INTRODUCTION

as expressing adequately the Sanskrit Dharma Dharma: a complex term signifying cosmic law, Buddhist teachings, or the nature of reality, these familiar terms being obviously at his command, might have been utilized at pleasure. Like the cultured Asvaghocha A significant Indian Buddhist philosopher and poet, Kumarajiva A prolific translator of Buddhist texts into Chinese may have regarded the “nature” of the Law as “co-extensive with the illimitable ocean of being”;^1^ and within that ample compass, perhaps he thought there might synthetically be included those beautifully-defined concepts “form,” “truth,” and “righteousness.”

Chinese annotators of The Diamond Sutra seldom criticize adversely its classic terminology, or suggest many inapplicable alternative renderings. They appear to have surveyed the realm of “spiritual wisdom” enunciated by Sakyamuni Buddha The historical Buddha, and thereafter to have become greatly impressed by the thought that, in its Essence, it might possibly be inexhaustible. This may in part explain their motive for incorporating in the commentary a familiar passage from Lao-Tsz The founder of Taoism, “Infinite truth is inexpressible”^2^—which in a measure illustrates the appreciable difficulty of stating, in exact terms of philosophy, the equivalent of the Buddhic “Law.”

In our intercourse with Buddhist monks, we heard the rather engaging suggestion, that the familiar Christian phrase, “the law of the spirit of life,” contains a spiritual concept which appears to approximate closely to the idea of the “Law” of Buddha. Those monks seemed to believe that the “Law”^3^ enters quietly and operates

^1^ The Chinese phrase is “The ocean of the true nature of the Law.” original: “Fah-sing-chen-ru-hai”
^2^ See the Tao-Teh-Ching. Compare, also, the statement attributed to Confucius—“Nature and Truth cannot be adequately expressed.”
^3^ Or Dharma.