98. To him that reciteth the Holy Name, shall Brahma and Chakra the great king bring homage, and about him shall heavenly beings and benignant deities keep watch throughout the days and nights.

99. That man that reciteth the Holy Name shall the four mighty Regents in Heaven guard through the days and nights against the disturbance of all evil spirits.

100. To him that reciteth the Holy Name shall the Deity of the Earth bring homage, watching over him throughout the day and night, as the shadow follows its substance.

101. To him who reciteth the Holy Name, Nanda and Upananda the Naga Kings, together with their attendant deities shall bring homage, watching over him throughout the day and night.

102. To him who reciteth the Holy Name, the King of Death, together with his ministers in the five worlds, shall do reverence, guarding him throughout the days and nights.

103. Mara, the Tempter, he who is Ruler of that heaven, where pleasures are collected, hath sworn unto the Lord to shield him from temptation who reciteth the Holy Name.

104. All good deities in Earth and Heaven shall be gracious unto him who reciteth the Holy Name, shielding him throughout the days and nights.

105. All evil spirits in heaven and earth tremble before that believer who standeth upon the Immutable promise. For even in this world hath he the mind of Divine Illumination.

106. Kwannon and Seishi, the Bodhisattvas of incarnate Pity and Wisdom, together with their companions, innumerable as the sands of Ganges, shall be beside him who reciteth the Holy Name, even as the shadow cleaves to the substance.

107. Within the Light of Buddha of Infinite Light are unnumbered Buddhas, and of these, each and every one shall shield him who hath within him the true Faith.

108. Whoso reciteth the Holy Name shall be surrounded himself by those Buddhas who cannot be numbered, who in the Ten Regions with joy protect and guide him.

Upon the Sutra of Suraigama-Samadhi, I, Shinran Shonin, have uttered these eight lauds praising the virtue of Seishi the Bodhisattva of Wisdom.

109. Seishi, he who is the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, having comprehended the fullness of the Holiest Name, rising from his seat, prostrated himself beneath the feet of our Lord, worshipping Him, he and his fellowship, and thus he spake:

110. "O my Lord, in the ancient time, before the Kalpas innumerable as the sands of Ganges, there was manifest in this world a Buddha, and His Name was called--The Buddha of Infinite Light.

111. "In His footsteps twelve Buddhas followed, and twelve long Kalpas have rolled away. And of these Buddhas the last was He that is called that Buddha in whose glory the Sun and Moon are even as darkness.

112. "Unto me hath that Buddha revealed the Path of the meditation of the Supreme--that meditation wherein He instructeth us that all the Buddhas of all the Ten Regions compassionate as even as a father pitieth his child.

113. Whoso seeketh refuge in Buddha, as a child in the bosom of his mother shall verily perceive Him now or in the time that shall be. And it shall be soon.

114. "As a man encompassed by the cloud of incense casteth sweet odours about him, so he that trusteth in the Holy Promise is spiritually endued with the Divine Essence.

115. "When I was initiate in right doing, I attained unto the high way of that assurance that freed me from birth and death, through the teaching of the Noble Doctrine of the Holy Name.

"Therefore in this world, rejoicing, I guide the faithful believer into the way of Purity."

116. Now with all praise let us give thanks unto the merciful goodness of the Bodhisattva of Wisdom.

OF THANKSGIVING FOR NAGARJUNA, THE GREAT TEACHER OF INDIA

117. Nagarjuna, the great teacher, setting forth in many excellent writings the praise of the Kingdom of Purity, hath instructed us to recite the Holy Name.

118. For the Lord Buddha declared in prophecy that in India, in the Southern Parts, should arise a great Teacher, trampling upon the false teachings of affirmation and denial.

119. Nagarjuna, the Great Teacher, he who mightily set forth the noble doctrine of the greater Vehicle, and himself attained unto that height whereon a man rejoiceth eternally in the Faith, hath very sweetly persuaded men that they should receive the teaching of the Holy Name.

120. Nagarjuna, that great priest, setting forth the two ways--the way that is straight and plain, and the way of high austerity, leadeth very gently to the Ark of the Divine Promise such as are driven through the weariness of births and deaths.

121. He who receiveth this teaching of Nagarjuna the Great Teacher, should recite always the Holy Name, believing the Divine Promise of the Buddha of Infinite Light.

122. Whoso would quickly attain unto that resting-place where illusion ceaseth, should recite the Holy Name holding his mind in steadfast piety.

123. One Ark only, that Ark of the Divine Promise of our merciful Father, doth voyage and bear us unto the shore of the eternal peace--even us who so long have drifted hither and thither in the ocean of birth and death.

124. This great priest hath in one utterance set forth that the Lord is Ruler indeed of the sacred teaching, and that herein are the holy Bodhisattvas His ministers. Therefore should we bring homage unto our Lord.

125. The mighty company of the Bodhisattvas utter these words, "When we became wise in holiness, yea, we who have striven through Kalpas unnumbered,

126. "Yet could we not root out our earthly desires which are the very seed of birth and death. But through that only way of the meditation of the Highest did we attain unto the final deliverance that hath destroyed all our sin."

OF THANKSGIVING FOR VASUBANDH, THE GREAT TEACHER OF INDIA

127. Among those doctrines taught of our Lord Vasubandh, the great priest hath persuaded us who are full of sinful desires to accept the Divine Promise of our infinite Father.

128. Only to Him who is above all things is known the glory of the Land of Peace. Wide as the sky and boundless is it spread forth.

129. Whoso believeth in the power of the Divine Promise shall verily be at one with the holy Essence, even as the turbid stream is clear and pure within the ocean depth when they have flowed together.

130. When the assemblage of the believers in the holy faith is born within that Land of Purity that hath sprung from the lotus of the true enlightenment, soon shall their heart's desire be fulfilled in them.

131. The heavenly spirits and those souls freed from illusion, they who are born in the land of purity from the wisdom deep as the ocean of the Divine Promise, differ not the one from the other in their powers. Pure are they as the air is pure.

132. Vasubandh, that exalted master of excelling works, who himself hath found refuge in the Buddha of Infinite Light, hath declared that whoso is borne in the Vehicle of the Divine Promise shall without doubt attain unto the Promised Land.

133. Whoso taketh refuge in the Buddha of Infinite Light, that light that shineth unto all the worlds of the Ten Regions, shall be called, according to the teaching of that master of excelling works, a man whose heart is great, and to him shall the True Light be shown.

134. He whose heart is great and who shall attain unto the true enlightenment is he also that desireth the salvation of all living, and verily the true faith given of that Blessed One is salvation.

135. The single heart perceiveth the true faith, and so doing is strong and clear as the diamond, and this strength is the wisdom of the supreme that strengthened us.

136. When we shall attain, unto the Promised Land, which is that Nirvana past all understanding, there shall we labour abundantly for the salvation of all living things. For so the Sutra teaches us in these words: "A heart that inclineth to the succour of others."

OF THANKSGIVING FOR DONRAN, THE GREAT TEACHER OF CHINA

137. Donran, that great teacher of China, being instructed of Bodhi-ruci, the priest of India, sought refuge in the Land of Purity, and thus doing he burned with fire the books of the Taoist teaching which he had aforetime held in honour.

138. Having thus cast from him the writings that he had so many years diligently studied, he preached unto all men the doctrine of the Divine Promise, and, so teaching, he led men that are fast bound in the fetters of illusion, in at the Gate of the Great Peace.

139. A mighty King of this world brought homage unto him in his monastery and put unto him this question, saying: "If so it is that the Land of Purity should be in all the Ten Regions, how then is it declared unto us in the Sutra that it is in the Western Heaven?"