A JAPANESE VIEW OF QUAKERISM Nitobe Inazo 1926

A JAPANESE VIEW OF QUAKERISM

APPENDIX D   LECTURES ON JAPAN (1937)

Address given at the University of Geneva on December 14th, 1926, prior to Us departure from Geneva.

My subject is "What is Quakerism? " To begin with the defmition of my subject, " Quakerism" is a term embodying those religious beliefs, moral precepts, social practices, which are either peculiar to, or particu­larly inculcated by, the community of Christians who came into existence in England in the middle of the 17th century under the name of the Society of Friends, and who were mockingly called Quakers, i.e., people who quake and tremble.

II

Quakerism is so peculiarly English, at least in its beginning, that I cannot conceive of it being started else­where. It is true that similar religious bodies were formed in other countries such as the Mennonites in Friesland, and later on the Doukhobors in Russia. None the less it may be said that Quakerism was a product of the religious turmoil of the 17th century England seek­ing for personal conviction in matters of religion and politics, and that its vitality is also due to the individualistic frame of the English mind. Its founder, George Fox, did not think of founding a new sect; but when as a young man he came to realize the power of the Spirit, as he called it, within himself, he shared it with those who were in search of a religious conviction, who were not at all satisfied with the formalistic teaching of the priesthood. I am inclined to think that it was partly the English character of Quakerism that made it non-prose­lytizing and circumscribed its activities within the British Islands and within the Anglo-Saxon stock in America and Australia. It is also the practical genius of the English race that kept up the vitality of Quakerism despite many obstacles and impediments, for other mystic bodies have either been suppressed by authorities or have gradually dispersed; and what remains is but a faint image of what they once were. Quakerism, too, has been losing its ground more or less, its followers diminish­ing in number; but the remnant came to the fore during the Great War on account of their objection to war and of their activities in relief work. At present they num­ber about 20,000 in Great Britain, ioo,000 .in America, about 300 in Japan and perhaps _iso in Germany where they were quite a large body once, but where they were suppressed entirely under the power of militarism. As to France, until about 30 years ago there was a small community near Nimes, but at present I do not think there are many left.

III

When Quakerism is such an English institution why should a foreigner, so foreign as a Japanese, take upon himself to explain " What is Quakerism" to a Swiss audience, especially to the spiritual descendants of Calvin, and under the presidency of a professor of theology of the University of Geneva ! As, however, the Chairman has himself explained, Geneva is an inter­national city and is becoming more and more so, and its citizens will surely take interest in hearing something of Quakerism, which has always stood for international good-will and co-operation. As to myself, an Asiatic and Japanese, I have found many points in common between Quakerism and teachings long current in the Far East. I shall explain, and you will understand, I hope, even without my going into detail, why Quakerism is so attractive to Eastern minds. When I speak of the East, I have naturally the Far East in my mind; but even in the so-called Levant, we meet with religious bodies —Sufism, Bahaism, etc.—which entertain principles very analogous to Quakerism.

IV

The starting point of Quaker teaching is the belief in the existence of the Inner Light, the Light that lightens everyone coming into the world. It is given other names, such as the Seed, the Voice, the Christ, and so on. Whatever the name, it means the presence of a Power not our own, the indwelling of a Personality other than human, in each one of us. Such a doctrine is not at all new. It is as old as the oldest form of mysticism. George Fox knew perfectly well that it was not his own discovery or invention. It is an idea that comes to every mystic soul in any clime. Perhaps it has developed more in the East. SOcrates' daemon must have meant some­thing very much like it. Buddhism is full of references to it. The famous word "Nirvana" which is so often translated "Annihilation" is but a negative way of naming it. Taoism starts and ends with it. The Zen sect of Buddhism makes it its aim to comprehend it. Wang Yang Ming,  a comparatively new Chinese philo­sopher of the i5th Century, has made it the basis of his moral philosophy.

Now you see the reason why I was particularly drawn to Quakerism. When I began in my boyhood to hear Christian sermons and read Christian books, including the Bible, I confess that they were not at all convincing to me. Only in Quakerism could I reconcile Christianity with Oriental thought.

