son of Buddhist, Greek, and Christian conceptions of
God--Nirvana--The Buddhistic Ultimate Reality absolute vacuity--Greek
affirmation of intelligence in the Ultimate Reality--Christian
affirmation of Divine Personality--The Buddhist universe is partly
rational and ethical--The Greek universe is partly rational and
ethical--Corresponding views of sin, salvation, change, and
history--Resulting pessimism and optimism--Consequences to the
respective civilizations and their social orders, 398

XXXV. COMMUNAL AND INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS IN THE EVOLUTION OF JAPANESE
RELIGIOUS LIFE

Japanese religious life has been predominantly communal--Shinto
provided the sanctions for the social order--Recent abdication of
Shinto as a religion--Primitive Shinto world--view--Shinto and modern
science--Shinto sanctions for the modern social order--Buddhism is
individualistic--Lacks social ideals and sanctions--Hence it could not
displace Shinto--Shinto and Buddhism are supplementary--Produced a
period of prosperity--The defect of Buddhist individualism--Imperfect
acceptance of Shinto--Effect of political history--Confucianism
restored the waning communal sanctions--The difference between Shinto
and Confucian social ideals and sanctions--The difference between
Shinto and Confucian world-views--Rejection of the Confucian social
order--An interpretation--The failure of Confucianism to become a
religion--Western intercourse re-established Shinto sanctions--Japan's
modern religious problem--Difficulty of combining individual and
communal religious elements--Christianity has accomplished
it--Individualism in and through communalism--A modern expansion of
communal religion--Shared by Japan--Some Japanese recognize the need
of religion for Japan--Sociological function of individualistic
religion in the higher human evolution--Obstacle to evolution through
the development of intellect--The Japanese mind is outgrowing its old
religious conceptions--The dependence of religious phenomena on the
ideas dominating society--Note on National and Universal
religions--Buddhism not properly classified as Universal--The
classification of religions, 404

XXXVI. WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ORIENT

The conclusion reached in this work--Contrary to the opinion of
tourists, residents, and many sociologists--Professor Le Bon
quoted--Social psychic characteristics not inherent--Evolution and
involution--Advocates of inherent Oriental traits should