doubt that Poh Loh Tien (Haku-raku-ten)\npractised Zen, but at the same time believed in Amitabha; so also Su\nShih (So-shoku), a most noted Zen practiser, worshipped the same\nBuddha, Yang Kieh (Yo-keteu), who carried a picture of Amitabha\nwherever he went and worshipped it, seems to have thought there is\nnothing incompatible between Zen and his faith.  The foremost of\nthose Zen masters of the Sung dynasty that attempted the amalgamation\nis Yung Ming (Yo-myo, died in 975), who reconciled Zen with the\nworship of Amitabha in his Wan Shen Tung Kwei Tsih\n(Man-zen-do-ki-shu) and Si Ngan Yan Shan Fu (Sei-an-yo-sin-fu).  He\nwas followed by Tsing Tsz (Jo-ji) and Chan Hieh (Shin-ketsu, lived\nabout 1151), the former of whom wrote Kwei Yuen Chih Chi\n(Ki-gen-jiki-shi), and the latter Tsing Tu Sin Yao (Jo-do-sin-yo), in\norder to further the tendency.  In the Yuen dynasty Chung Fung\n(Chu-ho, died in 1323) encouraged the adoration of Amitabha, together\nwith the practice of Zen, in his poetical composition\n(Kwan-shu-jo-go).  In the Ming dynasty Yun Si (Un-sei, died in 1615),\nthe author of Shen Kwan Tseh Tsin (Zen-kwan-saku-shin) and other\nnumerous works, writing a commentary on Sukhavati-vyuha-sutra,\nbrought the amalgamation to its height.  Ku Shan (Ku-zan, died in\n1657), a Zen historian and author, and his prominent disciple Wei Lin\n(E-rin), axe well known as the amalgamators.  Yun Ming declared that\nthose who practise Zen, but have no faith in Amitabha, go astray in\nnine cases out of ten; that those who do not practise Zen, but\nbelieve in Amitabha, are saved, one and all; that those who practise\nZen, and have the faith in Amitabha, are like the tiger provided with\nwings; and that for those who have no faith in Amitabha, nor practise\nZen, there exist the iron floor and the copper pillars in Hell.  Ku\nShan said that some practise Zen in order to attain Enlightenment,\nwhile others pray Amitabha for salvation; that if they were sincere\nand diligent, both will obtain the final beatitude.  Wei Lin also\nobserved: \"Theoretically I embrace Zen, and practically I worship\nAmitabha.\"  E-chu, the author of Zen-to-nenbutsu ('On Zen and the\nWorship of Amitabha'), points out that one of the direct disciples of\nthe Sixth Patriarch favoured the faith of Amitabha, but there is no\ntrustworthy evidence, as far as we know, that proves the existence of\nthe amalgamation in the Tang dynasty.\n\n\nThis tendency steadily increasing with time brought out at length the\nperiod of amalgamation which covered the Yuen (1280-1367) and the\nMing dynasties (1368-1659), when the prayer for Amitabha was in every\nmouth of Zen monks sitting in Meditation.  The patrons of Zen were\nnot wanting in the Yuen dynasty, for such a warlike monarch as the\nEmperor Shi Tsu (Sei-so), 1280-1294) is known to have practised Zen\nunder the instruction of Miao Kao, and his successor Ching Tsung\n(1295-1307) to have trusted in Yih Shan,[FN#60] a Zen teacher of\nreputation at that time.  Moreover, Lin Ping Chung (Rin-hei-cha, died\nin 1274), a powerful minister under Shi Tsu, who did much toward the\nestablishment of the administrative system in that dynasty, had been\na Zen monk, and never failed to patronize his faith.  And in the Ming\ndynasty the first Emperor Tai Tsu (1368-1398), having been a Zen\nmonk, protected the sect with enthusiasm, and his example was\nfollowed by Tai Tsung (1403-1424), whose spiritual as well as\npolitical adviser was Tao Yen, a Zen monk of distinction.  Thus Zen\nexercised an influence unparalleled by any other faith throughout\nthese ages.  The life and energy of Zen, however, was gone by the\nignoble amalgamation, and even such great scholars as Chung\nFung,[FN#61] Yung Si,[FN#62] Yung Kioh,[FN#63] were not free from the\noverwhelming influence of the age.\n\n\n[FN#60]  The Emperor sent him to Japan in 1299 with some secret\norder, but he did nothing political, and stayed as a Zen teacher\nuntil his death.\n\n[FN#61]  A most renowned Zen master in the Yuen dynasty, whom the\nEmperor Jan Tsung invited to visit the palace, but in vain.\n\n[FN#62]  An author noted for his learning and virtues, who was rather\na worshipper of Amitabha than a Zen monk.\n\n[FN#63]  An author of voluminous books, of which Tung Shang Ku Cheh\n(To-jo-ko-tetsu) is well known.\n\n\nWe are not, however, doing justice to the tendency of amalgamation in\nthese times simply to blame it for its obnoxious results, because it\nis beyond doubt that it brought forth wholesome fruits to the Chinese\nliterature and philosophy.  Who can deny that this tendency brought\nthe Speculative[FN#64] philosophy of the Sung dynasty to its\nconsummation by the amalgamation of Confucianism with Buddhism\nespecially with Zen, to enable it to exercise long-standing influence\non society, and that this tendency also produced Wang Yang\nMing,[FN#65] one of the greatest generals and scholars that the world\nhas ever seen, whose philosophy of Conscience[FN#66] still holds a\nunique position in the history of human thought?  Who can deny\nfurthermore that Wang's philosophy is Zen in the Confucian\nterminology?\n\n\n[FN#64]  This well-known philosophy was first taught by Cheu Men Shuh\n(Shu-mo-shiku, died in 1073) in its definite form.  He is said to\nhave been enlightened by the instruction of Hwui Tang, a contemporary\nZen master.  He was succeeded by Chang Ming Tao (Tei-mei-do, died in\n1085) and Chang I Chwen (Tei-i-sen, died in 1107), two brothers, who\ndeveloped the philosophy in no small degree.  And it was completed by\nChu Tsz (Shu-shi, died in 1200), a celebrated commentator of the\nConfucian classics.  It is worthy to note that these scholars\npractised Meditation just as Zen monks.  See 'History of Chinese\nPhilosophy' (pp. 215-269), by G. Nakauchi, and 'History of\nDevelopment of Chinese Thought,' by R. Endo.\n\n[FN#65]  He was born in 1472, and died in 1529.  His doctrine\nexercised a most fruitful influence on many of the great Japanese\nminds, and undoubtedly has done much to the progress of New Japan.\n\n[FN#66]  See Den-shu-roku and O-ya-mei-zen-sho.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\n\n\nHISTORY OF ZEN IN JAPAN\n\n\n1. The Establishment of the Rin Zai[FN#67] School of Zen in Japan.\n\n\n[FN#67]  The Lin Tsi school was started by Nan Yoh, a prominent\ndisciple of the Sixth Patriarch, and completed by Lin Tsi or Rin Zai.\n\n\nThe introduction of Zen into the island empire is dated as early as\nthe seventh century;[FN#68] but it was in 1191 that it was first\nestablished by Ei-sai, a man of bold, energetic nature.  He crossed\nthe sea for China at the age of twenty-eight in 1168, after his\nprofound study of the whole Tripitaka[FN#69] for eight years in the\nHi-yei Monastery[FN#70] the then centre of Japanese Buddhism.\n\n\n[FN#68]  Zen was first introduced into Japan by Do sha (629-700) as\nearly as 653-656, at the time when the Fifth Patriarch just entered\nhis patriarchal career.  Do-sho went over to China in 653, and met\nwith Huen Tsang, the celebrated and great scholar, who taught him the\ndoctrine of the Dharma-laksana.  It was Huen Tsang who advised Do-sho\nto study Zen under Hwui Man (E-man).  After returning home, he built\na Meditation Hall for the purpose of practising Zen in the Gan-go\nmonastery, Nara.  Thus Zen was first transplanted into Japan by\nDo-sho, but it took no root in the soil at that time.\n\nNext a Chinese Zen teacher, I Kung (Gi-ku), came over to Japan in\nabout 810, and under his instruction the Empress Danrin, a most\nenthusiastic Buddhist, was enlightened.  She erected a monastery\nnamed Dan-rin-ji, and appointed I Kung the abbot of it for the sake\nof propagating the faith.  It being of no purpose, however, I Kung\nwent back to China after some years.\n\nThirdly, Kaku-a in 1171 went over to China, where he studied Zen\nunder Fuh Hai (Buk-kai), who belonged to the Yang Ki (Yo-gi) school,\nand came home after three years.  Being questioned by the Emperor\nTaka-kura (1169-1180) about the doctrine of Zen, he uttered no word,\nbut took up a flute and played on it.  But his first note was too\nhigh to be caught by the ordinary ear, and was gone without producing\nany echo in the court nor in society at large.\n\n[FN#69]  The three divisions of the Buddhist canon, viz.:\n\n(1) Sutra-pitaka, or a collection of doctrinal books.\n(2) Vinaya-pitaka, or a collection of works on discipline.\n(3) Abhidharma-pitaka, or a collection of philosophical and\nexpository works.\n\n[FN#70]  The great monastery erected in 788 by Sai-cho (767-822), the\nfounder of the Japanese Ten Dai Sect, known as Den Gyo Dai Shi.\n\n\nAfter visiting holy places and great monasteries, he came home,\nbringing with him over thirty different books on the doctrine of the\nTen-Dai Sect.[FN#71]  This, instead of quenching, added fuel to his\nburning desire for adventurous travel abroad.  So he crossed the sea\nover again in 1187, this time intending to make pilgrimage to India;\nand no one can tell what might have been the result if the Chinese\nauthorities did not forbid him to cross the border.  Thereon he\nturned his attention to the study of Zen, and after five years'\ndiscipline succeeded in getting sanction for his spiritual attainment\nby the Hu Ngan (Kio-an), a noted master of the Rin Zai school, the\nthen abbot of the monastery of Tien Tung Shan (Ten-do-san).  His\nactive propaganda of Zen was commenced soon after his return in 1191\nwith splendid success at a newly built temple[FN#72] in the province\nof Chiku-zen.  In 1202 Yori-iye, the Shogun, or the real governor of\nthe State at that time, erected the monastery of Ken-nin-ji in the\ncity of Kyo-to, and invited him to proceed to the metropolis.\nAccordingly he settled himself down in that temple, and taught Zen\nwith his characteristic activity.\n\n\n[FN#71]  The sect was named after its founder in China, Chi I\n(538-597), who lived in the monastery of Tien Tai Shan (Ten-dai-san),\nand was called the Great Teacher of Tien Tai.  In 804 Den-gyo went\nover to China by the Imperial order, and received the transmission of\nthe doctrine from Tao Sui (Do-sui), a patriarch of the sect.  After\nhis return he erected a monastery on Mount Hi-yei, which became the\ncentre of Buddhistic learning.\n\n[FN#72]  He erected the monastery of Sho-fuku-ji in 1195, which is\nstill prospering.\n\n\nThis provoked the envy and wrath of the Ten Dai and the Shin\nGon[FN#73] teachers, who presented memorials to the Imperial court to\nprotest against his propagandism of the new faith.  Taking advantage\nof the protests, Ei-sai wrote a book entitled Ko-zen-go-koku-ron\n('The Protection of the State by the Propagation of Zen'), and not\nonly explained his own position, but exposed the ignorance[FN#74] of\nthe protestants.  Thus at last his merit was appreciated by the\nEmperor Tsuchi-mikado (1199-1210), and he was promoted to So Jo, the\nhighest rank in the Buddhist priesthood, together with the gift of a\npurple robe in 1206.  Some time after this he went to the city of\nKama-kura, the political centre, being invited by Sane-tomo, the\nShogun, and laid the foundation of the so-called Kama-kura Zen, still\nprospering at the present moment.\n\n\n[FN#73]  The Shin Gon or Mantra Sect is based on\nMahavairocanabhi-sambodhi-sutra, Vajracekhara-sutra, and other\nMantra-sutras.  It was established in China by Vajrabodhi and his\ndisciple Amoahavajra, who came from India in 720.  Ku kai (774-835),\nwell known as Ko Bo Dai Shi, went to China in 804, and received the\ntransmission of the doctrine from Hwui Kwo (Kei-ka), a, disciple of\nAmoghavajra.  In 806 he came back and propagated the faith almost all\nover the country.  For the detail see 'A Short History of the Twelve\nJapanese Buddhist Sects' (chap. viii.), by Dr. Nanjo.\n\n[FN#74]  Sai-cho, the founder of the Japanese Ten Dai Sect, first\nlearned the doctrine of the Northern School of Zen under Gyo-hyo\n(died in 797), and afterwards he pursued the study of the same faith\nunder Siao Jan in China.  Therefore to oppose the propagation of Zen\nis, for Ten Dai priests, as much as to oppose the founder of their\nown sect.\n\n\n\n2. The Introduction of the So-To School[FN#75] of Zen.\n\n\n[FN#75]  This school was started by Tsing-Yuen (Sei-gen), an eminent\ndisciple of the Sixth Patriarch, and completed by Tsing Shan (To-zan).\n\n\nAlthough the Rin Zai school was, as mentioned above, established by\nEi-sai, yet he himself was not a pure Zen teacher, being a Ten Dai\nscholar as well as an experienced practiser of Mantra.  The first\nestablishment of Zen in its purest form was done by Do-gen, now known\nas Jo Yo Dai Shi.  Like Ei-sai, he was admitted into the Hi-yei\nMonastery at an early age, and devoted himself to the study of the\nCanon.  As his scriptural knowledge increased, he was troubled by\ninexpressible doubts and fears, as is usual with great religious\nteachers.  Consequently, one day he consulted his uncle, Ko-in, a\ndistinguished Ten Dai scholar, about his troubles.  The latter, being\nunable to satisfy him, recommended him Ei-sai, the founder of the new\nfaith.  But as Ei-sai died soon afterwards, he felt that he had no\ncompetent teacher left, and crossed the sea for China, at the age of\ntwenty-four, in 1223.  There he was admitted into the monastery of\nTien Tung Shan (Ten-do-san), and assigned the lowest seat in the\nhall, simply because be was a foreigner.  Against this affront he\nstrongly protested.  In the Buddhist community, he said, all were\nbrothers, and there was no difference of nationality.  The only way\nto rank the brethren was by seniority, and he therefore claimed to\noccupy his proper rank.  Nobody, however, lent an ear to the poor\nnew-comer's protest, so he appealed twice to the Chinese Emperor Ning\nTsung (1195-1224), and by the Imperial order he gained his object.\n\nAfter four years' study and discipline, he was Enlightened and\nacknowledged as the successor by his master Ju Tsing (Nyo-jo died in\n1228), who belonged to the Tsao Tung (So To) school.  He came home in\n1227, bringing with him three important Zen books.[FN#76]  Some three\nyears he did what Bodhidharma, the Wall-gazing Brahmin, had done\nseven hundred years before him, retiring to a hermitage at Fuka-kusa,\nnot very far from Kyo-to.  Just like Bodhidharma, denouncing all\nworldly fame and gain, his attitude toward the world was\ndiametrically opposed to that of Ei-sai.  As we have seen above,\nEi-sai never shunned, but rather sought the society of the powerful\nand the rich, and made for his goal by every means.  But to the Sage\nof Fuka-kusa, as Do-gen was called at that time, pomp and power was\nthe most disgusting thing in the world.  Judging from his poems, be\nseems to have spent these years chiefly in meditation; dwelling now\non the transitoriness of life, now on the eternal peace of Nirvana;\nnow on the vanities and miseries of the world; now listening to the\nvoices of Nature amongst the hills; now gazing into the brooklet that\nwas, as he thought, carrying away his image reflected on it into the\nworld.\n\n\n[FN#76]  (1) Pao King San Mei (Ho-kyo-san-mai, 'Precious Mirror\nSamadhi'), a metrical exposition of Zen, by Tung Shan (To-zan,\n806-869), one of the founders of the So To school.  (2) Wu Wei Hien\nHueh (Go-i-ken-ketsu.  'Explanation of the Five Categories'), by Tung\nShan and his disciple Tsao Shan (So-zan).  This book shows us how Zen\nwas systematically taught by the authors.  (3) Pih Yen Tsih\n(Heki-gan-shu, 'A Collection and Critical Treatment of Dialogues'),\nby Yuen Wu.\n\n\n\n3. The Characteristics of Do-gen, the Founder of the Japanese So To\nSect.\n\nIn the meantime seekers after a new truth gradually began to knock at\nhis door, and his hermitage was turned into a monastery, now known as\nthe Temple of Ko-sho-ji.[FN#77]  It was at this time that many\nBuddhist scholars and men of quality gathered about him but the more\npopular he became the more disgusting the place became to him.  His\nhearty desire was to live in a solitude among mountains, far distant\nfrom human abodes, where none but falling waters and singing birds\ncould disturb his delightful meditation.  Therefore he gladly\naccepted the invitation of a feudal lord, and went to the province of\nEchi-zen, where his ideal monastery was built, now known as\nEi-hei-ji.[FN#78]\n\n\n[FN#77]  It was in this monastery (built in 1236) that Zen was first\ntaught as an independent sect, and that the Meditation Hall was first\nopened in Japan.  Do-gen lived in the monastery for eleven years, and\nwrote some of the important books.  Za-zen-gi ('The Method of\nPractising the Cross-legged Meditation') was written soon after his\nreturn from China, and Ben-do-wa and other essays followed, which are\nincluded in his great work, entitled Sho-bo-gen-zo) ('The Eye and\nTreasury of the Right Law').\n\n[FN#78]  The monastery was built in 1244 by Yoshi-shige (Hatano), the\nfeudal lord who invited Do-gen.  He lived in Ei-hei-ji until his\ndeath, which took place in 1253.  It is still flourishing as the head\ntemple of the So To Sect.\n\n\nIn 1247, being requested by Toki-yori, the Regent General\n(1247-1263), he came down to Kama-kura, where he stayed half a year\nand went back to Ei-hei-ji.  After some time Toki-yori, to show his\ngratitude for the master, drew up a certificate granting a large\ntract of land as the property of Ei-hei-ji, and handed it over to\nGen-myo, a disciple of Do-gen.  The carrier of the certificate was so\npleased with the donation that he displayed it to all his brethren\nand produced it before the master, who severely reproached him\nsaying: \"O, shame on thee, wretch!  Thou art -defiled by the desire\nof worldly riches even to thy inmost soul, just as noodle is stained\nwith oil.  Thou canst not be purified from it to all eternity.  I am\nafraid thou wilt bring shame on the Right Law.\"  On the spot Gen-myo\nwas deprived of his holy robe and excommunicated.  Furthermore, the\nmaster ordered the 'polluted' seat in the Meditation Hall, where\nGen-myo was wont to sit, to be removed, and the 'polluted' earth\nunder the seat to be dug out to the depth of seven feet.\n\nIn 1250 the ex-Emperor Go-sa-ga (1243-1246) sent a special messenger\ntwice to the Ei-hei monastery to do honour to the master with the\ndonation of a purple robe, but he declined to accept it.  And when\nthe mark of distinction was offered for the third time, he accepted\nit, expressing his feelings by the following verses:\n\n\"Although in Ei-hei's vale the shallow waters leap,\nYet thrice it came, Imperial favour deep.\nThe Ape may smile and laugh the Crane\nAt aged Monk in purple as insane.\"\n\nHe was never seen putting on the purple robe, being always clad in\nblack, that was better suited to his secluded life.\n\n\n\n4. The Social State of Japan when Zen was established by Ei-sai and\nDo-gen.\n\nNow we have to observe the condition of the country when Zen was\nintroduced into Japan by Ei-sai and Do-gen.  Nobilities that had so\nlong governed the island were nobilities no more.  Enervated by their\nluxuries, effeminated by their ease, made insipient by their\ndebauchery, they were entirely powerless.  All that they possessed in\nreality was the nominal rank and hereditary birth.  On the contrary,\ndespised as the ignorant, sneered at as the upstart, put in contempt\nas the vulgar, the Samurai or military class had everything in their\nhands.  It was the time when Yori-tomo[FN#79] (1148-1199) conquered\nall over the empire, and established the Samurai Government at\nKama-kura.  It was the time when even the emperors were dethroned or\nexiled at will by the Samurai.  It was the time when even the\nBuddhist monks[FN#80] frequently took up arms to force their will.\nIt was the time when Japan's independence was endangered by Kublai,\nthe terror of the world.  It was the time when the whole nation was\nfull of martial spirit.  It is beyond doubt that to these rising\nSamurais, rude and simple, the philosophical doctrines of Buddhism,\nrepresented by Ten Dai and Shin Gon, were too complicated and too\nalien to their nature.  But in Zen they could find something\ncongenial to their nature, something that touched their chord of\nsympathy, because Zen was the doctrine of chivalry in a certain sense.\n\n\n[FN#79]  The Samurai Government was first established by Yoritomo, of\nthe Minamoto family, in 1186, and Japan was under the control of the\nmilitary class until 1867, when the political power was finally\nrestored to the Imperial house.\n\n[FN#80]  They were degenerated monks (who were called monk-soldiers),\nbelonging to great monasteries such as En-ryaku-ji (Hi-yei),\nKo-fuku-ji (at Nara), Mi-i-dera, etc.\n\n\n\n5. The Resemblance of the Zen Monk to the Samurai.\n\nLet us point out in brief the similarities between Zen and Japanese\nchivalry.  First, both the Samurai and the Zen monk have to undergo a\nstrict discipline and endure privation without complaint.  Even such\na prominent teacher as Ei-sai, for example, lived contentedly in such\nneedy circumstances that on one occasion[FN#81] he and his disciples\nhad nothing to eat for several days.  Fortunately, they were\nrequested by a believer to recite the Scriptures, and presented with\ntwo rolls of silk.  The hungry young monks, whose mouths watered\nalready at the expectation of a long-looked-for dinner, were\ndisappointed when that silk was given to a poor man, who called on\nEi-sai to obtain some help.  Fast continued for a whole week, when\nanother poor follow came in and asked Ei-sai to give something.  At\nthis time, having nothing to show his substantial mark of sympathy\ntowards the poor, Ei-sai tore off the gilt glory of the image of\nBuddha Bhecajya and gave it.  The young monks, bitten both by hunger\nand by anger at this outrageous act to the object of worship,\nquestioned Ei-sai by way of reproach: \"Is it, sir, right for us\nBuddhists to demolish the image of a Buddha?\"  \"Well,\" replied Ei-sai\npromptly, \"Buddha would give even his own life for the sake of\nsuffering people.  How could he be reluctant to give his halo?\"  This\nanecdote clearly shows us self-sacrifice is of first importance in\nthe Zen discipline.\n\n[FN#81]  The incident is told by Do-gen in his Zui-mon-ki.\n\n\n6. The Honest Poverty of the Zen Monk and the Samurai.\n\nSecondly, the so-called honest poverty is a characteristic of both\nthe Zen monk and the Samurai.  To get rich by an ignoble means is\nagainst the rules of Japanese chivalry or Bushido.  The Samurai would\nrather starve than to live by some expedient unworthy of his dignity.\n There are many instances, in the Japanese history, of Samurais who\nwere really starved to death in spite of their having a hundred\npieces of gold carefully preserved to meet the expenses at the time\nof an emergency; hence the proverb: \"The falcon would not feed on the\near of corn, even if he should starve.\"  Similarly, we know of no\ncase of Zen monks, ancient and modern, who got rich by any ignoble\nmeans.  They would rather face poverty with gladness of heart.\nFu-gai, one of the most distinguished Zen masters just before the\nRestoration, supported many student monks in his monastery.  They\nwere often too numerous to be supported by his scant means.  This\ntroubled his disciple much whose duty it was to look after the\nfood-supply, as there was no other means to meet the increased demand\nthan to supply with worse stuff.  Accordingly, one day the disciple\nadvised Fu-gai not to admit new students any more into the monastery.\n Then the master, making no reply, lolled out his tongue and said:\n\"Now look into my mouth, and tell if there be any tongue in it.\"  The\nperplexed disciple answered affirmatively.  \"Then don't bother\nyourself about it.  If there be any tongue, I can taste any sort of\nfood.\"  Honest poverty may, without exaggeration, be called one of\nthe characteristics of the Samurais and of the Zen monks; hence a\nproverb: \"The Zen monk has no money, moneyed Monto[FN#82] knows\nnothing.\"\n\n\n[FN#82]  The priest belonging to Shin Shu, who are generally rich.\n\n\n\n7. The Manliness of the Zen Monk and of the Samurai.\n\nThirdly, both the Zen monk and the Samurai were distinguished by\ntheir manliness and dignity in manner, sometimes amounting to\nrudeness.  This is due partly to the hard discipline that they\nunderwent, and partly to the mode of instruction.  The following\nstory,[FN#83] translated by Mr. D. Suzuki, a friend of mine, may well\nexemplify our statement:\n\n\n[FN#83]  The Journal of the Pali Text Society, 1906-1907.\n\n\nWhen Rin-zai[FN#84] was assiduously applying himself to Zen\ndiscipline under Obak (Huang Po in Chinese, who died 850), the head\nmonk recognized his genius.  One day the monk asked him how long he\nhad been in the monastery, to which Rin-zai replied: 'Three years.'\nThe elder said: 'Have you ever approached the master and asked his\ninstruction in Buddhism?'  Rin-zai said: 'I have never done this, for\nI did not know what to ask.'  'Why, you might go to the master and\nask him what is the essence of Buddhism?'\n\n\n[FN#84]  Lin Tsi, the founder of the Lin Tsi school.\n\n\n\"Rin-zai, according to this advice, approached Obak and repeated the\nquestion, but before he finished the master gave him a slap.\n\n\"When Rin-zai came back, the elder asked how the interview went.\nSaid Rin-zai: 'Before I could finish my question the master slapped\nme, but I fail to grasp its meaning.'  The elder said: 'You go to him\nagain and ask the same question.'  When he did so, he received the\nsame response from the master.  But Rin-zai was urged again to try it\nfor the third time, but the outcome did not improve.\n\n\"At last he went to the elder, and said 'In obedience to your kind\nsuggestion, I have repeated my question three times, and been slapped\nthree times.  I deeply regret that, owing to my stupidity, I am\nunable to comprehend the hidden meaning of all this.  I shall leave\nthis place and go somewhere else.'  Said the elder: 'If you wish to\ndepart, do not fail to go and see the master to say him farewell.'\n\n\"Immediately after this the elder saw the master, and said: 'That\nyoung novice, who asked about Buddhism three times, is a remarkable\nfellow.  When he comes to take leave of you, be so gracious as to\ndirect him properly.  After a hard training, he will prove to be a\ngreat master, and, like a huge tree, he will give a refreshing\nshelter to the world.'\n\n\"When Rin-zai came to see the master, the latter advised him not to\ngo anywhere else, but to Dai-gu (Tai-yu) of Kaoan, for he would be\nable to instruct him in the faith.\n\n\"Rin-zai went to Dai-gu, who asked him whence he came.  Being\ninformed that he was from Obak, Dai-gu further inquired what\ninstruction he had under the master.  Rin-zai answered: 'I asked him\nthree times about the essence of Buddhism, and he slapped me three\ntimes.  But I am yet unable to see whether I had any fault or not.'\nDai-gu said: 'Obak was tender-hearted even as a dotard, and you are\nnot warranted at all to come over here and ask me whether anything\nwas faulty with you.'\n\n\"Being thus reprimanded, the signification of the whole affair\nsuddenly dawned upon the mind of Rin-zai, and he exclaimed: 'There is\nnot much, after all, in the Buddhism of Obak.'  Whereupon Dai-gu took\nhold of him, and said: 'This ghostly good-for-nothing creature!  A\nfew minutes ago you came to me and complainingly asked what was wrong\nwith you, and now boldly declare that there is not much in the\nBuddhism of Obak.  What is the reason of all this?  Speak out quick!\nspeak out quick!'  In response to this, Rin-zai softly struck three\ntimes his fist at the ribs of Dai-gu.  The latter then released him,\nsaying: 'Your teacher is Obak, and I will have nothing to do with\nyou.'\n\n\"Rin-zai took leave of Dai-gu and came back to Obak, who, on seeing\nhim come, exclaimed: 'Foolish fellow! what does it avail you to come\nand go all the time like this?'  Rin-zai said: 'It is all due to your\ndoting kindness.'\n\n\"When, after the usual salutation, Rin-zai stood by the side of Obak,\nthe latter asked him whence he had come this time.  Rin-zai answered:\n\"In obedience to your kind instruction, I was with Dai-gu. Thence am\nI come.'\n\nAnd he related, being asked for further information, all that had\nhappened there.\n\n\"Obak said: 'As soon as that fellow shows himself up here, I shall\nhave to give him a good thrashing.'  'You need not wait for him to\ncome; have it right this moment,' was the reply; and with this\nRin-zai gave his master a slap on the back.\n\n\"Obak said: 'How dares this lunatic come into my presence and play\nwith a tiger's whiskers?'  Rin-zai then burst out into a Ho,[FN#85]\nand Obak said: 'Attendant, come and carry this lunatic away to his\ncell.'\"\n\n\n[FN#85]  A loud outcry, frequently made use of by Zen teachers, after\nRin-zai. Its Chinese pronunciation is 'Hoh,' and pronounced 'Katsu'\nin Japanese, but 'tsu' is not audible.\n\n\n\n8. The Courage and the Composure of Mind of the Zen Monk and of the\nSamurai.\n\nFourthly, our Samurai encountered death, as is well known, with\nunflinching courage.  He would never turn back from, but fight till\nhis last with his enemy.  To be called a coward was for him the\ndishonour worse than death itself.  An incident about Tsu Yuen\n(So-gen), who came over to Japan in 1280, being invited by\nToki-mune[FN#86] (Ho-jo), the Regent General, well illustrates how\nmuch Zen monks resembled our Samurais.  The event happened when he\nwas in China, where the invading army of Yuen spread terror all over\nthe country.  Some of the barbarians, who crossed the border of the\nState of Wan, broke into the monastery of Tsu Yuen, and threatened to\nbehead him.  Then calmly sitting down, ready to meet his fate, he\ncomposed the following verses\n\n\"The heaven and earth afford me no shelter at all;\nI'm glad, unreal are body and soul.\nWelcome thy weapon, O warrior of Yuen! Thy trusty steel,\nThat flashes lightning, cuts the wind of Spring, I feel.\"\n\n\n[FN#86]  A bold statesman and soldier, who was the real ruler of\nJapan 1264-1283.\n\n\nThis reminds us of Sang Chao[FN#87] (So-jo), who, on the verge of\ndeath by the vagabond's sword, expressed his feelings in the follow\nlines:\n\n\"In body there exists no soul.\nThe mind is not real at all.\nNow try on me thy flashing steel,\nAs if it cuts the wind of Spring, I feel.\"\n\n\n[FN#87]  The man was not a pure Zen master, being a disciple of\nKumarajiva, the founder of the San Ron Sect. This is a most\nremarkable evidence that Zen, especially the Rin Zan school, was\ninfluenced by Kumarajiva and his disciples. For the details of the\nanecdote, see E-gen.\n\n\nThe barbarians, moved by this calm resolution and dignified air of\nTsu Yuen, rightly supposed him to be no ordinary personage, and left\nthe monastery, doing no harm to him.\n\n\n\n9. Zen and the Regent Generals of the Ho-Jo Period.\n\nNo wonder, then, that the representatives of the Samurai class, the\nRegent Generals, especially such able rulers as Toki-yori, Toki-mune,\nand others noted for their good administration, of the Ho-jo period\n(1205-1332) greatly favoured Zen.  They not only patronized the\nfaith, building great temples[FN#88] and inviting best Chinese Zen\nteachers[FN#89] but also lived just as Zen monks, having the head\nshaven, wearing a holy robe, and practising cross-legged Meditation.\n\n\n[FN#88]  To-fuku-ji, the head temple of a sub-sect of the Rin Zai\nunder the same name, was built in 1243.  Ken-cho-ji, the head temple\nof a subsect of the Rin Zai under the same name, was built in 1253.\nEn-gaku ji, the head temple of a sub-sect of the Rin Zai under the\nsame name, was built in 1282.  Nan-zen-ji, the head temple of a\nsub-sect of the Rin Zai under the same name, was erected in 1326.\n\n[FN#89]  Tao Lung (Do-ryu), known as Dai-kaku Zen-ji, invited by\nTokiyori, came over to Japan in 1246.  He became the founder of\nKen-cho-ji-ha, a sub-sect of the Rin Zai, and died in 1278.  Of his\ndisciples, Yaku-o was most noted, and Yaku-o's disciple, Jaku-shitsu,\nbecame the founder of Yo-genji-ha, another sub-sect of the Rin Zai.\nTsu Yuen (So-gen), known as Buk-ko-koku-shi, invited by Toki-mune,\ncrossed the sea in 1280, became the founder of En-gaku-ji-ha (a\nsub-sect of the Rin Zai), and died in 1286.  Tsing Choh (Sei-setsu),\ninvited by Taka-toki, came in 1327, and died in 1339.  Chu Tsun\n(So-shun) came in 1331, and died in 1336.  Fan Sien (Bon-sen) came\ntogether with Chu Tsun, and died in 1348.  These were the prominent\nChinese teachers of that time.\n\n\nToki-yori (1247-1263), for instance, who entered the monastic life\nwhile be was still the real governor of the country, led as simple a\nlife, as is shown in his verse, which ran as follows:\n\n\"Higher than its bank the rivulet flows;\nGreener than moss tiny grass grows.\nNo one call at my humble cottage on the rock,\nBut the gate by itself opens to the Wind's knock.\"\n\nToki-yori attained to Enlightenment by the instruction of Do-gen and\nDo-ryu, and breathed his last calmly sitting cross-legged, and\nexpressing his feelings in the following lines:\n\n\"Thirty-seven of years,\nKarma mirror stood high;\nNow I break it to pieces,\nPath of Great is then nigh.\"\n\nHis successor, Toki-mune (1264-1283), a bold statesman and soldier,\nwas no less of a devoted believer in Zen.  Twice he beheaded the\nenvoys sent by the great Chinese conqueror, Kublai, who demanded\nJapan should either surrender or be trodden under his foot.  And when\nthe alarming news of the Chinese Armada's approaching the land\nreached him, be is said to have called on his tutor, Tsu Yuen, to\nreceive the last instruction.  \"Now, reverend sir,\" said. he, \"an\nimminent peril threatens the land.\"  \"How art thou going to encounter\nit?\" asked the master.  Then Toki-mune burst into a thundering Ka\nwith all his might to show his undaunted spirit in encountering the\napproaching enemy.  \"O, the lion's roar!\" said Tsu Yuen.\n\n\"Thou art a genuine lion. Go, and never turn back.\"  Thus encouraged\nby the teacher, the Regent General sent out the defending army, and\nsuccessfully rescued the state from the mouth of destruction, gaining\na splendid victory over the invaders, almost all of whom perished in\nthe western seas.\n\n\n\n10. Zen after the Downfall of the Ho-Jo Regency.\n\nTowards the end of the Ho-Jo period,[FN#90] and after the downfall of\nthe Regency in 1333, sanguinary battles were fought between the\nImperialists and the rebels.  The former, brave and faithful as they\nwere, being outnumbered by the latter, perished in the field one\nafter another for the sake of the ill-starred Emperor Go-dai-go\n(1319-1338), whose eventful life ended in anxiety and despair.\n\n\n[FN#90]  Although Zen was first favoured by the Ho-jo Regency and\nchiefly prospered at Kama-kura, yet it rapidly began to exercise its\ninfluence on nobles and Emperors at Kyo-to.  This is mainly due to\nthe activity of En-ni, known as Sho-Ichi-Koku-Shi (1202-1280), who\nfirst earned Zen under Gyo-yu, a disciple of Ei-sai, and afterwards\nwent to China, where he was Enlightened under the instruction of Wu\nChun, of the monastery of King Shan.  After his return, Michi-iye\n(Fuji-wara), a powerful nobleman, erected for him To-fuku-ji in 1243,\nand he became the founder of a sub-sect of the Rin Zai, named after\nthat monastery.  The Emperor Go-saga (1243-1246), an admirer of his,\nreceived the Moral Precepts from him.  One of his disciples, To-zan,\nbecame the spiritual adviser of the Emperor Fushi-mi (1288-1298), and\nanother disciple, Mu kwan, was created the abbot of the monastery of\nNan-zen-ji by the Emperor Kame-yama (1260-1274), as the founder of a\nsub-sect of the Rin Zai under the same name.\n\nAnother teacher who gained lasting influence on the Court is Nan-po,\nknown as Dai-O-Koku-Shi (1235-1308), who was appointed the abbot of\nthe monastery of Man-ju-ji in Kyo to by the Emperor Fushi-mi.  One of\nhis disciples, Tsu-o, was the spiritual adviser to both the Emperor\nHana-zono (1308-1318) and the Emperor Go-dai-go.  And another\ndisciple, Myo-cho, known as Dai-To-Koku-Shi (1282-1337), also was\nadmired by the two Emperors, and created the abbot of Dai-toku-ji, as\nthe founder of a sub-sect of the Rin Zai under the same name.  It was\nfor Myo-cho's disciple, Kan-zan (1277 1360), that the Emperor\nHana-zono turned his detached palace into a monastery, named\nMyo-shin-ji, the head temple of a sub-sect of the Rin Zai under the\nsame name.\n\n\nIt was at this time that Japan gave birth to Masa-shige (Kusu-noki),\nan able general and tactician of the Imperialists, who for the sake\nof the Emperor not only sacrificed himself and his brother, but by\nhis will his son and his son's successor died for the same cause,\nboldly attacking the enemy whose number was overwhelmingly great.\nMasa-shige's loyalty, wisdom, bravery, and prudence are not merely\nunique in the history of Japan, but perhaps in the history of man.\nThe tragic tale about his parting with his beloved son, and his\nbravery shown at his last battle, never fail to inspire the Japanese\nwith heroism.  He is the best specimen of the Samurai class.\nAccording to an old document,[FN#91] this Masa-shige was the\npractiser of Zen, and just before his last battle he called on Chu\nTsun (So-shun) to receive the final instruction.  \"What have I to do\nwhen death takes the place of life?\" asked Masa-shige.  The teacher\nreplied:\n\n\"Be bold, at once cut off both ties,\nThe drawn sword gleams against the skies.\"\n\nThus becoming, as it were, an indispensable discipline for the\nSamurai, Zen never came to an end with the Ho-jo period, but grew\nmore prosperous than before during the reign[FN#92] of the Emperor\nGo-dai-go, one of the most enthusiastic patrons of the faith.\n\n\n[FN#91]  The event is detailed at length in a life of So-shun, but\nsome historians suspect it to be fictitious. This awaits a further\nresearch.\n\n[FN#92]  As we have already mentioned, Do-gen, the founder of the\nJapanese So To Sect, shunned the society of the rich and the\npowerful, and led a secluded life.  In consequence his sect did not\nmake any rapid progress until the Fourth Patriarch of his line,\nKei-zan (1268-1325) who, being of energetic spirit, spread his faith\nwith remarkable activity, building many large monasteries, of which\nYo-ko-ji, in the province of No-to, So-ji-ji (near Yokohama), one of\nthe head temples of the sect, are well known.  One of his disciples,\nMei ho (1277-1350), propagated the faith in the northern provinces;\nwhile another disciple, Ga-san (1275-1365), being a greater\ncharacter, brought up more than thirty distinguished disciples, of\nwhom Tai-gen, Tsu-gen, Mu-tan, Dai-tetsu, and Jip-po, are best known.\n Tai-gen (died 1370) and big successors propagated the faith over the\nmiddle provinces, while Tsu-gen (1332-1391) and his successors spread\nthe sect all over the north-eastern and south-western provinces.\nThus it is worthy of our notice that most of the Rin Zai teachers\nconfined their activities within Kamakura and Kyo-to, while the So To\nmasters spread the faith all over the country.\n\n\nThe Shoguns of the Ashi-kaga period (1338-1573) were not less devoted\nto the faith than the Emperors who succeeded the Emperor Go-dai-go.\nAnd even Taka-uji (1338-1357), the notorious founder of the\nShogunate, built a monastery and invited So-seki,[FN#93] better known\nas Mu-So-Koku-Shi, who was respected as the tutor by the three\nsuccessive Emperors after Go-dai-go.  Taka-uji's example was followed\nby all succeeding Shoguns, and Shogun's example was followed by the\nfeudal lords and their vassals.  This resulted in the propagation of\nZen throughout the country.  We can easily imagine how Zen was\nprosperous in these days from the splendid monasteries[FN#94] built\nat this period, such as the Golden Hall Temple and the Silver Hall\nTemple that still adorn the fair city of Kyo-to.\n\n[FN#93]  So-seki (1276-1351) was perhaps the greatest Zen master of\nthe period.  Of numerous monasteries built for him, E-rin-ji, in the\nprovince of Kae, and Ten-ryu-ji, the head temple of a sub-sect of the\nRin Zai under the same name, are of importance.  Out of over seventy\neminent disciples of his, Gi-do (1365-1388), the author of Ku-ge-shu;\nShun-oku (1331-1338), the founder of the monastery of So-koku-ji, the\nhead temple of a sub-sect of the Rin Zai under the same name; and\nZek-kai (1337-1405), author of Sho-ken-shu, are best known.\n\n\n[FN#94]  Myo-shin-ji was built in 1337 by the Emperor Hana-zono;\nTen-ryu-ji was erected by Taka-uji, the first Shogun of the period,\nin 1344; So-koku-ji by Yosh-imitsu, the third Shogun, in 1385;\nKin-Kaku-ji, or Golden Hall Temple, by the same Shogun, in 1397;\nGin-kaku-ji, or Silver Hall Temple, by Yoshi-masa, the eighth Shogun,\nin 1480.\n\n\n\n11. Zen in the Dark Age.\n\nThe latter half of the Ashikaga period was the age of arms and\nbloodshed.  Every day the sun shone on the glittering armour of\nmarching soldiers.  Every wind sighed over the lifeless remains of\nthe brave.  Everywhere the din of battle resounded.  Out of these\nfighting feudal lords stood two champions.  Each of them\ndistinguished himself as a veteran soldier and tactician.  Each of\nthem was known as an experienced practiser of Zen.  One was\nHaru-nobu[FN#95] (Take-da, died in 1573), better known by his\nBuddhist name, Shin-gen.  The other was Teru-tora[FN#96] (Uye-sugi,\ndied in 1578), better known by his Buddhist name, Ken-shin.  The\ncharacter of Shin-gen can be imagined from the fact that he never\nbuilt any castle or citadel or fortress to guard himself against his\nenemy, but relied on his faithful vassals and people; while that of\nKen-shin, from the fact that he provided his enemy, Shin-gen, with\nsalt when the latter suffered from want of it, owing to the cowardly\nstratagem of a rival lord.  The heroic battles waged by these two\ngreat generals against each other are the flowers of the Japanese\nwar-history.  Tradition has it that when Shin-gen's army was put to\nrout by the furious attacks of Ken-shin's troops, and a single\nwarrior mounted on a huge charger rode swiftly as a sweeping wind\ninto Shin-gen's head-quarters, down came a blow of the heavy sword\naimed at Shin-gen's forehead, with a question expressed in the\ntechnical terms of Zen: \"What shalt thou do in such a state at such a\nmoment?\"  Having no time to draw his sword, Shin-gen parried it with\nhis war-fan, answering simultaneously in Zen words: \"A flake of snow\non the red-hot furnace!\"  Had not his attendants come to the rescue\nShin-gen's life might have gone as 'a flake of snow on the red-hot\nfurnace.'  Afterwards the horseman was known to have been Ken-shin\nhimself.  This tradition shows us how Zen was practically lived by\nthe Samurais of the Dark Age.\n\n\n[FN#95]  Shin-gen practised Zen under the instruction of Kwai-sen,\nwho was burned to death by Nobu-naga (O-da) in 1582.  See\nHon-cho-ko-so-den.\n\n[FN#96]  Ken-shin learned Zen under Shu-ken, a So Ta master. See\nTo-jo-ren-to-roku.\n\n\nAlthough the priests of other Buddhist sects had their share in these\nbloody affairs, as was natural at such a time, yet Zen monks stood\naloof and simply cultivated their literature.  Consequently, when all\nthe people grew entirely ignorant at the end of the Dark Age, the Zen\nmonks were the only men of letters.  None can deny this merit of\ntheir having preserved learning and prepared for its revival in the\nfollowing period.[FN#97]\n\n\n[FN#97]  After the introduction of Zen into Japan many important\nbooks were written, and the following are chief doctrinal works:\nKo-zen-go-koku-ron, by Ei-sai; Sho bo-gen-zo; Gaku-do-yo-zin-shu;\nFu-kwan-za-zen-gi; Ei-hei-ko-roku, by Do-gen; Za-zen-yo-zin-ki; and\nDen-ko-roku, by Kei-zan.\n\n\n\n12. Zen under the Toku-gana Shogunate.\n\nPeace was at last restored by Iye-yasu, the founder of the Toku-gana\nShogunate (1603-1867).  During this period the Shogunate gave\ncountenance to Buddhism on one hand, acknowledging it as the state\nreligion, bestowing rich property to large monasteries, making\npriests take rank over common people, ordering every householder to\nbuild a Buddhist altar in his house; while, on the other hand, it did\neverything to extirpate Christianity, introduced in the previous\nperiod (1544).  All this paralyzed the missionary spirit of the\nBuddhists, and put all the sects in dormant state. As for Zen[FN#98]\nit was still favoured by feudal lords and their vassals, and almost\nall provincial lords embraced the faith.\n\n\n[FN#98]  The So To Sect was not wanting in competent teachers, for it\nmight take pride in its Ten-kei (1648-1699), whose religious insight\nwas unsurpassed by any other master of the age; in its Shi getsu, who\nwas a commentator of various Zen books, and died 1764; in its Men-zan\n(1683-1769), whose indefatigable works on the exposition of So To Zen\nare invaluable indeed; and its Getsu-shu (1618-1696) and Man-zan\n(1635-1714), to whose labours the reformation of the faith is\nascribed.  Similarly, the Rin Zai Sect, in its Gu-do (1579-1661); in\nits Isshi (1608-1646); in its Taku-an (1573-1645), the favourite\ntutor of the third Shogun, Iye-mitsu; in its Haku-in (1667-1751), the\ngreatest of the Rin Zai masters of the day, to whose extraordinary\npersonality and labour the revival of the sect is due; and its To-rei\n(1721-1792), a learned disciple of Haku-in.  Of the important Zen\nbooks written by these masters, Ro-ji-tan-kin, by Ten-kei;\nMen-zan-ko-roku, by Men-zan; Ya-sen-kwan-wa, Soku-ko-roku,\nKwai-an-koku-go, Kei-so-doku-zui, by Haku-in; Shu-mon-mu-jin-to-ron,\nby To-rei, are well known.\n\n\nIt was about the middle of this period that the forty-seven vassals\nof Ako displayed the spirit of the Samurai by their perseverance,\nself-sacrifice, and loyalty, taking vengeance on the enemy of their\ndeceased lord.  The leader of these men, the tragic tales of whom can\nnever be told or heard without tears, was Yoshi-o (O-ishi died 1702),\na believer of Zen,[FN#99] and his tomb in the cemetery of the temple\nof Sen-gaku-ji, Tokyo, is daily visited by hundreds of his admirers.\nMost of the professional swordsmen forming a class in these days\npractised Zen. Mune-nori[FN#100](Ya-gyu), for instance, established\nhis reputation by the combination of Zen and the fencing art.\n\n\n[FN#99]  See \"Zen Shu,\" No. 151.\n\n[FN#100]  He is known as Ta-jima, who practised Zen under Taku-an.\n\n\nThe following story about Boku-den (Tsuka-hara), a great swordsman,\nfully illustrates this tendency:\n\n\"On a certain occasion Boku-den took a ferry to cross over the Yabase\nin the province of Omi.  There was among the passengers a Samurai,\ntall and square-shouldered, apparently an experienced fencer.  He\nbehaved rudely toward the fellow-passengers, and talked so much of\nhis own dexterity in the art that Boku-den, provoked by his brag,\nbroke silence.  'You seem, my friend, to practise the art in order to\nconquer the enemy, but I do it in order not to be conquered,' said\nBoku-den.  'O monk,' demanded the man, as Boku-den was clad like a\nZen monk, 'what school of swordsmanship do you belong to?'  Well,\nmine is the Conquering-enemy-without-fighting-school.'  'Don't tell a\nfib, old monk.  If you could conquer the enemy without fighting, what\nthen is your sword for?'  'My sword is not to kill, but to save,'\nsaid Boku-den, making use of Zen phrases; 'my art is transmitted from\nmind to mind.'  'Now then, come, monk,' challenged the man, 'let us\nsee, right at this moment, who is the victor, you or I.'  The\ngauntlet was picked up without hesitation.  'But we must not fight,'\nsaid Boku-den, 'in the ferry, lest the passengers should be hurt.\nYonder a small island you see.  There we shall decide the contest.'\nTo this proposal the man agreed, and the boat was pulled to that\nisland.  No sooner had the boat reached the shore than the man jumped\nover to the land, and cried: 'Come on, monk, quick, quick!'\nBoku-den, however, slowly rising, said: 'Do not hasten to lose your\nhead.  It is a rule of my school to prepare slowly for fighting,\nkeeping the soul in the abdomen.'  So saying he snatched the oar from\nthe boatman and rowed the boat back to some distance, leaving the man\nalone, who, stamping the ground madly, cried out: 'O, you fly, monk,\nyou coward.  Come, old monk!'  'Now listen,' said Boku-den, 'this is\nthe secret art of the Conquering-enemy-without-fighting-school.\nBeware that you do not forget it, nor tell it to anybody else.'\nThus, getting rid of the brawling fellow, Boku-den and his\nfellow-passengers safely landed on the opposite shore.\"[FN#101]  The\nO Baku School of Zen was introduced by Yin Yuen (In-gen) who crossed\nthe sea in 1654, accompanied by many able disciples.[FN#102]  The\nShogunate gave him a tract of land at Uji, near Kyo-to, and in 1659\nhe built there a monastery noted for its Chinese style of\narchitecture, now known as O-baku-san.  The teachers of the same\nschool[FN#103] came one after another from China, and Zen[FN#104]\npeculiar to them, flourished a short while.\n\n\n[FN#101]  Shi-seki-shu-ran.\n\n[FN#102]  In-gen (1654-1673) came over with Ta-Mei (Dai-bi, died\n1673), Hwui Lin (E-rin died 1681), Tuh Chan (Doku-tan, died 1706),\nand others.  For the life of In-gen: see Zoku-ko-shu-den and\nKaku-shu-ko-yo.\n\n[FN#103]  Tsih Fei (Soku-hi died 1671), Muh Ngan (Moku-an died 1684),\nKao Tsuen (Ko-sen died 1695), the author of Fu-so-zen-rin-so-bo-den,\nTo-koku-ko-so-den, and Sen-un-shu, are best known.\n\n[FN#104]  This is a sub-sect of the Rin Zai School, as shown in the\nfollowing table:\n\nTABLE OF THE TRANSMISSION OF ZEN FROM CHINA TO JAPAN.\n\n1. Bodhidharma.\n2. Hwui Ko (E-ka).\n3. San Tsang (So-san).\n4. Tao Sin (Do-shin).\n5. Hung Jan (Ko nin).\n---THE NORTHERN SECT\n   6. Shang Siu (Jin-shu).\n---THE SOUTHERN SECT\n   6. Hwui Nang (E-no).\n   ---THE RIN ZAI SCHOOL.\n      7. Nan Yoh (Nan-gaku).\n      ---10. Gi-ku.\n      ---11. Lin Tsi (Rin-zai).\n         ---21. Yuen Wu (En-go).\n            ---22. Fuh Hai (Bukkai).\n               ---28. Kaku-a.\n            ---THE O BAKU SCHOOL.\n               42. In-gen.\n         ---25. Hti Ngan (Kyo-an).\n            ---26. Ei-sai.\n   ---THE SO TO SCHOOL.\n      7. Tsing Yuen (Sei-gen).\n      ---8. Shih Teu (Seki-to).\n         ---11. Tung Shan (To-zan).\n            ---23. Ju Tsing (Nyo-jo).\n               ---24. Do-gen.\n\nThe O Baku School is the amalgamation of Zen and the worship of\nAmitabha, and different from the other two schools.  The statistics\nfor 1911 give the following figures:\n\nThe Number of Temples:\n\nThe So To School   14,255\nThe Rin Zai School   6,128\nThe O Baku School   546\n\nThe Number of Teachers:\n\nThe So To School   9,576\nThe Rin Zai School   4,523\nThe O Baku School   349\n\n\nIt was also in this period that Zen gained a great influence on the\npopular literature characterized by the shortest form of poetical\ncomposition.  This was done through the genius of Ba-sho,[FN#105] a\ngreat literary man, recluse and traveller, who, as his writings show\nus, made no small progress in the study of Zen.  Again, it was made\nuse of by the teachers of popular[FN#106] ethics, who did a great\ndeal in the education of the lower classes.  In this way Zen and its\npeculiar taste gradually found its way into the arts of peace, such\nas literature, fine art, tea-ceremony, cookery, gardening,\narchitecture, and at last it has permeated through every fibre of\nJapanese life.\n\n[FN#105]  He (died 1694) learned Zen under a contemporary Zen master\n(Buccho), and is said to have been enlightened before his reformation\nof the popular literature.\n\n[FN#106]  The teaching was called Shin-gaku, or the 'learning of\nmind.'  It was first taught by Bai-gan (Ishi-da), and is the\nreconciliation of Shintoism and Buddhism with Confucianism.  Bai-gan\nand his successors practised Meditation, and were enlightened in\ntheir own way.  Do-ni (Naka-zawa, died 1803) made use of Zen more\nthan any other teacher.\n\n\n\n13. Zen after the Restoration.\n\nAfter the Restoration of the Mei-ji (1867) the popularity of Zen\nbegan to wane, and for some thirty years remained in inactivity; but\nsince the Russo-Japanese War its revival has taken place.  And now it\nis looked upon as an ideal faith, both for a nation full of hope and\nenergy, and for a person who has to fight his own way in the strife\nof life.  Bushido, or the code of chivalry, should be observed not\nonly by the soldier in the battle-field, but by every citizen in the\nstruggle for existence.  If a person be a person and not a beast,\nthen he must be a Samurai-brave, generous, upright, faithful, and\nmanly, full of self-respect and self-confidence, at the same time\nfull of the spirit of self-sacrifice.  We can find an incarnation of\nBushido in the late General Nogi, the hero of Port Arthur, who, after\nthe sacrifice of his two sons for the country in the Russo-Japanese\nWar, gave up his own and his wife's life for the sake of the deceased\nEmperor.  He died not in vain, as some might think, because his\nsimplicity, uprightness, loyalty, bravery, self-control, and\nself-sacrifice, all combined in his last act, surely inspire the\nrising generation with the spirit of the Samurai to give birth to\nhundreds of Nogis.  Now let us see in the following chapters what Zen\nso closely connected with Bushido teaches us.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\n\n\nTHE UNIVERSE IS THE SCRIPTURE[FN#107] OF ZEN\n\n\n1. Scripture is no More than Waste Paper.\n\n[FN#107]  Zen is not based on any particular sutra, either of\nMahayana or of Hinayana.  There are twofold Tripitakas (or the three\ncollections of the Buddhist scriptures)-namely, the\nMahayana-tripitaka and the Hinayana-tripitaka.  The former are the\nbasis of the Mahayana, or the higher and reformed Buddhism, full of\nprofound metaphysical reasonings; while the latter form that of the\nHinayana, or the lower and early Buddhism, which is simple and\nethical teaching.  These twofold Tripitakas are as follows:\n\nTHE MAHAYANA-TRIPITAKA.\n\nThe Sutra Pitaka.-The Saddharma-pundarika-sutra,\nSamdhi-nirmocana-sutra, Avatamsaka-sutra, Prajnyaparamita-sutra,\nAmitayus-sutra, Mahaparinirvana-sutra, etc.\n\nThe Vinaya Pitaka.--Brahmajala-sutra, Bodhisattva-caryanirdeca, etc.\n\nThe Abhidharma Pitaka.--Mahaprajnyaparamita-sutra,\nMahayana-craddhotpada-castra, Madhyamaka-castra, Yogacarya\nbhumi-castra, etc.\n\nTHE HINAYANA-TRIPITAKA.