INTRODUCTORY ESSAY.

world, which each person possesses between themselves and God alone—the mysterious life of the "secret citadel," as it is called in many Buddhist poems.

Corresponding to these three "worlds," Buddha is said to have three bodies original: "Trinity of Buddha." This refers to the Trikaya doctrine: the Dharmakaya (truth body), Sambhogakaya (enjoyment body), and Nirmanakaya (manifestation body).. I have often thought of this Buddhist Trinity as an illustration* of the Christian Trinity: the Father dwelling in mysterious light, knowable yet beyond full understanding; the Son binding us together as human beings; and the Spirit pervading the universe, which came into being when He moved on the face of the waters A reference to the creation story in the biblical book of Genesis 1:2.. The doctrine of the Trinity is no obstacle to a Buddhist's acceptance of Christianity. It is a concept already familiar to them and accepted as true in principle.

(4). "Heaven and Earth" (Japanese: Tenchi) is a well-known equivalent for the Universe. When Christians confess their belief in God as the Creator of Heaven and Earth, they affirm that there is nothing in the entire universe that was not created by God.

Let me try to describe the Buddhist conception of the universe as I have learned it from Japanese books.

The universe is full of life; in a pantheistic system A belief system that identifies God with the universe, or regards the universe as a manifestation of God. like Buddhism, it cannot be anything else. However, life is of two kinds: the sentient life of angels, demons, animals, and humans; and the non-sentient life of stones, plants, water, and so on. Religion is concerned only with the former.†

Sentient life is not created, it should be remembered, but evolved from Shinnyo The Japanese term for "Thusness" or "Ultimate Reality" (Sanskrit: Tathātā), representing the true nature of things.—Mind and Law—as a result of the continued interaction of cause and effect. It is developed along six planes of—

* I deliberately use the word illustration; however, I must admit that the concept of the "Three Bodies of Buddha" seemed to clarify the Christian doctrine of the Trinity for me. Although I have always held that belief firmly, it has often been difficult to explain to others. Buddhism has actually helped me in this regard.

† And yet, there are many Buddhists who would agree with Nichiren Nichiren (1222–1282) was a Japanese Buddhist priest who founded the school of Buddhism that bears his name. that stones, plants, water, and other non-sentient things are just as much partakers of the Buddha Nature as human beings are.