Chapter 12.
The Symbolic Structure of Faith
What meaning can an ancient mythology or story have
for persons in our alienated, absurd world? This is the question that
must be explored in terms of the relevance and meaning of religious
faith, as well as for secularized, scientific, modern men and women.
This issue pertains also to Shinran's thought, as well as all
contemporary religious thoughts.
Shinran was an exponent of the Pure Land thought and
way of salvation. The foundation of his thought was based on the three
sutras that are known as the Three Pure Land Sutras. As with all sutras,
all the traditional stories that begin "Thus have I heard," (nyozegamon)
are reputedly the vehicle for relating the teaching of Gautama Buddha.
This phrase presumed to confer authority on the subsequent content as
being in accord with the words of Buddha historically and with the truth
itself.
The term nyo, or nyoze -- "Thus" -- has
important meaning because it relates to such Buddhist philosophical
principles as shinnyo -- "true suchness" -- and nyorai -- the
"Tathagata" (The Thus Come Thus Gone). The idea of nyo, or Thusness,
signifies the essential truth of things and reality. In effect, it is an
assertion of the truth of Buddhism. The nature of Buddhist truth,
however, presents modern people with a variety of problems in their
attempt to determine the historical accuracy of the sutras and the truth
of religion. In traditionalist faith everything could be spelled out by
merely quoting honored authorities. Nothing had to be proved. It was all
assumed. In modern times, however, people question the meaning of truth
of such assertions and expect reasonable answers to their problems. The
quest for truth, which was at the root of all traditions, re-emerges as
a focus of importance for truth-seekers in this modern era.
Ancient man always attempted to see his life against
the backdrop of eternity. Human beings, the only creature whom we
believe to be aware that he must die, has always had to reflect on life
and its meaning. They could never bring themselves to believe that the
powerful forces which sustain their lives could simply end when they
died of illness, old age, or some tragedy. In all traditions there were
myths which depicted human destiny after life in this world. Salvation
religions not only focused on the continuation of life itself, but
correlated the quality of that future life with the quality of one's
present life. To inspire religious devotion, there developed both
positive and negative pictures of the afterlife. One might go to heaven,
or one might end up in hell.
The heart of the story of these Pure Land Sutras is
the endeavor of the Bodhisattva Dharmakara (Hozo Bosatsu) to acquire
sufficient merit through his sincere practice to be able to secure the
way to the Pure Land for all being everywhere in an infinite future.
Once having achieved this, the Pure Land (described as being in the
West, or the Western Paradise) and the Buddha Amitabha (Amida, the
Buddha of Infinite Life and Light) await those who avail themselves of
the means of rebirth provided by the Bodhisattva.
The "Larger Pure Land Sutra" tells the story, while the smaller
"Amida Sutra" describes the Pure Land itself. The "Meditation Sutra" offers
a variety of meditations whereby birth in the Pure Land may be achieved,
but it also presents a system of meditation whose goal is to visualize
the Buddha and attain union with him.
On the basis of these sutras, the various teachers in
the popular Pure Land tradition began to spell out the implications and
meaning of their contents for faith and practice. In China, there were
teachers such as Hui Yuan who emphasized the system of meditation, while
Tan Luan and succeeding teachers like Tao-cho and Shan-tao developed a
popular teaching focusing on the practice of recitation of the Nembutsu (name of Amida Buddha), a practice that changed in meaning and emphasis
as the Pure Land tradition evolved in China, and later, in the Kamakura
period in Japan. Tao-cho and Shan-tao in their contribution to this
evolution, brought the teaching into relationship with the theory of
degeneration, or Mappo, maintaining that the simple recitation was an
appropriate practice for common people in the last age of the
disappearance of the Dharma (Mappo).
When we review the story of the Sakyamuni Buddha and
his progress towards enlightenment, we would not expect the development
of myths and stories dealing with future destiny and its possibilities
since, fundamentally, Buddhism is non-mythological. Buddha himself was a
human being who developed his human potential to the fullest and gained
insight into the true nature of existence. In his teachings, the gods
were displaced, and deprived of any serious role in a person's
attainment of enlightenment or Nirvana. Early Buddhist art did not
represent the Buddha figure because, having broken through the bonds of
existence, he must be regarded as inconceivable.
