It will be seen that there is in this Fourfold Invocation a pretty exact picture of the theological position of Shinshuism. It begins with a sort of polytheism. There have been "lords many and gods many"--there are Buddhas in all the Ten Quarters of the Universe, through whom the Saving Way has been made known since ages of immeasurable remoteness. (The names of some amongst them are to be found in the Sukhavati Vyuhas and other Sutras revered by the Sect.) Amongst all these Buddhas one has been preeminent, the only one for whom a claim to historicity has been set up, the. Buddha S'akyamuni. S'akyamuni, according to the Shinshu, not only teaches. the same broad way of salvation as did the rest, but he goes a step further, and bears witness to another Buddha--the Eternal Fount and Source of all Buddhaship--the Buddha Amitabha. And Amitabha is invoked in His threefold aspect, in the glory of his past, the glory which is His in the Dharmakaya, in the glory of His humiliation--the glory which He had when He became man; in the glory of His present, when, as Namu-Amida-Butsu, He sits as king of Paradise. And the Bodhisattvas, the ministers of Amida, are invoked, beginning with Kwannon and Seishi, and ending with the humblest of those in whom has dwelt the spirit of Amida. It is impossible, perhaps, to compress the Shinshu Faith into a shorter compass than this.

After this followed the chanting of the Shoshinge which, as the reader is aware, gives the history of the transmission of the sect, the chanting of the Nembutsu-wasan, or hymn in praise of Amida, which summarizes the belief of the sect, and especially its belief in the efficacy of faith in Amida at the supreme moment of death, and finally, after many repetitions of the Nembutsu formula, the Eko, or prayer of transference.

Gwannishi kudoku Byodo se issai
Dohotsu bodaishin Ojoanrakukoku

"Let us pray that the merits (acquired by this our service) may be distributed equally among all Sentient Beings, that they may all alike conceive in themselves the desire for Bodhi, and may ascend and be reborn in the Land of Peace and Comfort."

With those Words ended the service in the Uchino ground. It is a distinguishing feature of the Shinshu funeral rites that they contain no indo, or 'guiding words' addressed to the deceased, to instruct him, in case he should be ignorant, how to behave himself, what to believe, and what to practice, in order to secure a safe passage through the realms of darkness. The firm belief of the Shinshuist that Amida has got sure hold of him, and that He will guide him safely to the mansion that He has prepared, makes the indo a needless and meaningless form of words.

There was, however, one piece of ritual, in the funeral I am describing, peculiar to such rites when celebrated at Uchino,--a symbolical cremation, the