The Religions of Japan Part 33

[Footnote 21: M.E., p. 252.]

[Footnote 22: T.J., p. 70.]

[Footnote 23: See The Higher Buddhism in the Light of the Nicene Creed, T[=o]ki[=o], 1894, by Rev. A. Lloyd.]

[Footnote 24: "I preach with ever the same voice, taking enlightenment as my text. For this is equal for all; no partiality is in it, neither hatred nor affection.... I am inexorable, bear no love or hatred towards anyone, and proclaim the law to all creatures without distinction, to the one as well as to the other."--Saddharma Pundarika.]

[Footnote 25: Unbeaten Tracks in j.a.pan, Vol. II., p. 247.]

[Footnote 26: For the symbolism of the lotus see M.E., p. 437; Unbeaten Tracks in j.a.pan, Vol. I., p. 299; M.E. index; and Saddharma Pundarika, Kern's translation, p. 76, note:

"Here the Buddha is represented as a wise and benevolent father; he is the heavenly father, Brahma. As such ho was represented as sitting on a 'lotus-seat.' How common this representation was in India, at least in the sixth century of our era, appears from Varahamihira's Brihat-Sainhita, Ch. 58, 44, where the following rule is laid down for the Buddha idols: 'Buddha shall be (represented) sitting on a lotus-seat, like the father of the world.'"]

[Footnote 27: See The Northern Buddhist Mythology in _Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society_, January, 1894.]

[Footnote 28: See The Pictorial Arts of j.a.pan, and Descriptive and Historical Catalogue, William Anderson, pp. 13-94.]

[Footnote 29: See fylfot in Century Dictionary.]

[Footnote 30: The word _vagra_, diamond, is a const.i.tuent in scores of names of sutras, especially those whose contents are metaphysical in their nature. The Vajrasan, Diamond Throne or Thunderbolt seat, was the name applied to the most sacred part of the great temple reared by Asoka on the site of the bodhi tree, under which Gautama received enlightenment. "The adamantine truths of Buddha struck like a thunderbolt upon the superst.i.tious of his age." "The word vagra has the two senses of hardness and utility. In the former sense it is understood to be compared to the secret truth which is always in existence and not to be broken. In the latter sense it implies the power of the enlightened, that destroys the obstacles of pa.s.sions."--B.N., p. 88. "As held in the arms of Kwannon and other images in the temples," the vagra or "diamond club" (is that) with which the foes of the Buddhist Church are to be crushed.--S. and H., p. 444. Each of the gateway G.o.ds Ni-[=o]

(two Kings, Indra and Brahma) "bears in his hand the tokko (Sanskrit _vagra_), an ornament originally designed to represent a diamond club, and now used by priests and exorcists, as a religious sceptre symbolizing the irresistible power of prayer, meditation, and incantation."--Chamberlain's Hand-book for j.a.pan, p. 31.]

[Footnote 31: Jiz[=o] is the compa.s.sionate helper of all in trouble, especially of travellers, of mothers, and of children. His Sanskrit name is Kshiugarbha. His idol is one of the most common in j.a.pan. It is usually neck-laced with baby's bibs, often by the score, while the pedestal is heaped with small stones placed there by sorrowing mothers.--S. and H., p. 29, 394; Chamberlain's Handbook of j.a.pan, 29, 101. Hearn's j.a.pan, p. 34, and _pa.s.sim_.]

[Footnote 32: Sanskrit _arhat_ or _arhan_, meaning worthy or deserving, i.e., holy man, the highest rank of Buddhist saintship. See Century Dictionary.]

[Footnote 33: M.E., p. 201. The long inscription on the bell in Wellesley College, which summons the student-maidens to their hourly tasks has been translated by the author and Dr. K. Kurahara and is as follows:

1. A prose preface or historical statement.

2. Two stanzas of Chinese poetry, in four-syllable lines, of four verses each, with an apostrophe in two four-syllable lines.

3. The chronology.

4. The names of the composer and calligraphist, and of the bronze-founder.

The characters in vertical lines are read from top to bottom, the order of the columns being from right to left. There are in all 117 characters.

The first tablet reads:

Lotus-Lily Temple (of) Law-Grove Mountain; Bell-inscription (and) Preface.

"Although there had been of old a bell hung in the Temple of the Lotus-Lily, yet being of small dimensions its note was quickly exhausted, and no volume of melody followed (after having been struck).

Whereupon, for the purpose of improving upon this state of affairs, we made a subscription, and collected coin to obtain a new bell. All believers in the doctrine, G.o.ds as well as devils, contributed freely.

Thus the enterprise was soon consummated, and this inscription prepared, to wit:

"'The most exalted Buddha having pitiful compa.s.sion upon the people, would, by means of this bell, instead of words, awaken them from earthly illusions, and reveal the darkness of this world.

"'Many of the living hearkening to its voice, and making confession, are freed from the bondage of their sins, and forever released from their disquieting desires.

"'How great is (Buddha's) merit! Who can utter it? Without measure, boundless!'

"Eleventh year of the Era of the Foundation of Literature (and of the male element) Wood (and of the zodiac sign) Dog; Autumn, seventh month, fifteenth day (A.D. August 30,1814).

"Composition and penmanship by Kameda Koye-sen. Cast by the artist Sugiwara Kunin.o.bu."

(The poem in unrhymed metre.)

Buddha in compa.s.sion tender With this bell, instead of words, Wakens souls from life's illusions, Lightens this world's darkness drear.

Many souls its sweet tones heeding, From their chains of sin are freed; All the mind's unrest is soothed, Sinful yearnings are repressed.

Oh how potent is his merit, Without bounds in all the worlds!

[Footnote 34: Fuso Mimi Bukuro, p. 129.]

[Footnote 35: M.E., pp. 287-290, 513-514; Perry's Narrative, pp. 471, 472; Our Neighborhood, pp. 119-124. The following epitaphs are gathered from various sources:

"This stone marks the remains of the believer who never grows old."

"The believing woman Yu-ning, Happy was the day of her departure."

"Mult.i.tudes fill the graves."

"Only by this vehicle--the coffin--can we enter Hades."

"As the floating gra.s.s is blown by the gentle breeze, or the glancing ripples of autumn disappear when the sun goes down, or as a ship returns to her old sh.o.r.e--so is life. It is a vapor, a morning-tide."

"Buddha himself wishes to hear the name of the deceased that he may enter life."

"He who has left humanity is now perfected by Buddha's name, as the withered moss by the dew."

"Life is like a candle in the wind."

"The wise make our halls ill.u.s.trious, and their monuments endure for ages."

"What permanency is there to the glory of the world? It goes from the sight like h.o.a.r-frost in the sun."

"If men wish to enter the joys of heavenly light, Let them smell the fragrance of the law of Buddha."

"Whoever wishes to have his merit reach even to the abode of demons, let him, with us, and all living, become perfect in the doctrine."]

[Footnote 36: Rev. C.B. Hawarth in the _New York Independent_, January 18, 1894.]

[Footnote 37: In 781 the Buddhist monk Kei-shun dedicated a chapel to Jizo, on whom he conferred the epithet of Sho-gun or general, to suit the warlike tastes of the j.a.panese people.--S. and H., p. 384. So also Hachiman became the G.o.d of war because adopted as the patron deity of the Genji warriors.--S. and H., p. 70.]

[Footnote 38: Corea, the Hermit Nation, p. 90.]