[f15] Compare this with the statement made by the sixth patriarch himself when he was asked how it was that he came to succeed the fifth patriarch “Because I do not understand Buddhism.” Let me also cite a passage from the _Kena-Upanishad_, in which the readers may find a singular coincidence between the Brahman seer and those Zen masters, not only in thought but in the way it is expressed: “It is conceived of by him by whom it is not conceived of; He by whom It is conceived of, knows It not. It is not understood by those who understand It; It is understood by those who understand It not.” Lao-tzŭ, founder of Taoist mysticism, breathes the same spirit when he says: “He who knows it speaks not, he who speaks knows not.” [f16] The conception of Dharmakāya apart from the physical body (_rūpakāya_) of the Buddha was logically inevitable, as we read in the _Ekottara-Āgama_, XLIV., “The Life of the Śākyamuni-Buddha is extremely long, the reason is that while his physical body enters into Nirvana, his Law-body exists.” But the Dharmakāya could not be made to function directly upon suffering souls, as it was too abstract and transcendental; they wanted something more concrete and tangible towards which they could feel personally intimate. Hence the conception of another Buddha-body, that is, Sambhogakāya-Buddha or Vipākaja-Buddha, completing the dogma of the Triple Body (_Trikāya_). [f17] The absolute faith Shinran had in the teaching of Hōnen as is evidenced in this quotation proves that the Shin sect is the result of Shinran’s inner experience and not the reasoned product of his philosophy. His experience came first, and to explain it to himself as well as to communicate it to others, he resorted to various Sutras for verification. _The Teaching, Practice, Faith, and Attainment_ was thus written by him giving an intellectual and scriptural foundation to the Shin-shu faith. In religion as in other affairs of human life, belief precedes reasoning. It is important not to forget this fact when tracing the development of ideas.