\nThe Sutra Pitaka.--Dirghagama, Ekottaragama, Madhyamagama,\nSamyuktagama, etc.\n\nThe Vinaya Pitaka.--Dharmagupta-vinaya, Mahasamghika-vinaya,\nSarvastivada-vinaya, etc.\n\nThe Abhidharma Pitaka.--Dharma-skandha-pada, Samgiti-paryaya-pada,\nJnyanaprasthana-castra, Abhidharma-kosa-castra, etc.\n\nThe term 'Tripitaka,' however, was not known at the time of Shakya\nMuni, and almost all of the northern Buddhist records agree in\nstating that the Tripitaka was rehearsed and settled in the same year\nin which the Muni died.  Mahavansa also says: \"The book called\nAbhidharma-pitaka was compiled, which was preached to god, and was\narranged in due order by 500 Budhu priests.\"  But we believe that\nShakya Muni's teaching was known to the early Buddhists, not as\nTripitaka, but as Vinaya and Dharma, and even at the time of King\nAcoka (who ascended the throne about 269 B.C.) it was not called\nTripitaka, but Dharma, as we have it in his Edicts.  Mahayanists\nunanimously assert the compilation of the Tripitaka in the first\ncouncil of Rajagrha, but they differ in opinion as to the question\nwho rehearsed the Abhidharma; notwithstanding, they agree as for the\nother respects, as you see in the following:\n\nThe Sutra Pitaka, compiled by Ananda; the Vinaya Pitaka, compiled by\nUpali; the Abhidharma Pitaka, compiled by Ananda--according to\nNagarjuna (Mahaprajnyaparamita-castra).\n\nThe Sutra Pitaka, compiled by Ananda; the Vinaya Pitaka, compiled by\nUpali; the Abhidharma Pitaka, compiled by Kacyapa according to Huen\nTsang (Ta-tan-si-yu-ki).\n\nThe Sutra Pitaka, compiled by Ananda; the Vinaya Pitaka, compiled by\nUpali; the Abhidharma Pitaka, compiled by Purna--according to\nParamartha ('A Commentary on the History of the Hinayana Schools').\n\nThe above-mentioned discrepancy clearly betrays the uncertainty of\ntheir assertions, and gives us reason to discredit the compilation of\nAbhidharma Pitaka at the first council.  Besides, judging from the\nDharma-gupta-vinaya and other records, which states that Purna took\nno part in the first council, and that he had different opinions as\nto the application of the rules of discipline from that of Kacyapa,\nthere should be some errors in Paramartha's assertion.\nOf these three collections of the Sacred Writings, the first two, or\nSutra and Vinaya, of Mahayana, as well as of Himayana, are believed\nto be the direct teachings of Shakya Muni himself, because all the\ninstructions are put in the mouth of the Master or sanctioned by him.\n The Mahayanists, however, compare the Hinayana doctrine with a\nresting-place on the road for a traveller, while the Mahayana\ndoctrine with his destination.  All the denominations of Buddhism,\nwith a single exception of Zen, are based on the authority of some\nparticular sacred writings.  The Ten Dai Sect, for instance, is based\non Saddharma-pundarika-sutra; the Jo Do Sect on Larger\nSukhavati-vyuha, Smaller Sukhavati-vyuha, and Amitayus-dhyana-sutra;\nthe Ke Gon Sect on Avatamsaka-sutra; the Hosso Sect on\nSamdhi-nirmocana-sutra.\n\n\nZen is based on the highest spiritual plane attained by Shakya Muni\nhimself.  It can only be realized by one who has attained the same\nplane.  To describe it in full by means of words is beyond the power\neven of Gotama himself.  It is for this reason that the author of\nLankavatara-sutra insists that Shakya Muni spoke no word through his\nlong career of forty-nine years as a religious teacher, and that of\nMahaprajnyaparamita-sutra[FN#108] also express the same opinion.  The\nScripture is no more nor less than the finger pointing to the moon of\nBuddhahood.  When we recognize the moon and enjoy its benign beauty,\nthe finger is of no use.  As the finger has no brightness whatever,\nso the Scripture has no holiness whatever.  The Scripture is\nreligious currency representing spiritual wealth.  It does not matter\nwhether money be gold, or sea-shells, or cows.  It is a mere\nsubstitute.  What it stands for is of paramount importance.  Away\nwith your stone-knife!  Do not watch the stake against which a\nrunning hare once struck its head and died.  Do not wait for another\nhare.  Another may not come for ever.  Do not cut the side of the\nboat out of which you dropped your sword to mark where it sunk.  The\nboat is ever moving on.  The Canon is the window through which we\nobserve the grand scenery of spiritual nature.  To hold communion\ndirectly with it we must get out of the window.  It is a mere stray\nfly that is always buzzing within it, struggling to get out.  Those\nwho spend most of their lives in the study of the Scriptures, arguing\nand explaining with hair-splitting reasonings, and attain no higher\nplane in spirituality, are religious flies good for nothing but their\nbuzzing about the nonsensical technicalities.  It is on this account\nthat Rin-zai declared:[FN#109] 'The twelve divisions of the Buddhist\nCanon are nothing better than waste paper.'\n\n\n[FN#108]  Mahaprajnyaparamita-sutra, vol. 425.\n\n[FN#109]  Rin-zai-roku.\n\n\n\n2. No Need of the Scriptural Authority for Zen.\n\nSome Occidental scholars erroneously identify Buddhism with the\nprimitive faith of Hinayanism, and are inclined to call Mahayanism, a\nlater developed faith, a degenerated one.  If the primitive faith be\ncalled the genuine, as these scholars think, and the later developed\nfaith be the degenerated one, then the child should be called the\ngenuine man and the grown-up people be the degenerated ones;\nsimilarly, the primitive society must be the genuine and the modern\ncivilization be the degenerated one.  So also the earliest writings\nof the Old Testament should be genuine and the four Gospels be\ndegenerated.  Beyond all doubt Zen belongs to Mahayanism, yet this\ndoes not imply that it depends on the scriptural authority of that\nschool, because it does not trouble itself about the Canon whether it\nbe Hinayana or Mahayana, or whether it was directly spoken by Shakya\nMuni or written by some later Buddhists.  Zen is completely free from\nthe fetters of old dogmas, dead creeds, and conventions of\nstereotyped past, that check the development of a religious faith and\nprevent the discovery of a new truth.  Zen needs no Inquisition.  It\nnever compelled nor will compel the compromise of a Galileo or a\nDescartes.  No excommunication of a Spinoza or the burning of a Bruno\nis possible for Zen.\n\nOn a certain occasion Yoh Shan (Yaku-san) did not preach the doctrine\nfor a long while, and was requested to give a sermon by his assistant\nteacher, saying: \"Would your reverence preach the Dharma to your\npupils, who long thirst after your merciful instruction?\"  \"Then ring\nthe bell,\" replied Yoh Shan.  The bell rang, and all the monks\nassembled in the Hall eager to bear the sermon.  Yoh Shan went up to\nthe pulpit and descended immediately without saying a word.  \"You,\nreverend sir,\" asked the assistant, \"promised to deliver a sermon a\nlittle while ago.  Why do you not preach?\"  \"Sutras are taught by the\nSutra teachers,\" said the master; \"Castras are taught by the Castra\nteachers.  No wonder that I say nothing.\"[FN#110]  This little\nepisode will show you that Zen is no fixed doctrine embodied in a\nSutra or a Castra, but a conviction or realization within us.\n\n\n[FN#110]  Zen-rin-rui-shu and E-gen.\n\n\nTo quote another example, an officer offered to Tung Shan (To-zan)\nplenty of alms, and requested him to recite the sacred Canon.  Tung\nShan, rising from his chair, made a bow respectfully to the officer,\nwho did the same to the teacher.  Then Tung Shan went round the\nchair, taking the officer with him, and making a bow again to the\nofficer, asked: \"Do you see what I mean?\"  \"No, sir,\" replied the\nother. \"I have been reciting the sacred Canon, why do you not\nsee?\"[FN#111]  Thus Zen does not regard Scriptures in black and white\nas its Canon, for it takes to-days and tomorrows of this actual life\nas its inspired pages.\n\n\n[FN#111]  Zen-rin-rui-sha and To-zan-roku.\n\n\n\n3. The Usual Explanation of the Canon.\n\nAn eminent Chinese Buddhist scholar, well known as Ten Dai Dai Shi\n(A.D. 538-597), arranged the whole preachings of Shakya Muni in a\nchronological order in accordance with his own religious theory, and\nobserved that there were the Five Periods in the career of the Buddha\nas a religious teacher.  He tried to explain away all the\ndiscrepancies and contradictions, with which the Sacred Books are\nencumbered, by arranging the Sutras in a line of development.  His\nelucidation was so minute and clear, and his metaphysical reasonings\nso acute and captivating, that his opinion was universally accepted\nas an historical truth, not merely by the Chinese, but also by the\nJapanese Mahayanists.  We shall briefly state here the so-called Five\nPeriods.\n\nShakya Muni attained to Buddhaship in his thirtieth year, and sat\nmotionless for seven days under the Bodhi tree, absorbed in deep\nmeditation, enjoying the first bliss of his Enlightenment.  In the\nsecond week he preached his Dharma to the innumerable multitude of\nBodhisattvas,[FN#112] celestial beings, and deities in the nine\nassemblies held at seven different places.  This is the origin of a\nfamous Mahayana book entitled Buddhavatamsaka-mahavaipulya-sutra.  In\nthis book the Buddha set forth his profound Law just as it was\ndiscovered by his highly Enlightened mind, without considering the\nmental states of his hearers.  Consequently the ordinary hearers (or\nthe Buddha's immediate disciples) could not understand the doctrine,\nand sat stupefied as if they were 'deaf and dumb,' while the great\nBodhisattvas fully understood and realized the doctrine.  This is\ncalled the first period, which lasted only two or three[FN#113] weeks.\n\n\n[FN#112]  Bodhisattva is an imaginary personage, or ideal saint,\nsuperior to Arhat, or the highest saint of Hinayanism.  The term\n'Bodhisattva' was first applied to the Buddha before his\nEnlightenment, and afterwards was adopted by Mahayanists to mean the\nadherent of Mahayanism in contradistinction with the Cravaka or\nhearers of Hinayanism.\n\n[FN#113]  Bodhiruci says to the effect that the preachings in the\nfirst five assemblies were made in the first week, and the rest were\ndelivered in the second week.  Nagarjuna says that the Buddha spoke\nno word for fifty-seven days after his Enlightenment.  It is said in\nSaddharma-pundarika-sutra that after three weeks the Buddha preached\nat Varanasi, and it says nothing respecting Avatamsaka-sutra.  Though\nthere are divers opinions about the Buddha's first sermon and its\ndate, all traditions agree in this that he spent some time in\nmeditation, and then delivered the first sermon to the five ascetics\nat Varanasi.\n\n\nThereupon Shakya Muni, having discovered that ordinary bearers were\ntoo ignorant to believe in the Mahayana doctrine and appreciate the\ngreatness of Buddhahood, thought it necessary to modify his teaching\nso as to adjust it to the capacity of ordinary people.  So he went to\nVaranasi (or Benares) and preached his modified doctrine--that is,\nHinayanism.  The instruction given at that time has been handed down\nto us as the four Agamas,[FN#114] or the four Nikayas.  This is\ncalled the second period, which lasted about twelve years.  It was at\nthe beginning of this period that the Buddha converted the five\nascetics,[FN#115] who became his disciples.  Most of the \u00c7ravakas or\nthe adherents of Hinayanism were converted during this period.  They\ntrained their hearts in accordance with the modified Law, learned the\nfour noble truths,[FN#116] and worked out their own salvation.\n\n\n[FN#114]  (1) Anguttara, (2) Majjhima, (3) Digha, (4) Samyutta.\n\n[FN#115]  Kondanynya, Vappa, Baddiya, Mahanana, Assaji.\n\n[FN#116]  The first is the sacred truth of suffering; the second the\ntruth of the origin of suffering--that is, lust and desire; the third\nthe sacred truth of the extinction of suffering; the fourth the\nsacred truth of the path that leads to the extinction of suffering.\nThere are eight noble paths that lead to the extinction of\nsuffering--that is, Right faith, Right resolve, Right speech, Right\naction, Right living, Right effort, Right thought, and Right\nmeditation.\n\n\nThe Buddha then having found his disciples firmly adhering to\nHinayanism without knowing that it was a modified and imperfect\ndoctrine, he had to lead them up to a higher and perfect doctrine\nthat he might lead them up to Buddhahood.  With this object in view\nShakya Muni preached Vimalakirtti-nirdeca-sutra[FN#117],\nLankavatara-sutra, and other sutras, in which he compared Hinayanism\nwith Mahayanism, and described the latter in glowing terms as a deep\nand perfect Law, whilst he set forth the former at naught as a\nsuperficial and imperfect one.  Thus he showed his disciples the\ninferiority of Hinayanism, and caused them to desire for Mahayanism.\nThis is said to be the third period, which lasted some eight years.\n\n\n[FN#117]  This is one of the most noted Mahayana books, and is said\nto be the best specimen of the sutras belonging to this period.  It\nis in this sutra that most of Shakya's eminent disciples, known as\nthe adherents of Hinayanism, are astonished with the profound wisdom,\nthe eloquent speech, and the supernatural power of Vimalakirtti, a\nBodhisattva, and confess the inferiority of their faith.  The author\nfrequently introduces episodes in order to condemn Hinayanism, making\nuse of miracles of his own invention.\n\n\nThe disciples of the Buddha now understood that Mahayanism was far\nsuperior to Hinayanism, but they thought the higher doctrine was only\nfor Bodhisattvas and beyond their understanding.  Therefore they\nstill adhered to the modified doctrine, though they did no longer\ndecry Mahayanism, which they had no mind to practise.  Upon this\nShakya Muni preached Prajnyaparamita-sutras[FN#118] in the sixteen\nassemblies held at four different places, and taught them Mahayanism\nin detail in order to cause them to believe it and practise it.  Thus\nthey became aware that there was no definite demarcation between\nMahayanism and Hinayanism, and that they might become Mahayanists.\nThis is the fourth period, which lasted about twenty-two years.\nNow, the Buddha, aged seventy-two, thought it was high time to preach\nhis long-cherished doctrine that all sentient beings can attain to\nSupreme Enlightenment; so he preached Saddharma-pundarika-sutra, in\nwhich he prophesied when and where his disciples should become\nBuddhas.  It was his greatest object to cause all sentient beings to\nbe Enlightened and enable them to enjoy the bliss of Nirvana.  It was\nfor this that he had endured great pain and hardships through his\nprevious existences.  It was for this that he had left his heavenly\nabode to appear on earth.  It was for this that he had preached from\ntime to time through his long career of forty-seven years.  Having\nthus realized his great aim, Shakya Muni had now to prepare for his\nfinal departure, and preached Mahaparinirvana-sutra in order to show\nthat all the animated and inanimate things were endowed with the same\nnature as his.  After this last instruction he passed to eternity.\nThis is called the fifth period, which lasted some eight years.\n\n\n[FN#118]  Nagarjuna's doctrine depends mainly on these sutras.\n\n\nThese five periods above mentioned can scarcely be called historical\nin the proper sense of the term, yet they are ingeniously invented by\nTen Dai Dai Shi to set the Buddhist Scriptures in the order of\ndoctrinal development, and place Saddharma-pundarika in the highest\nrank among the Mahayana books.  His argument, however dogmatic and\nanti-historical in no small degree, would be not a little valuable\nfor our reader, who wants to know the general phase of the Buddhist\nCanon, consisting of thousands of fascicles.\n\n\n\n4. Sutras used by Zen Masters.\n\nTen Dai failed to explain away the discrepancies and contradictions\nof which the Canon is full, and often contradicted himself by the\nignoring of historical[FN#119] facts.\n\n\n[FN#119]  Let us state our own opinion on the subject in question.\nThe foundation of Hinayanism consists in the four Nikayas, or four\nAgamas, the most important books of that school.  Besides the four\nAgamas, there exist in the Chinese Tripitaka numerous books\ntranslated by various authors, some of which are extracts from\nAgamas, and some the lives of the Buddha, while others are entirely\ndifferent sutras, apparently of later date.  Judging from these\nsources, it seems to us that most of Shakya Muni's original teachings\nare embodied into the four Agamas.  But it is still a matter of\nuncertainty that whether they are stated in Agamas now extant just as\nthey were, for the Buddha's preachings were rehearsed immediately\nafter the Buddha's death in the first council held at Rajagrha, yet\nnot consigned to writing.  They were handed down by memory about one\nhundred years.  Then the monks at Vaisali committed the so-called Ten\nIndulgences, infringing the rules of the Order, and maintained that\nShakya Muni had not condemned them in his preachings.  As there were,\nhowever, no written sutras to disprove their assertion, the elders,\nsuch as Yaca, Revata, and others, who opposed the Indulgences, had to\nconvoke the second council of 700 monks, in which they succeeded in\ngetting the Indulgences condemned, and rehearsed the Buddha's\ninstruction for the second time.  Even in this council of Vaisali we\ncannot find the fact that the Master's preachings were reduced to\nwriting.  The decisions of the 700 elders were not accepted by the\nparty of opposition, who held a separate council, and settled their\nown rules and doctrine.  Thus the same doctrine of the Teacher began\nto be differently stated and believed.\n\nThis being the first open schism, one disruption after another took\nplace among the Buddhistic Order.  There were many different schools\nof the Buddhists at the time when King Acoka ascended the throne\n(about 269 B.C.), and the patronage of the King drew a great number\nof pagan ascetics into the Order, who, though they dressed themselves\nin the yellow robes, yet still preserved their religious views in\ntheir original colour.  This naturally led the Church into continual\ndisturbances and moral corruption.  In the eighteenth year of Acoka's\nreign the King summoned the council of 1,000 monks at Pataliputra\n(Patna), and settled the orthodox doctrine in order to keep the\nDharma pure from heretical beliefs.  We believe that about this time\nsome of the Buddha's preachings were reduced to writing, for the\nmissionaries despatched by the King in the year following the council\nseem to have set out with written sutras.  In addition to this, some\nof the names of the passages of the Dharma are given in the Bharbra\nedict of the King, which was addressed to the monks in Magadha.  We\ndo not suppose, however, that all the sutras were written at once in\nthese days, but that they were copied down from memory one after\nanother at different times, because some of the sutras were put down\nin Ceylon 160 years after the Council of Patna.\n\nIn the introductory book of Ekottaragama (Anguttara Nikaya), now\nextant in the Chinese Tripitaka, we notice the following points: (1)\nIt is written in a style quite different from that of the original\nAgama, but similar to that of the supplementary books of the Mahayana\nsutras; (2) it states Ananda's compilation of the Tripitaka after the\ndeath of the Master; (3) it refers to the past Buddhas, the future\nBuddha Maitreya, and innumerable Bodhisattvas; (4) it praises the\nprofound doctrine of Mahayanism.  From this we infer that the Agama\nwas put in the present form after the rise of the Mahayana School,\nand handed down through the hand of Mahasanghika scholars, who were\nmuch in sympathy with Mahayanism.\n\nAgain, the first book of Dirghagama, (Digha Nikaya), that describes\nthe line of Buddhas who appeared before Shakya Muni, adopts the whole\nlegend of Gotama's life as a common mode of all Buddhas appearing on\nearth; while the second book narrates the death of Gotama and the\ndistribution of his relies, and refers to Pataliputra, the new\ncapital of Acoka.  This shows us that the present Agama is not of an\nearlier date than the third century B.C. Samyuktagama (Samyutta\nNikaya) also gives a detailed account of Acoka's conversion, and of\nhis father Bindusara.  From these evidences we may safely infer that\nthe Hinayana sutras were put in the present shape at different times\nbetween the third century B.C. and the first century A.D.\nWith regard to the Mahayana sutras we have little doubt about their\nbeing the writings of the later Buddhist reformers, even if they are\nput in the mouth of Shakya Muni.  They are entirely different from\nthe sutras of Hinayanism, and cannot be taken as the preachings of\none and the same person.  The reader should notice the following\npoints:\n\n(1) Four councils were held for the rehearsal of the Tripitaka\nnamely, the first at Rajagrha, in the year of Shakya Muni's death;\nthe second at Vaisali, some 100 years after the Buddha; the third at\nthe time of King Acoka, about 235 years after the Master; the fourth\nat the time of King Kanishka, the first century A.D.  But all these\ncouncils were held to compile the Hinayana sutras, and nothing is\nknown of the rehearsal of the Mahayana books.  Some are of opinion\nthat the first council was held within the Sattapanni cave, near\nRajagrha, where the Hinayana Tripitaka was rehearsed by 500 monks,\nwhile outside the cave there assembled a greater number of monks, who\nwere not admitted into the cave, and rehearsed the Mahayana\nTripitaka.  This opinion, however, is based on no reliable source.\n\n(2) The Indian orthodox Buddhists of old declared that the Mahayana\nsutras were the fabrication of heretics or of the Evil One, and not\nthe teachings of the Buddha.  In reply to this, the Mahayanists had\nto prove that the Mahayana sutras were compiled by the direct\ndisciples of the Master; but even Nagarjuna could not vindicate the\ncompilation of the doubtful books, and said (in\nMahaprajnyaparamita-castra) that they were compiled by Ananda and\nManjucri, with myriads of Bodhisattvas at the outside of the Iron\nMountain Range, which encloses the earth.  Asanga also proved (in\nMahayanalankara-sutra-castra) with little success that Mahayanism was\nthe Buddha's direct teachings.  Some may quote\nBodhisattva-garbhastha-sutra in favour of the Mahayana; but it is of\nno avail, as the sutra itself is the work of a later date.\n\n(3) Although almost all of the Mahayana sutras, excepting\nAvatamsaka-sutra, treat of Hinayanism as the imperfect doctrine\ntaught in the first part of the Master's career, yet not merely the\nwhole life of Gotama, but also events which occurred after his death\nare narrated in the Hinayana sutras.  This shows that the Mahayana\nsutras were composed after the establishment of early Buddhism.\n\n(4) The narratives given in the Hinayana sutras in reference to\nShakya Muni seem to be based on historical facts, but those in the\nMahayana books are full of wonders and extravagant miracles far from\nfacts.\n\n(5) The Hinayana sutras retain the traces of their having been\nclassified and compiled as we see in Ekottaragama, while Mahayana\nbooks appear to have been composed one after another by different\nauthors at different times, because each of them strives to excel\nothers, declaring itself to be the sutra of the highest doctrine, as\nwe see in Saddharma-pundarika, Samdhinirmocana,\nSuvarnaprabhasottamaraja, etc.\n\n(6) The dialogues in the Hinayana sutras are in general those between\nthe Buddha and his disciples, while in the Mahayana books imaginary\nbeings called Bodhisattvas take the place of disciples.  Moreover, in\nsome books no monks are mentioned.\n\n(7) Most of the Mahayana sutras declare that they themselves possess\nthose mystic powers that protect the reader or the owner from such\nevils as epidemic, famine, war, etc.; but the Hinayana sutras are\npure from such beliefs.\n\n(8) The Mahayana sutras extol not only the merits of the reading, but\nthe copying of the sutras.  This unfailingly shows the fact that they\nwere not handed down by memory, as the Hinayana sutras, but written\nby their respective authors.\n\n(9) The Hinayana sutras were written with a plain style in Pali,\nwhile the Mahayana books, with brilliant phraseology, in Sanskrit.\n\n(10) The Buddha in the Hinayana sutras is little more than a human\nbeing, while Buddha or Tathagata in the Mahayana is a superhuman\nbeing or Great Deity.\n\n(11) The moral precepts of the Hinayana were laid down by the Master\nevery time when his disciples acted indecently, while those of the\nMahayana books were spoken all at once by Tathagata.\n\n(12) Some Mahayana sutras appear to be the exaggeration or\nmodification of what was stated in the Hinayana books, as we see in\nMahaparinirvana-sutra.\n\n(13) If we take both the Hinayana and the Mahayana as spoken by one\nand the same person, we cannot understand why there are so many\ncontradictory statements, as we see in the following:\n\n(a) Historical Contradictions.--For instance, Hinayana sutras are\nheld to be the first sermon of the Buddha by the author of\nSaddharma-pundarika, while Avatamsaka declares itself to be the first\nsermon.  Nagarjuna holds that Prajnya sutras are the first.\n\n(b) Contradictions as to the Person of the Master.--For instance,\nAgamas say the Buddha's body was marked with thirty-two\npeculiarities, while the Mahayana books enumerate ninety-seven\npeculiarities, or even innumerable marks.\n\n(c) Doctrinal Contradictions.--For instance, the Hinayana sutras put\nforth the pessimistic, nihilistic view of life, while the Mahayana\nbooks, as a rule, express the optimistic, idealistic view.\n\n(14) The Hinayana sutras say nothing of the Mahayana books, while the\nlatter always compare their doctrine with that of the former, and\nspeak of it in contempt.  It is clear that the name 'Hinayana' was\ncoined by the Mahayanists, as there is no sutra which calls itself\n'Hinayana.'  It is therefore evident that when the Hinayana books\ntook the present shape there appeared no Mahayana sutras.\n\n(15) The authors of the Mahayana sutras should have expected the\nopposition of the Hinayanists, because they say not seldom that there\nmight be some who would not believe in and oppose Mahayanism as not\nbeing the Buddha's teaching, but that of the Evil One.  They say also\nthat one who would venture to say the Mahayana books are fictitious\nshould fall into Hell.  For example, the author of\nMahaparinirvana-sutra says: \"Wicked Bhiksus would say all Vaipulya\nMahayana sutras are not spoken by the Buddha, but by the Evil One.\"\n\n(16) There are evidences showing that the Mahayana doctrine was\ndeveloped out of the Hinayana one.\n\n(a) The Mahayanists' grand conception of Tathagata is the natural\ndevelopment of that of those progressive Hinayanists who belonged to\nthe Mahasamghika School, which was formed some one hundred years\nafter the Master.  These Hinayanists maintained that the Buddha had\ninfinite power, endless life, and limitlessly great body.  The author\nof Mahaparinirvana-sutra also says that Buddha is immortal, his\nDharma-kaya is infinite and eternal.  The authors of\nMahayana-mulagata-hrdayabhumi-dhyana-sutra and of\nSuvarnaprabha-sottamaraja-sutra enumerate the Three Bodies of Buddha,\nwhile the writer of Lankavatara-sutra describes the Four Bodies, and\nthat of Avatamsaka-sutra the Ten Bodies of Tathagata.\n\n(b) According to the Hinayana sutras, there are only four stages of\nsaintship, but the Mahasamghika School increases the number and gives\nten steps.  Some Mahayana sutras also enumerate the ten stages of\nBodhisattva, while others give forty-one or fifty two stages.\n\n(c) The Himayana sutras name six past Buddhas and one future Buddha\nMaitreya, while the Mahayana sutras name thirty-five, fifty-three, or\nthree thousand Buddhas.\n\n(d) The Hinayana sutras give the names of six Vijnyanas, while the\nMahayana books seven, eight, or nine Vijnyanas.\n\n(17) For a few centuries after the Buddha we hear only of Hinayanism,\nbut not of Mahayanism, there being no Mahayana teacher.\n\n(18) In some Mahayana sutras (Mahavairocanabhisambodhi-sutra, for\nexample) Tathagata Vairocana takes the place of Gotama, and nothing\nis said of the latter.\n\n(19) The contents of the Mahayana sutras often prove that they were,\ncomposed, or rewritten, or some additions were made, long after the\nBuddha.  For instance, Mahamaya-sutra says that Acvaghosa would\nrefute heretical doctrines 600 years after the Master, and Nagarjuna\nwould advocate the Dharma 700 years after Gotama, while\nLankavatara-sutra prophesies that Nagarjuna would appear in South\nIndia.\n\n(20) The author of San-ron-gen-gi tells us Mahadeva, a leader of the\nMahasamghika School, used Mahayana sutras, together with the orthodox\nTripitaka 116 after the Buddha.  It is, however, doubtful that they\nexisted at so early a date.\n\n(21) Mahaprajnyaparamita-castra, ascribed to Nagarjuna, refers to\nmany Mahayana books, which include Saddharma-pundarika,\nVimalakirtti-nirdeca, Sukhavati-vyuha, Mahaprajnyaparamita,\nPratyutpanna-buddhasammukhavasthita-samadhi, etc.  He quotes in his\nDacabhumivibhasa-castra, Mahaparinirvana, Dacabhumi, etc.\n\n(22) Sthiramati, whose date is said to be earlier than Nagarjuna and\nlater than Acvaghosa, tries to prove that Mahayanism was directly\ntaught by the Master in his Mahayanavataraka-castra.  And\nMahayanottaratantra-castra, which is ascribed by some scholars to\nhim, refers to Avatamsaka, Vajracchedikka-prajnyaparamita,\nSaddharmapundarika, Crimala-devi-simhananda, etc.\n\n(23) Chi-leu-cia-chin, who came to China in A.D. 147 or A.D. 164,\ntranslated some part of Mahayana books known as Maharatnakuta-sutra\nand Mahavaipulya-mahasannipata-sutra.\n\n(24) An-shi-kao, who came to China in A.D. 148, translated such\nMahayana books as Sukhavati-vyaha, Candra-dipa-samadhi, etc.\n\n(25) Matanga, who came to China in A.D. 67, is said by his biographer\nto have been informed of both Mahayanism and Hinayanism to have given\ninterpretations to a noted Mahayana book, entitled Suvarnaprabhasa.\n\n(26) Sandhinirmocana-sutra is supposed to be a work of Asanga not\nwithout reason, because Asanga's doctrine is identical with that of\nthe sutra, and the sutra itself is contained in the latter part of\nYogacaryabhumi-castra.  The author divides the whole preachings of\nthe Master into the three periods that he might place the Idealistic\ndoctrine in the highest rank of the Mahayana schools.\n\n(27) We have every reason to believe that Mahayana sutras began to\nappear (perhaps Prajnya sutras being the first) early in the first\ncentury A.D., that most of the important books appeared before\nNagarjuna, and that some of Mantra sutras were composed so late as\nthe time of Vajrabodhi, who came to China in A.D. 719.\n\n\nTo say nothing of the strong opposition raised by the Japanese\nscholars,[FN#120] such an assumption can be met with an assumption of\nentirely opposite nature, and the difficulties can never be overcome.\n For Zen masters, therefore, these assumptions and reasonings are\nmere quibbles unworthy of their attention.\n\n\n[FN#120]  The foremost of them was Chuki Tominaga (1744), of whose\nlife little is known.  He is said to have been a nameless merchant at\nOsaka.  His Shutsu-jo-ko-go is the first great work of higher\ncriticism on the Buddhist Scriptures.\n\n\nTo believe blindly in the Scriptures is one thing, and to be pious is\nanother.  How often the childish views of Creation and of God in the\nScriptures concealed the light of scientific truths; how often the\nblind believers of them fettered the progress of civilization; how\noften religious men prevented us from the realizing of a new truth,\nsimply because it is against the ancient folk-lore in the Bible.\nNothing is more absurd than the constant dread in which religious\nmen, declaring to worship God in truth and in spirit, are kept at the\nscientific discovery of new facts incompatible with the folk-lore.\nNothing is more irreligious than to persecute the seekers of truth in\norder to keep up absurdities and superstitions of bygone ages.\nNothing is more inhuman than the commission of 'devout cruelty' under\nthe mask of love of God and man.  Is it not the misfortune, not only\nof Christianity, but of whole mankind, to have the Bible encumbered\nwith legendary histories, stories of miracles, and a crude cosmology,\nwhich from time to time come in conflict with science?\n\nThe Buddhist Scriptures are also overloaded with Indian superstitions\nand a crude cosmology, which pass under the name of Buddhism.\nAccordingly, Buddhist scholars have confused not seldom the doctrine\nof the Buddha with these absurdities, and thought it impious to\nabandon them.  Kaiseki,[FN#121] for instance, was at a loss to\ndistinguish Buddhism from the Indian astronomy, which is utterly\nuntenable in the face of the fact.  He taxed his reason to the utmost\nto demonstrate the Indian theory and at the same time to refute the\nCopernican theory.  One day he called on Yeki-do[FN#122] a\ncontemporary Zen master, and explained the construction of the Three\nWorlds as described in the Scriptures, saying that Buddhism would\ncome to naught if the theory of the Three Worlds be overthrown by the\nCopernican. Then Yeki-do exclaimed: \"Buddhism aims to destroy the\nThree Worlds and to establish Buddha's Holy Kingdom throughout the\nuniverse.  Why do you waste your energy in the construction of the\nThree Worlds?\"[FN#123]\n\n\n[FN#121]  A learned Japanese Buddhist scholar, who died in 1882.\n\n[FN#122]  A famous Zen master, the abbot of the So-ji-ji Monastery,\nwho died in 1879.\n\n[FN#123]  Kin-sei-zen-rin-gen-ko-roku.\n\n\nIn this way Zen does not trouble itself about unessentials of the\nScriptures, on which it never depends for its authority.  Do-gen, the\nfounder of the Japanese So To Sect, severely condemns (in his\nSho-bo-gen-zo) the notions of the impurity of women inculcated in the\nScriptures.  He openly attacks those Chinese monks who swore that\nthey would not see any woman, and ridicules those who laid down rules\nprohibiting women from getting access to monasteries.  A Zen master\nwas asked by a Samurai whether there was hell in sooth as taught in\nthe Scriptures.  \"I must ask you,\" replied he, \"before I give you an\nanswer.  For what purpose is your question?  What business have you,\na Samurai, with a thing of that sort?  Why do you bother yourself\nabout such an idle question?  Surely you neglect your duty and are\nengaged in such a fruitless research.  Does this not amount to your\nstealing the annual salary from your lord?\"  The Samurai, offended\nnot a little with these rebukes, stared at the master, ready to draw\nhis sword at another insult.  Then the teacher said smilingly: \"Now\nyou are in Hell.  Don't you see?\"\n\nDoes, then, Zen use no scripture?  To this question we answer both\naffirmatively and negatively: negatively, because Zen regards all\nsutras as a sort of pictured food which has no power of appeasing\nspiritual hunger; affirmatively, because it freely makes use of them\nirrespective of Mahayana or Hinayana.  Zen would not make a bonfire\nof the Scriptures as Caliph Omar did of the Alexandrian library.  A\nZen master, having seen a Confucianist burning his books on the\nthought that they were rather a hindrance to his spiritual growth,\nobserved: \"You had better burn your books in mind and heart, but not\nthe books in black and white.\"[FN#124]\n\n\n[FN#124]  Ukiyo-soshi.\n\n\nAs even deadly poison proves to be medicine in the band of a good\ndoctor, so a heterodox doctrine antagonistic to Buddhism is used by\nthe Zen teachers as a finger pointing to the principle of Zen.  But\nthey as a rule resorted to Lankavatara-sutra,[FN#125]\nVajracchedika-prajnya-paramita-sutra,[FN#126]\nVimalakirtti-nirdeca-sutra[FN#127]\nMahavaipulya-purnabuddha-sutra[FN#128]\nMababuddhosnisa-tathagata-guhyahetu-saksatkrta-prasannatha-sarvabhodhi\nsattvacarya-surangama-sutra,[FN#129] Mahapari-nirvana-sutra,[FN#130]\nSaddharma-pundarika-sutra, Avatamsaka-sutra, and so forth.\n\n\n[FN#125]  This book is the nearest approach to the doctrine of Zen,\nand is said to have been pointed out by Bodhidharma as the best book\nfor the use of his followers.  See Nanjo's Catalogue, Nos. 175, 1761\n177.\n\n[FN#126]  The author of the sutra insists on the unreality of all\nthings.  The book was first used by the Fifth Patriarch, as we have\nseen in the first chapter.  See Nanjo's Catalogue, Nos. 10, 11, 12,\n13, 14, 15.\n\n[FN#127]   The sutra agrees with Zen in many respects, especially in\nits maintaining that the highest truth can only be realized in mind,\nand cannot be expressed by word of mouth.  See Nanjo's Catalogue,\nNos. 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149.\n\n[FN#128]  The sutra was translated into Chinese by Buddhatrata in the\nseventh century.  The author treats at length of Samadhi, and sets\nforth a doctrine similar to Zen, so that the text was used by many\nChinese Zenists.  See Nanjo's Catalogue, Nos. 427 and 1629.\n\n[FN#129]  The sutra was translated into Chinese by Paramiti and\nMikacakya, of the Tang dynasty (618-907).  The author conceives\nReality as Mind or Spirit.  The book belongs to the Mantra class,\nalthough it is much used by Zenists.  See Nanjo's Catalogue, No. 446.\n\n[FN#130]  The author of the book sets forth his own conception of\nNirvana and of Buddha, and maintains that all beings are endowed with\nBuddha-nature.  He also gives in detail an incredible account about\nGotama's death.\n\n\n\n5. A Sutra Equal in Size to the Whole World.\n\nThe holy writ that Zen masters admire is not one of parchment nor of\npalm-leaves, nor in black and white, but one written in heart and\nmind.  On one occasion a King of Eastern India invited the venerable\nPrajnyatara, the teacher of Bodhidharma, and his disciples to dinner\nat his own palace.\n\nFinding all the monks reciting the sacred sutras with the single\nexception of the master, the King questioned Prajnyatara: \"Why do you\nnot, reverend sir, recite the Scriptures as others do?\"  \"My poor\nself, your majesty,\" replied he, \"does not go out to the objects of\nsense in my expiration nor is it confined within body and mind in my\ninspiration.  Thus I constantly recite hundreds, thousands, and\nmillions of sacred sutras.\"  In like manner the Emperor Wu, of the\nLiang dynasty, once requested Chwen Hih (Fu Dai-shi) to give a\nlecture on the Scriptures.  Chwen went upon the platform, struck the\ndesk with a block of wood, and came down.  Pao Chi (Ho-shi), a\nBuddhist tutor to the Emperor, asked the perplexed monarch: \"Does\nyour Lordship understand him?\"  \"No,\" answered His Majesty.  \"The\nlecture of the Great Teacher is over.\"  As it is clear to you from\nthese examples, Zen holds that the faith must be based not on the\ndead Scriptures, but on living facts, that one must turn over not the\ngilt pages of the holy writ, but read between the lines in the holy\npages of daily life, that Buddha must be prayed not by word of mouth,\nbut by actual deed and work, and that one must split open, as the\nauthor of Avatamsaka-sutra allegorically tells us, the smallest grain\nof dirt to find therein a sutra equal in size to the whole world.\n\"The so-called sutra,\" says Do-gen, \"covers the whole universe. It\ntranscends time and space.  It is written with the characters of\nheaven, of man, of beasts, of Asuras,[FN#13l] of hundreds of grass,\nand of thousands of trees.  There are characters, some long, some\nshort, some round, some square, some blue, some red, some yellow, and\nsome white-in short, all the phenomena in the universe are the\ncharacters with which the sutra is written.\"  Shakya Muni read that\nsutra through the bright star illuminating the broad expanse of the\nmorning skies, when he sat in meditation under the Bodhi Tree.\n\n\n[FN#13l]  The name of a demon.\n\n\nLing Yun (Rei-un) read it through the lovely flowers of a peach-tree\nin spring after some twenty years of his research for Light, and said:\n\n\"A score of years I looked for Light:\nThere came and went many a spring and fall.\nE'er since the peach blossoms came in my sight,\nI never doubt anything at all.\"\n\nHian Yen (Kyo-gen) read it through the noise of bamboo, at which he\nthrew pebbles.  Su Shih (So-shoku) read it through a waterfall, one\nevening, and said:\n\n\"The brook speaks forth the Tathagata's words divine,\nThe hills reveal His glorious forms that shine.\"\n\n\n\n6. Great Men and Nature.\n\nAll great men, whether they be poets or scientists or religious men\nor philosophers, are not mere readers of books, but the perusers of\nNature.  Men of erudition are often lexicons in flesh and blood, but\nmen of genius read between the lines in the pages of life.  Kant, a\nman of no great erudition, could accomplish in the theory of\nknowledge what Copernicus did in astronomy.  Newton found the law of\ngravitation not in a written page, but in a falling apple.\nUnlettered Jesus realized truth beyond the comprehension of many\nlearned doctors.  Charles Darwin, whose theory changed the whole\ncurrent of the world's thought, was not a great reader of books, but\na careful observer of facts.  Shakespeare, the greatest of poets, was\nthe greatest reader of Nature and life.  He could hear the music even\nof heavenly bodies, and said:\n\n\"There's not the smallest orb which thou beholdest,\nBut in his motion like an angel sings.\"\n\nChwang Tsz (So-shi), the greatest of Chinese philosophers, says:\n\"Thou knowest the music of men, but not the music of the earth. Thou\nknowest the music of the earth, but not the music of the\nheaven.\"[FN#132]   Goethe, perceiving a profound meaning in Nature,\nsays: \"Flowers are the beautiful hieroglyphics of Nature with which\nshe indicates how much she loves us.\"\n\n\n[FN#132]  Chwang Tsz, vol. i., p. 10.\n\n\nSon-toku[FN#133] (Ninomiya), a great economist, who, overcoming all\ndifficulties and hardships by which he was beset from his childhood,\neducated himself, says: \"The earth and the heaven utter no word, but\nthey ceaselessly repeat the holy book unwritten.\"\n\n[FN#133]  One of the greatest self-made men in Japan, who lived\n1787-1856.\n\n\n\n7. The Absolute and Reality are but an Abstraction.\n\nA grain of sand you, trample upon has a deeper significance than a\nseries of lectures by your verbal philosopher whom you respect.  It\ncontains within itself the whole history of the earth; it tells you\nwhat it has seen since the dawn of time; while your philosopher\nsimply plays on abstract terms and empty words.  What does his\nAbsolute, or One, or Substance mean?  What does his Reality or Truth\nimply?  Do they denote or connote anything?  Mere name! mere\nabstraction!  One school of philosophy after another has been\nestablished on logical subtleties; thousands of books have been\nwritten on these grand names and fair mirages, which vanish the\nmoment that your hand of experience reaches after them.\n\n\"Duke Hwan,\" says Chwang Tsz,[FN#134] \"seated above in his hall, was\"\n(once) reading a book, and a wheelwright, Phien, was making a wheel\nbelow it.  Laying aside his hammer and chisel, Phien went up the\nsteps and said: 'I venture to ask your Grace what words you are\nreading?'  The duke said: 'The words of sages.'  'Are these sages\nalive?' Phien continued.  'They are dead,' was the reply.  'Then,'\nsaid the other, 'what you, my Ruler, are reading is only the dregs\nand sediments of those old men.'  The duke said:\n\n\n[FN#134]  Chwang Tsz, vol. ii., p. 24.\n\n\n'How should you, a wheelwright, have anything to say about the book\nwhich I am reading?  If you can explain yourself, very well; if you\ncannot, you shall die.'  The wheelwright said: 'Your servant will\nlook at the thing from the point of view of his own art.  In making a\nwheel, if I proceed gently, that is pleasant enough, but the\nworkmanship is not strong; if I proceed violently, that is toilsome\nand the joinings do not fit.  If the movements of my hand are neither\n(too) gentle nor (too) violent, the idea in my mind is realized.  But\nI cannot tell (how to do this) by word of mouth; there is a knack in\nit.  I cannot teach the knack to my son, nor can my son learn it from\nme.  Thus it is that I am in my seventieth year, and am (still)\nmaking wheels in my old age.  But these ancients, and what it was not\npossible for them to convey, are dead and gone.  So then what you, my\nRuler, are reading is but their dregs and sediments.\"  Zen has no\nbusiness with the dregs and sediments of sages of yore.\n\n\n\n8. The Sermon of the Inanimate.\n\nThe Scripture of Zen is written with facts simple and familiar, so\nsimple and familiar with everyday life that they escape observation\non that very account.  The sun rises in the east.  The moon sets in\nthe west.  High is the mountain.  Deep is the sea.  Spring comes with\nflowers; summer with the cool breeze; autumn with the bright moon;\nwinter with the fakes of snow.  These things, perhaps too simple and\ntoo familiar for ordinary observers to pay attention to, have had\nprofound significance for Zen.  Li Ngao (Ri-ko) one day asked Yoh\nShan (Yaku-san): \"What is the way to truth?\"  Yoh Shan, pointing to\nthe sky and then to the pitcher beside him, said: \"You see?\"  \"No,\nsir,\" replied Li Ngao.  \"The cloud is in the sky,\" said Yoh Shan,\n\"and the water in the pitcher.\"  Huen Sha (Gen-sha) one day went upon\nthe platform and was ready to deliver a sermon when he heard a\nswallow singing.  \"Listen,\" said he, \"that small bird preaches the\nessential doctrine and proclaims the eternal truth.\"  Then he went\nback to his room, giving no sermon.[FN#135]\n\n\n[FN#135]  Den-to-roku and E-gen.\n\n\nThe letters of the alphabet, a, b, c, etc., have no meaning whatever.\n They are but artificial signs, but when spelt they can express any\ngreat idea that great thinkers may form.  Trees, grass, mountains,\nrivers, stars, moons, suns.  These are the alphabets with which the\nZen Scripture is written.  Even a, b, c, etc., when spelt, can\nexpress any great idea.  Why not, then, these trees, grass, etc., the\nalphabets of Nature when they compose the Volume of the Universe?\nEven the meanest clod of earth proclaims the sacred law.\n\nHwui Chung[FN#136] (E-chu) is said first to have given an expression\nto the Sermon of the Inanimate.  \"Do the inanimate preach the\nDoctrine?\" asked a monk of Hwui Chung on one occasion.  \"Yes, they\npreach eloquently and incessantly.  There is no pause in their\norations,\" was the reply.  \"Why, then, do I not hear them?\" asked the\nother again.  \"Even if you do not, there are many others who can hear\nthem.\"  \"Who can hear them?\"  \"All the sages hear and understand\nthem,\" said Hwui Chung.  Thus the Sermon of the Inanimate had been a\nfavourite topic of discussion 900 years before Shakespeare who\nexpressed the similar idea, saying:\n\n\"And this our life, exempt from public haunt,\nFinds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,\nSermons in stones, and good in everything.\"\n\n\n[FN#136]  A direct disciple of the Sixth Patriarch.\n\n\n\"How wonderful is the Sermon of the Inanimate,\" says Tung Shan\n(To-zan).  \"You cannot hear it through your ears, but you can hear it\nthrough your eyes.\"  You should hear it through your mind's eyes,\nthrough your heart's eyes, through your inmost soul's eyes, not\nthrough your intellect, not through your perception, not through your\nknowledge, not through your logic, not through your metaphysics.  To\nunderstand it you have to divine, not to define; you have to observe,\nnot to calculate; you have to sympathize, not to analyze; you have to\nsee through, not to criticize; you have not to explain, but to feel;\nyou have not to abstract, but to grasp; you have to see all in each,\nbut not to know all in all; you have to get directly at the soul of\nthings, penetrating their hard crust of matter by your rays of the\ninnermost consciousness.  \"The falling leaves as well as the blooming\nflowers reveal to us the holy law of Buddha,\" says a Japanese Zenist.\n\nYe who seek for purity and peace, go to Nature.  She will give you\nmore than ye ask.  Ye who long for strength and perseverance, go to\nNature.  She will train and strengthen you.  Ye who aspire after an\nideal, go to Nature.  She will help you in its realization.  Ye who\nyearn after Enlightenment, go to Nature.  She will never fail to\ngrant your request.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\n\n\nBUDDHA, THE UNIVERSAL SPIRIT\n\n\n1. The Ancient Buddhist Pantheon.\n\nThe ancient Buddhist pantheon was full of deities or Buddhas,\n3,000[FN#137] in number, or rather countless, and also of\nBodhisattvas no less than Buddhas.  Nowadays, however, in every\nchurch of Mahayanism one Buddha or another together with some\nBodhisattvas reigns supreme as the sole object of worship, while\nother supernatural beings sink in oblivion.  These Enlightened\nBeings, regardless of their positions in the pantheon, were generally\nregarded as persons who in their past lives cultivated virtues,\nunderwent austerities, and various sorts of penance, and at length\nattained to a complete Enlightenment, by virtue of which they secured\nnot only peace and eternal bliss, but acquired divers supernatural\npowers, such as clairvoyance, clairaudience, all-knowledge, and what\nnot.  Therefore, it is natural that some Mahayanists[FN#138] came to\nbelieve that, if they should go through the same course of discipline\nand study, they could attain to the same Enlightenment and Bliss, or\nthe same Buddhahood, while other Mahayanists[FN#139] came to believe\nin the doctrine that the believer is saved and led up to the eternal\nstate of bliss, without undergoing these hard disciplines, by the\npower of a Buddha known as having boundless mercy and fathomless\nwisdom whom he invokes.\n\n\n[FN#137]  Trikalpa-trisahasra-buddhanrama-sutra gives the names of\n3,000 Buddhas, and Buddhabhisita-buddhanama-sutra enumerates Buddhas\nand Bodhisattvas 11,093 in number.  See Nanjo's Catalogue, Nos. 404,\n405, 406, 407.\n\n[FN#138]  Those who believe in the doctrine of Holy Path.  See 'A\nHistory of the Twelve Japanese Buddhist Sects,' pp. 109-111.\n\n[FN#139]  Those who believe in the doctrine of the Pure Land.\n\n\n\n2. Zen is Iconoclastic.\n\nFor the followers of Bodhidharma, however, this conception of Buddha\nseemed too crude to be accepted unhesitatingly and the doctrine too\nmuch irrelevant with and uncongenial to actual life.  Since Zen\ndenounced, as we have seen in the previous chapter, the scriptural\nauthority, it is quite reasonable to have given up this view of\nBuddha inculcated in the Mahayana sutras, and to set at naught those\nstatues and images of supernatural beings kept in veneration by the\northodox Buddhists.  Tan Hia (Tan-ka), a noted Chinese Zen master,\nwas found warming himself on a cold morning by the fire made of a\nwooden statue of Buddha.  On another occasion he was found mounting\nastride the statue of a saint.  Chao Chen (Jo-shu) one day happened\nto find Wang Yuen (Bun-yen) worshipping the Buddha in the temple, and\nforthwith struck him with his staff.  \"Is there not anything good in\nthe worshipping of the Buddha?\" protested Wang Yuen.  Then the master\nsaid: \"Nothing is better than anything good.\"[FN#140]  These examples\nfully illustrate Zen's attitude towards the objects of Buddhist\nworship.  Zen is not, nevertheless, iconoclastic in the commonly\naccepted sense of the term, nor is it idolatrous, as Christian\nmissionaries are apt to suppose.\n\n\n[FN#140]  Zen-rin-rui-shu.\n\n\nZen is more iconoclastic than any of the Christian or the Mohammedan\ndenominations in the sense that it opposes the acceptance of the\npetrified idea of Deity, so conventional and formal that it carries\nno inner conviction of the believers.  Faith dies out whenever one\ncomes to stick to one's fixed and immutable idea of Deity, and to\ndeceive oneself, taking bigotry for genuine faith.  Faith must be\nliving and growing, and the living and growing faith should assume no\nfixed form.  It might seem for a superficial observer to take a fixed\nform, as a running river appears constant, though it goes through\nceaseless changes.  The dead faith, immutable and conventional, makes\nits embracer appear religious and respectable, while it arrests his\nspiritual growth.  It might give its owner comfort and pride, yet it\nat bottom proves to be fetters to his moral uplifting.  It is on this\naccount that Zen declares: \"Buddha is nothing but spiritual chain or\nmoral fetters,\" and, \"If you remember even a name of Buddha, it would\ndeprive you of purity of heart.\"  The conventional or orthodox idea\nof Buddha or Deity might seem smooth and fair, like a gold chain,\nbeing polished and hammered through generations by religious\ngoldsmiths; but it has too much fixity and frigidity to be worn by us.\n\n\"Strike off thy fetters, bonds that bind thee down\nOf shining gold or darker, baser ore;\n\nKnow slave is slave caressed or whipped, not free;\nFor fetters tho' of gold, are not less strong to bind.\"\n\n--The Song of the Sannyasin.\n\n\n\n3. Buddha is Unnamable.\n\nGive a definite name to Deity, He would be no more than what the name\nimplies.  The Deity under the name of Brahman necessarily differs\nfrom the Being under the appellation of Jehovah, just as the Hindu\ndiffers from the Jew.  In like manner the Being designated by God\nnecessarily differs from One named Amitabha or from Him entitled\nAllah.  To give a name to the Deity is to give Him tradition,\nnationality, limitation, and fixity, and it never brings us nearer to\nHim.  Zen's object of worship cannot be named and determined as God,\nor Brahman, or Amitabha, or Creator, or Nature, or Reality, or\nSubstance, or the like.  Neither Chinese nor Japanese masters of Zen\ntried to give a definite name to their object of adoration.  They now\ncalled Him That One, now This One, now Mind, now Buddha, now\nTathagata, now Certain Thing, now the True, now Dharma-nature, now\nBuddha-nature, and so forth.  Tung Shan[FN#141] (To-zan) on a certain\noccasion declared it to be \"A Certain Thing that pillars heaven above\nand supports the earth below; dark as lacquer and undefinable;\nmanifesting itself through its activities, yet not wholly comprisable\nwithin them.