II.
Idols and Religious Symbols.
"Thus spake Buddha to Fu-Ō: The Forest of Iran is in area ten yojanas square, and there is in it one plant only of sendan. The sendan being as yet only a root, and not having appeared above-ground, the whole forest of iran is foul and devoid of fragrancy, so that when the iran is in flower and puts forth fruit, all other plants and animals droop and die. But afterwards, when the sendan pushes up and grows into a bush, the air is filled with beauty, and all living creatures are renovated.
"Then Buddha spake again to Fu-Ō: It is just the same when living creatures in the midst of life and death, think of the Buddha in their heart. If they meditate on Him well and without ceasing they will certainly come into His presence. If once they pass from death unto life, then will they put away from them all Evil and Sin and make perfect the Great Mercy. The Meditation on Buddha is like the plant of sendan, which puts new life into the whole forest of iran."[1]
Kwam-butsu-sam-mai-Kyō.
1. In the days before the Restoration of Meiji, when the whole country was bubbling over with talk about the "bringing back of the Mikado," "the up-holding of the Shogunate," and other kindred subjects, there was a samurai
- ↑ Sendan and Iran are the name of trees.