V

Let it be far from me to turn Quakerism into Oriental mysticism. Quakerism stays within the family of Christianity. It professes to rest its structure on the person of Jesus Christ, whom it identifies with the Inner

Light. It does not deny his incarnation and historicity,
but it accepts his continued work of grace in each suc‑
ceeding generation. Not only that, it believes his grace
was retroactive, so that it was he who enlightened all
the seers of old. He still dwells within us—in the least
as well as in the greatest, even in the savage and the un‑
lettered. Unlike Orientals, George Fox, a genuine Eng‑
lishman, and his followers, conceived of a personal Christ
as the Light, or, of Light as a person; but, by making
this person eternal and existent before the world was,
Quakerism came to much the same conclusion as the old
mystics. Laotze, 600 years before Christ, spoke of the
same thrme, but in a reverse manner, namely, of a person
in an impersonal way. Allow me to quote that famous
14th chapter of Tao Tel King. He writes: "You
look at it and do not see, and you call it colorless.
You listen to it and cannot hear it and you call it sound‑
less. You stretch your hand and you cannot grasp it and
you call it bodyless. These three surpass your power of
definition and must be all put together as one." Now
the words he used - " colorless," " soundless," and
"bodyless," are in the original Chinese pronounced
ji-hi-wel. Had Laotze ever heard of Jahveh, of Jehovah?

Perhaps he had. It is not impossible.       there was a
communication between China and Judea in those olden times. If he had, may we not say that he identified Christ with the Tao, the Way, which is the subject of his whole philosophy—the 'Tay, which the Christians call their Master and God?

I shall not detain you longer on this particular theme. I have cited only one instance out of hundreds to show the affinities between the Western and the Eastern thought of centuries ago, and the idea developed by the untutored English cobbler of the ¹7th century.

VI

Were these mystics misguided, building their houses on the sands of fantasy and clothing themselves in gar­ments woven of cobwebs out of their fevered brows ?‑

There seems to be a regular order in mental evolu­tion. An author with whom I am not always in, sym­pathy has made the distinction clear between the different stages in the development of consciousness. Dr. Bucke, a Canadian alienist, in explaining the four gradations in the development of consciousness, says : "These four stages are, first, the perceptual mind—the mind made up of percepts or sense impressions ; second, the mind made up of these and recepts-_the so-called receptual mind, or, in other words, the mind of simple consciousness; third, we have the mind made up of percepts, recepts and concepts, called, sometimes, the conceptual mind or other­wise the self-conscious mind—the  mind of self-conscious­ness ; and fourth, and last, we have the intuitional mind —the mind whose highest element is not a recept or a concept, but an intuition. This is the mind in which sensation, simple consciousness and self-consciousness are supplemented and crowned with cosmic consciousness."

Modern psychologists do not seem to deny that there can be such a gradual development in consciousness: Monsieur Bergson's distinction between intelligence and intuition is well known. Dumb creatures, and perhaps plants also, possess a certain degree of consciousness, but man alone can detach himself from himself and reflect upon his own consciousness. This is a state of develop­ment not very difficult for us to attain, in fact every normal human being attains it. But is not there a stage still higher where we can merge ourselves in the great universe and feel the very pulses of the all-pervading life—a stage of consciousness where the microcosm becomes one with the macrocosmos, where we can feel at once that we are one with the great Spirit that lives and moves through the universe?

Eastern philosophy loves to contemplate on the identity of individual life with the life of the Whole. Known under different names—there is, for instance, "Libera­tion," "Brahmithc Splendour," or "Nirvana "—this cosmic consciousness is the experience of many minds among all the races of the world. It is an experience whereby man is convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that he is a Spirit and that his Spirit is in close communion with the Spirit of the Universe. He finds himself at the center of the world; he shares all its joys and sorrows. He blows with every flower and weeps with every ephemeral insect. All mankind live in him and he in them.