It could likewise be
assumed that Buddhism would develop as a religion without myth as well
as without image, and yet, from those earliest times, the devotion of
his disciples and followers gave rise to legends about the Buddha, and
of course, in time, to impressions that could be visually conceived and
represented. Over the centuries there evolved a biography replete with
mythic and legendary features such as stories of the Buddha's birth, and
of his attainment of enlightenment. In comparison to ordinary men, we
might say that the Buddha virtually became a divine being in terms of
Buddhist mythology and art. At the same time, however, Buddhism
constantly held to the firm tradition that he was not divine, but as
"the supremely awakened one" he was the highest human being.
With the development of Mahayana Buddhism, the
myth-making tendency became even more pronounced. The figure of Buddha
expanded from a historical person to a cosmic reality -- all embracing
and indwelling. The multiplicity of Buddhas who filled the infinite
worlds of the universe all became manifestations of the Cosmic Buddha.
In the "Lotus Sutra" we see that the Buddha (Sakyamuni), who taught
40 years and went into Nirvana, was really only one manifestation of the
eternal Buddha who has never gone into Nirvana but continually strives
for the salvation of all beings. With the advent of Pure Land thought,
this eternal Buddha Amida symbolized the infinite time and space.
In the "Larger Pure Land Sutra," the story of
Dharmakara's attainment of Buddhahood offers an eloquent testimony to
the depth of compassion which Mahayana Buddhists perceived in the Buddha
reality and which they felt impelled to express in the constant refrain
of the Bodhisattva: unless and until all other beings can achieve the
same goal, he would refuse enlightenment. The focus of this Sutra on the
central characteristic of the Buddha being compassion is intensified
also in the first of the four Bodhisattva Vows (shiguzeigan):
"However innumerable sentient beings are, I vow
to save them ..."
Or, as another version states:
"I will save those who are yet to be saved; I
will make those who are frightened feel secure; I will help enlighten
those who are yet to attainenlightenment; I will cause those who are not
in nirvana to be in nirvana." [1]
In this spirit of the ideal of compassion, there
developed an emphasis on dana, or "giving," the first of the
six perfections to be practiced by Bodhisattvas: dana, giving; sila,
morality; ksanti, endurance; virya, energy; dhyana, meditation; and prajna,
wisdom. In his "Outline of the Triple Sutra of Shin Buddhism,"
Prof. Fujimoto eloquently translates the
application of these six perfections of the compassionate idea expressed
in the Pure Land sutras:
"Each of the Bodhisattvas manages to become a friend of
swarming sentient beings though not asked; takes upon his shoulders the
people's heavy burden; by preserving the inexhaustible stock of the
Tathagata's profoundest Dharma, protects and develops their seed of
Buddhahood so it will not be destroyed; commiserates with them out of
his ever-rising compassion; shuts the door of the three evil worlds,
unlocking that of goodness; preaches the Dharma to the swarming people
before being asked, just as a pious son loves and pays respect to his
parents; takes care of sentient beings as well as he does of himself,
thus carrying them to the Other Shore by means of the supreme root of
goodness." [2]
Religion and religious endeavors must be the
realization of deepest compassion through identification with all beings
whatever their state. Through all the intricacies and details of the
myth, this is its central burden, the confirmation that the heart of
reality is activated by compassion. It is a profound statement of the
faith that ancient Buddhists had in the worthwhileness of life and in
its inclusive universal meaning.
The ideal of infinite compassion also sets an example
of mission for those who would believe in this myth. It dramatizes for
us that from the heart of compassion new worlds of infinite potentiality
are created and thus, this ideal shines as a message of hope in a
contemporary world that does not seem much moved by creative efforts, a
world of technological values where altruism often seems ineffective and
valueless.
The composers of the ancient Buddhist sutras remain
anonymous, since they ascribed everything they wrote to having heard the
teachings directly from Sakyamuni Buddha, or from someone who had heard
it repeated by one who had himself directly experienced hearing them.
The chain of distance from the source expanded with the passing
centuries, and composition continued, but the authority of that
"Thus have I heard" was retained. It stirs the imagination to
contemplate the depth of concern of those anonymous composers of the
Pure Land sutras. Suffering humanity was their focus, and their path was
not easy for often they were accused of distorting and perverting the
original message of Buddha. However, they believed deeply in their
mission and their commitment took them to the point of being willing to
sacrifice their lives, as is illustrated in the "Exhortation to Hold
Firm," Chapter XIII of the "Lotus Sutra."
