Evening star., 1926-02-07
MY RELIGION: WHAT 1T MEANS TO ME

country like Japan. where three diff
ferent faiths are in existence and you
have to make your own decision about
your religion.
When 1 tried to approach religion
through the question of eternity
failed. When was told that the right
approach to religion was the recogni-
ton of original sin, 1 could not accept
II. Yet there was something that
made me constantly pray.
1t gradually dawned on me that 1
believed in a sublime scheme in the
universe. 1 could not go on living
without believing that there was a
meaning in all our apparently indie
pendent actions and deeds. japanese
have a passion for harmony We do
not think in the terms of Individuals
We intuitively turn to the oneness of
all the surroundings. Our individual
self Is only important in it's relation
to the whole scheme of the family,
the village. the state, the world and
the whole universe.
,, Look at the japanese garden 1t
Is never an independent garden. 1t
Is always fitted into the distant noun
tains or the surrounding woods It
Is harmony with the surroundings
that we are trying to accomplish.
The same with religion. My intuitive
reaction was not so much concerned
with the eternity of my own soul. 1t
was the conception Of the sublime
scheme of the universe that thrilled
me. 1t was again. the existence of a
great will that guided the unfolding
OF the scheme that was inspiring to
me.
1t might run into the danger of the
Oriental fatalism. The mentality Of
fatalism is to submit The faith of
the sublime scheme is to contribute.
Here 1 feel the unconscious influence
of Buddhism. I never studied
Buddhism seriously until quite re-
Gently. In going through this great
teaching 1 was astonished to find in
me so much imprint of this. 1t was
indeed a grand scheme of the world
that the great thinkers of India
| thought out centuries ago.
However, the greatest driving
power Of my own religion was not
the mere conception of the sublime
scheme of the universe. There was
another thing that gave a driving
force to the faith in this sublime
scheme of life. That was the intense
love Of my own mother. My whole
life turns around the memory of my
dear mother, who died when l was
still in my teens. All the sacrifices
she made for me and the genuine
| love she had for me began to be
woven into my scheme of life.
could not bear the thought that she
was wiped out of existence. With
years the belief of the eternity Of
the soul began to grow on me.
gradually realized that the pang of
loneliness l felt in my young boyhood
was the unconscious quest of soul for
eternity.
Here 1 now see my subconscious
Shintoism. The ancestor worship is
the dominant note in the Japanese
life. Being constantly under the in
fiuence Of Christianity, l thought that
I was free from the power of Shinto-
ism. In my religious reverence
toward my mother L now see the
unseen power of the ancestral cult,
although in a different way from the
old Shintoism. That is why | say that
l refuse to be labeled. The complex
life that we modern people live makes
| It impossible to say definitely and
with assurance under what influ-
| ences we have arrived at "A certain
| kind of faith. In me I clearly see
the mixing influences of Christianity,
| Buddhism, Shintoism and Confucian-
ism. And that is the religious and
Intellectual life of a modern japanese.
Copyright 1920