He feels like a giant. Like a lover whom Emerson paints, he is twice the man and walks with arms akimbo. Like Dante, another lover, he talks to the Absolute Being in the language addressed to Beatrice. Curiously enough, the Cosmic sense, as described by those who attain it, is very much the same everywhere—whether it be by a Buddhist priest, a Shinto votary, a Mohammedan saint, a French mathematician, an American farmer, or a Jewish philosopher. Nothing confirms the identity of the human race better than this spiritual expansion. But I can speak only as a close observer of those who attain this high and lofty sense, and not as one who has himself attained it.

To make a little clearer what I mean by Cosmic Con­sciousness and how this is reached, let me cite the example of Blaise Pascal. Fortunately he left on record what we may call his religious conversion, and what we may call attainment of the Cosmic Sense. His biographer, no less a man than Condorcet, has made public the so-called Mystic Amulet of Pascal, I a parchment document which was found on his person at his death and in which he described an experience he had in the year 1654, when he was 31 years old.

The year of grace 1654

Monday, 23 November, day of St. Clement, Pope and Martyr,

Pascal's Mystic Amulet (so-called by Condorcet), original parchment disappeared. Copy on paper in Pascal's own writing preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

From about half-past ten in the evening until about half-past twelve, midnight,

FIRE

God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jabob,

not of the philosophers nor of the Wise.

Assurance, joy, assurance, feeling, joy, peace.

God of Jesus Christ,

My God and thy God.

Forgotten of the world and of all except God.

He is only found in the ways taught

in the Gospel. The sublimity of the human soul.

Just Father, the world has not known thee

but I have known thee.

Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy,

I do not separate myself from thee

They left me behind, me 'a fountain of living water.

My God, do not leave me.

Let me not be separated from thee eternally.

This is eternal life that they should know thee

the only true God and him whom thou has sent.

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ

I have separated myself from him;

I have fled, renounced, crucified him.

Let me not be forever separated from him.

One is saved only by the teaching of the Gospel.

Reconciliation total and sweet.

Total submission to Jesus Christ and to my Director.

Continual joy for the days of my life on earth.

I shall not forget what you have taught me, Amen."

It is strange to see with what suddenness and exuberance these splendours come. Jacob Boehme, the Teutonic theosopher, who died the year that Fox was born (1624) and who was also a shoemaker, had an illumination all of a sudden in his humble workshop when he was 24 years of age. It seems that the experience of what we have termed cosmic sense happens at an age very much later than the so-called Christian conversion, which William James and other psychologists find most common at the period of adolescence. Whether the spiritual illumination is accomplished through visible fire as in the case of Moses and Pascal, or through an audible voice as in the case of Socrates or Jeanne d'Arc, or as a bright light as in the case of St. Paul and Mahommed, the result seems to be very much the same. It means an immense increase of energy, bodily and spiritual, peace of mind, joy of heart, readiness to depart this life, and love for all mankind.

The central doctrine of Quakerism is the belief in this Cosmic sense which they call the Timer Light, and all the doctrines and precepts of Quakerism are only corollaries drawn from this premise. Allow me to call your atten­tion, before I proceed further, to what I consider a very important point—namely, wherein Christianity differs from other faiths in respect to this power.

VII

Cosmic consciousness is the illumination of the mind; it is the acquisition of a new mental power; it is the puri­fication of the heart, the elevation of the earthly man to the higher sphere of existence. It is the baptism of the Spirit. The power to effect these changes has been pre­dicated of Christ. If, however, among Christians there be such as would refuse to be classed with the heathen who have caught this power—or if among the non-Christians there be such as would not gladly acknowledge as friends the Christians who have this vision—it only shows that neither of them has yet attained to the truth for whosoever gets it harbors no pride in his heart and entertains no enmity with other children of the light.

I ask again Is there, then, no superiority whatever in the so-called revealed religion, by which is meant, I presume, the revelation of Godhead in the person and life of Jesus Christ? I believe Christianity has this ad-vantage—not to call it a point of superiority—that it provides weak, ordinary human mortals with a definite and concrete object upon which to focus their mind, thus facilitating their discovery of the Perfect Man. Acquaint­ance with Him makes us one with Him—at-one-ment. To follow Him is to be redeemed from a lower plane of life. To contemplate Him is to see God Himself and be saved.

