CHAPTER XVII

Keijin.

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( section 86-87)

The paragraph in the Catechism, on which this chapter is based, discusses the attitude of the Shinshu believer towards other forms of faith, and especially of Buddhist faith. The word Keijin does not occur in Shinshu Hyakuwa, but is a term employed in other Shinshu books to denote that reverence or respect which we should show towards all things connected with any religion, even though it be one of which we ourselves do not approve. It is a common feeling among Japanese that the Westerner is lacking in Keijin, and on one or two occasions, when I have received permission to attend and watch a service in a Buddhist Temple, I have been warned beforehand of the duty of behaving with outward respect during the solemnities and in the Temple.

The author of Shinshu Hyakuwa does, however, treat of Keijin. He says that for the Shinshu believer there is no need to offer worship to any other Being besides Amida. The other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, whom the other sects of Buddhism worship, nay, even the gods of Japan and India, outside of Buddhism, must only be considered as so many partial and fragmentwise manifestations of Amida Himself, and the worship, therefore, which the Shinshu offers to Amida, must be considered as

including that which is supposed to be due to every other Being that is set up as claiming the worship of man. [**]

But when a Shinshuist goes to places of worship belonging to other sects and religions, he must treat the worship he finds there with respect and reverence, and he must not think that, by bowing before the image of Kwannon, or Fudo, or Benten, he is taking away from the honour due to Amida alone. [*+]

In Shinshu Seikun, Keijin forms a portion of the chapter on human life.

Human life may be viewed from four aspects.

I. The relations between Religion (Buppo #) and the State Law (Se-Ho #), sometimes also called O Ho (the Law of the King #). The two are compared to the two wheels of a cart, or the two wings of a bird. Progress is impossible without the equal use of both. The King's Law is to be received with respect, like the present from a