Undoubtedly, the description in the sutra of the Buddha
arising from contemplation with glowing countenance, followed by the
inquiry of the disciples as to the reason for his exaltation and
ecstasy, suggests the type of situation which must have produced the
first versions of such sutras. They were, perhaps, inspired by
concentration on the meaning of compassion. As this aspect of Buddha was
probed, its comprehensiveness had to be given concrete expression over
against the traditional goal of Nirvana. The Pure Land of Bliss and
Peace can be considered an expansion of qualities sometimes associated
with Nirvana (as is the interpretation of Ryukyo Fujimoto in his "Triple
Sutras" I, 19, 21). The Pure Land is not a place of isolation and simply
individual enlightenment, but a place where fellowship and communion
with Buddha and the Bodhisattvas is realized. Pure Land thought reflects
the sociality of the Mahayana ideal of attaining Buddhahood together.
The grandeur of their view was inspired by their deep human concern, a
concern which emanates from and undergirded the symbolic structure of
Shinran's thought.
Despite the idealism embodied in Buddhist and other
myths, the form in which they are cast, their role in religious
tradition have created problems as to what kind of authority and
credibility these myths may have for contemporary culture. Modern people
have come to believe that he is emancipated from myth. They criticize
myth as "merely myth," by which they mean that the myth is an
empty story. In western culture, from the time of Plato onward, myth has
tended to have a negative meaning. In modern times Auguste Comte, a
French sociologist, argued that with the development of civilization and
science, society progresses from myth to metaphysic to science. The
intellectual evolution of humanity has come to be accepted in the west
as being an evolution from religion to philosophy to science. Many
modern anthropologists have tended to view myth as evidence of a
pre-logical mentality, and as representative of the childhood of
humanity. It appeared that ancient people and contemporary primitive
people live controlled by their myths, while presumably civilized people
are guided by reason and science.
In Christian tradition there developed opposition
between myth and history. Basic concepts were then brought into
question. Is the Incarnation myth or history? Is the Resurrection myth
or history? Buddhism developed outside the framework of these problems,
but it did not long remain uninfluenced by the approach to their
solutions once extensive contact with the West and western modes of
thought began.
In Japan, such contact initiated similar questions to
be faced by the traditional Mahayana Buddhist schools. Were the many
Mahayana Sutras which claim to be taught by Sakyamuni (who is an
historical person) really taught by him? Scholars began to discuss what
is termed Daijo hibusetsuron, which is the theory that Sakyamuni Buddha
did not teach the Mahayana sutras as had been traditionally assumed in
the use of the opening phrase, "Thus have I heard . . ." (nyozegamon).
A problem rose from this discussion. If Sakyamuni Buddha did not teach
them, what authority do these sutras have in establishing particular
practices as the way to enlightenment over against the way of the Four
Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, etc. which Sakyamuni declares as the
way in the earliest days of Buddhism. The issue in this, and the impact
of western people's modern scientific preoccupation, was perhaps most
clearly stated in the Meiji Era work, "The Historical Buddha and
The Eternal Buddha," by Masaharu Anesaki:
" . . . The eternal truth of Buddha cannot result
from visionary speculation; ... it must be found in actual
history." [3]
Another scholar, Murakami Sensho, in his text, "The
Unity of Buddhism," also criticized traditional Buddhism in this vein and
wanted all sects to unite with a unified doctrine, while at the same
time maintaining a basic Mahayana outlook.
Stimulated by the quest for "basic
Buddhism," 19th- and early 20th- century Japanese Buddhist
scholarship advanced to the level of western studies in their assault on
myth and application of historical research. The change in Japanese
scholarship, in terms of this quest, did not occur in traditional
Buddhist organizations in Japan, nor alter their views and practice to
any significant degree. The practical issue facing Buddhist tradition in
this period in Japan was not the same as that occupying the scholars.
Rather, traditional Buddhist teachers were concerned with the
confrontation with Christianity and Christian missions that political
and social westernization patterns brought to Japan after an absence of
three hundred years. This confrontation left traditional Buddhist groups
generally defensive, and reluctant to change in their views of their own
history and doctrines.
