commentary, prayed for a wonderful exhibition of supernatural power.
Thereupon, a being arrayed as a priest of dignified presence gave him
instruction on the division of the text in his first volume. Hence
Zen-d[=o] treats his own work as if it were the work of Buddha, and says
that no one is allowed either to add or to take away even a word or
sentence of the book.

The Pure Land is the western world where Amida lives. It is perfectly
pure and free from faults. Those who wish to go thither will certainly
be re-born there, but otherwise they will not. This world, on the
contrary, is the effect of the action of all beings, so that even those
who do not wish to be born here are nevertheless obliged to come. This
world is called the Path of Pain, because it is full of all sorts of
pains, such as birth, old age, disease, death, etc. This is therefore a
world not to be attached to, but to be estranged and separated from. One
who is disgusted with this world, and who is filled with desire for that
world, will after death be born there. Not to doubt about these words of
Buddha, even in the slightest degree, is called deep faith; but if one
entertains the least doubts he will not be born there. Hence the saying:
"In the great sea of the law of Buddha, faith is the only means to
enter."


Salvation Through the Merits of Another.


In this absolute trust in the all-saving power of Amida as compared with
the ways promulgated before, we see the emergence of the Buddhist
doctrine of justification by faith, the simplification of theology, and
a revolt against Buddhist scholasticism. The Japanese technical term,