QUAKERISM AND ZEN BUDDHISM TODAY YUKIO IRIE 1974 Lecture.pdf

1974 Lecture.pdf

QUAKERISM AND ZEN BUDDHISM TODAY YUKIO IRIE

THE TENTH  JAMES BACKHOUSE LECTURE  

1973 (AUGUST) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PILGRIMAGE TOWARD THE FOUNTAINHEAD: 

 

QUAKERISM AND ZEN BUDDHISM TODAY 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YUKIO IRIE 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

 

YUKIO IRIE was born in 1908 in FUKOAKA PREF., JAPAN. In 1935 he graduated from Tokyo University of Literature and Science, and from 1954-57 was a Fullbright Research Scholar at Pendle Hill and Woodbrooke. From 1955 to 1972 he was Professor of English, Tokyo University of Education, and is now, after retirement in 1972, Professor of English at Otsuma Women's University. 

 

Among his works have been: 1939, "On Carlyle's Idea of Heroes"* and "On the Conflict Between Early Christianity and Hellenism". Translations: 

Sidney Lucas, "The Quaker Message" (1952) and A. F. Bryant's "Religion for the Hardheaded" (1954). He wrote (1958) "George Fox's Faith and Its Significance Today", (1965) "The Creative Centre of Quakerism"*, (1967) "The Significance of Quakerism in the Religious Environment of Japan Today"* and in 1968 "Emerson and Quakerism"* and "Carlyle and Emerson", He edited and annotated (1971) Robert E. Spiller's "The Mirror of American Life". He selected and translated (1963) "Carlyle's Letters". 

 

He became a member of the Society of Friends in 1950. 

 

* In English. The others are all in Japanese. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published 1973, by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia, Incorporated. 

 

Requests for permission to quote or translate should be addressed to The Secretary, Australia Yearly Meeting, 631 Orrong Road, Toorak, 3142. National Library of Australia card number and ISBN 0 909885 05 2 

 

 

 

The James Backhouse Lectures 

 

This is the tenth in a series of lectures instituted by Australia Yearly Meeting on the occasion of the establishment of that Yearly Meeting on January 1, 1964. 

 

This lecture was delivered in Sydney on August 23, 1973, during the meeting of the Friends World Committee for Consultation. 

 

James Backhouse was an English Friend who visited Australia from 1832 to 1838. He and his companion, George Washington Walker, travelled widely but spent most of their time in Tasmania. It was through this visit that Quaker Meetings were first established In Australia. James Backhouse was a botanist who published full accounts of what he saw, besides encouraging Friends and following up his deep concern for the convicts and for the welfare of the Aboriginal inhabitants of the country. 

 

Australian Friends hope that this series of lectures will bring fresh insights into truth, often with some reference to the needs and aspirations of Australian Quakerism. 

 

ERIC B. POLLARD, Presiding Clerk,  Australia Yearly Meeting. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PREFACE 

 

This is a humble attempt to compare Quakerism with Zen Buddhism by the present writer, who is neither a Christian theologian nor a Zen Master, but a simple seeker for Truth. I would not have taken up the topic but for the urge from within that I should share the fruit of the six Zen-Christian Colloquia which I have had the privilege of attending as a regular participant every year from their beginning. 

 

As you know, the Colloquium was started in 1967 as one of the two unprecedented inter-religious colloquia, one in India and the other in Japan, by the Friends' World Committee for Consultation through Douglas Steere's devoted and inspiring effort. The Zen-Christian Colloquium has been held annually ever since, with about ten leading Zen Masters or scholars of both the Rinzai and Soto Schools and about another ten Christian priests or scholars: Catholics, Protestants or Quakers, for several days in succession each year, with most free and sincere discussions day and night. 

 

Until the first Colloquium most of the leaders, if not all, of the different sects of the same religion, not to speak of those of different religions, had never met before, and had never personally exchanged their ideas about the vital points of their faiths before. It has thus proved itself more and more clearly to be a precious opportunity for our mutual enlightenment and encouragement, for to know difference is to know similarity, and to know others is to know oneself, and at the same time it has led us all to the common basis of all religious thinking, the more deeply from various angles of vision. For all we participants had gathered together With the common aspiration in our hearts to find the way out of the present age of despair and darkness all over the world, and to convince the world that "There is more day to dawn", with Arnold Toynbee's words in our mind, which appeared in the letter of invitation to the first Colloquium, saying that "when the historian of a thousand years from now comes to write of this twentieth century, he will be little interested in the domestic squabbles of the democratic free enterprise and communistic politics, but what will really grip him will be what happened when for the first time in history Christianity and Buddhism deeply interpenetrated each other." 

 

To have the meaning of this essay the better understood I will first describe the social background of our country today; and then briefly pursue the development of our Zen-Christian Colloquia through six years. This will reflect the social atmosphere and development of religious people's concern with social and international problems, and then I shall proceed to the main topic of Quakerism and Zen Buddhism today. In dealing with the central· topic as well as any other question in this paper, I will adopt the same principle as in the Colloquia, that one should express oneself as frankly as possible in one's own words, referring to books only when inevitable. Even in my account of Quakerism, I hope you will understand that it is my own view of Quakerism, for, as Emerson says, the difference of religious ideas held by two believers of one denomination could be as great as between any two different religions.

 

 

 

Chapter I 

 

The Social Environment in Japan Today and the Zen-Christian Colloquia 

 

1 

 

In the present age instantaneous international exchange of information of almost any affairs in any country, perhaps I need not say much about the social environment in our country today. Let it suffice, therefore, to say that in the last 28, years since the end of the war, our country has prospered enormously economically as a whole, even to the extent that the Japanese have come to be called "economic animals" according to the newspapers, but, that all efforts of any kind, social, political, industrial or economic, have served little to make the spiritual state of our nation better. On the contrary, they have made it worse. Certainly one cannot serve two masters, and it is only spiritual nourishment that sustains, develops, and keeps one spiritually wholesome. In proportion as we increase the number of sky-scrapers, turn-pikes, super-speed railway lines, cars, and factories, the people seem to have been experiencing disillusionment, despair and dilemma, and, worst of all, loss of faith in man and nature.  

 

At our ninth triennial Friends' World Conference at Waterford, Ireland, in 1964, I talked somewhat of the miserable spiritual confusion and degeneration which followed when all the spiritual and ethical structure and the feudalistic social system was suddenly overturned after the end of the war. This confusion showed itself by the following three things: the loss of faith in all religions, especially in Shinotism, which used to control all Japanese ethical and educational thinking throughout the country; the mistaken idea of democracy, in which the number of votes is almighty, right as power being all, while social responsibility as a citizen being mere nothing; and the overestimation of science and substance, leading to a blind, reckless love of financial prosperity for its own sake. 

 

How deep our disillusionment in our sense of pride and honour of our nationality, and of all our myths and legends might be realized by the scarcity of national flags hoisted up on national holidays and by the little worship paid by the people in general to the Shinto shrines, as well as by the fact that the national anthem has seldom been sung even by school children even today, twenty-eight years after the end of the war! 

 

It is nine years since the Waterford Conference. During that time things have grown worse and worse in spite of the, industrial, commercial and technological development throughout the country, with too little effort made for education, public welfare, and social security, obliging the government to attempt a wholesale re-construction of our island country. As a result, a drastic change of life-philosophy has been brought about from nationalism to self-centred individualism, with the views of values fundamentally changed from love of success in life with social and national honours to love of personal pleasure and luxury. All these things have been combined to cause a surprising number of cases of suicide, murder, parricide, as well as infanticide, not to speak of carefree abortion; and political complaints related to these have brought about terrible student unrest throughout the country, while making the people in general grow more and more uneasy, with their critical mind gradually strengthened in favour of socialism. 

 

Of course, few things like these are to be considered merely in terms of national affairs today. With the sudden change of international relations with the end of the Vietnam war, we have given a deep sigh of relief, though our sense of uncertainty and anxiety about our future still remains, for we are afraid that as the international relations have suddenly changed, so they might change again any day, suddenly, and we are all wondering deep in our hearts whether we can find any way in which to attain real international peace and friendship. This is the real feeling of our nation at present. 

 

With all its weak points, I have a deep faith in our nation as a whole for two reasons: (i) They have learned to love peace sincerely through their experience of the Second World War. Say what some politicians may, the majority of the people are decidedly against war and against the change of our "Peace" Constitution. "Experience is an expensive school", but its education has been deep-grained and will remain deep-rooted in our country, I believe, (ii) Having been emancipated from the feudalistic principle of government to which they had long been subdued - "Let them rely upon their rulers, and never let them know what their rulers are doing"! - they are beginning to stand upon their own feet and to live according to their own judgement, that is, they are beginning to realize what human happiness is and what man is, irrespective of nationality, race, sex, wealth or social position. 

