round and encourage us, and it is with their help that we are able to discharge this duty of ours.
But behold, these persons are no longer the shadows of a dream. They are now the valuable helpers that enable us to discharge this sacred duty of showing gratitude. Nor are they the only ones that do so. Our foes, hereditary and personal, who can tell how mightily they act as encouragements? Sakyamuni said that Devadatta was his religious teacher: my enemy has become my teacher. A few moments ago we were surrounded by pain, so we said; now we are surrounded by mercies. But a little while ago we were involved in shadows and dreams, now we are enveloped in light and glory. Human life has become a mass of mercy: the world an abode of brightness. Is not that a happy thing?
16. The teachings of Buddhism are extremely wide: the way of man, the laws of thought, all are comprised within it. But it contains nothing greater than the doctrine which admo-
