Page:The Praises of Amida, 1907.djvu/148

 seek our friends and bring them home, so that ere long we may all be gathered around His Knees. Therefore we wipe away our tears and leave the world quietly and peacefully; for what we see before us is the light of Universal Salvation. But let us turn to the other side of the subject. There is a Buddha who is both our father and theirs, too. Some of them even do not know His Name, yet it is not possible for him to forsake them. He must call them in due time. After we have reached the Royal City, we will come back to guide them to it, if our Father allows us to do so. Thus, you see, this parting is not an eternal parting; for it is arranged that we should all be gathered in the bosom of our Father. Therefore we calmly start from this temporary residence of the world, shaking our tears off. At the bottom of these our tears of sorrow there shines the light of a noble onward hope. The children of the kindergarten sing as follows:—