who did the same to the teacher. Then Tung Shan went round the
chair, taking the officer with him, and making a bow again to the
officer, asked: "Do you see what I mean?" "No, sir," replied the
other. "I have been reciting the sacred Canon, why do you not
see?"[FN#111] Thus Zen does not regard Scriptures in black and white
as its Canon, for it takes to-days and tomorrows of this actual life
as its inspired pages.


[FN#111] Zen-rin-rui-sha and To-zan-roku.



3. The Usual Explanation of the Canon.

An eminent Chinese Buddhist scholar, well known as Ten Dai Dai Shi
(A.D. 538-597), arranged the whole preachings of Shakya Muni in a
chronological order in accordance with his own religious theory, and
observed that there were the Five Periods in the career of the Buddha
as a religious teacher. He tried to explain away all the
discrepancies and contradictions, with which the Sacred Books are
encumbered, by arranging the Sutras in a line of development. His
elucidation was so minute and clear, and his metaphysical reasonings
so acute and captivating, that his opinion was universally accepted
as an historical truth, not merely by the Chinese, but also by the
Japanese Mahayanists. We shall briefly state here the so-called Five
Periods.

Shakya Muni attained to Buddhaship in his thirtieth year, and sat
motionless for seven days under the Bodhi tree, absorbed in deep