 

 

2 

 

It was against this social background that we had six Zen-Christian Colloquia. 

 

In the first Coloquium, the theme was twofold: (i) My Spiritual Journey, (ii) My Social Responsibility as a Believer Today. Each participant was asked to talk on one of the two topics above mentioned, and then free discussion followed. We chose these two topics because we wished to share directly with one another our personal, spiritual and secular experiences to an extent which we could not find anywhere else, and to remove prejudices mutually, and to deepen our spiritual convictions and aspirations in co-operation through these two topics, which might evolve the deepest religious discussions. 

 

We realized, through this Colloquium, that, however different their religious views may be, all men are consciously or unconsciously seeking for, or waiting for, a greater or deeper Truth or Light to appear today than they have ever experienced before - the Light which is so universally true and loving that it transcends all differences of religious opinions and traditions, and leads them all to a real Peace of the World. 

 

A Zen Master of over 80, who has participated in the Colloquium every year, referring to these two topics of the first Colloquium, has recently said, "Those two questions, demanding us to answer in our own words, were entirely different from what I had learned in my school and college. I welcomed those questions with my heart open for joy. I must confess that the first Colloquium has become the basis of my life ever since." 

 

The theme of the second Colloquium, in 1968, was also twofold: (i) My Religious Experiences, (ii) The Practice of Inter-Religious Movements on Peace. You may easily see why we adopted the theme, from what I mentioned above about the first Colloquium and from the state of affairs all over the world. 

 

Our discussions centred round pacifism and the practice of inter-religious peace-movements with two Quakers' precious personal experiences shared with us. They were Tayeko Yamanouchi and Nicola Geiger. Since all members of the Colloquium were sincerely concerned with the problem of world peace, all the discussions were enthusiastic. Some of the Zen Masters' comments, with frank confessions, were moving. One said, for example, "Buddhism never justifies war. 

It has simply proved the weakness of our own Buddhism that we have failed to work to stop the war. Even if the methods Christians take up may be different from those of Buddhists, the spirit in which Christians and Buddhists work for peace must be essentially the same, for 'Do not kill!' is the common basis of all activities of the two religions. If this is ignored, where is Christianity, and where is Buddhism? Just think of the Quakers' peace testimony throughout the world for three hundred years! Following the steps of Quakers, let us stand up for peace!" Another said, "It is not that I have been indifferent to war since my boyhood. Though I worked for peace in my way during the Second World War, and I was about to be caught by the police, I must confess I have done nothing like Quakers' peace testimony, and I am simply ashamed. I shall not live many more years, but I have done nothing yet!" 

 

We did not arrive at any conclusion as to what we should do in cooperation for peace testimony for various reasons. For example, one said, "It is all right to cry for peace, but everywhere people are crying for peace in words for various purposes. Besides, in order for us to start any inter-religious peace movement, we must first solve the question of the common basis for a peace testimony theologically, for each religion, each sect has its theological basis which has been so strong as to make them form different sects. Coercion in anything must be an evil." 

 

Thus our conclusion was: It is impossible for anyone to realize peace in this world, so long as he feels ill at ease about peace. We must first attain the spiritual world of peace in which there is no war possible, and then work for the establishment of world peace. It will take time, but let us work perseveringly. 

 

The theme of the third Colloquium was "For the Rising Generation". If you consider that it was in 1969 that the third Colloquium took place, when the student unrest was most violent and reckless throughout the country, you will see why we adopted the theme. We planned to invite two students to our Colloquium who were regarded as the most dreaded leaders of students not only of the university to which they belonged, but also of many other universities. On that particular evening when we expected the students to come, one of them did not come, but the other did come, though we had been afraid that either of them would not accept our invitation. Perhaps because of the free and friendly atmosphere of the gathering, the student expressed himself very frankly, and we had a very satisfactory meeting. 

 

The point of what the student said was this: On entering the university through difficult entrance-examinations, and seeing both professors and students looking proud and dignified, he began to ask himself whether it is so pleasing and satisfactory as a human being to defeat others and make oneself an elite. "Is this society correct in which competition is the ruling principle of all activities? Look at all the international relations. Look at the Near-East. Look at Africa. Look at Vietnam and India. From what is the present Japanese prosperity derived? What does it mean to live in this present society of ours after all? We must change this. We must change this society by all means in which some are permitted as a matter of course to defeat others and make ourselves elites mercilessly, at the cost of others! Lodging at a poor home in a slum, I have found a far deeper happiness in the poor but warm-hearted home than in a prosperous but cool-hearted, selfcentred home of the middle class." 

 

The reason why he denies religion is, as he said, because he has known that although the religionist may have found his position in the relation between an individual and God, that is all that he cares for, and he does nothing further. "But I have found my position", said the student, "in the relation between myself and my friends as human beings. So I regret to have always defeated my friends, and I am now afraid that if things continue to be just as they have been I may defeat others again and again. I cannot but deny such a society as this. I cannot but deny all universities today. To change the men of power as in the Soviet Russia is not enough. We must revolutionize men themselves. We must attain our social revolution on the basis of the fundamental revolution of human relations, in which there is no competition. The present society thinks of nothing more than mere physical existence by competition. To eat and keep alive - that is all. Is it enough? People do not consider the meaning of life. We must create a society by our own hands, in which each individual realizes the meaning of life. That is the meaning of our revolution. We do know that the end does not justify the means. Our end is to create a society in which no people fight with one another. So you might think that that end should not justify our means. And yet we are resorting to that means of ours simply because there is no other means to resort to." 

 

Through this Colloquium we were convinced of three things about those young people at least: (i) While desiring a peaceful world in which there is no competition or war, they cannot but choose a warlike means for attaining it, for they can find no other available way of which they are convinced, while they themselves are aware of the contradiction between the end and the means. (ii) They believe that human happiness consists in one's relation with others, but since they cannot find Absolute Relationship with God, they are looking for their friends for themselves, by denying their "enemies" and all the existing code, system and structure established by their enemies. (iii) For the real revolution, they must attain the revolution of human beings themselves first, they believe, but the trouble in attaining it is "self-denial". 

 

We appreciated the frank and courageous expression of the student, and, of course, we exchanged our opinions sincerely. And yet his unbelief in religion, that is, his basic unbelief in God, could not easily be changed in one night, for all our prayerful explanation of our efforts for world peace and spiritual reformation in the international level failed to convince him. It was a strong challenge to us all, and notwithstanding our later sincere discourses and discussions, no conclusion was arrived at as to what we should do, except to continue to discuss the central question of this Colloquium, that is: how to face the serious situation of the world as believers. 

 

Thus, the theme of the fourth Colloquium was: "Looking Into the Core of the Matter of the Present-day World". Our views of this problem were not essentially different from the very beginning of this Colloquium, and our conclusion was that the core of all the problems was the split between culture and human life, that is, with all its astounding development, scientific, technological, etc., modern culture can no longer meet the need of human life today. In other words, sensitive human beings, especially young people today, are crying for another Renaissance; they are desiring to enjoy some real warm, congenial happiness of life, different from that cold, self-centred happiness called success in life through competition which is to be enjoyed at the cost of others. They have become conscious, like grown-up human beings worthy of the name, instead of still remaining crudely ambitious childish beings, that there must be some real happiness somewhere with which their heart and soul can be really contented. 

 

Thus, we could not doubt that whatever they may say about religion, they must be seeking for some spiritual Truth deeper than any science can teach. It must be time that we believers should stand up and make ourselves useful to them, if we can! This was our unanimous feeling, but the question was their abject suspicion and denial of religion. Our humble inquiry into the cause of the unbelief in religion, among not only young people, but also even older people, however, reminded us, in brief, that all religions with few exceptions had been simply too traditional, paying too little attention to the real need of the present age! We were all convinced that faith kept by tradition is no good. Faith must be kept alive by constant discovery and realization that it is the living Truth. In that respect there cannot be any difference between Christianity and Buddhism. In that ceaseless flow of spiritual experience alone any religion ought to be found. 

 

But as to the question what that living Truth is, the ideas expressed in words at least were varied according to the particular religions, and eventually, as you can easily imagine, our theme of "Looking into the Core of the problems of the Present-day World" was turned into "Looking into the Core or the Fountainhead of all Religions". 

 

Thus, the theme of the fifth Colloquium was: "The Meaning of the Colloquium between Zen-Buddhists and Christians in the Present World". 

 

Our discussions on this theme came naturally to centre round two vital points: (i) The essence of religion in general, and (ii) The practice of religion in this world. 

