d a number of devotees,--who thus remain engaged for
hours at a time,--chanting the invocation of the sect, "Adoration to the
Lotus of the Law," to a deafening accompaniment of drums.

Two sects only now remain, but these by no means the least interesting or
least popular: the _Jodo_ and the _Shin-Jodo_ (i.e. the New-Jodo). The
distinguishing features of these sects,--which also find a place in the
system of the Hokkai,--are their acknowledgement of the need of external
aid, and their doctrine of the Western Paradise, presided over by Amitabha
Buddha. How marked a departure from the original teaching of Sakya-muni,
as observed by us, these schools present is sufficiently obvious;
nevertheless, it is alleged that the revelation of the Paradise in the
West was first made by Buddha himself to one of his principal disciples.
In the distant West is said to dwell one named Amida, or Amitabha, that is
to say "Illimitable Light." Immortal himself, immortal also and freed from
all the trammels of transmigration are the vast multitudes of men(18) who
inhabit the boundless regions which he rules. In that "Pure Land,"(19)
that "Undefiled Ground," everything beautiful and enchanting has a place,
neither is pain or sorrow known; and thither nought that is evil or that
defileth can come. Whosoever would attain to this heavenly country must
rely, most of all, on faithful invocation of the name of Amida; he having,
as is recorded, made a vow that he would only accept Buddhahood on
condition that salvation should be placed within reach of all sincerely
desirous of achieving it. Such is the doctrine of the Western Paradise,
some of the descriptions of which read almost like echoes of the last
chapters of the Bible. Unknown to the Buddhism of Ceylon, Siam, and
Burmah, it can be traced back as far as the second century A.D., when it
was certainly known in Cashmere, though it was not until three centuries
later that it began to spread widely over Northern Buddhism. But the whole
question of its origin remains wrapped in obscurity. At the present day,
the devotion to Amida is very widely practised in Japan, and it is
extremely popular. No doubt, the more educated and intellectual
Buddhist,--and the distinction thus suggested needs constantly to be
insisted on,--would explain the Paradise of the West as being a mere
allegory, and regard Amitabha, as he was originally conceived to be, as
merely an ideal personification of boundless light. But to