\"  So-kei[FN#142] expressed it in the same wise: \"There\nexists a Certain Thing, bright as a mirror, spiritual as a mind, not\nsubjected to growth nor to decay.\"  Huen Sha (Gen-sha) comparing it\nwith a gem says: \"There exists a bright gem illuminating through the\nworlds in ten directions by its light.\"[FN#143]\n\n\n[FN#141]  Tung Shan Luh (To-zan-roku, 'Sayings and Doings of Ta-zan')\nis one of the best Zen books.\n\n[FN#142]  So-kei, a Korean Zenist, whose work entitled Zen-ke-ki-kwan\nis worthy of our note as a representation of Korean Zen.\n\n[FN#143]  Sho-bo-gen-zo.\n\n\nThis certain thing or being is too sublime to be named after a\ntraditional or a national deity, too spiritual to be symbolized by\nhuman art, too full of life to be formulated in terms of mechanical\nscience, too free to be rationalized by intellectual philosophy, too\nuniversal to be perceived by bodily senses; but everybody can feel\nits irresistible power, see its invisible presence, and touch its\nheart and soul within himself.  \"This mysterious Mind,\" says Kwei\nFung (Kei-ho), \"is higher than the highest, deeper than the deepest,\nlimitless in all directions.  There is no centre in it.  No\ndistinction of east and west, and above and below.  Is it empty?\nYes, but not empty like space.  Has it a form?  Yes, but has no form\ndependent on another for its existence.  Is it intelligent?  Yes, but\nnot intelligent like your mind.  Is it non-intelligent?  Yes, but not\nnon-intelligent like trees and stone.  Is it conscious?  Yes, but not\nconscious like you when waking.  Is it bright?  Yes, but not bright\nlike the sun or the moon.\"  To the question, \"What and who is\nBuddha?\"  Yuen Wu (En-go) replied: \"Hold your tongue: the mouth is\nthe gate of evils!\" while Pao Fuh (Ho-fuku) answered to the same\nquestion: \"No skill of art can picture Him.\"  Thus Buddha is\nunnamable, indescribable, and indefinable, but we provisionally call\nHim Buddha.\n\n\n\n4. Buddha, the Universal Life.\n\nZen conceives Buddha as a Being, who moves, stirs, inspires,\nenlivens, and vitalizes everything.  Accordingly, we may call Him the\nUniversal Life in the sense that He is the source of all lives in the\nuniverse.  This Universal Life, according to Zen, pillars the heaven,\nsupports the earth, glorifies the sun and moon, gives voice to\nthunder, tinges clouds, adorns the pasture with flowers, enriches the\nfield with harvest, gives animals beauty and strength.  Therefore,\nZen declares even a dead clod of earth to be imbued with the divine\nlife, just as Lowell expresses a similar idea when he says:\n\n\"Every clod feels a stir of might,\nAn instinct within it that reaches and towers,\nAnd groping blindly above it for light,\nClimbs to a soul in grass and flowers.\"\n\nOne of our contemporary Zenists wittily observed that 'vegetables are\nthe children of earth, that animals which feed on vegetables are the\ngrand-children of earth, and that men who subsist on animals are the\ngreat-grand-children of earth.'  If there be no life in earth, how\ncould life come out of it?  If there be no life, the same as the\nanimal's life in the vegetables, how could animals sustain their\nlives feeding on vegetables?  If there be no life similar to ours in\nanimals, how could we sustain our life by subsisting on them?  The\npoet must be in the right, not only in his esthetic, but in his\nscientific point of view, in saying-\n\n\"I must\nConfess that I am only dust.\nBut once a rose within me grew;\nIts rootlets shot, its flowerets flew;\nAnd all rose's sweetness rolled\nThroughout the texture of my mould;\nAnd so it is that I impart\nPerfume to them, whoever thou art.\"\n\nAs we men live and act, so do our arteries; so does blood; so do\ncorpuscles.  As cells and protoplasm live and act, so do elements,\nmolecules, and atoms.  As elements and atoms live and act, so do\nclouds; so does the earth; so does the ocean, the Milky Way, and the\nSolar System.  What is this life which pervades the grandest as well\nas the minutest works of Nature, and which may fitly be said 'greater\nthan the greatest and smaller than the smallest?'  It cannot be\ndefined.  It cannot be subjected to exact analysis.  But it is\ndirectly experienced and recognized within us, just as the beauty of\nthe rose is to be perceived and enjoyed, but not reduced to exact\nanalysis.  At any rate, it is something stirring, moving, acting and\nreacting continually.  This something which can be experienced and\nfelt and enjoyed directly by every one of us.  This life of living\nprinciple in the microcosmos is identical with that of the\nmacrocosmos, and the Universal Life of the macrocosmos is the common\nsource of all lives.  Therefore, the Mahaparinirvana-sutra says:\n\n\"Tathagata (another name for Buddha) gives life to all beings, just\nas the lake Anavatapta gives rise to the four great rivers.\"\n\"Tathagata,\" says the same sutra, \"divides his own body into\ninnumerable bodies, and also restores an infinite number of bodies to\none body.  Now be becomes cities, villages, houses, mountains,\nrivers, and trees; now he has a large body; now he has a small body;\nnow he becomes men, women, boys, and girls.\"\n\n\n\n5. Life and Change.\n\nA peculiar phase of life is change which appears in the form of\ngrowth and decay.  Nobody can deny the transitoriness of life.  One\nof our friends humorously observed: \"Everything in the world may be\ndoubtful to you, but it can never be doubted that you will die.\"\nLife is like a burning lamp.  Every minute its flame dies out and is\nrenewed.  Life is like a running stream.  Every moment it pushes\nonward.  If there be anything constant in this world of change, it\nshould be change itself.  Is it not just one step from rosy childhood\nto snowy age?  Is it not just one moment from the nuptial song to the\nfuneral-dirge?  Who can live the same moment twice?\nIn comparison with an organism, inorganic matter appears to be\nconstant and changeless; but, in fact, it is equally subjected to\nceaseless alteration.  Every morning, looking into the mirror, you\nwill find your visage reflected in it just as it was on the preceding\nday; so also every morning, looking at the sun and the earth, you\nwill find them reflected in your retina just as they were on the\nprevious morning; but the sun and the earth are no less changeless\nthan you.  Why do the sun and the earth seem changeless and constant\nto you?  Only because you yourself undergo change more quickly than\nthey.  When you look at the clouds sweeping across the face of the\nmoon, they seem to be at rest, and the moon in rapid motion; but, in\nfact, the clouds, as well as the moon, incessantly move on.\n\nScience might maintain the quantitative constancy of matter, but the\nso-called matter is mere abstraction.  To say matter is changeless is\nas much as to say 2 is always 2, changeless and constant, because the\narithmetical number is not more abstract than the physiological\nmatter.  The moon appears standing still when you look at her only a\nfew moments.  In like manner she seems to be free from change when\nyou look at her in your short span of life.  Astronomers,\nnevertheless, can tell you how she saw her better days, and is now in\nher wrinkles and white hair.\n\n\n\n6. Pessimistic View of the Ancient Hindus.\n\nIn addition to this, the new theory of matter has entirely over\nthrown the old conception of the unchanging atoms, and they are now\nregarded to be composed of magnetic forces, ions, and corpuscles in\nincessant motion.  Therefore we have no inert matter in the concrete,\nno unchanging thing in the sphere of experience, no constant organism\nin the transient universe.  These considerations often led many\nthinkers, ancient and modern, to the pessimistic view of life.  What\nis the use of your exertion, they would say, in accumulating wealth,\nwhich is doomed to melt away in the twinkling of an eye?  What is the\nuse of your striving after power, which is more short-lived than a\nbubble?  What is the use of your endeavour in the reformation of\nsociety, which does not endure any longer than the castle in the air?\n How do kings differ from beggars in the eye of Transience?  How do\nthe rich differ from the poor, how the beautiful from the ugly, bow\nthe young from the old, how the good from the evil, how the lucky\nfrom the unlucky, how the wise from the unwise, in the court of\nDeath?  Vain is ambition.  Vain is fame.  Vain is pleasure.  Vain are\nstruggles and efforts.  All is in vain.  An ancient Hindu\nthinker[FN#144] says:\n\n\"O saint, what is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures in this\noffensive, pithless body--a mere mass of bones, skins, sinews,\nmarrow, and flesh?  What is the use of the enjoyment of pleasures in\nthis body, which is assailed by lust, hatred, greed, delusion, fear,\nanguish, jealousy, separation from what is loved, union with what is\nnot loved, hunger, old age, death, illness, grief, and other evils?\nIn such a world as this, what is the use of the enjoyment of\npleasures, if he who has fed on them is to return to this world again\nand again?  In this world I am like a frog in a dry well.\"\n\n\n[FN#144]  Maitrayana Upanisad.\n\n\nIt is this consideration on the transitoriness of life that led some\nTaoist in China to prefer death to life, as expressed in Chwang Tsz\n(Su-shi):[FN#145]\n\n\"When Kwang-zze went to Khu, he saw an empty skull, bleached indeed,\nbut still retaining its shape.  Tapping it with his horse-switch, he\nasked it saying: 'Did you, sir, in your greed of life, fail in the\nlessons of reason and come to this?  Or did you do so, in the service\nof a perishing state, by the punishment of an axe?  Or was it through\nyour evil conduct, reflecting disgrace on your parents and on your\nwife and children?  Or was it through your hard endurances of cold\nand hunger?  Or was it that you had completed your term of life?'\n\n\"Having given expression to these questions, he took up the skull and\nmade a pillow of it, and went to sleep.  At midnight the skull\nappeared to him in a dream, and said: 'What you said to me was after\nthe fashion of an orator.  All your words were about the\nentanglements of men in their lifetime.  There are none of those\nthings after death.  Would you like to hear me, sir, tell you about\ndeath?'  'I should,' said Kwang-zze, and the skull resumed: 'In death\nthere are not (the distinctions of) ruler above minister below.\nThere are none of the phenomena of the four seasons.  Tranquil and at\nease, our years are those of heaven and earth.  No king in his court\nhas greater enjoyment than we have.'  Kwang-zze did not believe it,\nand said: 'If I could get the Ruler of our Destiny to restore your\nbody to life with its bones and flesh and skin, and to give you back\nyour father and mother, your wife and children, and all your village\nacquaintances, would you wish me to do so?'  The skull stared fixedly\nat him, and knitted its brows and said: 'How should I cast away the\nenjoyment of my royal court, and undertake again the toils of life\namong mankind?'\"\n\n\n[FN#145] 'Chwang Tsz,' vol. vi., p. 23.\n\n\n\n7. Hinayanism and its Doctrine.\n\nThe doctrine of Transience was the first entrance gate of Hinayanism.\n Transience never fails to deprive us of what is dear and near to us.\n It disappoints us in our expectation and hope.  It brings out grief,\nfear, anguish, and lamentation.  It spreads terror and destruction\namong families, communities, nations, mankind.  It threatens with\nperdition the whole earth, the whole universe.  Therefore it follows\nthat life is full of disappointment, sufferings, and miseries, and\nthat man is like 'a frog in a dry well.'  This is the doctrine called\nby the Hinayanists the Holy Truth of Suffering.\n\nAgain, when Transcience once gets hold of our imagination, we can\neasily foresee ruins and disasters in the very midst of prosperity\nand happiness, and also old age and ugliness in the prime and youth\nof beauty.  It gives rise quite naturally to the thought that body is\na bag full of pus and blood, a mere heap of rotten flesh and broken\npieces of bone, a decaying corpse inhabited by innumerable maggots.\nThis is the doctrine called by the Hinayanists the Holy Truth of\nImpurity.[FN#146]\n\n\n[FN#146]  Mahasaptipatthana Suttanta, 7, runs as follows: \"And,\nmoreover, bhikkhu, a brother, just as if he had been a body abandoned\nin the charnel-field, dead for one, two, or three days, swollen,\nturning black and blue, and decomposed, apply that perception to this\nvery body (of his own), reflecting: 'This body, too, is even so\nconstituted, is of such a nature, has not got beyond that (fate).'\"\n\n\nAnd, again, Transience holds its tyrannical sway not only over the\nmaterial but over the spiritual world.  At its touch Atman, or soul,\nis brought to nothing.  By its call Devas, or celestial beings, are\nmade to succumb to death.  It follows, therefore, that to believe in\nAtman, eternal and unchanging, would be a whim of the ignorant.  This\nis the doctrine called by the Hinayanists the Holy Truth of No-atman.\n\nIf, as said, there could be nothing free from Transience, Constancy\nshould be a gross mistake of the ignorant; if even gods have to die,\nEternity should be no more than a stupid dream of the vulgar; if all\nphenomena be flowing and changing, there could be no constant noumena\nunderlying them.  It therefore follows that all things in the\nuniverse are empty and unreal.  This is the doctrine called by the\nHinayanists the Holy Truth of Unreality.  Thus Hinayana Buddhism,\nstarting from the doctrine of Transience, arrived at the pessimistic\nview of life in its extreme form.\n\n\n\n8. Change as seen by Zen.\n\nZen, like Hinayanism, does not deny the doctrine of Transience, but\nit has come to a view diametrically opposite to that of the Hindus.\nTransience for Zen simply means change.  It is a form in which life\nmanifests itself.  Where there is life there is change or Transience.\n Where there is more change there is more vital activity.  Suppose an\nabsolutely changeless body: it must be absolutely lifeless.  An\neternally changeless life is equivalent to an eternally changeless\ndeath.  Why do we value the morning glory, which fades in a few\nhours, more than an artificial glass flower, which endures hundreds\nof years?  Why do we prefer an animal life, which passes away in a\nfew scores of years, to a vegetable life, which can exist thousands\nof years?  Why do we prize changing organism more than inorganic\nmatter, unchanging and constant?  If there be no change in the bright\nhues of a flower, it is as worthless as a stone.  If there be no\nchange in the song of a bird, it is as valueless as a whistling wind.\n If there be no change in trees and grass, they are utterly\nunsuitable to be planted in a garden.  Now, then, what is the use of\nour life, if it stand still?  As the water of a running stream is\nalways fresh and wholesome because it does not stop for a moment, so\nlife is ever fresh and new because it does not stand still, but\nrapidly moves on from parents to children, from children to\ngrandchildren, from grandchildren to great-grandchildren, and flows\non through generation after generation, renewing itself ceaselessly.\n\nWe can never deny the existence of old age and death--nay, death is\nof capital importance for a continuation of life, because death\ncarries away all the decaying organism in the way of life.  But for\nit life would be choked up with organic rubbish.  The only way of\nlife's pushing itself onward or its renewing itself is its producing\nof the young and getting rid of the old.  If there be no old age nor\ndeath, life is not life, but death.\n\n\n\n9. Life and Change.\n\nTransformation and change are the essential features of life; life is\nnot transformation nor change itself, as Bergson seems to assume.  It\nis something which comes under our observation through transformation\nand change.  There are, among Buddhists as well as Christians, not a\nfew who covet constancy and fixity of life, being allured by such\nsmooth names as eternal life, everlasting joy, permanent peace, and\nwhat not.  They have forgotten that their souls can never rest\ncontent with things monotonous.  If there be everlasting joy for\ntheir souls, it must be presented to them through incessant change.\nSo also if there be eternal life granted for their souls, it must be\ngiven through ceaseless alteration.  What is the difference between\neternal life, fixed and constant, and eternal death?  What is the\ndifference between everlasting bliss, changeless and monotonous, and\neverlasting suffering?  If constancy, instead of change, govern life,\nthen hope or pleasure is absolutely impossible.  Fortunately,\nhowever, life is not constant.  It changes and becomes.  Pleasure\narises through change itself.  Mere change of food or clothes is\noften pleasing to us, while the appearance of the same thing twice or\nthrice, however pleasing it may be, causes us little pleasure.  It\nwill become disgusting and tire us down, if it be presented\nrepeatedly from time to time.\n\nAn important element in the pleasure we derive from social meetings,\nfrom travels, from sight-seeings, etc., is nothing but change.  Even\nintellectual pleasure consists mainly of change.  A dead, unchanging\nabstract truth, 2 and 2 make 4, excites no interest; while a\nchangeable, concrete truth, such as the Darwinian theory of\nevolution, excites a keen interest.\n\n\n\n10. Life, Change, and Hope.\n\nThe doctrine of Transcience never drives us to the pessimistic view\nof life.  On the contrary, it gives us an inexhaustible source of\npleasure and hope.  Let us ask you: Are you satisfied with the\npresent state of things?  Do you not sympathize with poverty-stricken\nmillions living side by side with millionaires saturated with wealth?\n Do you not shed tears over those hunger-bitten children who cower in\nthe dark lanes of a great city?  Do you not wish to put down the\nstupendous oppressor--Might-is-right?  Do you not want to do away\nwith the so-called armoured peace among nations?  Do you not need to\nmitigate the struggle for existence more sanguine than the war of\nweapons?\n\nLife changes and is changeable; consequently, has its future.  Hope\nis therefore possible.  Individual development, social betterment,\ninternational peace, reformation of mankind in general, can be hoped.\n Our ideal, however unpractical it may seem at the first sight, can\nbe realized.  Moreover, the world itself, too, is changing and\nchangeable.  It reveals new phases from time to time, and can be\nmoulded to subserve our purpose.  We must not take life or the world\nas completed and doomed as it is now.  No fact verifies the belief\nthat the world was ever created by some other power and predestined\nto be as it is now.  It lives, acts, and changes.  It is transforming\nitself continually, just as we are changing and becoming.  Thus the\ndoctrine of Transience supplies us with an inexhaustible source of\nhope and comfort, leads us into the living universe, and introduces\nus to the presence of Universal Life or Buddha.\n\nThe reader may easily understand how Zen conceives Buddha as the\nliving principle from the following dialogues: \"Is it true, sir,\"\nasked a monk of Teu tsz (To-shi), \"that all the voices of Nature are\nthose of Buddha?\"  \"Yes, certainly,\" replied Teu tsz.  \"What is,\nreverend sir,\" asked a man of Chao Cheu (Jo-shu), \"the holy temple\n(of Buddha)?\"  \"An innocent girl,\" replied the teacher.  \"Who is the\nmaster of the temple?\" asked the other again.  \"A baby in her womb,\"\nwas the answer.  \"What is, sir,\" asked a monk to Yen Kwan (Yen-kan),\n\"the original body of Buddha Vairocana?\"[FN#147] \"Fetch me a pitcher\nwith water,\" said the teacher.  The monk did as he was ordered.  \"Put\nit back in its place,\" said Yen Kwan again.[FN#148]\n\n\n[FN#147]  Literally, All Illuminating Buddha, the highest of the\nTrikayas. See Eitel, p. 192.\n\n[FN#148]  Zen-rin-rui-shu.\n\n\n\n11. Everything is Living according to Zen.\n\nEverything alive has a strong innate tendency to preserve itself, to\nassert itself, to push itself forward, and to act on its environment,\nconsciously or unconsciously.  The innate, strong tendency of the\nliving is an undeveloped, but fundamental, nature of Spirit or Mind.\nIt shows itself first in inert matter as impenetrability, or\naffinity, or mechanical force.  Rock has a powerful tendency to\npreserve itself.  And it is hard to crush it.  Diamond has a robust\ntendency to assert itself.  And it permits nothing to destroy it.\nSalt has the same strong tendency, for its particles act and react by\nthemselves, and never cease till its crystals are formed.  Steam,\ntoo, should have the same, because it pushes aside everything in its\nway and goes where it will.\n\nIn the eye of simple folks of old, mountains, rivers, trees,\nserpents, oxen, and eagles were equally full of life; hence the\ndeification of them.  No doubt it is irrational to believe in nymphs,\nfairies, elves, and the like, yet still we may say that mountains\nstand of their own accord, rivers run as they will, just as we say\nthat trees and grass turn their leaves towards the sun of their own\naccord.  Neither is it a mere figure of speech to say that thunder\nspeaks and hills respond, nor to describe birds as singing and\nflowers as smiling, nor to narrate winds as moaning and rain as\nweeping, nor to state lovers as looking at the moon, the moon as\nlooking at them, when we observe spiritual element in activities of\nall this.  Haeckel says, not without reason: \"I cannot imagine the\nsimple chemical and physical forces without attributing the movement\nof material particles to conscious sensation.\"  The same author says\nagain: \"We may ascribe the feeling of pleasure and pain to all atoms,\nand so explain the electric affinity in chemistry.\"\n\n\n\n12. The Creative Force of Nature and Humanity.\n\nThe innate tendency of self-preservation, which manifests itself as\nmechanical force or chemical affinity in the inorganic nature,\nunfolds itself as the desire of the preservation of species in the\nvegetables and animals.  See how vegetables fertilize themselves in a\ncomplicated way, and how they spread their seeds far and wide in a\nmost mysterious manner.  A far more developed form of the same desire\nis seen in the sexual attachment and parental love of animals.  Who\ndoes not know that even the smallest birds defend their young against\nevery enemy with self -sacrificing courage, and that they bring food\nwhilst they themselves often starve and grow lean?  In human beings\nwe can observe the various transformations of the self-same desire.\nFor instance, sorrow or despair is experienced when it is impossible;\nanger, when it is hindered by others; joy, when it is fulfilled;\nfear, when it is threatened; pleasure, when it is facilitated.\nAlthough it manifests itself as the sexual attachment and parental\nlove in lower animals, yet its developed forms, such as sympathy,\nloyalty, benevolence, mercy, humanity, are observed in human beings.\nAgain, the creative force in inorganic nature, in order to assert\nitself and act more effectively, creates the germ of organic nature,\nand gradually ascending the scale of evolution, develops the sense\norgans and the nervous system; hence intellectual powers, such as\nsensation, perception, imagination, memory, unfold themselves.  Thus\nthe creative force, exerting itself gradually, widens its sphere of\naction, and necessitates the union of individuals into families,\nclans, tribes, communities, and nations.  For the sake of this union\nand co-operation they established customs, enacted laws, and\ninstituted political and educational systems.  Furthermore, to\nreinforce itself, it gave birth to languages and sciences; and to\nenrich itself, morality and religion.\n\n\n\n13. Universal Life is Universal Spirit.\n\nThese considerations naturally lead us to see that Universal Life is\nnot a blind vital force, but Creative Spirit, or Mind, or\nConsciousness, which unfolds itself in myriads of ways.  Everything\nin the universe, according to Zen, lives and acts, and at the same\ntime discloses its spirit.  To be alive is identically the same as to\nbe spiritual.  As the poet has his song, so does the nightingale, so\ndoes the cricket, so does the rivulet.  As we are pleased or\noffended, so are horses, so are dogs, so are sparrows, ants,\nearthworms, and mushrooms.  Simpler the body, simpler its spirit;\nmore complicated the body, more complicated its spirit.  'Mind\nslumbers in the pebble, dreams in the plant, gathers energy in the\nanimal, and awakens to self-conscious discovery in the soul of man.'\n\nIt is this Creative, Universal Spirit that sends forth Aurora to\nilluminate the sky, that makes Diana shed her benign rays and \u00c6olus\nplay on his harp, wreathes spring with flowers, that clothes autumn\nwith gold, that induces plants to put forth blossoms, that incites\nanimals to be energetic, and that awakens consciousness in man.  The\nauthor of Mahavaipulya-purnabuddha-sutra expressly states our idea\nwhen he says: \"Mountains, rivers, skies, the earth: all these are\nembraced in the True Spirit, enlightened and mysterious.\"  Rin-zai\nalso says: \"Spirit is formless, but it penetrates through the world\nin the ten directions.\"[FN#149]  The Sixth Patriarch expresses the\nsame idea more explicitly: \"What creates the phenomena is Mind; what\ntranscends all the phenomena is Buddha.\"[FN#150]\n\n\n[FN#149]  Rin-zai-roku.\n\n[FN#150]  Roku-so-dan-kyo.\n\n\n\n14. Poetical Intuition and Zen.\n\nSince Universal Life or Spirit permeates the universe, the poetical\nintuition of man never fails to find it, and to delight in everything\ntypical of that Spirit.  \"The leaves of the plantain,\" says a Zen\npoet, \"unfold themselves, hearing the voice of thunder.  The flowers\nof the hollyhock turn towards the sun, looking at it all day long.\"\nJesus could see in the lily the Unseen Being who clothed it so\nlovely.  Wordsworth found the most profound thing in all the world to\nbe the universal spiritual life, which manifests itself most directly\nin nature, clothed in its own proper dignity and peace.  \"Through\nevery star,\" says Carlyle, \"through every grass blade, most through\nevery soul, the glory of present God still beams.\"\n\nIt is not only grandeur and sublimity that indicate Universal Life,\nbut smallness and commonplace do the same.  A sage of old awakened to\nthe faith[FN#151] when he heard a bell ring; another, when he looked\nat the peach blossom; another, when he heard the frogs croaking; and\nanother, when he saw his own form reflected in a river.  The minutest\nparticles of dust form a world.  The meanest grain of sand under our\nfoot proclaims a divine law.  Therefore Teu Tsz Jo-shi), pointing to\na stone in front of his temple, said: \"All the Buddhas of the past,\nthe present, and the future are living therein.\"[FN#152]\n\n\n[FN#151]  Both the Chinese and the Japanese history of Zen are full\nof such incidents.\n\n[FN#152]  Zen-rin-rui-shu and To-shi-go-roku.\n\n\n\n15. Enlightened Consciousness.\n\nIn addition to these considerations, which mainly depend on indirect\nexperience, we can have direct experience of life within us.  In the\nfirst place, we experience that our life is not a bare mechanical\nmotion or change, but is a spiritual, purposive, and self-directing\nforce.  In the second place, we directly experience that it knows,\nfeels, and wills.  In the third place, we experience that there\nexists some power unifying the intellectual, emotional, and\nvolitional activities so as to make life uniform and rational.\nLastly, we experience that there lies deeply rooted within us\nEnlightened Consciousness, which neither psychologists treat of nor\nphilosophers believe in, but which Zen teachers expound with strong\nconviction.  Enlightened Consciousness is, according to Zen, the\ncentre of spiritual life.  It is the mind of minds, and the\nconsciousness of consciousness.  It is the Universal Spirit awakened\nin the human mind.  It is not the mind that feels joy or sorrow; nor\nis it the mind that reasons and infers; nor is it the mind that\nfancies and dreams; nor is it the mind that hopes and fears; nor is\nit the mind that distinguishes good from evil.  It is Enlightened\nConsciousness that holds communion with Universal Spirit or Buddha,\nand realizes that individual lives are inseparably united, and of one\nand the same nature with Universal Life.  It is always bright as a\nburnished mirror, and cannot be dimmed by doubt and ignorance.  It is\never pure as a lotus flower, and cannot be polluted by the mud of\nevil and folly.  Although all sentient beings are endowed with this\nEnlightened Consciousness, they are not aware of its existence,\nexcepting men who can discover it by the practice of Meditation.\nEnlightened consciousness is often called Buddha-nature, as it is the\nreal nature of Universal Spirit.  Zen teachers compare it with a\nprecious stone ever fresh and pure, even if it be buried in the heaps\nof dust.  Its divine light can never be extinguished by doubt or\nfear, just as the sunlight cannot be destroyed by mist and cloud.\nLet us quote a Chinese Zen poet to see how Zen treats of it:[FN#153]\n\n\"I have an image of Buddha,\nThe worldly people know it not.\nIt is not made of clay or cloth,\nNor is it carved out of wood,\nNor is it moulded of earth nor of ashes.\nNo artist can paint it;\nNo robber can steal it.\nThere it exists from dawn of time.\nIt's clean, although not swept and wiped.\nAlthough it is but one,\nDivides itself to a hundred thousand million forms.\"\n\n\n[FN#153]  See Zen-gaku-ho-ten.\n\n\n\n16. Buddha Dwelling in the Individual Mind.\n\nEnlightened Consciousness in the individual mind acquires for its\npossessor, not a relative knowledge of things as his intellect does,\nbut the profoundest insight in reference to universal brotherhood of\nall beings, and enables him to understand the absolute holiness of\ntheir nature, and the highest goal for which all of them are making.\nEnlightened Consciousness once awakened within us serves as a guiding\nprinciple, and leads us to hope, bliss, and life; consequently, it is\ncalled the Master[FN#154] of both mind and body.  Sometimes it is\ncalled the Original[FN#155] Mind, as it is the mind of minds.  It is\nBuddha dwelling in individuals.  You might call it God in man, if you\nlike.  The following dialogues all point to this single idea:\n\nOn one occasion a butcher, who was used to kill one thousand sheep a\nday, came to Gotama, and, throwing down his butcher-knife, said \"I am\none of the thousand Buddhas.\"  \"Yes, really,\" replied Gotama.  A\nmonk, Hwui Chao (E-cha) by name, asked Pao Yen (Ho-gen): \"What is\nBuddha?\"  \"You are Hwui Chao,\" replied the master.  The same question\nwas put to Sheu Shan (Shu-zan), Chi Man (Chi-mon), and Teu Tsz\n(To-shi), the first of whom answered: \"A bride mounts on a donkey and\nher mother-in-law drives it;\" and the second: \"He goes barefooted,\nhis sandals being worn out;\" while the third rose from his chair and\nstood still without saying a word.  Chwen Hih (Fu-kiu) explains this\npoint in unequivocal terms: \"Night after night I sleep with Buddha,\nand every morning I get up with Him.  He accompanies me wherever I\ngo.  When I stand or sit, when I speak or be mute, when I am out or\nin, He never leaves me, even as a shadow accompanies body.  Would you\nknow where He is? Listen to that voice and word.\"[FN#156]\n\n\n[FN#154]  It is often called the Lord or Master of mind.\n\n[FN#155]  Another name for Buddha is the Original Mind\"\n(Kechi-myaku-ron).\n\n[FN#156]  For such dialogues, see Sho-yo-roku, Mu-mon-kan,\nHeki-gan-shu. Fu-kiu's words are repeatedly quoted by Zen masters.\n\n\n\n17. Enlightened Consciousness is not an Intellectual Insight.\n\nEnlightened Consciousness is not a bare intellectual insight, for it\nis full of beautiful emotions.  It loves, caresses, embraces, and at\nthe same time esteems all beings, being ever merciful to them.  It\nhas no enemies to conquer, no evil to fight with, but constantly\nfinds friends to help, good to promote.  Its warm heart beats in\nharmony with those of all fellow beings.  The author of\nBrahmajala-sutra fully expresses this idea as he says: \"All women are\nour mothers; all men our fathers; all earth and water our bodies in\nthe past existences; all fire and air our essence.\"\n\nThus relying on our inner experience, which is the only direct way of\nknowing Buddha, we conceive Him as a Being with profound wisdom and\nboundless mercy, who loves all beings as His children, whom He is\nfostering, bringing up, guiding, and teaching.  \"These three worlds\nare His, and all beings living in them are His children.\"[FN#157]\n\"The Blessed One is the mother of all sentient beings, and gives them\nall the milk of mercy.\"[FN#158]  Some people named Him Absolute, as\nHe is all light, all hope, all mercy, and all wisdom; some, Heaven,\nas He is high and enlightened; some, God, as He is sacred and\nmysterious; some, Truth, as He is true to Himself; some, Buddha, as\nHe is free from illusion; some, Creator, as He is the creative force\nimmanent in the universe; some, Path, as He is the Way we must\nfollow; some, Unknowable, as He is beyond relative knowledge; some,\nSelf, as He is the Self of individual selves.  All these names are\napplied to one Being, whom we designate by the name of Universal Life\nor Spirit.\n\n\n[FN#157]  Saddharma-pundarika-sutra.\n\n[FN#158]  Mahaparinirvana-sutra.\n\n\n\n18. Our Conception of Buddha is not Final.\n\nHas, then, the divine nature of Universal Spirit been completely and\nexhaustively revealed in our Enlightened Consciousness?  To this\nquestion we should answer negatively, for, so far as our limited\nexperience is concerned, Universal Spirit reveals itself as a Being\nwith profound wisdom and boundless mercy; this, nevertheless, does\nnot imply that the conception is the only possible and complete one.\nWe should always bear in mind that the world is alive, and changing,\nand moving.  It goes on to disclose a new phase, or to add a new\ntruth.  The subtlest logic of old is a mere quibble of nowadays. The\nmiracles of yesterday are the commonplaces of to-day.  Now theories\nare formed, new discoveries are made, only to give their places to\nnewer theories are discoveries.  New ideals realized or new desires\nsatisfied are sure to awaken newer and stronger desires.  Not an\ninstant life remains immutable, but it rushes on, amplifying and\nenriching itself from the dawn of time to the end of eternity.\n\nTherefore Universal Life may in the future possibly unfold its new\nspiritual content, yet unknown to us because it has refined, lifted\nup, and developed living beings from the am\u009cba to man, increasing the\nintelligence and range of individuals, until highly civilized man\nemerge into the plane of consciousness-consciousness of divine light\nin him.  Thus to believe in Buddha is to be content and thankful for\nthe grace of His, and to hope for the infinite unfoldment of His\nglories in man.\n\n\n\n19. How to Worship Buddha.\n\nThe author of Vimalakirtti-nirdeca-sutra well explains our attitude\ntowards Buddha when he says: \"We ask Buddha for nothing.  We ask\nDharma for nothing.  We ask Samgha for nothing.\"  Nothing we ask of\nBuddha.  No worldly success, no rewards in the future life, no\nspecial blessing.  Hwang Pah (O-baku) said: \"I simply worship Buddha.\n I ask Buddha for nothing.  I ask Dharma for nothing.  I ask Samgha\nfor nothing.\"  Then a prince[FN#159] questioned him: \"You ask Buddha\nfor nothing. You ask Dharma for nothing.  You ask Samgha for nothing.\n What, then, is the use of your worship?\"  The Prince earned a slap\nas an answer to his utilitarian question.[FN#160]  This incident well\nillustrates that worship, as understood by Zen masters, is a pure act\nof thanksgiving, or the opening of the grateful heart; in other\nwords, the disclosing of Enlightened Consciousness.  We are living\nthe very life of Buddha, enjoying His blessing, and holding communion\nwith Him through speech, thought, and action.  The earth is not 'the\nvale of tears,' but the glorious creation of Universal Spirit; nor\nman 'the poor miserable sinner' but the living altar of Buddha\nHimself.  Whatever we do, we do with grateful heart and pure joy\nsanctioned by Enlightened Consciousness; eating, drinking, talking,\nwalking, and every other work of our daily life are the worship and\ndevotion.  We agree with Margaret Fuller when she says: \"Reverence\nthe highest; have patience with the lowest; let this day's\nperformance of the meanest duty be thy religion.  Are the stars too\ndistant?  Pick up the pebble that lies at thy feet, and from it learn\nall.\"\n\n\n[FN#159]  Afterwards the Emperor Suen Tsung (Sen-so), of the Tang\ndynasty.\n\n[FN#160]  For the details, see Heki-gan-shu.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\n\n\nTHE NATURE OF MAN\n\n\n1. Man is Good-natured according to Mencius.[FN#161]\n\nOriental scholars, especially the Chinese men of letters, seem to\nhave taken so keen an interest in the study of human nature that they\nproposed all the possible opinions respecting the subject in\nquestion-namely, (1) man is good-natured; (2) man is bad-natured; (3)\nman is good-natured and bad-natured as well; (4) man is neither\ngood-natured nor bad-natured.  The first of these opinions was\nproposed by a most reputed Confucianist scholar, Mencius, and his\nfollowers, and is still adhered to by the majority of the Japanese\nand the Chinese Confucianists.  Mencius thought it as natural for man\nto do good as it is for the grass to be green.  'Suppose a person has\nhappened,' he would say, 'to find a child on the point of tumbling\ndown into a deep well.  He would rescue it even at the risk of his\nlife, no matter how morally degenerated he might be.  He would have\nno time to consider that his act might bring him some reward from its\nparents, or a good reputation among his friends and fellow-citizens.\nHe would do it barely out of his inborn good-nature.'  After\nenumerating some instances similar to this one, Mencius concludes\nthat goodness is the fundamental nature of man, even if he is often\ncarried away by his brutal disposition.\n\n\n[FN#161]  Mencius (372-282 B.C.) is regarded as the best expounder of\nthe doctrine of Confucius.  There exists a well-known work of his,\nentitled after his own name.  See 'A History of Chinese Philosophy,'\nby R. Endo, and also 'A History of Chinese Philosophy' (pp. 38-50),\nby G. Nakauchi.\n\n\n\n2. Man is Bad-natured according to Siun Tsz[FN#162] (Jun-shi).\n\nThe weaknesses of Mencius's theory are fully exposed by another\ndiametrically opposed theory propounded by Siun Tsz (Jun-shi) and his\nfollowers.  'Man is bad-natured,' says Siun Tsz, 'since he has inborn\nlust, appetite, and desire for wealth.  As he has inborn lust and\nappetite, he is naturally given to intemperance and wantonness.  As\nhe has inborn desire for wealth, he is naturally inclined to quarrel\nand fight with others for the sake of gain.'  Leave him without\ndiscipline or culture, he would not be a whit better than the beast.\nHis virtuous acts, such as charity, honesty, propriety, chastity,\ntruthfulness, are conduct forced by the teachings of ancient sages\nagainst his natural inclination.  Therefore vices are congenial and\ntrue to his nature, while virtues alien and untrue to his fundamental\nnature.\n\n\n[FN#162]   Siun Tsz's date is later by some fifty years than Mencius.\n Siun Tsz gives the reason why man seeks after morality, saying that\nman seeks what he has not, and that he seeks after morality simply\nbecause he has not morality, just as the poor seek riches.  See 'A\nHistory of Chinese Philosophy' (pp. 51-60), by G. Nakauchi, and 'A\nHistory of Development of Chinese Thought,' by R. Endo.\n\n\nThese two theories are not only far from throwing light on the moral\nstate of man, but wrap it in deeper gloom.  Let us raise a few\nquestions by way of refutation.  If man's fundamental nature be good,\nas Mencius maintains, why is it easy for him to be vicious without\ninstruction, while he finds it hard to be virtuous even with\ninstruction.  If you contend that good is man's primary nature and\nevil the secondary one, why is be so often overpowered by the\nsecondary nature?  If you answer saying that man is good-natured\noriginally, but he acquires the secondary nature through the struggle\nfor existence, and it gradually gains power over the primary nature\nby means of the same cause, then the primitive tribes should be more\nvirtuous than the highly civilized nations, and children than grownup\npeople.  Is this not contrary to fact?\n\nIf, again, man's nature is essentially bad, as Siun Tsz holds, how\ncan he cultivate virtue?  If you contend that ancient sages invented\nso-called cardinal virtues and inculcated them against his natural\ninclination, why does he not give them up?  If vices be congenial and\ntrue to man's nature, but virtues be alien and untrue to him, why are\nvirtues honoured by him?  If vices be genuine and virtue a deception,\nas you think, why do you call the inventors of that deceiving art\nsages?  How was it possible for man to do good before these sages'\nappearance on earth?\n\n\n\n3. Man is both Good-natured and Bad-natured according to Yan\nHiung[FN#163] (Yo-yu).\n\nAccording to Yang Hiung and his followers, good is no less real than\nevil, and evil is no more unreal than good.  Therefore man must be\ndouble-natured-that is, partly good and partly bad.  This is the\nreason why the history of man is full of fiendish crimes, and, at the\nsame time, it abounds with godly deeds.  This is the reason why\nmankind comprises, on the one hand, a Socrates, a Confucius, a Jesus,\nand, on the other, a Nero and a Kieh.  This is the reason why we find\nto-day a honest fellow in him whom we find a betrayer to-morrow.\n\n[FN#163]  Yan Hiung (died A.D. 18) is the reputed author of Tai Huen\n(Tai-gen) and Fah Yen (Ho-gen).  His opinion in reference to human\nnature is found in Fah Yen.\n\n\nThis view of man's nature might explain our present moral state, yet\nit calls forth many questions bard to answer.  If this assertion be\ntrue, is it not a useless task to educate man with the purpose of\nmaking him better and nobler?  How could one extirpate man's bad\nnature implanted within him at his origin?  If man be double-natured,\nhow did he come to set good over evil?  How did he come to consider\nthat he ought to be good and ought not to be bad?  How could you\nestablish the authority of morality?\n\n\n\n4. Man is neither Good-natured nor Bad-natured according to Su Shih\n(So-shoku).[FN#164]\n\nThe difficulty may be avoided by a theory given by Su Shih and other\nscholars influenced by Buddhism, which maintains that man is neither\ngood-natured nor bad-natured.  According to this opinion man is not\nmoral nor immoral by nature, but unmoral.  He is morally a blank.  He\nis at a crossroad, so to speak, of morality when he is first born.\nAs he is blank, he can be dyed black or red.  As he is at the\ncross-road, he can turn to the right or to the left.  He is like\nfresh water, which has no flavour, and can be made sweet or bitter by\ncircumstances.  If we are not mistaken, this theory, too, has to\nencounter insurmountable difficulties.  How could it be possible to\nmake the unmoral being moral or immoral?  We might as well try to get\nhoney out of sand as to get good or evil out of the blank nature.\nThere can be no fruit of good or evil where there is no seed of good\nor bad nature.  Thus we find no satisfactory solution of the problem\nat issue in these four theories proposed by the Chinese scholars--the\nfirst theory being incompetent to explain the problem of human\ndepravity; the second breaking down at the origin of morality; the\nthird failing to explain the possibility of moral culture; the fourth\nbeing logically self-contradictory.\n\n[FN#164]  Su Shih (1042-1101), a great man of letters, practiser of\nZen, noted for his poetical works.\n\n\n\n5. There is no Mortal who is Purely Moral.\n\nBy nature man should be either good or bad; or he should be good as\nwell as bad; or he should be neither good nor bad.  There can be no\nalternative possible besides these four propositions, none of which\ncan be accepted as true.  Then there must be some misconception in\nthe terms of which they consist.  It would seem to some that the\nerror can be avoided by limiting the sense of the term 'man,' saying\nsome persons are good-natured, some persons are bad-natured, some\npersons are good-natured and bad-natured as well, and some persons\nare neither good-natured nor bad-natured.  There is no contradiction\nin these modified propositions, but still they fail to explain the\nethical state of man.  Supposing them all to be true, let us assume\nthat there are the four classes of people: (1) Those who are purely\nmoral and have no immoral disposition; (2) those who are half moral\nand half immoral; (3) those who are neither moral nor immoral; (4)\nthose who are purely immoral and have no moral disposition.  Orthodox\nChristians, believing in the sinlessness of Jesus, would say he\nbelongs to the first class, while Mohammedans and Buddhists, who\ndeify the founder of their respective faith, would in such case\nregard their founder as the purely moral personage.  But are your\nbeliefs, we should ask, based on historical fact?  Can you say that\nsuch traditional and self-contradictory records as the four gospels\nare history in the strict sense of the term?  Can you assert that\nthose traditions which deify Mohammed and Shakya are the statements\nof bare facts?  Is not Jesus an abstraction and an ideal, entirely\ndifferent from a concrete carpenter's son, who fed on the same kind\nof food, sheltered himself in the same kind of building, suffered\nfrom the same kind of pain, was fired by the same kind of anger,\nstung by the same kind of lust as our own?  Can you say the person\nwho fought many a sanguinary battle, who got through many cunning\nnegotiations with enemies and friends, who personally experienced the\ntroubles of polygamy, was a person sinless and divine?  We might\nallow that these ancient sages are superhuman and divine, then our\nclassification has no business with them, because they do not\nproperly belong to mankind.  Now, then, who can point out any sinless\nperson in the present world?  Is it not a fact that the more virtuous\none grows the more sinful he feels himself?  If there be any mortal,\nin the past, the present, and the future, who declares himself to be\npure and sinless, his very declaration proves that he is not highly\nmoral.  Therefore the existence of the first class of people is open\nto question.\n\n\n\n6. There is no Mortal who is Non-Moral or Purely Immoral.\n\nThe same is the case with the third and the fourth class of people\nwho are assumed as non-moral or purely immoral.  There is no person,\nhowever morally degraded he may be, but reveals some good nature in\nhis whole course of life.  It is our daily experience that we find a\nfaithful friend in the person even of a pickpocket, a loving father\neven in a burglar, and a kind neighbour even in a murderer.  Faith,\nsympathy, friendship, love, loyalty, and generosity dwell not merely\nin palaces and churches, but also in brothels and gaols.  On the\nother hand, abhorrent vices and bloody crimes often find shelter\nunder the silk hat, or the robe, or the coronet, or the crown.  Life\nmay fitly be compared with a rope made of white and black straw, and\nto separate one from the other is to destroy the rope itself; so also\nlife entirely independent of the duality of good and bad is no actual\nlife.  We must acknowledge, therefore, that the third and the fourth\npropositions are inconsistent with our daily experience of life, and\nthat only the second proposition remains, which, as seen above,\nbreaks down at the origin of morality.\n\n\n\n7. Where, then, does the Error Lie?\n\nWhere, then, does the error lie in the four possible propositions\nrespecting man's nature?  It lies not in their subject, but in the\npredicate-that is to say, in the use of the terms 'good' and 'bad.'\nNow let us examine how does good differ from bad.  A good action ever\npromotes interests in a sphere far wider than a bad action.  Both are\nthe same in their conducing to human interests, but differ in the\nextent in which they achieve their end.  In other words, both good\nand bad actions are performed for one end and the same purpose of\npromoting human interests, but they differ from each other as to the\nextent of interests.  For instance, burglary is evidently bad action,\nand is condemned everywhere; but the capturing of an enemy's property\nfor the sake of one's own tribe or clan or nation is praised as a\nmeritorious conduct.  Both acts are exactly the same in their\npromoting interests; but the former relates to the interests of a\nsingle individual or of a single family, while the latter to those of\na tribe or a nation.  If the former be bad on account of its ignoring\nothers' interests, the latter must be also bad on account of its\nignoring the enemy's interests.  Murder is considered bad everywhere;\nbut the killing of thousands of men in a battle-field is praised and\nhonoured, because the former is perpetrated to promote the private\ninterests, while the latter those of the public.  If the former be\nbad, because of its cruelty, the latter must also be bad, because of\nits inhumanity.\n\nThe idea of good and bad, generally accepted by common sense, may be\nstated as follows: 'An action is good when it promotes the interests\nof an individual or a family; better when it promotes those of a\ndistrict or a country; best when it promotes those of the whole\nworld.  An action is bad when it inflicts injury on another\nindividual or another family; worse when it is prejudicial to a\ndistrict or a country; worst when it brings harm on the whole world.\nStrictly speaking, an action is good when it promotes interests,\nmaterial or spiritual, as intended by the actor in his motive; and it\nis bad when it injures interests, material or spiritual, as intended\nby the actor in his motive.'\n\nAccording to this idea, generally accepted by common sense, human\nactions may be classified under four different heads: (1) Purely good\nactions; (2) partly good and partly bad actions; (3) neither good nor\nbad actions; (4) purely bad actions.  First, purely good actions are\nthose actions which subserve and never hinder human interests either\nmaterial or spiritual, such as humanity and love of all beings.\nSecondly, partly good and partly bad actions are those actions which\nare both for and against human interests, such as narrow patriotism\nand prejudiced love.  Thirdly, neither good nor bad actions are such\nactions as are neither for nor against human interests--for example,\nan unconscious act of a dreamer.  Lastly, purely bad actions, which\nare absolutely against human interests, cannot be possible for man\nexcept suicide, because every action promotes more or less the\ninterests, material or spiritual, of the individual agent or of\nsomeone else.  Even such horrible crimes as homicide and parricide\nare intended to promote some interests, and carry out in some measure\ntheir aim when performed.  It follows that man cannot be said to be\ngood or bad in the strict sense of the terms as above defined, for\nthere is no human being who does the first class of actions and\nnothing else, nor is there any mortal who does the fourth class of\nactions and nothing else.  Man may be called good and bad, and at the\nsame time be neither good nor bad, in that he always performs the\nsecond and the third class of actions.  All this, nevertheless, is a\nmore play of words.  Thus we are driven to conclude that the\ncommon-sense view of human nature fails to grasp the real state of\nactual life.\n\n\n\n8. Man is not Good-natured nor Bad-natured, but Buddha-natured.\n\nWe have had already occasion to observe that Zen teaches\nBuddha-nature, which all sentient beings are endowed with.  The term\n'Buddha-nature,'[FN#165] as accepted generally by Buddhists, means a\nlatent and undeveloped nature, which enables its owner to become\nEnlightened when it is developed and brought to actuality.[FN#166]\nTherefore man, according to Zen, is not good-natured nor bad-natured\nin the relative sense, as accepted generally by common sense, of\nthese terms, but Buddha-natured in the sense of non-duality.  A good\nperson (of common sense) differs from a bad person (of common sense),\nnot in his inborn Buddha-nature, but in the extent of his expressing\nit in deeds.  Even if men are equally endowed with that nature, yet\ntheir different states of development do not allow them to express it\nto an equal extent in conduct.  Buddha-nature may be compared with\nthe sun, and individual mind with the sky.  Then an Enlightened mind\nis like the sky in fair weather, when nothing prevents the beams of\nthe sun; while an ignorant mind is like the sky in cloudy weather,\nwhen the sun sheds faint light; and an evil mind is like the sky in\nstormy weather, when the sun seems to be out of existence.  It comes\nunder our daily observation that even a robber or a murderer may\nprove to be a good father and a loving husband to his wife and\nchildren.  He is an honest fellow when he remains at home.  The sun\nof Buddha-nature gives light within the wall of his house, but\nwithout the house the darkness of foul crimes shrouds him.\n\n[FN#165]  For a detailed explanation of Buddha-nature, see the\nchapter entitled Buddha-nature in Sho-bo-gen-zo.\n\n[FN#166]  Mahaparinirvana-sutra may be said to have been written for\nthe purpose of stating this idea.\n\n\n\n9. The Parable of the Robber Kih.[FN#167]\n\nChwang Tsz (So-shi) remarks in a humorous way to the following\neffect: \"The followers of the great robber and murderer Kih asked him\nsaying: 'Has the robber also any moral principles in his\nproceedings?'  He replied: 'What profession is there which has not\nits principles?  