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And the ‘world-honoured one’ [Buddha] stretches out his golden arms and blesses the various forms in which the bodhisattva Ti-ts‘ang has incarnated himself through the endless kalpas. He lays his hand on their heads and says: ‘As I stand in the five unclean worlds (wu-cho wu-shih, 7 3) 38 tt) and try to instruct and influence the refractory creatures there, I find that out [124] MASSES FOR THE DEAD of ten there are usually one or two who cling to evil. . It is for this reason that I constantly take various forms and make use of countless different methods to save the unfortunate. I change myself into a heavenly god like Brahma, into a god of transmutations, into a king, a minister, or a relative of a minister. I manifest myself as a “pi-ch‘iu” or a nun, as a man who devotes himself to Buddhism in the quiet of his own home, as a woman who gives herself to meditation in the stillness of home. I do not hold obstinately to my Buddha body.' I take upon myself all the above- mentioned bodily forms in order to be able to save all. You see how through these continuous kalpas I have tried, with pain and unceasing effort to save all these rebellious creatures, and bring them to obedience, so that they may give up the false, and devote them- selves to the true. Nevertheless there still remain some who are under the burden of sin’s retribution. If they should fall completely into the power of evil, it would be a frightful time for them.’ ‘¢¢ As T stand here in Tao-li heaven I call upon all, both those who now live in this world of sorrow, and those who shall live in that new world which shall issue forth at Mi-lo Fu’s (Maitreya’s) appearance. I desire to save all, so that they may escape from grief and want, and receive Buddha’s mark on their bodies.’ ‘¢ At this time all the various bodily incarnations of Ti-ts‘ang were gathered together from the different worlds into one body. ‘Tears ran from Ti-ts‘ang’s eyes 10f. St. Paul’s word about Ohrist in Phil. 2:6, 7. [125] TRUTH AND TRADITION IN BUDDHISM and nose, as with heart-felt longing and deep sadness he looked up to Buddha and said: ¢For endless kalpas I have been under Buddha’s special guidance, so that I have received unspeakable divine strength and wisdom. This has prepared me to enter into the most varied physical forms. I have revealed myself in the most widely different worlds, in number as many as the sands of the river Ganges. In every one of these worlds I revealed myself in millions of forms. Every single incarnation has saved millions of people and led them to a reverent understanding of the three great values (Trikaya: Buddha, the doctrine, and the society) as well as to eternal redemption from birth and death, and into the state of joy of Nirvana.! ‘‘¢ Moreover, if there should still be anything lacking in the way of good works, be it but a hair’s breadth, a grain of sand, or a speck of dust, I will carry it all on to completion. “¢Therefore, thou world-honoured one, be not anxious for the generations that are to come! Be not anxious for the generations that are to come! Be not anxious for the generations that are to come!’ “Then Buddha lifted up his voice and praised Ti- ts‘ang, saying: ‘Good, good—I share your joy! When you shall have fulfilled this great promise and after endless kalpas shall have finished this work of salva- tion, then will you truly have shown yourself to be the possessor of the tenderest heart and the highest wisdom!’”’ 1 Nirvana is described here clearly as the state of joy. [126] | CHAPTER V THE “PURE LAND” SOHOOL (CHINGT'U, # +-) The great sect of “school” within the Buddhist body of China, which goes by the name of “Chingt‘u,” (# +) (the “Pure Earth” or the “ Pure Land’’), is of very ancient date, probably the oldest of all the schools. The principles of the school can be traced back all the way to the famous patriarchs and masters Asva- ghosha (Chinese: Ma-ming, #5 %§) and Nagarjuna (Chinese: Lung-shu, #E #}), who were the principal leaders when Buddhism passed through its great ren- aissance and (as far as the northern regions were concerned) became distinguished as Mahayana. In the famous book “The Awakening of Faith” (Chinese: “Ch‘i Hsin Lun,” #& {3% i), which is so dear to the “‘ Pure Land” people, the following interesting passage occurs: ‘‘ First consider those who begin to study the five methods of this chapter and desire to get right faith, but are timid and weak. As they live in this world of extreme suffering, they fear they cannot approach Buddha continually and contribute personally to his service. Thus they fear they cannot attain to this perfect faith and they have a mind to renounce the search after it. “These should know that Ju-lai (40 3) (Tathagata) has most excellent means for strengthening their faith. By having the mind set only on the things of Buddha [127] and being constantly with him far from all evil, attains this end. As the sutra says, ‘If a ae his mind to think only of Amitabha Buddha who is in the happiest realm of the West, and if his good deeds are in the right direction, and if he desires to be born in the happy paradise, he will then be born there, and as he is always in the presence of Buddha, he will never fall back!’ “If we reflect on the eternal nature of Amitabha Buddha and constantly practise this method, we shall in the end reach the place of future wisdom.”! Nagarjuna was a clear thinker who liked to refute the traditional, formalistic Buddhism with the most biting negative criticism. He succeeded in a really remarkable way in gathering peoples’ thoughts to- gether around loftier and more spiritual values. His philosophical treatises should be looked upon for the most part as necessary works of destruction. The ground had to be cleared for the more highly spiritual and. psychological understanding of the great questions of life. Here is a sample of his negations: “No birth, no death, No continued abiding, no extinction, No unity, no multiplicity, No future, no past.” Nagarjuna’s pupil, Vasubandhu, gave a richer and deeper meaning to his master’s ideas and made the figure of Amitabha a truly living one. 1*'The Awakening of Faith,” Chap. 4, translated by Dr, Timothy Richard. [128] Red ISONVIY ,‘NVHQ OAT ‘AUHESVNOJT NOA-NVHO OL TONVULNGT Ss EG Le _ DDS _. Oe oO SS eZ he hoy THE PURE LAND SCHOOL This tendency to get down to the root of the matter and not to be content with outward formule and abstractions has been characteristic of the “Pure Land” School even to the present day. On the one hand, this school has given an important place to faith and sincerity; and on the other hand, with a sharp and almost cynical sense of reality, it has probed into all the accepted dogmas and forms. It is for this reason that this school is so feared and admired; and it is for this reason, too, that it has been able to increase as no other has done in a time like ours, which requires unequivocally clear thinking, as well as a warm heart. As was mentioned before, it was a Chinese who really established this “school,” namely Hui-yiian (3 38) (333-416), a northerner from Shansi. His original name was Chia (@). To begin with, he was a zealous Taoist and as such went to great lengths. When, however, he had met representatives of the new religious movement which had already stirred many hearts in northern China (Buddhism), he was very quickly won over, for it seemed to lead still deeper into the tao’s (the life principle’s) mysterious nature. Hui-yiian seems to have been to quite an unusual degree a deeply religious personality. He consecrated himself with the greatest devotion to the cause of Mahayana Buddhism. During a long life, first as a wandering pilgrim and later attached to the holy Lii Shan (Lii Mountains) in Kiangsi province, he came to be one of the central figures in Buddhism. Chinese Buddhists began first to find themselves in him, for through Hui-yiian the [129] TRUTH AND TRADITION IN BUDDHISM “foreign” religion received its Chinese form. His words and actions, often taken right out of the writings of the Taoist master Chuang-tse, brought many new and mystical ideas into homely relief. It is no wonder that when he settled down eee gathered about him in large crowds. He found a beautiful place for himself, first in the Tung-lin (38 #) Monastery in the foothills of Lii Shan, and later in Hu- peh, in the year 373, in the afterwards famous Lu-feng Monastery. Lovely ponds covered with white lotus- blossoms stretched before the temple. From this the school took its early name, as for many centuries it was called “Pai-lien Chiao’ (4 #&), the “White Lotus Religion.” <A secret political society, however, adopted the same name in the beginning of the four- teenth century, and the school was forced to change its name in order to avoid being drawn into the many agitations and complications of this society. They therefore took the name which is used down to the present day —the ‘‘Pure Land” School. With Hui-yiian, China’s ancient and powerful con- ception of the “‘ way” or the “life principle” (tao, $4), found its way into Buddhism. We have it in such expressions as “‘yii-tao”’ (38 38), to became a monk; “té-tao” (# 34), to become a saint (arhat); and “‘ch*éng-tao” (Ek 3H), to be perfected, to become a buddha. The same term appears again in the name which describes the ceremony of the masses for the dead ‘‘tso-tao-ch‘ang” (fit S$ 33) to perform mass so that the life principle may work on behalf of the dead. A place that is sacred to these masses, where good [130] THE PURE LAND SCHOOL spiritual powers may work for the benefit of mankind, is called also “tao-ch‘ang”’ (38 33), the place of wor- ship.