The sun., 1902-10-19
FAITH CtRE ~ JAPAN.
Buddhist Sect That believes Not In Medi.
cine, but I'm Prayer.

Faith cure a. n remedy for the ills Of
The flesh is by no m ans confined 10 Chris
dom. IL Japan one Of the numerous
cts Of the Buddhists has as its dis,in guish-
'rg articla Of faith that all human ills may
." cured by PRAYER.
This sect and its belief were the topic
4 discussion before n meeting Of the Asiatic
Society Of Japan al Toxic in the latter part
I March aid what was said on that oc-
casion is printed in the last Transactions 8
+ the society.
The c - Of the address es was 10 the effect
hat the believers are firmly convin cd
hat they know by experinncs Of many
nary Is wrought by the K rcise of their
faith. They say, Therefore, not only that
their faith is true, but a'sp that they have
thousands of indubitable proofs of its
truth.
In their form Of Buddhism much less
tess is laid upon future life than upon
the nee 'ssity Of faith in order to secure
"a-H, health and happiness Il the present
w,rll
The scot was founded by a man named
Yanagta. born in i7as. whose character
was simple ard stutlious, who spent
igiol. He died IN 1877. Early in his rc-
gious work he claim q to have at
tanned TO the c, rtai. nuowl.dge that all
good things were the reward Ct faith
one day he met woman named Shima-
mura AIitsu who suffered from -laladv
lppdro tly iucurable but was tored to
health by his prayers. She became his
di-c,pl" AID together they carried on a
regular propoga da of their religion.
A great temple was built at kokura as
tie abidi z O. tre for the faith and after
Yalagita's death the woman weat To Toxic
TO spread her doctrines; and in the later
wears Of her life she wrongly pretended to
D" - f,r dor of ~ fath.
The followers of thiA fait b call themselves
by name meaning Lotus Cato teaching .
They adopted this name, as they say, Ie-
cause just as the lotus. rooted in mud, at
tains to spotless purity, so those who follow
the faith of the Lotus Gate attain 70 purity
in the midst of an evil world.
Charges Of immortality and other evil
deeds have been brought against this sect
and some OF them appear To be true. The
teachers Of the faith from this woman.
Shimamura Mitsu, downward have been
ignorant persons. whose ignorance is not
couuterbalanced by superior sanctity.
The sale of charms IL great source OF
profit TO the sect Prayer should always a
made through priest, and there are fixed
o.argcs for priestly intercession.
he special assertion made by the priest .
j. that diseases, whatever their nature, are
healed su'nmarily In response to PRAYER,
on the ethical side the teaching Of the sect
i essentially the popularizcd Confucianisin
The priests have az their tongues end
many hundreds of stories Of alleged min aclee
wrought rs result Of the prayers Of the
faithful They tell. for example, OF the
case Of a poor lunatic In Osaka who was
instantly cured after many years OF torment
to herself and wretcheiness to her family
The sect is large. but. in the opinion of
the gentlemen who described il, there are
unmistakatle signs of decay. One gentle.
man expressed the view that 4such super
sti' Jon as this sect involves cannot much
longer Withstand the common school and
the public press