 

What came home to us all through our sustained discussions in this Colloquium, which was, in reality, the fruit of our united effort for five years, was that whatever we may call It in accordance with the particular denomination to which we belong, all were aware (i) that there is the Origin or Source of all things in the universe, which rules over all; It is to be seen in and through everything on earth by the Awakened, but Its Reality is so deep and mysterious that It is beyond the power of any human expression; and (ii) that, whatever their theological difference may be, all people are essentially of It, and are consciously or unconsciously trying to know It, because they feel It is the final Cause of all truth, beauty and love, so that, as a matter of fact, the more one is Awakened to It, the more loving one naturally becomes to others in this world, irrespective of religion, race or nationality. 

 

As for the practice of religion, we agreed, after all our discussions, that ways of religious discipline and testimony are apt to become stereotyped and fossilized, and, in consequence, become mere shells of forms without life within, and that, therefore, we should always be careful of our living relations with others: for to lose touch with the suffering world might mean that our religion has lost its own life. 

 

The fact was, however, that, in spite of many people's reference to the dangerous situation of society and that of the world today, the Colloquium did not come to the conclusion that we must do something definite right now as the testimony of our religions, though we were convinced that basically we have much in common in belief and in social concern. We have decided, however, one thing - that is, to publish the fruit of our Colloquia in a book form as a means of offering our social service as a whole, if' possible. We think that just to give a vista to the depth of Manhood is helpful to young people, at least, who have lost faith in human life. 

 

The more theologically-minded Christians and Buddhists, however, were not satisfied with merely having arrived at the common ground, which has taken us five years and has not been an easy task in itself, and hoped to dwell upon the causes of difference between religions and sects more in detail. 

 

Thus, in order to make it easier to compare our religions in relation to the actual world, we adopted the following theme for the next Colloquium: "The Meaning of Man, and the Way in which to Be Awakened to It, as seen from Our Respective Religious Viewpoints". 

 

Our discussions on this theme in the sixth Colloquium evolved with enthusiasm as you can imagine, partly because it happened that some of the participants were converts, after long spiritual journeys seeking for the final Truth, into different religions from those in which they had been brought up. It was in this Colloquium that someone confessed that although he had been denominationally converted to Zen Buddhism, he had never thought that he had ever changed his faith in what he had believed to be Christianity, and that all the Catholic participants declared, in answer to my question, that they believed that salvation is possible in any other religion, and that some revolutionary change has been taking place in their way of ministry today. 

 

And yet, different religions have different views of the meaning of man and the way in which to be awakened to and fully to realize it in this actual world. From these different views, you may easily understand how our discussions developed, questions bringing about further questions, all inspiring and encouraging us to approach the Fountain-head with more and more depth. 

 

Our discussions centred round the following two points: (i) Where is God or Buddha, within man or without? The Christian God seemed to be always definitely outside of man, excepting for Quakers, while Buddha seemed to be neither within nor without, because with Zen Buddhists, to be Awakened to Buddha means to be one with Him. Thus, with Buddhism, a really Awakened man's life is as free and vivid as Buddha Himself, and yet Christians seemed to Zen Buddhists to think that God and man always stand in the relation of Master versus servant, each living in an entirely different world, thus necessitating a bridge named Jesus over the gulf between them, for man's salvation. (ii) Is a real religion possible at all without presupposing some desperate agony, and life and death struggle to cleanse oneself of sin in vain, only to experience despair and complete surrender on the part of man? Is it possible for any man to acquire a religion without first realizing the dreadful Original Sin with trembling, and offering prostrate prayers to God for His mercy and redemption? 

 

The second question was raised not only by the evangelical Christians, but also by the Zen Buddhists, because the Zen Buddhists believe that, although they do not believe in Original Sin, they know human follies, ignorance and sinfulness, and that their Awakenment is to be attained only through some severe physical and spiritual training, perhaps equal to Christians' agony and suffering with the consciousness of Original Sin, while Quakerism seemed to them very easy-going, when considered according to their understanding of "the Inner Light". Thus, both of these questions directly concerned the Quaker Faith, and obliged us eventually to go into detail about the most subtle points of difference between Zen Buddhism and Quakerism. 

 

Chapter II 

 

Zen Buddhism and Quakerism 

 

1. The Basic View of Man in Zen Buddhism 

 

As in dealing with any vital question of any religion, we cannot emphasize too much that words fail to explain the real meaning of Man as seen or felt in Zen Buddhism. If I should try to explain it in words, I would say that Man is a Being over all time and place, and over all human ideas and -isms; Man is greater than all religions which have existed in history for Him to realize Himself and live a life worthy of Himself, that is, for Him to enjoy eternal life, not after death, but now in this world every moment. Zen Buddhism addresses itself lo every man, like Socrates: "Know Thyself". 

 

Zen Buddhists believe, as a Zen Master says, that in order to understand the real meaning of Man, the best way for it is to ask oneself what one is. for once one begins to think of others in order to deduce the meaning of Man out of ones various views of various men. then only various views of man will come out in accordance with one's choice of some particular individuals or groups of men, and in accordance with one's own notions, or ignorance or weak or twisted eyesight. They believe, therefore, that the real meaning of Man is to be realized only by asking oneself, what one is. and then, asking further, what that man is who is asking himself what he is, and so on. They believe that one will thus be Awakened sooner or later to Self or the Real Man. 

 

What is Self (or the Real Man), then? It is the final Being which one can no longer ask what It is, for It is that which is asking Itself. It is what one knows when one's insight is clear enough: It is a Being that knows no beginning and no ending; It knows no time, because It exists eternally while existing here, this very moment, every moment. In the same way, It is immense and boundless while existing in all forms, not only of persons but also of all other things, animate or inanimate. It is Buddha, and Mother of all things in the universe, all being dependent upon It for their existence. 

 

"Zen" means "meditation". Zen is considered to be the only orthodoxy of Buddhism, for Gautama, the Founder of Buddhism, discovered this Fact of his real Self through his meditation. They believe that one who has discovered or realized his Self is Buddha or the Awakened. Gautama is said to have cried on discovering Self, after meditating upon that question, under a bo-tree for three years: "Of all heaven and earth, I alone am holy!" They believe that this sacred sense of finding oneself the only holy being of all heaven and earth is to be enjoyed by anyone who has been Awakened to his Self. 

 

Hating all religionists and moralists who hold fixed ideas which are apt to prevent them from being Awakened to their Self, Zen Master Rinzai the founder of the Rinzai School, says: "Be awakened to the Fact! People say that there is the Way of Buddha which everybody should learn or that there is the Law which everybody should comprehend" but what Law are you going to comprehend and what Way are you going to learn? What do you think is lacking in your present existence, and how do you think you should fill it at all? Young people seeking for Truth see nothing, and readily accept and believe what false, unawakened Zen Masters say, who preach worthless creeds in a plausible way, and spiritually imprison others by teaching them that they can be Buddhas, that is, they can be redeemed, if only they live up to those creeds and refrain from all sins of three kinds: of body, of mouth, and of will . . . . '  

 

"What are you looking for, I wonder! That Self which is now listening to me in front of me, that vivid, living Self in you - is there anything lacking in It at all? If you want to be like Dharma or Gautama, be Awakened to It and never doubt It. If you constantly keep Awake and live Awake every moment, you are then a living Founder of Zen Buddhism. If that Awakenment should be broken, on that instant your Mind and consciousness would split asunder. In that Awakenment, as long as It continues, Mind and consciousness are not different 

things." 1 

 

As you see in this quotation, Zen Buddhists believe that everybody is essentially Buddha. As Zen Master Hakuin says in his poem entitled: "Ode to Zen-Sitting", "Man is Buddha in essence. Man and Buddha are like ice and water: as ice cannot be without water, so Buddha cannot be without man. But, alas! Being unaware that Buddha is near at hand man looks for Him far in the distance, just like a man complaining of his thirst in the midst of water, or like a millionaire's son gone astray in a slum." Thus, in the same way, Zen Master Rinzai, with his heart full of pity for those who are not aware of the existence of that essential Man (or Self) in themselves cries to them, "In the body of flesh and blood, there exists the Real Man, One undefinable and illimitable. He comes in and out of every one of you incessantly through all the doors of senses. Those of you who have not yet met Him, look at Him, look at Him, here, right now!" 2 

 

An anecdote says that, when the Zen Master was teaching this to his acolytes, one of them came forward to ask him, "Who is that undefinable and illimitable Man at all?" The Master seized the acolyte by the collar, and demanded, "You answer it! You answer it!" The acolyte could not answer and asked him the same question. Then the Master said, "Is that Man in you the same as a stick with which to remove dunghills?" Thus saying, he left the acolyte without another word, hoping, as I understand, that the Real Man in him will Awake Himself within him then and there at the Zen Master's bitter challenge. 

