Every existential faith produces an ideal type who embodies the true tendencies of a religion.
In Christianity there is the Saint, in Islam the Sufi mystic, in Judaism the Hasid, in Taoism the sage, in Hinduism the acharya, mahatma, in Buddhism the arhat and Bodhisattva, and in Buddhist history in Japan, the Bosatsu and Hijiri. Stories of farmers, merchants, and samurai as myokonin and their unlettered, simple manifestation of faith were used to stimulate people to emulate their virtues. Politically this was promoted to encourage in others the myokonin sense of acceptance and compliance. Many stories support the feudal order, and meet certain problems such as the rise of new religions, pursuit of worldly benefits among peasants, and unethical behavior in the Shin order. In our twentieth century, D.T. Suzuki and Teramoto Eitatsu described the myokonin Saichi to show spiritual self-awareness.