ever gets the respect and reverence of ruler and people, however great may be his merits in other respects. But we see in our country a continued succession of wise men and saints who have been venerated by the people, and we may infer that the fact that they have been so venerated shows that they were deserving of reverence. Why, then, do you speak evil of dignities, and say that they were bad monks 2

The Master. In the reign of Gotoba (A.D. 1184-1196) there was a monk of the name of Honen, who wrote a book called the "Senchakushu," in which he abused the holy teachings of the age, and misled men by the thousands. Now this man, basing his arguments (again I abbreviate) on a mistaken interpretation of Nagarjuna's writings, in which he follows Doshaku, Donran, and Zendo, his predecessors in heresy, divides Buddhism into two gates, the gate of Holy Practices, and the gate of Faith in the Pure Land, and advises all men, in this age of decay, to embrace the latter. As to the other forms of Buddhism, and as to the other Sutras, including even the Saddharma pundarika and the Sutras of the Shingon tradition, he uses four words to describe what should be our attitude towards them. "Give them up," he says, "close the books, lay them aside, fling them away." By means of this doctrine he has misled thousands of his followers, both lay and clerical.

Now, this teaching is in direct contradiction to one of Amida's Vows, as contained in the three Pure Land Sutras in which alone he puts his trust. I mean the Vow that Amida takes to "clear away the five obstacles to the truth, and to remove the abuses of true Buddhism." It is in contradiction, likewise, to the teachings of the "whole life according to the five periods." It can lead its author nowhere but to the lowest hell. We live in an age when saints are few; there are not many that can discern the dangerous nature of these teachings. Woe unto them! They do not smite the offender. Woe, woe! they acquiesce in the propagation of a false faith. From the princes and barons down to the common people, every one is now saying, that there are no Scriptures but the Three of the Pure Land, and no Buddha but the Triune Amida. But in ancient days it was not so. The teachings which famous priests, such as Dengyo, Gishin, Jikaku, and Chisho, brought with them from over the seas were revered by all the people. Mountains, rivers, and valleys were consecrated by the erection of sacred images of the Buddhas, and pilgrims flocked from all parts to worship at these holy places. S'akyamuni and