The permutation of variation of 14,000 expressions and understandings of the same simple teaching expressed and understood again and again for two thousand years is inconceivable. The permutations and variations of the expressions and understandings are inconceivable - The Truth is not.

There are, for all intents and purposes only two people involved in this moment - this breath. They are - You and I.

The varied light from the screen that plays upon your eye now represents my understanding of the Buddha’s Truth and my expression of it now, as it is to me now.

If we dare put logic, intellect and even the customs of language aside for just one, this/that moment - just one breath - we will establish the only connection necessary for universal peace. When "You" and "I" agree that the truth is the truth no more is necessary.

However, if the way that the light from this screen plays upon your eye now "rings no bells" well then I am afraid that there is little more that I (this ‘light’) can do for you. I am not saddened or surprise if this is the case. The chances of me, in the broadest sense ‘speaking your language’ is in fact remote. I should understand and appreciate this. So should you. Keep listening. If you wish to, but cannot yet hear The Truth - it is not The Truth that does not exist; it is the person that wishes to understand it ... whatever it is.

I have herein and above have used my own words in an attempt to describe to you in your language the fundamental tenants of Buddhist Philosophy. I have admitted that this may "make no sense" to the reader.

Have I not also indicated why this is? May I remind you - I am not you, you are not I! If you continue to enquire, ultimately I have no option but to use my own words to express my understanding - whatever that is. That is done.

namu - amida - butsu

In Other Words

Without further ado I shall now refer and quote from The Essentials of Buddhist Philosophy highlighting only one thing, and that is the fact that following the Introduction, Indian Background and said (extracts above) Fundamental Principles; the section that I quote from is only one of eleven. Before doing so I should first reproduce the first paragraph of the authors (Junjiro Takatsu) introduction: "A discourse on Buddhist Philosophy is usually begun with the philosophy of Indian Buddhism, and in this respect it is important to trace the development of Buddhist thought in India where it thrived for 1,500 years. It should be remembered however that before Buddhism declined in the eleventh century, its various developments had already had spread far into other countries.

Hinayana Buddhism or the Small Vehicle, which emphasises universal salvation, continued in Ceylon, Burma, Siam and Cambodia. Mystic or esoteric Buddhism developed as Lamanism in Tibet.

Mahayana Buddhism, or the Great Vehicle, which emphasises universal salvation, grew in China where great strides in Buddhist studies were made and the different thoughts in Mahayna schools were systematised.

Omitting paragraphs two and three the fourth reads:

A rather novel form of Buddhism is the Amita-pietism. It is found to some extent in China, Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia, Manchuria and Annam ; but it flourishes most in Japan where it is followed by more than half of the population. Junjiro Takakusu goes on to say at the end of the next paragraph: It is in Japan [alone] that the entire Buddhist literature, the Tripitaka, is preserved and studied.

The great Tripitaka Literature, which is chiefly in Chinese translation, was brought to Japan from China in the T’ang (616-907) and Sung (960-1279) periods. It consisted then of 5048 volumes, all of which have been preserved in Japan although many were lost in China. In Japan the Tripitaka Literature has been published at least four times, each edition adding new volumes. The author continues:

Recently it became my responsibility to complete its latest publication, which contains the Chinese and Korean compilations as texts newly discovered in Central Asia and Japan - a work of thirteen year - comprising 13,500 chuans or parts in 100 bound volumes of 1,000 pages each".