Among the attempts made to resolve the Japanese
Buddhist dilemma between scholarship and faith referred to above was
that of Murakami Sensho who declared "The criticism of Mahayana
Buddhism is a problem of history, not of doctrine. From the doctrinal
point of view, no one should doubt the Mahayana interpretation." [4]
In straddling the fence of his sect connection and his scholarly
approach, he concludes that the teachings of Mahayana, while not
directly given by the Buddha, were a brilliant development of Buddhist
thought. Another scholar, Maeda Eun in his work "An Interpretation of
Mahayana History," claimed that the seeds of Mahayana did indeed lay in
the teaching of Buddha during his lifetime. Kimura Taiken resolved the
apparent conflict by regarding Mahayana as an effort to "revitalize
primitive Buddhism from a deeper point of view." [5]
Against the background of this problem for Japanese
Buddhists during the past century, we can understand Prof. Fujimoto's
attempt to depict the basis for the origin of Mahayana Sutras:
"The Mahayana Tripitaka, we might say, is a kind
of revised edition of the Hinayana one, for the former can be designated
as the fruit of a revival movement rising among the direct disciples of
Sakyamuni as well as later ones. It was in primitive Buddhism that the
Sangha tended to be more stagnant in spite of the transient
circumstances, becoming monastic in paying little attention to the lay
people, and formalized in clinging to the time worn precepts or
ritual." [6]
Dr. D.T. Suzuki, in his essay "The Development
of the Pure Land Doctrine in Buddhism," begins by taking note of
this:
"If we believe, as we must from the modern
critical point of view, that the history of any religious system
consists partly, in the exfoliation of the unessential elements, but,
chiefly, in the revelation and the constant growth of the most vital
spiritual elements which lie hidden in the words of the founder or in
his personality, the following question naturally comes up for solution
in our investigation of the history of Buddhist dogmatics: 'How much of
the Pure Land idea is deducible from the teaching of primitive Buddhism
so-called, or from the personality of Sakyamuni Buddha himself?'" [7]
From this perspective, Suzuki attempts to develop a
philosophy of religious experience which would lead to such a
formulation. After summarizing basic concepts and features of the Pure
Land sutras, he concludes:
"Incidentally, let us note here that the idea of
scriptural authority in whatever form is no more tenable and therefore
that whatever ideas have proved vital, inspiring, and uplifting in the
history of religion must find another way of establishing themselves as
the ultimate facts of the religious consciousness. Scriptures, Christian
and Buddhist, are divine revelations inasmuch as they tally with the
deeper experiences of the soul and really help humanity break through
the fetters of finitude and open up a vista full of life and light. In
other words, authority must come from within and not from without ... This being our standpoint, the Pure Land teaching is to be interpreted,
as I said before, in terms of religious consciousness, and not, as is
done usually by its orthodox followers, in terms of scriptural authority
or special revelation." [8]
These reflections bring us back to the original
problem of what stimulates the production of myth, and what established
its grasp on religious consciousness as a normative guide or authority
over against other similar or competing claims. The focal issue which
must be considered is the nature of religious consciousness, and whether
it contains sufficient principle within itself to determine religious
truth without either analytical reasoning or metaphysical or
philosophical reflection.
The structure of the sutras, which presents them as
authentic words of Buddha, tends to suggest that there was once an
objective basis for regarding the sutras, for although scholars might
make qualifications, on the popular level they were given unquestioning
reverence. Religion as a control instrument in society required that the
ordinary person be encouraged in his belief in the truth of the
religion, which in this case meant that Pure Land Buddhists be
encouraged to rely on the authority and validity of these three sutras,
and their expression of the myth of Amida's Vow. The impact of the
exposure of Japanese scholars to the western analytical viewpoint, and
the western tendency to discredit myth and assess everything in terms of
verifiable historic research made the views of Suzuki and others who
shared his insight into the validity of religious consciousness
increasingly significant for our times. Is indeed, religious
consciousness merely an illusion as Freud asserts? Is religion itself
simply an opiate for the masses as Marx insisted? Both Freud and Marx
have become themselves archaic in their views as the twentieth century
nears an end.
To the contemporary mind, being religious and being a
thinker are sometimes considered contradictory, but if religion is not
to be oppressive and exploitive of people, or if it is not merely to be
a control mechanism for society, then its foundations in thought and
experience must be frankly faced. This is particularly essential if we
are to continue to pursue the tradition that Buddhism is a serious quest
for truth, and if Shinran's critical attitude and search for truth is to
be realized in us.
