ABSTRACT
To the reformatory activity in religion a new feature was added by the introduction of Zen Buddhism, an intuitive school of Buddhist meditation then prevailing in China. Originally meditation was one of the three branches of Buddhist training—moral discipline, spiritual exercise, and wisdom—but a school of Buddhism in India laid special emphasis upon meditation and developed it into a systematic practice. Dogen certainly inspired Japanese Buddhism with a new spirit, b 't none of his teachings originated with him. This was no wonder, because it was the claim of Zen Buddhism in general that no teaching was adequate to express the spirit of Buddhism, and that the deepest truth had been transmitted from Buddha himself to his genuine disciples, not in words but from soul to soul. Under the reign of the court oligarchy, the virtue of military men had consisted solely in fidelity to the clan and in submission to its chief.
