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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f1f59a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67171 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67171) diff --git a/old/67171-0.txt b/old/67171-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 46deb5b..0000000 --- a/old/67171-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10378 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Buddhism and Christianity, by -Archibald Scott - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Buddhism and Christianity - A Parallel and a Contrast - -Author: Archibald Scott - -Release Date: January 15, 2022 [eBook #67171] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Heiko Evermann, David King, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. (This book was - produced from scanned images of public domain material from - the Google Books project.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUDDHISM AND -CHRISTIANITY *** - - - - - - BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY - A PARALLEL AND A CONTRAST - - - - - BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY - - A PARALLEL AND A CONTRAST - - BEING - - THE CROALL LECTURE FOR 1889-90 - - BY - - ARCHIBALD SCOTT, D.D. - - MINISTER OF ST. GEORGE’S PARISH, EDINBURGH - - - EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS - - MDCCCXC - - [_All rights reserved._] - - - - - PREFACE - - -In endeavouring to sketch in so limited a space even the most salient -features of the many-sided religion of Buddhism it is possible that here -and there I may have misrepresented it. - -If so, I hope the fault will be attributed to inadvertence, or rather to -disadvantages under which I have worked. The sacred beliefs of any -section of mankind are entitled to receive at our hands not only justice -but kindly consideration, and a religion so vast and in some respects so -wonderful as Buddhism ought to have much to commend it to our sympathy. -Long and patient study of it has indeed greatly modified opinions -originally formed concerning it, but it has only tended to increase -respect for so earnest an effort of the intellect to solve the mystery -of human life and destiny. Even Christians may have something to learn -from Buddhists. The divers and seemingly antagonistic Churches of -Christendom help to educate and reform each other, and non-Christian -religions may perform a similar office to Christianity in bringing into -prominence some universal truths which its creeds have allowed to slip -into forgetfulness. Our perception and apprehension of what Christianity -really is will be all the clearer and firmer for an impartial study of -the system formulated so long ago by Gotama the Buddha. - -The aim of the Lecture has not been to use the extravagances of Buddhism -as a foil to set off the excellencies of Christianity. That Christianity -as a religion is immensely superior to Buddhism goes without saying, -unless in the case of a very small and conceited and purblind minority. -I have tried by a fair exposition of what is best and highest in this -religion to discover its feeling after something better and higher -still, and to suggest rather than indicate the place which it occupies -in the religious education of humanity. As - - “Man hath all which nature hath, but more, - And in that more lie all his hopes of good,” - -so Christianity, while having in it in fuller measure and clearer form -every truth that has vivified any other religion, has in it, as the new -creation to which the long travail of the soul under every form of faith -has from the first been pointing, something peculiar and -contrasted—which is the Divine answer to all their aspirations. This we -do not need to demonstrate: indeed it may be a verity, as incapable of -demonstration as is that of the existence of Deity or the immortality of -the soul. It is sure eventually to be almost universally recognised, and -meanwhile, whether accepted or denied, we may say—_E pur si muove_. - - * * * * * - -Very gratefully would I acknowledge my profound obligations to all who -have instructed me in this subject. Though we no longer regard the -Saddharma-Pundarika and Lalita Vistara as good specimens of Buddhism, we -still venerate the great scholars who first introduced them to our -notice. The splendid productions of Burnouf, Foucaux, Köppen, Stanislas -Julien, Hodgson and Turnour; the excellent works of Spence Hardy, -Gogerly, Bigandet and H. H. Wilson, and, among the best of all, the -laborious and faithful Dictionary of Professor Childers, though several -of them are unfortunately out of print, are not likely to be soon out of -date. It is with pleasure that we find them so frequently quoted or -referred to by our latest and best authorities. Still, ever since -Professor Max Müller organised his truly catholic enterprise of the -translation of the Sacred Books of the East, he has brought us very -considerably nearer to real Buddhist teachers themselves. To praise the -scholarship of himself, and Oldenberg, and Rhys Davids, and Kern, and -Fausböll, and others of his _collaborateurs_, would be unwarrantable -presumption on my part; but as a humble disciple very willing to learn, -I am glad to have this opportunity of publicly expressing my -appreciation of the great services which in their editions of old -Eastern texts, and in these series of translations, they are rendering -to the cause of religion. - -The lectures were drafted and in great part written before I read the -very valuable works of Sir Monier Williams on _Buddhism_ and of Dr. -Kellogg on the _Light of Asia and the Light of the World_. I specially -mention these books as likely to prove very useful guides to any one -desirous of prosecuting the subject of the present Lecture. In the notes -I have marked my indebtedness to them, and to many authors of what has -already become a great literature. Many others whose works have been of -service to me in a course of reading extending over many years are not -noted, simply because in the caprices of memory my peculiar obligations -to them could not at the time be recalled. - -For in regard to Buddhism I do not profess to add any original -information to the stock already acquired. Others have extracted the ore -from these old and interesting fields, and minted it into gold and -silver. What has thus been rendered available many like myself can only -reduce into copper or bronze, but if only our work be faithfully done, -we may thus help in increasing the currency and in extending its -circulation. With this in view I accepted the honour which the Croall -Trustees conferred upon me in calling me to undertake this Lecture, and -if the only effect of my efforts be to stimulate other ministers of the -Church more advantageously situated to prosecute their researches to -much better purpose, no one will be more pleased than myself. - -ARCHIBALD SCOTT. - -EDINBURGH, _25th December 1889_. - - - - - CONTENTS - - -LECTURE I. - -INTRODUCTORY: NECESSITY FOR A PROPER COMPARISON OF BUDDHISM AND -CHRISTIANITY. - -Schopenhauer’s prediction as to the influence of Oriental studies upon -European religion and philosophy—New science of Comparative Theology—Its -value to the expounders of Christianity—Study of all religions binding -upon Christians—Special claims of Buddhism—Its duration and wide-spread -diffusion—The quality of its doctrinal and ethical system—The -correspondences between it and Christianity—Instructive parallels of -historical development—Resemblances, if granted or assumed, not to be -accounted for by theory of derivation—Renan—E. Burnouf—Ernest de -Bunsen—Both religions independent in origin, though analogous in -development—What the significance of this—True answer to be found, not -by examining alleged resemblances between the religions, but their -points of contradiction and contrast—Unity of humanity involves organic -unity of language and of religion—What is meant by organic unity and -development of religion—Declarations of Scripture—Christianity as the -universal religion has much in common with all—has something peculiar to -itself which it possesses in contrast—In this will be found not only its -superiority to all the rest, but the answer to all their cravings and -aspirations, _Pages 1-58_ - - -LECTURE II. - -THE HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS OF BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY, AND THE -EVIDENTIAL VALUE OF THEIR RESPECTIVE SCRIPTURES. - -Both religions inherited and produced scriptures—Christian scriptures -criticised for eighteen centuries—Buddhist scriptures as yet only in -part available for examination—Admissions made by translators in regard -to them—Strong contrasts between two sets of scriptures, in respect of -authenticity and genuineness—Impossible to regard the two as of similar -canonical or authoritative value—In Buddhism only oral traditions for -centuries—Effect of the lack of a real canon in primitive -Buddhism—Effect of a fixed and written canon in the development of -Christianity—Antecedents of Buddhism—Vedic India—Brahmanic -India—Development of Brahmanic speculation—Its highest reach in -philosophical Brahmanism—The Upanishads—Pursuit of Atman—Antecedents of -Christianity—Patriarchal belief in Deity—Mosaic stage of religious -belief—The religion of Moses and the prophets too pure for the people -under the kings—Destruction of the kingdom—Effect of Captivity on the -prophets—on the people—Difference between the beliefs and hopes of the -Diaspora and those of the returned Palestinian Jews—Preparation of the -Empire and world beyond it for the dawn of Christianity, _Pages 59-125_ - - -LECTURE III. - -THE BUDDHA OF THE PITAKAS: THE CHRIST OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. - -Palestine at the birth of Christ—India at the birth of Gotama—Like, yet -unlike—Analogies in development of previous beliefs and -speculation—Contrasts—Gotama’s life and ministry contrasted with the -life and ministry of Jesus—The difference between their personal -relations to the religions which they founded—“I take refuge -in Buddha”—“I believe in Christ”—The supernatural in both -religions—Pre-existence, incarnation, and miracles ascribed to -Buddha—Sources of information as to these beliefs examined and compared -with the Gospel accounts—Relation of the miracles to each -religion—Nature of the miracles themselves—Growth of Buddhist legends -described by T. W. Rhys Davids—Implied growth of the Christian legends -examined—Essential contrasts manifest all through—Buddha can be -accounted for, but Christ is the Miracle of History, _Pages 126-191_ - - -LECTURE IV. - -THE DHARMA OF BUDDHA: THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. - -Gotama’s discovery at Bohimanda—The Four Sacred Verities—The noble -Eightfold Way—His theory of life different from but not wholly -antagonistic to that of speculative Brahmanism—Existence not illusion, -but essentially evil—Transmigration—“Modern Buddhists’” defence of the -dogma—Contrast between it and Christian doctrine of the -Fall—Christianity in its sorest struggle with evil hopeful—Buddhism -hopeless—atheistic—materialistic, yet has its own way, not of victory, -but of retreat and escape—Doctrine of Karma analogous to Christian -doctrine of Heredity, yet really contrasted—Goal of all Buddhist -aspiration and effort—Nirvana, point-blank contradiction to Christian -goal, yet way to it analogous—Arhatship as essential in Buddhism as -holiness is in Christianity—Noble quality of Buddhist ethical code—Its -approach to the Christian rule—A law not for all—Its degrees or paths of -perfection—Uprightness—Meditation—Enlightenment—Christ’s way of -salvation and sanctification by the Holy Spirit through the -truth—Essential defects of Buddhist scheme, _Pages 192-252_ - - -LECTURE V. - -THE BUDDHIST SANGHA: THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. - -The Church the fruit of Christianity, the Sangha the root out of which -Buddhism sprang—The Sangha not a Church but an Order—Different from the -many Orders then existing, yet with a likeness to them which it never -lost—Renunciation of secular life an indispensable qualification for -membership—Analogous to yet essentially different from Monachism in -Christianity, and in utter contrast to the idea and reality of the -Christian Church—The Sangha as theoretically open to all, and -propagandist in its purpose, a precursor of the Church—Actual -disqualifications for membership—Ceremonial of admission—The “outgoing” -from the world—Ceremonial of Confirmation—The “arrival”—The novitiate or -tutelage—The rule of the Sangha—No vows of obedience to -superiors—Stringent vows of poverty and chastity—Difference between a -Buddhist Vihara and a Christian monastery—Favourable features of -Buddhist monastic life—The Uposatha gathering—The Pâtimokkha -catechising—The Pavârâna invitation—Relation of women to the -Sangha—Institution of Order of Bikkhuni—The relation of the laity to the -Sangha—The Buddhist layman’s only possible “merit,” and his only hope, -_Pages 253-313_ - - -LECTURE VI. - -THE RELIGIONS IN HISTORY. - -External diffusion—Both religions missionary—Vastly different in respect -of their messages—Buddhist endeavour to perpetuate a system—Christian -endeavour to set forth and interpret the facts of a miraculous -life—Effect of belief in Christ’s continued presence upon the -Church—Rapid diffusion of Christianity during the first four -centuries—Condition of Buddhism during a similar period—Spread of -Christianity after Constantine—Spread of Buddhism after Asoka—Difference -in the peoples affected by both religions—Inferences—Internal -history—Buddhism and Brahmanism—Christianity and Judaism—In Buddhism an -early abandonment of fundamental principles manifest—Recoil of human -nature from its Atheism into Polytheism and Tantrism—Degradation of -Southern and Northern Buddhism—Buddhism in Tibet—Christianity in -Abyssinia—History of Chinese Buddhism from fourth century A.D. analogous -to that of Christianity in Europe from same date—Deterioration of both -religions similarly indicated—Bôdiharma—Modern Neo-Buddhism—The -T’ien-t’ai School—Reformed Buddhism in China—in Japan—Its most modern -attitude—Difference between Buddhism and Christianity—Alike in -their tendency to deteriorate—Christianity alone manifests a -reforming and progressive power—Resources of Buddhism manifestly -exhausted—Christianity apparently in only an initial stage of -development, _Pages 314-386_ - - -POSTSCRIPT, _Pages 387-391_ - - - - - LECTURE I. - NECESSITY FOR A PROPER COMPARISON OF THE TWO RELIGIONS. - - -Early in this century Schopenhauer, fascinated by the contents of the -Upanishads, which had been translated from the Persian into Latin by the -illustrious discoverer of the Zend-Avesta, ventured to predict that the -influence of the newly-found Sanskrit literature upon the philosophy of -the future would not be less profound than was that of the revival of -Greek upon the religion of the fourteenth century.[1] That century was -marked by the close of the mediæval age, and the beginning of the times -of Reformation in which we are privileged to live. The Reformation was -not an event, but the inauguration of a period. Its significance was far -deeper than that of a revolt from ecclesiastical superstition and -corruption. It meant a quickening of the human spirit, and a consequent -awakening of the human intellect, to which many forces other than the -leading religious ones, contributed; and its effects are visible not -simply in the changes which it immediately produced, but in the -revolution which is still actively progressing in all our social, -political, and religious relations. The movement designated by the -Reformation is manifestly far from having exhausted itself, and there -can be no question that its course has been greatly accelerated by the -studies to which Schopenhauer referred. - -The re-discovery of India, lost to Europe for centuries after the -beginning of the Christian era, almost as completely as America was -hidden from it, was a fact of even greater import than the resurrection -of Greece. It was no wilderness of ruins which was thus disclosed, from -which only the shards of a long-buried civilisation could be exhumed, -but a living and cultured world, whose institutions were rooted in an -antiquity more profound than Greece could claim, and whose language and -manners and religion were separated from the West by far more than a -hemisphere. So totally unlike to the Western world was it, that the -labours and sacrifices of several generations of the finest intellects -of Europe were required before a key could be found to interpret its -significance. Since the days when Anquetil Duperron, after many -adventures and hardships, succeeded in breaking through the tangled -thicket which guarded its treasures, the scholars of all nations have -pressed into it, each one announcing, as he emerged, the dawn or the -progress of another Renaissance, whose meaning and direction and -ultimate issues only the rash will venture to predict or pretend to -foresee. - -One of the first-fruits of their combined or independent researches is -the new science of Religion. By a careful collection, analysis, and -comparison of all the beliefs of mankind available, with the view of -eliciting what is peculiar to each, and what they all share in common, -its professors aim at discovering what may be the real nature and origin -and purpose of all religion.[2] As yet it should hardly be designated a -science, for though the elements for it undoubtedly exist, they are too -widely scattered to be of service for immediate induction. The materials -already collected have not been sufficiently sifted, and moreover, it -requires the assistance of other sciences, as yet too immature, to -render it effective support. The title may not be a “misnomer,”[3] but -only a somewhat inflated expression by which an age, rather wise in its -own conceit, proclaims the discovery of a new field of learning which it -means assiduously to cultivate. The discovery however is a solid one, -and the assiduity of those who would improve it is unmistakable; year by -year their numbers increase, their implements improve in quality, and -this generation may not pass away before an abundant harvest has been -reaped. - -Another indication of the change that is coming over the world is the -attitude which Christian divines now assume toward other religions. -Fifty years ago the attempt to compare our Bible and our Creed with the -scriptures of other religions would have been regarded as a sacrilegious -surrender of what was holy to the dogs. This was due not so much to -prejudice on the part of the expounders of Christianity as to aversion -to the avowedly anti-christian spirit in which these researches were -prosecuted. The Comparative method was then frequently employed, as it -had been by the Encyclopædists of last century, for the purpose of -discrediting and degrading Christianity. The conclusion was often -foregone before the process began; and so it was natural that reverent -but timid minds jealous for their religion, and anxious to guard it from -insult, should decline such encounters. Now, however, orthodox -theologians are quite aware that in this matter they have to reckon with -other than the professed enemies of Christianity. The ablest advocates -of Comparative Theology are not only free from antichristian prejudice, -but they protest against it as inimical to the science itself.[4] It is -not infidelity, but Providence, that is forcing us to investigate the -origin of our religion, and to search its scriptures in the fuller light -which we now enjoy. We are being divinely taught that we cease to revere -a heavenly gift the moment we begin to idolise it; that the disposition -most fatal to ourselves, most dishonouring to our religion, is that -which would regard its scriptures as charmed relics too sacred to be -examined, and only to be brought by an undevout and apostate Church, in -the moment of its extreme peril, into the field of battle with the -Philistines. To shrink from the comparison of our Faith with the -religious beliefs of those whom we acknowledge to be bone of our bone, -and flesh of our flesh, is to manifest a cowardly lack of confidence in -its Author. It is at the judgment-bar of all the ages that He means to -make good His claim to be the Judge of all mankind. The more He is -tried, the more will His authority be confessed to be divine. He -certainly invited inspection and comparison, and He may have had other -than Hebrew scriptures in His view when He instructed us to “search -them, for they testify of Me.”[5] - -The comparative study of other religions, so far from being prejudicial -to the claims of Christianity, will be helpful in establishing its -sublime pre-eminence among them, and in enabling us to discharge to -their adherents the duty which its Founder has imposed upon us. It may -modify considerably our theology, but it will strengthen our fundamental -beliefs. As a general rule, we may assert that the strength of a man’s -faith will be found to be in direct proportion to his knowledge of the -everlasting and unchangeable laws by which the universe is governed. It -is our theology alone that is assailed, and we are learning that -theology, as a system of reasoning upon materials furnished not only by -religion itself, but also by some other “ologies,” must be based on -other and higher authority than that of an infallible Council, or that -of a chapter whose significance was supposed to be unalterably fixed two -or three thousand years ago. The religion which revolted against the -assumption of the Scribe in our Lord’s day, and which disallowed the -claim of the Pope some three centuries ago to be the sole interpreters -of revelation, is not only testing the authenticity of the texts to -which the appeal was then made, but is inquiring into their actual -significance by collating them with the truths of another revelation as -divine. It is not that men want to get rid of dogma, for dogma of some -kind there must ever be. There will always be a vast deal which we must -believe, because there is much that can only thus be known; but a -satisfactory dogmatic foundation must henceforth be sought in facts -anterior to any scriptures, or to any church that would interpret them, -viz., in the elemental necessities and aspirations of our common human -nature. It has been wisely said that “the theology which fails to meet -the demands of the whole man is simply doomed.”[6] What is wanted -therefore for theology is some broad and solid basis, to be laid by -analysing, comparing, and co-ordinating all religious beliefs within our -reach. In each of them we may hope to find some truth—it may be very -feebly and very partially expressed—of no more value by itself than a -flake of gold found in an immense drift of sand or mass of quartz, but -yet of immense value as indicating the source from which it came and the -substance to which it claims affinity. All separate and imperfect truths -point towards some higher truth which will unite and fulfil and -interpret them. And so every religion, however erroneous it may be, is -prophetic—because found in a humanity that is essentially one—of a -universal religion, a faith which is not just one of the faiths of the -nations, but is the divine answer, unchanged and inexhaustible, to all -the aspirations of mankind. The study of other religions therefore, even -of those of the most degraded peoples, and of those most contradictory -of our own, is as binding upon us as is the study of our Bibles. For us -“history” has been truly said “to stand in the place of prophecy,”[7] -and it is only by gathering up and considering its testimony that we can -appreciate the worth of the treasure which has been given to us, that we -may communicate it to all the world. - -Prominent among the religions that challenge our consideration is the -one which, following authorities acknowledged to be the best, we will -endeavour briefly to sketch and to expound. It is not an obsolete -system, appealing only to the poetic sentiment from a vanished past, -like the religion of Greece, but one which confronts us with vitality -sufficient to overshadow a considerable portion of the populous East. -Two thousand four hundred years have passed since it was first -proclaimed, and though it disappeared long ago from the land of its -birth, it still reigns in many kingdoms, and continues to spread its -influence in several directions in Central and Northern Asia. To tell -its story completely would be to write the history of nearly the whole -of China, India, and the countries that lie around or between them. Till -very recently it was generally computed that quite one-third of the -human family, though widely separated geographically and otherwise, -professed to find in Buddhism consolation sufficient to strengthen them -to do the work and endure the sufferings of life, and to confront with -calmness the necessity of death. - -Were this computation correct, Buddhism would have to be accounted by -far the most widely accepted of all the religions of mankind. It has -however been seriously challenged by those whose experience and candour -are beyond question. According to their enumeration, Buddhism must rank -only fourth in the scale of numerical comparison among the great faiths -of the world, for instead of there being five hundred millions of -adherents, as we were previously led to believe, probably not more than -one hundred millions of professing Buddhists can be found in all the -world.[8] The question in dispute after all is one of only secondary -importance, for we can hardly conceive of any one other than some -democratic fanatic who would propose to settle the truth of a religion -by a reckoning of the suffrages which it could command. Numerical -statistics of religious adherence furnish only an indirect test even of -influence. It is impossible to indicate even geographically the range of -a religion. We are very properly reminded that “the influence of -Buddhism in India may be immense, though not a single Buddhist temple -exists in it, while its influence in China and Ceylon may be vastly -over-stated in figures, for many Chinese Buddhists may be called -Confucianists and Taoists, and many Singhalese worshippers at Buddha’s -shrines are far from being only or altogether Buddhists.”[9] Indeed -everywhere, though chiefly in Thibet, Nepaul, and Mongolia, the religion -which is called Buddhism is no more Buddhist than the survivals of Pagan -worship and belief which are found in some extreme forms of Romanism can -be called Christian. - -The rapidity with which and the extent to which a religion has spread is -no certain indication of its capability to meet and satisfy the real -spiritual necessities of mankind. A religion may rapidly gain, and -retain for long, an ascendency over many men, without possessing any of -the qualities essential to its being recognised as the one religion of -all men. The catholicity of a faith is indicated not by the extent of -the supremacy which it has acquired, but by the quality of its contents. -Universal truths are not necessarily the truths which have won the -consent of the greatest numbers. The test of _quod ubique, semper, et ab -omnibus_, if thoroughly applied, would have established the truth of -many a degrading superstition in former times. “It is not that which is -common to barbarism and civilisation which is most truly human, but -precisely that in which civilisation differs from barbarism.”[10] The -divinity of a religion, instead of being attested by the readiness with -which it is accepted, may be indicated by the antagonism which it at -first evokes. Truth at no time depends upon majorities, at least in this -world, for here truth of any kind, when first proclaimed, instead of -meeting a generally friendly reception, has to win its victory by -conflict and lay in martyrdom the foundation of its throne.[11] - -It is not on account of its adherents, however, nor of the superficial -extent of its supremacy—though such facts have indeed a very pathetic -significance—but it is in respect of the quality of its original faith, -that Buddhism is considered worthy of comparison with Christianity. We -must not be repelled by the childish superstitions and gross absurdities -with which it is incrusted, for in a religion so ancient and extensive -this is just what we might expect to find; nor should we be surprised at -the marvellous and grotesque legends which profess to relate its origin -and early history, for these, as Professor Müller has very properly -reminded us, “are the clouds, not alway rosy, that gather round the -sunrise of any religion.”[12] In the estimation of its severest critics, -Buddhism must occupy a grand and exalted place in the general history of -religions.[13] Among the various systems of the non-Christian world, -ancient or modern, none can compare with it in respect of its ethical -code, its spirit of toleration and gentleness, and its beneficent -influence upon many wild populations that have embraced it. Neither Zeno -nor Marcus Aurelius conceived a higher theory of morals, in which -justice and temperance were infused by kindness, than that which the -founder of Buddhism successfully reduced to practice. It was the most -natural of all things therefore, that it had only to be introduced to -the notice of Christendom to win for itself a degree of admiration -accorded to no other heathen faith. - -We would be understating its claims, however, if we referred to it as -appealing only to our Christian consideration and sympathy. It has been -brought into the lists of criticism as the rival of Christianity. Modern -unbelief is forcing it upon our notice as a much truer philosophy of -existence and a more satisfactory theory of the universe than that -furnished by Christianity. We cannot let it alone, were it for no other -reason that it will not let us alone. In the civilised and -semi-civilised portions of the East its disciples have long ago ceased -to propagate it, and as a form of belief it may be said that there not -only has it reached the limits of its extension, but that its present -condition is one of “increasing disintegration and decay.”[14] Even in -the East, however, among the classes who have most come under the -influence of Western culture, the spirit of Buddhism shows considerable -vitality, and there its spirit is coming into constant and active -collision with Christianity every day. The educated or intelligent -Buddhist of Burmah or Siam tells us plainly that he will not give up his -ancient faith for Christianity; for notwithstanding the manifold and -manifest absurdities of his ancestral religion, he professes to find the -same in the forms in which Christianity has been presented to him. By -the light of our science we have helped him to weed out his old -superstitions, and he will not accept from us any new ones. In language -marvellously akin to that of the founder of Buddhism, he discards every -religion as involving the worship of deity, and he professes to find in -Suttas more ancient than our Gospels a morality as sublime, a charity as -comprehensive, and a system of faith sufficient to bear the strain of -all his necessities, whether present or future.[15] In short, Buddhism -as professed by a modern Oriental with any pretension to culture, is -almost identical with that paradoxical condition of thought or belief -which maintains, and indeed professes to be spreading in Christendom as -modern Agnosticism. - -But it is not in an attitude of resistance only that Buddhism confronts -Christianity even in the East. In Ceylon, if we are to trust the _Times -of India_,[16] it numbers among its typical gains “a young highly -educated European lady and a clergyman of the English Church,” and -these, it is averred, “are not the first, and are not likely to be the -last of its direct converts from the Christian churches.” In Europe and -America also, not among the lower and less educated, but among the -higher ranks of society, among people affecting culture and new light, -are to be found not a few professing admirers, if not practical -followers, of Buddha and his law. The admiration of many of these -dilettanti may sometimes be found to be in exact proportion to their -ignorance of Buddhism. Their information is drawn almost exclusively -from such sources as are supplied by the romance of Sir Edwin Arnold and -works like those produced by Mr. Sinnett and Colonel Olcott;[17] but -even when we discount all these, we must own that here and there we find -some thoughtful and earnest people who profess to have come out from -bondage to the beggarly elements of the Church’s faith to gentle -Buddha’s better gospel of liberty. Mr. Alabaster’s _Modern Buddhist_ -finds a co-religionist not only in the disciples of Feuerbach and Von -Hartmann, but in every “fervent atheist” who, acknowledging nothing in -the universe save man, and a system of unbending law in which he is -involved, and with which he is sometimes confounded, has been compelled -to deify humanity and to demand for its idol a service worthy of a -divine object of faith. - -So another prediction of Schopenhauer’s, uttered in the beginning of the -century, seems to be repeated in many publications at its close. “In -India,” he affirmed, “our religion will never strike root; the primitive -wisdom of the human race will never be pushed aside by any incidents in -Galilee. On the contrary, Indian wisdom will flow back upon Europe, and -produce a thorough change in our knowing and thinking.”[18] He certainly -laboured hard to bring about the fulfilment of his prophecy, preaching -Nirvana as the goal of moral effort, though confessing that his own -animal propensities allowed him no hope of attaining it. In his lifetime -his strenuous endeavours were unsuccessful, and he died in 1860 in -comparative neglect. Since then, and especially since the publication of -his book _Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung_, the doctrine painfully -planted, has taken root in the congenial soil prepared for it by Comte -and his disciples. Spiritualism again—which, though originating only in -1848, in circumstances almost ludicrous, has spread so rapidly and -extensively that it now claims to count its converts by millions all -over the world—has obviously contributed to the dissemination and growth -of pseudo-Buddhist ideas. With a literature of over five hundred -psychological works—many of them voluminous and very costly—and with -forty-six periodicals regularly published in Europe and America, it not -only assails Christianity, but supports the doctrine that “the Reign of -Law has supplanted the Reign of God; that just as we have ceased to -embody the conception of the State in a person, it is time we should -cease similarly to embody the conception of the universe, for loyalty to -a personal ruler is an anachronism in the nineteenth century, and will -some day become extinct.”