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The traditions that have been handed down
with reference to this great teacher's life and personality reveal
one of those saints whose preaching and ministration have bestowed a
perpetual blessing on humanity. Here, it must suffice to say that he
found no peace of mind until a visit to China brought comprehension
of a Sutra which he had vainly studied in Japan. On his return, in
806, he appeared before the emperor and many bonzes, and astonished
all by his eloquence and his knowledge.

There are three "vehicles" in Buddhism, but only two of them need be
mentioned here--the Hina-yana, or Small Vehicle, and the Maha-yana,
or Great Vehicle. The term "vehicle" signifies a body of doctrine on
which "a believer may ride to the perfect consummation of his
humanity." The difference between these two requires many words to
explain fully, whereas only a few can be devoted to the purpose here.
"The Hina-yana Sutra is intended for beginners; the Maha-yana for
those more advanced in the path of the law." The teaching in the
former is negative; in the latter, positive. In the Hina-yana the
perfect path is to abstain from four things--women, palaces,
beautiful objects, and riches. In the Maha-yana perfect virtue is the
presence of four things--the spirit of wisdom, the love of virtue,
patience and firmness, and the retired life. By the "spirit of
wisdom" is meant the constant desire for the truth; by the "love
of virtue" is signified the abhorrence of evil; by "patience and
firmness" are indicated perfect manliness as exhibited towards
the weak; by "the retired life" is designated humility and
self-effacement.

"There is nothing in the world like the Chinese scriptures of the
Maha-yana. The canon in China is seven hundred times the amount of
the New Testament," and, of course, this vast extent means that there
is a correspondingly wide field for eclecticism. "The Hina-yana did
not trouble itself with metaphysical speculation; that was reserved
for the Maha-yana, and Kukai was the greatest Japanese teacher of the
arcana of Buddhism. How much of his system he owed to studies
conducted in China, how much to his own inspiration, research has not
yet determined. An essentially esoteric system, it conceived a world
of ideas," grouped logically and systematically according to genera
and species, forming a planetary cosmos, the members of which, with
their satellites, revolved not only on their own axes but also round
a central sun.

This was the "world of golden effulgence"--a world permeated by the
light of truth. The sect was called the Shingon (True Word); and the
central body was Dainichi (Great Sun), the Spirit of Truth, anterior
to Shaka and greater than him. "To reach the realization of the Truth
that Dainichi is omnipresent and that everything exists only in him,
a disciple must ascend by a double ladder, each half of which has ten
steps, namely, the intellectual ladder and the moral ladder." These
ladders constitute, in fact, a series of precepts, warnings, and
exhortations; some easily comprehensible, others demanding profound
thought, and the whole calculated to educate an absorbing aspiration
for the "transcendental virtues," to possess which is to attain to
perfect Buddhahood. Unquestionably the offspring of a great mind,
this Shingon system, with its mysterious possibilities and its lofty
morality, appealed strongly to the educated and leisured classes in
Kyoto during the peaceful Heian epoch, while for the illiterate and
the lower orders the simpler canons of the Tendai had to suffice.

THE JODO SECT

It has been shown, however, that the preachers of these sects, one
and all, were readily prone to resort to violence and bloodshed in
pursuit of worldly interests, not even the exponents of the exalted
"True Word" creed being exempt from the reproach. Teachers of a
doctrine having for cardinal tenet the sacredness of life, the
inmates of the great monasteries nevertheless did not hesitate to
appeal to arms, at any time, in defence of their temporal privileges
or in pursuit of their ambitious designs. Yet the discredit attaching
to such a flagrant discrepancy between precept and practice might not
have produced very signal result had not the twelfth century brought
the Gen-Hei struggle, which plunged the empire into a state of
turbulence and reduced the lower orders to a condition of pitiable
misery.

For this distress neither the Tendai doctrines nor the Shingon
conceptions were sufficiently simple to supply a remedy. Something
more tangible and less recondite was needed, and it came (1196), in
the sequel of twenty-five years' meditation and study, to
Genku--posthumously called Honen Shonin--a priest of the Tendai sect.
The leading characteristics of the Jodo (pure land) system introduced
by him are easily stated. "Salvation is by faith, but it is a faith
ritually expressed. The virtue that saves comes, not from imitation
of, and conformity to, the person and character of the saviour,
Amida, but from blind trust in his efforts and from ceaseless
repetition of pious formulae. It does not necessitate any conversion
or change of heart. It is really a religion of despair rather than of
hope. It says to the believer: 'The world is so very evil that you
can not possibly reach to Buddha-ship here. Your best plan,
therefore, is to give up all such hope and simply set your mind upon
being born in Amida's paradise after death.'"*

*Lloyd's Development of Japanese Buddhism and Shinran and His Work.