We read Laotze; we read Buddhist saints; we study Oriental mystics—we are brought very near to the idea of redemption, atonement, salvation. We shall perhaps feel the same assurance and bliss, the same power and the same love for our fellow men; but we feel that we have not reached our finality. Like Goethe, we still yearn for "more light." Yes, we see light, but not the one thing essential—namely, a perfect living Personality. It is not impossible that many an Oriental has caught a more abundant quantity of light than many a Christian saint, but in that light by which they saw a thousand and one objects, they could perceive only something brilliant, but amorphous, which they did not identify as the King of Kings. They could see rocks and pebbles of all sizes and shapes; but they knew not the Cornerstone. They saw herbs of varied hues and qualities, but the Vine escaped their scrutiny.

VIII

The immediate consequence of the doctrine of the Inner Light is the peculiar form of worship in vogue among the Quakers—namely, the silent waiting for inspiration. Believing that God is immanent in all, they come together and prepare a milieu for His manifestation. When anybody—it does not matter who, maybe a man, woman or child—feels stirred in his heart he or she gives testimony in a sermon, song or prayer. An English writer, Mr. Waley, in a little book in which he compared the Quakers with the Zen Sect of Japan has said that the "Quakers seek communion with the Divine Spark in corporate meditation and deliberately exploit the mysteri­ous potencies of crowd-psychology." This is in a way misleading, since it is not only in meetings, silent or other­wise, that Quakers stress the doctrine of Immanence.

Even their business meetings are conducted in an atmosphere of tranquillity. Should discussion become heated it is customary for some member to propose waiting upon the Lord for a few minutes, and when the excitement subsides they take up the business of the day again. I must add here that in the meetings decision is taken not by simple vote, i.e., by merely counting heads or hands, but it is taken by the weight of opinion. This means that the utterance of one man of high character and good judgment counts more than the opinions of ten men of lighter weight. Such a device may look very much like "respect of persons" and undemocratic and altogether against the fundamental principle of Equality espoused by Friends, but whoever knows that a mere majority is a mechanical contrivance, will admit that decision by weight is the more judicious procedure.

Ix

Another prominent feature in the religious profession of Friends is their disuse of the sacraments generally observed in the Christian Church. Holding divine wor­ship to consist in spiritual communion, and in nothing else, they deny the necessity of Water Baptism and of the Lord's Supper. They maintain that true baptism must be of the Spirit and not in water. They even go further. They accept the Bible as God-inspired, but will not credit it as the sole revelation of divine will. They say that it is not the Word of God, and in order to understand and profit by it, spiritual enlightenment must precede its perusal. It may be remembered that the Bible had been translated into English only eleven years before George Fox was born, and in his days it was evidently very much studied and almost superstitious virtues were ascribed to it. No wonder, therefore, that the Quakers, if for no other reason, should have been thought heretics and unbelievers.

Another consequence follows from the Quaker esti­mate of the Bible. They say that the knowledge of this book does not by itself qualify a man to preach the truth, for the truth comes direct from the Spirit. Theological study is not, therefore, valued by them as much as in other churches.

From this fact follows another, namely the usage among them of not having regularly educated clergy. If anybody distinguishes himself, be he educated or not, by preaching in a manner which appeals as sound and helpful, he is recognized as acceptable to the meeting, and inasmuch as his gift of preaching is free, he must not receive any material compensation.

X

The Inner Light being conceived as universal, it is given to all men irrespective of sex, race, or education. This being so, there should be no discrimination against women in any way. Hence among Quakers women have always been treated as equals of men. There are women preachers and women officials among them. In the meeting women have always exercised equal rights with men in every way. As to the equality of races, the Friends put their doctrine in practice in dealing with American Indians and negroes. When in the colonial days of America, Europeans vied with each other in hunting down the poor natives and taking their land, William Penn, an Englishman, surprised the natives by dealing fairly and squarely with them, signing a treaty with them as equal brethren and paying an adequate price for their lands. You remember Voltaire's remark that this was the only treaty in history which was concluded without an oath and which was never broken.

