Page:The Awakening of Japan, by Okakura Kakuzō; 1905.djvu/81

 influence over the Mikado or his officers, in the imperial days before the feudal period. It was a sort of mundane offering laid at the feet of holiness, and was the temporary result of a purely personal relationship. The priesthood, as a body or sect, rarely tried to retain authority over the government, and the social consciousness was always eager to reclaim what it considered its own special function. A sovereign might be carried away by his spiritual zeal, but the dynasty invariably recovered its equilibrium. With the rise of the Kamakura shogunate, the Buddhist power, which had its root in the devotion of the Kioto court, declined. The ultra-individualistic sect of Zen, which at this time became the leading school of thought, made no pretense to political ambition. During the turbulent age