remarked, the Sacred Name is as it were an invitation bidding us come straight to Amida with a simple heart, for that He will protect us. The Sacred Formula is, therefore, something more than just the Name of the Tathāgata: it is His Voice calling to us. The Tathāgata saw that we could find no haven of rest, and that we were constantly beset by the storms of sin and evil, and, thanks be to His Mercy, He has given us His Name and His Call to save us. What an inexpressible happiness this is for us! Here we find nothing but persons that vex us and things that give us pain: if then, in the whole Universe, and more especially in that Afterworld to which we must all soon go, there were no Voice to speak to us, how black it would all be! And how joyful it all becomes, when we hear the Voice bidding us fear nothing, for that He sees us. It is not, moreover, as though, in calling us, He bade us do some impossible task or fulfil some impossible conditions. On the contrary, He has had regard to our weakness and has imposed on us no conditions. "Trust me," He