 

But what is meant by the "undefinable and illimitable" nature of the Real Man? It might be explained in a Zen term "Ichinyo" meaning "not-two" or "the self-same". The Real Man is not only universal and eternal, being over life and, death, but also finds Himself, wherever He goes and whatever He meets to be One with it for He knows that "the Existence of anything is of what transcends life and death" and that it is the human mind, like fancy or dream, that distinguishes one thing from another. To the eyes. of the Real Man, all the universe is pure, spotless all over, and all existing things are in and of It. 3 

 

That nature of the Real Man is often compared to a mirror of perfect purity and smoothness. Like the ideal mirror free from smear and dust, the Real Man, or Self, is essentially free from clouds or darkness and yet there is ,a cloud, or darkness which almost always threatens the pure Mirror of the Real Man: it is the sticky, confusing smear called "self". But, when One has succeeded in reducing the "self" in him to zero, then the reflection in the Mirror is the same with the object, and, since there is no self to smear the Mirror, the reflecting Self is the same as the reflected object, thus the subject and the object become one and the same thing. 

 

However, the celestial purity and beauty of the universe will not be reflected upon a dirty mirror, for everything reflected upon a dirty mirror may appear dirty. Consequently, the celestial beauty will be appreciated and acknowledged only by a celestial mirror. So, we may say that everybody lives in his own world in accordance with the degree of the purity of his "Self". Thus, Rinzai says that the Real Man is the Mother of all Buddhas. We know how a" slightest inspiration of hope and love suddenly, causes us unawares to breathe freely and broadly, and how our heart beats lightly and with sprightliness! On the other hand, once our soul becomes confused and dark, how our breath and circulation change suddenly! Once our self-centred mind becomes nothing, then the whole world is performing our breathing and circulation for us. To an Awakened Man, full of wonder and gratitude for finding Himself in this universe, He is One with the universe and never knows whether it is he himself or the universe that is breathing or is causing his heart to beat incessantly! In Sartor Resartus Carlyle cries, "The Fraction" of Life can be increased in value not so much by increasing your Numerator as by lessening your Denominator. Nay, unless my Algebra deceive me, Unity itself divided by Zero will give Infinity." 4 

 

 

Thus the Real Man or Self to be realized is Buddha, who is undefinable and illimitable. But they do not mean that Gautama as a person, who lived about 500 years before Christ, was Buddha in this sense. His person is nothing. His "Self" that made his person nothing is everything with them. Though every bit of his person has been treated as a sacred remnant among Buddhists in general, and though he has been considered, as a supreme perfection, as a personal beauty, Zen Buddhists think nothing of these personal qualities. Zen Master Rinzai says, "If Gautama was supernatural as a person, why did he die, lying on his side among the tall trees in the precincts of the Castle of Kusinogara? And where is he now? Obviously did he not live and die just as anyone of us?. . . It was not Gautama's person that was Buddha. No-form is the real form of Buddha." 5 He says again, "But it is clear that there is in you the Real Man who is now listening to my preaching. He is the Mother of all Buddhas. Therefore Buddha is born of thy Real Man. So, if you are Awakened to the undefinableness and illimitableness of the Real Man, you will see that Buddha does not exist as an entity of a certain fixed form.” 6 

 

From the nature of the Real Man undefinable and illimitable, as abovementioned, the sense of Zen Buddhists having been Awakened to Him seems to have its features very different from an evangelical Christian's sentiment when he finds himself redeemed by Jesus' atonement on the cross, in which case the Christian will feel his redemption with complete humility and deep gratitude, as well as with inexpressible joy. Certainly each Zen Buddhist must feel deep joy in the bottom of his heart on discovering his real Self, and, in some cases, the joy is so deep and irresistible that some of them cannot help expressing their joy in a dramatic way. For example, a certain monk danced for joy round and round the pond near his temple all night long. But there seem to be some other features in the sentiment of having been Awakened to the Real Man. 

 

Spiritual Awakening comes only through the discovery that life in the past was spent in wanton, superficial and ignorant self-centred thoughts and deeds. That is to say, Awakening comes by getting rid of sleep. It is Awakenment to his Real Self that is Buddha. In the case of an ordinary Christian's redemption, too, there must be some deep, prostrately humble self-denial before God. But in the Christian case, redemption means gratitude and obedience to God as a Person of a completely different world from ours, that is Heaven. In the case of a Buddhist, however, Awakenment means that to the Real Man in him, who is, at the same time, essentially in every man even in one who knows nothing about a religion, or who has never thought of a god with his brain. But according to the Rinzai School, Awakenment to the Real Man is to be attained only by denying all, including here, now, and oneself, because to be Awakened to the Real Man is to be One with Buddha who is formless and timeless. Therefore, that is not really a person's awakenment to the Real Man, but the Real Man's own Self-Awakenment in him. 

 

From this, the sentiment of the Self-Awakenment has its characteristics, some of which might be explained as follows: 

 

(a) It defies all descriptions of It by any means. 

 

This is why Zen Master Rinzai cried to his disciples: "The Real Man is coming in and out of you who are now listening to my preaching. Look at Him! Look at Him!" 

 

But since He defies all verbal or any other symbolic expression, the greatest effort to express It in words may be seen in the use of "Nothingness" or "Silence", Nothingness meaning infinitude over all finite things, and Silence meaning Eternity over all changes of time. Because He defies all beautiful descriptions, for He is beyond the reach of all human intellect and understanding, ignorant people might call Him nothing, but even the taste of sugar could not be known through any verbal explanation, without tasting it in reality. One Koan, or Zen Master's question to his acolytes was, "What had been your real self before your parents were born?" This was to shake them into Awakenment through severe suffering of Self in trying to solve it. And the sense of being the Real Man after the Awakenment was: "I am even before Abraham was", or "I am that I am". 

 

(b) the absolute acknowledgement of any time and any place and any person as of Buddha and in Buddha, brings about the absolute peace, absolute forgiveness and love of all, in absolute selflessness, and absolute freedom. 

 

Perhaps few books by Zen Masters have been written on this point so strongly as Rinzai's, in which he says: "Your body made of the four elements of the world (earth, water, fire and wind) is transitory. . . . Your ideas which occur in your mind are also ephemeral. Perceive this. To perceive this Fact - it is called Awakenment. Fail to perceive it, and you are lost! . . . If you are convinced absolutely that all ideas have no substance and are passing away, you will see that the very place where you are is, as it is, in Buddha's Pure Heaven. If you can live in the single faith that that Eternal Being, i.e. Buddha, is over life and death, that is the very Awakenment, and you can go anywhere in the world freely, as an Awakened, that is, as a Buddha, in this world, with no hindrance from anywhere, saving people as you will, welcoming any trial with gratitude as blessing manna, all the world shining gloriously in your Light of Buddha. . . . What do you doubt? What do you think it really is that is now seeing or hearing? Work and labour making yourself One with what you are now facing, and be careful not to be imprisoned by any name or word. If you see the world with that Sight, you have nothing to hate or dislike!" 7 

 

(c) to be just natural, defying all ideas of the so-called greatness, miracles or mysteries. 

 

From what I have said above, you can easily see that the sense of Awakenment is essentially what leads to the enjoyment of the humble, common daily life. It means the Awakened person's deep respect to the common, ordinary daily life as of and in Buddha, seeing every moment, every thing, and every person as of unique value which surpasses all worldly measures of comparison. Pitying those imprisoned by all sorts of man-made ideas and evaluations, who are failing because of their blindfoldness to see the reality of daily life, every bit of which is a mystery, Rinzai shakes them by saying, "By abandoning this world of ours, where do you want to go? Buddha or the Founder of the Religion is nothing but a name which people called the person whose virtue they respected. Do you want to know what kind of place this world is? It does not exist apart from the mind of you who are now listening to my preaching. Your mind full of avarice is a world of desire; your mind of anger is another world of sensuality, and your mind of complaint is still another world of despair. These are, so to speak, the three pieces of furniture which are installed in your home (called this world). Those three worlds (forming this world) do not call themselves the three worlds. It is the Real Man in you who is now seeing and hearing, acknowledging one object after another clearly, and thoroughly knowing the constitution of the whole universe, has called this world of ours "the three worlds." 8 

 

 

Entirely different from their outward tone of cruelty in speech and attitude in training their acolytes, Zen Buddhists live in a most sweet, simple and kindly way with others just like ordinary citizens, though, of course, they are naturally very severe and strict with themselves, living every moment like the Real Man. They hate haughtiness, or pride of a false man of "awakenment". They even abhor the self-consciousness of having attained Awakenment, for that consciousness as different from others will disturb their natural response to their Real Man. They are also careful not to overlook the fact that, if one desires to attain Awakenment by dint of his effort to receive some specific training, that obsession itself could sometimes lead him astray from the real Zen Buddhism by bringing forth all sorts of delusions in his mind. 