[19] Its apostles profess to find in the -Christian faith many signs of disintegration, and they look “to the -bloodless and innocent record of Buddhism for the reconstruction of true -religious faith upon a permanent basis.”[20] This they expound in a -so-called theosophy in phraseology largely borrowed from the New -Testament, but descriptive of a curious amalgam of later Buddhist and -Hindu doctrines utterly contradictory to the essential teaching of -Christianity. - -Occultism, Esoteric Buddhism, which professes to supplant the religion -of Jesus, and to prepare the way of the twelfth of the Messiahs, whose -mission is to harmonise the perverted teaching of his predecessors,[21] -and thus establish the universal religion of humanity, is not likely to -occasion serious concern. It is just another of those instances in which -the diseases of a lower civilisation are communicated to one superior -and more robust. Just as plagues originating in the ruined or degraded -populations of the East have repeatedly desolated large portions of -Europe, where they found physical conditions favourable to their spread, -so there are mental and moral epidemics which, generated among inferior -religions, propagate themselves in the very highest, for reasons almost -similar. There are modern conditions which present very close affinities -to those out of which Buddhism arose. It has been truly called the -religion of despair, and it seems suited to that intellectual _ennui_ in -which many profess to live who find themselves confronted by problems -which they are unable to solve. The enervating agnosticism and -sentimental pessimism of our generation furnish the very soil in which -the germs of Buddhism are most likely to mature; but the spiritual life -of Christendom is too robust to succumb to its heresy of inertion and -moral defeat. The system of Buddha, even as laid out by himself, is not -at all likely to entrap any considerable number of Western -nineteenth-century thinkers; and this mongrel system of Neo-Buddhism, -though professing to be founded on that ancient creed, will only find -adherents among peculiar people. There is always a tendency in the most -advanced civilisation, on the part of some who are freed from the -necessity of industry, so essential to man’s mental and moral as well as -to his physical health, to revert to beliefs and customs peculiar to -earlier and inferior stages of culture. It is a curious and significant -fact,[22] that not among the working and professional classes, but among -the upper and fashionable ranks of modern society, such survivals of -ancient superstition as intercourse with spirits and palmistry are -chiefly now to be found. For such unstable souls as have been or may be -tempted to be drawn into these practices by an appeal to the authority -of the beautiful character limned for our generation in the _Light of -Asia_, I know no better restorative than a plain exposition of primitive -Buddhism. It will be seen then that this modern fungus is a growth -almost as foreign in its nature to real Buddhism as it is to true -Christianity. The degenerate Buddhism from which it borrows its largest -stock of ideas bears the same relation to the actual teaching of Buddha -that the Cabbala bear to the prophecies of the Old Testament, and the -doctrines which it counts upon as most popular and attractive are -precisely those which Buddha would have treated with his most withering -scorn. - -There is yet another characteristic of this religion which has commended -it more to the unbelief than the belief of our age. Many agreements are -alleged to subsist between the contents of the New Testament and those -of the sacred books which profess to record the life and express the -teaching of Buddha. Its ancient Pitakas are said to be filled with -stories resembling the narratives of the Evangelists, with sayings which -recall the parables, and miracles reflecting the signs and wonders which -signalised the ministry of Jesus. It is averred that with the single -exception of the Crucifixion—and how immense is the significance of that -exception I shall endeavour in a subsequent lecture to show,—it would be -easy to find in them a parallel to almost every incident related in the -Gospel. Most startling of all are said to be the resemblances between -the central figures in both sets of scriptures. For Buddhism, as truly -as Christianity, has its ideal of a perfect human life, illustrated in -one who, like unto the Son of Man, went about doing good, and enforcing -by his example the pure morality which he preached, but who, most unlike -the Son of Man, without any sustaining belief in deity, or hope of -sympathy or help from any divine being, professed to have made good his -own salvation, and to teach all whom he could reach the way to work out -theirs. - -When we come to examine its history, we find that it has followed a line -of development strikingly parallel to that of Christianity, and the -parallels thus furnished by its antecedents and progress, and by the -external and foreign influences which encountered and modified it, are -those which have the most interest and instruction for the student of -Religion. In order, however, to ascertain their significance, we must -examine these alleged correspondences of story and of doctrine; for -these have powerfully influenced a certain class of thinkers, as -supplying confirmation of a charge brought against our religion in -almost the beginning of its history, that after all there was nothing -original in Christ, and nothing new in His teaching. That resemblances -do exist, not only between the forms in which Buddhism confronts us in -some quarters of the world and the ritual and organisation of a large -section of the Christian Church, but between the contents of the -Buddhist scriptures as we have them now, and those of the New Testament, -all must admit. As we cast a hasty and general glance over them we see -how natural and how pardonable was the old rough and ready method of -accounting for them by the supposition of direct transference of the -various lineaments from the one to the other. The early Jesuit -missionaries did not hesitate to assert that the Buddhists, by -assimilating and incorporating the rites and doctrines of the primitive -missionaries, had succeeded in producing a caricature of Christianity. -In like manner, when in Central America—till then as independent of -Europe as if it had been separated not by untraversed oceans, but by the -immensities that divide the planets—the Spaniards found to their -amazement a most complex religion, with priests, and monasteries, and -temples adorned with the cross and statues of a goddess with an infant -in her arms, they could only explain the mystery by averring that it was -a gigantic mimetic ruse of the devil to lead the unhappy nations astray. -The suppositions in both cases are not likely to be seriously supported -now. Indeed, it is far more likely, as the author of _Ancient -Christianity_ and Dr. Prinsep and others have attempted to show, that in -the East we have to seek for the origin of several institutions and -rites once considered the peculiar growth of Greek or Latin -Christianity. There can be little doubt that as these religions spread -they would come in contact with and react upon each other.[23] It is -difficult in the present state of our knowledge to indicate their first -conjunction, or to trace their various intercommunications, but that -they have been mutually indebted to each other is sufficiently attested -by their histories. In later Hinduism and Buddhism and Lamaism there are -plain indications of the action of the Western upon the Eastern -religions. Romanism, on the other hand, has set its official seal upon -the relationship, by incorporating a legend of Buddha among its “Lives -of the Saints,” by canonising the founder of this most antichristian of -all religions, and by consecrating the 27th November as a day on which -he may be invoked for intercession.[24] - -Though as yet the field is only opening out, and its exploration is only -beginning, there can be little doubt that it will be found that in their -advanced stages Buddhism and Greek and Latin Christianity have -contributed to each other’s resources; but it is quite another matter to -assert that the existence of the one religion accounts for the origin of -the other, and that Christianity, as the junior of the two, is simply “a -product of India spoiled in its route to Palestine.”[25] Those who -allege that the sources of Christianity may be discovered in Buddhism -are bound not to assume but clearly to trace and demonstrate the medium -of communication between the two. As yet the allegation, though -frequently made, appears to be incapable of proof. Renan’s picture of -“wandering Buddhist monks who overran the whole world, and converted on -the banks of the Jordan, by their garb and manners, people who did not -understand their language, like the Franciscan monks in later days,” is -only a pious imagination.[26] And so are the theories elaborated by M. -Emile Burnouf in the _Science of Religions_ and by M. Ernest de Bunsen -in his _Angel Messiah of the Buddhists_. Both these authors have -explained to their own satisfaction the derivation of Christianity from -old Indian or Aryan beliefs, which, transmitted through Parthia to the -Babylonian Jews, by them communicated to the Essenes John Baptist and -Jesus of Nazareth, and from them again passed on to the Therapeut -Stephen, were formulated in the plastic mind of Paul of Tarsus into the -Christian dogmas which we now revere. The scheme is devised with -thoroughly French precision, and the treatises in which it is -elaborated, full as they are of indications of great ingenuity and -laborious research, are interesting as any romance. For scientific -purposes, however, they have hardly more historic worth than a romance. -Based upon assumptions, they are constructed almost entirely of -hypotheses: when a difficulty emerges, it is solved by a supposition -which further on is confirmed by a “reasonable expectation” of something -else, so that by and by the supposition meets us as an established -result. They abound in analogies, some of which transgress as flagrantly -the laws of time as the theory once advanced that the story of Christ is -only a reflection of the legend of Krishna, seeing that belief in -Krishna did not arise in India till centuries after Christianity had -reached its shores. “The laws of language[27] are also violated as -openly as they were by the discovery that the mysterious word ‘Om’ of -the Upanishads is the equivalent of the ‘Amen’ in ancient Hebrew -worship.” It may be as possible by this method to prove the connection -between the Vedic and Levitical institutions, as it is possible to -establish the conclusion that the old Aryan symbol of the fire sticks is -the fontal idea of the Cross, or that the Vedic word “Agni” is -equivalent to the Latin “Agnus Dei.” Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter[28] and -Professor Kuenen[29] have most exhaustively and decisively exposed the -vanity of such speculations, which, on the whole, may be regarded as a -good confirmation of a saying uttered by Professor H. H. Wilson some -thirty years ago, in reference to those who would derive Christianity -from Indian sources, that “the disposition to draw impossible analogies -is not yet wholly extinct.” - -As far as the history of Buddhism can be traced it presents no actual -point of contact with either Syria or Egypt or Europe. Even after it -became a missionary religion its progress was never westwards, and at no -period did it reach further in this direction than the region now known -as Afghanistan. The civilisation of the West offered no opportunity for -its enthusiasm, and none of the great Western cities appear in its -records. In the few scattered extracts which survive of the writings of -those Greeks who visited India during or subsequent to the period of -Alexander’s invasion, there is no indication of a knowledge of Buddhism, -nor any allusion to Buddha by name. We have to come down to the times of -Clement of Alexandria[30] and of Bardesanes the Syrian before we have -any tangible evidence of the slightest acquaintance on the part of the -West with Buddhism. The first writer mentions Buddha by name, the second -distinguishes his monks from the Brahmans, and gives some details as to -their customs, but it is impossible from their statements to conjecture -how much they knew of the faith to which they alluded, and most absurd -to infer from them that they were affected with the slightest admiration -for it.[31] - -If Christianity be the offspring of Buddhism, or even if Buddhism -exercised any direct influence upon its earliest development, some -indications of that influence should be traceable in the Jewish and -Greek literature of that period. Yet in spite of the most searching -examination none have as yet been found, and it is not at all likely -that they ever will be found.[32] Our religion was well advanced in its -course before we find in the works of its defenders any sign of -acquaintance with the Buddhist legend, or any expression of suspicion, -as on the part of Cyril and Ephraim of Jerusalem in the fourth century, -that the taint of some of the heresies which had infected the Church -might be traced to its contagion. Then, unfortunately for the -ingeniously constructed theory that the doctrines were secretly -transmitted by the channel already indicated till they reached St. Paul -through Stephen the Therapeut, the only passage on which the existence -of Therapeuts in Apostolic times could be founded has been recently -proved to be a spurious interpolation in the writings of Philo of a -treatise forged several centuries after his death.[33] Research can find -no trace of Therapeuts in Alexandria nor anywhere else till Monachism -had become the fashion in the Christian Church. Bishop Lightfoot has -convincingly proved that the theory of the transmission of Christian -doctrine from the Buddhists of India through the Babylonian Jews to the -Essenes has not the slightest trace of evidence to support it, but that, -on the contrary, the weight of evidence and probability is all against -it.[34] Again, any one who compares the Gospel account of the life of -the Baptist with the description given in Josephus[35] of the manners -and tenets of the Essenes will find that just as the Essenes owed -nothing to Buddha, so Christ, and even John Baptist, owed nothing to -them. Though similar in a few external points, the Baptist’s preaching -and manner of living were essentially antagonistic to those of the -little Jewish sect which had severed itself not only from Jewish society -but from Jewish hopes. The teaching of Christ, again, whose manner of -life, notoriously in contrast to that of His herald, was throughout a -powerful though silent contradiction to every doctrine which the Essenes -held, and it would be extravagant to assert that He owed to it even an -illustration of His own.[36] It may be safely asserted that the theory -of the derivation of Christianity from Buddhism breaks down at every -point at which it is tested. We may dismiss it in the words of Professor -Kuenen, that the “so-called connection between Essenism and Christianity -cannot bear serious inquiry for a moment,” and in those of the learned -Bishop,[37] “that though the Essenes may have had some connection with -Persia, their system was antagonistic to that of Buddhism in everything -save the spirit of despair which called both into existence.” - -The whole supposition of Burnouf and De Bunsen, and writers of the -school to which they belong, is based upon a most exaggerated and indeed -fictitious estimate of the Indian contribution to the sum of human -knowledge. It assumes that India was the cradle of all wisdom, and that -from that favoured land of primeval light went forth from time to time -the apostles of religion and the expounders of all philosophy. Yet -history reveals not the slightest trace of any such propaganda westward -before the coming of Christ, and though centuries after we have slight -notices of Indian travellers to the West, we do not find a missionary -among them. We have historic evidence, however, of the Western races -reaching India certainly before the coming of Christ, and probably long -before the birth of the founder of Buddhism, and we can hardly suppose -that races with enterprise and intelligence sufficient to discover and -conquer the Hindus would appear only before them as beggars to receive -their alms. We forget that the wave of Aryan humanity that poured -downward into India really deflected from the path of progress, and that -under climatic and other unfavourable conditions, and through -intermixture with inferior races, it stagnated, while that which -proceeded westward improved the more the farther it advanced. We have a -tolerably clear idea of the civilisation of Western Asia in the time of -Solomon, whose navy is supposed to have traded with India. It -comprehended capitals with magnificent buildings, public works, and -well-guarded highways; commerce protected and encouraged; law -administered; religion observed, and learning cultivated. What Indian -civilisation meant at the same period we can only conjecturally infer -from the literature that is extant, but we have clearer glimpses of it -five centuries later as the home of a mixed race, geographically severed -from the rest of the world, living in village settlements, which only -here and there were large enough to be called towns, divided into clans -whose wealth consisted chiefly in pasture and tillage lands, and flocks -and herds.[38] A kingdom in the sense in which Solomon would have used -the word did not exist. In respect of civilisation Palestine was far -ahead of India, and in respect of religious development, its theology, -though greatly tainted with heathen superstitions, was sufficiently pure -and strong to save the Hebrew from requiring instruction at the wattle -huts of a race that confounded God with His works. If Ophir be the name -of an Indian port, then Solomon’s navy brought back from it gold, and -ivory, and curious things indicated by Sanskrit words for which the -Hebrew chronicler could find no equivalent. The sailors may have picked -up a few fables and riddles and proverbs, but surely in regard to -religion and philosophy, the superior and stronger race would be more -likely to impart of their abundance to the lower and weaker than to -enrich themselves out of their poverty. - -When we come to the Greek invasion we move on more solid ground, and we -can handle events which have left permanent and very traceable effects; -but in the historic notices that remain, we have no trace of Hindu -influence upon Greek civilisation. Instead of Greek religion and -philosophy being enriched by the Indian, the opposite is more likely to -have been the case. The invasion of Alexander must have originated a -host of new thoughts in India, which may yet be traced in the works of -the prolific Buddhist scholars, who are said to have lived in the Punjab -during the period of the Greek domination.[39] It is alleged with fair -show of reason to have given rise to some new products, such as the art -of writing, a currency in coin, stone sculpture, none of which have as -yet been traced in India in any previous period.[40] The appearance in -India of the drama, the epic, of new views of mathematics, astronomy, -physics, are all said to be subsequent to and consequences of the Greek -invasion. And this is what we might expect, for all through the -historical ages the Hindu, instead of enriching Western nations, has -been a needy borrower from them. He has always been more ready to absorb -than impart, ever greedy of foreign ideas, and ever ready to be modified -by external culture. The beneficent influence of India is indeed -traceable in China, whose science it undoubtedly improved, and whose -literature it has greatly enriched; but with the exception of the cipher -so useful in our arithmetical notation, it is questionable whether India -has contributed to the stock of Western wisdom one single religious or -philosophic or scientific truth.[41] - -The wealthy are more likely to lend to than to borrow from the poor; the -wise more likely to teach, though they do sometimes learn from the less -instructed. The strong may be infected by the diseases of the feeble, -but generally the contagion of health radiates from the more robust to -the weaker vitalities. The “power” which the touch of the East has “made -to go forth from us”[42] no doubt flows back in quickened life upon -ourselves. As these Oriental studies proceed, the tables will perhaps be -turned upon the school that would derive all our philosophy and religion -from old Indian sources. We have seen that two successive waves of -Western life flowed eastwards upon the shores of India. Another rich -stream of Semitic thought in pre-Buddhistic times, represented by such -religious teachers as the second Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, -reached the Tigris, and we may ask, Was the Indus unknown to them? We do -not assert that they knew it, but surely it was just as easy for a Jew -to reach India as for Burnouf or de Bunsen’s Buddhists to reach Babylon. -It was just as probable that a Jewish pedlar found his way eastward -through Parthia to India, with other and more precious goods in his -possession than the Babylonian wares in his pack, as it was that Renan’s -wandering Buddhist monk found his way to the Jordan. Later on there is a -tradition—and though it is only a tradition, what a find to Messieurs -Renan, Burnouf, and de Bunsen would one similar Buddhist tradition -be!—that one of the original twelve apostles of Jesus evangelised a -portion of the western shores of India. So, founding on all these data, -only assuming—as we are entitled to assume—that the East was well -connected with the West by the sea routes from Arabia and by the land -route through Persia, and remembering that there is nothing so volatile -and permeating as thought, is the speculation so very extravagant that -old Indian philosophy and religion, though following their own course, -may have been modified and purified by contact with the thoughts of the -West? What if the conjecture be hazarded that from the West a thousand -years B.C. was communicated the theistic impulse which produced what is -best in the Upanishads—the truth, viz., of the unity which is behind and -above all variety, the One Absolute into which all thought and all being -is resolved?[43] What if it be some day asserted that the teaching of -the Hebrew prophets before the Diaspora, as to the worthlessness of -sacrifice to put away sin and to promote communion with God, may have -insinuated itself into the reveries of Indian ascetics in their forest -retreats, and made the teaching of reformers like Buddha possible? And -what if to St. Thomas may be indirectly traced that influence which made -later Buddhism differ so materially from the primitive, and approach in -the similarities of its legends so close to the Gospel narratives? Dr. -Kellogg already proclaims that “it may be affirmed with certainty that -no man can show that the legend of Buddha, in a form containing any -coincidence which could be held to argue a borrowing from it by -Christians, was in existence before the Christian era”; “that all the -various versions of the legend in any language date from a time later -than the Christian era”; “that the chief Sanskrit authority for it -cannot be proved in the judgment of the most competent critics to have -existed in its present form nearly as far back as the Christian era”; -and though he does not allege any actual transference from the Gospel to -the Buddha legend, he avers with justifiable confidence that the -opportunity for “such a transference before the Sanskrit version assumed -its present form is an indubitable fact.”[44] - -These suggestions, though just as worthy of consideration and support as -the theory that Christianity is either an offshoot of Vedic Brahminism -or a direct product of Buddhist speculation, need not be discussed at -present. We may content ourselves with the conclusions formed by our -most reliable authorities, that Buddhism and Christianity in their -origin and earliest development were perfectly independent of each -other. The births of their founders were separated by centuries, and the -spheres of their ministry by almost the whole extent of Asia. While thus -sundered by the conditions of both time and space, they were still more -so by their intellectual peculiarities and antecedents. The Indian -differed very widely from the Jew in his way of looking at and reasoning -about things. He would be very differently impressed by the same or -similar phenomena, and he would communicate his impressions by a very -different method. Geographically India was shut up from the rest of the -world, and the Aryans who went down into it were left in a manner hardly -paralleled by other peoples to develop their own life out of itself, and -according to its own laws. In far less favourable circumstances, and far -removed from the educational stimulus of contact with alien or cognate -nations, they came to stand alone as a people scarcely intelligible by -others. The Jews, on the other hand, were early brought into the stream -of human movement. Mingled with many peoples, sent from land to land, -they became in spite of their passionate love for their own country the -cosmopolitans of the world. Consequently when the two races came in -contact, the circles of thought and feeling in which they moved could -hardly be said to touch. Solomon’s sailors, as regards religious or -philosophical treasures, could neither give nor take away. They had -almost nothing in common with the strange people whom they met. The -Sanskrit words which they took home to designate the peculiar products -obtained in Ophir indicated how helpless they would have been to -understand the metaphysics of India even had they inquired about them. -The natives of Western India a thousand years before Christ were as -helpless to understand the Jew. You have only to compare a prophecy of -Israel of the eighth century B.C. with the earliest of the Upanishads to -find how widely separated at that date was the Semite from the Aryan of -India. Even when their own kinsmen visited them, when the descendants of -sires who had occupied the same cradle and had heard the same stories -told over them in the one primeval home, met for deadly strife in the -wars of Alexander on the plains of the Punjab, they were aliens in -almost everything. Later on, when Christian missionaries, anxious to -teach them better ways, succeeded in influencing their religious -conceptions, the Hindus always modified what of our faith they adopted. -The question how far the early proclamation of the Gospel in India -influenced the development of Hinduism is by the best of judges -considered not yet settled,[45] but even those who affirm the reality of -this influence admit that Hinduism did not so much incorporate the -doctrines as assimilate the ideas of Christianity. The ultimate decision -of this question, however, does not in any way affect the one before us. -We may be almost certain that the great mass of Indian speculation on -man and his relations to the infinite, for many centuries before our -era, was developed originally from the resources of the Indian mind -quite apart from foreign influences. The same assertion will hold good -as to the rise of Greek philosophy and of the Christian religion. Not -one of the three can be understood without careful reference to their -particular antecedents, but they can never be accounted for by any -theory of derivation of the one from the other. - -It is the fact of this complete independence of each other in origin, -coupled with their analogous development, and the many supposed -agreements in their systems, which makes the study of Buddhism so -interesting. What does this signify? What important law in providence -does it indicate or illustrate? Our best guides content themselves with -calling attention to the analogies, and they are chary as yet of drawing -inferences from them. The wisdom of such caution is apparent when we -find that the supposed coincidences require to be examined and -discussed. Most of them have been found to be superficial and -accidental, and, when probed, very essential and fundamental contrasts -are discovered beneath them. Now to judge correctly concerning these -religions we must try not their analogies but their contradictions. The -analogies may be only seeming, and the contrasts may be very real and -profound. On every point that is truly characteristic the two religions -may be separated as widely as the zenith is from the nadir. All -religions are parallel in their tendencies, and every approach to truth -must inevitably produce resemblances in religious belief. The -resemblances may indicate the aspirations of a moral and religious -nature common to all men; and in what is peculiar to Christianity, what -it possesses in contrast, may be found the divine answer to these -aspirations. The two religions may proceed in parallel lines, but on -very different planes, and from quite opposite directions. Thus the -morality of Buddhism so deservedly admired is in no sense peculiar to -Buddhism, for much of it was taught in India before Buddha appeared, and -in China before his law was proclaimed in it. It is the natural -outgrowth of the moral sense of mankind where circumstances are -favourable to its development. But high as the law of Buddha is, it only -“approaches, swings toward,” as Oldenberg tells us, but never reaches or -touches the law of Christ.[46] There is in the Christian Gospel -something which the Buddhist system plainly lacks, and which Buddhism -out of any evolution of its own inherent energy could never produce. -Christianity seems to be superior to it, not in the sense that the -infant is superior to the embryo, but as man is superior to the animal, -which yet may be said of very necessity to precede him. The lower -organism in creation, though not accounting for the higher, may reach -out after and indicate the necessity for it, and the higher by -fulfilling the lower will interpret it. Just as the mineral, vegetable, -and animal world all point to some higher creative fact, which in man is -to sum up and perfect them, so the many lower religions of the human -race all point to a higher, which is to annul and fulfil them. No theory -of evolution has yet accounted for man. He appears in the universe as a -new creature while part of a very old system of creation, and related to -all its inferior forms. So Christianity, in one sense as old as human -history, and related to every form of religion by which man has tried to -satisfy his spiritual cravings, may not be elaborated out of any of them -as their products, but confronts us as a new fact of history to satisfy -and complete them. - -This conclusion is one which many students of the science of religion -are not prepared to accept. To them Christianity is simply one of the -natural religions, and at best their highest but necessary outgrowth. -Just as they allege that the origin of man is to be found in the lowest -type of the savage, so they seek for the genesis of his religious -consciousness in his lowest animal wants and fears, and they profess to -trace the development of that consciousness from its first almost -shapeless forms, through the monstrosities of Fetichism, then of -Animism, Polytheism, Monotheism, till it finds its ultimate culmination -in Christ. Now Christianity is indeed a natural religion; were it -otherwise, it would cease to be divine. It supplies all man’s natural -wants, and it satisfies and educates all man’s natural aspirations. -While, however, there is nothing _un_natural in it, we aver that there -is something supranatural in its ideal, fitting it to answer the -necessities of a being who has in him all that nature has, and a great -deal more. Man is a being akin on one side of his nature to both the ape -and the worm, but he is also what they are not. “The pressure of the -infinite on his senses” awakens feelings, and originates a train of -thought in which he soon becomes conscious of relations to a higher than -nature his inferior, and to other than men his equals. There is that in -him which once it is aroused refuses to believe that what he sees or -handles or tastes is all, and that there can be no higher being than -himself. If his own most perfect machine does not express all his -intelligence, he cannot believe that all possible intelligence is -comprehended and expressed in the world of nature. Behind and beyond all -these physical arrangements of the world, which seem fully to meet the -lower wants of his being, he feels that there must be higher -arrangements corresponding to his peculiar wants. Just because he finds -every appetite has its corresponding object, and every organ implies an -element for which it is fitted,—so that if there be an eye there must be -light, and if lungs there must be air,—so this feeling or instinct which -impels him to seek the unknown Power, “for whose sake he feels -constrained to do what he does not like to do, or to abstain from what -he would like to do,”[47] is the pledge not only that He exists, but -that he has already and always been found by Him, as One who understands -perfectly his thoughts and wants, and is freely communicating with him. - -It is not in the anthropoid ape that we may hope to find the origin of -man, and it is not in the terror of the savage cowering before the -majesty and mystery of nature that we are likely to find the genesis of -his religion. Even if anthropology succeeded in proving that savagery -was the first type in which humanity was expressed, and that its bestial -rites inspired by terror was the first form of human religion, it would -not then have accounted for their origin. The gulf between the religious -savage and the non-religious speechless ape would remain as vast as -ever. The first manifested beginning of a work may be rude enough, “as -is the rough block which receives the first stroke of the sculptor who -has designed to produce a statue; but the real beginning,” as we have -been eloquently reminded, “is in the plan of the artist, and to perceive -his ideal we have to wait for the final result.”