THE LUMINOUS RELIGION IN JAPAN

At about this period, more and more is heard about Nestorian Christianity in Japan. The first official record of the coming of the Nestorian Christian to Japan appears in the

'Shoku-Nihongi," the successor to the Nihonshoki, published in 797 C . E . When an envoy to China returned in November, 736, the Emperor Shomu (724-749) welcomed the ambassador and his entourage, conferring upon them the highest decorations and honors. Also, honors were poured on the two men who accompanied the ambassador back to Japan, one a Persian by the name of Limitsi and another dignitary of the church of the Luminous Religion, called Kohfu.

At Nishi-Honganji Temple in Kyoto, the headquarters of the Shin Sect of Buddhism, an important document that details the advent of Nestorian Christianity is kept as its prized possession. The document is a portion of the scripture called "The Lord of the Universe's Discourse on Almsgiving." A legend has it, that Shinran, founder of the Shin sect, studied its contents avidly three hours every morning. Although "The Lord of the Universe" (literally "one who is honored by the universe") was the title usually given to the Syakyamuni Buddha it was also used as another phrase for Jesus in the Luminous (Nestorian) religion.

Some of the passages in the scripture are as follows. "The Lord of the Universe" thus spoke, "If one gives alms, he should not give it to man. First of all, alms must be given to the Almighty Lord of the Universe and only then may alms be given to man. Let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

"When you worship God, you should not allow yourself to be seen or heard by others. You must wait for the manifestation of the one God himself and only then can you truly worship him. When you pray, do not be selfish or wordy. When praying, the first thing you must do is to forgive other person's transgressions against yourself. (Here we have an example of one of the main precepts of early Judaeo-Christianity). If you turn toward God and pray for the forgiveness of sins you yourself have committed, after you have first prayed for the forgiveness of others, then and only then will you yourself be forgiven."

It cannot be emphasized too strongly that the cardinal precepts of erring and forgiveness is here repeated again and again, as in the next injunction, "If you truly forgive those that trespass against you, only then will the One, the Person of the Godhead, forgive you." "By your own forgiveness of others you will know that your sins are forgiven. " If we study all this, we soon come to realize that what we are reading in "The Lord of the Universe's Discourse on Almsgiving" is nothing more or less than an exposition of the "Sermon on the Mount."