 

Zen Buddhists respect the innocence and simplicity of a child. They love Jesus' words in the Bible that unless one becomes like a child, one cannot enter Heaven. But, as a Zen Master said, they believe that the child in this case must mean far deeper than the ordinary sense, that is, it means that immaculate Being over all knowledge and education, that Being who is even before Abraham was, i.e. Buddha or the Real Man. 

 

(d) to be the Master of the place where he happens to be. 

 

As a feature of the sentiment of Awakenment, this might seem self- contradictory, because in the spiritual state of Awakenment, whatever he meets, he makes himself One with the object, like a transparent mirror, and there cannot be any relation of a Master versus a servant. But this means that since the Real Man or Self is Buddha over all, the Awakened is always true to Himself and never succumbs to any secondary motives from any quarters out-side; temptations, ambitions, vain notions, traditions, or threats. In other words, to be the Master of wherever he happens to be means to be the Real Man wherever he is. Zen Master Rinzai says, "Believe the sacredness of your Self, and never be deceived by outer things. If you can make your Self the Master of the place wherever you are, that place will be True and Real. Never require anything of the external world. . . . Mind! Always believe that which is working Within you, there right now!" 9 As if convinced of “democracy", he repeatedly encourages one to be independent by being true to Himself, saying. "If you are a man of courage, see right now that your Self is essentially Buddha, and that you have nothing to require of others. Unfortunately, since you cannot believe it, you arc running about to require things of the outside. You are, as it were, looking for another head while you have your own head." 10 

 

His advice, full of love, to his acolytes to be Awakened to their Self and live courageously like the Awakened wherever they may be, is moving: "If you are a true seeker for Truth, do not either look for 'a Buddha’ outside or recognize ‘an angel’, ‘a saint’, or anybody else, who appears gracious in this world! Stand aloof from them all, and, even if 'heaven' and 'earth' should be overturned, never be surprised! Even if all the 'Buddhas' in all the universe should appear before you, all together, never be pleased! Even if 'the Hell' should come from across 'the Styx', never be afraid! . . . 'This world (of the three worlds)' is only a product of our mind, and 'all laws' are mere expressions of our ideas. ... It is only the Real Man listening to my preaching in front of me that will not be burnt even if He were thrown into the fire or will not be drowned even if He were pushed into the water." 11 

 

(e) to be fresh every moment, always working as a whole. 

 

Different from the spiritual state of an evangelical Christian, another feature of Awakenment is that it is a matter of every moment, the spirit being awakened to the Real Man afresh every moment and reacting to Him as a whole person. Instead of being eternally redeemed by Jesus' atonement by His blood on the cross, Awakenment is to be enjoyed every moment afresh by realizing the Real Man or Self by continual self-denial, i.e. by dispersing all deluding clouds of this world. No certificate, no tradition, no sophistication is possible in Awakening. God or Devil, he makes no choice of what he faces in this world, for whatever he faces, the subject and the object are One ("not-two"), any object suddenly turning to be of Buddha, and the smallest thing on earth being as mysterious as the largest thing, all being seen as of Buddha and therefore "mysterious". 

 

Once submerged in It, as long as he is in It, his later work is unconsciously enjoyed as in a play, or play itself. But real Awakenment of Self or the Real Man cannot be enjoyed, as I said, without some actual denial of himself, and that every moment. 

 

This implies eventually ceaseless alertness on the part of the Zen seeker for Truth, making himself One with the object by denying himself in this actual world; making no choice of the object with which he has to do; making no choice of the means for the exercise of Awakenment; and working incessantly as a whole, because, once the Real Man is Awakened, he is One with the whole universe. 

 

 

2. The Way in which to be Awakened to the  Real Man in Zen Buddhism 

 

As you see from what I have described as the main features of the reality of one's Awakenment to the Real Man or Buddha in Zen Buddhism, they think that the best way in which to be Awakened to Him is to practise Zensitting; that it is the best way to get rid of all clouds of notions, delusions illusions, and ideas - all the products of "self" for it is the prerequisite for realizing the immaculate reality of the Real Man, a transparent Mirror. 

 

The reason why they regard the sitting as almost essential for Awakenment is very simple, and there is no sophistication at all. Though it may be difficult to believe it, without experiencing it - no, I think all men have experienced it and know it more or less through their daily life - that sitting in silence is most natural and convenient for long meditation and contemplation, and that way of Zensitting is most fitting to the Oriental people for that purpose, who have been accustomed to sitting directly on the floor, though most younger people prefer sitting on chairs, even in the East, today. 

 

Of course, the manner of Zen-sitting has the association of the Founder of Buddhism, who is said to have been Awakened while sitting in that manner under a bo-tree, but they do not practise the sitting because of the association or out of their respect for the tradition for its own sake, but because they believe that it is most natural and convenient for meditation. 

 

But, of course, they do not think that Awakenment cannot be attained without the traditional Zen-sitting. Strictly speaking, It may be attained in any manner, under any circumstances, as innumerable examples show. In fact, a Zen Master who has attended our Colloquium every year, has taught us how to sit on Western chairs for Zen training, for most Christians had not practised Zen-sitting before. 

 

But, in the regular training in Zen temples, the traditional Zen-sitting is practised most strictly, for they believe that, even for the sake of the realization that Awakening is a matter of every breath, the traditional sitting is most inspiring, for they even think that to count one's own breaths is a way leading to Awakenment. 

 

Of course, though the sitting is basic to all Zen training, it is not all of the training. It is accompanied by many other kinds of discipline, physical, mental and spiritual, as an individual and as a group, both within and without the temple. But I need not go into detail about these, here. But I must not forget to touch on the differences of the general principle of training between the two main schools of Zen Buddhism in Japan today: the Rinzai School and the Soto School, for it will lead not only to the deeper understanding of the Real Man as considered in Zen Buddhism, but also to their idea of the social testimony of their faith. 

 

Both schools believe, as I said above, that man is essentially Buddha, but so far as the training is concerned, while Rinzai people think that since man is wrapped up in all sorts of clouds of ignorance and delusion, there is no realizing Buddha in this world without removing the clouds first through severe personal training, Soto people think that since man is essentially Buddha, training must be such as will suit man as Buddha. Thus, Soto people emphasize personal examples and guidance of senior Zen Masters, and the importance of observing the rules and regulations within the temples; and, as for the training of Zen-sitting, they practise it, not as a means by which to be Awakened to the Real Man, but as the ideal or rather the natural state, both spiritual and physical, of the Real Man. They think that all human virtues and the ideal state of our spiritual life are contained in the sitting itself. It is the state of the Real Man who has left behind all worldly cares and troubles unworthy of the Real Man. Thus, while giving the young acolytes all sorts of instructions through the scriptures and personal examples, they encourage them to sit and meditate for years, believing that time itself will lead them to maturity just as the fruit ripens in time. 

 

Rinzai people's way of leading the young acolytes, however, is almost unbearable for most of them, from the very beginning. They use some "Koan" (that is, catechetic questions for meditation) to lead the young people to the very limit of thinking ability and frustration, sometimes even to the brink of mental derangement and ruin, in which state only, as they believe, man suddenly comes to be aware of the existence of the solemn Buddha over all delusive ideas, forms, time and space. If the acolyte should give to the Koan any answer of intellectual contrivance, his Master might beat him, and demand him to meditate upon the question more sincerely. Thus, he will come back to his Master with various answers, until he gives an answer which will convince his Master that he is already in the realm of Buddha and enjoying an entirely renewed life which is over life and death in this world. 

 

Thus, there have been various comparisons made between the two Zen Schools from of old, and even in our Colloquia, participants from both parties had some sincere discussions on the vital question about how the Awakening of the Real Man takes place. A Rinzai Zen Master made a comment on a Soto Master's view in a vigorous, decided manner saying that the Awakenment as taught by Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Soto School, cannot imply that sort of complacent, easy-going spiritual state, that, since one's Awakenment is the Awakenment to one's Real Man of which he has been unaware for years, it must be a deep spiritual surprise and joy with spiritual or even physical trembling. One's Awakenment means one's having become Light or Buddha, and it must be to live as Light essentially ought to, and, therefore, it cannot be any idealized and static faith. Is Soto Zen-Buddhism a faith of creeds and doctrines? If Soto ZenBuddhism believes in Self or Buddha, how can He be realized by any man without penetrating into himself through hard training and discipline till he actually discovers It, that is, till he directly and personally be Awakened to Self. Without that mental and personal suffering and agony, there cannot be the real Awakenment. Even if one sits for years, if he sits just idle, there cannot occur any such spiritual rebirth as was called by Dogen-Zenji "Rebirth by abandoning the old mind and body completely." Never forget your Founder's warning that "there cannot be Awakenment without actually realizing It." That is to say, there cannot be the Light of Self without self-denial, that is, personally denying the whole clouded self. It is only through denying self that self becomes Self. 