That the robber comes to the conclusion without\nmistake that there are valuable deposits in an apartment shows his\nwisdom; that he is the first to enter it shows his bravery; that he\nmakes an equal division of the plunder shows his justice; that he\nnever betrays the fellow-robbers shows his faithfulness; and that he\nis generous to the followers shows his benevolence.  Without all\nthese five qualities no one in the world has ever attained to become\na great robber.'\"  The parable clearly shows us Buddha-nature of the\nrobber and murderer expresses itself as wisdom, bravery, justice,\nfaithfulness, and benevolence in his society, and that if he did the\nsame outside it, he would not be a great robber but a great sage.\n\n\n[FN#167]  The parable is told for the purpose of undervaluing\nConfucian doctrine, but the author thereby accidentally touches human\nnature.  We do not quote it here with the same purpose as the\nauthor's.\n\n\n\n10. Wang Yang Ming (O-yo-mei) and a Thief.\n\nOne evening when Wang was giving a lecture to a number of students on\nhis famous doctrine that all human beings are endowed with\nConscience,[FN#168] a thief broke into the house and hid himself in\nthe darkest corner.  Then Wang declared aloud that every human being\nis born with Conscience, and that even the thief who had got into the\nhouse had Conscience just as the sages of old.  The burglar,\noverhearing these remarks, came out to ask the forgiveness of the\nmaster; since there was no way of escape for him, and he was\nhalf-naked, he crouched behind the students.  Wang's willing\nforgiveness and cordial treatment encouraged the man to ask the\nquestion how the teacher could know such a poor wretch as he was\nendowed with Conscience as the sages of old.  Wang replied: \"It is\nyour Conscience that makes you ashamed of your nakedness.  You\nyourself are a sage, if you abstain from everything that will put\nshame on you.\"  We firmly believe that Wang is perfectly right in\ntelling the thief that he was not different in nature from the sages\nof old.  It is no exaggeration.  It is a saving truth.  It is also a\nmost effective way of saving men out of darkness of sin.  Any thief\nceases to be a thief the moment he believes in his own Conscience, or\nBuddha-nature.  You can never correct criminals by your severe\nreproach or punishment.  You can save them only through your sympathy\nand love, by which you call forth their inborn Buddha-nature.\nNothing can produce more pernicious effects on criminals than to\ntreat them as if they were a different sort of people and confirm\nthem in their conviction that they are bad-natured.  We greatly\nregret that even in a civilized society authorities neglecting this\nsaving truth are driving to perdition those criminals under their\ncare, whom it is their duty to save.\n\n[FN#168]  It is not conscience in the ordinary sense of the term.  It\nis 'moral' principle, according to Wang, pervading through the\nUniverse.  'It expresses itself as Providence in Heaven, as moral\nnature in man, and as mechanical laws in things.'  The reader will\nnotice that Wang's Conscience is the nearest approach to\nBuddha-nature.\n\n\n\n11. The Bad are the Good in the Egg.\n\nThis is not only the case with a robber or a murderer, but also with\nordinary people.  There are many who are honest and good in their\nhomesteads, but turn out to be base and dishonest folk outside them.\nSimilarly, there are those who, having an enthusiastic love of their\nlocal district, act unlawfully against the interests of other\ndistricts.  They are upright and honourable gentlemen within the\nboundary of their own district, but a gang of rascals without it.  So\nalso there are many who are Washingtons and William Tells in their\nown, but at the same time pirates and cannibals in the other\ncountries.  Again, there are not a few persons who, having racial\nprejudices, would not allow the rays of their Buddha-nature to pass\nthrough a coloured skin.  There are civilized persons who are humane\nenough to love and esteem any human being as their brother, but so\nunfeeling that they think lower creatures as their proper food.  The\nhighly enlightened person, however, cannot but sympathize with human\nbeings and lower creatures as well, as Shakya Muni felt all sentient\nbeings to be his children.\n\nThese people are exactly the same in their Buddha-nature, but a wide\ndifference obtains among them in the extent of their expressing that\nnature in deeds.  If thieves and murderers be called bad-natured,\nreformers and revolutionists should be called so.  If, on the other\nhand, patriotism and loyalty be said to be good, treason and\ninsurrection should likewise be so.  Therefore it is evident that a\nso-called good person is none but one who acts to promote wider\ninterests of life, and a so-called bad person is none but one who\nacts to advance narrower ones.  In other words, the bad are the good\nin the egg, so to speak, and the good are the bad on the wing.  As\nthe bird in the egg is one and the same as the bird on the wing, so\nthe good in the egg is entirely of the same nature as the bad on the\nwing.  To show that human nature transcends the duality of good and\nevil, the author of Avatamsaka-sutra declares that 'all beings are\nendowed with the wisdom and virtue of Tathagata.'  Kwei Fung (Kei-ho)\nalso says: \"All sentient beings have the Real Spirit of Original\nEnlightenment (within themselves).  It is unchanging and pure.  It is\neternally bright and clear, and conscious.  It is also named\nBuddha-nature, or Tathagata-garbha.\"\n\n\n\n12. The Great Person and Small Person.\n\nFor these reasons Zen proposes to call man Buddha-natured or\nGood-natured in a sense transcendental to the duality of good and\nbad.  It conveys no sense to call some individuals good in case there\nis no bad individual.  For the sake of convenience, however, Zen\ncalls man good, as is exemplified by Shakya Muni, who was wont to\naddress his hearers as 'good men and women,' and by the Sixth\nPatriarch in China, who called everybody 'a good and wise one.'  This\ndoes not imply in the least that all human beings are virtuous,\nsinless, and saintly-nay, the world is full of vices and crimes.  It\nis an undeniable fact that life is the warfare of good against evil,\nand many a valiant hero has fallen in the foremost ranks.  It is\ncurious, however, to notice that the champions on the both sides are\nfighting for the same cause.  There can be no single individual in\nthe world who is fighting against his own cause or interest, and the\nonly possible difference between one party and the other consists in\nthe extent of interests which they fight for.  So-called bad persons,\nwho are properly designated as 'small persons' by Chinese and\nJapanese scholars, express their Buddha-nature to a small extent\nmostly within their own doors, while so-called good persons, or\n'great persons' as the Oriental scholars call them, actualize their\nBuddha-nature to a large extent in the whole sphere of a country, or\nof the whole earth.\n\nEnlightened Consciousness, or Buddha-nature, as we have seen in the\nprevious chapter, is the mind of mind and the consciousness of\nconsciousness, Universal Spirit awakened in individual minds, which\nrealizes the universal brotherhood of all beings and the unity of\nindividual lives.  It is the real self, the guiding principle, the\nOriginal Physiognomy[FN#169] (nature), as it is called by Zen, of\nman.  This real self lies dormant under the threshold of\nconsciousness in the minds of the confused; consequently, each of\nthem is inclined to regard petty individual as his self, and to exert\nhimself to further the interests of the individual self even at the\ncost of those of the others.  He is 'the smallest person' in the\nworld, for his self is reduced to the smallest extent possible.  Some\nof the less confused identify their selves with their families, and\nfeel happy or unhappy in proportion as their families are happy or\nunhappy, for the sake of which they sacrifice the interests of other\nfamilies.  On the other hand, some of the more enlightened unite\ntheir selves through love and compassion with their whole tribe or\ncountrymen, and consider the rise or fall of the tribe or of the\ncountry as their own, and willingly sacrifice their own lives, if\nneed be, for the cause of the tribe or the country.  When they are\nfully enlightened, they can realize the unity of all sentient lives,\nand be ever merciful and helpful towards all creatures.  They are\n'the greatest persons' on earth, because their selves are enlarged to\nthe greatest extent possible.\n\n\n[FN#169]  The expression first occurs in Ho-bo-dan-kyo of the Sixth\nPatriarch, and is frequently used by later Zenists.\n\n\n\n13. The Theory of Buddha-Nature adequately explains the Ethical\nStates of Man.\n\nThis theory of Buddha-nature enables us to get an insight into the\norigin of morality.  The first awakening of Buddha-nature within man\nis the very beginning of morality, and man's ethical progress is the\ngradually widening expression of that nature in conduct.  But for it\nmorality is impossible for man.  But for it not only moral culture or\ndiscipline, but education and social improvement must be futile.\nAgain, the theory adequately explains the ethical facts that the\nstandard of morality undergoes change in different times and places,\nthat good and bad are so inseparably knit together, and that the bad\nat times become good all on a sudden, and the good grow bad quite\nunexpectedly.  First, it goes without saying that the standard of\nmorality is raised just in proportion as Buddha-nature or real self\nextends and amplifies itself in different times and places.\nSecondly, since good is Buddha-nature actualized to a large extent,\nand bad is also Buddha-nature actualized to a small extent, the\nexistence of the former presupposes that of the latter, and the mess\nof duality can never be got rid of.  Thirdly, the fact that the bad\nbecome good under certain circumstances, and the good also become bad\noften unexpectedly, can hardly be explained by the dualistic theory,\nbecause if good nature be so arbitrarily turned into bad and bad\nnature into good, the distinction of good and bad nature has no\nmeaning whatever.  According to the theory of Buddha-nature, the fact\nthat the good become bad or the bad become good, does not imply in\nthe least a change of nature, but the widening or the narrowing of\nits actualization.  So that no matter how morally degenerated one may\nbe, he can uplift himself to a high ethical plane by the widening of\nhis self, and at the same time no matter how morally exalted one may\nbe, he can descend to the level of the brute by the narrowing of his\nself.  To be an angel or to be a devil rests with one's degrees of\nenlightenment and free choice.  This is why such infinite varieties\nexist both among the good and the bad.  This is why the higher the\npeak of enlightenment the people climb, the more widely the vista of\nmoral possibilities open before them.\n\n\n\n14. Buddha-Nature is the Common Source of Morals.\n\nFurthermore, Buddha-nature or real self, being the seat of love and\nthe nucleus of sincerity, forms the warp and woof of all moral\nactions.  He is an obedient son who serves his parents with sincerity\nand love.  He is a loyal subject who serves his master with sincerity\nand love.  A virtuous wife is she who loves her husband with her\nsincere heart.  A trustworthy friend is he who keeps company with\nothers with sincerity and love.  A man of righteousness is he who\nleads a life of sincerity and love.  Generous and humane is he who\nsympathizes with his fellow-men with his sincere heart.  Veracity,\nchastity, filial piety, loyalty, righteousness, generosity, humanity,\nand what not-all-this is no other than Buddha-nature applied to\nvarious relationships of human brotherhood.  This is the common\nsource, ever fresh and inexhaustible, of morality that fosters and\nfurthers the interests of all.  To-ju[FN#170] expresses the similar\nidea as follows:\n\n\"There exists the Inexhaustible Source (of morality) within me.\nIt is an invaluable treasure.\nIt is called Bright Nature of man.\nIt is peerless and surpasses all jewels.\nThe aim of learning is to bring out this Bright Nature.\nThis is the best thing in the world.\nReal happiness can only be secured by it.\"\n\nThus, in the first place, moral conduct, which is nothing but the\nexpression of Buddha-nature in action, implies the assertion of self\nand the furtherance of one's interests.  On this point is based the\nhalf-truth of the Egoistic theory. Secondly, it is invariably\naccompanied by a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction when it fulfils\nits end.  This accidental concomitance is mistaken for its essence by\nsuperficial observers who adhere to the Hedonistic theory.  Thirdly,\nit conduces to the furtherance of the material and spiritual\ninterests of man, and it led the Utilitarians to the confusion of the\nresult with the cause of morality.  Fourthly, it involves the control\nor sacrifice of the lower and ignoble self of an individual in order\nto realize his higher and nobler self.  This gave rise to the\nhalf-truth of the Ascetic theory of morality.\n\n\n[FN#170]  To-ju Naka-e (died A.D. 1649), the founder of the Japanese\nWang School of Confucianism, known as the Sage of Omi.\n\n\n\n15. The Parable of a Drunkard.\n\nNow the question arises, If all human beings are endowed with\nBuddha-nature, why have they not come naturally to be Enlightened?\nTo answer this question, the Indian Mahayanists[FN#171] told the\nparable of a drunkard who forgets the precious gems put in his own\npocket by one of his friends.  The man is drunk with the poisonous\nliquor of selfishness, led astray by the alluring sight of the\nsensual objects, and goes mad with anger, lust, and folly.  Thus he\nis in a state of moral poverty, entirely forgetting the precious gem\nof Buddha-nature within him.  To be in an honourable position in\nsociety as the owner of that valuable property, he must first get rid\nhimself of the influence of the liquor of self, and detach himself\nfrom sensual objects, gain control over his passion, restore peace\nand sincerity to his mind, and illumine his whole existence by his\ninborn divine light.  Otherwise he has to remain in the same plight\nto all eternity.\n\n\n[FN#171]  Mahaparinirvana-sutra.\n\n\nLot us avail ourselves of another figure to explain more clearly the\npoint at issue.  Universal Spirit may fitly be likened to the\nuniversal water, or water circulating through the whole earth.  This\nuniversal water exists everywhere.  It exists in the tree.  It exists\nin the grass.  It exists in the mountain.  It exists in the river.\nIt exists in the sea.  It exists in the air.  It exists in the cloud.\n Thus man is not only surrounded by water on all sides, but it\npenetrates his very body.  But be can never appease his thirst\nwithout drinking water.  In like manner Universal Spirit exists\neverywhere.  It exists in the tree.  It exists in the grass.  It\nexists in the ground.  It exists in the mountain.  It exists in the\nriver.  It exists in the sea.  It exists in the bird.  It exists in\nthe beast.  Thus man is not merely surrounded by Spirit on all sides,\nbut it permeates through his whole existence.  But he can never be\nEnlightened unless he awakens it within him by means of Meditation.\nTo drink water is to drink the universal water; to awaken\nBuddha-nature is to be conscious of Universal Spirit.\n\nTherefore, to get Enlightened we have to believe that all beings are\nBuddha-natured--that is, absolutely good-natured in the sense that\ntranscends the duality of good and bad.  \"One day,\" to cite an\nexample, \"Pan Shan (Ban-zan) happened to pass by a meat-shop.  He\nheard a customer saying: 'Give me a pound of fresh meat.'  To which\nthe shopkeeper, putting down his knife, replied: Certainly, sir.\nCould there be any meat that is not fresh in my shop?'  Pan Shan,\nhearing these remarks, was Enlightened at once.\"\n\n\n\n16. Shakya Muni and the Prodigal Son.\n\nA great trouble with us is that we do not believe in half the good\nthat we are born with.  We are just like the only son of a\nwell-to-do, as the author of Saddharma-pundarika-sutra[FN#172] tells\nus, who, being forgetful of his rich inheritance, leaves his home and\nleads a life of hand-to-mouth as a coolie.  How miserable it is to\nsee one, having no faith in his noble endowment, burying the precious\ngem of Buddha-nature into the foul rubbish of vices and crimes,\nwasting his excellent genius in the exertion that is sure to disgrace\nhis name, falling a prey to bitter remorse and doubt, and casting\nhimself away into the jaw of perdition.  Shakya Muni, full of\nfatherly love towards all beings, looked with compassion on us, his\nprodigal son, and used every means to restore the half-starved man to\nhis home.  It was for this that he left the palace and the beloved\nwife and son, practised his self-mortification and prolonged\nMeditation, attained to Enlightenment, and preached Dharma for\nforty-nine years; in other words, all his strength and effort were\nfocussed on that single aim, which was to bring the prodigal son to\nhis rich mansion of Buddha-nature.  He taught not only by words, but\nby his own actual example, that man has Buddha-nature, by the\nunfoldment of which he can save himself from the miseries of life and\ndeath, and bring himself to a higher realm than gods.  When we are\nEnlightened, or when Universal Spirit awakens within us, we open the\ninexhaustible store of virtues and excellencies, and can freely make\nuse of them at our will.\n\n\n[FN#172]  See 'Sacred Books of the East,' vol. xxi., chap. iv., pp.\n98-118.\n\n\n\n17. The Parable of the Monk and the Stupid Woman.\n\nThe confused or unenlightened may be compared with a monk and a\nstupid woman in a Japanese parable which runs as follows: \"One\nevening a monk (who was used to have his head shaved clean), getting\ndrunk against the moral precepts, visited a woman, known as a\nblockhead, at her house.  No sooner had he got into her room than the\nfemale fell asleep so soundly that the monk could not wake her nap.\nThereupon he made up his mind to use every possible means to arouse\nher, and searched and searched all over the room for some instrument\nthat would help him in his task of arousing her from death-like\nslumber.  Fortunately, he found a razor in one of the drawers of her\nmirror stand.  With it he gave a stroke to her hair, but she did not\nstir a whit.  Then came another stroke, and she snored like thunder.\nThe third and fourth strokes came, but with no better result.  And at\nlast her head was shaven clean, yet still she slept on.  The next\nmorning when she awoke, she could not find her visitor, the monk, as\nhe had left the house in the previous night.  'Where is my visitor,\nwhere my dear monk?' she called aloud, and waking in a state of\nsomnambulation looked for him in vain, repeating the outcry.  When at\nlength her hand accidentally touched her shaven head, she mistook it\nfor that of her visitor, and exclaimed: 'Here you are, my dear, where\nam I myself gone then?\"  A great trouble with the confused is their\nforgetting of real self or Buddha-nature, and not knowing 'where it\nis gone.'  Duke Ngai, of the State of Lu, once said to Confucius:\n\"One of my subjects, Sir, is so much forgetful that he forgot to take\nhis wife when be changed his residence.\"  \"That is not much, my\nlord,\" said the sage, \"the Emperors Kieh[FN#173] and Cheu[FN#174]\nforgot their own selves.\"[FN#175]\n\n\n[FN#173]  The last Emperor of the Ha dynasty, notorious for his\nvices. His reign was 1818-1767 B.C.\n\n[FN#174]  The last Emperor of the Yin dynasty, one of the worst\ndespots. His reign was 1154-1122 B.C.\n\n[FN#175]  Ko-shi-ke-go.\n\n\n\n18. 'Each Smile a Hymn, each Kindly Word a Prayer.'\n\nThe glorious sun of Buddha-nature shines in the zenith of Enlightened\nConsciousness, but men still dream a dream of illusion.  Bells and\nclocks of the Universal Church proclaim the dawn of Bodhi, yet men,\ndrunk with the liquors of the Three Poisons[FN#176] Still slumber in\nthe darkness of sin.  Let us pray to Buddha, in whose bosom we live,\nfor the sake of our own salvation.  Let us invoke Buddha, whose\nboundless mercy ever besets us, for the Sake of joy and peace of all\nour fellow-beings.  Let us adore Him through our sympathy towards the\npoor, through our kindness shown to the suffering, through our\nthought of the sublime and the good.\n\n\"O brother man, fold to thy heart thy brother;\nWhere pity dwells, the peace of God is there;\nTo worship rightly is to love each other,\nEach smile a hymn, each kindly word a prayer.\"\n--Whittier.\n\nLet, then, your heart be so pure that you may not be unworthy of the\nsunshine beaming upon you the light of Universal Spirit.  Let your\nthought be so noble that you may deserve fair flowers blooming before\nyou, reminding you of merciful Buddha.  Let your life be so good that\nyou may not be ashamed of yourself in the presence of the Blessed\nOne.  This is the piety of Mahayanists, especially of Zenists.\n\n\n[FN#176]  Lust, anger, and folly.\n\n\n\n19. The World is in the Making.\n\nOur assertion is far from assuming that life is now complete, and is\nin its best state.  On the contrary, it is full of defects and\nshortcomings.  We must not be puffed up with modern civilization,\nhowever great victory it has scored for its side.  Beyond all doubt\nman is still in his cradle.  He often stretches forth his hands to\nget at his higher ideal, yet is still satisfied with worthless\nplaythings.  It is too glaring a fact to be overlooked by us that\nfaith in religion is dying out in the educated circles of society,\nthat insincerity, cowardice, and double-tongue are found holding high\npositions in almost ever community, that Lucrese and Ezzeling are\nlooking down upon the starving multitude from their luxurious palace,\nthat Mammon and Bacchus are sometimes preying on their living\nvictims, that even religion often sides with Contention and piety\ntakes part in Cruelty, that Anarchy is ever ready to spring on the\ncrowned beings, that philosophy is disposed to turn the deaf ear to\nthe petition of peace, while science provides fuel for the fire of\nstrife.\n\nWas the golden age of man, then, over in the remote past?  Is the\ndoomsday coming instead?  Do you bear the trumpet call?  Do you feel\nthe earth tremble?  No, absolutely no, the golden age is not passed.\nIt is yet to come.  There are not a few who think that the world is\nin completion, and the Creator has finished His work.  We witness,\nhowever, that He is still working and working, for actually we hear\nHis hammer-strokes resounding through heaven above and earth beneath.\n Does He not show us new materials for His building?  Does He not\ngive new forms to His design?  Does He not surprise us with\nnovelties, extraordinaries, and mysteries?  In a word, the world is\nin progress, not in retrogression.\n\nA stream does not run in a straight line.  It now turns to the right,\nnow to the left, now leaps down a precipice, now waters rich fields,\nnow runs back towards its source; but it is destined to find its\noutlet in the ocean.  So it is with the stream of life.  It now leaps\ndown the precipice of revolution.  Now it enriches the fertile field\nof civilization.  Now it expands itself into a glassy lake of peace.\nNow it forms the dangerous whirlpool of strife.  But its course is\nalways toward the ocean of Enlightenment, in which the gems of\nequality and freedom, jewels of truth and beauty, and treasures of\nwisdom and bliss can be had.\n\n\n\n20. The Progress and Hope of Life.\n\nHow many myriads of years have passed since the germs of life first\nmade appearance on earth none can tell; how many thousands of summers\nand winters it has taken to develop itself into higher animals, no\nscientist can calculate exactly.  Slowly but steadily it has taken\nits swerving course, and ascending stop by step the series of\nevolution, has reached at length the plane of the rational animal.\nWe cannot tell how many billions of years it takes to develop\nourselves and become beings higher than man himself, yet we firmly\nbelieve that it is possible for us to take the same unerring course\nas the organic germs took in the past.  Existing humanity is not the\nsame as primitive one.  It is quite another race.  Our desires and\nhopes are entirely different from those of primitive man.  What was\ngold for them is now iron for us.  Our thoughts and beliefs are what\nthey never dreamed of.  Of our knowledge they had almost none.  That\nwhich they kept in veneration we trample under our feet.  Things they\nworshipped as deities now serve us as our slaves.  Things that\ntroubled and tortured them we now turn into utilities.  To say\nnothing of the customs and manners and mode of living which underwent\nextraordinary change, we are of a race in body and mind other than\nthe primitive forefathers of good old days.\nIn addition to this we have every reason to believe in the betterment\nof life.  Let us cast a glance to the existing state of the world.\nWhile the Turco-Italian war was raising its ferocious outcry, the\nChinese revolution lifted its head before the trembling throne.  Who\ncan tell whether another sanguinary affair will not break out before\nthe Bulgarian bloodshed comes to an end?  Still we believe that, as\nfire drives out fire, to borrow Shakespeare's phrase, so war is\ndriving out war.  As an ocean, which separated two nations in the\npast, serves to unite them now, so a war, which separated two people\nin the past, brings them to unity now.  It goes without saying, that\nevery nation groans under the burden of cannons and warships, and\nheartily desires peace.  No nation can willingly wage war against any\nother nation.  It is against the national conscience.  It is no\nexaggeration to say the world is wholly the ear to hear the news from\nthe goddess of peace.  A time will surely come, if our purpose be\nsteady and our resolution firm, when universal peace will be\nrestored, and Shakya Muni's precept, 'not to kill,' will be realized\nby all mankind.\n\n\n\n21. The Betterment of Life.\n\nAgain, people nowadays seem to feel keenly the wound of the\neconomical results of war, but they are unfeeling to its moral\ninjuries.  As elements have their affinities, as bodies have their\nattractions, as creatures have their instinct to live together, so\nmen have their inborn mutual love.  'God divided man into men that\nthey might help each other.'  Their strength lies in their mutual\nhelp, their pleasure is in their mutual love, and their perfection is\nin their giving and receiving of alternate good.  Therefore Shakya\nMuni says: \"Be merciful to all living beings.\"  To take up arms\nagainst any other person is unlawful for any individual.  It is the\nviolation of the universal law of life.\n\nWe do not deny that there are not a few who are so wretched that they\nrejoice in their crimes, nor that there is any person but has more or\nless stain on his character, nor that the means of committing crimes\nare multiplied in proportion as modern civilization advances; yet\nstill we believe that our social life is ever breaking down our\nwolfish disposition that we inherited from our brute ancestors, and\neducation is ever wearing out our cannibalistic nature which we have\nin common with wild animals.  On the one hand, the signs of social\nmorals are manifest in every direction, such as asylums for orphans,\npoorhouses, houses of correction, lodgings for the penniless, asylums\nfor the poor, free hospitals, hospitals for domestic animals,\nsocieties for the prevention of cruelty to animals, schools for the\nblind and the dumb, asylums for the insane, and so forth; on the\nother hand, various discoveries and inventions have been made that\nmay contribute to the social improvement, such as the discovery of\nthe X rays and of radium, the invention of the wireless telegraph and\nthat of the aeroplane and what not.  Furthermore, spiritual wonders\nsuch as clairvoyance, clairaudience, telepathy, etc., remind us of\nthe possibilities of further spiritual unfoldment in man which he\nnever dreamed of.  Thus life is growing richer and nobler step by\nstep, and becoming more and more hopeful as we advance in the Way of\nBuddha.\n\n\n\n22. The Buddha of Mercy.\n\nMilton says:\n\n\"Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt;\nSurprised by unjust force, but not enthralled.\nBut evil on itself shall back recoil,\nAnd mix no more with goodness. If this fail,\nThe pillared firmament is rottenness,\nAnd earth's base built on stubble.\"\n\nThe world is built on the foundation of morality, which is another\nname for Universal Spirit, and moral order sustains it.  We human\nbeings, consciously or unconsciously, were, are, and will be at work\nto bring the world into perfection.  This idea is allegorically\nexpressed in the Buddhist sutra,[FN#177] which details the advent of\na merciful Buddha named Maitreya in the remote future.  At that time,\nit says, there will be no steep hills, no filthy places, no epidemic,\nno famine, no earthquake, no storm, no war, no revolution, no\nbloodshed, no cruelty, and no suffering; the roads will be paved\nsmoothly, grass and trees always blooming, birds ever singing, men\ncontented and happy; all sentient beings will worship the Buddha of\nMercy, accept His doctrine, and attain to Enlightenment.  This\nprophecy will be fulfilled, according to the sutra, 5,670,000,000\nyears after the death of Shakya Muni.  This evidently shows us that\nthe Mahayanist's aim of life is to bring out man's inborn light of\nBuddha-nature to illumine the world, to realize the universal\nbrotherhood of all sentient beings, to attain to Enlightenment, and\nto enjoy peace and joy to which Universal Spirit leads us.\n\n\n[FN#177]  See Nanjo's Catalogue, Nos. 204-209.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\n\n\nENLIGHTENMENT\n\n\n1. Enlightenment is beyond Description and Analysis.\n\nIn the foregoing chapters we have had several occasions to refer to\nthe central problem of Zen or Enlightenment, whose content it is\nfutile to attempt to explain or analyze.  We must not explain or\nanalyze it, because by doing so we cannot but mislead the reader.  We\ncan as well represent Enlightenment by means of explanation or\nanalysis as we do personality by snapshots or by anatomical\noperations.  As our inner life, directly experienced within us, is\nanything but the shape of the head, or the features of the face, or\nthe posture of the body, so Enlightenment experienced by Zenists at\nthe moment of their highest Samadhi[FN#178] is anything but the\npsychological analysis of mental process, or the epistemological\nexplanation of cognition, or the philosophical generalization of\nconcepts.  Enlightenment can be realized only by the Enlightened, and\nbaffles every attempt to describe it, even by the Enlightened\nthemselves.  The effort of the confused to guess at Enlightenment is\noften likened by the Zenists to the effort of the blind who feel an\nelephant to know what it looks like.  Some of them who happen to feel\nthe trunk would declare it is like a rope, but those who happen to\nfeel the belly would declare it is like a huge drum; while those who\nhappen to feel the feet would declare it is like the trunk of a tree.\nBut none of these conjectures can approach the living elephant.\n\n\n[FN#178]  Abstract Contemplation, which the Zenists distinguish from\nSamadhi, practised by the Brahmins.  The author of 'An Outline of\nBuddhist Sects' points out the distinction, saying: \"Contemplation of\noutside religionists is practised with the heterodox view that the\nlower worlds (the worlds for men, beasts, etc.) are disgusting, but\nthe upper worlds (the worlds for Devas) are desirable; Contemplation\nof common people (ordinary lay believers of Buddhism) is practised\nwith the belief in the law of Karma, and also with disgust (for the\nlower worlds) and desire (for the upper worlds); Contemplation of\nHinayana is practised with an insight into the truth of Anatman\n(non-soul); Contemplation of Mahayana is practised with an insight of\nUnreality of Atman (soul) as well as of Dharma (thing); Contemplation\nof the highest perfection is practised with the view that Mind is\npure in its nature, it is endowed with unpolluted wisdom, free from\npassion, and it is no other than Buddha himself.\"\n\n\n\n2. Enlightenment implies an Insight into the Nature of Self.\n\nWe cannot pass over, however, this weighty problem without saying a\nword.  We shall try in this chapter to present Enlightenment before\nthe reader in a roundabout way, just as the painter gives the\nfragmentary sketches of a beautiful city, being unable to give even a\nbird's-eye view of it.  Enlightenment, first of all, implies an\ninsight into the nature of Self.  It is an emancipation of mind from\nillusion concerning Self.  All kinds of sin take root deep in the\nmisconception of Self, and putting forth the branches of lust, anger,\nand folly, throw dark shadows on life.  To extirpate this\nmisconception Buddhism[FN#179] strongly denies the existence of the\nindividual soul as conceived by common sense-that is, that unchanging\nspiritual entity provided with sight, hearing, touch, smell, feeling,\nthought, imagination, aspiration, etc., which survives the body.  It\nteaches us that there is no such thing as soul, and that the notion\nof soul is a gross illusion.  It treats of body as a temporal\nmaterial form of life doomed to be destroyed by death and reduced to\nits elements again.  It maintains that mind is also a temporal\nspiritual form of life, behind which there is no immutable soul.\n\n\n[FN#179]  Both Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism teach the doctrine of\nAnatman, or Non-self.  It is the denial of soul as conceived by\ncommon sense, and of Atman as conceived by Indian heterodox thinkers.\n Some Mahayanists believe in the existence of real Self instead of\nindividual self, as we see in Mahaparinirvana-sutra, whose author\nsays: \"There is real self in non-self.\"  It is worthy of note that\nthe Hinayanists set forth Purity, Pleasure, Atman, and Eternity, as\nthe four great misconceptions about life, while the same author\nregards them as the four great attributes of Nirvana itself.\n\n\nAn illusory mind tends either to regard body as Self and to yearn\nafter its material interests, or to believe mind dependent on soul as\nEgo.  Those who are given to sensual pleasures, consciously or\nunconsciously, bold body to be the Self, and remain the life-long\nslave to the objects of sense.  Those who regard mind as dependent on\nsoul as the Self, on the other hand, undervalue body as a mere tool\nwith which the soul works, and are inclined to denounce life as if\nunworthy of living.  We must not undervalue body, nor must we\noverestimate mind.  There is no mind isolated from body, nor is there\nany body separated from mind.  Every activity of mind produces\nchemical and physiological changes in the nerve-centres, in the\norgans, and eventually in the whole body; while every activity of\nbody is sure to bring out the corresponding change in the mental\nfunction, and eventually in the whole personality.  We have the\ninward experience of sorrow when we have simultaneously the outward\nappearance of tears and of pallor; when we have the outward\nappearance of the fiery eyes and short breath, we have simultaneously\nthe inward feeling of anger.  Thus body is mind observed outwardly in\nits relation to the senses; mind is body inwardly experienced in its\nrelation to introspection.  Who can draw a strict line of demarcation\nbetween mind and body?  We should admit, so far as our present\nknowledge is concerned, that mind, the intangible, has been formed to\ndon a garment of matter in order to become an intelligible existence\nat all; matter, the solid, has faded under examination into\nformlessness, as that of mind.  Zen believes in the identification of\nmind and body, as Do-gen[FN#180] says: \"Body is identical with mind;\nappearance and reality are one and the same thing.\"\n Bergson denies the identification of mind and body, saying:[FN#181]\n\"It (experience) shows us the interdependence of the mental and the\nphysical, the necessity of a certain cerebral substratum for the\npsychical state-nothing more.  From the fact that two things are\nmutually dependent, it does not follow that they are equivalent.\nBecause a certain screw is necessary for a certain machine, because\nthe machine works when the screw is there and stops when the screw is\ntaken away, we do not say that the screw is equivalent of the\nmachine.\"  Bergson's simile of a screw and a machine is quite\ninadequate to show the interdependence of mind and body, because the\nscrew does cause the machine to work, but the machine does not cause\nthe screw to work; so that their relation is not interdependence.  On\nthe contrary, body causes mind to work, and at the same time mind\ncauses body to work; so that their relation is perfectly\ninterdependent, and the relation is not that of an addition of mind\nto body, or of body to mind, as the screw is added to the machine.\nBergson must have compared the working of the machine with mind, and\nthe machine itself with body, if be wanted to show the real fact.\nMoreover, he is not right in asserting that \"from the fact that two\nthings are mutually dependent, it does not follow that they are\nequivalent,\" because there are several kinds of interdependence, in\nsome of which two things can be equivalent.  For instance, bricks,\nmutually dependent in their forming an arch, cannot be equivalent one\nwith another; but water and waves, being mutually dependent, can be\nidentified.  In like manner fire and heat, air and wind, a machine\nand its working, mind and body.[FN#182]\n\n\n[FN#180]  The master strongly condemns the immortality of the soul as\nthe heterodox doctrine in his Sho-bo-gen-zo.  The same argument is\nfound in Mu-chu-mon-do, by Mu-so Koku-shi.\n\n[FN#181]  'Creative Evolution,' pp. 354, 355.\n\n[FN#182]  Bergson, arguing against the dependence of the mind on\nbrain, says: \"That there is a close connection between a state of\nconsciousness and the brain we do not dispute.  But there is also a\nclose connection between a coat and the nail on which it hangs, for\nif the nail is pulled out, the coat will fall to the ground.  Shall\nwe say, then, that the shape of the nail gave the shape of the coat,\nor in any way corresponds to it?  No more are we entitled to\nconclude, because the psychical fact is hung on to a cerebral state,\nthat there is any parallelism between the two series, psychical and\nphysiological.\"  We have to ask, in what respects does the\ninterrelation between mind and body resemble the relation between a\ncoat and a nail?\n\n\n\n3. The Irrationality of the Belief of Immortality.\n\nOccidental minds believe in a mysterious entity under the name of\nsoul, just as Indian thinkers believe in the so-called subtle body\nentirely distinct from the gross body of flesh and blood.  Soul,\naccording to this belief, is an active principle that unites body and\nmind so as to form an harmonious whole of mental as well as bodily\nactivities.  And it acts through the instrumentality of the mind and\nbody in the present life, and enjoys an eternal life beyond the\ngrave.  It is on this soul that individual immortality is based.  It\nis immortal Self.\nNow, to say nothing of the origin of soul, this long-entertained\nbelief is hardly good for anything.  In the first place, it throws no\nlight upon the relation of mind and body, because soul is an empty\nname for the unity of mind and body, and serves to explain nothing.\nOn the contrary, it adds another mystery to the already mysterious\nrelationships between matter and spirit.  Secondly, soul should be\nconceived as a psychical individual, subject to spacial\ndeterminations--but since it has to be deprived by death of its body\nwhich individualizes it, it will cease to be individuality after\ndeath, to the disappointment of the believer. How could you think\nanything purely spiritual and formless existing without blending\ntogether with other things?  Thirdly, it fails to gratify the desire,\ncherished by the believer, of enjoying eternal life, because soul has\nto lose its body, the sole important medium through which it may\nenjoy life.  Fourthly, soul is taken as a subject matter to receive\nin the future life the reward or the punishment from God for our\nactions in this life; but the very idea of eternal punishment is\ninconsistent with the boundless love of God.  Fifthly, it is beyond\nall doubt that soul is conceived as an entity, which unifies various\nmental faculties and exists as the foundation of individual\npersonality.  But the existence of such soul is quite incompatible\nwith the well-known pathological fact that it is possible for the\nindividual to have double or treble or multiple personalities.  Thus\nthe belief in the existence of soul conceived by the common sense\nturns out not only to be irrational, but a useless encumbrance on the\nreligious mind.  Therefore Zen declares that there is no such thing\nas soul, and that mind and body are one.  Hwui Chung (Ye-chu), a\nfamous disciple of the Sixth Patriarch in China, to quote an example,\none day asked a monk: \"Where did you come from?\"  \"I came, sir, from\nthe South,\" replied the man.  \"What doctrine do the masters of the\nSouth teach?\" asked Hwui Chung again.  \"They teach, sir, that body is\nmortal, but mind is immortal,\" was the answer.  \"That,\" said the\nmaster, \"is the heterodox doctrine of the Atman!\"  \"How do you, sir,\"\nquestioned the monk, \"teach about that?\"  \"I teach that the body and\nmind are one,\" was the reply.[FN#183]\n\n\n[FN#183]  For further explanation, see Sho-bo-gen-zo and\nMu-chu-mon-do.\n\nFiske, [FN#184] in his argument against materialism, blames the\ndenial of immortality, saying: \"The materialistic assumption that\nthere is no such state of things, and that the life of the soul ends\naccordingly with the life of the body, is perhaps the most colossal\ninstance of baseless assumption that is known to the history of\nphilosophy.\"  But we can say with equal force that the common-sense\nassumption that the life of soul continues beyond the grave is,\nperhaps, the most colossal instance of baseless assumption that is\nknown to the history of thought, because, there being no scientific\nevidences that give countenance to the assumption, even the\nspiritualists themselves hesitate to assert the existence of a ghost\nor soul.  Again he[FN#185] says: \"With this illegitimate hypothesis\nof annihilation the materialist transgresses the bounds of experience\nquite as widely as the poet who sings of the New Jerusalem with its\nriver of life and its street of gold.  Scientifically speaking, there\nis not a particle of evidence for either view.\"  This is as much as\nto say there is not a particle of evidence, scientifically speaking,\nfor the common-sense view of soul, because the poet's description of\nthe New Jerusalem is nothing but the result of the common-sense\nbelief of immortality.\n\n\n[FN#184]  'The Destiny of Man,' p. 110.\n\n[FN#185]  'The Destiny of Man,' pp. 110, 111.\n\n\n4. The Examination of the Notion of Self.\n\nThe belief in immortality is based on the strong instinct of\nself-preservation that calls forth an insatiable longing for\nlongevity.  It is another form of egoism, one of the relics of our\nbrute forefathers.  We must bear in mind that this illusion of the\nindividual Self is the foundation on which every form of immorality\nhas its being.  I challenge my readers to find in the whole history\nof mankind any crime not based on egoism.  Evil-doers have been as a\nrule pleasure-hunters, money-seekers, seekers after self-interests,\ncharacterized by lust, folly, and cruelty.  Has there been anyone who\ncommitted theft that he might further the interests of his villagers?\n Has there been any paramour who disgraced himself that lie might\nhelp his neighbours?  Has there been any traitor who performed the\nignoble conduct to promote the welfare of his own country or society\nat large?\n\nTo get Enlightened, therefore, we have to correct, first of all, our\nnotions concerning Self.  Individual body and mind are not the only\nimportant constituents of Self.  There are many other indispensable\nelements in the notion of Self.  For instance, I have come into\nexistence as another form of my parents.  I am theirs, and may justly\nbe called the reincarnation of them.  And again, my father is another\nform of his parents; my mother of hers; his and her parents of\ntheirs; and ad infinitum.  In brief, all my forefathers live and have\ntheir being in me.  I cannot help, therefore, thinking that my\nphysical state is the result of the sum total of my good and bad\nactions in the past lives I led in the persons of my forefathers, and\nof the influence I received therein;[FN#186] and that my psychical\nstate is the result of that which I received, felt, imagined,\nconceived, experienced, and thought in my past existences in the\npersons of my ancestors.\n\n[FN#186]  This is the law of Karma.\n\n\nBesides this, my brothers, my sisters, my neighbours--nay, all my\nfollow-men and fellow-women are no other than the reincarnation of\ntheir parents and forefathers, who are also mine.  The same blood\ninvigorated the king as well as the beggar; the same nerve energized\nthe white as well as the black men; the same consciousness vitalized\nthe wise as well as the unwise.  Impossible it is to conceive myself\nindependent of my fellow-men and fellow-women, for they are mine and\nI am theirs--that is, I live and move in them, and they live and move\nin me.\n\nIt is bare nonsense to say that I go to school, not to be educated as\na member of society, but simply to gratify my individual desire for\nknowledge; or that I make a fortune, not to lead the life of a\nwell-to-do in society, but to satisfy my individual money-loving\ninstinct; or that I seek after truth, neither to do good to my\ncontemporaries nor to the future generations, but only for my\nindividual curiosity or that I live neither to live with my family\nnor with my friends nor with anyone else, but to live my individual\nlife.  It is as gross absurdity to say that I am an individual\nabsolutely independent of society as to say I am a husband with no\nwife, or I am a son to no parents.  Whatever I do directly or\nindirectly I contribute to the common fortune of man; whatever anyone\nelse does directly or indirectly determines my fate.  Therefore we\nmust realize that our Selves necessarily include other members of the\ncommunity, while other members' Selves necessarily comprehend us.\n\n\n\n5. Nature is the Mother of All Things.\n\nFurthermore, man has come into existence out of Nature.  He is her\nchild.  She provided him food, raiment, and shelter.  She nourishes\nhim, strengthens him, and vitalizes him.  At the same time she\ndisciplines, punishes, and instructs him.  His body is of her own\nformation, his knowledge is of her own laws, and his activities are\nthe responses to her own addresses to him.  Modern civilization is\nsaid by some to be the conquest of man over Nature; but, in fact, it\nis his faithful obedience to her.  \"Bacon truly said,\" says\nEucken,[FN#187] \"that to rule nature man must first serve her.  He\nforgot to add that, as her ruler, he is still destined to go on\nserving her.\"  She can never be attacked by any being unless he acts\nin strict conformity to her laws.  To accomplish anything against her\nlaw is as impossible as to catch fishes in a forest, or to make bread\nof rock.  How many species of animals have perished owing to their\ninability to follow her steps!  How immense fortunes have been lost\nin vain from man's ignorance of her order!  How many human beings\ndisappeared on earth from their disobedience to her unbending will!\nShe is, nevertheless, true to those who obey her rules.  Has not\nscience proved that she is truthful?  Has not art found that she is\nbeautiful?\n\n\n[FN#187]  Eucken's 'Philosophy of Life,' by W. R. Royce Gibbon, p. 51.\n\n\nHas not philosophy announced that she is spiritual?  Has not religion\nproclaimed that she is good?  At all events, she is the mother of all\nbeings.  She lives in all things and they live in her.  All that she\npossesses is theirs, and all that they want she supplies.  Her life\nis the same vitality that stirs all sentient beings.  Chwang\nTsz[FN#188] (So-shi) is right when he says: \"Heaven, Earth, and I\nwere produced together, and all things and I are one.\"  And again:\n\"If all things be regarded with love, Heaven and Earth are one with\nme.\"  Sang Chao (So-jo) also says: \"Heaven and Earth are of the same\nroot as we.  All things in the world are of one substance with\nMe.\"[FN#189]\n\n\n[FN#188]  Chwang Tsz, vol. i., p. 20.\n\n[FN#189]  This is a favourite subject of discussion by Zenists.\n\n\n\n6. Real Self.\n\nIf there be no individual soul either in mind or body, where does\npersonality lie?  What is Real Self?  How does it differ from soul?\nSelf is living entity, not immutable like soul, but mutable and\never-changing life, which is body when observed by senses, and which\nis mind when experienced by introspection.  It is not an entity lying\nbehind mind and body, but life existent as the union of body and\nmind.  It existed in our forefathers in the past, is existing in the\npresent, and will exist in the future generations.  It also discloses\nitself to some measure in vegetables and animals, and shadows itself\nforth in inorganic nature.  It is Cosmic life and Cosmic spirit, and\nat the same time individual life and individual spirit.  It is one\nand the same life which embraces men and nature.  It is the\nself-existent, creative, universal principle that moves on from\neternity to eternity.  As such it is called Mind or Self by Zenists.\nPan Shan (Ban-zan) says: \"The moon of mind comprehends all the\nuniverse in its light.\"  A man asked Chang Sha (Cho-sha): \"How can\nyou turn the phenomenal universe into Self ?\"  \"How can you turn Self\ninto the phenomenal universe?\" returned the master.\n\nWhen we get the insight into this Self, we are able to have the open\nsesame to the mysteries of the universe, because to know the nature\nof a drop of water is to know the nature of the river, the lake, and\nthe ocean--nay, even of vapour, mist, and cloud; in other words, to\nget an insight into individual life is the key to the secret of\nUniversal Life.  We must not confine Self within the poor little\nperson called body.  That is the root of the poorest and most\nmiserable egoism.  We should expand that egoism into family-egoism,\nthen into nation-egoism, then into race-egoism, then into\nhuman-egoism, then into living-being-egoism, and lastly into\nuniverse-egoism, which is not egoism at all.  Thus we deny the\nimmortality of soul as conceived by common sense, but assume\nimmortality of the Great Soul, which animates, vitalizes, and\nspiritualizes all sentient beings.  It is Hinayana Buddhism that\nfirst denied the existence of atman or Self so emphatically\ninculcated in the Upanisads, and paved the way for the general\nconception of Universal Self, with the eulogies of which almost every\npage of Mahayana books is filled.\n\n\n\n7. The Awakening of the Innermost Wisdom.\n\nHaving set ourselves free from the misconception of Self, next we\nmust awaken our innermost wisdom, pure and divine, called the Mind of\nBuddha,[FN#190] or Bodhi,[FN#191] or Prajnya[FN#192] by Zen masters.\nIt is the divine light, the inner heaven, the key to all moral\ntreasures, the centre of thought and consciousness, the source of all\ninfluence and power, the seat of kindness, justice, sympathy,\nimpartial love, humanity, and mercy, the measure of all things.  When\nthis innermost wisdom is fully awakened, we are able to realize that\neach and everyone of us is identical in spirit, in essence, in nature\nwith the universal life or Buddha, that each ever lives face to face\nwith Buddha, that each is beset by the abundant grace of the Blessed\nOne, that He arouses his moral nature, that He opens his spiritual\neyes, that He unfolds his new capacity, that He appoints his mission,\nand that life is not an ocean of birth, disease, old age, and death,\nnor the vale of tears, but the holy temple of Buddha, the Pure\nLand,[FN#193] where be can enjoy the bliss of Nirvana.\n\n\n[FN#190]  Zen is often called the Sect of Buddha-mind, as it lays\nstress on the awakening of the Mind of Buddha.  The words 'the Mind\nof Buddha' were taken from a passage in Lankavatara-sutra.\n\n[FN#191]  That knowledge by which one becomes enlightened.\n\n[FN#192]  Supreme wisdom.\n\n[FN#193]  Sukhavati, or the land of bliss.\n\n\nThen our minds go through an entire revolution.  We are no more\ntroubled by anger and hatred, no more bitten by envy and ambition, no\nmore stung by sorrow and chagrin, no more overwhelmed by melancholy\nand despair.  Not that we become passionless or simply intellectual,\nbut that we have purified passions, which, instead of troubling us,\ninspire us with noble aspirations, such as anger and hatred against\ninjustice, cruelty, and dishonesty, sorrow and lamentation for human\nfrailty, mirth and joy for the welfare of follow-beings, pity and\nsympathy for suffering creatures.  The same change purifies our\nintellect.  Scepticism and sophistry give way to firm conviction;\ncriticism and hypothesis to right judgment; and inference and\nargument to realization.\n\nWhat we merely observed before we now touch with heart as well.  What\nwe knew in relation of difference before we now understand in\nrelation of unity as well.  How things happen was our chief concern\nbefore, but now we consider as well bow much value they have.  What\nwas outside us before now comes within us.  What was dead and\nindifferent before grows now alive and lovable to us. What was\ninsignificant and empty before becomes now important, and has\nprofound meaning.  Wherever we go we find beauty; whomever we meet we\nfind good; whatever we get we receive with gratitude.  This is the\nreason why the Zenists not only regarded all their fellow-beings as\ntheir benefactors, but felt gratitude even towards fuel and water.\nThe present writer knows a contemporary Zenist who would not drink\neven a cup of water without first making a salutation to it.  