In spite of these alterations and the liberties I have taken with the manuscripts of the Reverend Shaku, these lectures remain a faithful representation of the views as well as the style of preaching of my venerable teacher and friend.

* * *

As to the text of the Sutra of Forty-two Chapters, I have decided after much consideration to incorporate it here. In the first place, it is not a long sutra, and like the Dharmapada it contains many characteristic Buddhist thoughts. Secondly, most of the Reverend Shaku's lectures have a close relation to the sutra; and when they are read after the perusal of the text, his standpoint as a modern Japanese representative of Buddhism will be better understood. Thirdly, being the first Buddhist literature introduced by the first official Hindu missionaries into the Middle Kingdom (A. D. 67), the sutra has a very interesting historical background.

* * *

I have to add that this collection also contains two articles and one letter by the Reverend Shaku, all of which previously appeared in THE OPEN COURT. The letter was addressed to the

late Dr. John H. Barrows as a sort of protest against his lecture delivered at the Chicago University, 1896, in which Dr. Barrows unfortunately fell in line with the popular misconception of the spirit of Buddhism. The two articles referred to deal with the problem of war as seen from the general Buddhist point of view; and I may remark that the first of the two attracted at the time the attention of such an eminent thinker of our day as Count Leo Tolstoy and was alluded to in his famous anti-war declaration.

DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI.

LaSalle, Ill., 1906.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface

The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters

The God-Conception

Assertions and Denials

Immortality

Buddhist Faith

Buddhist Ethics

What is Buddhism?

The Middle Way

The Wheel of the Good Law

The Phenomenal and the Supra-phenomenal

Reply to a Christian Critic

Ignorance and Enlightenment

Spiritual Enlightenment

Practice of Dhyana

Kwannon Bosatz

Buddhism and Oriental Culture

The Story of Deer Park

The Story of the Gem-Hunting

The Sacrifice for a Stanza

Buddhist View of War

At the Battle of Nan-Shan Hill

A Memorial Address

Index

215