 

To this a Soto Zen Master replies: "You Rinzai people think that the Awakenment is to be attained by abandoning self. Is it not too abstract and idealistic to abandon self if it were possible? We believe that man is essentially the Real Man or Self. Even a child, even a most outwardly degenerated person is essentially the Real Man. So our principle of discipline is just to have an acolyte recognize and be acquainted with Self in time through a way of life that becomes Him, well-prepared and arranged, with the guidance of good Zen Masters in personal contact in life and teaching. As for Zen-sitting, yours is for attaining the Awakenment by abandoning self. Ours is in itself already for enjoying Self or the Real Man. If yours is a means for attaining the Awakenment to the Real Man, ours is not a means but a basic way of life of the Real Man Himself, though it is expected that one will be more and more deeply acquainted with the Real Man in time. We need not bother about whether one will be personally aware that one has attained the Awakenment or not. Just to sit without any concern about whether or not one will be Awakened through that particular sitting is far better for the real Life of Self. If your principle of Zen-sitting is to attain Self by abandoning self as a secular man, ours is: "Never bring in your self of dust into Zen-sitting!" for, as soon as one finds oneself sitting in the Zen temple, it means that he has already removed the dust, and is Self as he is. "We do not aim to become any idealized Self. We aim to ripen into Self as we are, who are essentially Self from the very beginning. Unless one is a bird, one cannot really understand a bird. Unless one is a fish, one cannot really understand a fish. Unless one is a Buddha, how can one understand a Buddha at all? That is why we do not like to call our Zen-sitting a means for abandoning self. We do not like to call ours "a faith", either, for a faith will imply a human idea with some definite contents in it. After all, our Zen Buddhism aims to have anyone ripen as he is into the Real Man as he essentially is, in time." 

 

 

 

 

3.  Zen-Buddhism and Quakerism 

 

From what I have described above, you will see that in spite of the difference between the two Schools of Zen Buddhism in their views of the training for Awakening, their idea of man is basically the same, in that man is essentially the Real Man or Buddha; that, therefore, salvation or redemption cannot be vicariously enjoyed, that is, it is only possible through the Awakening to, or, rather, through the Self Awakening of, the Real Man; and that, since man is essentially the Real Man or Buddha, any time, anywhere throughout the world, no war, slavery, or racial segregation whatever should be justified. 

 

And broadly speaking, in these religious main points, Zen Buddhism has much in common with Quakerism, and while discussing with them, we were often thrilled by their words in the same religious sentiment and their friendly attitude toward man irrespective of religion, race and nationality. 

 

But, as I said in the end of Chapter I of this paper, while comparing Zen Buddhism with Quakerism, the following two searching questions were raised by the Zen Masters, as well as by the Protestants: 

 

(1) Quakers say that they believe in the Inner Light or the Seed of God within. Is God within? Zen Buddhists think that there must be a difference between their Awakenment to the Real Man, that is Buddha, and our conviction of  "that of God in every man", for while their religious view of man and Buddha is monistic, ours must be dualistic, for, if we can think of God within, then we must be thinking of God without. That must be why we say we can offer prayers to God, for a prayer is possible, as they think, only between man living in this world of ours and God living in a different world. They wonder, therefore, whether there is such a complete Freedom in our conviction of God within, as is to be enjoyed by Zen Buddhists, to whom Awakenment means having made oneself a transparent Mirror or Buddha, in which the subject and the object are one. 

 

(2) The second question is directly connected with the first one. Zen Buddhists, especially of the Rinzai School, think that with all their affinity to us, they are suspicious that our faith might be a little too easy, for we say that every man is favoured with the seed of God within, and any man is to be saved by following the Inward Guidance. Is there any religion at all worthy of the name without deep agony and groaning? Without the agonizing awareness of Original Sin, where is Christianity? Without that agony, and without finding the Saviour from above in the midst of it, why do Quakers call themselves Christians? 

 

I need not describe here in this paper what I said about Quakerism in answer to these questions, except those points which I regard as especially important, and about which there may be different views even among Friends. 

 

(1) First, the question whether God is within man or not, is ambiguous in itself, and I said, like a Zen Master, that the answer will be given in asking themselves what man is, and what within or without man means. In brief, the question touches the vital point of Quakerism, our faith in that of God in every man. I think such a question, whether God is within or without man, is a question to be raised by those who are only thinking of God in terms of reason and logic, and so far as that question is concerned, the people who asked it, including Zen Masters, are thinking about the problem from a dualistic point of view from the beginning. Such people seem to be considering that man could be without God, as if man could exist for himself even for a moment! 

 

The thing is that the Inner Light is not a piece of furniture called either "mind" or "heart" inside the house called a human body. The Inner Light is a divine Soul, and though we call it "the Inner Light", we do not know where it is and where it has come and where it is going, like life itself. We call it, however, "the Inner Light", because, as long as it is not covered, and is shining, it is so directly and irresistibly felt, without other people's knowing, that we cannot but obey it, and whenever we follow Its Guidance, we cannot but feel our highest spiritual bliss without other people's knowing again! A bliss greater and deeper than all the fortunes of the world. But, in reality, we do not know whether It is "within" or "without", as soon as we are really aware of It we have lost our consciousness of ourselves in the usual sense, that is, we are then nothing, so that we do not know within what or without what It really is. 

 

We must answer to the first question, therefore, that we Quakers feel that God is everywhere, ruling over every man and everything throughout the universe, and that the term "God within” implies God whose presence we directly and personally feel so vividly that we cannot but obey Him as irresistible even against the whole world. Thus, in our view of the Inner Light, to be Awakened to the Inner Light is to follow It. In other words, only to that degree as we follow It, we are really aware of It, and, so long as we are aware of It, we are redeemed and perhaps enjoying as much Freedom as any Zen Master. 

 

It is true that we offer prayers, but it does not imply that our view of God is dualistic, far the inward urge itself is, as we believe, of and in God, as everything else of His Creation is. To pray is to be "the Real Man". Our awareness of the Inward Light is not different from offering a prayer in reality, no matter whether in word or in silence. I think that religious life is a ceaseless prayer. 

 

(2) As far the second question, we have nothing to say against the idea that same deep spiritual suffering may be usually, if not always, the direct cause of the opening of the heart to a religion. It should never be imagined that Quakers thought that our Awakening to the Inner Light has nothing to do with suffering of all kinds in this actual world. On the contrary, Quaker history shows, as we can deeply appreciate with sympathy from our own personal experience, that the Awakening to the Inner Light, as well as Its divine Guidance, has usually taken place through some inexpressible spiritual sufferings from "the groans of the flesh". 

 

However, we do not understand why we human beings must be considered wicked by birth because of the Fall of Adam and Eve, for which we have no responsibility. As we can see in the words of Jesus that unless we are like children, we may not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven, we believe that children are innocent, and that even the adults, who are aware of the Inner Light, and obey Its Guidance, are innocent as long as they are obedient to It. 

 

We think, however, that only God knows which of the two is more purified and deepened in reality, the one who believes in the Inner Light and tries to obey. It faithfully every moment, or the other who lives daily humbly and trembling in the belief that it is only through the atonement of Jesus' blood an the cross that one's soul is saved in spite of all his sinful life derived from Original Sin, which no amount of good deeds can expiate. We think that no one should judge such a question from superficial observation from outside, or by any stereotyped theological reasoning. 

 

As to the question whether we do not regard the particularity of the historical facts of Jesus' life and death as exclusively important, we must answer that although we regard it as one of the most important events of human history, we do not think that the authority of Christianity is in that historical event, because we believe that the authority of Christianity is in the truth of His teaching, for which He devoted His whole life. It is true that His life and death were mysterious according to the description in the Bible, but strictly speaking, the historical fact of His life and death is not of necessity clear. Besides, it was not the life and death of Jesus alone that was mysterious. Strictly speaking, every bit of any life and death is mysterious! 

 

As far the general question if we do not regard any particular event or happening as important in a particular sense, it may suffice to say that a Friend is waiting upon God for His particular Message to him every moment everywhere. Any Quaker journal will prove with what alertness Quakers have been attentive to their respective, particular Messages directly given through their Inner Light. It is in this very spirit that we Quakers call ourselves Christians, for we have been convinced that it is Jesus Christ Himself who taught us, through all His words and deeds, to live up to the Message directly given from God through our Inner Light. 