The Quaker attitude to the negroes in America is too well-known to be recited. So pronounced were the Quakers in their denunciation of slavery that they were often placed in very dangerous positions during and before the American civil war. Their protest finds a clarion voice in the lines of Whittier and their actual participation in the work of emancipation is immortalized by the pen of Mrs. Stowe in the story of" Uncle Tom's Cabin."

Thus were put into practice the doctrine of Equality and of Brotherhood long before these were adopted as political maxims. What about Liberty? Mr. Gooch, one of the most prominent living publicists of England, devotes several pages of his book on the Political Thought in England to the influence of Quakerism on the develop­ment of civil liberty. It is evident that coercion of any kind is incompatible with the belief in the Inner Light.

XI

The doctrine of equality, when applied in the daily conduct of life, has had some curious effects. At the time when social usage demanded different forms of expression in addressing different classes in society, such discrimination weighed heavily on the conscience of the Quaker and as a protest he called everybody "thou" and "thee." When the custom has changed and" you" is employed for all classes alike, of course the protest has lost its ground.

Similarly the custom known as hat-honor was intro­duced to England when Charles II returned from the continent. He brought the polished manners of the French Court and that involved punctilious formalities about uncovering one's head in the presence of the great. The Quakers insisted that all men are equal and they would not bare their heads before one class in preference to another. It looked as if they had insisted upon being rude to everybody ! We read of George Fox being summoned to the presence of the Lord Protector Crom­well and there he kept his hat on while talking with Cromwell for along time. I was told also that when John Bright was a member of Gladstone's government, he had often to appear before Queen Victoria: but he always kept on his hat. But as he did not resist the exercise of force majeure, a court official was placed near the door to take off his hat as he entered the presence. of Her Majesty, in that way sparing his conscience and preserving the etiquette of the Court.

The use of the plain language and the scruple about hat-honor are not strictly religious tenets, and the Quakers call them testimonies, i.e., usages which the members of the Society should observe as practical demonstrations of their religious profession. Of these testimonies there are some more, such as the objection to take oaths, to swear, under any circumstances (not even in the Court of Justice), and the avoidance of personal ornaments in clothing. Their refusal to swear is founded on the Biblical teaching. Their plain clothing was a testimony against wearing the garish luxurious dress introduced from France at the time of the Restoration. George Fox had to travel extensively on religious missions. Being a shoemaker he had sewn for himself a pair of leather breeches and also a leather coat, anticipating no doubt the latest fashion of automobile drivers ! There are still many conscientious Friends who will not carry a gold watch or a diamond ring. Formerly this sartorial scruple went so far as to regard all bright colors with suspicion, if not with abomination. It is said of an old Quakeress that when the wind blew a red maple leaf into her presence, she carefully turned it upside down. When the social custom has so changed that the man's broad-brimmed hat or the woman's bonnet has become rare and unobtain­able without paying a high price, they in turn become articles of luxury; and hence they have practically gone out of use among Friends.

It is due to their idea of the equality and brotherhood of man that the Quakers devoted their attention to the spread of general education, especially among those who were denied educational facilities. That is the reason why in the history of Poor Schools and of Adult education there are so many Friendly names, as no doubt Professor Bovet here will testify.

XII

The same principle that encouraged education, when applied in dealing with the unfortunate, namely those less gifted mentally, morally or economically, has given rise to new methods in the treatment of the insane, that is to say, the mentally deficient, the criminal—the morally deficient, and the indigent—the economically weak. it is a well-known chapter in the history of alienism that the Friends first started the system of handling the insane with kindness and as human beings. With regard to the attitude towards criminals, the work of Elizabeth Fry, at least in England, broke the record in prison ad­ministration. Lastly, about the poor ; as it is often said that there are no poor among Quakers I must explain how far the statement is justified.