[48] It is in the end -therefore that we may be said to find and understand the author. So the -origin of man, and the genesis of his religion, is more likely to be -indicated by that divine fiat which one of the ancient authors of -Genesis has dared to formulate, “Let us make man in our image, and after -our likeness.” According to that conception, man is a creature, neither -equal with, nor perfect as the Being who conceived him, but having -affinity with his Creator, and from the very first manifesting capacity -and potentiality of indefinite progress to be gained by the divine -education to which he is everlastingly subjected. - -It is not in the plan of our lecture to discuss these momentous -questions, or to enter the lists against the representatives of the -sciences of Anthropology or Religion. Anthropology is not sufficiently -advanced to scatter the mystery that surrounds the cradle of the human -race: and it would be rash for the apostles of the other science to -maintain that they have succeeded in tracing the lines of that process, -out of which Christianity or even Buddhism is alleged to have evolved -from the shapeless superstitions of the primitive savage, before they -confront us as facts in the history of human thought. Observation and -experience alike seem to counsel greater caution in making our -deductions and drawing our inferences. Indeed there seems to be almost -as much evidence in favour of the theory of degradation as there is in -favour of that of evolution. There is no inherent tendency in human -society to pass ever on and ever up to something better and nobler. No -race, by its own inherent strength, seems to have raised itself from -barbarism into anything that can be called true civilisation; but we -have abundant proof in the Aztecs of former generations, and the negroes -of the Black Republic in the present day, that races can terribly -decline. A state of civilisation is very difficult to keep, as well as -difficult to gain.[49] And so far as observation goes, savage life and -religion appear to be “not the dawning of a society about to rise, but -the fading remains of one sinking in storms, overthrown and shattered by -overwhelming catastrophes.” Humboldt and Niebuhr, quoted by Whately in -his lecture on the Origin of Civilisation, both protest as strongly as -he did himself against those who profess to find in the wreck of the -civilised and religious man his original representative,[50] and our -best authority in the science of religion assures us that Fetichism, far -from being the initial of an upward course, marks the very last stage in -the downward course of religion.[51] It should content us, in the -present state of our knowledge, to find that humanity is capable both of -development and degradation. Savagery and civilisation are not separated -from each other by impassable barriers: savagery is at least a -possibility to a civilised race;[52] civilisation is not beyond the -reach of the savage. On the surface of the very highest civilisation -many things appear which are also to be seen in the lowest: and just as -in the lowest organisms certain rudimentary traces are found of members -which are perfected in organisms above them, so the very lowest savagery -seems to exhibit an upward tendency. In the same way the very purest -religions have clinging to them traces of the lowest superstitions. Not -in Buddhism only, but even in Christianity, we find forms of Animism and -Fetichism; but the question whether both religions first manifested -themselves in these lower forms, with which they are still partly -incrusted, must not be held to be settled in the affirmative because -these traces of them exist. Instead of being survivals which they have -not yet sloughed off or outgrown, they may be parasitical growths -indicating degradation and disease. - -Though the researches hitherto prosecuted have not resulted in the -discovery of a law regulating the development of religion,[53] they all -point to a common religious faculty peculiar to man, and indicate that -the religious instinct is co-extensive with the human race. Nothing, it -is true, in the nature of things forbids the discovery of tribes -absolutely without religion; but as matter of fact, no such have been -found. And as Tylor remarks, “those who assert the contrary disprove -their theories by the facts which they allege in support of them.”[54] -Now, if we find in all sections of humanity, even far apart from each -other, the same groping after an Author and Governor of our being, and -the same forecasting of our destiny, though in most contradictory, and, -alas! often fearfully perverted ways, we may safely infer as a -fundamental truth that humanity, though broken up into many fragments, -is really an organic unity, and that the Christian dogma simply -expresses a scientific fact, “that God hath made of one all nations on -the face of the earth.” - -If the organic unity of humanity be granted, the organic unity of -language and of religion too would seem to be deducible from it as -simple corollaries. But we must be careful in defining wherein this -organic unity consists. We may assume that in regard to language it does -not consist in a perfect primitive speech, broken up at later times into -numberless forms to be used richly and copiously by some civilised, but -scantily by barbarous peoples.[55] In regard to religion it does not -mean a complete compendium of truth supernaturally given to the fathers -of the human race, from which, while all men have erred more or less, -some have fearfully fallen away. Such a view, though held generally -once, would be condemned by Christian theologians now as irreligious in -principle, for it would seek for the roots of religion not in the nature -of man, but in some external enactment, and would make religion, which -is essentially spontaneous, to be something mechanical or compulsory in -action.[56] The unity of language does not consist in a common -vocabulary, but in a common faculty which all men have of expressing -their feelings and their thoughts; and the unity of religion does not -consist in a number of fundamental beliefs which all men have in common; -but in the universal instinct to believe in, and reverence and obey, a -power higher and better than ourselves. The faculty, the instinct in -each case is one; yet it has been developed, if we are to use that word, -in very different degrees. In some tribes the faculty of reckoning is so -weak, that they have numerals only to five, and their vocabulary is so -poor as to express only objects around them or their own sensuous wants. -In the same way in some peoples the religious faculty is so stunted as -almost to be amorphous. It exists as it were in embryo; in other peoples -it perplexes us by the monstrosities in which it is expressed, but the -monstrosity, as we are reminded,[57] may mark a further growth which -also points onward to something more complete, and may be in itself a -type of things not seen as yet. Observation therefore seems to detect a -religious tendency in process of evolution, and if so, the only question -is as to whether that tendency develops by its own inherent power, or by -a process of education intelligently conducted; in other words, whether -man grows into his religion, or whether he is instructed in it by the -revelation of a mind higher than his own. - -The New Testament writers, while proclaiming the organic unity of -humanity, proclaim as clearly that the organic development of religion -proceeds under Divine control. The phrase “organic development of -religion” may only be a modern way of designating that long continuous -process by which God reveals His mind and will for the education of the -human race, which culminated when He “who at sundry times and in divers -manners,” in various ways and in different measures, “spake unto the -fathers by the prophets,” spoke unto us by His Son. Holy Scripture from -first to last is consistent in its teaching as to this. It tells of a -Divine Spirit not operative only in one race or in one part of the world -during a few centuries of its history, but striving with human souls -always and everywhere. It tells us that God never left the world without -a witness of Himself; it reminds us of prophets—certainly not all of the -one nation—who, trained to grasp and to proclaim moral and spiritual -truths, were sent to lead among their fellow-men lives so pure and -unselfish as profoundly to affect the moral progress of the whole human -race. In a word, it reveals Deity not as apart from man and uninterested -in him, but as an everlasting agent in human history,—working out an -eternal purpose hid as a mystery from all ages, but now manifested in -the last times to us; the purpose of gathering together not only the -scattered and alienated nations, but “all things which are in heaven and -which are on earth in One,” even in Christ. - -The proclamation of this universality of the Divine purpose is one of -the chief distinctive characteristics of Christianity. Its canonical -Scriptures from beginning to end contradict the Jewish heresy, that God, -though He has made of one all nations, has only taken one or two under -His protection, and has no care for the rest. They tell us that God -cares for the sparrow that flits over the heads of the most degraded of -the human race, and for the worm that crawls under their feet; and by -implication they warn us that to assert that He who has provided for the -wants of the reptile and the bird has made no provision for the -spiritual wants of those whom He is said to have made in His image, is -blasphemy more heinous than ever heathen or atheist has uttered. “The -same Lord over all is rich in mercy unto all,” and “He is not far from -any one” of them. He has left none “without a witness.” Though He has -given some more than others, He has left no one without something. The -religious instinct in some He has specially trained and illuminated, not -because He regards them as favourites—for He is no respecter of -persons—but because through them He would work out His beneficent plan -for all. A few are indeed chosen, but that many may be called, and when -one individual or one people is selected and peculiarised, it is that -through them all nations may be blessed. - -St. Paul, quoting to the Athenians from one of their own poets, reminded -them that “we are all His offspring,” and as such we are all divinely -cared for. It is true that He does not deal with all after the same -fashion, and His dealings will always be perplexing if we apply to them -only the standard of man and the measures of time; but if we remember -that “He is God, and not man,” that “His years are throughout all -generations,” and that we “can see only a portion of His ways,” we may -trust that by-and-by He will show that He has wasted neither His own -patience nor His creatures’ strength. For though He may not be dealing -with us after the same fashion, He is dealing with all toward the same -blessed end, the end which He has revealed in Christ, through whom, and -by whom, and in whom, all men and things are to be reconciled. - -We can only judge of His purpose by what of it has been disclosed. -Humanity, essentially and fundamentally one, exhibits most manifold -variety. While the unity of the race secures its sympathy with all its -members, in its variety there is secured its indefinite expansion and -progress. No family could always keep together in one spot: the -differences of disposition and character among its members demand their -separation as the condition of harmony. The family of man is a scattered -one, not merely to prevent jealousy and hostility between its members, -but to promote their education. The training of the race seems to -proceed on principles somewhat analogous to those which we ourselves -have adopted in the education of our children. We never could hope to -educate a large number of children of various ages and mental -capacities, by keeping them all in one class; so we break them up, and -isolate, and grade them, and train some of them specially for the sake -of all, that they may be their leaders and teachers. Even so, we find -nations widely separated by natural barriers, that the characteristic -energies of each may be developed, till the time comes when one or other -of them is needed for the elevation or reformation of the rest. That the -division of nations and the separate training of nations entered deeply -into the counsels of Providence, may be learned by a glance at the -configuration of the world, and the influences which are exercised by -soil and climate and circumstance upon any single nation. The blessed -effect of this division may be seen by the slightest survey of history -in the corrective, educative, redemptive influence which they have -exercised upon each other.[58] And yet a survey of the history of the -last eighteen centuries will just as plainly indicate a Divine purpose -of drawing the nations toward unity. Babel may mark the Divine purpose -of the primeval economy, and Pentecost may be the sign of the present. -The wonder in the plain of Shinar was, that through diversity of speech -men were ceasing to understand each other. The wonder in Jerusalem was, -that men of the most widely separate nationalities heard, each in their -own tongue, Christian evangelists proclaim the marvellous works of God. -Religion, which up till the coming of Christ, had proved a repellent and -divisive force, began at that time to prove an attractive, harmonising, -and transforming power. A new spring-tide dawned upon man’s religious -conceptions, and truths after which all had been groping, but which none -had attained to, emerged grandly into prominence. The Fatherhood of the -One living and eternal God, the Divine Son, in whom all men are -brethren, and the Holy Spirit, dealing with every man, working upon him -and in him to conform him to the likeness of the highest and best, began -to be revealed; and the more that revelation is accepted the more the -reconciliation of the race advances. - -It is not our interest, therefore, to sever Christianity from all -connection with the manifold forms in which the religious instinct and -faculty of man has found expression. If it could be proved that our -religion stands in no relation to anything which men in other religions -thought or believed, it would be discovered defective, and we would have -to abandon the claim that it is the universal religion of humanity. To -assert that all previous religious ideas must be expunged as erroneous -or false, so that an entirely new message might be written, is to -contradict the evangelical doctrine as to the nature of Christ and the -purpose of His mission to the world. The New Testament writers assert -that Christ is the source of all the truth that was ever uttered, the -inspirer of all the goodness that was ever seen, and that He is the -stimulator and educator of man’s every reaching out after God. The -noblest thinkers, it is true, failed to comprehend the truth, and their -highest religion failed to satisfy them; but we must not think of them -as divinely permitted to fail to teach us the glory of Christ as the -ultimate revelation of God. Here, as in all similar cases, failure was -rather a partial success; for by the effort to reach it the mind was -trained to receive and grasp the reality when it was disclosed. Some one -has said that all pre-Christian religions are just Christ partially—very -very partially—realised. Certainly they all point to Him, and but for -Him they would have been abortive. They all suggest Him, in respect that -they each claim something to satisfy and unite them. Christianity thus -proves itself Divine, not in being absolutely different from, nor even -in being vastly superior to, but in the fact that it harmonises and -completes them. Instead, therefore, of being scared by the resemblances -to Christianity which we meet in other religions, we should be thankful -for their discovery. The early Apologists were not frightened when -Celsus,[59] in the second century, submitted his alleged parallels to -Christian doctrine and ethics, in order to prove that what Christians -called revelation had already been attained by the unassisted efforts of -heathen minds. Anticipating the language of the eighteenth century -Deists, he proclaimed that “Christianity was as old as creation.” His -parallels were often found to be defective, and many of them had only to -be looked at to show the immense superiority of the Christian -quotations. Augustine turned them against himself, when he showed that -to claim entire originality for Christianity, to deny the existence of -any light before Christ came, and the possibility of any silent -universal revelation through reason and conscience, was to contradict -His Messiahship. To ignore what God had done before, would have cut Him -off from God and man. We would expect the Son of Man to confirm the -deepest convictions of the human race. We would expect the Son of God to -claim and utilise all the truth God’s Spirit had spoken in ages past. -“Siquis vera loquitur, prior est quam ipse veritas? O Homo, attende -Christum, non quando ad te venerit, sed quando te fecerit.”[60] - -The more of Christian doctrine and ethics we find in other religions, -the more Divine will Christianity appear. There is not a truth which has -verified and sustained any other religion which is not found in -Christianity, in fuller amount and in clearer form. Christianity differs -from all other religions, not because it is a purer system of moral -truth, but because it is the manifestation of a Divine life, and because -in that life it reveals the _power_ which alone can reconcile the -knowing with the doing of duty. It professes only to have one original, -one distinctive element; but how much is involved in that profession? -for this original is Christ Himself, and all its doctrines and precepts -are vital only because of their connection with Christ. Whole libraries -of moral and doctrinal anthologies would not make up for the -obliteration of His likeness from the religious consciousness of the -world: “It would be like consoling ourselves for the loss of the sun by -the kindling of ten thousand artificial lamps.”[61] He confronts the -ages, as the One to whom all religions point, of whom all true prophets -of the human race have unconsciously testified. They, like the Founder -of this great religion, whose alleged resemblances will be found, as we -examine them, to be rather point-blank contradictions and contrasts to -the Christian doctrines and story, may have indeed been burning and -shining lights, and men were willing for a season to rejoice in their -light. They were “not that Light,” but as voices crying in the night for -its arising they came to “bear witness of it”: the Light not of Asia -only, nor yet only of Europe, but the “Light which lighteth every man -that cometh into the world.” - -Footnote 1: - - _Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung_, Pref. xiii. - -Footnote 2: - - Professor Max Müller, Gifford Lectures for 1888, on _Natural - Religion_, p. 11. - -Footnote 3: - - T. W. Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, 1881, “On the Origin and Growth - of Religion as illustrated by some points in the History of Indian - Buddhism,” p. 10. - -Footnote 4: - - Max Müller, _Introduction to the Science of Religion_, p. 38. - -Footnote 5: - - John v. 39. - -Footnote 6: - - Baring Gould, _Origin and Development of Religious Belief_, vol. i. p. - 121. - -Footnote 7: - - Westcott, _Victory of the Cross_, pp. 3, 6. - -Footnote 8: - - T. W. Rhys Davids estimates the number at five hundred millions - (_Handbook of Buddhism_, p. 6). The previous general estimate was - about four hundred millions; but Dr. A. J. Happer, missionary at - Canton for forty-five years, reduces this number to seventy-three - millions. Sir Monier Williams, in his recent book on Buddhism, quoting - Professor Legge’s introduction to _Travels of Fa-Hian_, calculates the - number at one hundred millions, and claims for Christianity, with its - four hundred and thirty millions of adherents, the numerical - preponderance over all others. - -Footnote 9: - - T. W. Rhys Davids, _Buddhism_, pp. 4, 7; Sir Monier Williams, - _Buddhism_, p. 171. - -Footnote 10: - - Dr. Caird, _Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion_, Croall - Lectures, 1878-9, pp. 82 _seq._; T. W. Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, - 1881, _On the Origin and Growth of Religion as illustrated by - Buddhism_, p. 7. - -Footnote 11: - - To draw proper inferences from statistics of the spread and supremacy - of a religion, we must first investigate the circumstances in which it - was propagated, and the intellectual and moral conditions of the - peoples whom it has converted. If it has gained only the belief of - _one_ section of the human race, it is evidently not entitled to rank - with another which proves itself influential among _all_ sections. A - religion dominant only over _inferior_ races is manifestly of less - value than another which, while satisfying the wants of the lowest and - most degraded peoples, is yet fulfilling the spiritual aspirations of - the _highest_. The first, if in any way related to the second, can - only be so as preparatory and prophetic of the mission which the - second alone can accomplish. - -Footnote 12: - - _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. i. Introd. - -Footnote 13: - - Köppen, _Die Religion des Buddha_, s. 231; J. Barthelemy - Saint-Hilaire, _Le Bouddha_, etc., pp. 78, 144, 181; Spence Hardy, - _Manual of Buddhism_, p. 358. - -Footnote 14: - - Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_, p. xv, Introd. - -Footnote 15: - - Alabaster, _Modern Buddhist; in the Wheel of the Law_, p. 73; Trübner - and Co., 1871. - -Footnote 16: - - 5th April 1885. In the Madras _Times_ for October 29, 1886, a meeting - of the Society for the Propagation of True Religion is advertised, for - reading and exposition of the Bhagavad-Gita. - -Footnote 17: - - _The Light of Asia_; _The Occult World_; _Esoteric Buddhism_; - _Theosophy of Archaic Religions_. - -Footnote 18: - - _Parerga_, 3d ed. i. 59. - -Footnote 19: - - _Westminster Review_, New Series, vol. xlviii. p. 469. - -Footnote 20: - - Gerald Massey, _Light_, 16th June 1883. - -Footnote 21: - - Among these are reckoned Adam, Fohi, Laotze, Jesus, Mohammed, and - Jenghiz Khān.—Kinnealy, _Commentary on the Apocalypse_, p. 685. - -Footnote 22: - - Pember, _Earth’s Earlier Ages_, p. 326. - -Footnote 23: - - H. H. Wilson, _Essays_, vol. ii. p. 376; Huc and Gabet, _Travel in - Tartary and Thibet_; translated by Mrs. p. Sinnett and W. Hazlitt. - -Footnote 24: - - _Buddhist Birth Stories_, translated by T. W. Rhys Davids, vol. i - Introd. p. xli. - -Footnote 25: - - Foucher de Careil, _Hegel et Schopenhauer_, p. 306. - -Footnote 26: - - _Vie de Jésus_, p. 98, 4th ed.; Paris, 1863. - -Footnote 27: - - The Buddhists, as Professor Kuenen remarks, do not believe in angels, - and they have no _Messiah_. Tathagata, which Mr. de Bunsen translates - “The Coming One,” _i.e._ Messiah, means “One _who has gone_” or “has - arrived at” (Nirvana), like his predecessors. So Oldenberg, Rhys - Davids, Bigandet, Edkins, Rajendralal Mitra: see too Dr. Kellogg, - _Light of Asia and the Light of the World_, pp. 106, 107. - -Footnote 28: - - See for these and other curious instances his article on “The - Obligations of the New Testament to Buddhism,” _Nineteenth Century_, - Dec. 1880. - -Footnote 29: - - _Natural and Universal Religions_, Hibbert Lectures, 1882. - -Footnote 30: - - _Strom._ i. 15; Porphyry, _de Abstin._ iv. 17. - -Footnote 31: - - Schwanbeck, _Megasthenes Indica_, p. 20; Lassen, _Ind. - Alterthumskunde_, 209; H. H. Wilson, _Essays_, ii. p. 314 _seq._; - Reinaud, _Relations Politiques et Commerciales de l’Empire Romain avec - l’Asie Central_, Paris, 1863; Priaulx, _Travels of Apollonius and the - Indian Embassies to Rome_, Paris, 1873. - -Footnote 32: - - The question of the disciples in John ix. 2, concerning the man who - was born blind, “Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was - born blind?” is alleged by Professor Seydel (_Das Evangelium von Jesu - in seinen Verhältnissen zu Buddha-Sage und Buddha-Lehre_) to indicate - an idea introduced into the Gospel from a foreign source, as the - doctrine of the pre-existence of souls was then unknown among the - Jews. Meyer in his critical and exegetical Handbook to St. John’s - Gospel has shown that no one required to go outside the sphere of - Jewish thought for an explanation of this part of the disciples’ - question. In addition to his quotations from the Rabbinical books - illustrating this Jewish belief, Kuenen in his brief criticism of - Seydel adduces another from the Wisdom of Solomon viii. 20, as also - rendering the Buddhist derivation of this “thought quite superfluous” - (Hibbert Lectures, 1882, Appendix). Many instances of agreement in - thought and phraseology with the Gospels in passages in Buddhist works - are adduced by Dr. Kellogg, _Light of Asia, etc._, p. 137 _seq._, and - are satisfactorily accounted for by the similarity of circumstances - under which Buddha and the Saviour taught and the condition of men - which they both perceived and described. - -Footnote 33: - - Lucius, _Die Therapeuten und ihre Stellung in der Geschichte der - Askese_, Strassburg, 1880; also _Der Essenismus in seinem Verhältniss - zum Judenthum_, Strassburg, 1881. - -Footnote 34: - - Dissertation in Commentary on _Colossians_, pp. 119, 157. - -Footnote 35: - - _Jewish Wars_, ii. 8. 2-13; _Antiq._ xiii. 5. 9; xv. 10. 4, 5; xviii. - 1. 2-6. - -Footnote 36: - - Edersheim, _Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah_, vol. i. p. 325. - -Footnote 37: - - Hibbert Lectures, 1882, p. 203. - -Footnote 38: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde_, - translated by W. Hoey, 1882, p. 6; Williams and Norgate. - -Footnote 39: - - Dr. Joseph Edkins, _Chinese Buddhism_, pp. 250, 343; Trübner, 1880. - -Footnote 40: - - Fergusson, _Tree and Serpent Worship_, Introduction, p. 77. - -Footnote 41: - - This must be read in the light of Professor Max Müller’s _What can - India teach us?_ - -Footnote 42: - - Luke viii. 46. - -Footnote 43: - - Even Kuenen and Wellhausen assume as established that Monotheism shows - itself with unmistakable distinctness in Hebrew prophecies of the - eighth century B.C. (Hibbert Lectures, 1882, p. 119; _Theological - Review_, 1874, pp. 329, 336; _Encyc. Brit._, art. ISRAEL). Professor - H. Schultz maintains that Monotheism was established in Israel from - the time of Moses downward, among the leaders of thought at least. - (_Alttest. Theolog._, 2d ed., 1878, pp. 440, 457.) - -Footnote 44: - - _Light of Asia and Light of the World_, pp. 40, 102, 161. - -Footnote 45: - - Weber, _Indische Studien_, vol. i. p. 400; J. Muir, _Sanskrit Texts_, - p. xxxiv; Lorinser, _Bhagavadgitâ_, Appendix, translated by Muir in - _Ind. Antiq._ vol. ii. p. 283. - -Footnote 46: - - _Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde_, translated by Wm. - Hoey, 1882, p. 292. - -Footnote 47: - - Müller, Gifford Lectures, _Natural Religion_, p. 169. - -Footnote 48: - - Dr. Caird, _Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion_, p. 343 _seq._ - -Footnote 49: - - Sir A. Mitchell, Rhind Lectures for 1876 and 1878, _The Past in the - Present_, pp. 207, 214; Edinburgh, Douglas, 1880. - -Footnote 50: - - Whately, _Political Economy_, p. 68. - -Footnote 51: - - Max Müller, Gifford Lectures, _Natural Religion_, p. 54. - -Footnote 52: - - The savagery of a great city is in some aspects more awful than that - of Africa. - -Footnote 53: - - T. W. Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, p. 10. - -Footnote 54: - - Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, vol. i. p. 380. - -Footnote 55: - - Müller, _Introduction to the Science of Religion_, p. 41; _Chips from - a German Workshop_, vol. ii. p. 254. - -Footnote 56: - - Fairbairn, _Studies in Religion and Philosophy_, p. 13. - -Footnote 57: - - Baring Gould, _Origin and Development of Religious Belief_, vol. i. p. - 109. - -Footnote 58: - - “Nations,” says Professor Goldwin Smith, “redeem each other. They - preserve for each other principles, truths, and hopes, and aspirations - which, committed to the keeping of one, might become extinct for ever. - They thus not only raise each other again when fallen, but they - prevent each other from falling.”—_Lectures on the Study of History_, - delivered in Oxford 1859-61, p. 71. - -Footnote 59: - - Celsus, quoting our Lord’s saying, Matt. xix. 24, and the exhortation - to forgive our enemies, Matt. v. 43, 45, alleged they were transferred - and coarsely perverted from Plato, _de Legibus_, and _Crito_.—Origen, - _contra Celsum_, Book vi. chaps. 15, 16, and Book vii. chap. 61. - -Footnote 60: - - _Enarr. in Psalm._ cxl. 6. Clement of Alexandria regarded Greek - philosophy as a προπαιδεία or preparatory discipline for the reception - of Christian truth, _Strom._ vi. chap. 8, and as a step to something - higher, ὑποβάθραν οὖσαν τῆς κατὰ Χριστὸν φιλοσοφίας, _Strom._ vi. - chap. 17. - -Footnote 61: - - Trench, Hulsean Lectures for 1846, p. 153. - - - - - LECTURE II. - THE HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS OF BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY, AND THE - EVIDENTIAL VALUE OF THEIR RESPECTIVE SCRIPTURES. - - -It should be an advantage to the study of Buddhism that even in its -origin it confronts us as the religion of a people sufficiently advanced -in civilisation to be able to formulate their metaphysical conceptions -and present us with their religious beliefs organised in a system. Like -Christianity it not only inherited but also produced a considerable and -very miscellaneous literature, whose contents throw valuable light upon -the past from which it emerged and upon the course which it followed, -and like Christianity it has left its stamp on most of the institutions -of the peoples among whom it was successfully propagated. When all these -sources of information have been properly investigated, we may hope that -the story of the rise and progress of Buddhism in the East will be -revealed with something at least of the clearness with which the history -of Christianity is disclosed by the literature and art of the West. - -To trace, however, the dawn and spread of Buddhism with anything like -historical accuracy for the first six or seven hundred years of its -course, is a task as yet beyond the literary ability of the times. It is -doubtful whether the materials for such a work have as yet been -collected, and he would be a bold man who would claim for the task of -sifting what has already been furnished more than an earnest beginning. -Not even Saint-Hilaire would now repeat the assertion so confidently -made thirty years ago,[62] that “no new discoveries can change our -conclusions regarding it”; for during the past generation the effect of -fuller information has been not only to modify, but in several instances -to revolutionise the theories formed concerning it. Discoveries are -multiplying every year; and, though the knowledge thus acquired serves -often more to reveal difficulties than to solve them, we may be thankful -that the examination of them is engaging the attention of the highest -order of scholarship, and hopeful, yea, even confident that since so -many of the ablest and most patient minds are turned in this direction, -the aggregate of progress will speedily be immense. - -All that we know of Buddhism, and all that we are likely to know of it, -is to be gathered from its own Scriptures; and a comparison of these -with the Christian Scriptures reveals at the very outset a difference -amounting to a vast contrast between them. The original Scriptures of -Christianity have been before the tribunal of the world’s keenest and -most hostile criticism for 1800 years; but we are only now beginning to -make the acquaintance of the Scriptures of Buddhism, which have hardly -been subjected to any cross-questioning worthy of the name. Those who -have ventured to assail have only published their inability to -understand them, and those most competent to criticise may be pardoned -if they handle tenderly the fragments which they are collecting and -translating for our use. The services which they are thus rendering to -religion as well as to science are very great. Previously we had only -anthologies extracted often without reference to date or authorship or -connection to judge from, but now these learned pundits are furnishing -us with books containing not only the wisdom and beauties of Eastern -literature, but its follies and blemishes as well. Omitting only what is -obscene and offensive to the moral sense,[63] they are giving us -specimens of several strata of Oriental thought and belief, vertically -and thoroughly cut, from which a correct understanding of the essential -features of this very peculiar religion may with considerable -probability be ascertained. - -Only a portion of the Buddhist Scriptures are as yet available, and -these we are certainly not at liberty to place side by side as of equal -evidential value with the contents of the New Testament. It is said that -two thousand manuscripts of the New Testament, or of portions of it, -have been discovered, several of which are of great antiquity, and -notwithstanding the immense number of various readings on points of -detail, the text of the oldest corresponds substantially with that of -the books as we have them to-day. We are informed, however, on the best -authority, that “all Indian manuscripts are comparatively modern, that -no manuscript written one thousand years ago is now existent in India, -and that it is almost impossible to find one written five hundred years -ago; for most manuscripts which claim to be of that date are merely -copies of old ones, the dates of which are repeated by the -copyists.”