other than oneself; and, therefore, this way must be considered far easier than the other, and we call it the "tariki-kyo," that is, the doctrine that teaches salvation by a power other than one's own; it is also called the "igyo-do," which means the way easy to practise. It is evident, then, that if a man is not highly endowed with wisdom and intelligence, the following of the "Path for the Wise" must be said to be extremely difficult. For such people as ourselves who were born in these latter days far from the time of the Buddha, and who are not endowed with wisdom nor intelligence, the best policy will be to walk along the "Path of Pure Land," believing in salvation through the grace of Amida.

The Buddhism of the Greater Vehicle can also be viewed as having two classes of teaching, the "Gradual" (zen) and "Abrupt" (ton). The "Gradual" is the doctrine that teaches the attainment of final enlightenment after gradually pas-

sing through stages of discipline; while, according to the "Abrupt" teaching, one can reach the goal, as if by a sudden leap, without successively passing through various stages of ascension.

This distinction of the "Gradual" and the "Abrupt" can also be applied to the "Path for the Wise" as well as to the "Path of Pure Land." The "Gradual" teaching in the "Path for the Wise" says that Buddhahood is attainable by practising the six virtues of perfection (paramitas) for a period of three asamkhyas and one hundred great kalpas. The "Abrupt" teaching in the "Path for the Wise," on the contrary, shows no such patience, for it declares that when a man gets enlightened as to his spiritual oneness with the Buddha, he is a Buddha. While this latter teaching of Buddhism points out the direct way of attaining Buddhahood, the "Gradual" way must be said to be provisional in its relation

to the one just mentioned, in as much as its function is to prepare one for the final and real comprehension of the truth.

Now, the distinction of the "Gradual" and the "Abrupt" in the "Path of Pure Land" is that, according to the former, one is able to enter into the Pure Land of Amida only by degrees, and not, as it were, at a stroke; for a man can only be born on the outskirts of Pure Land if he wishes to be there by the accumulation of good deeds through his own efforts, and it is after another accumulation of merits that he can have his faith firmly established and at last be a resident in the Pure Land proper: whereas the "Abrupt" doctrine teaches that when a man, having an immovable faith in the absolute saving power of Amida, completely resigns himself into the hands of the Buddha, this faith of his at once determines his destiny to be born in the Pure Land proper, and