SO TO ZEN - Shasta Abbey

98 Sōtō Zenreligion. Religion in feudal society is necessarily feudal, indemocratic society it must be democratic. But in modernreligion, feudal vestiges still remain fairly strong. We mustgradually sweep these vestiges away and return to the true formof religion in which the subjective aspect, i.e., the religiousexperience of the founder himself, will again come to the fore.The fundamental principle in LutherÕs reformation can besummed up as Òthrough faith alone.Ó Faith and religiousexperience are indispensable to religion. With this we canrevitalize the retrogressive objective aspect of religion. In anycase, it cannot be denied that changes in social structure serveto stimulate development in religion. Religion is not somethingfor a special group of people. It is found deep in the heart of allpeople. The world of religion does not discriminate against thedull in favor of the wise, nor does it draw distinctions betweenmen and women, clergy and lay people. It must break thenarrow confines of nationality and spread its doctrine throughoutthe world. Religion which makes no distinctions betweenthe worldly and the unworldly will be a part of our daily lifeand will remain a strong, vital force in society. It is desirablethat future religion should equally reject both the life whichfalls into complacency as well as the religious life of isolationfrom worldly things. It must criticize and transcend the falselife, but at the same time return again to real life and enable itto be lived in truth.