[64] It is admitted, moreover, that the literary honesty of -these Indian translators and copyists is very questionable, that the -books of the Buddhists have undergone wholesale textual alterations, -that none of the Sanskrit works as yet known to us are unadulterated -specimens of transmitted doctrines, that the oldest and most reliable -authorities for the life of Buddha exaggerate greatly events which are -said to have happened, and ascribe to him long discourses of which the -writers themselves were the composers.[65] In respect, therefore, of -literary accuracy and faithfulness of purpose, these old compilers and -re-editors of the Buddhist books are far below the standard which -criticism has inexorably applied to the versionists of the Christian -Scriptures. - -The faithfulness of our English versions is vouched for by the names of -the translators, and yet they admit that their translations are only -approximations.[66] From the very nature of the case they must be so. -The East is very far distant from the West; its ways are not our ways; -its thoughts are not our thoughts. Some one has said that “the _Iliad_ -is separated from the _Rig Veda_ by an interval of several -civilisations”; and if so, how vast must be the gulf separating Vedic -and even Buddhist metaphysicians from the British philosopher of to-day! -It is simply impossible for the most impartial translator to put himself -in the place of the ancient Indian sage, and to prevent his own -preconceptions from insinuating themselves among the data with which he -has to deal. He has to express, as we have been reminded, “a lower order -of ideas in a higher order of terms, and use words suggesting a wealth -of analysis and association quite foreign to the thought to be -reproduced. Translation from a lower to a higher language is thus a -process of elevation.”[67] In reading these translations and the books -founded upon them, we have constantly to guard against giving to such -terms as “sin,” “lust,” “salvation,” “law,” “church,” and many others, -our Christian conceptions of them. We are often perplexed whether the -phrases employed, and even the very titles of the treatises, be really -the equivalents of the ancient texts and titles, or nineteenth century -conceptions of what they may be made to mean. A European scholar -inheriting the results of ages of Christian culture may be more likely -to interpret the reach of an old Buddhist expression than the monk who -first used it; but he is always in danger of confounding that reach with -his own firm grasp of truth, and of expressing his conceptions by -phraseology which, if it could be explained to the ancient, would be -rejected by him as inconsistent with his original meaning. - -Another strong contrast between the two sets of scriptures emerges when -we attempt to fix the dates at which the earliest Buddhist works were -produced. The New Testament is admitted by authorities who cannot be -accused of prejudice in favour of Christianity and even by antichristian -critics, to contain the actual writings of some of the original -disciples of Jesus. The very latest of the books which compose it was in -circulation within a century after His death, while the great bulk of -them were accepted before half a century had passed as the testimonies -of those who were eye-witnesses of the rise of our religion.[68] M. -Renan admits that the three Synoptical Gospels are the “tender -remembrances and simple narratives of the first and second generations -of Christians, written in substantially their present form by the men -whose names they bear.”[69] The epistle of St. James and several of the -epistles of St. Paul are almost now unanimously accepted as the products -of the first generation. Mons. E. Burnouf therefore may safely aver that -“the history of Christian doctrine and worship bears the crown over all -others in respect that its records are complete.”[70] What of these -records are comprised in the New Testament, though tried by the severest -of tests, continues to-day as they were eighteen centuries ago delivered -to the Church. Though the various readings in the mss. are said to be -counted by 200,000, hardly one of them can be said to affect a -fundamental doctrinal or historical statement; and so outstanding and -distinct is their canonical character that it requires no external -authority, but only comparison with them, to disclose what of early -Christian literature is to be regarded as apocryphal. - -The evidence on which Orientalists have to rely in fixing the date of -the Buddhist scriptures is confessedly such “that we must not be -surprised if those who are accustomed to test historical and -chronological evidence in reference to Greece and Rome declined to be -convinced by it.”[71] For centuries after the death of Buddha his -followers assure us that they had no written books constituting their -rules of faith and manners. The earliest written collection of which in -their own records we have any historical trace is that of Ceylon, and -all that can be said of it is “that there is nothing improbable” that -part of it may have been reduced to writing about the first century -B.C., but the whole was only fixed about 420 A.D. The Nepaulese -collection is said to date only from the first Christian century; but it -is not alleged that the whole of the works now in it were even then in -existence. According to their own tradition, they had no written -biography of Buddha till about the first century of our era, and no one -who has examined that narrative or read the opinions expressed by -Orientalists as to the date when it was produced—opinions so divergent -as to indicate a difference of several centuries—would ever dream of -employing it as evidence of what is alleged in it to have happened. It -is simply impossible, therefore, to regard the Buddhist’s Pitakas as if -they were of similar authoritative value with the New Testament, for, in -fact, in respect of canonical worth they do not deserve to be ranked -with much of our later patristic literature. - -A very high antiquity, however, is claimed by Buddhists for these -collections. According to the Dipavanso, their earliest available -chronicle, dating only from the fifth century A.D., the doctrines orally -communicated by Buddha to his disciples were by them immediately after -his death revised and classified under the three divisions of Vinaya, -Abhidharma, and Sutta, in which they have always since then been -preserved. This collection having passed through the crucible of a -council held at Vaisali a hundred years later, was fixed as canonical at -another held in the reign of Asoka about 242 B.C. It is urged that a -canon, to be authoritative, does not require to be written, and that -Indians claim for one orally transmitted higher authority than for one -transcribed. The art of writing was probably unknown in India in -Buddha’s time, and so, thrown back upon their resources, memory was by -the Indians cultivated to an extent which enabled them to dispense with -methods deemed by nearly all other peoples to be essential to accuracy. -Eminent Orientalists therefore, while regarding the account of the first -council as apocryphal, are yet inclined to admit—from the identity of -the threefold division in all the schools that have been tested, from -the similarity of the titles of the contents of all the various -collections, and especially from the quality of the writings -themselves—that the tradition recorded in the Dipavanso is well founded, -and that considerable portions of the Vinaya and Sutta literature may -date from a hundred years after the death of Buddha. - -In assuming so much, however, these scholars by no means believe that -they have found in these texts the actual teaching of Buddha in an -unadulterated condition. While not thinking it possible to impugn the -substantial accuracy of the Vinaya texts, though given in Pali -translations of the lost dialect in which they were originally preached, -they tell us that the oldest of the Sutta texts are “not his teachings -nor the teachings of his immediate disciples, who could not have spoken -of him in the manner in which he is there described. They are only -founded on his teachings, and record existing beliefs as to the -doctrines which he actually taught.”[72] For “the fundamental and -original doctrines they may be accepted as fairly trustworthy -authorities,” but for the facts of his life they are even at the best -very questionable guides. Nearer to the origin of Buddhism and of the -person of its founder we are not likely to get than in the book entitled -by its translator the Sutta of the Great Decease; but he confesses that -even in it we are standing on anything but solid ground, and that we are -only able to catch a distant and most uncertain glimpse of the figure of -the great Teacher as he comes out at rare intervals from the mist of -legends which, designed to adorn and magnify, have in reality diminished -and obscured his real personality. - -For our knowledge of Buddhism, therefore, we have for centuries only -oral traditions to rely upon. Of these traditions only a portion may be -traced approximately to the times of Buddha, and of the fragments which -can possibly be traced not one contains a narrative nor any historical -reference to passing events. On the contrary, our knowledge of the -origin of Christianity is derived not from fragments of oral tradition, -but from a set of canonical writings, many of them traceable close to -the generation that witnessed Christ’s death, in which the story of His -ministry is set in historical relation to the age in which He appeared, -and His peculiar doctrines are so fixed that any addition to them is at -once recognised as spurious. Between the extremes of criticism as to the -period covered by the life of Christ there is a difference of only half -a dozen years; but there is a difference in Buddhist traditions of more -than a thousand years as to the date of Buddha’s birth, and even -European scholars, after carefully sifting traditions and writings, have -only been able approximately to fix dates for his death ranging over a -period of 175 years.[73] - -For historical accuracy, therefore, the traditions are as worthless as -they are for any photographic presentation of the various persons who -figure in them. In truth we have in them neither chronology nor -biography. Events and actors are equally indistinct; we have only a -background without any perspective, and pasteboard puppets projected -against it which might be designated by any name whatever. Even in -respect of transmission of doctrine, oral tradition was found very early -to have failed. The reason given in their chronicles for resorting to -writing is confession sufficient that they considered that method of -preserving the deposit of the faith a safer one.[74] So divergent had -the renderings and so corrupt had the texts become—“for even the monks -of the great council were blamed for turning the religion upside down, -for distorting the sense and teaching of the five Nikayas, for casting -aside that Sutta and Vinaya, and making imitations of them changing this -to that[75]—that the profoundly wise priests, foreseeing the perdition -of the people (from the perversion of the doctrines), and in order that -the religion might endure for ages, wrote the same in books.”[76] Before -this time the many schisms which had arisen were powerful illustrations -of the evils which the “profoundly wise” transcribers deplored, and of -that falling away from the original creed which this religion had -already suffered for lack of a secured basis of faith.[77] - -For the want of an authoritative standard told very severely against the -early history of Buddhism. Its rapid and widespread extension was due, -not so much to the natural development of its own principles as to its -assimilation of the external and foreign influences with which it came -in contact. Its advance was the result more of compromise than of -conquest.[78] It welcomed or tolerated, at least it could not or did not -defend itself against the introduction of many parasitical germs which -were destined to arrest its growth and pass into its life. As the ivy -covers and adorns the oak only to suck away with its million mouths its -strength, so the popular beliefs which Buddhism incorporated from -without, as well as the defections from the original teaching which took -place within it, produced very soon upon it alterations so extensive -that its founder would have disclaimed or would have been really unable -to recognise it as his own. - -No temptation happened to Buddhism, however, but such as is common to -all the higher religions. As far as observation and experience go, the -lower types of religion continue unchanged; but those that confront us -upon a higher level are in a perpetual flux, in which change does not -always indicate progress. Instead of tracing their path by the -superstitions which they have outgrown, their course may be indicated by -those which they have incorporated. Man, in his exodus of faith, is -always tempted to go back to the condition from which he has emerged, or -to fall away to the religions by which he is surrounded. Mosaism and -Christianity had to pass through this trial, and certainly they did not -pass through it unscathed. They suffered from the corruption of popular -superstitions and of Pagan rites, all of which, as in the case of -Buddhism, were defended by an appeal to tradition. Just as every -Buddhist innovator was ready with some forgotten saying or Sutta alleged -to have been delivered by the “Blessed One,” sometimes miraculously -preserved through the ages till the necessity for the revelation arose, -so the Popes and the Fathers of Christendom were never at a loss for -authorities when, professing to develop and define, they in reality were -adding to the faith and the worship and the claims of the Church. - -But Christianity from the very earliest possessed what Buddhism for a -long period lacked. In its canonical writings it conserved not only a -check upon this apostasy, but a security for reformation. Mechanical -though it seems, there was a providence in the early committal to -writing of such books as compose our Bibles. In the fact that their -successive disclosures of truth were thus registered there is more -significance than at first appears. It is admitted by all that man’s -progress depends in no small degree on his ability to secure and hand -down the treasures of his wisdom and experience. The art of writing is -thus recognised to be one of the most moving powers in the world. The -nations that have depended upon it for the transmission of knowledge -inherited or acquired, have certainly made more progress in religion and -civilisation than those that have neglected or despised it. It is -significant that the writers of the Bible have all recognised this -condition of human progress, and that many of them have represented -themselves as instructed by the Divine authority, from whom they profess -to have received their communications, to make them permanent in popular -language and in plain written form.[79] - -In the history of the Hebrews there is not a single recorded instance of -religious reformation in which the law and the testimony, or the scrolls -of the prophets, did not play an important part. In like manner the New -Testament, which embodies the ideals and perpetuates the standard which -is to regulate its course, not only saved Christianity from the perils -which threatened its earliest spread, but has often rescued it from the -degradation into which it has fallen. Canonical books may only give, as -it has been said, “the reflected image of the real doctrines of the -founder of a religion, an image always blurred and distorted by the -medium through which it has to pass”;[80] but in the case of the New -Testament the Church has never developed, or thought it possible to -develop, a purer reflection. Advance as it may, the Church never can -outgrow the ideals of its youth, and change what it pleases, it never -can improve them. Whenever the Church assumed supremacy over its law, -and whenever tradition superseded its testimony, it yielded to the -disintegrating influences of heathenism. It was rapidly lapsing into -polytheism when Mohammed rose with a spurious and mutilated version of -the Scriptures to recall it to the witness of true Scriptures to the -unity and sovereignty of God. Later on, when sinking through formalism -into superstition and sorcery almost as degrading as any Indian, Luther, -by the re-discovery of the Greek Testament, brought about a reformation -which not only saved Europe, but has created a new Western and Southern -world. In every revival and every advance which has taken place since -then there may be traced, directly or indirectly, the regenerative -influences of the Christian originals. On its human side the Christian -Church will always be in danger of losing its pure conceptions and noble -aims in grosser forms of belief and in lower ambitions; but high over -all its degradation towers in its early Scriptures the majesty and -spirituality of its Divine authority, and we have only to look up to be -first convicted, then attracted and redeemed. The purest sections of the -Christian Church, the surest and the first to outgrow all unworthy -expressions of Christianity, are those which adhere most closely to the -original rule of faith and worship. It is quite possible that we “may be -only too apt to make a fetich of our sacred books”;[81] but somehow the -Christian communities that most revere their sacred books show that they -are least likely to fall into this danger. The more we obey the -Scriptures, the less likely are we to idolise them. The New Testament, -so far from attaching any mystical or talismanic value to its contents, -tells us that the letter killeth, and the spirit alone giveth life. It -is otherwise with the Buddhist Tripitaka. Its authors claim meritorious -efficacy not only for the repetition of its sentences, but for the very -sound of its words, “as if they were capable of elevating every one who -hears them to heavenly abodes in future existence.” Sir Monier Williams -has illustrated this by a legend long current, not in northern Buddhist -countries, but in Ceylon, where a purer Buddhism prevails. According to -it, two monks were heard by five hundred bats reciting in a cave the law -of Buddha, and they by merely hearing gained such merit that in death -they were re-born as men, and ultimately through successive re-births -were raised to the fellowship of the gods.[82] Of course this is simply -a legend, a thing of hay or straw that has got mixed with the purer -primitive faith; but it indicates that the course of the current flows -in quite an opposite direction from the faith which allows itself to be -dominated and guided by the canon of Holy Scriptures. - -The quality of the contents of the two sets of writings is not under -discussion, but we cannot help remarking one characteristic of the -Christian Scriptures which is not likely to emerge in our longest -acquaintance with the Buddhist books. No one ever expects that the -genuineness of the contents of the Tripitaka will ever be discussed with -anything like the intensity and acerbity with which we have discussed -the genuineness of the books of the Bible. The long and fierce -contendings that have been waged over each portion of the Gospels will -never take place over any of the Suttas. We have been working for five -centuries to secure a proper English translation of the Holy Bible, and -we are not satisfied with it yet: does any one expect a similar -expenditure of labour to secure a proper version of the Tripitaka? It is -possible that scholarship will by and by exhaust this particular field -of Oriental research, and “having catalogued its discoveries will put -them aside and proceed to more interesting studies”; but though men have -quarrelled about and questioned the Holy Scriptures for eighteen -centuries they are not likely to come to a term of their hostility or -curiosity. The ceaseless endeavour to disprove, refute, shows that we -cannot get rid of them. There must be something either in the history of -their production or the quality of their contents, or the range of their -influence, which separates them from all sacred books of the type of the -Buddhist Tripitaka. Certainly we cannot conceive it possible that any of -these so-called Bibles of other religions will ever among any civilised -people supplant the Christian Bible. “One chapter of Isaiah,” says -Quinet,[83] “has more in it than a whole Republic of Plato.” One Psalm -of David will outweigh all the religious lore of the Vedas. One sentence -of Moses, “The Lord our God is one Lord: I the Lord am holy,” is worth -all the speculations of the devout and learned authors of the -Upanishads. Not that the Republic, the Vedas, the Upanishads are to be -despised. On the contrary, the more they are studied the more likely is -the Bible to be revered, for the truth that is in them is only prophetic -of truth which could not then be revealed and received. We may outlive -and outgrow the teaching of these wise ancients, but we have not yet -transcended the originals of Christianity, and it is not at all likely -that we ever shall. There is an end to the perfection of all other -systems, but here is “a commandment exceeding broad,” “whose line has -gone through all the earth, and its word to the end of the world.” - -From this slight notice of the literature which Buddhism has produced -let us proceed to glance at the literature which it inherited, with the -view of catching a glimpse of the conditions out of which it arose. As -with man’s language, so is it with his other distinctive birthright: we -can only understand a religion when we have ascertained its antecedents. -Christianity emerged from a previous religion of which it professed to -be the complement. Our Lord appeared among a people whose spiritual -history extended over several thousand years. They had a sacred canon, -professing to register the successive Divine revelations made to their -ancestors, which was fixed as we have it now at least two, and perhaps -more, centuries before He came. Instead of breaking with the past He -acknowledged and appropriated it; instead of abrogating their law, He -fulfilled it; instead of disowning their prophets He claimed them as His -witnesses. In prosecuting His mission He brought upon Himself the fierce -antagonism of the existing Church, whose leaders in less than three -years succeeded in having Him crucified; but His constant appeal was to -their ever-venerated Scriptures. His apostles again record and expound -the incidents of His ministry and His death as realising the -pre-intimations of their ancient rites, and as fulfilling all their -prophecies; and all along faith in the Divine origin of Christianity is -never supposed to be weakened but to be greatly confirmed by an appeal -to the religion which it annulled and supplanted. - -Now Buddhism grew out of Brahmanism, but however divergent their -relations eventually became, it was originally accepted as a natural -consequence of it. Unlike Christianity and Judaism, there was for long -no trace of serious antagonism between the Brahmans and many generations -of the successors of Buddha. Brahmans formed a considerable portion of -his followers, and in regard to his teaching, his doctrines, where not -identical, were not likely to offend them. St. Paul scandalised the -Pharisees by preaching that outward Jewish connection marked by the seal -of circumcision profited nothing, but long before Buddha’s time Brahman -teachers had declared, as he did, to that most exclusive of the Indian -elect, that the true Brahman was not a person born within the sacred -caste, but only the thoughtful and self-controlled man:[84] that a bad -mind and wicked deeds are what defile a man, and that no outward -observances can purify him.[85] Buddha has been designated as the best -and wisest and greatest of Hindus; “a reformer of Hinduism who ignored -its superstitions and follies, and sought to elevate and refine its -dogmas.”[86] It is now considered very questionable whether the -difference between the two systems ever grew into hostility involving -persecution of the new religion by the old. The two streams of Hindu -belief seem for long in their course in India to have flowed peaceably -side by side, and if Buddhism eventually disappeared from India as a -separate and distinct system, it was not altogether because it was -crushed by persecution, but because it returned to enrich and modify the -religion from which it originally parted.[87] - -Buddhism was thus an offspring of Brahmanism, but Brahmanism was itself -the product of a religion older still. Behind Buddhism lies a great and -undefined past, a past with no history in the proper sense of the word, -and absolutely without chronology; but out of this vast and nebulous era -there has been extracted a rich traditional literature, and Oriental -scholars working on principles similar to those by which geologic -periods are determined,[88] are endeavouring by an examination of the -various civilisations reflected in that literature to establish the -leading stages in the growth of prehistoric Indian thought. The sacred -books of India disclose sufficiently in outline the social and religious -progress of the people from a period of great antiquity. No one can tell -when the oldest fragments of them were originally composed, but some of -them are said to have been in circulation among the Aryans when one -immigrant contingent of them had arrived at the confluence of Jumna with -the Ganges,[89] and if so, they image for us the life and beliefs of a -people who must have been contemporaries with Moses some fifteen -centuries at latest before the coming of Christ. - -It is now asserted that this Aryan immigration had been preceded from -the same quarter by an earlier one, in a past so very remote that the -Indians had lost completely the memory of it, and that by the time this -second wave had reached the north-west Gangetic tracts, the first had -pushed its way as far east as the delta, where first vanquishing it -finally amalgamated with the aboriginal tribes. It is supposed that from -out of this earliest section arose the natural ancestors of Buddha, -while in the second and intellectually superior section we must look for -the religious teachers from whom his spiritual lineage is to be -traced.[90] For with them were introduced the Vedas, revealing the -earliest forms of civilisation and religion in that great section of the -human family to which we ourselves belong. We see pictured in the -Rig-Veda a people who, in complexion, manner, and rites, were at first -as distinct from the native Indian races as were the Israelites from -those of Canaan. Patriarchal in their institutions, pastoral or -agricultural in their pursuits, they confront us as a primitive but -certainly not a barbarous folk. Nurtured by the invigorating climate and -magnificent scenery of an ancestral home “on the very roof of the -world,” they had reached a social condition in which, in a language -fitly called “polished,” or “carefully made” (Sanskrita), they were as -fitly called “Aryan” or “noble.” They practised the arts of Jabal and -Jubal, venerated their sages and poets, and called their wives and -daughters by names of beauty and grace like that of Naamah. Their -religion, though polytheistic, was not inspired by dread of evil spirits -or awe of ancestral shades, but by wonder of the world around them and -their own awakening instincts. Man in these ancient fragments, as in the -first pages of our Bible, is evidently a creature transcending the -savage, and made in a diviner image than the type from which it is -maintained he must have sprung. Instead of consorting with or -worshipping the animals, he exercises dominion over them; he questions -himself and the heavens and the earth concerning their origin and -author, and with some divine authentic instinct which he has never lost, -he seems to be growing into the feeling that not only the trinity of -supernatural powers which he worshipped, but his very self, are the -children of some primordial and eternal Dyaus, the father of all. - -While the earliest light that falls upon our ancestors reveals them as a -religious people, whose worship, simple and rudimentary as it was, -indicated a sense of inferiority, and also, as one who ought to know -informs us, “some sense of flaw in the relationship, some concept of sin -and guilt,”[91] to the deities worshipped, it is to be noted that gods -and men were felt to be too much akin to allow of spiritual aspiration, -or of high moral significance in man’s religious acts. The ethical or -rather spiritual elements so vital to the Biblical conceptions of -religion may not be quite foreign to the earliest Veda, but they are -scantily, if at all, represented in it. No prayer can be said to have -ever been directed to obtain forgiveness, or growth in goodness, in the -Bible sense. The sinner was for the most part only a defaulter in -respect of offerings, and his guilt was that of a person who refused to -render homage. That the gods might be able to watch over and enrich -mankind, they had to be fed and sustained. The worshipper was thus in a -certain degree necessary to the worshipped. The sense of submissive -gratitude to the Deity which meets us in the earliest fragments of the -Bible is not expressed, for religion was conceived of as a kind of -exchange in which men purchased a right to divine help by service -rendered, and “each man satisfied his higher instinct according to his -own conception of the character of the being on whose favour his welfare -was thought to depend.”[92] - -Centuries later, in another strata of sacred literature, composed in -prose, dogmatic and liturgic in character, and designated Brahmanas,[93] -we behold the same branch of the Aryan family in a further stage of -their history. Their patriarchal age has vanished, and their heroic -seems passing into the aristocratic and hierarchic. Caste has appeared -as the invariable attendant upon conquest, when the victor is separated -from the vanquished by language, complexion, and religion. It is not so -much caste, however, in the ordinary sense of the word, as class, -sternly prohibiting marriage not only with the aboriginal tribes, but -between persons of unequal rank, and anticipating the organisation of -European society in the middle ages. In the nobles, who were subordinate -only to the Church, the burghers or merchants socially distinct from and -inferior to the nobles, and in the villeins or serfs of the conquered -territories, we have an exact parallel to the old Indian system, in -which Sudra, Vaisya, Kshatrya, all formed steps in a social pyramid, on -the top of which the Brahman was throned.[94] - -Thus early in the history of the Indian people emerged that sacerdotal -institution which was to exercise so powerful and eventually so sinister -an influence upon their religious progress. In Vedic times the father of -the family and the rajah of the clan were the celebrants of the -religious rites, but as life became more complicated ceremonies became -more laborious, and men who had preserved the knowledge of the old -hymns, and the religious formularies which had died out from the common -people, gradually took the rajah’s place. As thought widened, men -refused to be satisfied with guardian deities that could be fed with -rice and butter. The sense of human law reflected itself in the -conception of divine rulers governing men, and penalties inflicted by -man for wrong-doing suggested expiation for the infringed laws of deity. -This idea of sacrifice, of which there is said to be no trace in the -flesh feasts of earlier times, becomes prominent in the offerings of the -period. “The shedding of blood, the burning of a limb of the victim in -the fire, by some at least was believed to atone for transgression, and -it is probable that at one time the religious instinct expressed itself -in human sacrifice.[95]” In any case, the development of the idea of the -great efficacy of sacrifice as a means of compelling the gods to do the -will of the worshipper—yea, of elevating the worshipper to their -privileges and rank,—must soon have had the effect of making a -priesthood, at first only helpful, to be necessary as the sole agents -between man and deity. By preserving the memory of what had faded from -the vulgar, by transmitting to their families a lore which became the -more sacred the more it was forgotten, the professional liturgists or -sacrificers, at first satirised by the poets as was the Romish friar by -the minstrel in the middle ages, imperceptibly grew into an order whose -privileges were more exclusive and whose pretensions were higher than -were ever asserted in Israel by the descendants of Aaron. Among the -Hebrews the priesthood was never allowed to gain complete ascendency. -Its representatives were subordinated to the king, who was the fountain -of all law, and they were kept in check by the prophets as the ministers -of Divine revelation; but the Brahmans came to be regarded as not only -the guardians of religion, but the teachers of all knowledge and the -source of all authority. They owned no superior, were subject to no law -in the state: each one was a pope in himself, more independent of the -crown and the commonwealth than a Christian pope ever pretended to be, -and had a faith in his personal infallibility which no Christian pope -affected to have. In India there resulted from the ascendency all the -evils that were manifested in Judaism and in Latin Christianity; and in -India far worse results were produced. For, left to themselves as -superior beings apart from the actual world, who never could err, they -gave their minds that licence which too often in the history of thought -has been confounded with liberty, and, as always happens when -self-restraint is disregarded, the result in this instance was the -production, not of a system of philosophy, but a crude conglomerate of -incongruous phantasies more resembling a chaos than a cosmos.