But more interesting matter for translation will probably be found in the works of Japanese theologians of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, a field as yet untouched by European research. We are learning to-day to see that Christ's work was far larger than anything that our forefathers of even a century ago ever dreamt of, and to comprehend that each nation will contribute and is contributing its quota to the Perfect Temple of the Future, and that no Spiritual Building can be expected to be final which does not make adequate allowance for the glory and honour of all nations to be brought in.

^266:1 Mr. Tada Kanae, in his excellent volume of "Lectures on the Shoshinge" (pp. 54, 56), says that Amida may also be called the Creator, inasmuch as he established the Law of Cause and Effect through which the Universe came into existence. Some Buddhists, however, are not willing to grant this. They say that the law came into action automatically from the very nature of Shinnyo, and that in no case are we justified in considering Amida as a Creator. That he is the Father is freely admitted by all Shinshuists. A Japanese theologian (I think I may give Dr. Anezaki that title, though he is a Buddhist) pointed out to me a short time ago that the first draft of the Nicene Creed ran, pisteuu eis ena Theon Patera pantokratora pantun oratun te kai aoratun: "I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty Ruler of all things visible and invisible," and, according to Rufinus, there was a similar omission of an expression of belief in a Creator in the Creed of the Church of Aquileia ("Lib. post-Nicene Fathers," vol. iii. p. 541).

^267:1 See "S.B.E.," vol. xlix., and my "Praises of Amida," Introd., pp. 1, 2.

^267:2 E.g. Yakushi (Bhaishajyaraja).

^267:3 According to the Pure Land books, there is a nine-graded Vision of Amida vouchsafed to the soul in Paradise, and the Vision itself, as it grows in intensity, has a purifying effect on the soul. I may point out that the eighty-one previous Buddhas in the Sukhavati Vyuha are but an amplification of this ninefold Amida, which again is an amplification of a Trinity.

^268:1 I learned this in conversation with a Buddhist priest. I can but repeat here what I have said elsewhere, that the Ophite Gnostics who appeared in the same localities and at the same time as the original Amida Buddhists, held identical language about Christ.

^269:1 It is said that two points in the Buddhist discipline caused Shinran a great deal of anxious reflection--celibacy, and the abstinence from flesh. He claimed that Avalokites'vara had appeared to him in a vision, and had taught him that these points were not of the Essence of religion. Shinshu believers all eat meat, and the Shinshu clergy are free to marry.