The gorgeous mausoleums,--well known to every
foreign tourist,--at Shiba and Uyeno in T[=o]ki[=o], and the clustered
and matchless splendors of Nikk[=o], belong to this sect, which has been
under the patronage of the illustrious line of the Tokugawa,[5] while
its temples and shrines are numbered by many thousands.
The doctrine of the J[=o]-d[=o], or the Pure Land Sect, is easily
discerned. One of Buddha's disciples said, that in the teachings of the
Master there are two divisions or vehicles. In the Maha-yana also there
are two gates; the Holy path, and the Pure Land. The Smaller Vehicle is
the doctrine by which the immediate disciples of Buddha and those for
five hundred years succeeding, practised the various virtues and
discipline. The gateway of the Maha-yana is also the doctrine, by which
in addition to the trainings mentioned, there are also understood the
three virtues of spiritual body, wisdom and deliverance. The man who is
able successfully to complete this course of discipline and practice is
no ordinary person, but is supposed to possess merit produced from good
actions performed in a former state of existence. The doctrine by which
man may do so, is called the gate of the Holy Path.
During the fifteen hundred years after Buddha there were from time to
time, such personages in the world, who attained the end of the Holy
Path; but in these latter days people are more insincere, covetous and
contentious, and the discipline is too hard for degenerate times and
men.
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