 

It must be added, however, that we have no prejudice against the so-called evangelical Christians, far we cannot but believe that they are also living up to their warm, living Message in their own way. As I said above, it is God alone who can judge which side is more faithful to Jesus in reality. As Emerson said, we should be careful in comparing one thing to which we are affectionate with another to which we are indifferent, for we might be comparing the best quality of our side with the worst happening of the other. 

 

Anyway, it is our unanimous impression in the Calloquia that all religions are both complementary and encouraging to one another, if sincere and openhearted communication is possible in the common aspiration to find out the Truth of all truths, the Fountain-Head of all religions, which will be the Common Basis of the International Fellowship and Peace, irrespective of creed, race or nationality. 

 

Then, how are Zen Buddhism and Quakerism complementary and encouraging to each other? As we have seen above, Zen Buddhism and Quakerism have so much in common in the view of man and in the general attitude toward Awakening to God or Buddha independent of outward forms or authorities that it is simply natural that we Japanese Quakers and Zen Buddhists should have really deep love and respect reciprocally, especially far the common features, such as love of simplicity in life and manners, preference of reality to name, of silence to verbosity, friendliness to all people, even to mere strangers, excepting Zen Buddhists' strictness to their acolytes during the term of their discipline. 

 

Perhaps, if we point out one feature of Zen Buddhism as especially encouraging, if not complementary, to Quakerism, or to any other religion, may be that there is same deep power in their Zen-sitting, which leads to Awakenment by shattering to pieces all sophistication. Those who have ever experienced Zensitting in the Zen training hall know what kind of silence theirs is; anyone who will endure one of these extremely severe and strict trainings will soon realize how inexpressibly sublime and mysterious life is. 

 

The Rev. Enamiya Lassalle, a well-known Catholic Father, who had trained himself in Zen Buddhism far 14 years in Japan, and later had founded a Zen training hall in a deep forest near the suburbs of Tokyo, says with deep gratitude to the Zen training, that he believes that Zen meditation deepens all religions by awakening one to the Light directly, which you might call either Christ or Buddha without any sophistication. He confesses that in his Zen training he experienced a real meditation for the first time, far, though he had practised Catholic meditation for years, it was always a mental exercise, with same words or sentences out of the Bible always occupying his mind, and preventing his spiritual concentration. 

 

What is our contribution to Zen Buddhism, then? This question might best be put to Zen Buddhists. But, anyway, with all my respect for Zen Buddhism, I could not but be converted from Buddhism to Quakerism, for I had lost faith in Buddhism in general during the Second World War, because of its failure, so far as I knew, to give its social testimony before and after the beginning of the war. 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter III 

 

The Challenging World and the Quaker Message 

 

1 

 

The world is incessantly changing as the sea or the sky, and the more changeable and uncertain the world is, the more sincerely man desires security, for, self-confident and conceited as he looks, he knows that he really does not know what will become of himself even tomorrow; and yet, the attitude of people on average toward religion in Japan today is not so much indifference as contempt. Suddenly losing the general support, many shrines and temples have come to find it difficult to have enough financial maintenance. Thus the world is a challenge to religious people as if it were about to deny religion completely. 

 

It is our unanimous conviction, however, that it is not that people have lost faith in religion itself, but that they have lost faith in temples and shrines and religious people, both ecclesiastic and secular. Of course, it is not a matter of much relief, however, that people have not lost faith in religion, but in the socalled religious people, for religion really lives in the human heart, and not in any form, and their loss of faith in religious people might mean that they have felt no life in the faith of the religious people. To speak frankly, when I was converted from Buddhism to Christianity, it was my real feeling in meeting with the Quakers, Thomas and Eliza Foulke, for the first time, that I had come in touch with the real religion as life for the first time, the Truth and Life of which I felt I had been feeling from life and nature from my childhood. So, it was really no conversion. It was my discovery of the religion. When I expressed my hope to "enter their Society of Friends" to Eliza Foulke, she said on the spot, "Enter our Society of Friends? Quakerism has entered you through His direct Guidance. That's all!" What a sublime moment it was! 

 

Anyway, since it is clear that the acutest desire of the present-day world, which stands at the turning-point of human history, is, as it must always have been, a cry for a final security of life as a human being, our task is to lead people to the realization of the meaning of man and of his life, that is, to the real Awakenment of the fact that their view which is full of doubt and despair is no real one. We must bring them to renew their views of, and attitude toward, man and the world. There are various means for social service, as there are various needs and desires in society, but to lead them to their spiritual Awakening must be the greatest social service in any age, for it means the fundamental change of their lives and the world in which they live. 

 

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But what should we do for the Awakening of the people at large? In the Zen-Christian Colloquia, we were all impressed by all the Zen participants' agreement to the idea that the main reason why Buddhism has come to be so much ignored is that Buddhist priests in general have been too indifferent, outwardly at least, to the condition and desire of the common people in the changing world. They are sincerely hoping to find some new ways in which to be more helpful to the people at large. Some are willing to open their training halls to more people if they are really determined to undergo the severe training for their Awakenment. Some are thinking of creating a new method of Zen-sitting on Western chairs. But, as I said before, some are not satisfied with these attempts, and a Zen Master has expressed his willingness to give some social testimony to their faith in a more active way, "following the steps of Quakers"! Another Zen Master holds, for example, exactly like Quakers, that their faith should not be called a sect with any specific theological, doctrine and creeds, because Zen is not a sect of Buddhism but the state of religious experience leading to the Awakening to the Real Man and therefore it is to be enjoyed by any people of all religions. The Awakenment demands therefore, he maintains, ecumenical movement; a human revolution based upon the Soul of the Real Man, and not upon any political ideology; the abolition of national boundaries; and international free trade, as well as pacifism, because the Real Man transcends all segregations. Thus, he believes that the day when the country used to control man is gone, and that man is to control the country. Another Zen Master says, exactly like Quakers also, for another example, that the Inner Light must be the Inner Heat, that is Love, and that any religion based upon dualism without the essential Love to make the subject and the object one and not-two is no more a religion than a man without sympathy for others' sorrow is a man. He cries, "We must make people return to the Origin of all religions - the Real Man of Light and Love, and save the world by re-uniting it into a Whole, because it is divided into two everywhere all over the world!"  

 

But it is not all Zen Masters and Zen scholars that are ready to go about the social testimony of their faith, for their general idea is that, for the solution of any relative question, some absolute principle of solution is necessary, which is the Awakenment to the Real Man, and that, therefore, for the satisfactory solution of any relative question in this world, Awakening must come first, and in order to attain Awakenment, nothing is more effective than Zen-sitting. 

 

Certainly some spiritual Awakening must come first for any real testimony of the religion, for at least any social service offered for a different motive may not be a religious testimony. 

 

But I think our Quaker Message is in our emphasis upon Quakerism as a way of life, both as a way in which to be Awakened to the Inner Light and as a way to follow Its Guidance at the same time. It cannot be emphasized without the conviction as pre-requisite that every man is favoured with the Inner Light, and every man is directly Guided by God through It. We believe this. And yet, how should we, then, induce people to be aware of It, that is, how should we lead them to their Awakening, if we do not adopt any specific method, but simply resort to our way of life? I think that the answer may come from our sincere reflection as to why religion has come to lose its credit with people in general. 

 

The reason why people have come to think little of a religious man must be not only because he is indifferent to the desires of people, but also because his faith is so lukewarm that they see little difference between him and themselves. The human eyes are not all ways slumbering, and they may not be deceived by the mere name or appearance. The human eyes are seeing, and they know that to be the Real Man and to live like Him are not different things, and that to be the Real Man cannot be different from understanding human nature and sympathising with suffering people. The first and the last point of self-examination, therefore - this is at the same time our first suggestion of what we should do for the Awakenment of people in general in answer to their desires - must be to reflect upon ourselves to see whether we are leading a peaceful and joyous, spiritual life, feeling His divine presence, and whether every human being really appears to us sublime and beautiful like "a living soul" created with God Within in the image of God. I often think of the words that man was created in the image of God with admiration, imagining how really beautiful the human figure must have struck him who first uttered this! Unfortunately we feel it only on some rare occasions, such as in finding our loves ,or lovers, or in  seeing the solemn expression in the face of a dead person. It cannot be, therefore, a believer's real service to others, even to the most miserable, if he is doing, the service out of mere pity for them as his inferiors, and not out of sympathy and spiritual indignation for those who are not treated in this world as they essentially deserve. To a loving mother, her child appears neither inferior nor superior, It appears to her as what deserves the best she can do for it. Certainly, "Do to others as you would have others do to you" must be the core of any religion worthy of the name. 