Such an\nattitude of Zen toward things may well be illustrated by the\nfollowing example: Sueh Fung (Sep-po) and Kin Shan (Kin-zan), once\ntravelling through a mountainous district, saw a leaf of the rape\nfloating down the stream.  Thereon Kin Shan said: \"Let us go up, dear\nbrother, along the stream that we may find a sage living up on the\nmountain.  I hope we shall find a good teacher in him.\"  \"No,\"\nreplied Sueh Fung, \"for he cannot be a sage who wastes even a leaf of\nthe rape.  He will be no good teacher for us.\"\n\n\n\n8. Zen is not Nihilistic.\n\nZen judged from ancient Zen masters' aphorisms may seem, at the first\nsight, to be idealistic in an extreme form, as they say: \"Mind is\nBuddha\" or, \"Buddha is Mind,\" or, \"There is nothing outside mind,\"\nor, \"Three worlds are of but one mind.\"  And it may also appear to be\nnihilistic, as they say: \"There has been nothing since all eternity,\"\n\"By illusion you see the castle of the Three Worlds\"; \"by\nEnlightenment you see but emptiness in ten directions.\"[FN#194]  In\nreality, however, Zen[FN#195] is neither idealistic nor nihilistic.\nZen makes use of the nihilistic idea of Hinayana Buddhism, and calls\nits students' attention to the change and evanescence of life and of\nthe world, first to destroy the error of immutation, next to dispel\nthe attachment to the sensual objects.\n\n\n[FN#194]  These words were repeatedly uttered by Chinese and Japanese\nZenists of all ages.  Chwen Hih (Fu-dai-shi) expressed this very idea\nin his Sin Wang Ming (Shin-o-mei) at the time of Bodhidharma.\n\n[FN#195]  The Rin-zai teachers mostly make use of the doctrine of\nunreality of all things, as taught in Prajnya-paramita-sutras.  We\nhave to note that there are some differences between the Mahayana\ndoctrine of unreality and the Hinayana doctrine of unreality.\n\n\nIt is a misleading tendency of our intellect to conceive things as if\nthey were immutable and constant.  It often leaves changing and\nconcrete individual objects out of consideration, and lays stress on\nthe general, abstract, unchanging aspect of things.  It is inclined\nto be given to generalization and abstraction.  It often looks not at\nthis thing or at that thing, but at things in general.  It loves to\nthink not of a good thing nor of a bad thing, but of bad and good in\nthe abstract.  This intellectual tendency hardens and petrifies the\nliving and growing world, and leads us to take the universe as a\nthing dead, inert, and standing still.  This error of immutation can\nbe corrected by the doctrine of Transcience taught by Hinayana\nBuddhism.  But as medicine taken in an undue quantity turns into\npoison, so the doctrine of Transcience drove the Hinayanists to the\nsuicidal conclusion of nihilism.  A well-known scholar and believer\nof Zen, Kwei Fung (Kei-ha) says in his refutation of nihilism:[FN#196]\n\n\"If mind as well as external objects be unreal, who is it that knows\nthey are so?  Again, if there be nothing real in the universe, what\nis it that causes unreal objects to appear?  We stand witness to the\nfact that there is no one of the unreal things on earth that is not\nmade to appear by something real.  If there be no water of unchanging\nfluidity, how can there be the unreal and temporary forms of waves?\nIf there be no unchanging mirror, bright and clean, bow can there be\nthe various images, unreal and temporary, reflected in it?  If mind\nas well as external objects be nothing at all, no one can tell what\nit is that causes these unreal appearances.  Therefore this doctrine\n(of the unreality of all things) can never clearly disclose spiritual\nReality.  So that Mahabheri-harakaparivarta-sutra says: \" All the\nsutras that teach the unreality of things belong to the imperfect\ndoctrine \" (of the Shakya Muni).  Mahaprajnya-paramita-sutra says The\ndoctrine of unreality is the entrance-gate of Mahayana.\"\n\n\n[FN#196]  See the appendix, chap. ii., 'The Mahayana Doctrine of\nNihilism.'\n\n\n\n9. Zen and Idealism.\n\nNext Zen makes use of Idealism as explained by the Dharmalaksana\nSchool of Mahayana Buddhism.[FN#197]  For instance, the Fourth\nPatriarch says: \"Hundreds and thousands of laws originate with mind.\nInnumerable mysterious virtues proceed from the mental source.\"  Niu\nTeu (Go-zu) also says: \"When mind arises, various things arise; when\nmind ceases to exist, various things cease to exist.\"  Tsao Shan\n(So-zan) carried the point so far that he cried out, on hearing the\nbell: \"It hurts, it pains.\"  Then an attendant of his asked \"What is\nthe matter?\"  \"It is my mind,\" said he, that is struck.\"[FN#198]\n\n\n[FN#197]  Appendix, chap. ii., 'The Mahayana Doctrine of\nDharmalaksana.'\n\n[FN#198]  Zen-rin-rui-shu.\n\n\nWe acknowledge the truth of the following considerations: There\nexists no colour, nor sound, nor odour in the objective world, but\nthere are the vibrations of ether, or the undulations of the air, or\nthe stimuli of the sensory nerves of smell.  Colour is nothing but\nthe translation of the stimuli into sensation by the optical nerves,\nso also sounds by the auditory, and odours by the smelling.\nTherefore nothing exists objectively exactly as it is perceived by\nthe senses, but all are subjective.  Take electricity, for example,\nit appears as light when perceived through the eye; it appears as\nsound when perceived through the ear; it appears as taste when\nperceived through the tongue; but electricity in reality is not\nlight, nor sound, nor taste.  Similarly, the mountain is not high nor\nlow; the river is not deep nor shallow; the house is not large nor\nsmall; the day is not long nor short; but they seem so through\ncomparison.  It is not objective reality that displays the phenomenal\nuniverse before us, but it is our mind that plays an important part.\nSuppose that we have but one sense organ, the eye, then the whole\nuniverse should consist of colours and of colours only.  If we\nsuppose we were endowed with the sixth sense, which entirely\ncontradicts our five senses, then the whole world would be otherwise.\n Besides, it is our reason that finds the law of cause and effect in\nthe objective world, that discovered the law of uniformity in Nature,\nand that discloses scientific laws in the universe so as to form a\ncosmos.  Some scholars maintain that we cannot think of non-existence\nof space, even if we can leave out all objects in it; nor can we\ndoubt the existence of time, for the existence of mind itself\npresupposes time.  Their very argument, however, proves the\nsubjectivity of time and space, because, if they were objective, we\nshould be able to think them non-existent, as we do with other\nexternal objects.  Even space and time, therefore are no more than\nsubjective.\n\n\n\n10. Idealism is a Potent Medicine for Self-created Mental Disease.\n\nIn so far as Buddhist idealism refers to the world of sense, in so\nfar as it does not assume that to to be known is identical with to\nbe, in so far as it does not assert that the phenomenal universe is a\ndream and a vision, we may admit it as true.  On the one hand, it\nserves us as a purifier of our hearts polluted with materialistic\ndesires, and uplifts us above the plain of sensualism; on the other\nhand, it destroys superstitions which as a rule arise from ignorance\nand want of the idealistic conception of things.\nIt is a lamentable fact that every country is full of such\nsuperstitions people as described by one of the New Thought writers:\n'Tens of thousands of women in this country believe that if two\npeople look in a mirror at the same time, or if one thanks the other\nfor a pin, or if one gives a knife or a sharp instrument to a friend,\nit will break up friendship. If a young lady is presented with a\nthimble, she will be an old maid.  Some people think that after\nleaving a house it is unlucky to go back after any article which has\nbeen forgotten, and, if one is obliged to do so, one should sit down\nin a chair before going out again; that if a broom touches a person\nwhile someone is sweeping, bad luck will follow; and that it is\nunlucky to change one's place at a table.  A man took an opal to a\nNew York jeweller and asked him to buy it.  He said that it had\nbrought him nothing but bad luck, that since it had come into his\npossession he had failed in business, that there bad been much\nsickness in his family, and all sorts of misfortune had befallen him.\n He refused to keep the cursed thing any longer.  The jeweller\nexamined the stone, and found that it was not an opal after all, but\nan imitation.'\n\n\nIdealism is a most potent medicine for these self-created mental\ndiseases.  It will successfully drive away devils and spirits that\nfrequent ignorant minds, just as Jesus did in the old days.  Zen\nmakes use of moral idealism to extirpate, root and branch, all such\nidle dreams and phantasmagoria of illusion and opens the way to\nEnlightenment.\n\n\n\n11. Idealistic Scepticism concerning Objective Reality.\n\nBut extreme Idealism identifies 'to be' with 'to be known,' and\nassumes all phenomena to be ideas as illustrated in\nMahayana-vidyamatra-siddhi-tridaca-castra[FN#199] and\nVidyamatra-vincati-castra,[FN#200] by Vasubandhu.  Then it\nnecessarily parts company with Zen, which believes in Universal Life\nexisting in everything instead of behind it.  Idealism shows us its\ndark side in three sceptic views: (1) scepticism respecting objective\nreality; (2) scepticism respecting religion; (3) scepticism\nrespecting morality.\n\n\n[FN#199]  A philosophical work on Buddhist idealism by Vasubandhu,\ntranslated into Chinese by Hiuen Tsang in A.D. 648.  There exists a\nfamous commentary on it, compiled by Dharmapala, translated into\nChinese by Hiuen Tsang in A.D. 659.  See Nanjo's Catalogue, Nos. 1197\nand 1125.\n\n[FN#200]  A simpler work on Idealism, translated into Chinese by\nHiuen Tsang in A.D. 661. See Nanjo's Catalogue, Nos. 1238, 1239, and\n1240.\n\n\nFirst it assumes that things exist in so far as they are known by us.\n It is as a matter of course that if a tree exists at all, it is\nknown as having a trunk long or short, branches large or small,\nleaves green or yellow, flowers yellow or purple, etc., all of which\nare ideas.  But it does not imply in the least that 'to be known' is\nequivalent to 'to be existent.'  Rather we should say that to be\nknown presupposes to be existent, for we cannot know anything\nnon-existent, even if we admit that the axioms of logic subsist.\nAgain, a tree may stand as ideas to a knower, but it can stand at the\nsame time as a shelter in relation to some birds, as food in relation\nto some insects, as a world in relation to some minute worms, as a\nkindred organism to other vegetables.  How could you say that its\nrelation to a knower is the only and fundamental relation for the\nexistence of the tree?  The disappearance of its knower no more\naffects the tree than of its feeder; nor the appearance of its knower\naffects the tree any more than that of kindred vegetables.\n\nExtreme idealism erroneously concludes that what is really existent,\nor what is directly proved to be existent, is only our sensations,\nideas, thoughts; that the external world is nothing but the images\nreflected on the mirror of the mind, and that therefore objective\nreality of things is doubtful-nay, more, they are unreal, illusory,\nand dreams.  If so, we can no longer distinguish the real from the\nvisionary; the waking from the dreaming; the sane from the insane;\nthe true from the untrue.  Whether life is real or an empty dream, we\nare at a loss to understand.\n\n\n\n12. Idealistic Scepticism concerning Religion and Morality.\n\nSimilarly, it is the case with religion and morality.  If we admit\nextreme idealism as true, there can be nothing objectively real.  God\nis little more than a mental image.  He must be a creature of mind\ninstead of a Creator.  He has no objective reality.  He is when we\nthink He is.  He is not when we think He is not.  He is at the mercy\nof our thought.  How much more unreal the world must be, which is\nsupposed to have been created by an unreal God! Providence,\nsalvation, and divine grace--what are they?  A bare dream dreamed in\na dream!\n\nWhat is morality, then?  It is subjective.  It has no objective\nvalidity.  A moral conduct highly valued by our fathers is now held\nto be immoral by us.  Immoral acts now strongly denounced by us may\nbe regarded as moral by our posterity.  Good deeds of the savage are\nnot necessarily good in the eyes of the civilized, nor evil acts of\nthe Orientals are necessarily evil before the face of the\nOccidentals.  It follows, then, that there is no definite standard of\nmorality in any place at any time.\n\nIf morality be merely subjective, and there be no objective standard,\nhow can you distinguish evil from good?  How can you single out\nangels from among devils?  Was not Socrates a criminal?  Was not\nJesus also a criminal?  How could you know Him to be a Divine man\ndifferent from other criminals who were crucified with Him?  What you\nhonour may I not denounce as disgrace?  What you hold as duty may I\nnot condemn as sin?  Every form of idealism is doomed, after all, to\nend in such confusion and scepticism.  We cannot embrace radical\nidealism, which holds these threefold sceptical views in her womb.\n\n\n\n13. An Illusion concerning Appearance and Reality.\n\nTo get Enlightened we must next dispel an illusion respecting\nappearance and reality.  According. to certain religionists, all the\nphenomena of the universe are to succumb to change.  Worldly things\none and all are evanescent.  They are nought in the long run.\nSnowcapped mountains may sink into the bottom of the deep, while the\nsands in the fathomless ocean may soar into the azure sky at some\ntime or other.  Blooming flowers are destined to fade and to bloom\nagain in the next year.  So destined are growing trees, rising\ngenerations, prospering nations, glowing suns, moons, and stars.\nThis, they would say, is only the case with phenomena or appearances,\nbut not with reality.  Growth and decay, birth and death, rise and\nfall, all these are the ebb and flow of appearances in the ocean of\nreality, which is always the same.  Flowers may fade and be reduced\nto dust, yet out of that dust come flowers.  Trees may die out, yet\nthey are reproduced somewhere else.  The time may come when the earth\nwill become a dead sphere quite unsuitable for human habitation, and\nthe whole of mankind will perish; yet who knows that whether another\nearth may not be produced as man's home?  The sun might have its\nbeginning and end, stars, moons, theirs as well; yet an infinite\nuniverse would have no beginning nor end.\n\nAgain, they say, mutation is of the world of sense or phenomenal\nappearances, but not of reality.  The former are the phases of the\nlatter shown to our senses.  Accordingly they are always limited and\nmodified by our senses, just as images are always limited and\nmodified by the mirror in which they are reflected.  On this account\nappearances are subject to limitations, while reality is limitless.\nAnd it follows that the former are imperfect, while the latter is\nperfect; that the former is transient, while the latter is eternal;\nthat the former is relative, while the latter is absolute; that the\nformer is worldly, while the latter is holy; that the former is\nknowable, while the latter is unknowable.\n\nThese considerations naturally lead us to an assertion that the world\nof appearances is valueless, as it is limited, short-lived,\nimperfect, painful, sinful, hopeless, and miserable; while the realm\nof reality is to be aspired for, as it is eternal, perfect,\ncomfortable, full of hope, joy, and peace-hence the eternal divorce\nof appearance and reality.  Such a view of life tends to make one\nminimize the value of man, to neglect the present existence, and to\nyearn after the future.\n\nSome religionists tell us that we men are helpless, sinful, hopeless,\nand miserable creatures.  Worldly riches, temporal honours, and\nsocial positions-nay, even sublimities and beauties of the present\nexistence, are to be ignored and despised.  We have no need of caring\nfor those things that pass away in a twinkling moment.  We must\nprepare for the future life which is eternal.  We must accumulate\nwealth for that existence.  We must endeavour to hold rank in it.  We\nmust aspire for the sublimity and beauty and glory of that realm.\n\n\n\n14. Where does the Root of the Illusion Lie?\n\nNow let us examine where illusion lies hidden from the view of these\nreligionists.  It lies deeply rooted in the misconstruction of\nreality, grows up into the illusive ideas of appearances, and throws\nits dark shadow on life.  The most fundamental error lies in their\nconstruing reality as something unknowable existing behind\nappearances.\n\nAccording to their opinion, all that we know, or perceive, or feel,\nor imagine about the world, is appearances or phenomena, but not\nreality itself.  Appearances are 'things known as,' but not 'things\nas they are.'  Thing-in-itself, or reality, lies behind appearances\npermanently beyond our ken.  This is probably the most profound\nmetaphysical pit into which philosophical minds have ever fallen in\ntheir way of speculation.  Things appear, they would say, as we see\nthem through our limited senses; but they must present entirely\ndifferent aspects to those that differ from ours, just as the\nvibration of ether appears to us as colours, yet it presents quite\ndifferent aspects to the colour-blind or to the purblind.  The\nphenomenal universe is what appears to the human mind, and in case\nour mental constitution undergoes change, it would be completely\notherwise.\n\nThis argument, however, is far from proving that the reality is\nunknowable, or that it lies hidden behind appearances or\npresentations.  Take, for instance, a reality which appears as a ray\nof the sun.  When it goes through a pane of glass it appears to be\ncolourless, but it exhibits a beautiful spectrum when it passes\nthrough a prism.  Therefore you assume that a reality appearing as\nthe rays of the sun is neither colourless nor coloured in itself,\nsince these appearances are wholly due to the difference that obtains\nbetween the pane of glass and the prism.\n\nWe contend, however, that the fact does not prove the existence of\nthe reality named the sun's ray beyond or behind the white light, nor\nits existence beyond or behind the spectrum.  It is evident that the\nreality exists in white light, and that it is known as the white\nlight when it goes through a pane of glass; and that the same reality\nexists in the spectrum, and is known as the spectrum when it goes\nthrough the prism.  The reality is known as the white light on the\none hand, and as the spectrum on the other.  It is not unknowable,\nbut knowable.\n\nSuppose that one and the same reality exhibits one aspect when it\nstands in relation to another object; two aspects when it stands in\nrelation in two different objects; three aspects when it stands in\nrelation to three different objects.  The reality of one aspect never\nproves the unreality of another aspect, for all these three aspects\ncan be equally real.  A tree appears to us as a vegetable; it appears\nto some birds as a shelter; and it appears to some worms as a food.\nThe reality of its aspect as a vegetable never proves the unreality\nof its aspect as food, nor the reality of its aspect as food\ndisproves the reality of its aspect as shelter.  The real tree does\nnot exist beyond or behind the vegetable.  We can rely upon its\nreality, and make use of it to a fruitful result.  At the same time,\nthe birds can rely on its reality as a shelter, and build their nests\nin it; the worms, too, can rely on its reality as food, and eat it-to\ntheir satisfaction.  A reality which appears to me as my wife must\nappear to my son as his mother, and never as his wife.  But the same\nreal woman is in the wife and in the mother; neither is unreal.\n\n\n\n15. Thing-in-Itself means Thing-Knowerless.\n\nHow, then, did philosophers come to consider reality to be unknowable\nand hidden behind or beyond appearances?  They investigated all the\npossible presentations in different relationships, and put them all\naside as appearances, and brooded on the thing-in-itself, shut out\nfrom all possible relationship, and declared it unknowable.\nThing-in-itself means thing cut off from all possible relationships.\nTo, put it in another way: thing-in-itself means thing deprived of\nits relation to its knower--that is to say, thing-knower-less.  So\nthat to declare thing-in-itself unknowable is as much as to declare\nthing-unknowable unknowable; there is no doubt about it, but what\ndoes it prove?\n\nDeprive yourself of all the possible relationships, and see what you\nare.  Suppose you are not a son to your parents, nor the husband to\nyour wife, nor the father to your children, nor a relative to your\nkindred, nor a friend to your acquaintances, nor a teacher to your\nstudents, nor a citizen to your country, nor an individual member to\nyour society, nor a creature to your God, then you get\nyou-in-yourself.  Now ask yourself what is you-in-yourself? You can\nnever answer the question.  It is unknowable, just because it is cut\noff from all knowable relations. Can you thus prove that\nyou-in-yourself exist beyond or behind you?\n\nIn like manner our universe appears to us human beings as the\nphenomenal world or presentation.  It might appear to other creatures\nof a different mental constitution as something else.  We cannot\nascertain how it might seem to Devas, to Asuras, to angels, and to\nthe Almighty, if there be such beings.  However different it might\nseem to these beings, it does not imply that the phenomenal world is\nunreal, nor that the realm of reality is unknowable.\n\n'Water,' the Indian tradition has it, 'seems to man as a drink, as\nemerald to Devas, as bloody pus to Pretas, as houses to fishes.'\nWater is not a whit less real because of its seeming as houses to\nfishes, and fishes' houses are not less real because of its seeming\nas emerald to Devas.  There is nothing that proves the unreality of\nit.  It is a gross illusion to conceive reality as transcendental to\nappearances.  Reality exists as appearances, and appearances are\nreality known to human beings.  You cannot separate appearances from\nreality, and hold out the latter as the object of aspiration at the\ncost of the former.  You must acknowledge that the so-called realm of\nreality which you aspire after, and which you seek for outside or\nbehind the phenomenal universe, exists here on earth.  Let Zen\nteachers tell you that \"the world of birth and death is the realm of\nNirvana\"; \"the earth is the pure land of Buddha.\"\n\n\n\n16. The Four Alternatives and the Five Categories.\n\nThere are, according to Zen, the four classes of religious and\nphilosophical views, technically called the Four\nAlternatives,[FN#201] of life and of the world.  The first is 'the\ndeprivation of subject and the non-deprivation of object' that is to\nsay, the denial of subject, or mind, or Atman, or soul, and the\nnon-denial of object, or matter, or things--a view which denies the\nreality of mind and asserts the existence of things.  Such a view was\nheld by a certain school of Hinayanism, called Sarvastivada, and\nstill is held by some philosophers called materialists or\nnaturalists.  The second is the 'deprivation of object and the\nnon-deprivation of subject'--that is to say, the denial of object, or\nmatter, or things, and the non-denial of subject, or mind, or\nspirit-a view which denies the reality of material object, and\nasserts the existence of spirit or ideas.  Such a view was held by\nthe Dharmalaksana School of Mahayanism, and is still held by some\nphilosophers called idealists.  The third is 'the deprivation of both\nsubject and object'--that is to say, the denial of both subject or\nspirit, and of object or matter-a view which denies the reality of\nboth physical and mental phenomena, and asserts the existence of\nreality that transcends the phenomenal universe.  Such a view was\nheld by the Madhyamika School of Mahayanism, and is still held by\nsome religionists and philosophers of the present day.  The fourth is\n'the non-deprivation of both subject and object'--that is to say, the\nnon-denial of subject and object--a view which holds mind and body as\none and the same reality.  Mind, according to this view, is reality\nexperienced inwardly by introspection, and body is the selfsame\nreality observed outwardly by senses.  They are one reality and one\nlife.  There also exist other persons and other beings belonging to\nthe same life and reality; consequently all things share in one\nreality, and life in common with each other.  This reality or life is\nnot transcendental to mind and body, or to spirit and matter, but is\nthe unity of them.  In other words, this phenomenal world of ours is\nthe realm of reality.  This view was held by the Avatamsaka School of\nMahayanism, and is still held by Zenists.  Thus Zen is not\nmaterialistic, nor idealistic, nor nihilistic, but realistic and\nmonistic in its view of the world.\n\n\n[FN#201]  Shi-rya-ken in Japanese, the classification mostly made use\nof by masters of the Rin Zai School of Zen.  For the details, see\nKi-gai-kwan, by K. Watanabe.\n\n\nThere are some scholars that erroneously maintain that Zen is based\non the doctrine of unreality of all things expounded by Kumarajiva\nand his followers. Ko-ben,[FN#202] known as Myo-ye Sho-nin, said 600\nyears ago: \"Yang Shan (Kyo-zan) asked Wei Shan (I-san): 'What shall\nwe do when hundreds, thousands, and millions of things beset us all\nat once?'  'The blue are not the yellow,' replied Wei Shan, 'the long\nare not the short.  Everything is in its own place.  It has no\nbusiness with you.'  Wei Shan was a great Zen master.  He did not\nteach the unreality of all things. Who can say that Zen is\nnihilistic?\"\n\n[FN#202]  A well-known scholar (1173-1232) of the Anatamsaka School\nof Mahayanism.\n\n\nBesides the Four Alternatives, Zen uses the Five Categories[FN#203]\nin order to explain the relation between reality and phenomena.  The\nfirst is 'Relativity in Absolute,' which means that the universe\nappears to be consisting in relativities, owing to our relative\nknowledge; but these relativities are based on absolute reality.  The\nsecond is 'Absolute in Relativity,' which means Absolute Reality does\nnot remain inactive, but manifests itself as relative phenomena.  The\nthird is 'Relativity out of Absolute,' which means Absolute Reality\nis all in all, and relative phenomena come out of it as its secondary\nand subordinate forms.  The fourth is 'Absolute up to Relativity,'\nwhich means relative phenomena always play an important part on the\nstage of the world; it is through these phenomena that Absolute\nReality comes to be understood.  The fifth is the 'Union of both\nAbsolute and Relativity,' which means Absolute Reality is not\nfundamental or essential to relative phenomena, nor relative\nphenomena subordinate or secondary to Absolute Reality--that is to\nsay, they are one and the same cosmic life, Absolute Reality being\nthat life experienced inwardly by intuition, while relative phenomena\nare the same life outwardly observed by senses.  The first four\nCategories are taught to prepare the student's mind for the\nacceptance of the last one, which reveals the most profound truth.\n\n\n[FN#203]  Go-i in Japanese, mostly used by the So-To School of Zen.\nThe detailed explanation is given in Go-i-ken-ketsu.\n\n\n\n17. Personalism of B. P. Bowne.\n\nB. P. Bowne[FN#204] says: They (phenomena) are not phantoms or\nillusions, nor are they masks of a back-lying reality which is trying\nto peer through them.\" \"The antithesis,\" he continues,[FN#205] \"of\nphenomena and noumena rests on the fancy that there is something that\nrests behind phenomena which we ought to perceive but cannot, because\nthe masking phenomena thrusts itself between the reality and us.\"\nJust so far we agree with Bowne, but we think he is mistaken in\nsharply distinguishing between body and self, saying:[FN#206] \"We\nourselves are invisible.  The physical organism is only an instrument\nfor expressing and manifesting the inner life, but the living self is\nnever seen.\"  \"Human form,\" he argues,[FN#207] \"as an object in space\napart from our experience of it as the instrument and expression of\npersonal life, would have little beauty or attraction; and when it is\ndescribed in anatomical terms, there is nothing in it that we should\ndesire it.  The secret of its beauty and its value lies in the\ninvisible realm.\"  \"The same is true,\" he says again, \"of literature.\n It does not exist in space, or in time, or in books, or in libraries\n. . . all that could be found there would be black marks on a white\npaper, and collections of these bound together in various forms,\nwhich would be all the eyes could see.  But this would not be\nliterature, for literature has its existence only in mind and for\nmind as an expression of mind, and it is simply impossible and\nmeaningless in abstraction from mind.\"  \"Our human history\"--he gives\nanother illustration[FN#208]--\"never existed in space, and never\ncould so exist.  If some visitor from Mars should come to the earth\nand look at all that goes on in space in connection with human\nbeings, he would never get any hint of its real significance.  He\nwould be confined to integrations and dissipations of matter and\nmotion.  He could describe the masses and grouping of material\nthings, but in all this be would get no suggestion of the inner life\nwhich gives significance to it all.  As conceivably a bird might sit\non a telegraph instrument and become fully aware of the clicks of the\nmachine without any suspicion of the existence or meaning of the\nmessage, or a dog could see all that eye can see in a book yet\nwithout any hint of its meaning, or a savage could gaze at the\nprinted score of an opera without ever suspecting its musical import,\nso this supposed visitor would be absolutely cut off by an impassable\ngulf from the real seat and significance of human history.  The great\ndrama of life, with its likes and dislikes, its loves and hates, its\nambitions and strivings, and manifold ideas, inspirations,\naspirations, is absolutely foreign to space, and could never in any\nway be discovered in space.  So human history has its seat in the\ninvisible.\"\n\n\n[FN#204]  'Personalism,' p. 94.\n\n[FN#205]  Ibid., p. 95.\n\n[FN#206]  Ibid., p. 268.\n\n[FN#207]  Ibid., p. 271.\n\n[FN#208]  'Personalism,' pp. 272, 273.\n\n\nIn the first place, Bowne's conception of the physical organism as\nbut an instrument for the expression of the inner, personal life,\njust as the telegraphic apparatus is the instrument for the\nexpression of messages, is erroneous, because body is not a mere\ninstrument of inner personal life, but an essential constituent of\nit.  Who can deny that one's physical conditions determine one's\ncharacter or personality?  Who can overlook the fact that one's\nbodily conditions positively act upon one's personal life?  There is\nno physical organism which remains as a mere passive mechanical\ninstrument of inner life within the world of experience.  Moreover,\nindividuality, or personality, or self, or inner life, whatever you\nmay call it, conceived as absolutely independent of physical\ncondition, is sheer abstraction.  There is no such concrete\npersonality or individuality within our experience.\n\nIn the second place, he conceives the physical organism simply as a\nmark or symbol, and inner personal life as the thing marked or\nsymbolized; so he compares physical forms with paper, types, books,\nand libraries, and inner life, with literature.  In so doing he\noverlooks the essential and inseparable connection between the\nphysical organism and inner life, because there is no essential\ninseparable connection between a mark or symbol and the thing marked\nor symbolized.  The thing may adopt any other mark or symbol.  The\nblack marks on the white paper, to use his figure, are not essential\nto literature.  Literature may be expressed by singing, or by speech,\nor by a series of pictures.  But is there inner life expressed, or\npossible to be expressed, in any other form save physical organism?\nWe must therefore acknowledge that inner life is identical with\nphysical organism, and that reality is one and the same as appearance.\n\n\n\n18. All the Worlds in Ten Directions are Buddha's Holy Land.\n\nWe are to resume this problem in the following chapter.  Suffice it\nto say for the present it is the law of Universal Life that\nmanifoldness is in unity, and unity is in manifoldness; difference is\nin agreement, and agreement in difference; confliction is in harmony,\nand harmony in confliction; parts are in the whole, and the whole is\nin parts; constancy is in change, and change in constancy; good is in\nbad, and bad in good; integration is in disintegration, and\ndisintegration is in integration; peace is in disturbance, and\ndisturbance in peace.  We can find something celestial among the\nearthly.  We can notice something glorious in the midst of the base\nand degenerated.\n\n'There are nettles everywhere, but are not smooth, green grasses more\ncommon still?'  Can you recognize something awe-inspiring in the rise\nand fall of nations?  Can you not recognize something undisturbed and\npeaceful among disturbance and trouble?  Has not even grass some\nmeaning?  Does not even a stone tell the mystery of Life?  Does not\nthe immutable law of good sway over human affairs after all, as\nTennyson says-\n\n\"I can but trust that good shall fall\nAt last-far off-at last, to all.\"\n\nHas not each of us a light within him, whatever degrees of lustre\nthere may be?  Was Washington in the wrong when he said: \"Labour to\nkeep alive in your heart that little spark of celestial fire called\nconscience.\"\n\nWe are sure that we can realize the celestial bliss in this very\nworld, if we keep alive the Enlightened Consciousness, of which\nBodhidharma and his followers showed the example.  'All the worlds in\nten directions are Buddha's Holy Lands!'  That Land of Bliss and\nGlory exists above us, under us, around us, within us, without us, if\nwe open our eyes to see.  'Nirvana is in life itself,' if we enjoy it\nwith admiration and love.  \"Life and death are the life of Buddha,\"\nsays Do-gen.  Everywhere the Elysian gates stand open, if we do not\nshut them up by ourselves.  Shall we starve ourselves refusing to\naccept the rich bounty which the Blessed Life offers to us?  Shall we\nperish in the darkness of scepticism, shutting our eyes to the light\nof Tathagata?  Shall we suffer from innumerable pains in the\nself-created hell where remorse, jealousy, and hatred feed the fire\nof anger?  Let us pray to Buddha, not in word only, but in the deed\nof generosity and tolerance, in the character noble and loving, and\nin the personality sublime and good.  Let us pray to Buddha to save\nus from the hell of greed and folly, to deliver us from the thraldom\nof temptation.  Let us 'enter the Holy of Holies in admiration and\nwonder.'\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\n\n\nLIFE\n\n\n1. Epicureanism and Life.\n\nThere are a good many people always buoyant in spirit and mirthful in\nappearance as if born optimists.  There are also no fewer persons\nconstantly crestfallen and gloomy as if born pessimists.  The former,\nhowever, may lose their buoyancy and sink deep in despair if they are\nin adverse circumstances.  The latter, too, may regain their\nbrightness and grow exultant if they are under prosperous conditions.\n As there is no evil however small but may cause him to groan under\nit, who has his heart undisciplined, so there is no calamity however\ngreat but may cause him to despair, who has his feelings in control.\nA laughing child would cry, a crying child would laugh, without a\nsufficient cause.  'It can be teased or tickled into anything.'  A\ngrown-up child is he who cannot hold sway over his passions.\n\nHe should die a slave to his heart, which is wayward and blind, if he\nbe indulgent to it.  It is of capital importance for us to discipline\nthe heart,[FN#209] otherwise it will discipline us.  Passions are\nlike legs.  They should be guided by the eye of reason.  No wise\nserpent is led by its tail, so no wise man is led by his passion.\nPassions that come first are often treacherous and lead us astray.\nWe must guard ourselves against them.  In order to gratify them there\narise mean desires-the desires to please sight, hearing, smell,\ntaste, and touch.  These five desires are ever pursuing or, rather,\ndriving us.  We must not spend our whole lives in pursuit of those\nmirage-like objects which gratify our sensual desires.  When we\ngratify one desire, we are silly enough to fancy that we have\nrealized true happiness.  But one desire gratified begets another\nstronger and more insatiable.  Thirst allayed with salt water becomes\nmore intense than ever.\n\n\n[FN#209]  Compare Gaku-do-yo-jin-shu, chap. i., and Zen-kwan-saku\nshin.\n\n\nShakya Muni compared an Epicurean with a dog chewing a dry bone,\nmistaking the blood out of a wound in his mouth for that of the bone.\n The author of Mahaparinirvana-sutra[FN#210] has a parable to the\nfollowing effect: 'Once upon a time a hunter skilled in catching\nmonkeys alive went into the wood.  He put something very sticky on\nthe ground, and hid himself among the bushes.  By-and-by a monkey\ncame out to see what it was, and supposing it to be something\neatable, tried to feed on it.  It stuck to the poor creature's snout\nso firmly that he could not shake it off.  Then he attempted to tear\nit off with both his paws, which also stuck to it.  Thereupon he\nstrove to kick it off with both his hind-legs, which were caught too.\n Then the hunter came out, and thrusting his stick through between\nthe paws and hind-legs of the victim, and thus carrying it on his\nshoulder, went home.'  In like manner an Epicurean (the monkey),\nallured by the objects of sense (something sticky), sticks to the\nfive desires (the snout and the four limbs), and being caught by\nTemptation (the hunter), loses his life of Wisdom.\n\n\n[FN#210]  The sutra translated by Hwui Yen and Hwui Kwan, A.D.\n424-453.\n\n\nWe are no more than a species of monkeys, as evolutionists hold.  Not\na few testify to this truth by their being caught by means of\n'something eatable.'  We abolished slavery and call ourselves\ncivilized nations.  Have we not, nevertheless, hundreds of life-long\nslaves to cigars among us?  Have we not thousands of life-long slaves\nto spirits among us?  Have we not hundreds of thousands of life-long\nslaves to gold among us?  Have we not myriads of lifelong slaves to\nvanity among us?  These slaves are incredibly loyal to, and\nincessantly work for, their masters, who in turn bestow on them\nincurable diseases, poverty, chagrin, and disappointment.\n\nA poor puppy with an empty can tied to his tail, Thomas Carlyle\nwittily observes, ran and ran on, frightened by the noise of the can.\n The more rapidly he ran, the more loudly it rang, and at last he\nfell exhausted of running.  Was it not typical of a so-called great\nman of the world?  Vanity tied an empty can of fame to his tail, the\nhollow noise of which drives him through life until he falls to rise\nno more.  Miserable!\n\nNeither these men of the world nor Buddhist ascetics can be\noptimists.  The latter rigorously deny themselves sensual\ngratifications, and keep themselves aloof from all objects of\npleasure.  For them to be pleased is equivalent to sin, and to laugh,\nto be cursed.  They would rather touch an adder's head than a piece\nof money.[FN#211]  They would rather throw themselves into a fiery\nfurnace than to come in contact with the other sex.  Body for them is\na bag full of blood and pus;[FN#212] life, an idle, or rather evil,\ndream.  Vegetarianism and celibacy are their holy privileges.  Life\nis unworthy of having; to put an end to it is their\ndeliverance.[FN#213]  Such a view of life is hardly worth our\nrefutation.\n\n\n[FN#211]  Such is the precept taught in the Vinaya of Hinayanists.\n\n[FN#212]  See Mahasatiptthana Suttanta, 2-13.\n\n[FN#213]  This is the logical conclusion of Hinayanism.\n\n\n\n2. The Errors of Philosophical Pessimists and Religious Optimists.\n\nPhilosophical pessimists[FN#214] maintain that there are on earth\nmany more causes of pain than of pleasure; and that pain exists\npositively, but pleasure is a mere absence of pain because we are\nconscious of sickness but not of health; of loss, but not of\npossession.  On the contrary, religious optimists insist that there\nmust not be any evil in God's universe, that evil has no independent\nnature, but simply denotes a privation of good--that is, evil is\nnull, is nought, is silence implying sound.'\n\n\n[FN#214]  Schopenhauer, 'The World as Will and Idea' (R. B. Haldane\nand J. Kemp's translation, vol. iii., pp. 384-386); Hartman,\n'Philosophy of the Unconsciousness' (W. C. Coupland's translation,\nvol. iii., pp. 12-119).\n\n\nNo matter what these one-sided observers' opinion may be, we are\ncertain that we experience good as well as evil, and feel pain and\npleasure as well.  Neither can we alleviate the real sufferings of\nthe sick by telling them that sickness is no other than the absence\nof health, nor can we make the poor a whit richer by telling them\nthat poverty is a mere absence of riches.  How could we save the\ndying by persuading them that death is a bare privation of life?  Is\nit possible to dispirit the happy by telling them that happiness is\nunreal, or make the fortunate miserable by telling them that fortune\nhas no objective reality, or to make one welcome evil by telling one\nthat it is only the absence of good?\n\nYou must admit there are no definite external causes of pain nor\nthose of pleasure, for one and the same thing causes pain at one time\nand pleasure at another.  A cause of delight to one person turns out\nto be that of aversion to another.  A dying miser might revive at the\nsight of gold, yet a Diogenes would pass without noticing it.  Cigars\nand wine are blessed gifts of heaven to the intemperate,[FN#215] but\naccursed poison to the temperate.  Some might enjoy a long life, but\nothers would heartily desire to curtail it.  Some might groan under a\nslight indisposition, while others would whistle away a life of\nserious disease.  An Epicure might be taken prisoner by poverty, yet\nan Epictetus would fearlessly face and vanquish him.  How, then, do\nyou distinguish the real cause of pain from that of pleasure?  How do\nyou know the causes of one are more numerous than the causes of the\nother?\n\n\n[FN#215]  The author of Han Shu (Kan Sho) calls spirits the gift of\nHeaven.\n\n\nExpose thermometers of several kinds to one and the same temperature.\n One will indicate, say, 60\u00b0, another as high as 100\u00b0, another as low as\n15\u00b0.  Expose the thermometers of human sensibilities, which are of\nmyriads of different kinds, to one and the same temperature of\nenvironment.  None of them will indicate the same degrees.  In one\nand the same climate, which we think moderate, the Eskimo would be\nwashed with perspiration, while the Hindu would shudder with cold.\nSimilarly, under one and the same circumstance some might be\nextremely miserable and think it unbearable, yet others would be\ncontented and happy.  Therefore we may safely conclude that there are\nno definite external causes of pain and pleasure, and that there must\nbe internal causes which modify the external.\n\n\n\n3. The Law of Balance.\n\nNature governs the world with her law of balance.  She puts things\never in pairs,[FN#216] and leaves nothing in isolation.  Positives\nstand in opposition to negatives, actives to passives, males to\nfemales, and so on.  Thus we get the ebb in opposition to the flood\ntide; the centrifugal force to the centripetal; attraction to\nrepulsion; growth to decay; toxin to antitoxin; light to shade;\naction to reaction; unity to variety; day to night; the animate to\nthe inanimate.  Look at our own bodies: the right eye is placed side\nby side with the left; the left shoulder with the right; the right\nlung with the left; the left hemisphere of the brain with that of the\nright; and so forth.\n\n\n[FN#216]  Zenists call them 'pairs of opposites.'\n\n\nIt holds good also in human affairs: advantage is always accompanied\nby disadvantage; loss by gain; convenience by inconvenience; good by\nevil; rise by fall; prosperity by adversity; virtue by vice; beauty\nby deformity; pain by pleasure; youth by old age; life by death.  'A\nhandsome young lady of quality,' a parable in Mahaparinirvana-sutra\ntells us, 'who carries with her an immense treasure is ever\naccompanied by her sister, an ugly woman in rags, who destroys\neverything within her reach.  If we win the former, we must also get\nthe latter.'  As pessimists show intense dislike towards the latter\nand forget the former, so optimists admire the former so much that\nthey are indifferent to the latter.\n\n\n\n4. Life Consists in Conflict.\n\nLife consists in conflict.  So long as man remains a social animal he\ncannot live in isolation.  All individual hopes and aspirations\ndepend on society.  Society is reflected in the individual, and the\nindividual in society.  In spite of this, his inborn free will and\nlove of liberty seek to break away from social ties.  He is also a\nmoral animal, and endowed with love and sympathy.  He loves his\nfellow-beings, and would fain promote their welfare; but he must be\nengaged in constant struggle against them for existence.  He\nsympathizes even with animals inferior to him, and heartily wishes to\nprotect them; yet he is doomed to destroy their lives day and night.\nHe has many a noble aspiration, and often soars aloft by the wings of\nimagination into the realm of the ideal; still his material desires\ndrag him down to the earth.  He lives on day by day to continue his\nlife, but he is unfailingly approaching death at every moment.\n\nThe more he secures new pleasure, spiritual or material, the more he\nincurs pain not yet experienced.  One evil removed only gives place\nto another; one advantage gained soon proves itself a disadvantage.\nHis very reason is the cause of his doubt and suspicion; his\nintellect, with which he wants to know everything, declares itself to\nbe incapable of knowing anything in its real state; his finer\nsensibility, which is the sole source of finer pleasure, has to\nexperience finer suffering.  The more he asserts himself, the more he\nhas to sacrifice himself.  These conflictions probably led Kant to\ncall life \"a trial time, wherein most succumb, and in which even the\nbest does not rejoice in his life.\"  \"Men betake themselves,\" says\nFichte, \"to the chase after felicity. . . . But as soon as they\nwithdraw into themselves and ask themselves, 'Am I now happy?' the\nreply comes distinctly from the depth of their soul, 'Oh no; thou art\nstill just as empty and destitute as before!' . . . They will in the\nfuture life just as vainly seek blessedness as they have sought it in\nthe present life.\"\n\nIt is not without reason that the pessimistic minds came to conclude\nthat 'the unrest of unceasing willing and desiring by which every\ncreature is goaded is in itself unblessedness,' and that 'each\ncreature is in constant danger, constant agitation, and the whole,\nwith its restless, meaningless motion, is a tragedy of the most\npiteous kind.'  'A creature like the carnivorous animal, who cannot\nexist at all without continually destroying and tearing others, may\nnot feel its brutality, but man, who has to prey on other sentient\nbeings like the carnivorous, is intelligent enough, as hard fate\nwould have it, to know and feel his own brutal living.'  He must be\nthe most miserable of all creatures, for he is most conscious of his\nown misery.  Furthermore, 'he experiences not only the misfortunes\nwhich actually befall him, but in imagination he goes through every\npossibility of evil.'  Therefore none, from great kings and emperors\ndown to nameless beggars, can be free from cares and anxieties, which\n'ever flit around them like ghosts.'\n\n\n\n5. The Mystery of Life.\n\nThus far we have pointed out the inevitable conflictions in life in\norder to prepare ourselves for an insight into the depth of life.  We\nare far from being pessimistic, for we believe that life consists in\nconfliction, but that confliction does not end in confliction, but in\na new form of harmony.  Hope comes to conflict with fear, and is\noften threatened with losing its hold on mind; then it renews its\nlife and takes root still deeper than before.  Peace is often\ndisturbed with wars, but then it gains a still firmer ground than\never.  Happiness is driven out of mind by melancholy, then it is\nre-enforced by favourable conditions and returns with double\nstrength.  Spirit is dragged down by matter from its ideal heaven,\nthen, incited by shame, it tries a higher flight.  Good is opposed by\nevil, then it gathers more strength and vanquishes its foe.  Truth is\nclouded by falsehood, then it issues forth with its greater light.\nLiberty is endangered by tyranny, then it overthrows it with a\nsplendid success.\n\nManifoldness stands out boldly against unity; difference against\nagreement; particularity against generality; individuality against\nsociety.  Manifoldness, nevertheless, instead of annihilating,\nenriches unity; difference, instead of destroying agreement, gives it\nvariety; particularities, instead of putting an end to generality,\nincrease its content; individuals, instead of breaking the harmony of\nsociety, strengthen the power of it.\n\nThus 'Universal Life does not swallow up manifoldness nor extinguish\ndifferences, but it is the only means of bringing to its full\ndevelopment the detailed content of reality; in particular, it does\nnot abolish the great oppositions of life and world, but takes them\nup into itself and brings them into fruitful relations with each\nother.'  Therefore 'our life is a mysterious blending of freedom and\nnecessity, power and limitation, caprice and law; yet these opposites\nare constantly seeking and finding a mutual adjustment.'\n\n\n\n6. Nature Favours Nothing in Particular.\n\nThere is another point of view of life, which gave the present writer\nno small contentment, and which he believes would cure one of\npessimistic complaint.  Buddha, or Universal Life conceived by Zen,\nis not like a capricious despot, who acts not seldom against his own\nlaws.  His manifestation as shown in the Enlightened Consciousness is\nlawful, impartial, and rational.  Buddhists believe that even Shakya\nMuni himself was not free from the law of retribution, which\nincludes, in our opinion, the law of balance and that of causation.\n\nNow let us briefly examine how the law of balance holds its sway over\nlife and the world.  When the Cakravartin, according to an Indian\nlegend, the universal monarch, would come to govern the earth, a\nwheel would also appear as one of his treasures, and go on rolling\nall over the world, making everything level and smooth.  Buddha is\nthe spiritual Cakravartin, whose wheel is the wheel of the law of\nbalance, with which he governs all things equally and impartially.\nFirst let us observe the simplest cases where the law of balance\nholds good.  Four men can finish in three days the same amount of\nwork as is done by three men in four days.  The increase in the\nnumber of men causes the decrease in that of days, the decrease in\nthe number of men causes the increase in that of days, the result\nbeing always the same.  Similarly the increase in the sharpness of a\nknife is always accompanied by a decrease in its durability, and the\nincrease of durability by a decrease of sharpness.  The more\nbeautiful flowers grow, the uglier their fruits become; the prettier\nthe fruits grow, the simpler become their flowers.  'A strong soldier\nis ready to die; a strong tree is easy to be broken; hard leather is\neasy to be torn.  But the soft tongue survives the hard teeth.'\nHorned creatures are destitute of tusks, the sharp-tusked creatures\nlack horns.  Winged animals are not endowed with paws, and handed\nanimals are provided with no wings.  Birds of beautiful plumage have\nno sweet voice, and sweet-voiced songsters no feathers of bright\ncolours.  The finer in quality, the smaller in quantity, and bulkier\nin size, the coarser in nature.\n\nNature favours nothing in particular.  So everything has its\nadvantage and disadvantage as well. What one gains on the one hand\none loses on the other.  The ox is competent in drawing a heavy cart,\nbut he is absolutely incompetent in catching mice.  A shovel is fit\nfor digging, but not for ear-picking.  Aeroplanes are good for\naviation, but not for navigation.  Silkworms feed on mulberry leaves\nand make silk from it, but they can do nothing with other leaves.\nThus everything has its own use or a mission appointed by Nature; and\nif we take advantage of it, nothing is useless, but if not, all are\nuseless.  'The neck of the crane may seem too long to some idle\non-lookers, but there is no surplus in it.  The limbs of the tortoise\nmay appear too short, but there is no shortcoming in them.'  The\ncentipede, having a hundred limbs, can find no useless feet; the\nserpent, having no foot, feels no want.\n\n\n\n7. The Law of Balance in Life.\n\nIt is also the case with human affairs.  Social positions high or\nlow, occupations spiritual or temporal, work rough or gentle,\neducation perfect or imperfect, circumstances needy or opulent, each\nhas its own advantage as well as disadvantage.  The higher the\nposition the graver the responsibilities, the lower the rank the\nlighter the obligation.  The director of a large bank can never be so\ncareless as his errand-boy who may stop on the street to throw a\nstone at a sparrow; nor can the manager of a large plantation have as\ngood a time on a rainy day as his day-labourers who spend it in\ngambling.  The accumulation of wealth is always accompanied by its\nevils; no Rothschild nor Rockefeller can be happier than a poor\npedlar.