The apparent absence of poverty among the Quakers is due, I think, to three causes :—(i) Owing to the neces­sity felt during the period of persecution, there is a strong esprit de corps in the Society of Friends, with the result that there has developed a good system of mutual assistance. The Society has a special Committee charged with the duty of looking into the condition of its suffering mem­bers, and when the suffering is due to poverty, relief is provided without any intimation as to the giver or the recipient ; so to all appearances, therefore, there is no suffering from poverty.

Secondly, as a rule, the members of the Society are constantly urged to fairness in all dealings with their fellow-men. In trade, honesty has proved to be the best policy. Mr. Bertrand Russell, the well-known writer and philosopher, in his little book, Icarus, speaks of the adoption of the one-price principle by the early Quakers. He says "They adopted this practice because they held it to be a lie to ask more than they would take. But the convenience to customers was so great that everybody came to their shops, and they grew rich." Mr. Russell adds :-" The same policy might have been adopted from shrewdness, but in fact no one was sufficiently shrewd."

Perhaps the third reason ,is the most important, but it is the least thought of. As has been said before, the Society requires of its members the utmost frugality in the manner of living. The typical house of a Quaker is comparatively bare—comfortably and simply furnished, not cumbered with ornaments or loaded with decorations. Luxury is held in horror in any form. Vanity costs more than hunger or cold, as a wise man has said. When we think that the most expensive items in living are the un­necessary things, we can see at once that whosoever has sufficient strength of mind to defy the demands of a showy life can keep povthy at a distance.

Being thus economically competent, the Friends have perhaps been more generous with their means and have thereby given an impression of being a philanthropic body; but charity is not the object of their organization. Money must be viewed as a by-product.

Though the care of the poor is but 'a practical con­sequence of the fundamental conception of man's relation to God,, it certainly forms a vital problem in social life, so much so that an apostle defined religion as visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction and keeping one­self unspotted from the world. That Friends have not forgotten the traditions of their forbears, is amply shown during the war, as our Chairman' has made allusion.

XIII‑

I have one more subject to present before you and I shall be done. 'I refer to 'tha1l-iinportant and all-embrac­ing question of World Peace, which it has been the task of the Society of Friends from its very beginning to advocate and strive after. They have fought for it as few others have fought, they suffered for their conscience Many have sacrificed their bravest sons and daughters, not to count their worldly possessions, at the altar -of peace.

Prof. Eugene Ch6isy, ,Doyen of the Faculty of Theology in the Uni­versity of Geneva.'

In England and America, many young Quakers were imprisoned as conscientious objectors and more of them risked their lives in bringing succor to friends and foes,' while the fighting was going on. A recent book by A Ruth Fry, A Quaker Adventure, modestly and graphically written, shows what -Peace can do in the midst of war. While the heat of nationalism was high, under the regime of,, War psychology, they were subjected to abuse and scorn, but history, I hope, will one day do more justice to their achievements.

When the captains depart and the turmoil' is over the pacific mission of Friends will assume' a new form. If in war they risked their all, should they do less in peace? Spinoza very wisely remarked that the absence of war does not necessarily spell peace.

XIV

Friends as a body have had the immense satisfaction of seeing generally accepted some of the ideas which they were the first to propose and promulgate. The equality of woman, the abolition of slavery, the human treatment of the insane and the criminal, freedom of speech, liberty of conscience, the general spread of education among the poor, the spiritual interpretation of the Bible—all these are assets to their credit. But what are these achievements compared with what still remains to he done--a handful of sand on the vast shore of human sorrow and suffering.

I have thus far dwelt upon some of the peculiarities of the Quakers, and tried to explain the ground for them. I hope I have not overdrawn their virtues. In speaking of the religious body with which I have identified myself for the last forty years, I have been constantly reminded of a story of an Arabian saint, who, when a lad, was ordered one evening by his father to study the Koran with his brother. Seeing the brother fallen asleep the little boy said: "Father, look at him sleeping while I have my eyes fixed on the Holy Scripture." Upon hearing this the good father admonished him gently, saying, "My boy, I wish you were asleep too rather than that you should indulge in spiritual prides"