Manifoldness stands out boldly against unity; difference against agreement; particularity against generality; individuality against society.  Manifoldness, nevertheless, instead of annihilating, enriches unity; difference, instead of destroying agreement, gives it variety; particularities, instead of putting an end to generality, increase its content; individuals, instead of breaking the harmony of society, strengthen the power of it.

Thus ’Universal Life does not swallow up manifoldness nor extinguish differences, but it is the only means of bringing to its full development the detailed content of reality; in particular, it does not abolish the great oppositions of life and world, but takes them up into itself and brings them into fruitful relations with each other.’  Therefore ’our life is a mysterious blending of freedom and necessity, power and limitation, caprice and law; yet these opposites are constantly seeking and finding a mutual adjustment.’

6.  Nature Favours Nothing in Particular.

There is another point of view of life, which gave the present writer no small contentment, and which he believes would cure one of pessimistic complaint.  Buddha, or Universal Life conceived by Zen, is not like a capricious despot, who acts not seldom against his own laws.  His manifestation as shown in the Enlightened Consciousness is lawful, impartial, and rational.  Buddhists believe that even Shakya Muni himself was not free from the law of retribution, which includes, in our opinion, the law of balance and that of causation.

Now let us briefly examine how the law of balance holds its sway over life and the world.  When the Cakravartin, according to an Indian legend, the universal monarch, would come to govern the earth, a wheel would also appear as one of his treasures, and go on rolling all over the world, making everything level and smooth.  Buddha is the spiritual Cakravartin, whose wheel is the wheel of the law of balance, with which he governs all things equally and impartially.  First let us observe the simplest cases where the law of balance holds good.  Four men can finish in three days the same amount of work as is done by three men in four days.  The increase in the number of men causes the decrease in that of days, the decrease in the number of men causes the increase in that of days, the result being always the same.  Similarly the increase in the sharpness of a knife is always accompanied by a decrease in its durability, and the increase of durability by a decrease of sharpness.  The more beautiful flowers grow, the uglier their fruits become; the prettier the fruits grow, the simpler become their flowers.  ’A strong soldier is ready to die; a strong tree is easy to be broken; hard leather is easy to be torn.  But the soft tongue survives the hard teeth.’  Horned creatures are destitute of tusks, the sharp-tusked creatures lack horns.  Winged animals are not endowed with paws, and handed animals are provided with no wings.  Birds of beautiful plumage have no sweet voice, and sweet-voiced songsters no feathers of bright colours.  The finer in quality, the smaller in quantity, and bulkier in size, the coarser in nature.