For this purpose we have singled out of thirteen Japanese sects the
Zen Sect, [FN#7] not only because of the great influence it has
exercised on the nation, but because of the unique position it holds
among the established religious systems of the world. In the first
place, it is as old as Buddhism itself, or even older, for its mode
of practising Meditation has been handed down without much alteration
from pre-Buddhistic recluses of India; and it may, on that account,
provide the student of comparative religion with an interesting
subject for his research.


[FN#7] The word Zen is the Sinico-Japanese abbreviation of the
Sanskrit Dhyana, or Meditation. It implies the whole body of
teachings and discipline peculiar to a Buddhist sect now popularly
known as the Zen Sect.


In the second place, in spite of its historical antiquity, ideas
entertained by its advocates are so new that they are in harmony with
those of the New Buddhists;[FN#8] accordingly the statement of these
ideas may serve as an explanation of the present movement conducted
by young and able reformers of Japanese Buddhism.


[FN#8] There exists a society formed by men who have broken with the
old creeds of Buddhism, and who call themselves the New Buddhists.
It has for its organ 'The New Buddhism,' and is one of the
influential religious societies in Japan. We mean by the New
Buddhists, however, numerous educated young men who still adhere to
Buddhist sects, and are carrying out a reformation.