 

To talk of a religion is one thing, and to live up to it is another. Anyone can talk on pacifism, but it is by no means easy to practise it. It is through the suffering perseverance and effort that has kept up the life of Quakerism for 300 years, always convincing others of Quakerism. The great Zen Master who said in one of our Colloquia, that he would do his best to work for society as Quakers do, said that he would do so, following the steps of Quakers. He did not say that he would do so according to the Quaker doctrine. People say that virtue, unlike information, enters through the eyes, and not through the ears. I believe it is Quakerism as a way of life that leads others to the Awakening as life. 

 

Our Inner Light urges us, then, to be especially careful of those influences of the world which have been preventing the human race from being Awakened to the Real Man and from enjoying their inheritance of this world as Creation. They must be numerous, but I would emphasize two kinds of prejudices as most dangerous from our Quaker point of view: one is religious prejudice, often combined with nationalism and racialism, and the other is the prejudice of science as the Idol of the present-day world, which seems to many people to have annihilated religion completely. We cannot doubt that all men are making an effort to make their lives as happy and significant as possible, but the trouble is their prejudices and enslavement of themselves to forms, especially religious and scientific. Living history shows that we cannot pay too much attention to the dangers of these today. 

 

The reason why religious prejudice can be so dangerous is very simple. To a believer, God is the supreme existence in all the world, and, since He is supreme, those who believe in Him are also better than anybody else of other religions, and, since He is supreme and good to all the world, as he believes, all the world ought to believe in Him. Those who do not, therefore, are infidels and their common enemies. This must be the logic of religious enmity, cherished in secret, at least, and, in the worst cases, they are combined, as they usually are, with national or racial interest and honour. They might feel that, even if they have the commandment that they should not kill, they are justified in killing those infidels because they are God's own enemies, whom they can distinguish clearly from themselves by verbal confessions, creeds, doctrines and other traditional religious forms. Thus, a religion, which is essentially intended for Awakening people to universal Truth, can became, as soon as it is invested in a rigid traditional form, a most lasting and deep-rooted cause of social, inter-tribal, inter-racial or international troubles. 

 

Thus, we have a deep concern to promote some powerful ecumenical movement, and call people's attention to the urgent necessity to remove interreligious prejudices and enmities, by Awakening them, whatever religion or sect they may belong to, to the Truth or the Fountain-head of religion underlying all religions. For we are all aware through the Guidance of the Inner Light that, although certainly "God is God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob," and therefore we should be careful not to misunderstand the unique Message of each religion or sect, yet Truth is universal throughout the universe, and is free from all sects and religions, for it is not because of any particular sect or religion that Truth exists, but all sects and religions do exist really, only because they live and so long as they live in Truth, and that God does not love any people because of the denomination officially professed, but He loves even those who know nothing of God. "He maketh his sun to rise on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." 

 

Indeed nothing will add so much to the sense of contempt of religion among irreligious people as religious quarrels and wars. Nothing will give so much disappointment, either, than inter-religious war to those to whom a religion is not an object of contempt but, on the contrary, something higher than hatred and violence can reach. 

 

The reason why we put emphasis upon scientific prejudice is not only because science as the idol of the present-day world is preventing people from being Awakened to the Real Man, but because it means a kind of religious prejudice held by many religious people against science, as if religion had nothing to do with reason and science, as well as by those scientists and others who believe in science and do not believe in religion. 

 

Then, we must frankly admit that of all powers that are now directing the progress of human life, science is the greatest from the viewpoint of the common people. 

 

Certainly, we have no reason to undervalue science. The almost supernatural progress of science has not been made without the almost religiously sustained effort of the scientists as individuals or as a group with an enormous sacrifice on their part. Perhaps we may say that in recent history scientists have made the greatest effort in their research as a whole, which may have equalled, if not surpassed, the effort and sacrifice of religious people for their investigation and contribution to mankind, though, of course, such comparison may be difficult. But, at least, we may say that science has reason enough to have been idolized in the present century. 

 

In the first place, therefore, I would like to say that we should make more and more effort to make the most of science in giving our social testimony of our religious faith. With our conviction that Quakerism is no superstition: it is higher than reason and not lower than reason, for we believe that reason is also a gift from above, we believe we can offer as great contribution to society as any other religion in the world for the wholesome development of science as well as for the Awakening of the people who believe in science. Different from Zen Buddhism, which is inclined to look at all forms including this world as visionary, Quakerism teaches people to look at this world of ours as God's Creation, any time, anywhere, which leads us to observe the world and any people with whom we happen to come in contact, for any possible Message which might be given in a unique way through anything and anybody at any time. 

 

But we must not overlook the fact that, although science has removed lots of prejudices and has made human beings grow from childhood to some adolescence, in its turn, it has made itself an idol, a source of many serious prejudices and disasters. No idol has ever killed so many people with nonchalance, for it has its own reason for excusing itself called "truth." It is like an evil, avaricious body politic driving people into death in the name of truth and loyalty. 

 

The cause of all scientific evils, like that of all religious evils, is, I think, in justifying its own artificial explanation of man and nature which are beyond the reach of any human explanation, in estimating the unaccountable in terms of the countable things, or in accounting for a higher thing in terms of a lower thing! Robert Barclay says: "As nothing below the spirit of man (as the spirit of brutes, or any other creatures) can properly reach unto or comprehend the things of a man, as being of a nobler and higher nature, so neither can . . . the natural man . . . receive nor discern the things of God, or the things that are spiritual, as being of an higher nature." 12 

 

Science teaches us that one plus one are two. Three are more than two. But strictly speaking, there is nothing in this world which is exactly the same as another. It is impossible, because this one takes this position and that one takes that position, for no two things can take the same position at the same time. Are three more than two? It depends upon the qualities of the things and upon the meaning of the "more". A couple of man and wife is usually stronger than three. An Awakened Man is mightier than the whole unawakened world. 

 

But the fact is, as we all know, that, as a result of the powerful development of science and its application, the tendency to prefer quantity to quality, pay for the work to its significance, or tangible pleasure to spiritual happiness, has been generally strengthened, and the scientific superstition, combined, as it usually is, with "will-to-power," has brought about innumerable evils, justifying "competition" as the guiding principle in every field of human society. In short, science has steadily been reducing man to a part of a machine, a flower to a structure of dust, the moon to a lump of dead earth, and the sky to a dark, dreadful nuclear battlefield, thus threatening to deprive us of all the spiritual nourishment with which to enrich and enoble our life. And what can uncover this danger of science but that which is more than equal to the task of responding to the spiritual need: the living spiritual Insight or the Inner Light? The most important thing for that Insight to teach the challenging world is, therefore, to teach them that man and nature are more than science and all its attainments put together: that they transcend all the man-made boundaries of culture, economics, politics, races and religions. Then the second most important thing that the Insight should teach the challenging world is to be convinced of the invaluable universal significance of the uniqueness of one's position anytime anywhere in God's Creation, which is far more important than all worldly prizes of lands and crowns put together which competition can win. Man's eyes are seeing, and he will not be kept blindfolded long, and I believe that that day is about to come, when man will grow spiritually mature enough to be Awakened to the Real Man, by outgrowing the ignorant childhood and the juvenescence of self-justifying ambition and avarice. Indeed, not to know the unique value of every one of us is not to be Awakened to one's real Self and to the World as yet. It means not to know the responsibility of each one of us to one's Self and to the Whole World. It means that one is not yet Awakened to the true happiness and meaning of human life, the secret of all secrets of life, that is, God's Immense Love that combines all into One. We must convince the challenging world that it is God's Love that is combining all and supporting them all incessantly in One God's Cosmos! 

 

We have learned that we need not worry about how weak and limited a single man's effort is, for, so far as we are truthful to our Message within, we must know that It is not ours but God's own, and that It can speak for Itself. George Fox says: ". . . the cause of all this our sufferings is not for any evil, but for things relating to the worship of our God and in obedience to his requirings of us. For which cause we shall freely give up our bodies a sacrifice, rather than disobey the Lord. For we know, as the Lord hath kept us innocent, so he will plead our cause, when there is none in the earth to plead it." 13 

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES 

 

[1] Rinzairoku, 76-77. 

[2] Rinzairoku, 29. 

[3] cf. Rinzairoku, 56. 

[4] Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, 175. 

[5] Rinzairoku, 80. 

[6] Rinzairoku, 60.  

[7] Rinzairoku, 94.  

[8] Rinzairoku, 92. 

[9] Rinzairoku, 68-69. [10] Rinzairoku, 58. 

[11] Rinzairoku, 83-84. 

[12] Robert Barclay, An Apology for the True Christian Divinity, 37. [13] George Fox, Journal, 401.