SHORT PAPER 



MR. TEITARO SUZUKI, of La Salle, Illinois, contributed a paper to this Sec- 

 tion entitled "Is Buddhism Nihilistic?" After stating some of the fundamental 

 principles of Buddhism and of "many of the moral precepts" as contained in the 

 Book of Buddha's Last Sermon, he argued that Buddhism can be said, in a sense, 

 to be purely an ethical system, but by no means a gospel of annihilation. After 

 a further discussion of the two main divisions of Buddhism the speaker impressed 

 upon the audience that all religious systems, whatever their original character, 

 must adapt themselves to new surroundings into which they are going to develop, 

 and to undergo such transformation as best to suit the newly created needs. 

 Any religion that is not plastic is surely doomed to die as soon as it finds itself 

 in a totally different situation. The commonest mistake by the masses is to take 

 religious influence as well-nigh omnipotent. 



