Shinran and His Work
CHAPTER XI.

^91:+ Shinshu Hyakuwa section 54 quotes the authority of the Chinese Patriarch Zendo, (who is also mentioned in the Shoshinge). It is also remarkable that Zendo speaks of the Myogo, or the Call of Amida to the Soul, as a "sharp sword," a term which becomes more significant when taken in conjunction with the phrase "cutting between flesh and bone," which I have found elsewhere (in Anshinketsugoshokowa) seen applied to the effects of the Myogo. These quasi-echoes of Scriptural phrases are constantly surprising the student in his study of Shinshu books. In the chapter on Buddha no mi-na in Shinshu Seikun p. 362-373 it is said the Name is more highly to be valued than either pictures or idols, for it is indeed the Foundation of Salvation, the hearing of it constituting Ojo (#) i e. "birth into Paradise while still living," or the new Birth of Buddhism. The Myogo summarizes all wisdom, is the fulfilment of all virtues, the crown of all religious rites. It renders unnecessary all other worship, for the Name of the One Buddha is the pleroma of all that is worshipped as God. (Ichibutsu no na sunawachi shobutsu no Na). I have often thought that the Cult of the Sacred Heart may prove to be one of the instruments in God's hand of the turning of Buddhism to Christ.