Once upon a time an old man was speaking with Baizhang Huaihai(749-814), who was one of the most famous Chinese Zen priests during the Tang Dynasty(618-907) said, “I was asked by a monk student in Kasyapa's era (the sixth Buddha before Shakyamuni), if a priest who had completed ascetic practice and had become enlightened would fall again under the law of causation (karma). I answered 'He does not.' As a result I have become a fox for 500 rebirths since then. Tell me the turning word (Zen word that turns people from ambivalence to enlightenment) and let me be released from the life as a fox.” Baizhang told him, “He who has completed ascetic practice and has become enlightened does not ignore causation.” The old man heard these words and was immediately enlightened. Later Baizhang found the carcass of a fox on a hill behind the temple and performed the ceremony of cremation.

After hearing this story, Baizhang's leading disciple Huangbo asked him, “If the old man became a fox for 500 rebirths because of a wrong word, what would have happened to him if he had given the right answer every time?” Baizhang said to him, “Come here. I will tell you.” Huangbo approached his master accordingly and slapped in his face abruptly. Baizhang applauded his disciple saying, “I heard that the barbarian (Bodhidharma)'s beard was red. But I find a most red bearded barbarian before me." (Wumenguan Chapter 2)

On how many occasions does one make mistakes in any given a day? There are 365 days in a year and if one lives for 50 years, there will be a huge number of faults in his life. Furthermore, if we are unable to cut off the sin inherited from our forefathers, we can’t expect to live in heaven. The same logic can be applied, not only to an individual, but to a country.

Jesus also said in the Gospel of Matthew, " And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth; all this will come upon this generation."(Mat 23:35-36)

In this passage Jesus was addressing the Pharisees and the religious leaders then, but this bloody prophecy was a destiny to be shared among all the people of Israel, including Jesus himself. So Jesus decided to be crucified in order to show us that atonement was inevitable. He tells us there is no consolation without atonement. The salvation and the atonement are one.

In 1985, Richard von Weizsacker, the West German President, in his speech to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the End of World War II said, "However, anyone who closes his eyes to the past is blind to the present. Whoever refuses to remember the inhumanity is prone to new risks of infection." He also said, "Our young people are not responsible for what happened over 40 years ago. But they are responsible for the historical consequences."

One does both good and evil, and experiences both success and disappointment in life. A country's history can be viewed in much the same way. We have to study both aspects and thereupon we are able to establish peace. If we consider making the Yasukuni Shrine an altar to vow atonement and peace, the spirits of class A and class B criminals could be included as worshipped deities. If we can show that atonement and consolation are indivisible, it will be a gospel for all nations. (Eko-an Hensho-koji 2005/09/27)

According to the dialectic of the Gospel of John,

【thesis】　"A man can possess eternal life through accepting testimony of the Son of man and being baptized by him." (John 5:24)

【anti-thesis】　But "The one who comes from the earth cannot accept the testimony by one from heaven."(John 3:32)

How then can a man possess eternal life?

【synthesis】　"If you want to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, you can just go back to the word which was with God in the beginning (John 1:1) and certify that God is truthful. (John 3:33)"

When he said, "You are Huichao," Zen Master Fayan thrusted vivid Self in Huichao in front of his eyes. (The Origin of Christianity P.171)