140. And with humble piety he replied:

"Of this matter can I not tell thee. It is too high for me. Still am I in the lower rank of wisdom, even still small is my knowledge. I cannot fathom this great mystery."

141. All men in the priesthood or the people who know not the rock of their trust, did Donran the Great Priest guide unto the sure refuge of the doctrine of the Land of Bliss.

142. He abode in the Temple of the Great Rock, being favourably bidden thereto by the King of the Gi Dynasty, and in the evening of his days he travelled into the district of Dun.

143. And this King of the Gi Dynasty reverently offered unto him the holy title of Shinran (Ran of Divinity) and the honourable name of "Rock of the Venerable Ran"--that his dwelling-place should be called by it.

144. Great and mighty upon the people was his spiritual power in the temple of Genchu and in the fourth year of Kokwa of the Gi Dynasty the Temple of Yosen became his beloved dwelling.

145. And when he had reached sixty-seven years, he sought his final refuge in the Eternal Kingdom. And at that departing were vouchsafed many holy marvels unto which all men, both of the priests and people, came and did reverence.

146. And when Donran the Great High Priest had departed into the Peace, the King of the Gi Dynasty by a royal order commanded there should be built for him a holy monument in the lands of Dun.

147. What man could know the unsearchable mystery of the faith and deeds of the Divine Promise were it not for that most excelling commentary of Donran the wise Priest, which he wrote concerning the teaching of Vasubandh that had lived aforetime.

148. He who believeth that the Sole Vehicle of the Divine Promise, most perfect, most mighty, receiveth within itself the Greatest of Sinners, and this because it is its chief will so to do, will receive the depth of this essential teaching--namely, that before the eyes of the Instructed, illusion and wisdom are in their Essence One.

149. Among the Five Mysteries that are preached in this Sutra, the mystery of the Divine Power of the Enlightened One is highest, and this is the holy vow of our Blessed One, this and this only.

150. Unto us hath our Father given those two spiritual gifts. Of these the first is the Virtue whereby we attain unto His Kingdom, and the second is the Virtue whereby having so attained we return into this world for the Salvation of men. By the merit of these two gifts are we initiates of the true faith and of its deeds.

151. When we shall have attained unto the faith and the deeds of the Merciful Promise through our Father that is in all things able to give them unto us, birth and death are henceforward as Nirvana. And this is called the Gift of Departure.

152. And when we shall have attained unto that height which is desire for the ingathering of all beings into Paradise, shall we return again into this world that we may be Saviours of Men. And this is called the Gift of Returning.

153. That "Single Mind" expounded unto us by Vasubandh, the Master of Writings that excel, is nothing other than the faith of us that are now fast bound in illusion. So teacheth Donran the Great Teacher in his Commentary.

154. The Buddha of that inexpressible Light that shineth into the worlds of the Ten Regions, being for ever enlightened in the night of ignorance, hath most certainly opened the way of Nirvana to every man who even for one moment rejoiceth in receiving His Divine Promise.

155. By the merit of His Infinite Light, when we attain unto that faith divine and omnipotent, the ice of illusion shall melt into the water of perfect wisdom.

156. Sin is made one with virtue in its essence, even as ice is one with water. The more there is ice, so much the more water is there. So also is the binding up of sin with virtue.

157. In the unbounded ocean of the Holy Name is not seen even one single death of a blasphemer. For the myriad streams of sin are on purity with the ocean of righteousness when they have flowed into the impurity thereof.

158. When the streams of illusion have flowed into the Great Sea of the Merciful Promise of the Enlightened One, whose light shineth into all the worlds of the Ten Religions, then shall they too become the pure water of the Perfect Wisdom.

159. No other way is there of attaining unto the Perfect Enlightenment save only by birth into the Land of Gladness, and therefore have all the Enlightened Ones exhorted men that they should receive the Doctrine of the Kingdom Purity.

160. The Great Priest hath well taught us that in order to cleanse our deeds, words, and thoughts of deceitfulness, our Father hath performed the three of His pure and universal.

161. There is no way unto the Kingdom of Gladness save only by attaining unto the true faith through that Holy Name, the very Jewel of Wonder.

162. When the new birth through the clearness of the Divine Promise is attained in the Eternal Kingdom, it is not like unto the birth of this world; then is there no inferiority even in those that in this world were sinners, for they have entered into Paradise.

163. The Holy Name of the Buddha of that Boundless Light that shineth into all the worlds of the Ten Regions, and the glory of His Wisdom, destroy the darkness of ignorance in the Eternal Night, thus fulfilling all the desires of men.

CONCERNING UNRIGHTEOUS DEEDS

164. These three things are expounded unto us by Donran Daishi. First, that faith is not holiness, for faith is not abiding. At one time it abideth, at another it is gone.

165. And second: This faith is not Single Minded, for it hath not resolution.

And third: It continueth not, for the other thoughts of the heart divide it against itself.

166. The three ways of this faith lead the one to the other one. On this must the believer fix his eyes. If his faith is not in holiness, then hath he not the faith of resolution.

167. And having not the faith that is resolute, that faith cannot endure, and because it endureth not, how can he attain unto the faith of determination? And attaining not unto the faith of determination, the faith is not sanctified in him.

168. For the attainment of Right Practice expounded by the Master of the Written Word is according unto the true faith and this alone.

169. If a man return into the Great Way of the Divine Promise, eschewing the narrow ways of deeds and works, in him shall the true light of Nirvana be made manifest.

170. The mighty king So, he of the Ryo line, worshipped the Great Teacher Donran Daishi, naming him the Bodhisattva of Ran, turning his face in worship unto the dwelling-place of his Teacher.

CONCERNING DOSHAKU-ZENJI

171. Having cast away from him all trust in the righteous deeds of the sages, Doshaku-Zenji, the Great Teacher, hath taught us to enter in at the only gate that is the Gospel of the Pure Land.

172. Having thus cast away from him the laborious study of the Doctrine of Nirvana, Doshaku, the Great Teacher, himself trusted only in the power of the Divine Promise, and he persuaded men to follow after him.

173. In this world of sin that is so far removed from the blessed day of our Lord, is there no man who attaineth unto the wisdom Supreme, yea, not though he should compass all righteous doing. So teacheth our Lord of Great Teaching.

174. He who succeeded unto the teaching of Donran-Daishi, Doshaku-zenji, the Great Priest, thus declareth: "To toil and labour after righteous deeds in this life is the unavailing toil of self-effort."

175. In this world, the doing of evil and the sin that is wrought of men is violent and furious as the storm wind and rain. Therefore have the compassionate Buddhas exhorted men to seek their refuge within the Land of Purity.

176. From him that sinneth, throughout his life shall the fetters of illusion fall away, if he shall recite the Holy Name with love and adoration.

177. That he might lead men into the Eternal Kingdom--those men who are in this life fast bound unto the evil thing, our Father teacheth us, saying, "Recite my name," and hath promised further, "Doing this, if they be not born again, I myself will not attain unto Wisdom."

CONCERNING ZENDO-DAISHI

178. Rising like unto an incarnation of the Mighty Ocean, Zendo, the great teacher, came into the world.

And for the sake of mankind in this sinful place, he called unto all the Buddhas of the Ten Regions to be his testimony unto his commentary on the Sutra.

179. Two interpreters of Zendo-Daishi were there in the age that followed his own, and these were Hosho and Shoko. They, it is, who have opened the Treasury of teaching that the inward purpose of the