[96] - -Let us not suppose that the Brahmans were originally, or even -eventually, the vain and greedy and self-seeking bigots which the name -unfortunately suggests to a European. They gained the ascendency because -they cultivated the power to rise; they represent what many are inclined -to revere as the ideal aristocracy, that of Intellect. They were not -ignorant priests, but learned philosophers, from whom sprung again and -again the reformers who headed the revolt from an overdone ritual, and -from a faith which expressed itself wholly in metaphysical speculations. -By them were excogitated the Upanishads and the laws of Manu, two of the -most wonderful literary productions of mankind. From there too came the -great epic poems of the Rāmāyana and the Mahābhārata, poems in some -respects equal to the Homeric, and in cleverness of purpose, which is -said to be that of arresting the progress of Buddhism, equalling -anything which the Society of Jesus ever produced to counteract the -Reformation. In its complexity and adaptability and many-sidedness -Brahmanism is unrivalled by any human system, and the men who first gave -it expression and directed its earliest movements must rank among the -most original and daring of thinkers. - -But they were Indians living in the period beginning about the tenth -century B.C., in a land as completely cut off from the rest of the world -as they were severed from the practical life of their countrymen. They -had the same earnest and inquisitive mind which their westward-moving -kinsmen had inherited with them from their trans-Himalayan ancestors, -but in them it had to work out its advances in more adverse conditions. -The tribes that went westward marched along the uplands, in zones of -climate and through scenery and conditions stimulating effort, both -mental and physical. Consequently they went on improving their beliefs, -till they apprehended the truth which lies at the base of all true -systems of faith, the immortality of the soul, and developed a -philosophy which represents man’s most successful attempt to grasp that -divine unity after which man in his polytheism is ever feeling. It was -otherwise with the branch that went southwards. They had to live under -physical conditions not conducive to energy, under burning skies which -repressed, and on soils which rendered industry unnecessary. As they -gained ascendency over the aborigines the vices of the vanquished race -told fatally upon them. Their sensual worship, customs like polygamy and -sutteeism, ascetic practices and sorcerous rites, took possession of -them; and, most marked of all, a belief very widely spread among the -lower tribes of mankind so terribly bewitched them that to this day the -Indian mind has never been able to break away from its fascination. - -This belief in transmigration, with the pessimism which is its -inevitable concomitant, was wholly absent from their ancient Vedic -faith. At intervals from the times of Pythagoras it has infected the -religion and philosophy of the Western Aryans, but never to any extent -or with any serious result. Its true habitat and breeding-place, like -that of the cholera, is among the degraded and broken-down populations -of the East. It was communicated from the native Indian races to the -Hindus, who unfortunately were prepared to receive it through the -depressing and degenerating influences of tropical life on a -northern-born family. Anyway, while their more fortunate brethren were -eagerly groping after, in their westward progress, the truth of -immortality, and thirsting for more life and fuller, they in their fat -Gangetic plains, wearied of life as something not worth having, yet -dreading death because it was appointed unto man not once but many times -to die, were seeking some way of deliverance from this inherited curse. -And the Brahmans professed to point to it. Their earliest popular -conception of deliverance was simply that of re-birth in a happier -world, perchance secured by sacrificial rites and religious acts, but -such a conception could not long satisfy, and eventually it gave way in -the higher class of minds to nobler views. In India, as elsewhere, men -soon became conscious of the more solid security of merit procured by a -life of justice and mercy. Man’s future was in his own and not in the -hands of a priest: its happiness or misery would be no accident, but the -sure result of good or evil done here and now. Therefore the wise man -endeavoured laboriously and continuously to collect merit by good deeds, -“as the white ant builds her house, for with these as his guide he could -hope to traverse a gloom hard to be crossed.” - -But by and by even this belief ceased to satisfy them, for how could man -hope to liberate himself from the bondage of endless change as long as, -seeking only a happier existence, he was content to be a citizen of the -changeable? Let him seek reunion with Brahma, of which he is an -emanation. So here again, while the Westerns were finding the path which -would lead them from polytheism to theism, and were growing into nobler -conceptions of what the individual self should be, the speculative -ascetics of the East, in a life of meditation far apart, were trying to -subside rather than rise into Brahma the Absolute as a river reunites -with the ocean. In their earlier Brahmanas their fathers knew nothing of -Brahma as deity, and at no time did Brahma mean to the Indian what deity -meant to the Western Aryan. Polytheism in India never became theism in -the old Greek sense, nor even Pantheism in our nineteenth-century sense. -The mysterious all-pervading Presence was indeed early detected by the -Indians as the “Breath” of all things, but the name employed by them to -distinguish it signified only the universal self. In no sense was it the -conscious author, but only the irrepressible source of things because -reflected upon by illusion. Brahma Atman was neither the infinitely -intelligent nor the perfectly blessed, in our sense of the word. It was -simply thought without cognition, beatitude without consciousness. “The -Hindu never thinks of asserting that Brahma knows or even has -consciousness, but always that Brahma is knowledge.” “It is simply -impersonal being, absolute unity contrasted with disruption, from which -existence, as an emanation wholly and only evil, because originating in -a mistake, must move through endless cycles of change, until the way of -escape be discovered and followed by which the erratic spark may be -absorbed in the central fire.”[97] - -Such a speculation was manifestly an advance upon Vedic materialism, -which sought to bring down the gods to the side of man as useful -guardians, and upon early Brahmanism which sought by sacrifice to force -them to do man’s will, and by and by to elevate man to their level. In -endeavouring, however, to abstract its disciples from the superstitions -of the priests, it tampered with the foundations of religion. It never -attempted to propitiate the gods—for, even if superior to man, they were -as much involved in the labyrinth of transmigration as he was -himself,—but it professed in a universe of illusion to have discovered -the only real. It dared to name the Absolute; so, withdrawing from the -world, it practiced austerities for the sake of illumination, gave -itself up to meditation to reduce the personal self to an abstraction, -and endeavoured thus to escape from the necessity of existence in time -and space into “passionless, characterless being.” - -All this is expounded in the Upanishads, the special scriptures of -philosophical Brahmanism.[98] Though translated by Professor Max Müller, -and lucidly interpreted by Professor Gough, readers of ordinary -philosophical culture find them very hard to understand, and in spite of -the high commendation of them by Rammohun Roy and Schopenhauer, they -will be inclined to question whether these “beginnings of thought,” -“conceptions hardly formed,” though essential to a proper knowledge of -Indian philosophy, “should be ranked among the outstanding productions -of the human mind.”[99] Throughout their long and most tedious verbiage, -however, one dominant idea is ever discoverable—that the chief end of -the wise man is to know, not the forms of things, but the great self of -all things, and seek his deliverance not by practice of religion but by -pursuit of Gnosis.[100] Religion would indeed secure rewards, but they -would only be transient; religion might regulate and modify the course -of migration, but only Gnosis could break its adamantine chain. “The -vision of Atman is the only deliverance, for by it all ties are -loosened”; “the vision of the self is the light of the world, to which -only the purest minds attain.” To reach it not only the bonds of desire -must be broken, but of ignorance too. “For Atman is highly exalted above -all reverence and effort, above holiness and unholiness.” “It, the -uncreated, is beyond all good and evil,” and upon rewards and -punishments, upon both good and evil, the sage must turn his back, for -he alone who knows the Universal is free, from Karman and from Kâma -(action and desire) which hold captive the self in the net of the -impermanent.[101] - -This is said to be the last outcome of Brahmanic belief, and “indeed the -highest point reached by Indian philosophy.”[102] Manifestly, it can -never be designated a gospel. It was a deliverance impossible for the -many, and possible only for the few; a promise not to the suffering -millions, but to the mystic and the sage, and to them it came not with -the hope of a nobler character to be attained, and of a purer, higher -life to be reached, but only with that of a dreamless repose—“the sleep -eternal in an eternal night”—when the soul ceases to be soul, merged -“like the weariest river” in a shoreless and waveless sea. And this was -the system in which the wisest and saintliest in Buddha’s days were -nurtured. He was no Brahman by caste, but as pure Kshatrya he would be -instructed in his youth by Brahmans, and in early manhood he for long -consorted with them. He had mental capacity, and spiritual energy, more -than adequate to the task of comprehending as fully as they did their -very abstruse theosophies. From their speculation he derived much of his -terminology, like Karma and Nirvana; and even Buddha, words which, till -recently, it was considered he had to coin. Many doctrines which were -once regarded as peculiarly his own were taught in their jungle schools -by learned Brahmans centuries before he was born. Without the Brahmans -he could not have been produced, and yet his system will be found to be -original and distinct. They furnished the phraseology in which he -expressed himself, the methods by which he wrought, the institutions -like that of the wandering Bikkhu, by which his system was spread; but -in essentials we will find that his teaching was not only different from -but antagonistic to theirs, and that, had the principles which he -enunciated been truly accepted and consistently carried out, this -noblest of the Reformers of Hinduism would have reformed it out of -existence. - -During this pre-Buddhistic era, much longer, perhaps, than is generally -supposed, another process of development was going on among one section -of the Semitic stock, in a small handbreadth of a land on the eastern -shore of the Mediterranean. The several stages of that development have -also been unconsciously recorded in a literature so peculiar in its -motive, and method, and character, as to separate it from the national -literatures of all the world. It is not that it claims to be inspired, -for the same claim is advanced by the Indian, and indeed by or for every -collection of religious writings extant; but while in the literature of -India we see represented the struggles of man to reach the Deity, that -of Palestine professes to represent the endeavour of Deity to reach and -to communicate with men. Intensely patriotic as a people, the sacred -literature of the Hebrews is essentially religious. Their historians are -not permitted to record, and the poets are not allowed to sing their own -national achievements, but only the mighty works and the praises of -Jehovah their God. The shame of their many defeats, and of their final -destruction, is ascribed always to their own sin, but any national -success or prosperity is due to the Divine favour. Alike through all -their victories and disasters, an Almighty Hand is acknowledged to be -shaping their destiny, and to be working out a purpose which, often -entirely hidden, and at best only very imperfectly understood by them, -is seen toward the close of their sad and eventful history, to -comprehend the larger destinies of mankind in a salvation of God which -“all the ends of the earth” were to see. - -The relative antiquity of the Hebrew and Indian scriptures is not a -matter which we are called upon to discuss. It is possible that some -hymns in the Rig-Veda may be older than anything which we possess in the -Bible, but it is almost absolutely certain that most of the books of the -Hebrew Bible were in circulation as scriptures, and that the whole of it -was in the shape in which we have it now, before any ancient Indian -sacred book was reduced to writing. The Pentateuch, in the form in which -we have it now, is probably not the most ancient of the Hebrew writings. -It appears to be a very composite production, containing works of -different authors, written originally at different places and at -different times. The most destructive criticism, however, admits that it -embodies very ancient traditions—many of them not peculiar to the -Hebrews,—which were open to a succession of very talented narrators. -These traditions may indicate their derivation from a once common -ancestral home, or acquirement by later contact with foreign nations, -but they are in nowise incorporations; for in the Hebrew books they are -not only presented in forms far more refined, but they are employed to -suggest or to unfold a spiritual teaching quite beyond the capacity of -the peoples among whom it is alleged they originated. No one denies that -we have in the Pentateuch writings as old as the time of Moses, and -probably fragments of writings much older still. Ewald[103] ascribes an -important portion of it to the times of the later judges, another still -more important section to a priest of Solomon’s reign, and the Book of -Deuteronomy to the time of Hezekiah. Even if we are compelled to accept -later dates than these, it follows that they are older than any -Upanishad, or even any of the Brahmanas. There was a Law, a Book of the -Covenant, a Book of Origins, in currency probably before the authors of -any of the Brahmanas was born; and even if we are to regard the contents -of these works as only traditional, we may surely assume that the Hebrew -traditions are as credible as the Indian. It is quite true “that -religion exists long before it is expressed in a canon, and that law -runs and rules long before it is written in a code,”[104] but in regard -to accuracy neither suffers from being so definitely registered. -Hitherto the maxim affecting such matters has been, and for a long time -henceforth we may be certain it will be, not _litera locuta_, but -_litera scripta manet_. - -Again, we are not called upon to maintain in this lecture the -chronological exactness or the historical faithfulness of the sacred -annals of Israel; all that is asserted is that in them we have as -faithful a mirror of the ages which they profess to reflect as we have -in the Indian. The characters in the scenes which they produce are -neither puppets nor shadows, but very living and substantial realities. -The personages at least are men whose idiosyncrasies are sharply but -naturally defined, and whose speech, and manners, and conduct, and -beliefs, accord wonderfully well with the places and the periods in -which they meet us. We have to examine the Hebrew annals however, not to -verify the details of ancient transactions which they record, but simply -to ascertain the beliefs which they contain and illustrate. The truth or -the error of these beliefs we need not discuss, for the beliefs -themselves are facts of great importance, and so are the consequences -that flowed from them; and when we compare these beliefs with those -which we have been considering, we will find a development parallel -indeed, but of an entirely different class of ideas or religious -thoughts. - -In the Rig-Veda we have reflected the immigration of a higher race into -what has been called the Holy Land of India. The Rig-Veda dates from -about the times of the Exodus or the invasion of the Holy Land of -Palestine. The Hebrew traditions, like the Indian, tell of an earlier -immigration of their fathers into the same Palestine some five centuries -previous. When we examine the narratives in which this earlier -immigration is recorded, we find the patriarchs moving along among -similar conditions, but representing a much higher level of religious -thought than the Aryans when they reached the Ganges. Though everywhere -living among nature-worshippers, and though showing the taint of that -worship in their own conduct, their religion is neither that of -physiolatry nor idolatry.[105] Abraham was not a polytheist; he came out -of Ur of the Chaldees—whether that be a designation of a geographical -region or a description of a religious state—not as one who trembled -before the forces of Nature, afraid to inquire what they meant or whence -they came; not as one who had discovered behind them the Infinite Self, -out of which, because of ignorance or illusion, he and they had -emanated, but as a man who believed in a Personal Deity who had created -and continued to control them, and who, though El-Elion and Shaddai, yet -watched over and communicated with Abraham as his best of friends. We -need not ascribe to the patriarch an intelligence which he did not -possess. God may have been in his thought too much the almighty -Protector of himself and of his descendants—for in that age the family -of the chief would be all-important, and the idea even of the nation had -not yet germinated,—but that he apprehended God under a strictly moral -aspect is vouched for by his life, as the founder of a new epoch to -which his latest descendant looked back with thankfulness.[106] We may -not be able to prove that Abraham’s conception of Deity was monotheistic -in our conception of the word. It lacked the sublimity of Isaiah’s -conception and the definiteness of that of Moses. There was naturally a -great deal of darkness clinging about it, but his ideas of duty and -religion and worship were far higher than entered the thoughts of a -Vedic or Brahmanic sage. The rite of Blood Covenant, universal in the -Semitic tribes, he felt divinely impelled to offer Godward; and the same -impulse is said to have led him to offer in proof of his allegiance to -his unseen and almighty Friend the sacrifice of his only son. But there -was unmistakably imparted by Abraham to the ancient rite of circumcision -a far higher and more spiritual idea, and it is noteworthy that while -the spiritual part of his awful sacrifice was accepted, the slaying of -the son was rejected, with the effect of stamping, in the very morning -of Hebrew history, the Divine abhorrence upon that form of propitiation -to which the unrestrained instinct of man has everywhere been prone. His -worship, his sacrifice, his whole service, instead of being regarded as -a means of making Deity serviceable to man, or of raising man to the -comfortable condition of Deity, meant the surrender of the heart and of -the whole life to His will, not as only mightier, but juster and more -merciful than he was himself, and therefore perfectly worthy of trust -and love. And so it is plain that whether the patriarchs represent a -race fallen because of sin, from purer knowledge and more intimate -communion with God, or one providentially educated from the very lowest -animalism, they indicate a religious stage to which the greatest things -became possible. They are stammering at least the glorious Name, -comprised in three letters, whose significance millennial ages of study -can never exhaust. They believe in God, who, behind and beyond Nature, -and greater than it, is revealing Himself as one infinitely worthy of -their allegiance and adoration, and their faith becomes righteousness. - -When we reach the Mosaic period we find that though clouds and darkness -are round the throne of the Eternal, the light that streams from it into -the minds of men reveals, just more clearly, the same one living and -true God. According to the Book of Origins, a period of four hundred and -eighty years separated the patriarchal from the Mosaic age, and during -that period the Hebrew tribes had first been sheltered, and then for -long enslaved, by the most civilised of all peoples in the ancient -world. Astonished by the grandeur of Egypt, they at last succumbed to -its religion; and while oppression in the pent-up Egyptian cities -deteriorated fearfully their physical condition, slavery and idolatry -wrought with terrible effect upon their character. They came out of -Egypt a cowardly horde, leprous in body, childish and brutish in their -disposition. Their children however entered Palestine, more than a -generation after, a powerful and consolidated and victorious force, -whose fear was upon all the surrounding tribes; and their annals ascribe -all this to revival and reformation due to Divine revelation and -training under the plastic genius of one of Egypt’s wisest men, and one -of the greatest prophets of the human race. - -The oldest Hebrew historian states that Moses wrote two tables of the -Covenant, and one entire, though small, Book of Laws besides; and though -it were proved to universal satisfaction that he never wrote anything -else than the Ten Words, and the preface[107]: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord -our God is one,” it will be admitted that no one in all the old world -has ever contributed more than he did to man’s stock of the highest of -all knowledge. The truth communicated by the patriarchs in the word -Creator was of supreme moment and promise for the human race, for by it -man was saved from the sin and folly of confounding the Deity with His -works. The idea of a Creator occurs indeed in the Vedas,[108] but not as -an idea that ever got hold of the popular mind, or ever ripened into the -conception of Creator which we have in the Bible. The Brahman expounders -of Vedic thought made deity the sum of all that is, a being that is ever -becoming, a universe that is never completed. The Hebrew, on the -contrary, conceived of the universe as God’s work—not God. It was but a -part of His ways, and as nothing before Him. In the Indian creed -emanation continues indefinitely, and their sacred books record a -never-ending genesis. In the Hebrew Bible two pages suffice to relate -the genesis of the world and man. Between the deities of the Vedas and -the Jehovah of Moses there is no natural progression, and we never in -any series, however prolonged, can reach from the one to the other. The -Indian deities are simply one with Nature, and like its forces they are -multitudinous, capricious, evanescent; but the Deity of Moses is One, -Supreme, Invisible, not to be likened to anything we can see or -hear—eternal as One who alone is, and causes to be: “I Am that I Am!” -The effect of such a belief was to raise all men who learned of Moses -above the worship and tyranny of Nature, before which so many of the -tribes of mankind have prostrated themselves. It made them regard the -animal creation especially as existing not for their adoration but for -their use; and Nature itself and all its forces as powers to be studied, -subdued, and governed. The germs of man’s faith in his own -imperishableness, implanted from the first, began to sprout the moment -he found himself capable of knowing and serving this Eternal and -Invisible One as the Author and Controller of his being. - -Comparisons are often instituted between the Mosaic ethical code and -that of other religions, with the view of showing that there is nothing -peculiar in it, and that instead of being fuller it appears to be even -defective when placed side by side with some of them. The peculiarity of -the Mosaic code is in its first table, which nearly all the others lack. -The Mosaic is an interpretation of the law written in men’s hearts by -the light of religion: it is the manifestation of religious truth as the -real foundation of ethics. Morality has so long been associated with -religion in our thought that we speak at times as if it had been always -so; but among no ancient people, save among the Hebrews, did any -worshipper expect morality from their deities. On the contrary, they -conceived of them as having all their own appetites and passions and -vices, so that as civilisation advanced men were often far nobler and -purer than the gods which they worshipped. When we remember that -physiolatry, from its lowest to its highest form, tolerates and even -consecrates the vilest impurities by its worship, we can realise what a -new and creative power was communicated when the conviction had laid -hold of man that Deity is one who is Himself all that man ought to be, -one who can only be propitiated by righteousness and appeased by truth. -Human progress became not only possible then, but it was secured. So -pure an idea of God meant a loftier idea of man. It involved the poorest -and the humblest of men in vast responsibilities, and therefore it -implied for them rights and dignities equal to those of the highest of -men; for the supreme all-holy Lord God was no respecter of persons, and -the beggar on the dunghill was in His eyes as precious as the prince -upon the throne.[109] - -From the period when Vedic speculation first began its course to that in -which it produced its earliest Upanishad, these moral and spiritual -truths were not kept secret among the philosophic few, but were -prophesied in the gates and streets of every Hebrew city. No one can say -that they were thankfully received and loyally obeyed by the people of -Israel; on the contrary, their whole history represents the struggle of -a stubborn and rebellious race against a revelation too pure and -spiritual to be acceptable to them. Their religion was always higher -than themselves, but while towering above them, it perpetually hovered -round them, contradicting their most cherished inclinations, and -condemning their most deeply rooted habits. The invisible God, of whom -no likeness was to be tolerated, who was not to be worshipped even in -the greatest of His works, was too far removed from their sympathies. It -took centuries of severe handling to uproot their strong tendency to -Nature-worship; yea, the Divine detestation of it had to be branded in -the national conscience by their final overthrow. Eventually, however, -the truth got rooted in the mind of a “remnant” of them that God is not -to be worshipped under any symbol, and cannot be enshrined in temples -made with hands; that the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him; that in -gifts and offerings He takes no pleasure, but that He dwells with the -meek and lowly, and finds a pleasing sacrifice in the contrite spirit -and broken heart. The divinity of the revelation seems attested by the -fact that it continued all throughout their history above them, rebuking -and condemning, but never suffering them altogether to fall away from -it. And this is still its relation to ourselves: it is a creed -contradicting our life, a Divine law in direct opposition to all that -claims to be popular; for where even yet is the Christian who can be -said fully to realise all that is summed up in the truth, “God is not to -be worshipped by man as though He needed anything;” “God is a spirit, -and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth”? - -The universality as well as the purity and spirituality of this -fundamental article of the Hebrew faith separates it from and elevates -it above the Indian beliefs. Nature-worship has always been local and -ethnic in its range; the gods of the hills are not the gods of the -valleys, and the deities of Assyria command no reverence in Egypt. To -the Hebrew was first communicated the catholic faith that the one Lord -over all is rich in mercy unto all. The treasure was received, it is -true, in an earthen vessel, by a people who could only apprehend as -children what we are expected to hold in the comprehensions of men.[110] -In patriarchal times by the people generally the One Lord was conceived -of too much as just the protector of the family. In Mosaic times the -great and terrible God who avenged Himself on Egypt was thought of too -much as the champion of the tribes. Under David and the kings He was too -much the sovereign of the nation and of the Holy Land; and so it was -down to the times of the Captivity. All throughout this period, however, -there were perpetual protests against this attempt to ethnicise a faith -essentially catholic. They were reminded that the Holy One was Lord over -all the earth; that though they were a peculiar people, they were not -His only people. The prophets of other nations were brought to testify -to them; their own prophets were sent to warn the heathen that they -should not die. All through their history they were admonished that -their gift was too large for their little nation to contain; that it was -theirs only in proportion as it was imparted or shared, and that as a -nation they could only exist if all nations were blessed in them. - -Alas however for them, all this seemed in vain in its effect upon the -nation at large; the treasure was forgotten in their estimate of the -vessel; their own destiny loomed largest in their conceptions of -Providence. It was not the holy Lord God who was to have universal -dominion, but they His favourites, and therefore their king would reign -over all lands and keep his feet on the neck of their foes. Out of this -fatal error, and out of the childish superstition akin to it, that -material prosperity was the sole or chief reward of devotion, came all -their unbelief and apostasy, and so when the succession of prophets had -in vain testified to them that the Lord alone was to be exalted—that -before Him, not before them, must all peoples bow,—the threatenings long -uttered were fulfilled: the nation was shattered, its palladium, the -temple, was destroyed, and they were driven beyond the Euphrates. - -Then however ensued a course of events which must be regarded as among -the greatest surprises of history; for just when they and their religion -might have been expected to vanish as completely as the ten tribes -previously deported had vanished, they are found to be preserved; and -the worship of Jehovah, instead of being extinguished by the dominant -worship of Babylon, is seen to emerge in the course of two generations -more vigorous and considerably purer than ever it had been before. It -was during the Exile that the real nature of the religion of Israel, as -one adapted and destined to enlighten and sanctify far more than a -single people, began to be truly discerned.[111] The Jewish people had a -great deal to learn from Babylon and Persia, and they returned to their -own land with clearer conceptions of immortality, the resurrection, the -spiritual world and judgment to come, than any of their forefathers had -gained. Scholars, however, who enlarge upon their indebtedness to their -conquerors, seem to forget how much they had to communicate to them. In -the psalms of the pre-Exilian period, and in the doctrines of Moses and -the prophets, they carried with them a treasure richer than the whole -wisdom of the East. So though they learned much from Babylon, they also -learned in it to appreciate the gifts which they had previously -despised. Sorrow and penitence helped to clear their spiritual vision, -and prepared them for the prophecies of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. -They learned that though banished from the Holy Land they were not -thereby cast out—as their fathers imagined—from the presence of Jehovah; -that, though the temple had been destroyed and sacrifice had been -suspended, God could still be worshipped with sincerity and truth. The -teachings of their prophets brought home with conviction to them the -oracles of their earlier seers, that obedience was better than -sacrifice, and contrition than sin-offering,—“that he that doeth -repentance, it is imputed to him as if he went to Jerusalem, built a -temple and altar, and wrought all the sacrifices of the law.”[112] - -With the destruction of the temple there arose the synagogue, which, -with its reading of the Law and the Prophets, its chanting of the -Psalms, its offering of prayer, and the giving heed to the voices of the -elders, represented a far higher and more spiritual service than temple -courts reeking with sacrifices and steaming with incense. It is true -that they were still fascinated by the material splendours of the former -days; for after their return they restored Jerusalem, rebuilt the -temple, and re-appointed its services. A revival led to a reformation, -which, following the old lines as closely as possible, assumed the form -of a retrogression rather than advance. The new energies of the nation -were repressed by a Levitical domination as rigid and intolerant as -Brahmanism ever was in India. It was not the spirit of the Living God -but the hand of the long dead Moses that was to rule their conscience -and mould their history. The consequence was just what might have been -anticipated. Human nature revolted from subjugation to a system which -had served its day. Religion, where it was earnest, stiffened into -formalism, and formalism in many cases congealed into hypocrisy, and, as -inevitably happens, intellect raised its protest against this -irreligious religion in many anti-religious and even atheistic forms. -Meanwhile synagogues rose all over the land, promoting doctrine rather -than ritual, stimulating rather than repressing discussion, and thus -conserving and propagating the truths that prepared the ways of the -Lord. Only a handful however, had returned; the majority of the exiles -prospered and multiplied, and, unlike the ten tribes, were not absorbed -among the Gentiles. At the beginning of the Christian era, for one Jew -living in Palestine there would be a hundred living beyond it, not only -in Babylonia, but in Greece, and Egypt, and Italy, and all over the -Empire. There were many Jews in Spain, in Britain, and in the dark -territories beyond the Danube; and though they adapted themselves to -foreign ways, and became all things to all men, in regard to their -religion and their intimate connection with Jerusalem they still -continued to be Jews.