A myth arises from the interaction of a consciousness
and the world in such a way that the disparate and multitudinous
elements of the world are given some degree of coherency and meaning.
Myths direct themselves to the crucial problems of human existence --
value and destiny, tragedy, good and evil. Myths arise from the
awareness of human limitations and the apprehension of mystery or
uncontrollable power in the world. While myths may not have factual
reality as accepted in the day-to-day world, nevertheless they have a
reality by virtue of pointing to aspects of human existence which give
them more compelling power over the mind than have things in the
concrete world. People will die for their pictures or myths of reality
more readily than they will die for particular possession of things.
While myths are, on the one hand, products of consciousness and so are
never apart from the mind, they point to something beyond the mind and
consciousness which is the basis for that mind and consciousness. In the
case of Amida and the Pure Land, this myth may have been the product of
a consciousness moved by its aspirations and hopes for a higher
existence, whereupon the myth asserts the reality of the higher life.
This myth is not knowingly a product of its own consciousness. The
author did not believe he made it up, but rather that he was the vehicle
through which this higher reality was expressed.
In effect, myth leads not only to psychology but to
metaphysics or philosophy in order to discover what basis there is in
reality for the particular myths which have grasped the consciousness.
For Buddhists, and perhaps mainly Pure Land Buddhists who center their
religious existence about the symbols of that tradition, there is a
necessity to explore more deeply the philosophical implications of the
symbol system. It will not be sufficient to invoke the concepts of hoben
(expedient means), sunyata (the doctrine of void) or to assess the claim
that Amida or the Pure Land exist only in our minds. All these side step
the issue as to why that particular myth should be an authority
controlling religious life and action.
At the same time, there is
necessity that the Pure Land myth preserve fundamental Buddhist
affirmations concerning non-duality and objectivity. If Shinshu is to
meet the challenge of the modern world, all these issues must be taken
seriously, and particularly the issue of myth and the symbolic structure
of shinjin, or the faith that completely entrusts in the true, real and
indescribable that the myth reveals.
Earlier, we stated that modern man once believed he
was emancipated from myth, but recent events have shown that this is not
so. We have discovered in our times that people are moved by racial and
economic myths (Nazis, KKK, capitalism, communism), national myths
(flag), and myths of science. Humans are myth-making animals and in
their myths they enshrine (as in advertising) the values and meanings
that integrate their lives. Myths which ground a culture are rooted in
the common experience of that culture. Myths are absorbed by the
individual as norms for attitude and action. They have social
enforcement in that there are penalties for opposing or otherwise
rejecting the group myth. In a sense, in any and every culture, and at
any and every time, including our own and perhaps even in most
particular our own, one is born to these myths.
However, religious myth (apart from those religious
myths which are part of the folk culture or have been absorbed into folk
culture) has a different relationship, since it is the realization of
the truth of the religious myth by the individual which brings the
particular group into existence. Religious myth gains its importance
from the fact that it expresses what is ultimate for life. It reveals to
the person the unconditional element of existence which places a demand
on the person's existence that he take that element upon himself as his
ultimate concern. Profound myth calls upon the person to make a
commitment, to take a risk in faith. There is an element of judgment and
critique in myth which strengthens the inner man, who is thus committed
against the forces such as society and culture which would deny his
true, concrete existence by merely subordinating him to some larger
whole and depriving him of any real or significant possibilities of
action. Profound religious myth is therefore liberating, liberating the
individual from all forms of subjugating bondage so that, in effect,
religious myth enables the person to discover his true self.
In Buddhist history in China, the Confucianists
recognized the implications of Buddhist egalitarianism and myths
depicting an ideal world. They repeatedly worked for the restraining of
Buddhist activity among the masses. The Pure Land persecutions in Japan
likewise were based on the realization of so-called
"anti-social" aspects of the teaching -- such as disrespect
and neglect of the gods of the land -- which meant to undermine the
Kyodotai-communality-social solidarity of that era.
The history of religions indicates that myth is
ambiguous. The myth that frees may also subjugate. I think this is what
lies behind I-hsuan's statement that the terms Buddha and patriarch are
terms of reverence but also bondage. When faith turns into belief, and
experience transforms to doctrine and theory, religion becomes the
taskmaster and tyrant over the human spirit. Hui-neng in the Platform
Sutra remarks that if one practices with the mind, one turns the Lotus,
but if one does not practice, the Lotus turns him.