\n\nA mother of many children may be troubled by her noisy little ones\nand envy her sterile friend, who in turn may complain of her\nloneliness; but if they balance what they gain with what they lose,\nthey will find the both sides are equal.  The law of balance strictly\nforbids one's monopoly of happiness.  It applies its scorpion whip to\nanyone who is given to pleasures.  Joy in extremity lives next door\nto exceeding sorrow.  \"Where there is much light,\" says Goethe,\n\"shadow is deep.\"  Age, withered and disconsolate, lurks under the\nskirts of blooming youth.  The celebration of birthday is followed by\nthe commemoration of death.  Marriage might be supposed to be the\nluckiest event in one's life, but the widow's tears and the orphan's\nsufferings also might be its outcome.  But for the former the latter\ncan never be.  The death of parents is indeed the unluckiest event in\nthe son's life, but it may result in the latter's inheritance of an\nestate, which is by no means unlucky.  The disease of a child may\ncause its parents grief, but it is a matter of course that it lessens\nthe burden of their livelihood.  Life has its pleasures, but also its\npains.  Death has no pleasure of life, but also none of its pain.  So\nthat if we balance their smiles and tears, life and death are equal.\nIt is not wise for us, therefore, to commit suicide while the terms\nof our life still remain, nor to fear death when there is no way of\navoiding it.\n\nAgain, the law of balance does not allow anyone to take the lion's\nshare of nature's gifts.  Beauty in face is accompanied by deformity\nin character.  Intelligence is often uncombined with virtue.  \"Fair\ngirls are destined to be unfortunate,\" says a Japanese proverb, \"and\nmen of ability to be sickly.\"  \"He makes no friend who never makes a\nfoe.\"  \"Honesty is next to idiocy.\"  \"Men of genius,\" says\nLongfellow, \"are often dull and inert in society; as the blazing\nmeteor when it descends to earth is only a stone.\"  Honour and shame\ngo hand in hand.  Knowledge and virtue live in poverty, while ill\nhealth and disease are inmates of luxury.\n\nEvery misfortune begets some sort of fortune, while every good luck\ngives birth to some sort of bad luck.  Every prosperity never fails\nto sow seeds of adversity, while every fall never fails to bring\nabout some kind of rise.  We must not, then, despair in days of frost\nand snow, reminding ourselves of sunshine and flowers that follow\nthem; nor must we be thoughtless in days of youth and health, keeping\nin mind old age and ill health that are in the rear of them.  In\nbrief, all, from crowns and coronets down to rags and begging bowls,\nhave their own happiness and share heavenly grace alike.\n\n\n\n8. The Application of the Law of Causation to Morals.\n\nAlthough it may be needless to state here the law of causation at any\nlength, yet it is not equally needless to say a few words about its\napplication to morals as the law of retribution, which is a matter of\ndispute even among Buddhist scholars.  The kernel of the idea is very\nsimple-like seed, like fruit; like cause, like effect; like action,\nlike influence--nothing more.  As fresh air strengthens and impure\nair chokes us, so good conduct brings about good consequence, and bad\nconduct does otherwise.[FN#217]\n\n\n[FN#217]  Zen lays much stress on this law.  See Shu-sho-gi and\nEi-hei-ka-kun, by Do-gen.\n\n\nOver against these generalizations we raise no objection, but there\nare many cases, in practical life, of doubtful nature.  An act of\ncharity, for example, might do others some sort of damage, as is\noften the case with the giving of alms to the poor, which may produce\nthe undesirable consequence of encouraging beggary.  An act of love\nmight produce an injurious effect, as the mother's love often spoils\nher children.  Some[FN#218] may think these are cases of good cause\nand bad effect.  We have, however, to analyze these causes and\neffects in order to find in what relation they stand.  In the first\ncase the good action of almsgiving produces the good effect of\nlessening the sufferings of the poor, who should be thankful for\ntheir benefactor.  The giver is rewarded in his turn by the peace and\nsatisfaction of his conscience.  The poor, however, when used to\nbeing given alms are inclined to grow lazy and live by means of\nbegging.  Therefore the real cause of the bad effect is the\nthoughtlessness of both the giver and the given, but not charity\nitself.  In the second case the mother's love and kindness produce a\ngood effect on her and her children, making them all happy, and\nenabling them to enjoy the pleasure of the sweet home; yet\ncarelessness and folly on the part of the mother and ingratitude on\nthe part of the children may bring about the bad effect.\n\n\n[FN#218]  Dr. H. Kato seems to have thought that good cause may bring\nout bad effect when he attacked Buddhism on this point.\n\n\nHistory is full of numerous cases in which good persons were so\nunfortunate as to die a miserable death or to live in extreme\npoverty, side by side with those cases in which bad people lived in\nhealth and prosperity, enjoying a long life.  Having these cases in\nview, some are of the opinion that there is no law of retribution as\nbelieved by the Buddhists.  And even among the Buddhist scholars\nthemselves there are some who think of the law of retribution as an\nideal, and not as a law governing life.  This is probably due to\ntheir misunderstanding of the historical facts.  There is no reason\nbecause he is good and honourable that he should be wealthy or\nhealthy; nor is there any reason because he is bad that he should be\npoor or sickly.  To be good is one thing, and to be healthy or rich\nis another.  So also to be bad is one thing, And to be poor and sick\nis another.  The good are not necessarily the rich or the healthy,\nnor are the bad necessarily the sick or the poor.  Health must be\nsecured by the strict observance of hygienic rules, and not by the\nkeeping of ethical precepts; nor can wealth ever be accumulated by\nbare morality, but by economical and industrial activity.  The moral\nconduct of a good person has no responsibility for his ill health or\npoverty; so also the immoral action of a bad person has no concern\nwith his wealth or health.  You should not confuse the moral with the\nphysical law, since the former belongs only to human life, while the\nlatter to the physical world.\n\nThe good are rewarded morally, not physically; their own virtues,\nhonours, mental peace, and satisfaction are ample compensation for\ntheir goodness.  Confucius, for example, was never rich nor high in\nrank; he was, nevertheless, morally rewarded with his virtues,\nhonours, and the peace of mind.  The following account of\nhim,[FN#219] though not strictly historical, well explains his state\nof mind in the days of misfortune:\n\n\"When Confucius was reduced to extreme distress between Khan and\nZhai, for seven days he had no cooked meat to eat, but only some soup\nof coarse vegetables without any rice in it.  His countenance wore\nthe appearance of great exhaustion, and yet be kept playing on his\nlute and singing inside the house.  Yen Hui (was outside) selecting\nthe vegetables, while Zze Lu and Zze Kung were talking together, and\nsaid to him: 'The master has twice been driven from Lu; he had to\nflee from Wei; the tree beneath which he rested was cut down in Sung;\nhe was reduced to extreme distress in Shang and Kau; he is held in a\nstate of siege here between Khan and Zhai; anyone who kills him will\nbe held guiltless; there is no prohibition against making him a\nprisoner.  And yet he keeps playing and singing, thrumming his lute\nwithout ceasing.  Can a superior man be without the feeling of shame\nto such an extent as this?'  Yen Hui gave them no reply, but went in\nand told (their words) to Confucius, who pushed aside his lute and\nsaid: 'Yu and Zhze are small men. Call them here, and I will explain\nthe thing to them.'\n\n\n[FN#219]  The account is given by Chwang Tsz in his book, vol.\nxviii., p. 17.\n\n\n\"When they came in, Zze Lu said: 'Your present condition may be\ncalled one of extreme distress!'  Confucius replied: 'What words are\nthese?  When the superior man has free course with his principles,\nthat is what we call his success; when such course is denied, that is\nwhat we call his failure.  Now I hold in my embrace the principles of\nrighteousness and benevolence, and with them meet the evils of a\ndisordered age; where is the proof of my being in extreme distress?\nTherefore, looking inwards and examining myself, I have no\ndifficulties about my principles; though I encounter such\ndifficulties (as the present), I do not lose my virtue.  It is when\nwinter's cold is come, and the hoar-frost and snow are falling, that\nwe know the vegetative power of the pine and cypress.  This distress\nbetween Khan and Zhai is fortunate for me.'  He then took back his\nlute so that it emitted a twanging sound, and began to play and sing.\n (At the same time) Zze Lu hurriedly seized a shield and began to\ndance, while Zze Kung said: 'I did not know (before) the height of\nheaven nor the depth of earth!'\"\n\nThus the good are unfailingly rewarded with their own virtue, and the\nwholesome consequences of their actions on society at large.  And the\nbad are inevitably recompensed with their own vices, and the\ninjurious effects of their actions on their fellow-beings.  This is\nthe unshaken conviction of humanity, past, present, and future.  It\nis the pith and marrow of our moral ideal.  It is the crystallization\nof ethical truths, distilled through long experiences from time\nimmemorial to this day.  We can safely approve Edwin Arnold, as he\nsays:\n\n\"Lo I as hid seed shoots after rainless years,\nSo good and evil, pains and pleasures, hates\nAnd loves, and all dead deeds come forth again,\nBearing bright leaves, or dark, sweet fruit or sour.\"\n\nLongfellow also says:\n\n\"No action, whether foul or fair,\nIs ever done, but it leaves somewhere\nA record-as a blessing or a curse.\"\n\n\n\n9. Retribution[FN#220] in the Past, the Present, and the Future Life.\n\nThen a question suggests itself: If there be no soul that survives\nbody (as shown in the preceding chapter), who will receive the\nretributions of our actions in the present life?  To answer this\nquestion, we have to restate our conviction that life is one and the\nsame; in other words, the human beings form one life or one\nself--that is to say, our ancestors in the past formed man's past\nlife.  We ourselves now form man's present life, and our posterity\nwill form the future life.  Beyond all doubt, all actions of man in\nthe past have brought their fruits on the present conditions of man,\nand all actions of the present man are sure to influence the\nconditions of the future man.  To put it in another way, we now reap\nthe fruits of what we sowed in our past life (or when we lived as our\nfathers), and again shall reap the fruits of what we now sow in our\nfuture life (or when we shall live as our posterity).\n\nThere is no exception to this rigorous law of retribution, and we\ntake it as the will of Buddha to leave no action without being\nretributed.  Thus it is Buddha himself who kindles our inward fire to\nsave ourselves from sin and crimes.  We must purge out all the stains\nin our hearts, obeying Buddha's command audible in the innermost self\nof ours.  It is the great mercy of His that, however sinful,\nsuperstitious, wayward, and thoughtless, we have still a light within\nus which is divine in its nature.  When that light shines forth, all\nsorts of sin are destroyed at once.  What is our sin, after all?  It\nis nothing but illusion or error originating in ignorance and folly.\nHow true it is, as an Indian Mahayanist declares, that 'all frost and\nthe dewdrops of sin disappear in the sunshine of wisdom!'[FN#221]\nEven if we might be imprisoned in the bottomless bell, yet let once\nthe Light of Buddha shine upon us, it would be changed into heaven.\nTherefore the author of Mahakarunika-sutra[FN#222] says: \"When I\nclimb the mountain planted with swords, they would break under my\ntread.  When I sail on the sea of blood, it will be dried up.  When I\narrive at Hades, they will be ruined at once.\"\n\n\n[FN#220]  The retribution cannot be explained by the doctrine of the\ntransmigration of the soul, for it is incompatible with the\nfundamental doctrine of non-soul.  See Abhidharmamahavibhasa-castra,\nvol. cxiv.\n\n[FN#221]  Samantabhadra-dhyana-sutra.\n\n[FN#222]  Nanjo's Catalogue, No. 117.\n\n\n\n10. The Eternal Life as taught by Professor Munsterberg.\n\nSome philosophical pessimists undervalue life simply because it is\nsubject to limitation.  They ascribe all evils to that condition,\nforgetting that without limitation life is a mere blank.  Suppose our\nsight could see all things at once, then sight has no value nor use\nfor us, because it is life's purpose to choose to see one thing or\nanother out of many; and if all things be present at once before us\nthrough sight, it is of no purpose.  The same is true of intellect,\nbearing, smell, touch, feeling, and will.  If they be limitless, they\ncease to be useful for us.  Individuality necessarily implies\nlimitation, hence if there be no limitation in the world, then there\nis no room for individuality.  Life without death is no life at all.\n\nProfessor Hugo Munsterberg finds no value, so it seems to me, in\n'such life as beginning with birth and ending with death.'  He\nsays:[FN#223] \"My life as a causal system of physical and\npsychological processes, which lies spread out in time between the\ndates of my birth and of my death, will come to an end with my last\nbreath; to continue it, to make it go on till the earth falls into\nthe sun, or a billion times longer, would be without any value, as\nthat kind of life which is nothing but the mechanical occurrence of\nphysiological and psychological phenomena had as such no ultimate\nvalue for me or for you, or for anyone, at any time.  But my real\nlife, as a system of interrelated-will-attitudes, has nothing before\nor after because it is beyond time.  It is independent of birth and\ndeath because it cannot be related to biological events; it is not\nborn, and will not die; it is immortal; all possible thinkable time\nis enclosed in it; it is eternal.\"\n\n\n[FN#223]  'The Eternal Life,' p. 26.\n\n\nProfessor Munsterberg tries to distinguish sharply life as the causal\nsystem of physiological and psychological processes, and life as a\nsystem of interrelated-will-attitudes, and denounces the former as\nfleeting and valueless, in order to prize the latter as eternal and\nof absolute value.  How could he, however, succeed in his task unless\nhe has two or three lives, as some animals are believed to have?  Is\nit not one and the same life that is treated on the one hand by\nscience as a system of physiological and psychological processes, and\nis conceived on the other by the Professor himself as a system of\ninterrelated-will-attitudes?  It is true that science treats of life\nas it is observed in time, space, and causality, and it estimates it\nof no value, since to estimate the value of things is no business of\nscience.  The same life observed as a system of\ninterrelated-will-attitudes is independent of time, space, and\ncausality as he affirms.  One and the same life includes both phases,\nthe difference being in the points of view of the observers.\n\nLife as observed only from the scientific point of view is bare\nabstraction; it is not concrete life; nor is life as observed only in\nthe interrelated-will-attitude point of view the whole of life.  Both\nare abstractions.  Concrete life includes both phases.  Moreover,\nProfessor Munsterberg sees life in the relationship entirely\nindependent-of time, space, and causality, saying: \"If you agree or\ndisagree with the latest act of the Russian Czar, the only\nsignificant relation which exists between him and you has nothing to\ndo with the naturalistic fact that geographically 'an ocean lies\nbetween you; and if you are really a student of Plato, your only\nimportant relation to the Greek philosopher has nothing to do with\nthe other naturalistic fact that biologically two thousand years lie\nbetween you\"; and declares life (seen from that point of view) to be\nimmortal and eternal.  This is as much as to say that life, when seen\nin the relationship independent of time and space, is independent of\ntime and space-that is, immortal and eternal.  Is it not mere\ntautology?  He is in the right in insisting that life can be seen\nfrom the scientific point of view as a system of physiological and\npsychological processes, and at the same time as a system of\ninterrelated-will-attitudes independent of time and space.  But he\ncannot by that means prove the existence of concrete individual life\nwhich is eternal and immortal, because that which is independent of\ntime and space is the relationship in which he observes life, but not\nlife itself.  Therefore we have to notice that life held by Professor\nMunsterberg to be eternal and immortal is quite a different thing\nfrom the eternal life or immortality of soul believed by common sense.\n\n\n\n11. Life in the Concrete.\n\nLife in the concrete, which we are living, greatly differs from life\nin the abstract, which exists only in the class-room.  It is not\neternal; it is fleeting; it is full of anxieties, pains, struggles,\nbrutalities, disappointments, and calamities.  We love life, however,\n-not only for its smoothness, but for its roughness; not only for its\npleasure, but for its pain; not only for its hope, but for its fear;\nnot only for its flowers, but for its frost and snow.  As\nIssai[FN#224] (Sato) has aptly put it: \"Prosperity is like spring, in\nwhich we have green leaves and flowers wherever we go; while\nadversity is like winter, in which we have snow and ice.  Spring, of\ncourse, pleases us; winter, too, displeases us not.\"  Adversity is\nsalt to our lives, as it keeps them from corruption, no matter how\nbitter to taste it way be.  It is the best stimulus to body and mind,\nsince it brings forth latent energy that may remain dormant but for\nit.  Most people hunt after pleasure, look for good luck, hunger\nafter success, and complain of pain, ill-luck, and failure.  It does\nnot occur to them that 'they who make good luck a god are all unlucky\nmen,' as George Eliot has wisely observed.  Pleasure ceases to be\npleasure when we attain to it; another sort of pleasure displays\nitself to tempt us.  It is a mirage, it beckons to us to lead us\nastray.  When an overwhelming misfortune looks us in the face, our\nlatent power is sure to be aroused to grapple with it.  Even delicate\ngirls exert the power of giants at the time of emergency; even\nrobbers or murderers are found to be kind and generous when we are\nthrown into a common disaster.  Troubles and difficulties call forth\nour divine force, which lies deeper than the ordinary faculties, and\nwhich we never before dreamed we possessed.\n\n\n[FN#224]  A noted scholar (1772-1859) and author, who belonged to the\nWang School of Confucianism. See Gen-shi-roku.\n\n\n12. Difficulties are no Match for the Optimist.\n\nHow can we suppose that we, the children of Buddha, are put at the\nmercy of petty troubles, or intended to be crushed by obstacles?  Are\nwe not endowed with inner force to fight successfully against\nobstacles and difficulties, and to wrest trophies of glory from\nhardships? Are we to be slaves to the vicissitudes of fortune?  Are\nwe doomed to be victims for the jaws of the environment?  It is not\nexternal obstacles themselves, but our inner fear and doubt that\nprove to be the stumbling-blocks in the path to success; not material\nloss, but timidity and hesitation that ruin us for ever.\n\nDifficulties are no match for the optimist, who does not fly from\nthem, but welcomes them.  He has a mental prism which can separate\nthe insipid white light of existence into bright hues.  He has a\nmental alchemy by which he can produce golden instruction out of the\ndross of failure.  He has a spiritual magic which makes the nectar of\njoy out of the tears of sorrow.  He has a clairvoyant eye that can\nperceive the existence of hope through the iron walls of despair.\nProsperity tends to make one forget the grace of Buddha, but\nadversity brings forth one's religious conviction.  Christ on the\ncross was more Christ than Jesus at the table.  Luther at war with\nthe Pope was more Luther than he at peace.  Nichi-ren[FN#225] laid\nthe foundation of his church when sword and sceptre threatened him\nwith death.  Shin-ran[FN#226] and Hen-en[FN#227] established their\nrespective faiths when they were exiled.  When they were exiled, they\ncomplained not, resented not, regretted not, repented not, lamented\nnot, but contentedly and joyously they met with their inevitable\ncalamity and conquered it.  Ho-nen is said to have been still more\njoyous and contented when be bad suffered from a serious disease,\nbecause he had the conviction that his desired end was at hand.\n\n\n[FN#225]  The founder (1222-1282) of the Nichi Ren Sect, who was\nexiled in 1271 to the Island of Sado.  For the history and doctrine\nof the Sect, see I A Short History of the Twelve Japanese Buddhist\nSects,' by B. Nanjo, pp. 132-147.\n\n[FN#226]  The founder (1173-1262) of the Shin Sect, who was banished\nto the province of Eechigo in 1207.  See Nanjo's 'History,' pp.\n122-131.\n\n[FN#227]  The founder (1131 1212) of the Jo Do Sect, who was exiled\nto the Island of Tosa in 1207. See Nanjo's 'History,' pp. 104-113.\n\n\nA Chinese monk, E Kwai by name, one day seated himself in a quiet\nplace among hills and practised Dhyana.  None was there to disturb\nthe calm enjoyment of his meditation.  The genius of the hill was so\nmuch stung by his envy that he made up his mind to break by surprise\nthe mental serenity of the monk.  Having supposed nothing ordinary\nwould be effective, he appeared all on a sudden before the man,\nassuming the frightful form of a headless monster.  E Kwai being\ndisturbed not a whit, calmly eyed the monster, and observed with a\nsmile: \"Thou hast no head, monster!  How happy thou shouldst be, for\nthou art in no danger of losing thy head, nor of suffering from\nheadache!\"\n\nWere we born headless, should we not be happy, as we have to suffer\nfrom no headache?  Were we born eyeless, should we not be happy, as\nwe are in no danger of suffering from eye disease?  Ho Ki\nIchi,[FN#228] a great blind scholar, was one evening giving a\nlecture, without knowing that the light had been put out by the wind.\n When his pupils requested him to stop for a moment, he remarked with\na smile: \"Why, how inconvenient are your eyes!\"  Where there is\ncontentment, there is Paradise.\n\n[FN#228]  Hanawa (1746-1821), who published Gun-sho-rui-zu in 1782.\n\n\n\n13. Do Thy Best and Leave the Rest to Providence.\n\nThere is another point of view which enables us to enjoy life.  It is\nsimply this, that everything is placed in the condition best for\nitself, as it is the sum total of the consequences of its actions and\nreactions since the dawn of time.  Take, for instance, the minutest\ngrains of dirt that are regarded by us the worst, lifeless,\nvalueless, mindless, inert matter.  They are placed in their best\ncondition, no matter how poor and worthless they may seem.  They can\nnever become a thing higher nor lower than they.  To be the grains of\ndirt is best for them.  But for these minute microcosms, which,\nflying in the air, reflect the sunbeams, we could have no azure sky.\nIt is they that scatter the sun's rays in mid-air and send them into\nour rooms.  It is also these grains of dirt that form the nuclei of\nraindrops and bring seasonable rain.  Thus they are not things\nworthless and good for nothing, but have a hidden import and purpose\nin their existence.  Had they mind to think, heart to feel, they\nshould be contented and happy with their present condition.\n\nTake, for another example, the flowers of the morning glory.  They\nbloom and smile every morning, fade and die in a few hours.  How\nfleeting and ephemeral their lives are!  But it is that short life\nitself that makes them frail, delicate, and lovely.  They come forth\nall at once as bright and beautiful as a rainbow or as the Northern\nlight, and disappear like dreams.  This is the best condition for\nthem, because, if they last for days together, the morning glory\nshall no longer be the morning glory.  It is so with the cherry-tree\nthat puts forth the loveliest flowers and bears bitter fruits.  It is\nso with the apple-tree, which bears the sweetest of fruits and has\nugly blossoms.  It is so with animals and men.  Each of them is\nplaced in the condition best for his appointed mission.\n\nThe newly-born baby sucks, sleeps, and cries.  It can do no more nor\nless.  Is it not best for it to do so?  When it attained to its\nboyhood, he goes to school and is admitted to the first-year class.\nHe cannot be put in a higher nor lower class. It is best for him to\nbe the first-year class student.  When his school education is over,\nhe may get a position in society according to his abilities, or may\nlead a miserable life owing to his failure of some sort or other.  In\nany case he is in a position best for his special mission ordained by\nProvidence or the Hum-total of the fruits of his actions and\nreactions since all eternity.  He should be contented and happy, and\ndo what is right with might and main.  Discontent and vexation only\nmake him more worthy of his ruin Therefore our positions, no matter,\nhow high or low, no matter how favourable or unfavourable our\nenvironment, we are to be cheerful.  \"Do thy best and leave the rest\nto Providence,\" says a Chinese adage. Longfellow also says:\n\n\"Do thy best; that is best.\nLeave unto thy Lord the rest.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\n\n\nTHE TRAINING OF THE MIND AND THE PRACTICE OF MEDITATION\n\n\n1. The Method of Instruction Adopted by Zen Masters.\n\nThus far we have described the doctrine of Zen inculcated by both\nChinese and Japanese masters, and in this chapter we propose to\nsketch the practice of mental training and the method of practising\nDhyana or Meditation.  Zen teachers never instruct their pupils by\nmeans of explanation or argument, but urge them to solve by\nthemselves through the practice of Meditation such problems as--'What\nis Buddha?'  What is self?'  'What is the spirit of Bodhidharma?'\n'What is life and death?'  'What is the real nature of mind?'  and so\non.  Ten Shwai (To-sotsu), for instance, was wont to put three\nquestions[FN#229] to the following effect: (1) Your study and\ndiscipline aim at the understanding of the real nature of mind.\nWhere does the real nature of mind exist?  (2) When you understand\nthe real nature of mind, you are free from birth and death.  How can\nyou be saved when you are at the verge of death?  (3) When you are\nfree from birth and death, you know where you go after death.  Where\ndo you go when your body is reduced to elements?  The pupils are not\nrequested to express their solution of these problems in the form of\na theory or an argument, but to show how they have grasped the\nprofound meaning implied in these problems, how they have established\ntheir conviction, and how they can carry out what they grasped in\ntheir daily life.\n\n\n[FN#229]  The famous three difficult questions, known as the Three\nGates of Teu Shwai (To Sotsu San Kwan), who died in 1091. See Mu Mon\nKwan, xlvii.\n\n\nA Chinese Zen master[FN#230] tells us that the method of instruction\nadopted by Zen may aptly be compared with that of an old burglar who\ntaught his son the art of burglary.  The burglar one evening said to\nhis little son, whom he desired to instruct in the secret of his\ntrade: \"Would you not, my dear boy, be a great burglar like myself?\"\n\"Yes, father,\" replied the promising young man.\"  \"Come with me,\nthen. I will teach you the art.\"  So saying, the man went out,\nfollowed by his son.  Finding a rich mansion in a certain village,\nthe veteran burglar made a hole in the wall that surrounded it.\nThrough that hole they crept into the yard, and opening a window with\ncomplete ease broke into the house, where they found a huge box\nfirmly locked up as if its contents were very valuable articles.  The\nold man clapped his hands at the lock, which, strange to tell,\nunfastened itself.  Then he removed the cover and told his son to get\ninto it and pick up treasures as fast as he could.  No sooner had the\nboy entered the box than the father replaced the cover and locked it\nup.  He then exclaimed at the top of his voice: \"Thief! thief! thief!\nthief!\"  Thus, having aroused the inmates, he went out without taking\nanything.  All the house was in utter confusion for a while; but\nfinding nothing stolen, they went to bed again.  The boy sat holding\nhis breath a short while; but making up his mind to get out of his\nnarrow prison, began to scratch the bottom of the box with his\nfinger-nails.  The servant of the house, listening to the noise,\nsupposed it to be a mouse gnawing at the inside of the box; so she\ncame out, lamp in hand, and unlocked it.  On removing the cover, she\nwas greatly surprised to find the boy instead of a little mouse, and\ngave alarm.  In the meantime the boy got out of the box and went down\ninto the yard, hotly pursued by the people.  He ran as fast as\npossible toward the well, picked up a large stone, threw it down into\nit, and hid himself among the bushes.  The pursuers, thinking the\nthief fell into the well, assembled around it, and were looking into\nit, while the boy crept out unnoticed through the hole and went home\nin safety.  Thus the burglar taught his son how to rid himself of\noverwhelming difficulties by his own efforts; so also Zen teachers\nteach their pupils how to overcome difficulties that beset them on\nall sides and work out salvation by themselves.\n\n\n[FN#230]  Wu Tsu (Go So), the teacher of Yuen Wu (En Go).\n\n\n\n2. The First Step in the Mental Training.\n\nSome of the old Zen masters are said to have attained to supreme\nEnlightenment after the practice of Meditation for one week, some for\none day, some for a score of years, and some for a few months.  The\npractice of Meditation, however, is not simply a means for\nEnlightenment, as is usually supposed, but also it is the enjoyment\nof Nirvana, or the beatitude of Zen.  It is a matter, of course, that\nwe have fully to understand the doctrine of Zen, and that we have to\ngo through the mental training peculiar to Zen in order to be\nEnlightened.\n\nThe first step in the mental training is to become the master of\nexternal things.  He who is addicted to worldly pleasures, however\nlearned or ignorant he may be, however high or low his social\nposition may be, is a servant to mere things.  He cannot adapt the\nexternal world to his own end, but he adapts himself to it.  He is\nconstantly employed, ordered, driven by sensual objects.  Instead of\ntaking possession of wealth, he is possessed by wealth.  Instead of\ndrinking liquors, he is swallowed up by his liquors.  Balls and music\nbid him to run mad.  Games and shows order him not to stay at home.\nHouses, furniture, pictures, watches, chains, hats, bonnets, rings,\nbracelets, shoes--in short, everything has a word to command him.\nHow can such a person be the master of things?  To Ju (Na-kae) says:\n\"There is a great jail, not a jail for criminals, that contains the\nworld in it.  Fame, gain, pride, and bigotry form its four walls.\nThose who are confined in it fall a prey to sorrow and sigh for ever.\"\n\nTo be the ruler of things we have first to shut up all our senses,\nand turn the currents of thoughts inward, and see ourselves as the\ncentre of the world, and meditate that we are the beings of highest\nintelligence; that Buddha never puts us at the mercy of natural\nforces; that the earth is in our possession; that everything on earth\nis to be made use of for our noble ends; that fire, water, air,\ngrass, trees, rivers, hills, thunder, cloud, stars, the moon, the\nsun, are at our command; that we are the law-givers of the natural\nphenomena; that we are the makers of the phenomenal world; that it is\nwe that appoint a mission through life, and determine the fate of man.\n\n\n\n3. The Next Step in the Mental Training.\n\nIn the next place we have to strive to be the master of our bodies.\nWith most of the unenlightened, body holds absolute control over\nSelf.  Every order of the former has to be faithfully obeyed by the\nlatter.  Even if Self revolts against the tyranny of body, it is\neasily trampled down under the brutal hoofs of bodily passion.  For\nexample, Self wants to be temperate for the sake of health, and would\nfain pass by the resort for drinking, but body would force Self into\nit.  Self at times lays down a strict dietetic rule for himself, but\nbody would threaten Self to act against both the letter and spirit of\nthe rule.  Now Self aspires to get on a higher place among sages, but\nbody pulls Self down to the pavement of masses.  Now Self proposes to\ngive some money to the poor, but body closes the purse tightly.  Now\nSelf admires divine beauty, but body compels him to prefer\nsensuality.  Again, Self likes spiritual liberty, but body confines\nhim in its dungeons.\n\nTherefore, to get Enlightened, we must establish the authority of\nSelf over the whole body.  We must use our bodies as we use our\nclothes in order to accomplish our noble purposes.  Let us command\nbody not to shudder under a cold shower-bath in inclement weather,\nnot to be nervous from sleepless nights, not to be sick with any sort\nof food, not to groan under a surgeon's knife, not to succumb even if\nwe stand a whole day in the midsummer sun, not to break down under\nany form of disease, not to be excited in the thick of\nbattlefield--in brief, we have to control our body as we will.\n\nSit in a quiet place and meditate in imagination that body is no more\nbondage to you, that it is your machine for your work of life, that\nyou are not flesh, that you are the governor of it, that you can use\nit at pleasure, and that it always obeys your order faithfully.\nImagine body as separated from you.  When it cries out, stop it\ninstantly, as a mother does her baby.  When it disobeys you, correct\nit by discipline, as a master does his pupil.  When it is wanton,\ntame it down, as a horse-breaker does his wild horse.  When it is\nsick, prescribe to it, as a doctor does to his patient.  Imagine that\nyou are not a bit injured, even if it streams blood; that you are\nentirely safe, even if it is drowned in water or burned by fire.\n\nE-Shun, a pupil and sister of Ryo-an,[FN#231] a famous Japanese\nmaster, burned herself calmly sitting cross-legged on a pile of\nfirewood which consumed her.  She attained to the complete mastery of\nher body.  Socrates' self was never poisoned, even if his person was\ndestroyed by the venom he took.  Abraham Lincoln himself stood\nunharmed, even if his body was laid low by the assassin.  Masa-shige\nwas quite safe, even if his body was hewed by the traitors' swords.\nThose martyrs that sang at the stake to the praise of God could never\nbe burned, even if their bodies were reduced to ashes, nor those\nseekers after truth who were killed by ignorance and superstition.\nIs it not a great pity to see a man endowed with divine spirit and\npower easily upset by a bit of headache, or crying as a child under a\nsurgeon's knife, or apt to give up the ghost at the coming of little\ndanger, or trembling through a little cold, or easily laid low by a\nbit of indisposition, or yielding to trivial temptation?\n\n\n[FN#231]  Ryo an (E-myo, died 1411), the founder of the monastery of\nSai-jo-ji, near the city of Odawara. See To-jo-ren-to-roku.\n\n\nIt is no easy matter to be the dictator of body.  It is not a matter\nof theory, but of practice.  You must train your body that you may\nenable it to bear any sort of suffering, and to stand unflinched in\nthe face of hardship.  It is for this that So-rai[FN#232] (Ogiu) laid\nhimself on a sheet of straw-mat spread on the ground in the coldest\nnights of winter, or was used to go up and down the roof of his\nhouse, having himself clad in heavy armour.  It is for this that\nancient Japanese soldiers led extremely simple lives, and that they\noften held the meeting-of-perseverance,[FN#233] in which they exposed\nthemselves to the coldest weather in winter or to the hottest weather\nin summer.  It is for this that Katsu Awa practised fencing in the\nmiddle of night in a deep forest.[FN#234]\n\n\n[FN#232]  One of the greatest scholars of the Tokugawa period, who\ndied in 1728. See Etsu-wa-bun-ko.\n\n[FN#233]  The soldiers of the Tokugawa period were used to hold such\na meeting.\n\n[FN#234]  Kai-shu-gen-ko-roku.\n\n\nKi-saburo, although he was a mere outlaw, having his left arm half\ncut at the elbow in a quarrel, ordered his servant to cut it off with\na saw, and during the operation he could calmly sit talking and\nlaughing with his friends. Hiko-kuro (Takayama),[FN#235] a Japanese\nloyalist of note, one evening happened to come to a bridge where two\nrobbers were lying in wait for him.  They lay fully stretching\nthemselves, each with his head in the middle of the bridge, that he\nmight not pass across it without touching them.  Hiko-kuro was not\nexcited nor disheartened, but calmly approached the vagabonds and\npassed the bridge, treading upon their heads, which act so frightened\nthem that they took to their heels without doing any harm to\nhim.[FN#236]\n\n\n[FN#235]  A well-known loyalist in the Tokugawa period, who died in\n1793.\n\n[FN#236]  Etsu-wa-bun-ko.\n\n\nThe history of Zen is full of the anecdotes that show Zen priests\nwere the lords of their bodies.  Here we quote a single example by\nway of illustration: Ta Hwui (Dai-ye), once having had a boil on his\nhip, sent for a doctor, who told him that it was fatal, that he must\nnot sit in Meditation as usual.  Then Ta Hwui said to the physician:\n\"I must sit in Meditation with all my might during my remaining days,\nfor if your diagnosis be not mistaken, I shall die before long.\"  He\nsat day and night in constant Meditation, quite forgetful of his\nboil, which was broken and gone by itself.[FN#237]\n\n[FN#237]  Sho-bo-gen-zo-zui-mon-ki, by Do-gen.\n\n\n\n4. The Third Step in the Mental Training.\n\nTo be the lord of mind is more essential to Enlightenment, which, in\na sense, is the clearing away of illusions, the putting out of mean\ndesires and passions, and the awakening of the innermost wisdom.  He\nalone can attain to real happiness who has perfect control over his\npassions tending to disturb the equilibrium of his mind.  Such\npassions as anger, hatred, jealousy, sorrow, worry, grudge, and fear\nalways untune one's mood and break the harmony of one's mind.  They\npoison one's body, not in a figurative, but in a literal sense of the\nword.  Obnoxious passions once aroused never fail to bring about the\nphysiological change in the nerves, in the organs, and eventually in\nthe whole constitution, and leave those injurious impressions that\nmake one more liable to passions of similar nature.\n\nWe do not mean, however, that we ought to be cold and passionless, as\nthe most ancient Hinayanists were used to be.  Such an attitude has\nbeen blamed by Zen masters.  \"What is the best way of living for us\nmonks?\" asked a monk to Yun Ku (Un-go), who replied: \"You had better\nlive among mountains.\"  Then the monk bowed politely to the teacher,\nwho questioned: \"How did you understand me?\"  \"Monks, as I\nunderstood,\" answered the man, \"ought to keep their hearts as\nimmovable as mountains, not being moved either by good or by evil,\neither by birth or by death, either by prosperity or by adversity.\"\nHereupon Yun Ku struck the monk with his stick and said: \"You forsake\nthe Way of the old sages, and will bring my followers to perdition!\"\nThen, turning to another monk, inquired: \"How did you understand me?\"\n \"Monks, as I understand,\" replied the man, \"ought to shut their eyes\nto attractive sights and close their ears to musical notes.\"  \"You,\ntoo,\" exclaimed Yun Ka, \"forsake the Way of the old sages, and will\nbring my followers to perdition!\"  An old woman, to quote another\nexample repeatedly told by Zen masters, used to give food and\nclothing to a monk for a score of years.  One day she instructed a\nyoung girl to embrace and ask him: \"How do you feel now?\"  \"A\nlifeless tree,\" replied the monk coolly, \"stands on cold rock. There\nis no warmth, as if in the coldest season of the year.\"  The matron,\nbeing told of this, observed: \"Oh that I have made offerings to such\na vulgar fellow for twenty years!\"  She forced the monk to leave the\ntemple and reduced it to ashes.[FN#238]\n\n\n[FN#238]  These instances are quoted from Zen-rin-rui-shu.\n\n\nIf you want to secure Dhyana, let go of your anxieties and failures\nin the past; let bygones be bygones; cast aside enmity, shame, and\ntrouble, never admit them into your brain; let pass the imagination\nand anticipation of future hardships and sufferings; let go of all\nyour annoyances, vexations, doubts, melancholies, that impede your\nspeed in the race of the struggle for existence.  As the miser sets\nhis heart on worthless dross and accumulates it, so an unenlightened\nperson clings to worthless mental dross and spiritual rubbish, and\nmakes his mind a dust-heap.  Some people constantly dwell on the\nminute details of their unfortunate circumstances, to make themselves\nmore unfortunate than they really are; some go over and over again\nthe symptoms of their disease to think themselves into serious\nillness; and some actually bring evils on them by having them\nconstantly in view and waiting for them.  A man asked Poh Chang\n(Hyaku-jo): \"How shall I learn the Law?\"  \"Eat when you are hungry,\"\nreplied the teacher; \" sleep when you are tired.  People do not\nsimply eat at table, but think of hundreds of things; they do not\nsimply sleep in bed, but think of thousands of things.\"[FN#239]\n\n\n[FN#239]  E-gen and Den-to-roku.\n\n\nA ridiculous thing it is, in fact, that man or woman, endowed with\nthe same nature as Buddha's, born the lord of all material objects,\nis ever upset by petty cares, haunted by the fearful phantoms of his\nor her own creation, and burning up his or her energy in a fit of\npassion, wasting his or her vitality for the sake of foolish or\ninsignificant things.\n\nIt is a man who can keep the balance of his mind under any\ncircumstances, who can be calm and serene in the hottest strife of\nlife, that is worthy of success, reward, respect, and reputation, for\nhe is the master of men.  It was at the age of forty-seven that Wang\nYang Ming[FN#240] (O-yo-mei) won a splendid victory over the rebel\narmy which threatened the throne of the Ming dynasty.  During that\nwarfare Wang was giving a course of lectures to a number of students\nat the headquarters of the army, of which he was the\nCommander-in-chief.  At the very outset of the battle a messenger\nbrought him the news of defeat of the foremost ranks.  All the\nstudents were terror-stricken and grew pale at the unfortunate\ntidings, but the teacher was not a whit disturbed by it.  Some time\nafter another messenger brought in the news of complete rout of the\nenemy.  All the students, enraptured, stood up and cheered, but he\nwas as cool as before, and did not break off lecturing.  Thus the\npractiser of Zen has so perfect control over his heart that he can\nkeep presence of mind under an impending danger, even in the presence\nof death itself.\n\n\n[FN#240]  The founder of the Wang School of Confucianism, a practiser\nof Meditation, who was born in 1472, and died at the age of\nfifty-seven in 1529.\n\n\nIt was at the age of twenty-three that Haku-in got on board a boat\nbound for the Eastern Provinces, which met with a tempest and was\nalmost wrecked.  All the passengers were laid low with fear and\nfatigue, but Haku-in enjoyed a quiet sleep during the storm, as if he\nwere lying on a comfortable bed.  It was in the fifth of Mei-ji era\nthat Doku-on[FN#241] lived for some time in the city of Tokyo, whom\nsome Christian zealots attempted to murder.  One day he met with a\nfew young men equipped with swords at the gate of his temple.  \"We\nwant to see Doku-on; go and tell him,\" said they to the priest.  \"I\nam Doku-on,\" replied he calmly, \"whom you want to see, gentlemen.\nWhat can I do for you?\"  \"We have come to ask you a favour; we are\nChristians; we want your hoary head.\"  So saying they were ready to\nattack him, who, smiling, replied: \"All right, gentlemen.  Behead me\nforthwith, if you please.\"  Surprised by this unexpected boldness on\nthe part of the priest, they turned back without harming even a hair\nof the old Buddhist.[FN#242]\n\n\n[FN#241]  Doku On (Ogino), a distinguished Zen master, an abbot of\nSo-koku-ji, who was born in 1818, and died in 1895.\n\n[FN#242]  Kin-sei-zen-rin-gen-ko-roku, by D. Mori.\n\n\nThese teachers could through long practice constantly keep their\nminds buoyant, casting aside useless encumbrances of idle thoughts;\nbright, driving off the dark cloud of melancholy; tranquil, putting\ndown turbulent waves of passion; pure, cleaning away the dust and\nashes of illusion; and serene, brushing off the cobwebs of doubt and\nfear.  The only means of securing all this is to realize the\nconscious union with the Universal Life through the Enlightened\nConsciousness, which can be awakened by dint of Dhyana.\n\n\n\n5. Zazen, or the Sitting in Meditation.\n\nHabit comes out of practice, and forms character by degrees, and\neventually works out destiny.  Therefore we must practically sow\noptimism, and habitually nourish it in order to reap the blissful\nfruit of Enlightenment.  The sole means of securing mental calmness\nis the practice of Zazen, or the sitting in Meditation.  This method\nwas known in India as Yoga as early as the Upanisad period, and\ndeveloped by the followers of the Yoga system.[FN#243]  But Buddhists\nsharply distinguished Zazen from Yoga, and have the method peculiar\nto themselves. Kei-zan[FN#244]  describes the method to the following\neffect: 'Secure a quiet room neither extremely light nor extremely\ndark, neither very warm nor very cold, a room, if you can, in the\nBuddhist temple located in a beautiful mountainous district.  You\nshould not practise Zazen in a place where a conflagration or a flood\nor robbers may be likely to disturb you, nor should you sit in a\nplace close by the sea or drinking-shops or brothel-houses, or the\nhouses of widows and of maidens or buildings for music, nor should\nyou live in close proximity to the place frequented by kings,\nministers, powerful statesmen, ambitious or insincere persons.  You\nmust not sit in Meditation in a windy or very high place lest you\nshould get ill.  Be sure not to let the wind or smoke get into your\nroom, not to expose it to rain and storm.  Keep your room clean.\nKeep it not too light by day nor too dark by night.  Keep it warm in\nwinter and cool in summer.  Do not sit leaning against a wall, or a\nchair, or a screen.  You must not wear soiled clothes or beautiful\nclothes, for the former are the cause of illness, while the latter\nthe cause of attachment.  Avoid the Three Insufficiencies-that is to\nsay, insufficient clothes, insufficient food, and insufficient sleep.\n Abstain from all sorts of uncooked or hard or spoiled or unclean\nfood, and also from very delicious dishes, because the former cause\ntroubles in your alimentary canal, while the latter cause you to\ncovet after diet.  Eat and drink just too appease your hunger and\nthirst, never mind whether the food be tasty or not.  Take your meals\nregularly and punctually, and never sit in Meditation immediately\nafter any meal.  Do not practise Dhyana soon after you have taken a\nheavy dinner, lest you should get sick thereby.  Sesame, barley,\ncorn, potatoes, milk, and the like are the best material for your\nfood.  Frequently wash your eyes, face, hands, and feet, and keep\nthem cool and clean.\n\n\n\n[FN#243]  See Yoga Sutra with the Commentary of Bhoja Raja\n(translated by Rajendralala Mitra), pp. 102-104.\n\n[FN#244]  Kei-zan (Jo-kin), the founder of So-ji-ji, the head temple\nof the So To Sect of Zen, who died at the age of fifty-eight in 1325.\n He sets forth the doctrine of Zen and the method of practising Zazen\nin his famous work, entitled Za-zen-yo-jin-ki.\n\n'There are two postures in Zazen--that is to say, the crossed-leg\nsitting, and the half crossed-leg sitting.  Seat yourself on a thick\ncushion, putting it right under your haunch.  Keep your body so erect\nthat the tip of the nose and the navel are in one perpendicular line,\nand both ears and shoulders are in the same plane.  Then place the\nright foot upon the left thigh, the left foot on the right thigh, so\nas the legs come across each other.  Next put your right hand with\nthe palm upward on the left foot, and your left hand on the right\npalm with the tops of both the thumbs touching each other.  This is\nthe posture called the crossed-leg sitting.  You may simply place the\nleft foot upon the right thigh, the position of the hands being the\nsame as in the cross-legged sitting.  This posture is named the half\ncrossed-leg sitting.'\n\n'Do not shut your eyes, keep them always open during whole\nMeditation.  Do not breathe through the mouth; press your tongue\nagainst the roof of the mouth, putting the upper lips and teeth\ntogether with the lower.  Swell your abdomen so as to hold the breath\nin the belly; breathe rhythmically through the nose, keeping a\nmeasured time for inspiration and expiration.  Count for some time\neither the inspiring or the expiring breaths from one to ten, then\nbeginning with one again.  Concentrate your attention on your breaths\ngoing in and out as if you are the sentinel standing at the gate of\nthe nostrils.  If you do some mistake in counting, or be forgetful of\nthe breath, it is evident that your mind is distracted.'\n\nChwang Tsz seems to have noticed that the harmony of breathing is\ntypical of the harmony of mind, since he says: \"The true men of old\ndid not dream when they slept.  Their breathing came deep and\nsilently.  The breathing of true men comes (even) from his heels,\nwhile men generally breathe (only) from their throats.\"[FN#245]  At\nany rate, the counting of breaths is an expedient for calming down of\nmind, and elaborate rules are given in the Zen Sutra,[FN#246] but\nChinese and Japanese Zen masters do not lay so much stress on this\npoint as Indian teachers.\n\n[FN#245]  Chwang Tsz, vol. iii., p. 2.\n\n[FN#246]  Dharmatara-dhyana-sutra.\n\n\n\n6. The Breathing Exercise of the Yogi.\n\nBreathing exercise is one of the practices of Yoga, and somewhat\nsimilar in its method and end to those of Zen.  We quote here[FN#247]\nYogi Ramacharaka to show how modern Yogis practise it: \"(1) Stand or\nsit erect.  Breathing through the nostrils, inhale steadily, first\nfilling the lower part of the lungs, which is accomplished by\nbringing into play the diaphragm, which, descending, exerts a gentle\npressure on the abdominal organs, pushing forward the front walls of\nthe abdomen.  Then fill the middle part of the lungs, pushing out the\nlower ribs, breastbone, and chest.  Then fill the higher portion of\nthe lungs, protruding the upper chest, thus lifting the chest,\nincluding the upper six or seven pairs of ribs.  In the final\nmovement the lower part of the abdomen will be slightly drawn in,\nwhich movement gives the lungs a support, and also helps to fill the\nhighest part of the lungs.  At the first reading it may appear that\nthis breath consists of three distinct movements.  This, however, is\nnot the correct idea.  The inhalation is continuous, the entire chest\ncavity from the lower diaphragm to the highest point of the chest in\nthe region of the collar-bone being expanded with a uniform movement.\n Avoid a jerking series of inhalations, and strive to attain a\nsteady, continuous action.  Practice will soon overcome the tendency\nto divide the inhalation into three movements, and will result in a\nuniform continuous breath.  You will be able to complete the\ninhalation in a couple of seconds after a little practice.  (2)\nRetain the breath a few seconds.  (3) Exhale quite slowly, holding\nthe chest in a firm position, and drawing the abdomen in a little and\nlifting it upward slowly as the air leaves the lungs.  When the air\nis entirely exhaled, relax the chest and abdomen.  A little practice\nwill render this part of exercise easy, and the movement once\nacquired will be afterwards performed almost automatically.\"\n\n\n[FN#247]  Hatha Yoga, pp. 112, 113.\n\n\n\n7. Calmness of Mind.\n\nThe Yogi breathing above mentioned is fit rather for physical\nexercise than for mental balance, and it will be beneficial if you\ntake that exercise before or after Meditation.  Japanese masters\nmostly bold it very important to push forward.  The lowest part of\nthe abdomen during Zazen, and they are right so far as the present\nwriter's personal experiences go.\n\n'If you feel your mind distracted, look at the tip of the nose; never\nlose sight of it for some time, or look at your own palm, and let not\nyour mind go out of it, or gaze at one spot before you.'  This will\ngreatly help you in restoring the equilibrium of your mind. Chwang\nTsz[FN#248] thought that calmness of mind is essential to sages, and\nsaid: \"The stillness of the sages does not belong to them as a\nconsequence of their skilful ability; all things are not able to\ndisturb their minds; it is on this account that they are still.  When\nwater is still, its clearness shows the beard and eyebrows (of him\nwho looks into it).  It is a perfect level, and the greatest\nartificer takes his rule from it.  Such is the clearness of still\nwater, and how much greater is that of the human spirit?  The still\nmind of the sage is the mirror of heaven and earth, the glass of all\nthings.\"\n\nForget all worldly concerns, expel all cares and anxieties, let go of\npassions and desires, give up ideas and thoughts, set your mind at\nliberty absolutely, and make it as clear as a burnished mirror.  Thus\nlet flow your inexhaustible fountain of purity, let open your\ninestimable treasure of virtue, bring forth your inner hidden nature\nof goodness, disclose your innermost divine wisdom, and waken your\nEnlightened Consciousness to see Universal Life within you.  \"Zazen\nenables the practiser,\" says Kei-zan,[FN#249]  \"to open up his mind,\nto see his own nature, to become conscious of mysteriously pure and\nbright spirit, or eternal light within him.\"\n\n\n[FN#248]  Chwang Tsz, vol. v., p. 5.\n\n[FN#249]  Za-zen-yo-jin-ki.\n\n\nOnce become conscious of Divine Life within you, yon can see it in\nyour brethren, no matter how different they may be in circumstances,\nin abilities, in characters, in nationalities, in language, in\nreligion, and in race.  You can see it in animals, vegetables, and\nminerals, no matter how diverse they may be in form, no matter how\nwild and ferocious some may seem in nature, no matter how unfeeling\nin heart some may seem, no matter how devoid of intelligence some may\nappear, no matter how insignificant some may be, no matter how simple\nin construction some may be, no matter how lifeless some may seem.\nYou can see that the whole universe is Enlightened and penetrated by\nDivine Life.\n\n\n\n8. Zazen and the Forgetting of Self.\n\nZazen is a most effectual means of destroying selfishness, the root\nof all Sin, folly, vice, and evil, since it enables us to see that\nevery being is endowed with divine spirituality in common with men.\nIt is selfishness that throws dark shadows on life, just as it is not\nthe sun but the body that throws shadow before it.  It is the\nself-same selfishness that gave rise to the belief in the immortality\nof soul, in spite of its irrationality, foolishness, and\nsuperstition.  Individual self should be a poor miserable thing if it\nwere not essentially connected with the Universal Life.  We can\nalways enjoy pure happiness when we are united with nature, quite\nforgetful of our poor self.  When you look, for example, into the\nsmiling face of a pretty baby, and smile with it, or listen to the\nsweet melody of a songster and sing with it, you completely forget\nyour poor self at that enraptured moment.  But your feelings of\nbeauty and happiness are for ever gone when you resume your self, and\nbegin to consider them after your own selfish ideas.  To forget self\nand identify it with nature is to break down its limitation and to\nset it at liberty.  To break down petty selfishness and extend it\ninto Universal Self is to unfetter and deliver it from bondage.  It\ntherefore follows that salvation can be secured not by the\ncontinuation of individuality in another life, but by the realization\nof one's union with Universal Life, which is immortal, free,\nlimitless, eternal, and bliss itself. This is easily effected by\nZazen.\n\n\n\n9. Zen and Supernatural Power.\n\nYoga[FN#250] claims that various supernatural powers can be acquired\nby Meditation, but Zen does not make any such absurd claims.  It\nrather disdains those who are believed to have acquired supernatural\npowers by the practice of austerities.  The following traditions\nclearly show this spirit: \"When Fah Yung (Ho-yu) lived in Mount Niu\nTeu[FN#251] (Go-zu-san) he used to receive every morning the\nofferings of flowers from hundreds of birds, and was believed to have\nsupernatural powers.  But after his Enlightenment by the instruction\nof the Fourth Patriarch, the birds ceased to make offering, because\nbe became a being too divine to be seen by inferior animals.\"  \"Hwang\nPah (O-baku), one day going up Mount Tien Tai (Ten-dai-san), which\nwas believed to have been inhabited by Arhats with supernatural\npowers, met with a monk whose eyes emitted strange light.  They went\nalong the pass talking with each other for a short while until they\ncame to a river roaring with torrent.  There being no bridge, the\nmaster bad to stop at the shore; but his companion crossed the river\nwalking on the water and beckoned to Hwang Pah to follow him.\nThereupon Hwang Pah said: 'If I knew thou art an Arhat, I would have\ndoubled you up before thou got over there!'  The monk then understood\nthe spiritual attainment of Hwang Pah, and praised him as a true\nMahayanist.\"  \"On one occasion Yang Shan (Kyo-zan) saw a stranger\nmonk flying through the air.  When that monk came down and approached\nhim with a respectful salutation, he asked: 'Where art thou from?\n'Early this morning,' replied the other, 'I set out from India.'\n'Why,' said the teacher, 'art thou so late?'  'I stopped,' responded\nthe man, 'several times to look at beautiful sceneries.'  Thou mayst\nhave supernatural powers,' exclaimed Yang Shan, 'yet thou must give\nback the Spirit of Buddha to me.'  Then the monk praised Yang Shan\nsaying: 'I have come over to China in order to worship\nManyjucri,[FN#252] and met unexpectedly with Minor Shakya,' and,\nafter giving the master some palm leaves he brought from India, went\nback through the air.'\"[FN#253]\n\n\n[FN#250]  'Yoga Aphorisms of Patanyjali,' chap. iii.\n\n[FN#251]  A prominent disciple of the Fourth Patriarch, the founder\nof the Niu Teu School (Go-zu-zen) of Zen, who died in A.D. 675.\n\n[FN#252]  Manyjucri is a legendary Bodhisattva, who became an object\nof worship of some Mahayanists.  He is treated as a personification\nof transcendental wisdom.\n\n[FN#253]  Hwui Yuen (E-gen) and Sho-bo-gen-zo.\n\n\nIt is quite reasonable that Zenists distinguish supernatural powers\nfrom spiritual uplifting, the former an acquirement of Devas, or of\nAsuras, or of Arhats, or of even animals, and the latter as a nobler\naccomplishment attained only by the practisers of Mahayanism.\nMoreover, they use the term supernatural power in a meaning entirely\ndifferent from the original one.  Lin Tsi (Rin-zai) says, for\ninstance: \"There are six supernatural powers of Buddha: He is free\nfrom the temptation of form, living in the world of form; He is free\nfrom the temptation of sound, living in the world of sound; He is\nfree from the temptation of smell, living in the world of smell; He\nis free from the temptation of taste, living in the world of taste;\nHe is free from the temptation of Dharma,[FN#254] living in the world\nof Dharma.  These are six supernatural powers.\"[FN#255]\n\n\n[FN#254]  The things or objects, not of sense, but of mind.\n\n[FN#255]  Lin Tsi Luh (Rin-zai-roku).\n\n\nSometimes Zenists use the term as if it meant what we call Zen\nActivity, or the free display of Zen in action, as you see in the\nfollowing examples.  Tung Shan (To-Zan) was on one occasion attending\non his teacher Yun Yen (Un-gan), who asked: \"What are your\nsupernatural powers?\"  Tung Shan, saying nothing, clasped his hands\non his breast, and stood up before Yun Yen.  \"How do you display your\nsupernatural powers?\" questioned the teacher again.  Then Tung Shan\nsaid farewell and went out.  Wei Shan (E-san) one day was taking a\nnap, and seeing his disciple Yang Shan (Kyo-zan) coming into the\nroom, turned his face towards the wall.  \"You need not, Sir,\" said\nYang Shan, \"stand on ceremony, as I am your disciple.\"  Wei Shan\nseemed to try to get up, so Yang Shan went out; but Wei Shan called\nhim back and said: \"I shall tell you of a dream I dreamed.\"  The\nother inclined his head as if to listen.  \"Now,\" said Wei Shan,\n\"divine my fortune by the dream.\"  Thereupon Yang Shan fetched a\nbasin of water and a towel and gave them to the master, who washed\nhis face thereby.  By-and-by Hiang Yen (Kyo-gen) came in, to whom Wei\nShan said: \"We displayed supernatural powers a moment ago.  It was\nnot such supernatural powers as are shown by Hinayanists.\"  \"I know\nit, Sir,\" replied the other, \"though I was down below.\"  \"Say, then,\nwhat it was,\" demanded the master.  Then Hiang Yen made tea and gave\na cup to Wei Shan, who praised the two disciples, saying: \"You\nsurpass \u00c7ariputra[FN#256] and Maudgalyayana[FN#257] in your wisdom and\nsupernatural powers.\"[FN#258]\n\n\n[FN#256]  One of the prominent disciples of Shakya Muni, who became\nfamous for his wisdom.\n\n[FN#257]  One of the eminent disciples of Shakya Muni, noted for his\nsupernatural powers.\n\n[FN#258]  Zen-rin-rui-sku.\n\n\nAgain, ancient Zenists did not claim that there was any mysterious\nelement in their spiritual attainment, as Do-gen says[FN#259]\nunequivocally respecting his Enlightenment: \"I recognized only that\nmy eyes are placed crosswise above the nose that stands lengthwise,\nand that I was not deceived by others.  I came home from China with\nnothing in my hand.  There is nothing mysterious in Buddhism.  Time\npasses as it is natural, the sun rising in the east, and the moon\nsetting into the west.\"\n\n[FN#259]   Ei-hei-ko-roku.\n\n\n\n10. True Dhyana.\n\nTo sit in Meditation is not the only method of practising Zazen.  \"We\npractise Dhyana in sitting, in standing, and in walking,\" says one of\nthe Japanese Zenists.  Lin Tsi (Rin-Zai) also says: \"To concentrate\none's mind, or to dislike noisy places, and seek only for stillness,\nis the characteristic of heterodox Dhyana.\"  It is easy to keep\nself-possession in a place of tranquillity, yet it is by no means\neasy to keep mind undisturbed amid the bivouac of actual life.  It is\ntrue Dhyana that makes our mind sunny while the storms of strife rage\naround us.  It is true Dhyana that secures the harmony of heart,\nwhile the surges of struggle toss us violently.  It is true Dhyana\nthat makes us bloom and smile, while the winter of life covets us\nwith frost and snow.\n\n\"Idle thoughts come and go over unenlightened minds six hundred and\nfifty times in a snap of one's fingers,\" writes an Indian\nteacher,[FN#260] \"and thirteen hundred million times every\ntwenty-four hours.\"  This might be an exaggeration, yet we cannot but\nacknowledge that one idle thought after another ceaselessly bubbles\nup in the stream of consciousness.  \"Dhyana is the letting go,\"\ncontinues the writer--\"that is to say, the letting go of the thirteen\nhundred million of idle thoughts.\"  The very root of these thirteen\nhundred million idle thoughts is an illusion about one's self.  He is\nindeed the poorest creature, even if he be in heaven, who thinks\nhimself poor.  On the contrary, he is an angel who thinks himself\nhopeful and happy, even though he be in hell.  \"Pray deliver me,\"\nsaid a sinner to Sang Tsung (So-san).[FN#261]  \"Who ties you up?\" was\nthe reply.  You tie yourself up day and night with the fine thread of\nidle thoughts, and build a cocoon of environment from which you have\nno way of escape.  'There is no rope, yet you imagine yourself\nbound.'  Who could put fetters on your mind but your mind itself?\nWho could chain your will but your own will?  Who could blind your\nspiritual eyes, unless you yourself shut them up?  Who could prevent\nyou from enjoying moral food, unless you yourself refuse to eat?\n\"There are many,\" said Sueh Fung (Sep-po) on one occasion, \"who\nstarve in spite of their sitting in a large basket full of victuals.\nThere are many who thirst in spite of seating themselves on the shore\nof a sea.\"  \"Yes, Sir,\" replied Huen Sha (Gen-sha), \"there are many\nwho starve in spite of putting their heads into the basket full of\nvictuals.  There are many who thirst in spite of putting their heads\ninto the waters of the sea.\"[FN#262]  Who could cheer him up who\nabandons himself to self-created misery?  Who could save him who\ndenies his own salvation?\n\n\n[FN#260]  The introduction to Anapana-sutra by Khin San Hwui, who\ncame to China A.D. 241.\n\n[FN#261]  The Third Patriarch.\n\n[FN#262]  Hwui Yuen (E-gen).\n\n\n\n11. Let Go of your Idle Thoughts.[FN#263]\n\n\n[FN#263]  A famous Zenist, Mu-go-koku-shi, is said to have replied to\nevery questioner, saying: \"Let go of your idle thoughts.\"\n\n\nA Brahmin, having troubled himself a long while with reference to the\nproblem of life and of the world, went out to call on Shakya Muni\nthat he might be instructed by the Master.  He got some beautiful\nflowers to offer them as a present to the Muni, and proceeded to the\nplace where He was addressing his disciples and believers.  No sooner\nhad he come in sight of the Master than he read in his mien the\nstruggles going on within him.  \"Let go of that,\" said the Muni to\nthe Brahmin, who was going to offer the flowers in both his hands.\nHe dropped on the ground the flowers in his right hand, but still\nholding those in his left.  \"Let go of that,\" demanded the Master,\nand the Brahmin dropped the flowers in his left hand rather\nreluctantly.  \"Let go of that, I say,\" the Muni commanded again; but\nthe Brahmin, having nothing to let go of, asked: \"What shall I let go\nof, Reverend Sir?  I have nothing in my hands, you know.\"  \"Let go of\nthat, you have neither in your right nor in your left band, but in\nthe middle.\"  Upon these words of the Muni a light came into the\nsufferer's mind, and he went home satisfied and in joy.[FN#264]  \"Not\nto attach to all things is Dhyana,\" writes an ancient Zenist, \"and if\nyou understand this, going out, staying in, sitting, and lying are in\nDhyana.\"  Therefore allow not your mind to be a receptacle for the\ndust of society, or the ashes of life, or rags and waste paper of the\nworld.  You bear too much burden upon your shoulders with which you\nhave nothing to do.\n\n\n[FN#264]  'Sutra on the Brahmacarin Black-family,' translated into\nChinese by K' Khien, of the Wu dynasty (A.D. 222-280).\n\n\nLearn the lesson of forgetfulness, and forget all that troubles you,\ndeprives you of sound sleep, and writes wrinkles on your forehead.\nWang Yang Ming, at the age of seventeen or so, is said to have\nforgotten the day 'on which he was to be married to a handsome young\nlady, daughter of a man of high position.  It was the afternoon of\nthe very day on which their nuptials had to be held that he went out\nto take a walk.  Without any definite purpose he went into a temple\nin the neighbourhood, and there he found a recluse apparently very\nold with white hair, but young in countenance like a child.  The man\nwas sitting absorbed in Meditation.  There was something extremely\ncalm and serene in that old man's look and bearing that attracted the\nyoung scholar's attention.  Questioning him as to his name, age, and\nbirthplace, Wang found that the venerable man had enjoyed a life so\nextraordinarily long that he forgot his name and age, but that he had\nyouthful energy so abundantly that be could talk with a voice\nsounding as a large bell.  Being asked by Wang the secret of\nlongevity, the man replied: \"There is no secret in it; I merely kept\nmy mind calm and peaceful.\"  Further, he explained the method of\nMeditation according to Taoism and Buddhism.  Thereupon Wang sat face\nto face with the old man and began to practise Meditation, utterly\nforgetful of his bride and nuptial ceremony.  The sun began to cast\nhis slanting rays on the wall of the temple, and they sat motionless;\ntwilight came over them, and night wrapped them with her sable\nshroud, and they sat as still as two marble statues; midnight, dawn,\nat last the morning sun rose to find them still in their reverie.\nThe father of the bride, who had started a search during the night,\nfound to his surprise the bridegroom absorbed in Meditation on the\nfollowing day.[FN#265]\n\n\n[FN#265]  O-yo-mei-shutsu-shin-sei-ran-roku.\n\n\nIt was at the age of forty-seven that Wang gained a great victory\nover the rebel army, and wrote to a friend saying: \"It is so easy to\ngain a victory over the rebels fortifying themselves among the\nmountains, yet it is not so with those rebels living in our\nmind.\"[FN#266]  Tsai Kiun Mu (Sai-kun-bo) is said to have had an\nexceedingly long and beautiful beard, and when asked by the Emperor,\nwho received him in audience, whether he should sleep with his beard\non the comforters or beneath them, be could not answer, since he had\nnever known how he did.  Being distracted by this question, he went\nhome and tried to find out how he had been used to manage his beard\nin bed.  First he put his beard on the comforters and vainly tried to\nsleep; then he put it beneath the comforters and thought it all\nright.  Nevertheless, he was all the more disturbed by it.  So then,\nputting on the comforters, now putting it beneath them, he tried to\nsleep all night long, but in vain.  You must therefore forget your\nmental beard that annoys you all the time.\n\n\n[FN#266]  Ibid.\n\n\nMen of longevity never carried troubles to their beds.  It is a\nwell-known fact that Zui-o (Shi-ga)[FN#267] enjoyed robust health at\nthe age of over one hundred years.  One day, being asked whether\nthere is any secret of longevity, he replied affirmatively, and said\nto the questioner: \"Keep your mind and body pure for two weeks,\nabstaining from any sort of impurity, then I shall tell you of the\nsecret.\"  The man did as was prescribed, and came again to be\ninstructed in the secret.  Zui-o said: \"Now I might tell you, but be\ncautious to keep yourself pure another week so as to qualify yourself\nto learn the secret.\"  When that week was over the old man said: \"Now\nI might tell you, but will you be so careful as to keep yourself pure\nthree days more in order to qualify yourself to receive the secret?\"\nThe man did as he was ordered, and requested the instruction.\nThereupon Zui-o took the man to his private room and softly\nwhispered, with his mouth close to the ear of the man: \"Keep the\nsecret I tell you now, even at the cost of your life.  It is\nthis-don't be passionate.  That is all.\"[FN#268]\n\n\n[FN#267]  This famous old man died in A.D. 1730.\n\n[FN#268]  Se-ji-hyaku-dan.\n\n\n\n12. 'The Five Ranks of Merit.'\n\nThus far we have stated how to train our body and mind according to\nthe general rules and customs established by Zenists.  And here we\nshall describe the different stages of mental uplifting through which\nthe student of Zen has to go.  They are technically called 'The Five\nRanks of Merit.'[FN#269]  The first stage is called the Rank of\nTurning,[FN#270] in which the student 'turns' his mind from the\nexternal objects of sense towards the inner Enlightened\nConsciousness.  He gives up all mean desires and aspires to spiritual\nelevation.  He becomes aware that he is not doomed to be the slave of\nmaterial things, and strives to conquer over them.  Enlightened\nConsciousness is likened to the King, and it is called the Mind-King,\nwhile the student who now turns towards the King is likened to common\npeople.  Therefore in this first stage the student is in the rank of\ncommon people.\n\n\n[FN#269]  Ko-kun-go-i. For further details, see So-to-ni-shi-roku.\n\n[FN#268]  Ko in Japanese.\n\n\n\nThe second stage is called the Rank of Service,[FN#271] in which the\nstudent distinguishes himself by his loyalty to the Mind-King, and\nbecomes a courtier to 'serve' him.  He is in constant 'service' to\nthe King, attending him with obedience and love, and always fearing\nto offend him.  Thus the student in this stage is ever careful not to\nneglect rules and precepts laid down by the sages, and endeavours to\nuplift himself in spirituality by his fidelity.\nThe third stage is called the Rank of Merit,[FN#272] in which the\nstudent distinguishes himself by his 'meritorious' acts of conquering\nover the rebel army of passion which rises against the Mind-King.\nNow, his rank is not the rank of a courtier, but the rank of a\ngeneral.  In other words, his duty is not only to keep rules and\ninstructions of the sages, but to subjugate his own passion and\nestablish moral order in the mental kingdom.\n\n\n[FN#271]  Bu in Japanese.\n\n[FN#272]  Ko in Japanese.\n\n\nThe fourth stage is called the Rank of Co-operative Merit,[FN#273] in\nwhich the student 'co-operates' with other persons in order to\ncomplete his merit. Now, he is not compared with a general who\nconquers his foe, but with the prime-minister who co-operates with\nother officials to the benefit of the people.  Thus the student in\nthis stage is not satisfied with his own conquest of passion, but\nseeks after spiritual uplifting by means of extending his kindness\nand sympathy to his fellow-men.\n\n\n[FN#273]  Gu-ko in Japanese.\n\n\nThe fifth stage is called the Rank of Merit-over-Merit,[FN#274] which\nmeans the rank of meritless-merit.  This is the rank of the King\nhimself.  The King does nothing meritorious, because all the\ngovernmental works are done by his ministers and subjects.  All that\nhe has to do is to keep his inborn dignity and sit high on his\nthrone.  Therefore his conduct is meritless, but all the meritorious\nacts of his subjects are done through his authority.  Doing nothing,\nhe does everything.  Without any merit, he gets all merits.  Thus the\nstudent in this stage no more strives to keep precepts, but his\ndoings are naturally in accord with them.  No more he aspires for\nspiritual elevation, but his, heart is naturally pure from material\ndesires.  No more he makes an effort to vanquish his passion, but no\npassion disturbs him.  No more he feels it his duty to do good to\nothers, but he is naturally good and merciful.  No more he sits in\nDhyana, but he naturally lives in Dhyana at all times.  It is in this\nfifth stage that the student is enabled to identify his Self with the\nMind-King or Enlightened Consciousness, and to abide in perfect bliss.\n\n\n[FN#274]  Ko-ko in Japanese.\n\n\n13. 'The Ten Pictures of the Cowherd.'[FN#275]\n\n\n[FN#275]  The pictures were drawn by Kwoh Ngan (Kaku-an), a Chinese\nZenist. For the details, see Zen-gaku-ho-ten.\n\n\nBesides these Five Ranks of Merit, Zenists make use of the Ten\nPictures of the Cowherd, in order to show the different stages of\nmental training through which the student of Zen has to go.  Some\npoems were written by Chinese and Japanese teachers on each of these\npictures by way of explanation, but they are too ambiguous to be\ntranslated into English, and we rest content with the translation of\na single Japanese poem on each of the ten pictures, which are as\nfollows:\n\nThe first picture, called 'the Searching of the Cow,' represents the\ncowherd wandering in the wilderness with a vague hope of finding his\nlost cow that is running wild out of his sight.  The reader will\nnotice that the cow is likened to the mind of the student and the\ncowherd to the student himself.\n\n\"I do not see my cow,\nBut trees and grass,\nAnd hear the empty cries\nOf cicadas.\"\n\nThe second picture, called 'the Finding of the Cow's Tracks,'\nrepresents the cowherd tracing the cow with the sure hope of\nrestoring her, having found her tracks on the ground.\n\n\"The grove is deep, and so\nIs my desire.\nHow glad I am, O lo!\nI see her tracks.\"\n\nThe third picture, called 'the Finding out of the Cow,' represents\nthe cowherd slowly approaching the cow from a distance.\n\n\"Her loud and wild mooing\nHas led me here;\nI see her form afar,\nLike a dark shadow.\"\n\nThe fourth 'picture, called 'the Catching of the Cow,' represents the\ncowherd catching hold of the cow, who struggles to break loose from\nhim.\n\n\"Alas! it's hard to keep\nThe cow I caught.\nShe tries to run and leap\nAnd snap the cord.\"\n\nThe fifth picture, called 'the Taming of the Cow,' represents the\ncowherd pacifying the cow, giving her grass and water.\n\n\"I'm glad the cow so wild\nIs tamed and mild.\nShe follows me, as if\nShe were my shadow.\"\n\nThe sixth picture, called 'the Going Home Riding on the Cow,'\nrepresents the cowherd playing on a flute, riding on the cow.\n\n\"Slowly the clouds return\nTo their own hill,\nFloating along the skies\nSo calm and still.\n\nThe seventh picture, called 'the Forgetting of the Cow and the\nRemembering of the Man,' represents the cowherd looking at the\nbeautiful scenery surrounding his cottage.\n\n\"The cow goes out by day\nAnd comes by night.\nI care for her in no way,\nBut all is right.\"\n\nThe eighth picture, called 'the Forgetting of the Cow and of the\nMan,' represents a large empty circle.\n\n\"There's no cowherd nor cow\nWithin the pen;\nNo moon of truth nor clouds\nOf doubt in men.\"\n\nThe ninth picture, called 'the Returning to the Root and Source,'\nrepresents a beautiful landscape full of lovely trees in full blossom.\n\n\"There is no dyer of hills,\nYet they are green;\nSo flowers smile, and titter rills\nAt their own wills.\"\n\nThe tenth picture, called 'the Going into the City with Open Hands,'\nrepresents a smiling monk, gourd in hand, talking with a man who\nlooks like a pedlar.\n\n\"The cares for body make\nThat body pine;\nLet go of cares and thoughts,\nO child of mine!\"\n\nThese Ten Pictures of the Cowherd correspond in meaning to the Five\nRanks of Merit above stated, even if there is a slight difference, as\nis shown in the following table:\n\n\nTHE FIVE RANKS.---THE TEN PICTURES.\n\n1. The Rank of Turning---1. The Searching of the Cow.\n                         2. The Finding of the Cow's Tracks.\n\n2. The Rank of Service---3. The Finding of the Cow.\n                         4. The Catching of the Cow.\n\n3. The Rank of Merit---5. The Taming of the Cow.\n                       6. The Going Home, Riding on the Cow.\n\n4. The Rank of Co-operative Merit---9. The Returning to the Root and\nSource.\n                                    10. The Going into the City with\nOpen Hands.\n\n5. The Rank of Merit-over-Merit---7. The Forgetting of the Cow and\nthe Remembering of the Man.\n                                  8. The Forgetting of the Cow and of\nthe Man.\n\n\n\n14. Zen and Nirvana.\n\nThe beatitude of Zen is Nirvana, not in the Hinayanistic sense of the\nterm, but in the sense peculiar to the faith.  Nirvana literally\nmeans extinction or annihilation; hence the extinction of life or the\nannihilation of individuality.  To Zen, however, it means the state\nof extinction of pain and the annihilation of sin.  Zen never looks\nfor the realization of its beatitude in a place like heaven, nor\nbelieves in the realm of Reality transcendental of the phenomenal\nuniverse, nor gives countenance to the superstition of Immortality,\nnor does it hold the world is the best of all possible worlds, nor\nconceives life simply as blessing.  It is in this life, full of\nshortcomings, misery, and sufferings, that Zen hopes to realize its\nbeatitude.  It is in this world, imperfect, changing, and moving,\nthat Zen finds the Divine Light it worships.  It is in this\nphenomenal universe of limitation and relativity that Zen aims to\nattain to highest Nirvana.  \"We speak,\" says the author of\nVimalakirtti-nirdeca-sutra, \"of the transitoriness of body, but not\nof the desire of the Nirvana or destruction of it.\"  \"Paranirvana,\"\naccording to the author of Lankavatarasutra, \"is neither death nor\ndestruction, but bliss, freedom, and purity.\"  \"Nirvana,\" says Kiai\nHwan,[FN#276] \"means the extinction of pain or the crossing over of\nthe sea of life and death.  It denotes the real permanent state of\nspiritual attainment.  It does not signify destruction or\nannihilation.  It denotes the belief in the great root of life and\nspirit.\"  It is Nirvana of Zen to enjoy bliss for all sufferings of\nlife.  It is Nirvana of Zen to be serene in mind for all disturbances\nof actual existence.  It is Nirvana of Zen to be in the conscious\nunion with Universal Life or Buddha through Enlightenment.\n\n\n[FN#276]  A commentator of Saddharma-pundarika-sutra.\n\n\n\n15. Nature and her Lesson.\n\nNature offers us nectar and ambrosia every day, and everywhere we go\nthe rose and lily await us.  \"Spring visits us men,\" says\nGu-do,[FN#277] \"her mercy is great.  Every blossom holds out the\nimage of Tathagata.\"  \"What is the spiritual body of Buddha who is\nimmortal and divine?\" asked a man to Ta Lun (Dai-ryu), who instantly\nreplied: \"The flowers cover the mountain with golden brocade.  The\nwaters tinge the rivulets with heavenly blue.\"  \"Universe is the\nwhole body of Tathagata; observed Do-gen.  \"The worlds in ten\ndirections, the earth, grass, trees, walls, fences, tiles, pebbles-in\na word, all the animated and inanimate objects partake of the\nBuddha-nature.  Thereby, those who partake in the benefit of the Wind\nand Water that rise out of them are, all of them, helped by the\nmysterious influence of Buddha, and show forth Enlightenment.\"[FN#278]\n\n\n[FN#277]  One of the distinguished Zenists in the Tokugawa period,\nwho died in 1661.\n\n[FN#278]  Sho-bo gen-zo.\n\n\nThus you can attain to highest bliss through your conscious union\nwith Buddha.  Nothing can disturb your peace, when you can enjoy\npeace in the midst of disturbances; nothing can cause you to suffer,\nwhen you welcome misfortunes and hardships in order to train and\nstrengthen your character; nothing can tempt you to commit sin, when\nyou are constantly ready to listen to the sermon given by everything\naround you; nothing can distress you, when you make the world the\nholy temple of Buddha.  This is the state of Nirvana which everyone\nbelieving in Buddha may secure.\n\n\n\n16. The Beatitude of Zen.\n\nWe are far from denying, as already shown in the foregoing chapters,\nthe existence of troubles, pains, diseases, sorrows, deaths in life.\nOur bliss consists in seeing the fragrant rose of Divine mercy among\nthe thorns of worldly trouble, in finding the fair oasis of Buddha's\nwisdom in the desert of misfortunes, in getting the wholesome balm of\nHis love in the seeming poison of pain, in gathering the sweet honey\nof His spirit even in the sting of horrible death.\n\nHistory testifies to the truth that it is misery that teaches men\nmore than happiness, that it is poverty that strengthens them more\nthan wealth, that it is adversity that moulds character more than\nprosperity, that it is disease and death that call forth the inner\nlife more than health and long life.  At least, no one can be blind\nto the fact that good and evil have an equal share in forming the\ncharacter and working out the destiny of man.  Even such a great\npessimist as Schopenhauer says: \"As our bodily frame would burst\nasunder if the pressure of atmosphere were removed, so if the lives\nof men were relieved of all need, hardship, and adversity, if\neverything they took in hand were successful, they would be so\nswollen with arrogance . . . that they would present the spectacle of\nunbridled folly.  A ship without ballast is unstable, and will not go\nstraight.\"  Therefore let us make our ship of life go straight with\nits ballast of miseries and hardships, over which we gain control.\n\nThe believer in Buddha is thankful to him, not only for the sunshine\nof life, but also for its wind, rain, snow, thunder, and lightning,\nbecause He gives us nothing in vain. Hisa-nobu (Ko-yama) was,\nperhaps, one of the happiest persons that Japan ever produced, simply\nbecause he was ever thankful to the Merciful One.  One day he went\nout without an umbrella and met with a shower.  Hurrying up to go\nhome, he stumbled and fell, wounding both his legs.  As he rose up,\nhe was overheard to say: \"Thank heaven.\"  And being asked why he was\nso thankful, replied: \"I got both my legs hurt, but, thank heaven,\nthey were not broken.\"  On another occasion he lost consciousness,\nhaving been kicked violently by a wild horse.  When he came to\nhimself, he exclaimed: \"Thank heaven,\" in hearty joy.  Being asked\nthe reason why he was so joyful, he answered: \"I have really given up\nmy ghost, but, thank heaven, I have escaped death after all.\"[FN#279]\n A person in such a state of mind can do anything with heart and\nmight.  Whatever he does is an act of thanks for the grace of Buddha,\nand he does it, not as his duty, but as the overflowing of his\ngratitude which lie himself cannot check.  Here exists the formation\nof character.  Here exist real happiness and joy.  Here exists the\nrealization of Nirvana.\n\n\n[FN#279]  Ki-jin-den.\n\n\nMost people regard death as the greatest of evils, only because they\nfear death.  They fear death only because they have the instinct of\nself-preservation.  Hereupon pessimistic philosophy and religion\npropose to attain to Nirvana by the extinction of Will-to-live, or by\nthe total annihilation of life.  But this is as much as to propose\ndeath as the final cure to a patient.  Elie Metchnikoff proposes, in\nhis 'Nature of Man,' another cure, saying: 'If man could only\ncontrive to live long enough--say, for one hundred and forty years--a\nnatural desire for extinction would take the place of the instinct\nfor self-preservation, and the call of death would then harmoniously\nsatisfy his legitimate craving of a ripe old age.'  Why, we must ask,\ndo you trouble yourself so much about death?  Is there any instance\nof an individual who escaped it in the whole history of mankind?  If\nthere be no way of escape, why do you trouble yourself about it?  Can\nyou cause things to fall off the earth against the law of\ngravitation?  Is there any example of an individual object that\nescaped the government of that law in the whole history of the world?\n Why, then, do you trouble yourself about it?  It is no less silly to\ntrouble yourself about death than you do about gravitation.  Can you\nrealize that death, which you have yet no immediate experience of, is\nthe greatest of evil?  We dare to declare death to be one of the\nblessings which we have to be thankful for.  Death is the scavenger\nof the world; it sweeps away all uselessness, staleness, and\ncorruption from the world, and keeps life clean and ever now.  When\nyou are of no use for the world it comes upon you, removes you to\noblivion in order to relieve life of useless encumbrance.  The stream\nof existence should be kept running, otherwise it would become\nputrid.  If old lives were to stop the running stream it would stand\nstill, and consequently become filthy, poisoned, and worthless.\nSuppose there were only births and no deaths.  The earth has to be\npacked with men and women, who are doomed to live to all eternity,\njostling, colliding, bumping, trampling each other, and vainly\nstruggling to get out of the Black Hole of the earth.  Thanks to\ndeath we are not in the Black Hole!\n\nOnly birth and no death is far worse than only death and no birth.\n\"The dead,\" says Chwang Tsz, \"have no tyrannical king about, no\nslavish subject to meet; no change of seasons overtakes them.  The\nheaven and the earth take the places of Spring and Autumn.  The king\nor emperor of a great nation cannot be happier than they.\"  How would\nyou be if death should never overtake you when ugly decrepitude makes\nyou blind and deaf, bodily and mentally, and deprives you of all\npossible pleasures?  How would you be if you should not die when your\nbody is broken to pieces or terribly burned by an accident--say, by a\nviolent earthquake followed by a great conflagration?  Just imagine\nSatan, immortal Satan, thrown down by the ire of God into Hell's\nfiery gulf, rolling himself in dreadful torture to the end of time.\nYou cannot but conclude that it is only death which relieves you of\nextreme sufferings, incurable diseases, and it is one of the\nblessings you ought to be thankful for.\n\nThe believer of Buddha is thankful even for death itself, the which\nis the sole means of conquering death.  If he be thankful even for\ndeath, how much more for the rest of things!  He can find a meaning\nin every form of life.  He can perceive a blessing in every change of\nfortune.  He can acknowledge a mission for every individual.  He can\nlive in contentment and joy under any conditions.  Therefore Lin Tsi\n(Rin-zai) says: \"All the Buddhas might appear before me and I would\nnot be glad.  All the Three Regions[FN#280] and Hells might suddenly\npresent themselves before me, and I would not fear. . . .  He (an\nEnlightened person) might get into the fire, and it would not burn\nhim.  He might get into water, and it would not drown him.  He might\nbe born in Hell, and he would be happy as if he were in a fair\ngarden.  He might be born among Pretas and beasts, and he would not\nsuffer from pain.  How can he be so? Because he can enjoy\neverything.'[FN#281]\n\n\n[FN#280]  (1) Naraka, or Hell; (2) Pretas, or hungry demons; (3)\nbeasts.\n\n[FN#281]  Lin Tsi Luk (Rin-zai-roku).\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF MAN\n\n(GEN-NIN-RON)\n\n\n\nBY\n\nKWEI FUNG TSUNG MIH\n\nTHE SEVENTH PATRIARCH OF THE KEGON SECT\n\n\n\nTRANSLATED BY\n\nKAITEN NUKARIYA\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\n\nTsung Mih (Shu-Mitsu, A.D. 774-841), the author of Yuen Jan Lun\n('Origin of Man'), one of the greatest scholars that China ever\nproduced, was born in a Confucianist family of the State of Kwo Cheu.\n Having been converted by Tao Yuen (Do-yen), a noted priest of the\nZen Sect, he was known at the age of twenty-nine as a prominent\nmember of that sect, and became the Eleventh Patriarch after\nBodhidharma, the First Patriarch of the sect, who had come over to\nChina from India about A.D. 520.  Some years after he studied under\nChino, Kwan (Cho-kwan) the philosophical doctrine of the Avatamsaka\nSchool, now known in Japan as the Kegon Sect, and distinguished\nhimself as the Seventh Patriarch of that school.  In A.D. 835 he was\nreceived in audience by the Emperor Wan Tsung, who questioned him in\na general way about the Buddhist doctrines, and bestowed upon him the\nhonourable title of Great Virtuous Teacher, together with abundant\ngifts.  The author produced over ninety volumes of books, which\ninclude a commentary on Avatamsaka-sutra, one on\nPurnabuddha-sutra-prasannartha-sutra, and many others.  Yuen Jan Lun\nis one of the shortest of his essays, but it contains all the\nessential doctrines, respecting the origin of life and of the\nuniverse, which are found in Taoism, Confucianism, Hinayanism, and\nMahayanism.  How important a position it holds among the Buddhist\nbooks can be well imagined from the fact that over twenty\ncommentaries were written on it both by the Chinese and the Japanese\nBuddhist scholars.  It is said that a short essay under the same\ntitle by a noted contemporary Confucianist scholar, Han Tui Chi\n(Kan-tai-shi, who flourished 803-823), suggested to him to write a\nbook in order to make clear to the public the Buddhist view on the\nsame subject.  Thus be entitled the book 'Origin of Man,' in spite of\nhis treating of the origin of life and of the universe.  Throughout\nthe whole book occur coupled sentences, consisting mostly of the same\nnumber of Chinese characters, and consequently while one sentence is\ntoo laconic, the other is overladen with superfluous words, put in to\nmake the right number in the balanced group of characters.  In\naddition to this, the text is full of too concise phrases, and often\nof ambiguous ones, as it is intended to state as briefly as possible\nall the important doctrines of the Buddhist as well as of the outside\nschools.  On this account the author himself wrote a few notes on the\npassages that lie thought it necessary to explain.  The reader will\nfind these notes beginning with 'A' put by the translator to\ndistinguish them from his own.\n\nK. N.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF MAN[FN#282]\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nAll animated beings that live (under the sun) have an origin, while\neach of inanimate things, countless in number, owes its existence to\nsome source.[FN#283]  There can never be (any being nor) any thing\nthat has (no origin, as there can be no) branch which has no root.\nHow could man, the most spiritual of the Three Powers[FN#284] exist\nwithout an origin?\n\n\n[FN#282]  The author treats the origin of life and of the universe,\nbut the book was entitled as we have seen in the preface.\n\n[FN#283]  The same idea and expression are found in Tao Teh King\n(Do-toku-kyo), by Lao Tsz (Ro-shi, 604-522 B.C.).\n\n[FN#284]  The Three Powers are-(1) Heaven, that has the power of\nrevolution; (2) Earth, that has the power of production; and (3) Man,\nthat has the power of thought.\n\n\n(It is said),[FN#285] moreover, that that which knows others is\nintellect, and that that which knows itself is wisdom.  Now if I,\nbeing born among men, know not whence I came (into this life), how\ncould I know whither I am going in the after-life?  How could I\nunderstand all human affairs, ancient and modern, in the world?  So,\nfor some scores of years I learned under many different tutors, and\nread extensively (not only) the Buddhist (but also) outside books.\nBy that means I tried to trace my Self, and never stopped my research\ntill I attained, as I had expected, to its origin.\n\n[FN#285]  The sentence is a direct quotation of Tao Teh King.\n\nConfucianists and Taoists of our age, nevertheless, merely know that\nour nearest origin is the father or the grandfather, as we are\ndescended from them, and they from their fathers in succession.\n(They say) that the remotest (origin) is the undefinable (primordial)\nGas[FN#286] in the state of chaos; that it split itself into the two\n(different) principles of the Positive and the Negative; that the two\nbrought forth the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Man, which (in\ntheir turn) produced all other things; that man as well as other\nthings originated in the Gas.\n\n\n[FN#286]  Such a statement concerning the creation of the universe as\nthe one here given is found in I King (Eeki-kyo).  The primordial\nsubstance is not exactly 'gas,' but we may conceive it as being\nsomething like a nebula.\n\n\n(Some)[FN#287] Buddhists, (however), maintain simply that the nearest\n(origin) is Karma,[FN#288] as we were born among men as the results\nof the Karma that we had produced in the past existences; and that\nthe remotest (origin) is the Alaya-vijnyana,[FN#289] (because) our\nKarma is brought forth by illusion, and (illusion by attachment), and\nso forth, in one word, the Alaya is the origin of life.  Although all\nof (these scholars) claim that they have already grasped the ultimate\ntruth, yet not in fact.\n\n\n[FN#287]  Not all Buddhists, but some of them, are meant here-that\nis, Hinayanists and Dharma-laksanists.\n\n[FN#288]  According to Hinayanists, Karma (action) is that moral germ\nwhich survives death and continues in transmigration.  It may be\nconceived as something like an energy, by the influence of which\nbeings undergo metempsychosis.\n\n[FN#289]  According to the Dharma-laksana Sect, Alaya-vijnyana\n(receptacle-knowledge) is the spiritual Substance which holds the\n'seeds' or potentialities of all things.\n\n\nConfucius, Lao Tsz, and Shakya, however, were all the wisest of\nsages.  Each of them gave his teachings in a way different from the\nother two, that they might meet the spiritual needs of his time and\nfit to the capacities of men.  (So that) the Buddhist and the outside\ndoctrines, each supplementing the other, have done good to the\nmultitude.  They were all (intended) to encourage thousands of\nvirtuous acts by explaining the whole chain of causality.  They were\n(also intended) to investigate thousands of things, and throw light\non the beginning and on the end of their evolution.  Although all\nthese doctrines (might) answer the purpose of the sages, yet there\nmust be some teachings that would be temporary,[FN#290] while others\nwould be eternal.  The first two faiths are merely temporary, while\nBuddhism includes both the temporary and the eternal.  We may act\naccording to the precepts of these three faiths, which aim at the\npeace and welfare (of man), in so far as they encourage thousands of\nvirtuous acts by giving warning against evil and recommending good.\n(But) Buddhism (alone) is altogether perfect and best of all, in\ninvestigating thousands of things and in tracing them back to their\nfirst cause, in order to acquire thorough understanding of the\nnatures of things and to attain to the ultimate truth.\n\n\n[FN#290]  The temporary doctrine means the teaching preached by\nShakya Muni to meet the temporary needs of the hearers.  The term is\nalways used in contrast with the real or eternal doctrine.\n\n\nEach of our contemporary scholars, nevertheless, adheres to one\nschool of the (above mentioned) teachings.  And there are some (even)\namong the Buddhists who mistake the temporary for the eternal\ndoctrine.  In consequence they are never successful in tracing\nHeaven, Earth, Man, and other things back to their First Cause.  But\nI am now (going to show how) to infer an Ultimate Cause for thousands\nof things, not only from the Buddhist, but from outsiders' teachings.\n First I shall treat of the superficial doctrines, and then of the\nprofound, (in order to) free the followers of the temporary faiths\nfrom those (prejudices that prove to be) obstructions in their way to\nthe truth, and enable them to attain to the Ultimate Reality.\nAfterwards I shall point out, according to the perfect doctrine, how\nthings evolved themselves through one stage after another out of the\nFirst Cause (in order to) make the incomplete doctrines fuse into the\ncomplete one, and to enable the followers to explain the phenomenal\nuniverse.[FN#291]\n\n\n[FN#291]  A. 'That is, Heaven, Earth, Man, and other things.'\n\n\nThis essay is entitled 'Origin of Man,' and it consists of the\n(following) four chapters: (1) Refutation of Delusive and Prejudiced\n(Doctrine); (2) Refutation of Incomplete and Superficial (Doctrine);\n(3) Direct Explanation of the Real Origin; (4) Reconciliation of the\nTemporary with the Eternal Doctrine.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nREFUTATION OF DELUSIVE AND PREJUDICED (DOCTRINE)[FN#292]\n\n\n\nAccording to Confucianism[FN#293] and Taoism all sorts of beings,\nsuch as men and beasts, were born out of and brought up by the\n(so-called) Great Path of Emptiness.[FN#294]  That is to say, the\nPath by the operation of its own law gave rise naturally to the\nprimordial Gas, and that Gas produced Heaven and Earth, which (in\ntheir turn) brought forth thousands of things.  Accordingly the wise\nand the unwise, the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the\nhappy and the miserable, are predestined to be so by the heavenly\nflat, and are at the mercy of Time and Providence.  Therefore they\n(must) come back after death to Heaven and Earth, from which (in\nturn) they return to the (Path) of Emptiness.  The main purpose of\nthese[FN#295] (two) outside teachings is simply to establish morals\nwith regard to bodily actions, but not to trace life to its First\nCause.  They tell of nothing beyond the phenomenal universe in their\nexplanation of thousands of things.  Though they point out the Great\nPath as the origin, yet they never explain in detail (what is) the\ndirect, and (what) the indirect cause of the phenomenal universe, or\nhow it was created, or how it will be destroyed, how life came forth,\nwhither it will go, (what is) good, (what) evil.  Therefore the\nfollowers of these doctrines adhere to them as the perfect teachings\nwithout knowing that they are merely temporary.\n\n\n[FN#292]  A. 'Those of Confucianists and Taoists.'\n\n[FN#293]  Confucianists are not of exactly the same opinion as\nTaoists respecting the creation.  The Great Path here mentioned\nrefers exclusively to Taoism.\n\n[FN#294]  The Great Path of Emptiness, Hu Wu Ta Tao, is the technical\nname for the Taoist conception of the Absolute.  It is something\nexistent in an undeveloped state before the creation of the\nphenomenal universe.  According to Tao Teh King, it is\n'self-existent, unchangeable, all-pervading, and the mother of all\nthings.  It is unnamable, but it is sometimes called the Path or the\nGreat.'  It is also called the Emptiness, as it is entirely devoid of\nrelative activities.\n\n[FN#295]  Confucianism mainly treats of ethical problems, but Taoism\nis noted for its metaphysical speculation.\n\n\nNow I (shall) raise, in brief, a few questions to point out their\nweaknesses.  If everything in the universe, as they say, came out of\nthe Great Path of Emptiness, that Great Path itself should be the\ncause of (not only) of wisdom, (but) of folly, (not only) of life,\n(but) of death.  It ought to be the source of prosperity (as well as)\nof adversity, of fortune (as well as) of misfortune.  If this origin\nexist (as it is supposed) to all eternity, it must be possible\nneither to remove follies, villainies, calamities, and wars, nor to\npromote wisdom, good, happiness, and welfare.  Of what use (then) are\nthe teachings of Lao Tsz and Chwang Tsz?[FN#296]  The Path, besides,\nshould have reared the tiger and the wolf, given birth to\nKieh[FN#297] and Cheu,[FN#298] caused the premature deaths of\nYen[FN#299] and Jan,[FN#300] and placed I[FN#301] and Tsi[FN#302] in\ntheir most lamentable condition.  How could it be called a noble\n(path)?\n\n\n[FN#296]  One of the greatest Taoist philosophers, and the author of\nthe book entitled after his name. He flourished 339-327 B.C.\n\n[FN#297] The last Emperor of the Hia dynasty, notorious for his\nvices. His reign was 1818-1767 B.C.\n\n[FN#298]  The last Emperor of the Yin dynasty, one of the worst\ndespots. His reign was 1154-1122 B.C.\n\n[FN#299]  Yen Hwui (Gan-kai, 541-483 B.C.), a most beloved disciple\nof Confucius, known as a wise and virtuous scholar.\n\n[FN#300]  Jan Poh Niu (Zen-pak-giu, 521- . . . B.C.), a prominent\ndisciple, of Confucius, distinguished for his virtues.\n\n[FN#301]  Poh I (Haku-i), the elder brother of Tsi, who distinguished\nhimself by his faith and wisdom at the downfall of the Yin dynasty.\n\n[FN#302]  Shuh Tsi (Shiku Sei), the brother of I, with whom he shared\nthe same fate.\n\n\nAgain, if, as they say, thousands of things could come naturally into\nexistence without direct or indirect causes, they should come forth\nin all places where there are neither direct nor indirect causes.\nFor instance, a stone would bring forth grass, while grass would give\nbirth to man, and man would beget beasts, etc.  In addition to this\nthey would come out all at the same time, nothing being produced\nbefore or after the others.  They would come into existence all at\nthe same moment, nothing being produced sooner or later than the\nothers.  Peace and welfare might be secured without the help of the\nwise and the good.  Humanity and righteousness might be acquired\nwithout instruction and study.  One might even become an immortal\ngenius[FN#303] without taking the miraculous medicine.  Why did Lao\nTsz, Chwang Tsz, Cheu Kung[FN#304] and Confucius do such a useless\ntask as to found their doctrines and lay down the precepts for men?\n\n\n[FN#303]  Degenerated Taoists maintained that they could prepare a\ncertain miraculous draught, by the taking of which one could become\nimmortal.\n\n[FN#304]  Cheu Kung (Shu-ko), a most noted statesman and scholar, the\nyounger brother of the Emperor Wu (1122-1116 B.C.), the founder of\nthe Chen dynasty.\n\n\nAgain, if all things, as they say, were made of the primordial Gas\n(which has no feeling nor will), how could an infant, just born of\nthe Gas, who had never learned to think, or love, or hate, or to be\nnaughty, or wilful (even begin to think or feel)?  If, as they may\nanswer, the infant as soon as it was born could quite naturally love\nor hate, etc., as it wished, it could (as well) gain the Five\nVirtues[FN#305] and the Six Acquirements,[FN#306] as it wished.  Why\ndoes it wait for some direct or indirect causes (to gain its\nknowledge), and to acquire them through study and instruction?\n\n\n[FN#305]  (1) Humanity, (2) Uprightness, (3) Propriety, (4) Wisdom,\n(5) Sincerity.\n\n[FN#306]  (1) Reading, (2) Arithmetic, (3) Etiquette, (4) Archery,\n(5) Horsemanship, (6) Music.\n\n\nAgain, they might say life suddenly came into existence, it being\nformed of the Gas, and suddenly goes to naught (at death), the Gas\nbeing dispersed.  What, then, are the spirits of the dead (which they\nbelieve in)?  Besides, there are in history some instances of\npersons[FN#307] who could see through previous existences, or of\npersons[FN#308] who recollected the events in their past lives.\nTherefore we know that the present is the continuation of the past\nlife, and that it did not come into existence on a sudden by the\nformation of a Gas.  Again, there are some historical facts[FN#309]\nproving that the supernatural powers of spirits will not be lost.\nThus we know that life is not to be suddenly reduced to naught after\ndeath by the dispersion of the Gas.  Therefore (matters concerning)\nsacrifices, services, and supplications (to the spirits) are\nmentioned in the sacred books.[FN#310]  Even more than that!  Are\nthere not some instances, ancient and modern, of persons who revived\nafter death to tell the matters concerning the unseen world, or\nwho[FN#311] appeared to move the hearts of their wives and children a\nwhile after death, or who[FN#312] took vengeance (on the enemy), or\nwho[FN#313]  returned favours (to their friends)?\n\n\n[FN#307]  According to Tsin Shu, a man, Pao Tsing by name, told his\nparents, when he was five years, that he had been in the previous\nlife a son to Li, an inhabitant of Kuh Yang, and that he had fallen\ninto the well and died.  Thereupon the parents called on Li, and\nfound, to their astonishment, that the boy's statement was actually\ncoincident with the fact.\n\n[FN#308]  Yan Hu, a native of Tsin Chen, recollected, at the age of\nfive, that he had been a son to the next-door neighbour, and that he\nhad left his ring under a mulberry-tree close by the fence of the\nhouse.  Thereupon he went with his nurse and successfully restored\nit, to the astonishment of the whole family.\n\n[FN#309]  All the ancient sages of China believed in spirits, and\npropitiated them by sacrifices.\n\n[FN#310]  The sacred books of Confucianism, Shu King and Li Ki.\n\n[FN#311]  Pang Shang, the Prince of Tsi, is said to have appeared\nafter his death.\n\n[FN#312]  Poh Yiu, of Ching, is said to have become an epidemic\nspirit to take vengeance on his enemies.\n\n[FN#313]  According to Tso Chwen (Sa-den), when Wei Wu, a General of\nTsin, fought with Tu Hwui, the dead father of his concubine appeared,\nand prevented the march of the enemy in order to return favours done\nto him.\n\n\nThe outside scholars might ask, by way of objection, if one live as a\nspirit after death, the spirits of the past would fill up streets and\nroads, and be seen by men; and why are there no eye-witnesses?  I say\nin reply that (as) there are the Six Worlds[FN#314] for the dead,\nthey do not necessarily live in the world of spirits.  (Even as\nspirits) they must die and be born again among men or other beings.\nHow can the spirits of the past always live in a crowd?  