1. The Tendai sect is the oldest, but now ranks among the lowest. It belongs to the school which “sought to define truth and to find salvation in knowledge”: but as the truth was often too abstruse for the mass, it must be dealt out, by means of pious devices, according to the ability of the learner; so that the disciples of this sect have been called the Jesuits of Buddhism. 2. To the same school belongs the Shingon sect, which is only a year younger than the former sect and now ranks third in the list. It was founded by the celebrated priest Kōbō Daishi; and its doctrines also are quite abstruse. This is the sect which is responsible for that mixing of Shintō and Buddhism that prevailed for so many centuries by the adoption of Shintō deities into the Buddhist pantheon. These believers are sometimes called the Gnostics of Buddhism. 3. The Zen sect represents the school which teaches that “abstract contemplation leads to a knowledge of saving truth.” “Look carefully within, and there you will find the Buddha.” This sect arose probably “out of a reaction against the multiplication of idols,” and was “a return to simpler forms of worship and conduct”; therefore its disciples have been called “the Quakers of Japanese Buddhism.” Others call them “the Japanese Quietists” or “the Japanese Mystics.” This is now the largest Buddhist sect. 4. A third school, teaching that salvation was to be obtained only through the works of another, has been represented by two sects, the Jōdo and the Shin. The former, which now ranks fourth, was founded upon a very simple doctrine, with an easy rule of life, that is, the frequent repetition of the invocation _Namu Amida Butsu_, “Hail to Amida the Buddha.” These Buddhists use a double rosary. 5. The Shin sect,[157] which sprung out of the Jōdo sect, is that of the Japanese Reformers or Protestants. In numerical strength it is second to the Zen sect, but in real power and influence it is _facile princeps_. Its priests are allowed to marry, and to eat flesh and fish. It teaches that morality is as important as faith; or, in quite familiar words, that “faith without works is dead.” It is monotheistic, as it worships only one Buddha. It alone of all Buddhist sects provides a way of salvation for women. It upholds a high standard of education, carries on vigorous missions in China and Korea, and has priests even in America. 6. The sect founded by the priest Nichiren and named for him is not large, but very radical and influential. In their controversial and uncompromising attitude toward other religions or even other sects of Buddhism, the disciples of the “fiery Nichiren” have been called “the Jesuits of Buddhism.” Their invocation is _Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō_ (Hail to the Doctrine of the Lotus of the Wonderful Law). Their doctrine is complete pantheism; as Dr. Griffis expresses it, Nichiren “was destined to bring religion, not only down to men, but even down to the beasts and the mud.”