That houses are haunted and apparitions frequently seen therein are pretty well established facts. The preceding chapters have dealt with this aspect of the subject, and, in view of the weight of evidence to prove the truth of the stories tol... Read more of Haunted Places at Scary Stories.ca

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Samurai

The Application Of The Law Of Causation To Morals
Although it may be needless to state here the law of causatio...

Where Then Does The Error Lie?
Where, then, does the error lie in the four possible proposit...

Bodhidharma And His Successor The Second Patriarch
China was not, however, an uncultivated[FN#29] land for the s...

The Eternal Life As Taught By Professor Munsterberg
Some philosophical pessimists undervalue life simply because ...

Let Go Of Your Idle Thoughts
[FN#263] A famous Zenist, Mu-go-koku-shi, is said to ha...

The Ancient Buddhist Pantheon
The ancient Buddhist pantheon was full of deities or Buddhas,...

Our Conception Of Buddha Is Not Final
Has, then, the divine nature of Universal Spirit been complet...

Life And Change
A peculiar phase of life is change which appears in the form ...

Shakya Muni And The Prodigal Son
A great trouble with us is that we do not believe in half the...

The Characteristics Of Do-gen The Founder Of The Japanese So To Sect
In the meantime seekers after a new truth gradually began to ...

Zen And The Regent Generals Of The Ho-jo Period
No wonder, then, that the representatives of the Samurai clas...

Real Self
If there be no individual soul either in mind or body, where ...

An Illusion Concerning Appearance And Reality
To get Enlightened we must next dispel an illusion respecting...

Zen In The Dark Age
The latter half of the Ashikaga period was the age of arms an...

Bodhidharma's Disciples And The Transmission Of The Law[fn#31]
[FN#31] For details, see Chwen Tang Luh and Den Ka Roku, b...

Origin Of Zen In India
To-day Zen as a living faith can be found in its pure form on...

Everything Is Living According To Zen
Everything alive has a strong innate tendency to preserve its...

Man Is Not Good-natured Nor Bad-natured But Buddha-natured
We have had already occasion to observe that Zen teaches Bud...

Sutras Used By Zen Masters
Ten Dai failed to explain away the discrepancies and contradi...

Zen After The Restoration
After the Restoration of the Mei-ji (1867) the popularity of ...

Buddha-nature Is The Common Source Of Morals

Furthermore, Buddha-nature or real self, being the seat of love and
the nucleus of sincerity, forms the warp and woof of all moral
actions. He is an obedient son who serves his parents with sincerity
and love. He is a loyal subject who serves his master with sincerity
and love. A virtuous wife is she who loves her husband with her
sincere heart. A trustworthy friend is he who keeps company with
others with sincerity and love. A man of righteousness is he who
leads a life of sincerity and love. Generous and humane is he who
sympathizes with his fellow-men with his sincere heart. Veracity,
chastity, filial piety, loyalty, righteousness, generosity, humanity,
and what not-all-this is no other than Buddha-nature applied to
various relationships of human brotherhood. This is the common
source, ever fresh and inexhaustible, of morality that fosters and
furthers the interests of all. To-ju[FN#170] expresses the similar
idea as follows:

There exists the Inexhaustible Source (of morality) within me.
It is an invaluable treasure.
It is called Bright Nature of man.
It is peerless and surpasses all jewels.
The aim of learning is to bring out this Bright Nature.
This is the best thing in the world.
Real happiness can only be secured by it.

Thus, in the first place, moral conduct, which is nothing but the
expression of Buddha-nature in action, implies the assertion of self
and the furtherance of one's interests. On this point is based the
half-truth of the Egoistic theory. Secondly, it is invariably
accompanied by a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction when it fulfils
its end. This accidental concomitance is mistaken for its essence by
superficial observers who adhere to the Hedonistic theory. Thirdly,
it conduces to the furtherance of the material and spiritual
interests of man, and it led the Utilitarians to the confusion of the
result with the cause of morality. Fourthly, it involves the control
or sacrifice of the lower and ignoble self of an individual in order
to realize his higher and nobler self. This gave rise to the
half-truth of the Ascetic theory of morality.

[FN#170] To-ju Naka-e (died A.D. 1649), the founder of the Japanese
Wang School of Confucianism, known as the Sage of Omi.

Next: The Parable Of A Drunkard
Previous: The Theory Of Buddha-nature Adequately Explains The Ethical States Of Man

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