Moreover, if\n(as you say) man was born of (primordial) Gas which gave rise to\nHeaven and Earth, and which was unconscious from the very beginning,\nhow could he be conscious all on a sudden after his birth?  Why are\ntrees and grass which were also formed of the same Gas unconscious?\nAgain, if, (as you say), the rich and the poor, the high and the low,\nthe wise and the unwise, the good and the bad, the happy and the\nunhappy, the lucky and the unlucky, are predestinated alike by\nheavenly decree, why are so many destined by heaven to be poor and so\nfew to be rich?  Why so many to be low and so few to be high?  In\nshort, why are so many destined to be unlucky and so few to be lucky?\n\n\n[FN#314]  (1) The heaven, or the world for Devas; (2) the earth, or\nthe world for men; (3) the world for Asuras; (4) the world for\nPetras; (5) the world for beasts; (6) hell.\n\n\nIf it be the will of Heaven to bless so limited a number of persons\nat all, and to curse so many, why is Heaven so partial?  Even more\nthan that!  Are there not many who hold a high position without any\nmeritorious conduct, while some are placed in a low one in spite of\ntheir keeping to (the rules of) conduct?  Are there not many who are\nrich without any virtues, while some are poor in spite of their\nvirtues?  Are there not the unjust who are fortunate, while the just\nare unfortunate?  Are there not the humane, who die young, while the\ninhuman enjoy long lives?  In short, the righteous (are doomed) to\nperish, while the unrighteous prosper!  Thus (we must infer) that all\nthis depends on the heavenly will, which causes the unrighteous to\nprosper and the righteous to perish.  How can there be reward for the\ngood (as it is taught in your sacred books),[FN#315] that Heaven\nblesses the good and shows grace to the humble?  How can there be\npunishment for the bad (as it is taught in your holy books),[FN#316]\nthat Heaven curses the evil and inflicts punishment on the proud?\n\n\n[FN#315]  Shu King and I King.\n\n[FN#316]  Ibid.\n\n\nAgain, if even all such evils as wars, treacheries, and rebellions\ndepend on the heavenly will, those Sages would be in the wrong who,\nin the statement of their teaching, censure or chastise men, but not\nHeaven or the heavenly will.  Therefore, even if Shi[FN#317] is full\nof reproofs against maladministration, while Shu[FN#318] of eulogies\nfor the reigns of the wisest monarchs-even if Propriety[FN#319] is\nrecommended as a most effectual means of creating peace between the\ngovernors and the governed, while Music[FN#320] (is recommended as a\nmeans of) ameliorating the customs and manners of the people--still,\nthey can hardly be said to realize the Will on High or to conform to\nthe wishes of the Creator.  Hence you must acknowledge that those who\ndevote themselves to the study of these doctrines are not able to\ntrace man to his origin.\n\n\n[FN#317]  Shu King, a famous book of odes.\n\n[FN#318]  Shu King, the records of the administrations of the wisest\nmonarchs of old.\n\n[FN#319]  Li Ki, the book on proprieties and etiquette.\n\n[FN#320]  It is said in Hiao King that music is the best means to\nimprove customs and manners.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nREFUTATION OF INCOMPLETE AND SUPERFICIAL (DOCTRINE)[FN#321]\n\n\n\nThere are in the Buddhist doctrines, to state briefly, the five\ngrades (of development), beginning with the most superficial, and\nending with the most profound teachings.  (They are as follows:) (1)\nThe Doctrine for Men and Devas; (2) the Doctrine of the Hinayanists;\n(3) the Mahayana Doctrine of Dharma-laksana; (4) the Mahayana\nDoctrine of the Nihilists[FN#322]; (5) the Ekaydna Doctrine that\nteaches the Ultimate Reality.[FN#323]\n\n\n[FN#321]  A. 'The imperfect doctrines taught by the Buddha.'\n\n[FN#322]  A. 'These first four doctrines are treated of in this\nchapter.'\n\n[FN#323]  A. 'This is mentioned in the third chapter.'\n\n\n\n1. The Doctrine for Men and Devas.\n\nThe Buddha, to meet temporarily the spiritual needs of the\nuninitiated, preached a doctrine concerning good or bad Karma as the\ncause, and its retribution as the effect, in the three existences (of\nthe past, the present, and the future).  That is, one who commits the\ntenfold sin[FN#324] must be reborn after death in hell, when these\nsins are of the highest grade;[FN#325] among Pretas,[FN#326] when of\nthe middle grade; and among animals, when of the lowest grade.\n\n\n[FN#324]  (1) Taking life, (2) theft, (3) adultery, (4) lying, (5)\nexaggeration, (6) abuse, (7) ambiguous talk, (8) coveting, (9)\nmalice, (10) unbelief.\n\n[FN#325]  There are three grades in each of the tenfold sin.  For\ninstance, the taking of the life of a Buddha, or of a sage, or of a\nparent, etc., is of the highest grade; while to kill fellow-men is of\nthe middle; and to kill beasts and birds, etc., is of the lowest.\nAgain, to kill any being with pleasure is of the highest grade; while\nto repent after killing is of the middle; and killing by mistake is\nof the lowest.\n\n[FN#326]  Hungry spirits.\n\n\nTherefore the Buddha for a temporary purpose made these (uninitiated)\nobserve the Five Precepts similar to the Five Virtues[FN#327] of the\noutside doctrine, in order to enable them to escape the three (worst)\nStates[FN#328] of Existence, and to be reborn among men.  (He also\ntaught that) those who cultivate[FN#329] the tenfold virtue[FN#330]\nof the highest grade, and who give alms, and keep the precepts, and\nso forth, are to be born in the Six Celestial Realms of Kama[FN#331]\nwhile those who practise the Four[FN#332] Dhyanas, the Eight\nSamadhis,[FN#333] are to be reborn in the heavenly worlds of\nRupa[FN#334] and Arupa.  For this reason this doctrine is called the\ndoctrine for men and Devas.  According to this doctrine Karma is the\norigin of life.[FN#335]\n\n[FN#327]  The five cardinal virtues of Confucianism are quite similar\nto the five precepts of Buddhism, as we see by this table:\n\nVIRTUES.---PRECEPTS.\n\n1. Humanity.---1. Not to take life.\n2. Uprightness.---2. Not to steal.\n3. Propriety.---3. Not to be adulterous.\n4. Wisdom.---4. Not to get drunk.\n5. Sincerity.---5. Not to lie.\n\n[FN#328]  (1) Hell, (2) Pretas, (3) Beasts.\n\n[FN#329]  A. 'The Buddhist precepts are different from the Confucian\nteachings in the form of expression, but they agree in their warning\nagainst the evil and in encouraging the good.  The moral conduct of\nthe Buddhist can be secured by the cultivation of the five virtues of\nhumanity, uprightness, etc., as though people in this country hold up\ntheir hands joined in the respectable salutation, while the same\nobject is attained by those of The Fan, who stand with their bands\nhanging down.  Not to kill is humanity.  Not to steal is uprightness.\n Not to be adulterous is propriety.  Not to lie is sincerity.  Not to\ndrink spirits nor eat meat is to increase wisdom, keeping mind pure.'\n\n[FN#330]  (1) Not to take life, (2) not to steal, (3) not to be\nadulterous, (4) not to lie, (5) not to exaggerate, (6) not to abuse,\n(7) not to talk ambiguously, (8) not to covet, (9) not to be\nmalicious, (10) not to unbelieve.\n\n[FN#331]  Kama-loka, the world of desire, is the first of the Three\nWorlds.  It consists of the earth and the six heavenly worlds, all\nthe inhabitants of which are subject to sensual desires.\n\n[FN#332]  The Buddhists taught the four Dhyanas, or the four\ndifferent degrees of abstract contemplation, by which the mind could\nfree itself from all subjective and objective trammels, until it\nreached a state of absolute absence of unconcentrated thought.  The\npractiser of the four Dhyanas would be born in the four regions of\nthe Rupa-lokas in accordance with his spiritual state.\n\n[FN#333]  Namely, the above-mentioned four degrees of contemplation,\nand other four deeper ecstatic meditations.  The practiser of the\nlatter would be born in the four spiritual regions of Arupa-loka in\naccordance with his state of abstraction.\n\n[FN#334]  Rupa-loka, the world of form, is the second of the Three\nWorlds.  It consists of eighteen heavens, which were divided into\nfour regions.  The first Dhyana region comprised the first three of\nthe eighteen heavens, the second Dhyana region the next three, the\nthird Dhyana region the following three, and the fourth Dhyana region\nthe remaining nine.\n\nArupa-loka, the world of formlessness, is the third of the Three\nWorlds.  It consists of four heavens.  The first is called 'the\nheaven of unlimited space,' the second 'the heaven of unlimited\nknowledge,' the third 'the heaven of absolute non-existence,' the\nfourth 'the heaven of neither consciousness nor unconsciousness.'\n\nA. 'None of heavens, or of hells, or of the worlds of spirits, is\nmentioned in the title of this book, because these worlds are\nentirely different from ours, and absolutely beyond the sight and\nhearing.  Ordinary people know not even the phenomena actually\noccurring before them; how could they understand the unseen?  So I\nentitled it simply, \"The Origin of Man \" in agreement with the\nworldly teachings.  Now that I treat, however, of the Buddhist\ndoctrine, it is reasonable to enumerate these worlds in full.'\n\n[FN#335]  A. 'But there are three sorts of Karmas: (1) The bad, (2)\nthe good, (3) the immovable.  There are the three periods for\nretribution: (1) In this life, (2) in the next life, (3) in some\nremote future life.'\n\n\nNow let me raise some questions by way of objection.  Granting that\none has to be born in the Five States of Existences[FN#336] by virtue\nof Karma produced (in previous lives), is it not doubtful who is the\nauthor of Karma, and who the recipient of its consequences?  If it\nmight be said that the eyes, ears, hands, and feet produce Karma,\nthen the eyes, ears, hands, and feet of a newly-dead person are still\nas they were. So why do they not see and hear and thus produce Karma?\n\n\n[FN#336]  The states of--(1) heavenly beings, (2) men, (3) beings in\nhell, (4) hungry spirits, (5) beasts.\n\n\nIf it be said that it is the mind that produces Karma (I ask), what\nis the mind?  If you mean the heart, the heart is a material thing,\nand is located within the body.  How can it, by coming quickly into\nthe eyes and ears, distinguish the pleasing from the disgusting in\nexternal objects?  If there be no distinction between the pleasing\nand the disgusting, why does it accept the one or reject the other?\n\nBesides, the heart is as much material and impenetrable as the eyes,\nears, hands, and feet.  How, then, can the heart within freely pass\nto the organs of sense without?  How can this one put the others in\nmotion, or communicate with them, in order to co-operate in producing\nKarma?\nIf it be said that only such passions as joy, anger, love, and hatred\nact through the body and the mouth and enable them to produce Karma,\n(I should say) those passions--joy, anger, and the rest--are too\ntransitory, and come and go in a moment.  They have no Substance\n(behind their appearances).  What, then, is the chief agent that\nproduces Karma?\n\nIt might be said that we should not seek after (the author of Karma)\nby taking mind and body separately (as we have just done), because\nbody and mind, as a whole, conjointly produce Karma.  Who, then,\nafter the destruction of body by death, would receive the retribution\n(in the form) of pain or of pleasure?\n\nIf it be assumed that another body is to come into existence after\ndeath, then the body and mind of the present life, committing sins or\ncultivating virtues, would cause another body and mind in the future\nwhich would suffer from the pains or enjoy the pleasures.\nAccordingly, those who cultivate virtues would be extremely unlucky,\nwhile those who commit sins very lucky.  How can the divine law of\ncausality be so unreasonable?  Therefore we (must) acknowledge that\nthose who merely follow this doctrine are far from a thorough\nunderstanding of the origin of life, though they believe in the\ntheory of Karma.\n\n\n\n2. The Doctrine of the Hinayanists.\n\nThis doctrine tells us that (both) the body, that is formed of\nmatter, and the mind, that thinks and reflects, continually exist\nfrom eternity to eternity, being destroyed and recreated by means of\ndirect or indirect causes, just as the water of a river glides\ncontinually, or the flame of a lamp keeps burning constantly.  Mind\nand body unite themselves temporarily, and seem to be one and\nchangeless.  The common people, ignorant of all this, are attached to\n(the two combined) as being Atman.[FN#337]\n\n\n[FN#337]  Atman means ego, or self, on which individuality is based.\n\n\nFor the sake of this Atman, which they hold to be the most precious\nthing (in the world), they are subject to the Three Poisons Of\nlust,[FN#338] anger,[FN#339] and folly,[FN#340] which (in their turn)\ngive impulse to the will and bring forth Karma of all kinds through\nspeech and action.  Karma being thus produced, no one can evade its\neffects.  Consequently all must be born[FN#341] in the Five States of\nExistence either to suffer pain or to enjoy pleasure; some are born\nin the higher places, while others in the lower of the Three\nWorlds.[FN#342]\n\n\n[FN#338]  A. 'The passion that covets fame and gain to keep oneself\nin prosperity.'\n\n[FN#339]  A. 'The passion against disagreeable things, for fear of\ntheir inflicting injuries on oneself.'\n\n[FN#340]  A. 'Wrong thoughts and inferences.'\n\n[FN#341]  A. 'Different sorts of beings are born by virtue of the\nindividualizing Karma.'\n\n[FN#342]  A. 'Worlds are produced by virtue of the Karma common to\nall beings that live in them.'\n\n\nWhen born (in the future lives) they are attached again to the body\n(and mind) as Atman, and become subject to lust and the other two\npassions.  Karma is again produced by them, and they have to receive\nits inevitable results.  (Thus) body undergoes birth, old age,\ndisease, death, and is reborn after death; while the world passes\nthrough the stages of formation, existence, destruction, and\nemptiness, and is re-formed again after emptiness.  Kalpa after\nKalpa[FN#343] (passes by), life after life (comes on), and the circle\nof continuous rebirths knows no beginning nor end, and resembles the\npulley for drawing water from the well.[FN#344]\n\n\n[FN#343]  Kalpa, a mundane cycle, is not reckoned by months and\nyears.  lt is a period during which a physical universe is formed to\nthe moment when another is put into its place.\n\nA. \"The following verses describe how the world was first created in\nthe period of emptiness: A strong wind began to blow through empty\nspace.  Its length and breadth were infinite.  It was 16 lakhs thick,\nand so strong that it could not be cut even with a diamond.  Its name\nwas the world-supporting-wind.  The golden clouds of Abhasvara heaven\n(the sixth of eighteen heavens of the Rupa-loka) covered all the\nskies of the Three Thousand Worlds.  Down came the heavy rain, each\ndrop being as large as the axle of a waggon.  The water stood on the\nwind that checked its running down.  It was 11 lakhs deep.  The first\nlayer was made of adamant (by the congealing water).  Gradually the\ncloud poured down the rain and filled it.  First the Brahma-raja\nworlds, next the Yama-heaven (the third of six heavens of the Kama\nloka), were made.  The pure water rose up, driven by the wind, and\nSumeru, (the central mountain, or axis of the universe) and the seven\nconcentric circles of mountains, and so on, were formed.  Out of\ndirty sediments the mountains, the four continents, the hells,\noceans, and outer ring of mountains, were made.  This is called the\nformation of the universe.  The time of one Increase and one Decrease\n(human life is increased from 10 to 84,000 years, increasing by one\nyear at every one hundred years; then it is decreased from 84,000 to\n10 years, decreasing by one year at every one hundred years) elapsed.\n In short, those beings in the second region of Rupa-loka, whose good\nKarma had spent its force, came down on the earth.  At first there\nwere the 'earth bread' and the wild vine for them.  Afterwards they\ncould not completely digest rice, and began to excrete and to\nurinate.  Thus men were differentiated from women.  They divided the\ncultivated land among them.  Chiefs were elected; assistants and\nsubjects were sought out; hence different classes of people.  A\nperiod of nineteen Increases and Decreases elapsed.  Added to the\nabove-mentioned period, it amounted to twenty Increases and\nDecreases. This is called the Kalpa of the formation of the universe.\n\n\"Now let us discuss this point.  The Kalpa of Emptiness is what the\nTaoist calls the Path of Emptiness.  The Path or the Reality,\nhowever, is not empty, but bright, transcendental, spiritual, and\nomnipresent.  Lao Tsz, led by his mistaken idea, called the Kalpa of\nEmptiness the Path; otherwise he did so for the temporary purpose of\ndenouncing worldly desires.  The wind in the empty space is what the\nTaoist calls the undefinable Gas in the state of Chaos.  Therefore\nLao Tsz said, 'The Path brings forth one.'  The golden clouds, the\nfirst of all physical objects, is (what the Confucianist calls) the\nFirst Principle.  The rain-water standing (on the wind) is the\nproduction of the Negative Principle.  The Positive, united with the\nNegative, brought forth the phenomenal universe.  The\nBrahma-raja-loka, the Sumeru, and others, are what they call the\nHeaven.  The dirty waters and sediment are the Earth.  So Lao Tsz\nsaid, 'One produces two.'  Those in the second region of the\nRupra-loka, whose good Karma had spent its force, came down upon the\nearth and became human beings.  Therefore Lao Tsz said, 'The two\nproduce three.'  Thus the Three Powers were completed.  The\nearth-bread and different classes of people, and so on, are the\nso-called 'production of thousands of things by the Three.'  This was\nthe time when people lived in eaves or wandered in the wilderness,\nand knew not the use of fire.  As it belongs to the remote past of\nthe prehistoric age, previous to the reigns of the first three\nEmperors, the traditions handed down to us are neither clear nor\ncertain.  Many errors crept into them one generation after another,\nand consequently no one of the statements given in the various works\nof scholars agrees with another.  Besides, when the Buddhist books\nexplain the formation of the Three Thousand Worlds, they do not\nconfine themselves merely within the limits of this country.  Hence\ntheir records are entirely different from those of the outsiders\n(which are confined to China).\n\n\"'Existence' means the Kalpa of Existence that lasts twenty Increases\nand Decreases.  'Destruction' means the Kalpa of Destruction that\nlasts also twenty Increases and Decreases.  During the first nineteen\nIncreases and Decreases living beings are destroyed; while in the\nlast worlds are demolished through the three periods of distress (1)\nthe period of water, (2) the period of fire, (3) the period of wind.\n'Emptiness' means the Kalpa of Emptiness, during which no beings nor\nworlds exist.  This Kalpa also lasts twenty Increases and Decreases.\"\n\n[FN#344]  A. 'Taoists merely know that there was one Kalpa of\nEmptiness before the formation of this present universe, and point\nout the Emptiness, the Chaos, the primordial Gas, and the rest,\nnaming them as the first or the beginningless.  But they do not know\nthat the universe had already gone through myriads of cycles of\nKalpas of formation, existence, destruction, and emptiness.  Thus\neven the most superficial of the Hinayana doctrines far excels the\nmost profound of the outside doctrines.'\n\n\nAll this is due to Ignorance which does not understand that no bodily\nexistence, by its very nature, can be Atman.  The reason why it is\nnot Atman is this, that its formation is, after all, due to the union\nof matter and mind.  Now (let us) examine and analyze (mind and\nbody).  Matter consists of the four elements of earth, water, fire,\nand wind, while mind consists of the four aggregates of\nperception,[FN#345] consciousness,[FN#346] conception,[FN#347] and\nknowledge.[FN#348]\n\n\n[FN#345]  A. 'It receives both the agreeable and the disagreeable\nimpressions from without.'  It is Yedana, the second of the five\nSkandhas, or aggregates.\n\n[FN#346]  A. 'It perceives the forms of external objects.'  It is\nSamjnya, name, the third of the five aggregates.\n\n[FN#347]  A. 'It acts, one idea changing after another.'  It is\nSamskara, the fourth of the five aggregates.\n\n[FN#348]  A. 'It recognizes.' It is Vijnyana, the last of the five\naggregates.\n\n\nIf all (these elements) be taken as Atman, there must be eight Atmans\n(for each person).  More than that!  There are many different things,\neven in the element of earth.  Now, there are three hundred and sixty\nbones, each one distinct from the other.  No one is the same as any\nother, either of the skin, hair, muscles, the liver, the heart, the\nspleen, and the kidneys.  Furthermore, there are a great many mental\nqualities each different from the others.  Sight is different from\nhearing.  Joy is not the same as anger.  If we enumerate them, in\nshort, one after another, there are eighty thousand passions.[FN#349]\n\n\n[FN#349]  Eighty thousand simply means a great many.\n\n\nAs things are thus so innumerable, none can tell which of these\n(without mistake) is to be taken as the Atman.  In case all be taken\nas the Atman, there must be hundreds and thousands of Atmans, among\nwhich there would be as many conflicts and disturbances as there are\nmasters living in the one (house of) body.  As there exists no body\nnor mind separated from these things, one can never find the Atman,\neven if he seeks for it over and over again.\n\nHereupon anyone understands that this life (of ours) is no more than\nthe temporary union of numerous elements (mental and physical).\nOriginally there is no Atman to distinguish one being from another.\nFor whose sake, then, should he be lustful or angry?  For whose sake\nshould he take life,[FN#350] or commit theft, or give alms, or keep\nprecepts?  (Thus thinking) at length he sets his mind free from the\nvirtues and vices subjected to the passions[FN#351] of the Three\nWorlds, and abides in the discriminative insight into (the nature of)\nthe Anatman[FN#352] only.\nBy means of that discriminative insight he makes himself pure from\nlust, and the other (two passions) puts an end to various sorts of\nKarma, and realizes the Bhutatathata[FN#353] of Anatman.  In brief,\nhe attains to the State of Arhat,[FN#354] has his body reduced to\nashes, his intelligence annihilated, and entirely gets rid of\nsufferings.\n\n\n[FN#350]  A. 'He understands the truth of misery.'  The truth of\nDuhkha, or misery, is the first of the four Noble Satyas, or Truths,\nthat ought to be realized by the Hinayanists.  According to the\nHinayana doctrine, misery is a necessary concomitant of sentient\nlife.'\n\n[FN#351]  A. 'He destroys Samudaya.'  The truth of Samudaya, or\naccumulation, the second of the four Satyas, means that misery is\naccumulated or produced by passions.  This truth should be realized\nby the removal of passions.\n\n[FN#352]  A. 'This is the truth of Marga.'  The truth of Marga, or\nPath, is the fourth of the four Satyas.  There are the eight right\nPaths that lead to the extinction of passions; (1) Right view (to\ndiscern truth), (2) right thought (or purity of will and thought),\n(3) right speech (free from nonsense and errors), (4) right action,\n(5) right diligence, (6) right meditation, (7) right memory, (8)\nright livelihood.\n\n[FN#353]  A. 'This is the truth of Nirodha.' Nirodha, or destruction,\nthe third of the four Satyas, means the extinction of passions.\nBhutatathati of Anatman means the truth of the non existence of Atma\nor soul, and is the aim and end of the Hinayanist philosophy.\n\n[FN#354]  Arhat, the Killer of thieves (i.e., passions), means one\nwho conquered his passions.  It means, secondly, one who is exempted\nfrom birth, or one who is free from transmigration.  Thirdly, it\nmeans one deserving worship. So the Arhat is the highest sage who has\nattained to Nirvana by the destruction of all passions.\n\n\nAccording to the doctrine of this school the two aggregates, material\nand spiritual, together with lust, anger, and folly, are the origin\nof ourselves and of the world in which we live.  There exists nothing\nelse, either in the past or in the future, that can be regarded as\nthe origin.\n\nNow let us say (a few words) by way of refutation.  That which\n(always) stands as the origin of life, birth after birth, generation\nafter generation, should exist by itself without cessation.  Yet the\nFive Vijnyanas[FN#355] cease to perform their functions when they\nlack proper conditions, (while) the Mano-vijnyana[FN#356] is lost at\ntimes (in unconsciousness).  There are none of those four (material)\nelements in the heavenly worlds of Arupa.  How, then, is life\nsustained there and kept up in continuous birth after birth?\nTherefore we know that those who devote themselves to the study of\nthis doctrine also cannot trace life to its origin.\n\n\n[FN#355]  A. 'The conditions are the Indriyas and the Visayas, etc.'\nIndriyas are organs of sense, and Visayas are objects on which the\nsense acts.  Five Vijnyanas are--(1) The sense of sight, (2) the\nsense of hearing, (3) the sense of smell, (4) the sense of taste, (5)\nthe sense of touch.\n\n[FN#356]  Mano-vijnyana is the mind itself, and the last of the six\nVijnyanas of the Hinayana doctrine.  A. '(For instance), in a state\nof trance, in deep slumber, in Nirodha-samapatti (where no thought\nexists), in Asamjnyi-samapatti (in which no consciousness exists),\nand in Avrhaloka (the thirteenth of Brahmalokas).\n\n\n\n3. The Mahayana Doctrine of Dharmalaksana.[FN#357]\n\nThis doctrine tells us that from time immemorial all sentient beings\nnaturally have eight different Vijnyanas[FN#358] and the eighth,\nAlaya-vijnyana,[FN#359] is the origin of them.  (That is), the Alaya\nsuddenly brings forth the 'seeds'[FN#360] of living beings and of the\nworld in which they live, and through transformation gives rise to\nthe seven Vijnyanas.  Each of them causes external objects on which\nit acts to take form and appear.  In reality there is nothing\nexternally existent.  How, then, does Alaya give rise to them through\ntransformation?  Because, as this doctrine tells us, we habitually\nform the erroneous idea that Atman and external objects exist in\nreality, and it acts upon Alaya and leaves its impressions[FN#361]\nthere.  Consequently, when Vijnyanas are awakened, these impressions\n(or the seed-ideas) transform and present themselves (before the\nmind's eye) Atman and external objects.\n\n\n[FN#357]  This school studies in the main the nature of things\n(Dharma), and was so named.  The doctrine is based on\nAvatamsaka-sutra and Samdhi-nirmocana-sutra, and was systematized by\nAsamga and Vasu-bandhu.  The latter's book,\nVidyamatra-siddhi-castra-karika, is held to be the best authoritative\nwork of the school.\n\n[FN#358]  (1) The sense of sight; (2) the sense of hearing; (3) the\nsense of smell; (4) the sense of taste; (5) the sense of touch; (6)\nMano-vijnyana (lit., mind-knowledge), or the perceptive faculty; (7)\nKlista-mano-vijnyana (lit., soiled-mind-knowledge), or an\nintrospective faculty; (8) Alaya-vijnyana (lit.,\nreceptacle-knowledge), or ultimate-mind-substance.\n\n[FN#359]  The first seven Vijnyanas depend on the Alaya, which is\nsaid to hold all the 'seeds' of physical and mental objects.\n\n[FN#360]  This school is an extreme form of Idealism, and maintains\nthat nothing separated from the Alaya can exist externally.  The\nmind-substance, from the first, holds the seed ideas of everything,\nand they seem to the non-enlightened mind to be the external\nuniverse, but are no other than the transformation of the seed-ideas.\n The five senses, and the Mano-vijnyana acting on them, take them for\nexternal objects really existent, while the seventh Vijnyana mistakes\nthe eighth for Atman.\n\n[FN#361]  The non-enlightened mind, habitually thinking that Atman\nand external objects exist, leaves the impression of the seed-ideas\non its own Alaya.\n\n\nThen the sixth and the seventh[FN#362] Vijnyana veiled with Avidya,\ndwelling on them, mistake them for real Atman and the real external\nobjects.  This (error) may be compared with one diseased[FN#363] in\nthe eye, who imagines that he sees various things (floating in the\nair) on account of his illness; or with a dreamer[FN#364] whose\nfanciful thoughts assume various forms of external objects, and\npresent themselves before him.  While in the dream he fancies that\nthere exist external objects in reality, but on awakening he finds\nthat they are nothing other than the transformation of his dreaming\nthoughts.\n\n\n[FN#362]  Avidya, or ignorance, which mistakes the illusory phenomena\nfor realities.\n\n[FN#363]  A. 'A person with a serious disease sees the vision of\nstrange colours, men, and things in his trance.'\n\n[FN#364]  A. 'That a dreamer fancies he sees things is well known to\neverybody.'\n\n\nSo are our lives.  They are no other than the transformation of the\nVijnyanas; but in consequence of illusion, we take them for the Atman\nand external objects existing in reality.  From these erroneous ideas\narise delusive thoughts that lead to the production of Karma; hence\nthe round-of rebirth to time without end.[FN#365]  When we understand\nthese reasons, we can realize the fact that our lives are nothing but\ntransformations of the Vijnyanas, and that the (eighth) Vijnyana is\nthe origin.[FN#366]\n\n\n[FN#365]  A. 'As it was detailed above.'\n\n[FN#366]  A. 'An imperfect doctrine, which is refuted later.'\n\n\n\n4. Mahayana Doctrine of the Nihilists.\n\nThis doctrine disproves (both) the Mahayana and the Hinayana\ndoctrines above mentioned that adhere to Dharma-laksana, and\nsuggestively discloses the truth of Transcendental Reality which is\nto be treated later.[FN#367]  Let me state, first of all, what it\nwould say in the refutation of Dharma-laksana.\n\n\n[FN#367]  A. \"The nihilistic doctrine is stated not only in the\nvarious Prajnya-sutras (the books having Prajnya-paramita in their\ntitles), but also in almost all Mahayana sutras.  The above-mentioned\nthree doctrines were preached (by the Buddha) in the three successive\nperiods.  But this doctrine was not preached at any particular\nperiod; it was intended to destroy at any time the attachment to the\nphenomenal objects.  Therefore Nagarjuna tells us that there are two\nsorts of Prajnyas, the Common and the Special.  The \u00c7ravakas (lit.,\nhearers) and the Pratyekabuddhas (lit., singly enlightened ones), or\nthe Hinayanists, could hear and believe in, with the Bodhisattvas or\nthe Mahayanists, the Common Prajnya, as it was intended to destroy\ntheir attachment to the external objects.  Bodhisattvas alone could\nunderstand the Special Prajnya, as it secretly revealed the Buddha\nnature, or the Absolute.  Each of the two great Indian teachers,\n\u00c7ilabhadra and Jnyanaprabha, divided the whole teachings of the Buddha\ninto three periods.  (According to \u00c7ilabhadra, A.D. 625, teacher of\nHiuen Tsang, the Buddha first preached the doctrine of 'existence' to\nthe effect that every living being is unreal, but things are real.\nAll the Hinayana sutras belong to this period.  Next the Buddha\npreached the doctrine of the middle path, in Samdhi-nirmocana-sutra\nand others, to the effect that all the phenomenal universe is unreal,\nbut that the mental substance is real.  According to Jnyanaprabha,\nthe Buddha first preached the doctrine of existence, next that of the\nexistence of mental substance, and lastly that of unreality.)  One\nsays the doctrine of unreality was preached before that of\nDharma-laksana, while the others say it was preached after.  Here I\nadopt the latters' opinion.\"\n\n\nIf the external objects which are transformed are unreal, how can the\nVijnyana, the transformer, be real?  If you say the latter is really\nexistent, but not the former,[FN#368] then (you assume that) the\ndreaming mind (which is compared with Alaya-vijnyana) is entirely\ndifferent from the objects seen in the dream (which are compared with\nexternal objects).  If they are entirely different, you ought not to\nidentify the dream with the things dreamed, nor to identify the\nthings dreamed with the dream itself.  In other words, they ought to\nhave separate existences.  (And) when you awake your dream may\ndisappear, but the things dreamed would remain.\n\n\n[FN#368]  A. 'In the following sentences I refute it, making use of\nthe simile of the dream.'\n\n\nAgain, if (you say) that the things dreamed are not identical with\nthe dream, then they would be really existent things.  If the dream\nis not the same as the things dreamed, in what other form does it\nappear to you?  Therefore you must acknowledge that there is every\nreason to believe that both the dreaming mind and the things dreamed\nare equally unreal, and that nothing exists in reality, though it\nseems to you as if there were a seer, and a seen, in a dream.\n\nThus those Vijnyanas also would be unreal, because all of them are\nnot self-existent realities, their existence being temporary, and\ndependent upon various conditions.\n\n\"There is nothing,\" (the author of) Madhyamika-castra[FN#369] says,\n\"that ever came into existence without direct and indirect causes.\nTherefore there is anything that is not unreal in the world.\"  He\nsays again: \"Things produced through direct and indirect causes I\ndeclare to be the very things which are unreal.\"  (The author of)\nCraddhotdada-castra[FN#370] says: \"All things in the universe present\nthemselves in different forms only on account of false ideas.  If\nseparated from the (false) ideas and thoughts, no forms of those\nexternal objects exist.\"  \"All the physical forms (ascribed to\nBuddha),\" says (the author of) a sutra,[FN#371] \"are false and\nunreal.  The beings that transcend all forms are called\nBuddhas.\"[FN#372]  Consequently you must acknowledge that mind as\nwell as external objects are unreal.  This is the eternal truth of\nthe Mahayana doctrine.  We are driven to the conclusion that\nunreality is the origin of life, if we trace it back according to\nthis doctrine.\n\n\n[FN#369]  The principal textbook of the Madhyamika School, by\nNagarjuna and Nilanetra, translated into Chinese (A.D. 409) by\nKumarajiva.\n\n[FN#370]  A well-known Mahayana book ascribed to Acvaghosa,\ntranslated into Chinese by Paramartha.  There exists an English\ntranslation by D. Suzuki.\n\n[FN#371]  Vajracchedha-prajnya-paramita-sutra, of which there exist\nthree Chinese translations.\n\n[FN#372]   A. 'Similar passages are found in every book of the\nMahayana Tripitaka.'\n\n\nNow let us say (a few words) to refute this doctrine also.  If mind\nas well as external objects be unreal, who is it that knows they are\nso?  Again, if there be nothing real in the universe, what is it that\ncauses unreal objects to appear?  We stand witness to the fact there\nis no one of the unreal things on earth that is not made to appear by\nsomething real.  If there be no water of unchanging fluidity,[FN#373]\nhow can there be the unreal and temporary forms of waves?  If there\nbe no unchanging mirror, bright and clean, how can there be various\nimages, unreal and temporary, reflected in it?  It is true in sooth\nthat the dreaming mind as well as the things dreamed, as said above,\nare equally unreal, but does not that unreal dream necessarily\npresuppose the existence of some (real) sleepers?\n\n\n[FN#373]  The Absolute is compared with the ocean, and the phenomenal\nuniverse with the waves.\n\n\nNow, if both mind and external objects, as declared above, be nothing\nat all, no- one can tell what it is that causes these unreal\nappearances.  Therefore this doctrine, we know, simply serves to\nrefute the erroneous theory held by those who are passionately\nattached to Dharma-laksana, but never clearly discloses spiritual\nReality.  So that Mahabheri-harakaparivarta-sutra[FN#374] says as\nfollows: \"All the sutras that teach the unreality of things belong to\nan imperfect doctrine (of the Buddha).\nMahaprajnya-paramita-sutra[FN#375] says: \"The doctrine of unreality\nis the first entrance-gate to Mahayanism.\"\n\n\n[FN#374]  The book was translated into Chinese by Gunabhadra, A.D.\n420-479.\n\n[FN#375]  This is not the direct quotation from the sutra translated\nby Hiuen Tsang.  The words are found in Mahaprajnya-paramita-sutra,\nthe commentary on the sutra by Nagarjuna.\n\n\nWhen the above-mentioned four doctrines are compared with one another\nin the order of succession, each is more profound than the preceding.\n They are called the superficial, provided that the follower,\nlearning them a short while, knows them by himself to be imperfect;\n(but) if he adheres to them as perfect, these same (doctrines) are\ncalled incomplete.  They are (thus) said to be superficial and\nincomplete with regard to the follower.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nTHE DIRECT EXPLANATION OF THE REAL ORIGIN[FN#376]\n\n\n5. The Ekayana Doctrine that Teaches the Ultimate Reality.\n\nThis doctrine teaches us that all sentient beings have the Real\nSpirit[FN#377] of Original Enlightenment (within themselves). From\ntime immemorial it is unchanging and pure.  It is eternally bright,\nand clear, and conscious.  It is also named the Buddha-nature, or\nTathagata-garbha.[FN#378]  As it is, however, veiled by illusion from\ntime without beginning, (sentient beings) are not conscious of its\nexistence, and think that the nature within themselves are\ndegenerated.  Consequently they are given to bodily pleasures, and\nproducing Karma, suffer from birth and death.  The great Enlightened\nOne, having compassion on them, taught that everything in the\nuniverse is unreal.  He pointed out that the Real Spirit of\nMysterious Enlightenment (within them) is pure and exactly the same\nas that of Buddha.  Therefore he says in Avatamsaka-sutra[FN#379]:\n\"There are no sentient beings, the children of Buddha, who are not\nendowed with wisdom of Tathagata;[FN#380] but they cannot attain to\nEnlightenment simply because of illusion and attachment.  When they\nare free from illusion, the Universal Intelligence,[FN#381] the\nNatural Intelligence,[FN#382] the Unimpeded Intelligence,[FN#383]\nwill be disclosed (in their minds).\"\n\n\n[FN#376]  A. 'The perfect doctrine, in which eternal truth is taught\nby the Buddha.'\n\n[FN#377]  The ultimate reality is conceived by the Mahayanist as an\nentity self-existent, omnipresent, spiritual, impersonal, free from\nall illusions.  It may be regarded as something like the universal\nand enlightened soul.\n\n[FN#378]  Tathagata's womb, Tathagata being another name for Buddha.\n\n[FN#379]  The book was translated into Chinese by Buddhabhadra, A.D.\n418-420.\n\n[FN#380]  The highest epithet of the Buddha, meaning one who comes\ninto the world like the coming of his predecessors.\n\n[FN#381]  The all-knowing wisdom that is acquired by Enlightenment.\n\n[FN#382]  The inborn wisdom of the Original Enlightenment.\n\n[FN#383]  The wisdom that is acquired by the union of Enlightenment\nwith the Original Enlightenment.\n\n\nThen he tells a parable of a single grain of minute dust[FN#384]\ncontaining large volumes of Sutra, equal in dimension of the Great\nChiliocosmos.[FN#385]  The grain is compared with a sentient being,\nand the Sutra with the wisdom of Buddha.  Again he says\nlater:[FN#386] \"Once Tathagata, having observed every sort of\nsentient beings all over the universe, said as follows: 'Wonderful,\nhow wonderful!  That these various sentient beings, endowed with the\nwisdom of Tathagata, are not conscious of it because of their errors\nand illusions!  I shall teach them the sacred truth and make them\nfree from illusion for ever.  I shall (thus) enable them to find by\nthemselves the Great Wisdom of Tathagatha within them and make them\nequal to Buddha.'\n\n\n[FN#384]  One of the famous parables in the sutra.\n\n[FN#385]  According to the Buddhist literature, one universe\ncomprises one sun, one moon, one central mountain or Sumeru, four\ncontinents, etc.  One thousand of these universes form the Small\nThousand Worlds; one thousand of the Small Thousand Worlds form the\nMiddle Thousand Worlds; and the Great Thousand Worlds, or Great\nChiliocosmos, comprises one thousand of the Middle Thousand Worlds.\n\n[FN#386]  This is not an exact quotation of the sutra.\n\n\nLet me say (a few words) about this doctrine by way of criticism.  So\nmany Kalpas we spent never meeting with this true doctrine, and knew\nnot how to trace our life back to its origin.  Having been attached\nto nothing but the unreal outward forms, we willingly acknowledged\nourselves to be a common herd of lowly beings.  Some regarded\nthemselves as beasts, (while) others as men.\n\nBut now, tracing life to its origin according to the highest\ndoctrine, we have fully understood that we ourselves were originally\nBuddhas.  Therefore we should act in conformity to Buddha's (action),\nand keep our mind in harmony with his.  Lot us betake ourselves once\nmore to the source of Enlightened Spirit, restoring ourselves to the\noriginal Buddhahood.  Let us cut off the bond of attachment, and\nremove the illusion that common people are habitually given to.\n\nIllusion being destroyed,[FN#387] the will to destroy it is also\nremoved, and at last there remains nothing to be done (except\ncomplete peace and joy).  This naturally results in Enlightenment,\nwhose practical uses are as innumerable as the grains of sand in the\nGanges.  This state is called Buddhahood.  We should know that the\nillusory as well as the Enlightened are originally of one and the\nsame Real Spirit.  How great, how excellent, is the doctrine that\ntraces man to such an origin![FN#388]\n\n\n[FN#387]  The passage occurs in Tao Teh King.\n\n[FN#388]  A. 'Although all of the above-mentioned five doctrines were\npreached by the Buddha Himself, yet there are some that belong to the\nSudden, while others to the Gradual, Teachings.  If there were\npersons of the middle or the lowest grade of understanding, He first\ntaught the most superficial doctrine, then the less superficial, and\n\"Gradually\" led them up to the profound.  At the outset of His career\nas a teacher He preached the first doctrine to enable them to give up\nevil and abide by good; next He preached the second and the third\ndoctrine that they might remove the Pollution and attain to the\nPurity; and, lastly, He preached the fourth and the fifth doctrine to\ndestroy their attachment to unreal forms, and to show the Ultimate\nReality.  (Thus) He reduced (all) the temporary doctrines into the\neternal one, and taught them how to practise the Law according to the\neternal and attain to Buddhahood.\n\n'If there is a person of the highest grade of understanding, he may\nfirst of all learn the most profound, next the less profound, and,\nlastly, the most superficial doctrine-that is, he may at the outset\ncome \"Suddenly\" to the understanding of the One Reality of True\nSpirit, as it is taught in the fifth doctrine.  When the Spiritual\nReality is disclosed before his mind's eye, he may naturally see that\nit originally transcends all appearances which are unreal, and that\nunrealities appear on account of illusion, their existence depending\non Reality.  Then he must give up evil, practise good, put away\nunrealities by the wisdom of Enlightenment, and reduce them to\nReality.  When unrealities are all gone, and Reality alone remains\ncomplete, he is called the Dharma-kaya-Buddha.'\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nRECONCILIATION OF THE TEMPORARY WITH THE REAL DOCTRINE[FN#389]\n\n\n\nEVEN if Reality is the origin of life, there must be in all\nprobability some causes for its coming into existence, as it cannot\nsuddenly assume the form of body by accident.  In the preceding\nchapters I have refuted the first four doctrines, merely because they\nare imperfect, and in this chapter I shall reconcile the temporary\nwith the eternal doctrine.  In short, I shall show that even\nConfucianism is in the right.[FN#390]  That is to say, from the\nbeginning there exists Reality (within all beings), which is one and\nspiritual.  It can never be created nor destroyed.  It does not\nincrease nor decrease itself.  It is subject to neither change nor\ndecay.  Sentient beings, slumbering in (the night of) illusion from\ntime immemorial, are not conscious of its existence.  As it is hidden\nand veiled, it is named Tathagata-garbha.[FN#391]  On this\nTathagata-garbha the mental phenomena that are subject to growth and\ndecay depend.\nReal Spirit, as is stated (in the Acvaghosa's \u00c7astra), that transcends\ncreation and destruction, is united with illusion, which is subject\nto creation and destruction; and the one is not absolutely the same\nas nor different from the other.  This union (with illusion) has the\ntwo sides of enlightenment and non -enlightenment,' and is called\nAlaya-vijnyana.  Because of non-enlightenment,[FN#392] it first\narouses itself, and forms some ideas.  This activity of the Vijnyana\nis named 'the state of Karma.[FN#393]  Furthermore, since one does\nnot understand that these ideas are unreal from the beginning, they\ntransform themselves into the subject (within) and the object\n(without), into the seer and the seen.  One is at a loss how to\nunderstand that these external objects are no more than the creation\nof his own delusive mind, and believes them to be really existent.\nThis is called the erroneous belief in the existence of external\nobjects.[FN#394]  In consequence of these erroneous beliefs, he\ndistinguishes Self and non-self, and at last forms the erroneous\nbelief of Atman.  Since he is attached to the form of the Self, he\nyearns after various objects agreeable to the sense for the sake of\nthe good of his Self.  He is offended, (however), with various\ndisagreeable objects, and is afraid of the injuries and troubles\nwhich they bring on him.  (Thus) his foolish passions[FN#395] are\nstrengthened step by step.\n\n\n[FN#389]  A. 'The doctrines refuted above are reconciled with the\nreal doctrine in this chapter.  They are all in the right in their\npointing to the true origin.'\n\n[FN#390]  A. 'The first section states the fifth doctrine that\nreveals the Reality, and the statements in the following sections are\nthe same as the other doctrines, as shown in the notes.'\n\n[FN#391]  A. 'The following statement is similar to the fourth\ndoctrine explained above in the refutation of the phenomenal\nexistence subject to growth and decay.'  Compare \u00c7raddhotpada-castra.\n\n[FN#392]  A. 'The following statement is similar to the doctrine of\nDharma-laksana.'\n\n[FN#393]  Here Karma simply means an active state; it should be\ndistinguished from Karma, produced by actions.\n\n[FN#394]  A. 'The following statement is similar to the second\ndoctrine, or Hinayanism.'\n\n[FN#395]  A. 'The following statement is similar to the first\ndoctrine for men and Devas.'\n\n\nThus (on one hand) the souls of those who committed the crimes of\nkilling, stealing, and so on, are born, by the influence of the bad\nKarma, in hell, or among Pretas, or among beasts, or elsewhere.  On\nthe other hand, the souls of those who, being afraid of such\nsufferings, or being good-natured, gave alms, kept precepts, and so\non, undergo Antarabhava[FN#396] by the influence of the good Kharma,\nenter into the womb of their mothers.[FN#397]\n\n\n[FN#396]  The spiritual existence between this and another life.\n\n[FN#397]  A. 'The following statement is similar to Confucianism and\nTaoism.'\n\n\nThere they are endowed with the (so-called) Gas, or material (for\nbody).[FN#398]  The Gas first consists of four elements[FN#399] and\nit gradually forms various sense-organs.  The mind first consists of\nthe four aggregates,[FN#400] and it gradually forms various\nVijnyanas.  After the whole course of ten months they are born and\ncalled men.  These are our present bodies and minds.  Therefore we\nmust know that body and mind has each its own origin, and that the\ntwo, being united, form one human being.  They are born among Devas\nand Asuras, and so on in a manner almost similar to this.\n\n\n[FN#398]  A. 'This harmonizes with the outside opinion that Gas is\nthe origin.'\n\n[FN#399]  (1) Earth, (2) water, (3) fire, (4) air.\n\n[FN#400]  (1) Perception, (2) consciousness, (3) conception, (4)\nknowledge.\n\n\nThough we are born among men by virtue of 'the generalizing\nKarma,'[FN#401] yet, by the influence of 'the particularizing\nKarma,'[FN#402] some are placed in a high rank, while others in a\nlow; some are poor, while others rich; some enjoy a long life, while\nothers die in youth; some are sickly, while others healthy; some are\nrising, while others are falling; some suffer from pains, while\nothers enjoy pleasures.  For instance, reverence or indolence in the\nprevious existence, working as the cause, brings forth high birth or\nlow in the present as the effect.  So also benevolence in the past\nresults in long life in the present; the taking of life, a short\nlife; the giving of alms, richness, miserliness, Poverty.  There are\nso many particular cases of retribution that cannot be mentioned in\ndetail.  Hence there are some who happen to be unfortunate, doing no\nevil, while others fortunate, doing no good in the present life.  So\nalso some enjoy a long life, in spite of their inhuman conduct; while\nothers die young, in spite of their taking no life, and so forth.  As\nall this is predestinated by 'the particularizing Karma' produced in\nthe past, it would seem to occur naturally, quite independent of\none's actions in the present life.  Outside scholars ignorant of the\nprevious existences, relying simply on their observations, believe it\nto be nothing more than natural.[FN#403]\n\n\n[FN#401]  The Karma that determines different classes of beings, such\nas men, beasts, Pretas, etc.\n\n[FN#402]  The Karma that determines the particular state of an\nindividual in the world.\n\n[FN#403]  A. 'This harmonizes with the outside opinion that\neverything occurs naturally.'\n\n\nBesides, there are some who cultivated virtues in the earlier, and\ncommitted crimes in the later, stages of their past existences; while\nothers were vicious in youth, and virtuous in old age.  In\nconsequence, some are happy in youth, being rich and noble, but\nunhappy in old age, being poor and low in the present life; while\nothers lead poor and miserable lives when young, but grow rich and\nnoble when old, and so on.  Hence outside scholars come to believe\nthat one's prosperity or adversity merely depends on a heavenly\ndecree.[FN#404]\n\n\n[FN#404]  A. 'This harmonizes with the outside opinion that\neverything depends on providence.'\n\n\nThe body with which man is endowed, when traced step by step to its\norigin, proves to be nothing but one primordial Gas in its\nundeveloped state.  And the mind with which man thinks, when traced\nstep by step to its source, proves to be nothing but the One Real\nSpirit.  To tell the truth, there exists nothing outside of Spirit,\nand even the Primordial Gas is also a mode of it, for it is one of\nthe external objects projected by the above-stated Vijnyanas, and is\none of the mental images of Alaya, out of whose idea, when it is in\nthe state of Karma, come both the subject and the object.  As the\nsubject developed itself, the feebler ideas grow stronger step by\nstep, and form erroneous beliefs that end in the production of\nKarma.[FN#405]  Similarly, the object increases in size, the finer\nobjects grow gradually grosser, and gives rise to unreal things that\nend in the formation[FN#406] of Heaven and Earth.  When Karma is ripe\nenough, one is endowed by father and mother with sperm and ovum,\nwhich, united with his consciousness under the influence of Karma,\ncompletes a human form.\n\n\n[FN#405]  A. 'As above stated.'\n\n[FN#406]  A. \"In the beginning, according to the outside school,\nthere was 'the great changeableness,' which underwent fivefold\nevolutions, and brought out the Five Principles.  Out of that\nPrinciple, which they call the Great Path of Nature, came the two\nsubordinate principles of the Positive and the Negative.  They seem\nto explain the Ultimate Reality, but the Path, in fact, no more than\nthe 'perceiving division' of the Alaya.  The so-called primordial Gas\nseems to be the first idea in the awakening Alaya, but it is a mere\nexternal object.\"\n\n\nAccording to this view (of Dharmalaksana), things brought forth\nthrough the transformations of Alaya and the other Vijnyanas are\ndivided into two parts; one part (remaining), united with Alaya and\nthe other Vijnyanas, becomes man, while the other, becoming separated\nfrom them, becomes Heaven, Earth, mountains, rivers, countries, and\ntowns.  (Thus) man is the outcome of the union of the two; this is\nthe reason why he alone of the Three Powers is spiritual.  This was\ntaught by the Buddha[FN#407] himself when he stated that there\nexisted two different kinds of the four elements--the internal and\nthe external.\n\n\n[FN#407]  Ratnakuta-sutra (?), translated into Chinese by Jnyanagupta.\n\n\nAlas!  O ye half-educated scholars who adhere to imperfect doctrines,\neach of which conflicts with another!  Ye that seek after truth, if\nye would attain to Buddhahood, clearly understand which is the\nsubtler and which is the grosser (form of illusive ideas), which is\nthe originator and which is the originated.  (Then) give ye up the\noriginated and return ye to the originator, and to reflect on the\nSpirit, the Source (of all).  When the grosser is exterminated and\nthe subtler removed, the wonderful wisdom of spirit is disclosed, and\nnothing is beyond its understanding.  This is called the\nDharma-sambhoga-kaya.  It can of itself transform itself and appear\namong men in numberless ways.  This is called the Nirmana-kaya of\nBuddha.[FN#408]\n\n\n[FN#408]  Every Buddha has three bodies: (1) Dharma-kaya, or\nspiritual body; (2) Sambhoga-kaya, or the body of compensation; (3)\nNirmana-kaya, or the body capable of transformation.\n\n\n\nTHE END.","title":"The Religion of the Samurai: A Study of Zen Philosophy and Discipline in China and Japan","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":84435}