[113] As their nationality declined their faith -arose. By and by, not content with the heathen toleration for their -religion as only one of the many in the world, they began to spread it -abroad. Judaism, with the temple and the Levitical law, would in -Palestine eventually have petrified, but the Diaspora, with the -Synagogue and the Septuagint, enabled Israel to play their proper parts -as the religious teachers of mankind. Proselytism gradually became very -vigorous and successful; devout men and women everywhere, unable to find -peace of conscience in the intoxicating and demoralising rites of Pagan -temples, turned from them to take hold of the skirts of the man who was -a Jew. In a manner and to an extent which even the youthful Isaiah never -could have dreamed, Jerusalem began to attract out of every nation under -heaven the kind of people who were found in its streets at -Pentecost,—Parthians and Medes, and dwellers in Pontus and Arabia, and -the eunuch of far distant Ethiopia.[114] - -As we have noticed the highest outcome of Vedic thought in pursuit of -Atman, let us also notice the highest development of Hebrew belief in -their hope of Messiah, whose germs are traceable in their faith from the -first. For example, one of the earliest and most lasting effects of -their conception of Deity was the conviction of their own unworthiness -and inability to live in the presence of the holy God. Though they were -to be a kingdom of priests for other nations, they dared not enter into -the relationship which priest implied. They required a mediator like -Moses, who could speak to the Holy One for them, and receive for them -His message. Their whole worship was based on this feeling, and the -purer and higher rose their conceptions of God, the more intense became -their self-abasement. Between Him and the noblest of His creatures there -was an impassable gulf. Though He was far, far off from them, He was far -too near—so near that they could not go anywhither from His presence, -and yet in their dread there was a yearning to come near to Him and to -see Him face to face. The Brahman aspired to lose himself in the -Absolute, in the pure light of characterless knowledge; the Hebrew, -mastered by the personality of God, longed to see Him as He is. And -never more earnest was this longing in the Hebrew to behold the beauty -of the Lord, and to be satisfied with His likeness, than in the times of -his deepest self-humiliation and keenest contrition. “I pray Thee, -pardon the _iniquity_ of Thy people;” “I beseech Thee, show us Thy -_glory_;” “and these two pangs so counter and so keen,” shame and -reverence akin to dread, aspiring love, were to prove not only the -purification of their own faith, but the birth-throe of a better hope -for the world. - -For their dread and shame sprang from their consciousness of their own -evil, and their aspiration from an instinct which whispered that evil, -though deeply ingrained in, was not essential to the being of man. Their -sense of sin was very poignant, more so than in the case of any other -people. The Hindus had a conception of merit, but a very poor and weak -conception of sin. They were more impressed by life’s suffering than by -the taint of which it was only the consequence. But the Hebrews felt the -shame and the curse of that taint as no people ever felt it. They had -quite a vocabulary to express the many shades and degrees of the feeling -of it; yet in their speculations they were led to believe that this -taint was not inherent in their nature nor ineradicable from it. There -was a time when sin was not; there might be a time when it would not be. -The dominion of evil was an interlude, and though terribly prolonged in -human experience, it might have an end. That was the central ideal of -the Fall which they pictured on the first page of their Bible, and -conserved in their seventh-day Sabbath.[115] In the fact of man’s -creation they felt that his redemption was involved, and so the Hebrew -dread of and longing for God were reconciled by a hope that though to -man belongeth shame, to God belongeth mercy as the God of salvation. -There was another and a better covenant than that which had been -concluded with their ancestors at Sinai, or with the first father of -their tribes long before. It was made not with Moses or Abraham for -Israel, but for all nations with a Divine Mediator, who, behind all that -was of man, though yet the seed of the woman, would, in a way that -neither Moses nor any of the prophets could understand, eventually make -an end of sin. - -The history and the literature of the Hebrews would be a perplexing -enigma without this hope. Like their faith, it was too pure and -spiritual for them to receive, and to the very latest it always appears -with something of the defilement of their religious condition clinging -to it. During the Exile, however, this hope became purer and stronger, -and the imagery in which they embodied it became more evangelical and -spiritual than that employed by earlier poets and prophets. The section -of the Hebrews that returned to Palestine held it in increased strength, -but with the old national taint upon it. Their own restoration and the -favour of Persia kindled anew the foolish dreams of their ancestors, -and, alas! when Persia disappointed them, and its favour was supplanted -by oppression, and the kingdom, instead of rising Phœnix-like out of its -ashes, became the battlefield or the gage of foreign nations, there -broke out in Palestine the bitterest plague of unbelief and apostasy -that had ever assailed the nation. For idolatry, for overlaying or -corrupting the worship of Jehovah, their forefathers had often been -severely chastised, but no prophet had as yet complained of a temple -deserted and an altar defiled by unworthy offerings. And this was -because men professed to have discovered in the destruction of their -national hopes that after all religion was vain, and there was no profit -in serving God. - -Any one who has intelligently read Malachi, or the sayings of Agur the -proverb-collector,[116] or the Book of Ecclesiastes, will see to what a -depth of scepticism, if not indeed of atheism, their perverted Messianic -hopes had brought the Jews of Palestine. We appreciate the criticism -which regards Coheleth, so alien to the healthy and joyous spirit of the -Hebrew religion, as the natural outgrowth of this period.[117] When -faith in Israel’s imperishable kingdom seemed to be completely wrecked, -when ministers of religion led the revolt from it, and unrighteous -rulers and corrupt society made life in Palestine, as in Rome in Nero’s -day, not worth the living, it is not to be wondered that this one which -has survived, but that “many books”[118] should have been written to -echo the cry, “All is vanity.” We may listen to it as a note of despair -from a pessimist in whose people religion had died, because disappointed -political ambition had shown them that “no earthly good” came of serving -God; or we may read it as the protest of some healthy-minded Jew against -that orthodox asceticism which after the Captivity invaded religion, and -led to the rise of Pharisaism and Essenism. In any case, it seems to -mark the proper close in Palestine of an age of national perverted faith -and hope. The Essenes like the Indian ascetics had hope neither for the -nation’s recovery nor for the establishment anywhere of a kingdom of -God. The Pharisees, on the contrary, had hope, but it was the old -political hope, and in them, though Egyptian and Syrian and Greek and -Roman had trodden the nation under foot, and though the Maccabees had -suffered and poured out their blood in vain, it seemed to grow stronger -and stronger. Ready to believe any impostor, and to rise at the faintest -call, their fanaticism more than once betrayed the people into -ineffectual and most sanguinary revolts; but it had one result that was -not wholly evil, for they drew after them the multitudes to the desert, -when the thunder of the Baptist’s cry reached Jerusalem, “The kingdom of -God is at hand.”[119] - -So was it in Palestine; but among the Diaspora all over the Empire the -hope of Messiah assumed a purer and more catholic form. Everywhere it -was strong, but the broader horizons by which they were surrounded saved -them from the delusions which intoxicated the Palestinian Jew. In -classical literature there are tokens that it had filtered into Gentile -minds. It was undoubtedly vague and shadowy even at its brightest, but -in the Sibyl and Pollio its fulfilment signified something more -important than a successful revolution in Palestine. It meant mighty -changes impending that would bring good to all the world, the augury of -a star that would soon glimmer in the eastern horizon, and grow and -brighten till it would be seen to be not a light for Asia only, but the -Sun of Righteousness with healing in His beams for every nation under -heaven. - -We have thus been following two lines of religious movement, perfectly -independent of each other, far apart geographically, still further apart -in the beliefs which inspired them. We have seen how the melody of joy -and health which the Indians brought with them from our common primeval -home ended in a sigh of despair. Individual existence, at first so full -of wonder and delight, lost soon its freshness and glory, and came to be -felt to be such a burden that emancipation from it by absorption into -the Absolute was hailed as a boon. The human mind, leaving its childhood -behind it, and advancing to question itself and the universe, after a -season of movement and sense of freedom and power, somehow lost or -missed the way. Oppressed in the toils of the jungle, and wandering ever -further from practical life as it proceeded, it lay down vanquished, -longing only to be at rest and in quiet as infants that never saw the -light. - -The other line of development marks not the course of a speculation, but -the growth of a faith laying hold of mankind with creative and -transforming power. This faith, never dissociated from, but seeking to -dominate and reform actual life, condemned inertion, and fostered hope -for a race working out its salvation, because convinced that God is -working in them both to will and to do. We see a light streaming from -above into the darkness of man, paining and blinding at first the organs -which it seeks to purify. We see a struggle on the part of the creatures -to bring the Most High down to their level, and make Him their servant, -and a striving of the Divine Spirit to train them as children. We see a -mighty Hand laid ever on a peculiar people, at times so softly that they -hardly felt it, at times with conscious guiding and sustaining power; at -times chastising them sorely by the sword of the enemy and the -heart-hunger of exile, but never giving them over unto death. Not for -forty years, but for twice forty generations we see Him leading and -humbling and proving them, till in the souls of the aptest—though only -“a remnant” of them—He had rooted ideals of human destiny which never -can perish. Then, that all might be ready in the fulness of time, He -scattered them among the nations, and lo! when required they are -everywhere, crying in the crowded capitals of the East and of the West, -in the darkness of the North and the brightness of the South, “Prepare -ye in the desert an highway for the Lord.” - -Footnote 62: - - Introduction to _Le Bouddha et sa Religion_; Paris, 1858. - -Footnote 63: - - Müller, Introd. to _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. i. p. xxi. - -Footnote 64: - - A. Burnell, _Indian Antiq._, 1880, p. 223, quoted by Prof. Max Müller - in Introduction to vol. x. of _Sacred Books of the East_, p. xi. - -Footnote 65: - - Frankfurter, Appendix to Wordsworth’s Bampton Lectures for 1881; _The - One Religion_, p. 340; Eitel _Lectures on Buddhism_, p. 44; Edkins, - _Chinese Buddhism_, p. 232. - -Footnote 66: - - Prof. Max Müller, Introduction to vol. i. of _Sacred Books of the - East_, p. xxvii. - -Footnote 67: - - A. E. Gough, _Philosophy of the Upanishads, etc._, p. 5; Trübner’s - Oriental Series. - -Footnote 68: - - This statement is hazarded, notwithstanding the recent reply of the - author of _Supernatural Religion_ to Bishop Lightfoot’s Essays. It - will be generally conceded that he has adopted an untenable position, - and that, though his rejoinder to the learned Bishop may be a vigorous - assault, it is weak criticism. Sanday’s work on _The Gospels in the - Second Century_ is on the whole a better reply than the Bishop’s to - the allegations of the author of _Supernatural Religion_, whose - extreme scepticism of literary evidence is quite equalled by his - dogmatic extravagance of statement. - -Footnote 69: - - _Vie de Jésus_, Introd. pp. xv, xvii, 4th ed.; Paris, 1863. - -Footnote 70: - - _Science de Religions_, pp. 12, 20. - -Footnote 71: - - Professor Max Müller, Introd. to Dhammapada, _Sacred Books of the - East_, vol. x. p. x. - -Footnote 72: - - _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xiii. p. 37; Introd., vol. xi. p. xx. - -Footnote 73: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, p. 27. - -Footnote 74: - - Mahavansa, by Turnour; Dipavansa, xx. 20, quoted by Professor Max - Müller in _Sacred Books of the East_, vols. x. p. xxiv, and xiii. p. - xxxv. - -Footnote 75: - - _Buddhist Birth Stories_, vol. i. p. lvii; Trübner’s Oriental Series. - -Footnote 76: - - Weber, _Indian Literature_, p. 294; _ibid._ - -Footnote 77: - - We may safely assert that in the mass of Buddhist literature already - available nothing has been found, nor is anything at all likely to be - found, corresponding in character and evidential value to the - Christian Scriptures. What would the New Testament have been, asks - Professor Müller, “if the spurious Gospels, the pseudo-apostolic and - post-apostolic productions, the debates of the Councils, the - commentaries of the Fathers, and the lives of the saints, had all been - bound and mixed up with it”? (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. i., - Introd., pp. xv, xvi.) And yet this is a parallel to the confusion - represented by the so-called Buddhist Bible. In truth, it is not a - Bible, but a library, containing not only the earliest treatises, but - the commentaries upon them made in later ages, and extracts and - repetitions from itself so extensive and numerous that were they - omitted this portentous collection—four times as voluminous as our - Christian Bible—would be found to be much shorter than it. When the - original Bible of Buddhism has been disinterred from this pile it will - be found to resemble almost in nothing our New Testament, but it may - present many analogies to the Talmud and Targums, and perhaps some - very interesting resemblances to isolated portions of the Old - Testament. As far as it has been translated to us, the Tripitaka - contain neither prophecy nor history; but one division of it presents - suggestive coincidences with portions of the apocryphal Scriptures; - and scholars may find a comparison of some of the texts of Job, - Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes with those of the Dhammapada and some of - the Suttas an agreeable and not unprofitable study, without in the - least being tempted to transfer their allegiance from the Hebrew to - the Indian sages. - -Footnote 78: - - Eitel, _Lectures on Buddhism_, p. 6; Hunter, “Historical Aspects of - Indian Geography,” _Scot. Geog. Mag._, Dec. 1888. - -Footnote 79: - - Rogers, _Superhuman Origin of the Bible_, Lecture v. - -Footnote 80: - - Professor Max Müller, _Introduction to the Science of Religion_, p. - 103. - -Footnote 81: - - Professor Müller, Gifford Lectures, _Natural Religion_, p. 564. - -Footnote 82: - - _Record of Missionary Conference in London_, 1888, vol. i. p. 39; also - his _Buddhism_, p. 558. - -Footnote 83: - - _Le Génie des Religions._ - -Footnote 84: - - Sutta Nipata, translated by Fausböll in vol. x. of _Sacred Books of - the East_, Part ii. pp. 23, 76, 109, 113. - -Footnote 85: - - _Ibid._ vol. x., _ibid._ Part ii. p. 40. We are also reminded that a - man is not a Bikkhu because he puts on yellow robes, unless he has - cleansed himself from evil (Dhammapada, i. 9, 10). - -Footnote 86: - - T. W. Rhys Davids, _Buddhism_, pp. 5, 145. - -Footnote 87: - - Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_, pp. 162, 163. - -Footnote 88: - - Émile Burnouf, _Science de Religions_, p. 24. - -Footnote 89: - - M. Vivien de St. Martin, _Mémoires sur les contrées occidentales_. - -Footnote 90: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, p. 10. - -Footnote 91: - - _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. i. p. xxii. - -Footnote 92: - - Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, vol. ii. p. 338; Weber, _Indian - Literature_, p. 38; Sir Monier Williams, _Religious Thought and Life - in India_, p. 18. - -Footnote 93: - - See Satapatha-Brâhmana, translated by Professor Eggeling in vols. xii. - and xxvi. of _Sacred Books of the East_. Max Müller places the age of - these books within the ninth and seventh centuries B.C. - -Footnote 94: - - E. Quinet, _Le Génie des Religions_, p. 185; Paris, 1857. - -Footnote 95: - - Sir Monier Williams, _Religious Thought and Life in India_, p. 24, - referring to the Aitareya-Brahmana, vii. 13. - -Footnote 96: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, p. 15; T. W. Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, - p. 25. - -Footnote 97: - - Gough, _Philosophy of the Upanishads_, pp. 41, 42. - -Footnote 98: - - _Sacred Books of the East_, vols. i. and xv. No one has dated any of - the Upanishads earlier than 600 B.C., and some of them are very late. - -Footnote 99: - - _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. i. p. lxvi. - -Footnote 100: - - Svetâsvatara-Upanishad, iii. 7, iv. 14, 16, v. 13, vi. 7, 9, _Sacred - Books of the East_, vol. xv. - -Footnote 101: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, pp. 47, 48; Gough, _Phil. Upan._ pp. 61, - 67. - -Footnote 102: - - T. W. Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, p. 28. - -Footnote 103: - - _History of Israel_, vol. i. pp. 41, 47. - -Footnote 104: - - Gifford Lectures, _Natural Religion_, p. 563. - -Footnote 105: - - It is significant that in the beginning of the Bible Nature-worship - seems stamped as accursed in its symbol, the serpent, and that the - whole Bible from beginning to end is a Divine protest against that - worship in all its forms. Mankind in all ages is tempted to become as - the gods, and in a low condition he has almost everywhere succumbed to - the temptation. He feasts his gods, compels them to serve him, is - really higher than they, and thus he degrades himself or falls from - the ideal of one made in the image and after the likeness of God. - -Footnote 106: - - Ewald, _History of Israel_, vol. i. pp. 320-322. - -Footnote 107: - - Some ascribe it to the Deuteronomist, ch. vi. 4. - -Footnote 108: - - Professor Müller finds the first traces of a Maker or Creator in the - Vedic deity Tvashtar, the carpenter—the clever workman, even smith, - forging bolts for Indra therein, Rig-Ved. iii. 55. 19. “Tvashtar, the - enlivener, endowed with many forms, has nourished the creatures and - produced them in many ways; all these worlds are his.” Of another god, - latterly called Pragâpati, he quotes Rig-Ved. x. 81. 2, as one who, - “creating the earth, disclosed the sky by his power.” Very - significantly, however, he reminds us that the same poet loses the - idea, and speaks of the secret of creation as undiscoverable.—Müller’s - _Natural Religion_, p. 245. Also Introd. to Upanishads, _Sacred Books - of the East_, vol. xv. p. xxiv. - -Footnote 109: - - Fairbairn, _Religion in History and in the Life of To-day_, pp. 39-51. - -Footnote 110: - - It was only by their very highest and greatest souls that the Godhead - was conceived in anything of its spiritual glory. To Abraham God was - the Creator, distinct from and greater than the earth and heavens - which He had made; to Moses He was a righteous Lawgiver, training upon - eagle-wings a peculiar people; to David He was a tender and wise - Shepherd of a foolish and helpless flock; to Isaiah and the later - prophets a Father dealing with rebellious people, whom He pities, - knowing whereof they were made. These conceptions, however, cannot be - said to have been those of the mass of the people. - -Footnote 111: - - Kuenen, _National Religions and Universal Religion_, Hibbert Lectures, - 1882, p. 187. - -Footnote 112: - - Edersheim, _Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah_, vol. i. p. 275. - -Footnote 113: - - Jos. _Contra Ap._ ii. 30. 32; _Antiq._ xviii. 1. 1; _Jewish Wars_, ii. - 8. - -Footnote 114: - - Uhlhorn, _Conflict of Christianity_, chaps. i. ii.; Jos. _Antiq._ - xiii. 9. 1, and 11. 3, and _Contra Ap._ ii. 10. 39; Kuenen, _Religion - of Israel_, iii. 273 _seq._; Renan, _Les Apôtres_, pp. 253, 260. - -Footnote 115: - - The truth on which the Sabbath is founded is the majestic truth of a - completed creation, and one conform to the latest discoveries of - science. During the whole course of human observation no new creative - effort has been displayed in the production of a new type. The animal - and vegetable worlds stand to-day as man first beheld them. The - creative spirit has passed into the soul of man, in whose world is the - progress which nature has long ceased to manifest, and under whose - handling nature itself improves. But God, though resting from His - works of creation, is not in Scripture said to be resting from His - works of mercy: “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” - -Footnote 116: - - “The words of Agur the son of Jakeh,” Proverbs xxxi. 1. - -Footnote 117: - - Hüber, _Der Pessimismus_, 1876, p. 8; Holdheim, Preface to vol. iii. - of _Predigten_, quoted by Cheyne, _Job and Solomon_, pp. 250-253. - -Footnote 118: - - Eccles. xii. 12. - -Footnote 119: - - Edersheim, _Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah_, vol. i. p. 276; - Keim, _Jesus of Nazara_, vol. i. pp. 316-325; Kuenen, _Religion of - Israel_, vol. iii. p. 177. - - - - - LECTURE III. - THE BUDDHA OF THE PITAKAS: THE CHRIST OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. - - -The condition of Palestine and the progress of events in it at the -beginning of the Christian era, are set in the clear light of history, -and defined by an accurate chronology. To the superficial observer it -appeared to be a prosperous land, for it was fertile and carefully -tilled, populous, and, in the northern regions especially, teeming with -the fruits of industry. It had reached the commercial stage of -civilisation, and everywhere, in well-built cities adorned with palatial -buildings, many of them the abodes of merchants who rivalled the Italian -nobles and Herodian princes in the costliness of their manner of living, -it yielded indications of the luxury which successful commerce brings in -its train. But as always happens when wealth abounds in a land, there -was a corresponding amount of poverty. While the rich were lavishing -fortunes upon selfish and gigantic follies, an increasing multitude, -born and bred in squalor, were struggling for very existence. In the -days of the Son of Man their numbers were vastly increased by political -troubles which disturbed trade and depressed agriculture. So to an eye -that looked beneath the surface this seemingly prosperous Palestine was -diseased and in a dangerous condition, for pauperism and discontent were -rapidly maturing the seeds of anarchy, and preparing for the successive -revolutions in which so many perished before the Roman eagles swept down -upon the carcass of a State politically dead, because morally and -socially corrupt. - -Under the Herodian dominion, secured as it had been by the destruction -of an illustrious royal house and the sacrifice of their bravest -patriots, the sympathies of the people revolted from the throne to -cluster for a time around the temple; but just as the dignity of the -office of the high priest was rising in their estimation, successive -nominations to it by the king and procurator of men odious to the good -turned the tide in a different direction. The hierarchy was represented -by the Sadducees, a party small in number and far from popular. Though -wearing names of ancient and honoured families, they were obviously -careless alike of the sanctuary and of the interests of the nation. -Strict observers of the law of their Davidic ancestor, they rejected the -prevalent interpretations of it, and all the new-fangled doctrines -concerning angels and spirits, and the resurrection of the just, which -had been formulated since the Exile. Especially opposed to the belief -that the keeping of the law would procure for a man recompence in a -future state, they held that the law must be kept to the letter just -because it was God’s will, even though the soul died with the body. -Their wealth and position as the aristocracy brought them into -connection with the representatives of the great foreign powers of the -times, whose manners and fashions they copied; but the nearer they drew -to the Roman and Asmonean nobility the further they drew apart from the -people whom they never pretended to love, and who, equally alienated, -regarded them with similar dislike. - -Withdrawn from the temple, the affections of people were freely given to -the synagogue leaders as the representatives and fosterers of the -national ideals and hopes. In these days every small town had its -synagogue, while in Jerusalem alone there were said to be four hundred -and eighty. These were not only places of worship, but schools in which -the Law was made the common possession of all without distinction, and -also arenas for exciting discussion, in which was nursed that love of -dialectics to which so many striking analogies exist both in India and -Greece. They were dominated by the Scribes, the sole copiers for the -ever increasing synagogues of the ancient Scriptures, and the true -interpreters of the law. Pedantic and self-important though they -generally were, they were revered so by the people for their piety and -gifts that from them were chiefly selected the members of the court of -the Sanhedrim, which represented all that was left to the nation of -executive power. Their Cabbala, revealing the secret doctrines to be -found in names, of which we have specimens in the writings of St. -Paul,[120] and the mystic significance of numbers, of which we have -traces in the Apocalypse, may be only interesting now as curiosities, -but we must never forget that they rendered undying service to the world -in preserving from corruption, by many arts carefully studied and -applied, the texts of Holy Scripture.[121] - -The Pharisees, the Nazarites of the nation as their name implies, the -democratic antagonists of the aristocratic Sadducees, the staunch -opponents of the Gentile, the believers in the coming kingdom of the -just, were deservedly the most popular of all the religious sects in -Palestine. More liberal than the Sadducees in their interpretation of -the law in its bearing upon the people, they never thought of exacting -for faults or transgressions the ancient penalties; but they were far -more severe in their personal observance of it.[122] To the mass of them -it was a ladder by which they might climb into the kingdom of heaven; -and out of it, to make sure of this end, they evolved a most -comprehensive system of bye-laws, as sacred to them as the original -precepts by which every action and word and relation of life was -regulated. Pharisaism was just Brahmanism, and though more ethically -applied it was in its spirit and aim as selfish. Bent only upon -accumulating merit, in character it became eventually as morally impure. -Forgetting in their attention to petty details the weightier obligations -of life, disregarding their neighbours that they might provide for their -own recompence, the Pharisees became as a class so corrupt as to draw -upon them the most scathing of all the denunciations of our Lord. - -More Pharisaic than the Pharisees, said to be an offshoot or secession -from them, the Essenes in their desert communities sought by the worship -of Jehovah in the spirit of the prophets, and yet apparently by prayers -to the sun, and by an ascetic and celibate life, to deliver the immortal -soul from material impurity, to educate it to enjoy the beatific vision, -and to prophesy the secret things of the future. In these communities of -pious people, the very flower of Judaism,[123] the only ray of light in -the deepening darkness, some may be pardoned in professing to find the -dawn of Christianity—not in its external arrangements, but its inward -dispositions and beliefs. In its avowal that morality was superior to -legal observance, in its endeavour to prepare the mind by calm to -receive the Divine instruction, in its sabbatic sanctification of all -days of the week, in its estimate of all work as religious, and of every -meal as sacramental, it pre-intimated the teaching of the coming gospel; -but while its arrangements may have suggested the monastic institutions -of Christendom, we can never regard it as the matrix of Christianity. -Its life was just the last flickering ray of Judaism, a bright gleam -irradiating the features of a moribund age, but not that of a new birth -with promise of a mighty future. It was not the rush of a new force into -the battle of the redemption of humanity, but the _sauve qui peut_ of a -rout which it believed to be universal. As pessimist as Brahmanism in -its views of life, though more Buddhist than Brahman in its methods, its -aim was the same—that of rescuing the individual from a world nigh unto -perdition and really not worth the saving.[124] - -In the virtuous Pharisee and the pious Essene Judaism found its best -representatives;[125] but at most there were only six thousand -Pharisees[126] and four thousand Essenes[127] in all the nation, and, -alas! the majority of the Pharisees were not sincere; and the Essenes, -though really in earnest, had abandoned the nation to its fate. Among -the religious classes piety and morality had become so dissociated that -a man who in the matter of belief or of worship would strain at a gnat, -might in practice without condemnation swallow a camel. The result of -this fatal divorce between creed and conduct was seen in a social -corruption which augured everywhere the gathering of the storm-clouds of -retribution. At that time Greece was dead, and what was best in its -spirit had passed into Alexandria. There, blending with the more robust -spirit of the Hebrew religion, it was forming that Hellenism which, -though it never could account for the origin, was yet powerfully to -influence the unfolding of our religion. In Hellenism we have the -natural resultant of the conflux of Eastern and Western thought, which, -according to some, will explain the birth of Christianity. In it -certainly the Aryan and the Semite were seen contributing their very -best thoughts, and the product was—Philo; but Philo-Judæus is neither -St. Paul nor St. John, and the Christ of the Gospels is further beyond -him than the heavens are above the earth. - -In Alexandria Greece might be said to live, but Rome was hopelessly -dying. Drunk with the cup of the sorceries of all nations, embruted with -every lust, it was staggering to a doom which neither law, even the best -conceived and most thoroughly administered, nor philosophy, even the -wisest and most consistently illustrated, could avert. The civilisation -of the Western world was marvellous: it was a world not only of poets -and artists, of brave soldiers and subtle statesmen, but of sound -moralists too; but civilisation, powerless to save, could only cover -with broidered robes the leprous body, or adorn with golden trappings -its bier, and morality could not restore what was sick unto death. When -Rome and Palestine were alike corrupt, there was no hope for the world -in man; yet when all help in man faileth, there never lacketh help in -God, and so, just when the night was blackest, and despair had seized on -all save a few aged people in the courts of Zion, and a few thoughtful -Magi in the distant East, lo! over a Babe in the cattle-crib of a leewan -in Bethlehem was descried the shining of the Star of Hope. - -When we turn from Palestine to the holy land of Magadha, the cradle of -Buddhism in the sixth century B.C., we find no light of history -streaming upon it. All is dim and shadowy, with no chronology to define -events, and no incidents to distinguish personalities. It is like a land -of dreams to our modern conception, but it is not a chaos. We can trace -to a certain extent movements in it, and as we follow them there emerges -in outline sufficiently clear a real civilisation, which, though lacking -the stir and endeavour, the commerce and the art of the West, and really -inferior to it, is yet most interesting in its pathetic resemblances, -and all the more instructive that its beliefs and institutions were -formed out of antecedents and predispositions very different from any of -which the Western world had experience. - -It is evident from the very cursory survey already made that religious -belief in India and in the West must have passed through phases -significantly similar. In both it proceeded from faith in a revealed -system of truth—in India in the inspired Vedas, in Palestine in the -inspired oracles. Human speculation in both cases was begotten, and for -long it was educated in faith in revelation, then beginning to -rationalise; in both cases it unintentionally undermined what at first -it only endeavoured to explain. Turning from ancient scrolls to the -study of the book of human nature, whose pages, though often tattered -and defiled, are always fascinating, it was staggered by the -contradiction between man’s ideals of goodness and justice and the -realities of human history. Out of this collision arose the Promethean -demand that the divine powers that govern life “should either explain or -abdicate.” In Palestine this wrestle with the inequalities of providence -originated early, and continued all along; but it was confined within -limits by faith in the personality of Deity as one so infinitely greater -than man that only a part of His ways could be understood. Indian -speculation never reached the approaches to this idea of God: it -wandered into a Pantheism of a grosser type than ever the West was -acquainted with, and once it reached that stage it could not stop. Just -as in Greece pantheism ripened into the materialism of the Epicurean and -the atheism of the Stoic, so in India, even before the days of Gotama, -may have begun that open revolt against Deity, in the perilous attempt -of reason to explain by itself the universe, with which his name has -since then been most closely associated. - -The religious world in India in the times preceding his birth, like the -religious world of Palestine, had a hierarchy represented by the -Brahmans, the indispensable functionaries in all sacrificial services. -Corresponding to the Scribes were the Teviggi, the reciters and -expounders of the sacred and still unwritten books. The Rabbin had their -analogies in reforming Brahmans, who alone or in communities that had -gathered round them professed to teach the higher discipline which could -secure deliverance. If a multitude of sects be an indication of -intellectual movement, there was as much stir in Brahmanism as in -Judaism. In the Pali books there are mentioned as contemporaries of -Buddha six noted teachers of great schools, the most formidable of whom, -or at least the most hated of his soul, was the head of an ascetic sect -which, like the Essenes, had renounced the world to make good their own -salvation. This Niggantha sect, still represented in India by close upon -half a million of adherents in the district of Rajputana, claims not -only to have preceded the founder of Buddhism by two hundred and fifty -years, but to have anticipated the essentials of his system.