impresses me as something novel and interesting. From time to time I
hear the clink and rattle of brazen coin cast into the great wooden
money-box at the entrance.

I turn to the young student, and ask him:
'Why do they clap their hands three times before they pray?'

He answers:
'Three times for the Sansai, the Three Powers: Heaven, Earth, Man.'

'But do they clap their hands to call the Gods, as Japanese clap their
hands to summon their attendants?'

'Oh, no!' he replied. 'The clapping of hands represents only the
awakening from the Dream of the Long Night.' [1]

'What night? what dream?'

He hesitates some moments before making answer:
'The Buddha said: All beings are only dreaming in this fleeting world
of unhappiness.'

'Then the clapping of hands signifies that in prayer the soul awakens
from such dreaming?'

'Yes.'

'You understand what I mean by the word "soul"?'

'Oh, yes! Buddhists believe the soul always was--always will be.'