Section 1 : Significance of the Equality of Sacred and Mundane

　　The first concluding phrase that distills the ideas of this book is the “The Third Theory of Godhood”; the second is “Equality of Sacred and Mundane”. Since deities and humans both owe their being to the same e-tropic source, there are no fundamental differences other than those of degree. If there are no fundamental differences, naturally there is equality between them. Humans fall short of deities in wisdom and cultivation, but not in a fundamental way. Thus the Buddha said, “All sentient beings possess Buddha-nature”. This book puts it in the following way:

　　本書之第一結語為「第三神論」，第二結語即為「聖凡平等」。蓋神之與人既為同一之電源所形成，則除有程度上之差別外，自無根本上之不同。若無根本上之不同，則自然同等。人類所以不及神者，智慧之不及，修養之不及，非根本之不及也。故佛曰：「眾生皆具佛性」，本書則曰：

　　Sacred and mundane share the same origin;
　　Mundane and sacred have the same foundation.
　　Their foundation and their origin
　　Are in spiral harmony.
　　Master spiral harmony;
　　Turn your striving toward Heaven.
　　With arduous training, rough tempering,
　　Transcend the mundane and be the sacred.

　　　　聖凡同源　　凡聖同基
　　　　其基其源　　在於旋和
　　　　把握旋和　　向天奮鬥
　　　　苦煉艱磨　　超凡入聖

　　Deities are persons. Personhood is a foundation for spirituality; the sacred is reached by persons through cultivation. We should not let deities and sacred beings intimidate us: immortals and buddhas were not originally such lofty beings. All of them got there on the strength of their mundane bodies, by training and tempering to remake themselves. Thus one can say: “sacred and mundane are equal!”

　　神者人也。人為靈之基，聖乃人修成。神聖無足畏懼，仙佛原非尊高，盡憑凡軀自我培養磨煉奮鬥超創而成，故曰：「聖凡平等！」