It was at the age of twenty-three that Haku-in got on board a boat bound for the Eastern Provinces, which met with a tempest and was almost wrecked.  All the passengers were laid low with fear and fatigue, but Haku-in enjoyed a quiet sleep during the storm, as if he were lying on a comfortable bed.  It was in the fifth of Mei-ji era that Doku-on[FN#241] lived for some time in the city of Tokyo, whom some Christian zealots attempted to murder.  One day he met with a few young men equipped with swords at the gate of his temple.  “We want to see Doku-on; go and tell him,” said they to the priest.  “I am Doku-on,” replied he calmly, “whom you want to see, gentlemen.  What can I do for you?” “We have come to ask you a favour; we are Christians; we want your hoary head.”  So saying they were ready to attack him, who, smiling, replied:  “All right, gentlemen.  Behead me forthwith, if you please.”  Surprised by this unexpected boldness on the part of the priest, they turned back without harming even a hair of the old Buddhist.[FN#242]

[FN#241] Doku On (Ogino), a distinguished Zen master, an abbot of So-koku-ji, who was born in 1818, and died in 1895.

[FN#242] Kin-sei-zen-rin-gen-ko-roku, by D. Mori.

These teachers could through long practice constantly keep their minds buoyant, casting aside useless encumbrances of idle thoughts; bright, driving off the dark cloud of melancholy; tranquil, putting down turbulent waves of passion; pure, cleaning away the dust and ashes of illusion; and serene, brushing off the cobwebs of doubt and fear.  The only means of securing all this is to realize the conscious union with the Universal Life through the Enlightened Consciousness, which can be awakened by dint of Dhyana.

5.  Zazen, or the Sitting in Meditation.

Habit comes out of practice, and forms character by degrees, and eventually works out destiny.  Therefore we must practically sow optimism, and habitually nourish it in order to reap the blissful fruit of Enlightenment.  The sole means of securing mental calmness is the practice of Zazen, or the sitting in Meditation.  This method was known in India as Yoga as early as the Upanisad period, and developed by the followers of the Yoga system.[FN#243] But Buddhists sharply distinguished Zazen from Yoga, and have the method peculiar to themselves.  Kei-zan[FN#244] describes the method to the following effect:  ’Secure a quiet room neither extremely light nor extremely dark, neither very warm nor very cold, a room, if you can, in the Buddhist temple located in a beautiful mountainous district.  You should not practise Zazen in a place where a conflagration or a flood or robbers may be likely to disturb you, nor should you sit in a place close by the sea or drinking-shops or brothel-houses, or the houses of widows and of maidens or buildings for music, nor should you live in close proximity to the place frequented by kings, ministers, powerful statesmen, ambitious or insincere