Followers of Buddha

EFFORTS have been made during a number of years to establish Buddhism in America. Temples of the True Pure Land Sect have been opened in a number of cities on the Pacific coast, mainly for the benefit of the California Japanese. Efforts have been made, also, to introduce Zen Buddhism, notably by the Abbot Soyen Shaku at the time of the Congress of Religions at Chicago. He lectured in many places and his addresses were translated by Professor Daisetz Suzuki, under the title of SERMONS OF A BUDDHIST ABBOT. Zen centers were opened at San Francisco and Los Angeles by Rev. Nyogen Senzaki, and in New York by Rev. Sokei-ann Sazaki. Their method was to have regular lectures and daily meditation services, but the poor support they received limited their efforts. They had many learners but few became devoted converts. The weakness of this method seems to be that coming under the influence of Buddhism for only two or three hours a week and then re turning to the cares and distractions of the worldly life, they fall back into the conventional life of the world.