THE SHIN SECT

An immediate offspring of the Jodo, though not directly following it
in the chronological sequence of sects, was the Shin, established
(1224) under the name of Jodo Shin-shu* (True Sect of Jodo), and
owing its inception to Shinran, a pupil of Genku. It was even simpler
and less exacting than its parent, the Jodo-shu, for it logically
argued that if faith alone was necessary to salvation, the believer
need not trouble himself about metaphysical subtleties and profound
speculations; nor need he perform acts of religion and devotion; nor
need he keep a multitude of commandments; nor need he leave his home,
renounce matrimony, or live by rule. Only he must not worship any
save Amida, or pray for anything that does not concern his salvation.
As for the time of attaining salvation, the Jodo sect taught that if
the mercy of Amida be called to remembrance, he would meet the
believer at the hour of death and conduct him to paradise; whereas
Shin-shu preaches that the coming of Amida was present and immediate;
in other words, that "Buddha dwelt in the heart now by faith."

*It is called also the Monto-shu.

THE ZEN SECT

In the Jodo and the Shin sects an ample spiritual rest was provided
for the weary in mind or body, for the illiterate, and for the
oppressed. But there was for a time no creed which appealed specially
to the military men; no body of doctrine which, while strengthening
him for the fight, could bring to him peace of mind. The Zen-shu
ultimately satisfied that want. Zen is the Japanese equivalent of the
Indian term dhyana, which signifies "meditation." In fact, the Zen is
a contemplative sect. Its disciples believe that, "knowledge can be
transmitted from heart to heart without the intervention of words."
But though purely a contemplative rite at the time of its
introduction into Japan, 1168, it was subsequently modified--from
1223--by two teachers, in whose hands it took the form known as the
Soto sect. This "joined scholarship and research to contemplation,"
and taught that, when the highest wisdom and most perfect
enlightenment are attained, all the elements of phenomenal existence
are seen to be empty, vain, and unreal. "Form does not differ from
space or space from form; all things surrounding us are stripped of
their qualities, so that in this highest state of enlightenment,
there can be no longer birth or death, defilement or purity, addition
or destruction. There is, therefore, no such thing as ignorance, and
therefore none of the miseries that result from it. If there is no
misery, decay, or death, there is no such thing as wisdom, and no
such thing as attaining to happiness or rest. Hence, to arrive at
perfect emancipation we must grasp the fact of utter and entire
void." Such a creed effectually fortified the heart of a soldier.
Death ceased to have any terrors for him or the grave any reality.

ENGRAVING: NICHIREN PREACHING IN THE STREET

THE NICHIREN SECT

This is the only one among Japanese sects of Buddhism that derives
its name from that of its founder. And justly so, for Nichiren's
personality pervades it. The son of a fisherman, from youth he
applied himself to the study of Buddhism, became a bonze of the
Shingon sect, and took the name of Nichiren (lotus of the sun). He,
too, studied originally at Hiei-zan under Tendai tutors, but he
ultimately followed an eclectic path of his own, which led him to the
"Scripture of the Lotus of Good Law," and he taught that salvation
could be attained merely by chaunting the formula, "namu myo ho renge
kyo" ("hail to the Scripture of the Lotus of Good Law") with
sufficient fervour and iteration. In fact, Nichiren's methods partook
of those of the modern Salvation Army. He was distinguished, also, by
the fanatical character of his propagandism. Up to his time, Japanese
Buddhism had been nothing if not tolerant. The friars were quick to
take up arms for temporal purposes, but sectarian aggressiveness was
virtually unknown until Nichiren undertook to denounce everyone
differing from his views.* His favourite formula for denouncing other
sects was, "nembutsu mugen, Zen temma, Shingon bokoku, Ritsu
kokuzoku" ("incantations are phantasms; the Zen is a demon; the
Shingon, national ruin; and the Ritsu, a rebel"). Nichiren gained
great credit for predicting, on the eve of the Mongol invasion, that
a heavy calamity was about to fall upon the country, but owing to an
accusation of political intrigues, he was first condemned to be
beheaded, and then was banished to the island of Sado. His sentence
was soon revoked, however, by the regent Tokimune, who granted him
written permission to propagate his doctrines.