[128] Its -philosophical and ethical doctrines are almost in accord with his, while -its cosmogony and ritual incline more towards those of Hinduism. Its -adherents apply to their founder the titles “Victor” or Jina, and -“Enlightened One” or Buddha, which many imagine were ascribed solely to -Gotama; but whether Buddhism sprang from it or gave birth to Jainism is -a question still undecided. The only solid fact as yet ascertained is -that from the earliest traceable period their mutual relations are -marked by that pronounced intolerance[129] which prevails when kinsfolk -quarrel. - -Collision and antagonism between sects in India was neither so sharp nor -so fierce as in Palestine, and Buddha ministered in conditions much more -favourable to the propagation of his system than did Jesus Christ. The -Sadducean opponents of Christ represented a powerful hierarchy, the -Pharisees a popular democracy, and the Scribes an influential Sanhedrim, -with power of inflicting a sentence of death. The Essenes never mingle -in the scenes of the Gospel, and it is questionable if they are ever -referred to in them. Over all and dominating all was a most jealous and -vigilant Roman despotism, ever ready to turn even a religious quarrel to -its own account, so that it was the most natural of things that an -opposition thus represented should nip, as it were, Christianity in the -very bud by crucifying its Founder. In Magadha, however, it was -otherwise. The broad distinction was between Brahmans and Sramans,[130] -the latter a general title covering many secessions from Brahmanism, and -the popular favour was equally bestowed on both. The Brahmans, though -dominant, had not the power, and to their credit do not seem to have had -the will, to persecute. It was not from them, but from the scholastic -and conceited Teviggi and from the ascetic sects that Buddha encountered -most formidable opposition; and yet even in these cases opposition was -not rigid. It was a war not of blows, but of words, in which an appeal -to the secular arm or to force was out of the question. A new sect, -therefore, especially one that had donned the yellow robes and alms-bowl -of the mendicant, protesting against the debasing belief in the efficacy -of Brahmanic rites, or the virtue gained by extravagant Yogi -austerities, would obtain from the people at large more favour than -resistance or disdain. - -The intellectual movement in India appears thus to have been extensive -and many-sided. In the multitude of sects there is a guarantee for -freedom,[131] and competition in the proclamation of truth is better -than monopoly; but in religion, as in trade, the competition of -over-multiplying sects tends to increase adulteration. So in early -Buddhist literature, while there is incontestable evidence of the -existence of honest instructors, there is also unquestionable evidence -of the abundance of quacks, who trifled with truth simply to make a gain -of it, and of shallow but clever professionals, who dealt with gravest -themes in the spirit of the mere debater.[132] So there, as in Palestine -in the days of Coheleth, through over-discussion the old faith was -rapidly evaporating. In the Brahmans, religion had degenerated into -formalism; in the Teviggi, into traditionalism. In the philosophic -Sramans it was in many instances passing into blank atheism; and among -the ascetics, into despair. While this was the condition of the learned -and of the few, the masses everywhere, like the Ammé Ha-árets in -Palestine, were wandering—no man caring for them—further and further -into the idolatries and sensualities of Hinduism. Morality was -perishing, the writing on the heart was getting more indistinct, and -conscience becoming more confused. Then, just as five centuries later, -when faith was almost gone, Christ came to restore it by communicating -new life, so when divine law was in danger of fading from the -consciousness of men, there arose one to assert its eternal supremacy; -preaching the creed of Coheleth without his fear of God, and enforcing -the keeping of the commandments, not as expressed in Vedas or -interpreted in Brahmanas, but as written in every fibre of the body and -every faculty of the being, as the only way to safety. - -Who was he? Like the Author of Christianity, he has had to contend, as -it were, for the recognition of his personal existence. Even to-day it -is maintained that neither Christ nor Buddha ever existed, that they -were merely incarnations of popular conceptions, and that all the -legends concerning them can be reduced to a combination of anterior -mythological elements. These mythical theories, however, in regard to -the origin of Christianity, may be considered among the curiosities of -criticism;[133] and in regard to the origin of Buddhism, though more -justified by the confessed uncertainty as to dates, they have been -satisfactorily dispelled as another instance of refining overdone.[134] -Brahmanism and the successive phases of Hinduism can be traced to no -individual founder, but in investigating the origin of Buddhism we -breathe a very different atmosphere. There is a human and moral -character about it which the other Indian religions lack: something real -as in Mosaism, and palpable as in Islam.[135] We may rest assured that -Buddhism had for its founder a real person, and though our best -authorities have had to search for their facts through a vast amount of -fabulous materials, we may accept the dates which they have -approximately fixed for his birth and death, and the outlines which they -have sketched of his life and ministry. - -Gotama, a name still found among the Rajput chiefs of Nagara, was born -in the north-eastern region of India, about a hundred miles from -Benares, about the year B.C. 557. His father, a Sakya, a name unknown in -any native Indian family, and said to indicate descent from a race of -northern nomad immigrants, was rajah of Kapila, and his mother was a -daughter of the family of Koli.[136] His principalities, of very limited -extent, seem to have been eventually swallowed up by the greater Indian -monarchies, for when Fa-Hian visited the country Kapila had become a -vast solitude, and there for ages its very name has perished from the -living speech of men. Even though his royal pedigree be an embellishment -of the later legends, there seems no reason to doubt that his father was -noble and rich according to the standard of the time, and sufficiently -independent of Brahman domination to train his son in his own way. It -seems not to have been in their studies, but in the exercises befitting -a warrior prince, that Gotama was educated, though a disposition -thoughtful and melancholy, and strongly sympathetic, appears to have -disinclined him from such a mode of life. Even as a youth the darker -sides of existence threw a shadow over him; the sufferings of mankind -were among his earliest impressions, and he brooded over them till his -mind, poisoned by the contemplation of them, threw its gloom over -everything around him, and made the very air hang heavy with the weight -of woe. - -To one driven as he was to the conclusion that existence was a burden -rather than a blessing, death, according to the belief in which he had -been nurtured, could afford no relief; but hope seemed to dawn for him -as he thought of the happy yellow-robed sages who, freed from his -horror, were tranquil and dignified, abstracted alike from pleasure and -pain. So after a period of irresolution and struggle, in the very prime -of his manhood, he stole away from his wife and his new-born child, and -cast in his lot with the forest recluses. Having lived some time with -them, and having found that their ascetic discipline failed to satisfy -his aspirations, he left them, and joined two philosophic Brahmans, who -taught him the science of meditation in its lower and higher degrees. -Though he had profited so much by their instruction and discipline that -he rose in six years from being a disciple to a teacher, he confessed -that he had not found by their methods the imperishable and permanent -quietude which he coveted. So, abandoning all his disciples, he withdrew -into solitude, and plunged into fasting so rigorous that he nearly -destroyed himself; then, finding that the secret of deliverance was not -thus to be obtained, he returned, amid the contempt of his former -companions, to a more genial mode of life. Then, all alone in the -jungle, its manifold discomforts, the memories of home, and the -fruitlessness of all his endeavours, assailed him with the force of a -temptation to desist from the quest; but rallying all his powers for one -supreme effort, he eventually, under a banyan-tree at Bohimanda, -triumphed—awoke as one before whom all illusion had vanished, and who by -no divine illumination, but by his own personal energy, had attained to -knowledge of the causes of all things, and had at last become the -Buddha, the Enlightened One. - -We need have no difficulty in accepting this outline of the man’s -spiritual history as substantially correct; and assuming it to be so, we -see at once that it is contrasted in every point with the early history -of Jesus of Nazareth. In the Indian narrative, _e.g._, we have long and -prolix details of the youth and manhood of Gotama; in the Christian -Gospels very few incidents, one pregnant saying, two or three words of -description, sum up the whole record of Christ’s biography till He -appeared before the Baptist. This silence is surely suggestive, for it -could not have been the result of ignorance or forgetfulness. “It is -silence, where, to a moral certainty,” as is indicated alike by the -apocryphal Gospels and the Buddhist legends, “men left to themselves -would have used much speech.” In the Gospels the things which we are -naturally curious to know are concealed from us, and there is disclosed -only the spiritual reality in which Christianity consists. Where He was, -how He looked, what He did during these long years of waiting and -preparation, the Evangelists have not told us; but they have revealed -enough to show what He was. Scenery and circumstances are as nothing, -because the life that was revealing itself in them was everything; and -of the unfolding of that life, the few and slight but most suggestive -touches of the Gospels enable us to form clearer conceptions than we are -ever likely to form of Gotama’s from the abundant incidents of the -Buddhist story. - -Thus while the son of the Indian rajah did not require to keep from -himself anything that his heart desired, Jesus of Nazareth in the home -of Galilee had to deny Himself, and to endure in the commonest kind of -labour a hardness which the Indian youth, in the inertion of his class -and race, regarded as part of the curse of existence. Still, Jesus had -meat to eat which the other knew not of; He had bread enough and to -spare, while the other was perishing of hunger. Rich in poverty, while -Gotama was poor in his abundance, Jesus the carpenter appears highly -exalted in what the other would have called humiliation. There, while -Gotama, having everything which he could desire at his call, had -discovered that human life was worse than vanity, Jesus, -self-surrendered in faithful service of others, was learning how full of -blessedness and how rich in power of blessing the life of any man might -be. The angels of nature and providence, by the lilies of the field and -the children in the market-place, instructed him in a wisdom which no -Indian sage ever dreamed of; and though He saw the wretchedness of this -evil world as Gotama never saw it, and felt for the misery of men as -Gotama never could feel, He saw what even Buddha the Enlightened never -could descry, the face of a Father in Heaven not frowning in wrath but -yearning in pity over all. So, instead of repelling, the suffering and -evil of the world drew Jesus closer to it, till, finding His grace, not -as Gotama found His wisdom, in desire to be delivered from it, but in -the depth of His longing to save it, He gave Himself to it and for it, -as for a joy that was set before Him. - -Again, the enlightenment of Gotama was the result of a painful struggle, -first between inclination and duty, and then with great perplexities of -duty, but in Christ it was painless and natural, like the growing of the -dawn into the day. His pure and at first joyous life unfolded itself -like a beautiful morning under the animating impulse of love to God and -to all His creatures. As He grew in consciousness of the heaven within, -He became more conscious of the disorder without, and more sensible of -His isolation in regard to it. As year by year the sense not of the -world’s misery but of its guilt increased within Him, there would also -increase the longing that it should be taken away. Very early the -conviction took possession of Him, that He was not here to win His own -way to deliverance, but to be about His Father’s business. Gradually the -Father’s business was revealed to Him, and when the preaching of the -Baptist had made it clear, without any wrestle like Gotama’s, Christ, -ever close to His Father, and ever clear in His duty, set Himself at -once to fulfil it. - -It is often alleged that the temptation in the wilderness, which marked -the close of our Lord’s long period of silent preparation, is an exact -parallel to the fasting and temptation which preceded Gotama’s -enlightenment at Bohimanda. There is doubtless an external similarity -sufficient to arrest our attention, but the internal contrasts disclose -experiences of quite different characters. In the light of their -respective histories, these occurrences, though often referred to as -miraculous, were in reality most natural. They represent experiences of -which there could be no witnesses, and which, indescribable in plain -words, could only be suggested by a kind of parable. The temptations are -recorded not as they were presented to the persons tried, but in the -character which they assumed when their drift was discovered and their -aim was detected. Both were assailed by suggestions, raising in them a -tumult of emotion, which, if unresisted or yielded to, would in Gotama’s -case have been equivalent to abandonment of his quest for deliverance -for the sake of sensual indulgence offered by Mâra and his daughters, -and in the case of Christ, to refusal to live by obedience, to tempting -the Holy One of Israel, and to worshipping the splendid majesty of -wrong. The temptations were real, assailing the will, seeking to -paralyse or to change it; and their force in each case would be in -proportion to the depth and purity of the natures assailed. Gotama, -though unmistakably a man of high spiritual aspiration, was attacked by -sensual visions,[137] which could not possibly have been a temptation to -a nature like Christ’s. He had “to repel as evil what to other men would -have appeared as ideals of good, and had to turn away from what the -noblest of men would have cherished as innocent dreams or splendid -chances,”[138] because to His pure eyes they were Satanic temptations. -He suffered, being tempted, but His trouble and suffering were caused -neither by irresolution, nor vanity, nor fear, but by His own lowly -humility and to the sense of the exceeding greatness of His mission. - -Gotama, sorely concerned about himself, went apart to fast and meditate -and wrestle for his own deliverance, but Christ went apart not to -fast—fasting was an unheeded incident in and not the aim of His -retirement, and in no perplexity about His own salvation, for that was -assured and made the basis of assault,—but that in quiet meditation He -might see more clearly the way by which the salvation of God could be -brought to mankind. Christ was forced to acknowledge that absolute -surrender to His Father’s will in His mission meant absolute antagonism -to the world, and He was tried by suggestions as to the mode of -prosecuting His mission, all the more seductive that they were confessed -to be natural. Might He not, as the Beloved of Heaven, to carry the -world along with Him, and to save multitudes from suffering, swerve just -a little from His high ideal, and accommodate His ways to suit their -prejudices? These temptations in the beginning continued His temptations -to the very close of His ministry. Not once, but all His life, as He -hungered for the sympathy and trust of those whom He sought to save, was -He tempted, as in Capernaum, when many fell away from Him, to “change -the stones into bread.” Not once only did He stand on “the battlements -of the temple,” nor once only was He offered “all the kingdoms of the -world and the glory of them.” Again and again was He in peril when He -stood high in the opinion of the crowds, and heard them in their Hosanna -entreating Him, through His very sympathy with and love for them, to -gratify their wishes; yet in every case the temptation was rejected -without the slightest wavering the moment it was understood. “Get thee -behind me, Satan.” “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” “The cup -which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” - -For again, Christ conquered because from the beginning to the closing -agony He stood firm rooted in obedience and in submission to the will of -a Higher than self; but the Buddhist writers want to impress the very -opposite of this upon us in regard to Gotama’s victory. He is said to -have conquered Mâra by the force of his own will, and won his way to -light by his individual energy alone. After he became Buddha he -hesitated whether he would preach the way of deliverance to men, not -because, like Moses and the Hebrew prophets, he had no confidence in -himself and required the assurance of a divine strength not his own. He -had perfect assurance in himself, but he had no confidence at first in -the ability of others to comprehend and to follow him in a way so -difficult to find and so hard to tread.[139] He asked no deity to help -him, for he was greater and wiser than all the gods. In the legends -Brahma is said in intercession to have pressed him to preach the way, -and moved eventually by no intercession, but simply by his own pity for -men lost in the vortices of miserable existence, he went forth in no -strength but his own to preach and to teach in a ministry, not of shame -and humiliation and death, but one of great exaltation and honour. - -This conception colours the narrative of his whole career. In the later -scriptures he is designated the Tathâgata (He who has gone or arrived at -Nirvana), the very reverse and point-blank contradiction of Christ the -Messiah, He who was sent. There was no higher to send him, no wiser to -teach. He came in his own name; but Jesus, as one sent by Him into the -world, went forth in the name of His Father. Though He made demands upon -the faith of the world compared with which the pretensions of Gotama are -trivial—for at the highest he only claimed to be Buddha the Enlightened, -while Christ spake of Himself as the “Light of the world,”—yet in -Christ’s claim there was ever a sense of dependence expressed or -implied, as of one who of His own self could do nothing, and who only -taught what His Father had showed Him. Both spake with authority, and -not as the scribes; both superseded the traditional domination of what -was said by men of old times with the emphatic “I say unto you”; but -there is a vast difference in the quality of this authority in the two -cases. The authority of Buddha sprang from his acknowledged intellectual -superiority, but the authority of Jesus sprang from spiritual insight. -The deliverances of Buddha were given after the manner of a Socratic -dialogue, and he won his converts and vanquished opponents by his -dialectic skill.[140] But in all the encounters of Christ with His -enemies there was no forcing of their reason to gain His end. His -replies and counter questions were brief and direct and incisive; they -were like the fiat of a king or the sentence of an unchallengeable -judge, from which reason and conscience alike confessed that there could -be no appeal. - -Certainly in the two ministries was fulfilled a saying of Christ, “I am -come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not; if another shall come -in his own name, him will ye receive,” for after a very short period of -imperfect success the public career of Gotama became a continuous -victorious progress. Disciples, drawn mostly from the highest -classes—the Brahmans, the nobles, and the wealthy merchants—flocked -round him wherever he appeared. He journeyed followed by admiring -crowds, he had only to show himself to impress, and he had only to -preach to convince. The most stubborn resistance became fluid under his -spell, and those who approached to confute were sure to succumb to his -sweet reasonableness. He was supported by powerful rajahs, and those who -did not show him proper reverence were punished according to their -edicts. He was lodged in parks and gardens and palaces, several of which -were gifted to him for the use of his Order. Accessible always to people -of all castes, and of every condition, and of both sexes, he received -the attention of the courtesan, and shared her feast and accepted her -offering,[141] but he always maintained the nobility and purity of an -irreproachable character, and wherever he was found it was as the -prophet of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. Rejoicing -through his long and honourable ministry, sometimes loath to die, as -foreseeing the troubles which would befall his Order after his decease, -he at last, when over fourscore years, in a sickness alleged to have -been induced by partaking too freely of some rich food, with the quiet -dignity and composure of a saint, fell asleep, and was buried with the -funeral obsequies which Indians then bestowed on the bodies of their -greatest kings.[142] - -It would be impossible, in every respect, to find a more absolute -contrast to all this than the story of Jesus of Nazareth. If He was -popular, it was only for a little, and then only with the masses. The -aristocracy and the religious classes stood aloof, and soon entered into -a conspiracy to get rid of Him. He had a few disciples among them, like -Joseph of Arimathæa, and Nicodemus, and the family at Bethany, but the -words of the prophet accurately sum up the narratives of the Gospel, -that He was “despised and rejected of men.” To follow Him meant joining -in no triumphal procession, but in a struggle against storm and tide -which was sure to end in death. Suspected from the first, and speedily -denounced, He was watched and tracked and driven from place to place, -till at last the toils of the hunters closed successfully around Him, -and at the age of thirty-three He was crucified as a malefactor between -two robbers on Calvary. - -But the grand and crowning distinction between the import and effect of -the two ministries emerged at the close. After Gotama died and his body -was burned, and his relics had been reverently gathered, and -distributed, and enshrined in costly dagobas erected in the various -scenes of his labours, there was an end of him. He had gone out into the -void, according to his own theory of the hereafter, and, no longer -capable of being of use to his disciples, he exhorted them to be “their -own refuge, their own law, and to work diligently out their -salvation.”[143] But when Jesus had been crucified there was manifestly -not an end, but rather a new beginning of His personal influence, a -rising in fuller power, a coming again with greater authority. From the -very morning of His ministry He took His death into His plan, as the -consummation of one stage of His mission, without which His plan would -have been a failure. All His teaching centred in His death, as a moral -and spiritual necessity in Divine providence. Instead of complaining of -it, He pointed to it as the seal of His Messiahship, “the cause for -which He was born, the end for which He came into the world,” “the hour” -of His glorification. The very setting of crime and passion which His -enemies sought to give to the manner of it only made it in His -estimation more divine. Instead of evading it He went straight to meet -it, when the time had come, as one who had a purpose to fulfil by it. -That purpose He announced to be the development of His personal -resources, the liberation of the creative energies of His being. As -uncrucified He might be weak, as crucified He would be so mighty as to -“draw all men unto Him.” The event amply fulfilled the prediction, for -shortly after the crucifixion Christ again confronted the world in -another form and in far greater power. The followers of Buddha went -forth testifying to his law, and they prefaced their preaching by the -invariable formula, “Thus have I heard, when the Blessed One lived in -——.” Their mission was simply to recall and declare and expound the -system of a master who had been absolutely lost to them, but the -apostles of Christ from the very first testified not of a doctrine, but -of Christ Himself, as one who having died still lived, was reigning in -mightier power, and would be with them always, even to the end of the -æon. - -For we must bear in mind that Buddha and Christ stand in very contrasted -relations to the systems of belief which they each founded. Soon after -Buddha’s death, if not before it, the formula of admission into his -order began with the phrase, “I take refuge in Buddha,” which -consequently has been described by some as the “first article in the -Buddhist creed.” We must not for a moment however suppose that this -expression is of equal or even of similar significance to our -confession, “I believe in Christ.” Gotama in the whole course of his -preaching never asked his hearers for faith in himself as essential to -their emancipation. All that he demanded was obedience to the law, -disposition to enter, and determination to follow the paths which he had -discovered. He could not give them Nirvana, nor even bring them to it; -he could only tell them the way to it, which he had found, and as he had -succeeded so might they by their own individual energy.[144] We are thus -not free to explain Buddhism from and by the person of its founder; it -is perfectly explicable apart from him, as if he had never lived; but -apart from Christ, and without the light thrown upon it by His person, -Christianity would be an enigma. Christ from the first demanded faith in -Himself as essential to salvation.[145] Belief in what He taught was -always subordinated to trust in Himself. Consequently the apostles never -said, ‘Observe the precepts; follow the paths, and you will find the way -of escape,’ but always “Believe in (_or_ on) the Lord Jesus Christ and -thou shalt be saved.” They pointed to Him as the sole object of faith -and worship, as the only rule and example and inspiration. Their creed, -their theology, their ethical code, were not elaborated in systems; they -were all comprehended in a Person who required neither apologists nor -defenders, but only witnesses who would manifest and declare Him. - -This must be borne in mind when we consider the miraculous elements -which are common to the presentation, given in both religions, of their -respective Authors. The story of Buddha, as we have hitherto followed -it, tells of a great renunciation, but of one that can hardly be called -unparalleled in the history of religion. He was probably neither the -first nor the last noble Indian youth who “for the sake of that supreme -goal of the higher life went out from all and every household gain and -comfort, to become a houseless wanderer.”[146] But the story as we have -it in the Buddhist books is very different.[147] Had any one asked a -yellow-robed missionary, about the time when the last Gospel was being -written, what he meant by the Buddha, he would have begun by telling of -one who, thousands of ages back, in the shining world of the gods, out -of pity for the miseries of men, resolved to become a Buddha that he -might teach them the way of deliverance, and who through many -transformations—in which he was baptized into all experiences, even -those of rat and a clod of earth—at last reached the point when, coming -down from heaven, and entering, in the form of a white elephant, the -side of the wedded wife[148] of a great king,[149] was born as Buddha. -He would tell of a mysterious baptism, when two full streams of perfumed -water fell from heaven upon him, while all the gods in all the worlds -raised in responsive harmony the heavenly song; of a holy sage who -descended from heaven to greet him with predictions of his glorious -career;[150] of many prodigies displayed by him in his illustrious -youth; of his mighty struggle with and victory over Mâra, Lord of all -Desires, and of his going forth as a great king, at the urgent request -of the great god Brahma, to preach Nirvana and deliver the world. - -Then he would tell how when he set “a-rolling the wheel” of the “kingdom -of righteousness,”[151] he did so with such effect that not only -multitudes of men, but eighty thousand gods and angels, “hearing, each -in their own tongue, though the language was that of Magadha,”[152] were -by one sermon imbued with saving knowledge and converted; how during his -long and holy ministry, by discourses and parables and miracles, he -brought countless millions of men and women, and gods and sprites and -fairies, to find the right way; how the great devas came to worship or -to ask counsel from him;[153] how, inviolable and invincible, there -could not be found, either in this world or in the world of the devas, -Mâras, Brahmans, “any who could either scatter his thoughts or cleave -his heart”;[154] how he was transfigured,[155] and at last, when the -time was come, accompanied by a disciple very dear to him, how he lay -down like a king between two trees. Then when winds were hushed, and -streamlets silenced, and flowers from heaven shed their blossoms over -him like rain-drops, and a great earthquake rumbled, and the sun and -moon hid their faces, and the great Brahma lamented, rising through -light to light he achieved the full Nirvana.[156] - -It is not wonderful that Christians who have only read or heard of the -statements current as to the remarkable coincidences between the -miraculous incidents recorded in the Buddhist legends and the Christian -Gospels should be perplexed, and that not a few of those who are -anti-Christian in their attitude should have almost jumped to the -conclusion that the biographers of the two lives must have known of each -other’s works and borrowed each other’s traditions. Examination of the -alleged coincidences, however, reveals that there is no occasion for the -perplexity in the one case, and no ground for the jubilation in the -other. By no honest process of manipulation can we turn the supposed -similarities into even probable identities. The incidents illustrate -very widely contrasted lives, and enforce dogmas utterly contradictory -to each other. If any one is desirous of ascertaining the coincidences -which are stated to exist, he will find them clearly set forth and -classified by Professor Seydel in his so-called Buddhist Harmony;[157] -and if he require any more than his own common sense to guide him to an -opinion concerning them, he had better consult the Appendix to Professor -Kuenen’s Hibbert Lectures on _National Religions and Universal -Religions_, Dr. Kellogg’s _Light of Asia and Light of the World_, and -Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter’s article in the _Nineteenth Century_, December -1880, “On the Obligations of the New Testament to Buddhism.” These -authorities will confirm the judgment which any unbiassed and -intelligent juryman would form, from considering the evidence adduced in -support of the theory of borrowing, and from a simple comparison of the -alleged parallels themselves, that Buddhism had not the smallest direct -influence on the origin of Christianity. So fundamentally unlike are the -alleged “similarities” that the hypothesis of the derivation of the -contents of the Gospels from Buddhist sources is as ridiculous as would -be the supposition that the Venus of Milo was copied from the rude idol -or hideous fetich of an aboriginal tribe.