The impact of ultimacy in the Buddhist myths of Pure
Land has been limited largely because the teaching was regarded simply
as a secondary and lesser alternative for reaching enlightenment. It was
only a partial way. The history of the tradition reaching to Shinran was
an evolution culminating in his awareness of greater depth and ultimacy
in the teaching. Shinshu means that Shinran's Pure Land teaching is not
merely one among many alternatives, but must in itself express the
greatest depth of meaning and reality, else it could not be
"true" in the full sense. The myth of Amida and the Pure Land
is thus an essential element in the consideration of Shinran's religious
philosophy. It provides the pattern of compassion which is to suffuse
our personal existence. It thus requires careful religious and
philosophical study, and reflection, as the basis for the symbol
structure of Shinshu and as a religious myth whose expression of
awareness of one's absolute bondage to the human condition is the very
expression that at the same time yields the absolute spiritual freedom
that modern man so desperately seeks.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Fundamentally, Buddhism is non-mythological. Over
the centuries, however, myths and legends have evolved because:
a) the Buddha has come to be revered as a true human
being b) the historical Buddha has evolved into a Cosmic Buddha c) people who revere the Buddha have good
imaginations 2. The writers of the Pure Land Sutras had as their
focus the:
a) suffering of humanity b) life of Siddharta Gautama
c) goal of Nirvana 3. Which of the following is false?
a) modern people still believe strongly in myth b)
people today generally think that myths are empty stories c) scientific thought has dispelled the power of myth once had over the
lives of people
4. When 19th- and early 20th-century Japanese Buddhist
scholars began challenging Buddhist myths, the institutions reacted by:
a) rewriting those myths b) dispelling myths
altogether c) becoming generally defensive
5. According to D.T. Suzuki, "authority must come
from within and not from without." He goes on to say that,
therefore, Pure Land teaching should be interpreted in terms of:
a) scriptural authority b) special revelation c) religious
consciousness
6. Which of the following regarding the nature of
myths is false?
a) myths direct themselves to the crucial problems of
human existence b) myths always have factual reality c) myths arise from the awareness of human
limitations 7. Religious myth is different from other types of
myths in that it:
a) does not require any form of commitment b) expresses what is ultimate for
life c) is absorbed by the individual as norms for attitude and action
8. In regard to myths, religion becomes the taskmaster
and tyrant over the human spirit when:
a) faith turns into belief b) experience is valued more than
doctrine
c) people are freed by myth
Thought Questions
1. Fundamentally, Buddhism is non-mythological. That
is, in early Buddhism, the Buddha was regarded as an enlightened human
being, and not as a divine figure. Yet, as Buddhism developed, many
myths were created to exalt the Buddha and symbolically portray his
compassion. Do you personally find these myths relevant to your life? Or
are they problematic? In other words, do you find them hard to believe
and accept? Why do you think this is so?
2. What kind of authority and credibility do you think
religious myths have for contemporary culture? In an age in which
science dominates, of what value are myths?
3. Do you think that the critical approach to religion
hinders the development of religious faith? Why or why not? Is it
possible for the two -- a critical attitude and religious faith -- to
co-exist? To complement each other? What are the dangers of blind faith?
4. Why is it important to understand the symbol system
(including myths) of one's religion?
5. How can religious myth enable a person to discover
his true self?
6. The author says that "the myth that frees may
also subjugate." What do you think he means by this?
Bibliography
Campbell, Joseph: "The Hero With a Thousand Faces
-- The
Masks of God" Campbell, Joseph: "The Power of
Myth" Eliade, Mercea: "Cosmos and
History" Zimmer, Heinrich: "Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and
Civilization"
Notes
[1] "Japanese/English Buddhist Dictionary," p.
276b [2] 47-48 "Shinshushogyo Zensho," I,
3-4 [3] Quoted in H. Kishimoto, "Japanese Religion in The
Meiji Era," p. 161 [4] Ibid, p. 164 [5] Ibid. p.
167 [6] Ryukyo Fujimoto, "An Outline of the Triple Sutra of
Shin Buddhism," I.P. 17 [7] D.T. Suzuki,
"Collected Writings on Shin Buddhism," p.3 [8] Ibid. pp.
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