[4] To conceive the Tathâgata as a personal being who appeared on earth for a certain limited time and then eternally disappeared is not Mahâyânistic. He reveals himself constantly and of his own will in this world of particulars. ([return])
[5] Sarvadharma-pravṛtti-nirdeça Sûtra (Nanjo, no. 1012). ([return])
[6] Mahâyâna-mûlajâta-hrdavabhûmi-dhyâna Sûtra (Nanjo 955), fas. iii, p. 75. ([return])
[7] The three rings are: 1. the giver, 2. the receiver, and 3. the thing given, material or immaterial. ([return])
[8] Precepts. The three sets are: 1. one relating to good behavior, 2. to the accumulation of merit, and 3. to lovingkindness toward all beings. ([return])
[9] The mental (subjective), physical (objective), and oral. ([return])
[10] The intellectual and the affective. ([return])
[11] Sarvadharma-pravṛtti-nirdeça Sûtra. ([return])
[12] Literally, “when greed is neither born nor dead.” This means, to live in the world as not living in it. This subjective divine innocence is thought by Buddhists the essence of the religious life. The consciousness of one’s worth, or self-conceit, is a great obstacle in the path of perfect virtue. As in the case of mechanical work or physical exercise, we attain perfect skillfulness only when the work is involuntarily done, i.e., without any conscious effort on the part of the performer; so in our moral and spiritual life we attain the height of virtuousness or saintliness when we identify ourselves with the reason of our being. This is Laotze’s doctrine of non-action or non-resistance, and also the teaching of the Bhagavadgîta. As remarked elsewhere, when a man reaches this stage of religious life, he ceases to be human, but divine, in the sense that he transcends the world of good and evil and eternally abides in the realm of the beautiful. ([return])
[13] This is a very radical statement and is enough to frighten timid moralists and “God-fearing” pietists. Therefore, it is said that “Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine.” But think not that this is expounding antinomianism. ([return])