^65:+ The Shinshu arrangement of the ages to come after the death: of S'akyamuni is somewhat different from that which we find in the Nichiren system (see my Japanese Mahayana). In the Shinshu, it is 500 years of Upright Law, 1030 years of Image Law, and 10,000 years (instead of 1000 only) of corrupted Law, at the end of which the knowledge of the Law will perish.

^68:* The eighteenth section of Amida Vow, as given in vol. XLIX of the Sacred Books of the East (Description of Sukhavati, p. 73), is as follows:--

"When I have obtained Buddhahood, if those beings who are in the ten quarters should believe in me with serene thoughts, and should wish to be born in my country (Paradise), and should, say, ten times have thought of me (or repeated my named--if they should not be born there, may I not obtain the perfect knowledge; (shintaimon)--barring only those beings who have committed the five deadly sins, and who have spoken evil of the good law" (zokutaimon).

There is a certain amount of discrepancy, as to the arrangement of the different sections of the Vow between the Sanskrit and the Chinese. It is interesting to notice that Buddhism too has no unforgivable sin. For such sinners, as, e.g. Ajatas'atru, there is still hope in Amida's Mercy. Still, after Faith has been received and accepted, there comes the obligation to keep the laws of the Zokutaimon. Failure to observe this, or sinning against the light involves forfeiture of the grace for a while at least.