Devadatta the monks to live a rigorous lifestyle. This has led Ray to regard the story of Devadatta as a legend produced by the Sthavira group. Faxian and other Chinese pilgrims who travelled to India in the early centuries of the current era recorded the continued existence of "Gotamaka" buddhists, followers of Devadatta. Gotamaka are also referred to in Pali texts of the second and fifth centuries of the current era. The followers of Devadatta are recorded to have honored all the Buddhas previous to Śākyamuni (Gautama Buddha), but not Śākyamuni himself. According to Faxian, Xuanzang and Yijing's writings, some people
Shinji Takahashi (religious leader) a physical ancestor). Aside from the “brothers of the soul,” for the specialized occupation that an earthly human being holds, the spirit that provides guidance from the actual world is referred to as the guiding spirit. Spirits that are suited for each of the specialized fields of the earthly beings serve as guiding spirits; for example, a spirit specialized in physics would guide a person specializing in physics, and a spirit specialized in law would guide a person specializing in law. Shinji Takahashi (religious leader) Takahashi was born on September 21, 1927, in Saku, Nagano, Japan, into a farming family.