ol, is intended to attract
followers; the other, the pure truth, is employed to convert the
obstinately ignorant, against their wills. As in the history of the
papal organization in Europe, a materialistic interpretation has been
given to the canons of dogma and discipline.

Contrary to the doctrine of those sects which teach the attainment of
salvation solely through the aid of Amida, or Another, the Nichirenites
insist that it is necessary for man to work out his own salvation, by
observing the law, by self-examination, by reflecting on the blessings
vouchsafed to the members of this elect and orthodox sect and by
constant prayer. They consider themselves as in the only true church,
and their succession to the priesthood, the only valid one. The strict
Nichiren churchmen will not have the Shint[=o] gods in their household
shrines, nor will they intermarry among the sects. The Nichirenites are
also very fond of controversy, and their language in speaking of other
creeds and sects is not that characteristic of the gentle Buddha. The
people of this sect are much given to the belief in demoniacal
possession, and a considerable part of the duty and revenue-yielding
business of the Nichiren priests consists in exorcising the foxes,
badgers and other demons, which have possessed subjects who are
generally women at certain stages of illness or convalescence. The
phenomena and pathology of these disorders seem to be allied to those of
hysteria and hypnotism.

This popular sect also makes greatest use of charms, spells and amulets,
lays great store on pilgrimages, and is very fond of noise-making
instruments whether prayer-books or the wooden bells or drums which are
prominent features in their temples and revival meetings. In one sense
it is the Salvation Army of Buddhism, being especially powerful in what
strikes the eye and ear. The Nichirenites have been well called the
Ranters of Buddhism. Their revival meetings make Bedlam seem silent, and
reduce to gentle murmurs the camp-meeting excesses with which we are
familiar in our own country. They are the most sectarian of all sects.
Their vocabulary of Billingsgate and the ribaldry employed by them even
against their Buddhist brethren, cast into the shade those of Christian
sectarians in their fiercest controversies. "A thousand years in the
lowest of the hells is the atonement prescribed by the Nichirenites for
the priests of all other sects." When the Parliament of Religions