[158] - -When the missionaries of the two religions first came into actual -contact has not yet been ascertained, and the influence of the Christian -ideals of self-oblivion upon the most essentially selfish system of -salvation ever promulgated to the world has yet to be traced. The -conception of self-renunciation which is set forth in the legends may -have originated in the memory of the kindness and gentleness and -goodness of one whose life was far nobler than his creed, and it may -have assumed greater strength and clearness when the teaching of the -Gospels came to be reflected upon it. It may or it may not, but of this -we may be positively certain, that the writers of the New Testament and -the composers of the earliest Buddhist traditions knew positively -nothing of each other’s productions. This is a conclusion accepted by -the very best authorities on the subject, and it is maintained with the -greatest firmness by those of them who discount the miraculous -occurrences found in the scriptures of both religions as only the fond -fancies which their affectionate disciples gradually wove around the -memories of their respective teachers. They hold that working -independently of each other, but under similar influences and in similar -conditions, it was simply natural that they should have come to adorn -with wonders somewhat alike in character the story of two lives so pure -and beneficial. - -The learned author of the Hibbert Lectures for 1881 has made some very -interesting and important suggestions as to the rise of the Buddhist -legends, and as he seems to imply a similar growth of the “Christian -legend,” it may be advisable to consider both accounts in their relation -to the literary sources which profess to authenticate them. Let us -assume, therefore, that the Lalita Vistara was actually in circulation -about the beginning of the Christian era,[159] and let us take for -granted that one of the oldest Suttas,[160] professing to relate a -portion of Buddha’s ministry, was extant in the form in which we have -it, some three centuries earlier, or a century after Buddha’s death. A -comparison of these two productions reveals at once the fact that in the -earliest there is no reference to the divinity, pre-existence, or -supernatural birth of Buddha, and making allowance for the usual -exaggeration of language, that there are very few miraculous incidents -recorded in it. It has been asserted that Buddha never professed to work -a miracle. Certainly the fragments of his original teaching which -survive indicate that he would be the first to repudiate all such as -have been ascribed to him. Be that as it may, it is a literary fact that -in the supposed earliest books only a few miracles are recorded. We may -infer therefore that by the time they were composed his orthodox -disciples had not formed those conceptions of his person and mission -which their pious descendants later on learned to believe and to -proclaim.[161] - -The Gospels are not the earliest Christian writings, and not several, -but many, “narratives concerning those matters which had been fulfilled -or established among” Christians, even as they “delivered them who were -eye-witnesses and ministers of the word,”[162] were probably in -circulation before the Gospels were written. Some of the Epistles of St. -Paul also, in all probability, preceded those collections of “the words -and deeds of the Lord”; but the substance of the three first Gospels was -very early produced, and we may be morally certain that they contain the -beliefs which the very first generation of Christians entertained -concerning Him. The truth of these beliefs is not now under discussion, -but only the fact of them, and the kind of people who were influenced by -them. It is averred “that the outward conditions in which Buddhism and -Christianity arose were similar, and so were the mental qualities of the -disciples of both religions”;[163] but the conditions were most -dissimilar in this respect, that Buddhism originated in the dimness of -an unhistoric age, and Christianity in an age and land so irradiated by -the light of history that we know more clearly what was happening then -and there than we do of what occurred in Europe a thousand years after. -The mental qualities of the disciples of both religions again seem to -have been most unlike. About Ananda and his companions we know really -nothing but the names, for they meet us in the Buddhist records as mere -lay figures, completely resembling one another, and with no -individuality to distinguish them.[164] We may assume, however, that -they belonged to one or other of the many sects of Brahmans or Sramans, -and if so, that they were dreamy and contemplative men, withdrawn from -practical life, and finding in the life of meditation a sphere more -congenial to them than the actual world of which they were parts. They -appear to have been directly and thoroughly unlike to the very marked -personalities represented by the Evangelists and the other apostles of -Christ, who were all drawn from practical life to be His followers. They -were the very reverse of speculative; they had little imagination and -almost no poetry in them; they were very dull of comprehension in regard -to truths higher than the few which they inherited, and very incredulous -about any unwonted occurrence said to have taken place outside the -little circle of their own observation. In their conscientious, -matter-of-fact way of looking at things they were the very last men to -dream dreams or weave legends around the memory of one whom they -revered; and we have their own confession, not of their slowness of -apprehension merely, but of their unbelief at first in regard to all -supernatural manifestations. - -Now while the supernatural only rarely meets us in the most ancient -Buddhist productions, where we would naturally have expected it to have -predominated, it meets us in the very earliest writings of Christianity, -where we would not have expected it at all. Christ to His first -disciples and apostles was a miraculous being. The claim formulated in -St. John’s Gospel, which is probably the latest book in the New -Testament, is that advanced for Christ by St. Paul in his earliest -extant letter to the churches. The Christ of St. John is not a new -Person, but the same Divine Being of whom St. Paul says, “He being in -the form of God” was “found on earth in fashion as a man.” He may have -been all wrong as to the ground of his belief; he may have been an -epileptic, a visionary, a man subject to trances, whose intense -spiritual affinities disqualified him from judging calmly of matters of -history; but there is no mistake as to his own belief and that of the -other evangelists and writers of the New Testament. The teaching of St. -Paul and St. John concerning Christ is set forth in St. Matthew with a -clearness which no language can improve upon.[165] St. Mark dwells -primarily upon the humanity of Jesus, a most important fact, presenting -a historic basis without which Christian truth would have been little -more than a mystic speculation; but even in St. Mark that humanity is -not described as unfolding under conditions which are merely -normal.[166] The life to which he testifies is not just that of Jesus of -Nazareth, but of the Christ of God, who speaks with more than human -authority. The development which is traceable in the theology of the -Epistles is the expansion of the significance of the events recorded in -the Gospels. The latest writings may more fully interpret the teaching -of the earlier ones, but in them we find no other Gospels, but only -anathemas pronounced on those who pretend to have them. In them a larger -domain is seen expanding beneath our gaze, but it is visible only in the -light of the central figure that meets us in the first. Plainly, -therefore, while the earliest Buddhist witnesses account for their -master and his teaching in the ordinary ways, and while their successors -much later on in their attempts to embellish his portrait have produced -quite a different person from the man of whom they first testified, the -very earliest Christian writers could not account for Christ in any -other way than by regarding Him as a supernatural being, who did not -come into the world and did not leave it in the way of all other men. It -is possible that they may all have been deluded, but if so, they vouched -for their sincerity by their martyrdoms. The delusion, moreover, was at -least universally and most consistently maintained, and it is the first -instance in the history of mankind where a delusion has produced -intellectual activity and expansion so wonderful as to have changed the -current of history, and originated the great throbbing ever-enlarging -world of Christendom which confronts us now. - -Another significant contrast between the two sets of writings is found -in the fact that while we can dissociate the miraculous elements from -the Buddhist Pitakas without detriment to their other contents, we find -it impossible to apply the same process with the like results to the New -Testament. No one questions that primitive Buddhism is improved by being -freed from the portents which subsequently gathered around it, for -primitive Buddhism is an intellectual and moral system, a theory of the -universe more likely to be obscured than elucidated by an appeal to the -supernatural. Christianity, however, while appealing both to intellect -and conscience, does so as the revelation of a life which, as a new -thing, might break through all men’s conceptions of what was ordinary or -necessary. The first appearance of life on this planet as an unwonted -phenomenon would be accompanied by manifestations miraculous to all who -only judged by experience of what had already been. So would be the -first appearance of man to those who judged of things by what was -possible to the actual animal world. That the manifestation of One who -had come that men might have life, and have it more abundantly, should -be accompanied with phenomena new and strange to mankind might have been -expected. Christ, as revealing an ideal of excellence to which things as -they are in nature, and men as they now are in society, do not conform, -will in truth contradict the present working of both. This at least is -the impression inevitably produced by the reading of the New Testament. -Its teaching is throughout founded upon, and it would be quite -unintelligible without reference to, the supernatural. To dissociate the -miraculous portions from the rest of its contents would be not only to -mutilate but to destroy it.[167] Not the theological and metaphysical -elements only, but even “the ethical, are so interwoven into one fibre -with the supernatural in the New Testament that it is impossible to -detach them without destroying the whole fabric.”[168] Verily a Gospel -without the miracles and all that accounts for them would be a very -strange book. - -Another very distinctive feature in the New Testament accounts is -displayed in the character of the wonders there recorded. Indeed, this -distinguishing element is found in all the miraculous narratives of the -Bible. If it be true that the ancient writers or redactors of Scripture -have employed the legends of other nations to illustrate their works, it -must be conceded that they have immensely improved, and made a much -better use of them. The story of the creation of the world, of the -primeval paradise, and of the deluge, may be only myths common to -several nations, but somehow, while all other writers just lose -themselves in these myths, the Hebrews alone have laid hold of them to -enforce the sublimest views ever formulated in human speech concerning -the origin of the world and of man. The narratives of the Old Testament -are evidently not constructed to startle the reader with portents, but -to disclose the providential dealings of a holy and merciful God with -man to enlighten and save him. The Gospels in like manner are not -written to record miraculous occurrences, nor are miracles introduced to -glorify Christ: they are simply referred to as incidents in His -ministry. When we compare the prodigies ascribed to Buddha during the -many changes of his pre-existence, or during his ministry, with the -miracles of the Gospels, they are like the rough casts in clay or wood -made by a rude or childish people contrasted with the perfect -productions of nature in the world of animals or of men. They may endure -comparison with the portents found in the Apocryphal books, or in the -Lives of the Saints, but placed side by side with the Gospel miracles -they serve only to illustrate the difference between what is artificial -and grotesque, and what is original and natural. There is a marked -sobriety in the Gospel accounts totally lacking in the Buddhist legends. -The latter serve no other end but to exalt and magnify Buddha,[169] but -the Gospel miracles are all founded in some great human necessity which -they are intended to supply. The Buddhist marvels are simply produced to -startle us, the Christian are recorded as signs to instruct us. What a -gulf separates the conception of Buddha leaping high in air amid the -sounding of the bells of the heavens and the plaudits of all the gods, -just to prove that he was Buddha, from the account of Christ’s refusal -to work a miracle to win the adherence of the crowd, or give the sign -from heaven to vanquish Sadducean unbelief! The Gospel miracles are few -after all, but they all flow from and are in harmony with the original -idea of Christ as Messiah which is assumed in all the Gospels. The -mighty works done by Him are all such as might be expected to be done in -a world like this by the Son of a heavenly Father. The cure of all -manner of disease, the exorcism of all the evil spirits that have -afflicted humanity, the victory over death, the control of all the -forces of nature, were all in the scope of one who came hither to -establish the kingdom of God. Christ’s miracles were all signs of man’s -present and prophecies of his future relations to all the evils that -afflict him. They all remind us of the Divine original ideal that man, -perfectly obedient to God, must exercise dominion over His creatures in -this world. Man’s present antagonism to nature, and the disorder seen in -his own social relations, are alike due to his refusal to merge his will -in God’s, and the miracles of our Saviour are all prophecies that when -through obedience to or faith in God he shall be restored to holiness, -he will find his social and external relations improved, and will regain -over nature that spiritual authority which even already the winds and -the waves in part recognise and obey.[170] - -Again, the New Testament writers claim for Christ what the early -disciples of Buddha never dreamed of claiming for their master, and they -insist upon their claim, though it is associated with the meanest and -apparently most contradictory of elements. It is not the glorification -but the humiliation of Christ which constitutes the marvel in the -Gospels. It was very natural that the Evangelists should imagine that -the angels should sing over the birth of a Saviour, but it was not -natural that they should conceive of them singing over a babe in a -manger. It was not wonderful, again, for Jews to believe that the coming -of their Messiah was divinely announced, but it is very wonderful that -they should believe that this annunciation was made to unknown -shepherds. It was certainly not in that way their Messiah was expected -to come. Had He come in the way they expected, the miracles might -naturally have been accounted for which they associated with His coming; -but, as matter of fact, it requires the miracle to account for their -belief in Him. And so it is all through in the Gospels. That the Messiah -should be discovered to be the Son of God need not surprise us, but that -the Son of God should be recognised by Jews in the form of a servant, -enduring patiently the contradiction of sinners, submitting to trial, to -torture, to death on the cross, is one of the greatest marvels in the -whole history of religion. This combination of glory and shame was a -difficulty in the way of faith, not a help or support of it. The claim, -we must remember, was not advanced for Christ by the Evangelists after -He died; it was formulated by Himself, and by Him it was asserted more -conspicuously, and with greater frequency and emphasis toward the close -of His earthly life. It was the only charge on which He was condemned; -all other accusations brought against Him broke down; but this one He -admitted—that He called Himself the Son of God. Questioned upon it, He -would not retract. “Thou sayest,” was all His reply, and for the saying -He was ordered to the cross. Yet upon the cross His assertion was -strengthened. Had He been a pretender, He would never have so comported -Himself before Pilate and Herod; had He been self-deluded, He never -would have said to His fellow-sufferer on Calvary: “To-day shalt thou be -with me in paradise.” The torture of crucifixion was sufficient to expel -the hallucinations of the maddest brain, but the Evangelists show that -while faith in His Messiahship was, during His crucifixion, fading even -from His disciples, in Himself it was stronger than ever, and at the -very last it was communicated to a dying robber, who trusted that He had -power to absolve him, and to open to him the gates of a better life. -Now, all this surely never could naturally have occurred to Jewish men -to conceive, and if their records be only fictions, the devout creations -of over fond imaginations, then their legends are miracles themselves. - -Some one has said that it is possible to find in the Buddhist books a -parallel to every incident in the Gospels; if so, these parallels will -be found to be very far apart; but to the incident of the Crucifixion -there can be no parallel. That one historical event separates not only -the two systems of thought and belief, but marks off Christianity from -all other religions in the world. Till the crucifixion of Jesus was -accomplished, the idea of associating with Deity humiliation, and of -conceiving of God as dying the death of a slave upon the cross, would -have been regarded as the grossest impiety. The fundamental idea of the -Incarnation was not wholly foreign to the mind either of India or of -Greece; to the Jew it was not a natural thought, but one so anti-Semitic -that Jew and Moslem alike have rejected Christianity because of it;[171] -but the incarnation of Deity represented in the Gospels, the humiliation -of the Godhead implied in the Crucifixion, is an idea which never could -have originated in the mind of either Gentile or Jew. It is one of the -things of God which the natural man cannot conceive, a mystery hid from -all ages until it was revealed, and apparently, unless we admit the -reality of the revelation, we never can account for the faith. - -The miraculous personality of Christ is thus the outstanding and -distinctive feature of the Christian writings. As the mists clear away -in the East, Buddha emerges more and more in the stature of a good and -great man, but Christ rises upon us as one who cannot be accounted for -according to the measure of any man, nor even that of an angel. It is -not as a teacher, a guide out of the difficulties of life, that He meets -us, but as a Revealer and Saviour. It is thus He has been accepted by -His disciples, and upon their faith He has reared His Church. It is thus -He conceived of Himself, and His conception is not more astounding than -are the simplicity and lowliness and meekness of His character. He is -Himself thus the miracle of miracles, wholly inexplicable on any human -theory devised to account for Him; and till that one miracle is solved, -all questions as to the miracles which are ascribed to Him can afford to -wait for their solution. - -We have no desire to exaggerate the value of the miraculous elements in -Christianity, but it does not appear to be true wisdom that would -depreciate them or ignore them altogether. Miracles by many have been -wrongly considered, and they have been often expounded by the advocates -of Christianity in such a way as to create instead of removing -difficulties connected with the faith. On the other hand, many who -reject or refuse to consider them seem afflicted by a kind of mental -semeiophobia which in its own way may be as dangerous an affliction as -hydrophobia is. The proper way is to consider them in relation to the -nature and purpose of the Revelation with which they are associated. The -miracle may sometimes be found only in the form of the narrative, as a -hieroglyph whose purpose we are too lazy to search for, whose meaning we -are too stupid to elucidate. The theory that miracles are only -figurative expressions of spiritual truth is not true, as it is -generally expounded; but it has a truth in it which must never be -overlooked. Every miracle is a parable, and every parable is a miracle. -It is the spiritual reality revealed by both which gives them value, and -not the wonder in them by which we are at first arrested. Yet without -the wonder to arrest us we might never have received the revelation. -“What did the apostle mean,” asks Robert Elsmere,[172] “by death to sin -and self? what the precise idea attached by him to being risen with -Christ? Are this death and resurrection necessarily dependent upon -certain alleged historical events, or are they not primarily, and were -there not, even in Paul’s mind, two aspects of a spiritual process -perpetually re-enacted in the soul of man, and constituting the -veritable revelation of God? Which is the stable and lasting witness of -the Father? the spiritual history of the individual and of the world, or -the envelope of miracle to which hitherto mankind has attached such -importance?” The envelope certainly would be as worthless without the -message which it carries as a husk from which the kernel has dropped. -Would St. Paul, however, ever have conceived the spiritual truths -referred to, if they had not been suggested by historical facts? Could -he ever have conceived of a death to sin had the world never witnessed -the death of the Holy Christ upon the cross? Could he ever have dreamed -of rising again in the power of a new life if the tomb in the garden -nigh Golgotha had never been found empty of its crucified occupant? Is -he not just suggesting the significance of very exceptional historical -events? He may be wrong in his interpretation, but there can be no -mistake that the interpretation is founded upon the history, that it was -the event which originated his theory, and not his theory that produced -the story of the event. Christian theology, instead of giving this -miraculous character to the tragic story of the life and death of -Christ, has been called into existence by man’s endeavours to account -for it as a fact not only marvellous, but simply unique in the -experience of mankind. - -It is not likely that the miraculous elements in the Christian religion -will be found to be “the produce of its primitive theology, which will -fade out of the conception of men as theology advances and becomes -purified.” The demonstration of this must not be assumed to be complete -because the miraculous is also found in other religions. We must be able -to account for it in all of them. It is, indeed, the natural tendency of -humanity to magnify and eventually to deify its heroes, to embellish -their careers with similar marvels, to apply to them figurative language -very liable to be misunderstood, which in later generations hardens into -erroneous beliefs. That Christians as well as Buddhists have done so is -sufficiently attested by the apocryphal Gospels, but we must not -conclude that because there are so many fictitious and counterfeit -wonders in currency there can be no real miracles. We must examine each -religion on its merits, and its miraculous elements in the light of -their purpose and of their actual genesis; and if we do so in the case -of Christianity, we will probably discover the one supernatural reality -from which the shadows in all other religions are reflected, and to -which they all point.[173] - -Dr. Rhys Davids, in the Hibbert Lectures, informs us that the early -Buddhist conception of Gotama was dominated and transformed by two -ideals, neither of which had any necessary connection with the man -himself. One of them, due to political experience, made him finally -assume in the popular imagination the office of a Universal King; while -the other, due to philosophic speculation, invested him with the -attribute of Perfect Wisdom. The implied parallel between this -conception, coloured as it grew by the sun myths which it incorporated, -and the Christian conception of Jesus, suggested by the titles King of -Glory and Divine Word, is obvious to everybody. Yet examination of the -supposed similarities only reveals essential contrasts between the two -sets of beliefs. The political experiences in India which are referred -to occurred about two centuries after the death of Buddha. The victories -of Chandragupta, resulting in the consolidation of a kingdom such as -Indians had never before witnessed, combined with his patronage of the -Buddhist monks, may have suggested the idea of the universal monarch. -“His achievements recalled the nearly forgotten poetry of the Vedic -legends, while the new and popular ethics of Buddha invested him with a -righteousness which made him a worthy Lord of the Four Quarters (of the -Globe).” So in one of the Suttas, said to be early, and which may have -been assuming shape at this time, words like these are put in the mouth -of Buddha:—“I am a king, O Sela, an incomparable, religious king; with -justice I roll the wheel, the wheel that is irresistible.”[174] With -this conception of Cakka-vatti, a glorious king, was connected, avers -Dr. Rhys Davids, that of an age in which plenty and peace were to abound -as the fruits of righteousness.[175] The idea of a golden age is common -to most religions, and as the Western Aryans always preserved it, we may -conclude that the branch which reached India carried it thither with -them. Soon, however, as the belief in transmigration took possession of -them, they seem to have lost it. Their book of the generations of man -did not mount higher than the Fall; existence was essentially evil in -their thought, and belief in a golden age on earth, either in the past -or in the future, was quite inconsistent with the creed which Buddhists -inherited or created. The other branch of the Aryan stock so cherished -it that it adorns their most beautiful mythologies; but even with them -the golden age was always placed in the past, and the world, fallen from -good, was supposed to be degenerating from bad to worse. And so it is -that the fondest glances of even the happy Greek are not forward but -backward cast, and that sadness mingles with his most mirthful music. - -It is possible at least that changes so favourable to the fortunes of -the new religion, and the social reforms which followed its extension, -may have awakened in the pious the memories of old Vedic faith; and that -the victories of Chandragupta may have suggested to the authors of the -Suttas the idea of the invincible Buddha advancing through the ages, as -the chariot-wheel of the sun disperses the clouds in the heavens. It is -certain, however, that neither Buddha nor his earliest disciples ever -dreamed of applying the title of Cakka-vatti to or of associating the -promise of a better time with himself. To old Vedic faith as supporting -his teaching or predicting his mission he never appealed; he ignored all -previous teaching: and indeed in ancient Indian teaching, uninspired by -either promise or hope, there is nothing prophetic. In the case of -Christianity it is quite the contrary. The conception of the Messiah as -the righteous and glorious King, under whose reign all the world would -be blessed, was not suggested by political experience two centuries -after the dawn of Christianity. It was formulated and predicted many -centuries before the coming of Christ. The Hebrew, like the Aryan, never -lost the memory of a happy past, but, unlike the Aryan, he placed his -paradise not only in the past but in the future. With far richer -materials at his command than the Aryan seems to have possessed for -painting a vanished golden age, the Hebrew poets made very sparing use -of them. A few paragraphs exhaust all they have to say as to the -traditions of a paradise that had been lost, but their whole Bible is -full of the hope of the good time which is coming to all the world. This -hope, centred as it was in their Messiah, Christianity from the very -first took up and promised to fulfil. The ministry of Jesus was scarcely -begun before it was associated with Him. Among the first questions asked -concerning Him was, “Is not this Messias?” Among the earliest -declarations made was, “We have found the Messias.” Very soon in His -career He confessed, “I that speak unto thee am He!” The Gospels and -Epistles would be unintelligible without this perpetual reference to -Messianic prediction; it is the golden thread which runs through all the -Old Testament and unites it with the New. In its Messianic hope, Old -Testament prophecy reached its highest and purest development, and the -New Testament claims that in Christ it is finding its fulfilment. It may -be alleged of course that the prophecy and the claim are alike -delusions, but the prophecy at least was a fact, and its application to -Christ was no legendary growth of a later generation, but the original -and essential testimony of the earliest Christian teachers. - -The other conception of Perfect Wisdom represented by Buddha the -Awakened or Enlightened One is also confessedly an aftergrowth. The -earliest traces which we have of Gotama after his death disclose him as -a man who gained his knowledge by severe struggle, and who therefore, in -the estimation of his followers, was a “Jina” or conqueror. As time went -on, and his memory rose in the estimation of later generations, the -faithful, guided by their belief in transmigration, projected this -struggle for Buddhahood further and further into former stages of -existence, till at last the idea was conceived that he was only one of a -long series of Buddhas, of whom he was not to be the last. The -development of this interesting speculation, with its distinctions into -Buddhas who only save themselves—Paccekabuddhas—and the Sammâsambuddhas, -who appear at very rare intervals, able and willing to save to the -uttermost, need not here be traced. It is sufficient to note how unlike -and contradictory is this belief to that which dominates in our -religion. In Christ we have the _only_ Messiah, and He, having once -come, we do not look for another. The hope of the Christian is fixed -upon His coming again in glory; but it is the coming again of the _same_ -Jesus. The unity of Deity colours and pervades all our thoughts of -Divine communications with mankind; “there is one God, and one Mediator -between God and man.” Consequently the doctrine of the Divine Word -formulated in connection with Christ in St. John’s Gospel represents a -very different set of ideas from the conception of Buddha as the Perfect -Wisdom, to whom all worlds and all times were open. That conception of -Buddha was probably an incorporation into the Buddhist creed from -foreign sources, but the idea of Christ as the Son, “unto whom all -things have been delivered by the Father,” so that “no one knoweth the -Son save the Father, neither doth any know the Father save the Son, and -he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him,” was a common one among -the very earliest Christians of whom we have any trace. St. Matthew, St. -Mark, St. Paul, St. Luke all preach Christ, “unto whom has been -committed all knowledge and judgment,” “who is before all things, and in -whom all things consist,” “the image of the invisible God, in whom it -pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell.”[176] - -And so it is not in the latest Gospel but in the earliest Scriptures -that we have the first indications of this doctrine as Christ the Word, -though in the latest, as we might expect, it is more clearly formulated -and more fully expounded. Written after the fall of Jerusalem, the -destruction of the ancient Church, and the recognition of the Gentiles -as fellow-heirs, by one who was quite conscious of the new intellectual -position which Christianity occupied in relation to the speculations of -Syria and Egypt, and of the dangers which thereby accrued to the faith, -its author took up a term very current at the time in theosophic and -metaphysical writings, and specially those of Philo, to set forth the -truth of the Life whose manifestation he had witnessed. That St. John -did not borrow the term from Philo is evident from the very different -use which he has made of it, and the very different purpose which he had -in view. By it Philo expressed the conception of Divine intelligence in -the abstract, while St. John employed it to suggest the concrete idea of -God’s personal action. Both found it in the Septuagint and the Hebrew -traditional lore;[177] but while Philo gave it a Greek, St. John adhered -to its Hebrew significance. The first chapter of St. John compared with -a page of Philo[178] will reveal at once the difference between them, -and convince us that the teaching of Philo concerning the Logos leads -further and further away from the idea of the incarnation which is the -foundation-truth of the teaching of St. John. His doctrine would be -quite unintelligible as an application or continuation of the doctrine -of Philo, but it is intelligible and consistent as the final -co-ordination of truths concerning the Divine Being disclosed in the Old -Testament viewed by a man whose antecedents and modes of thought were -very different from those of the Alexandrian sage.[179] - -The ideas suggested by the “Angel of the Presence” in the historic and -prophetic books, by the “Word of the Lord” in the Psalms, and by -“Wisdom” in the Books of Wisdom, indicate the rays which converge in St. -John’s doctrine of the Christ. As one who tarried long after the first -generation of Christians had gone to their rest, as one who had not only -pondered longer, and in deeper silence, the Life he had seen manifested, -but who had found its interpretation in such providences as the -spreading of the Churches and the destruction of the State, he was abler -to meet the necessities of a wider age, by setting the truth in rounder -form and clearer light; but while he expands and expounds the teaching -of the first generation, he adds and introduces not a single element. -His testimony is identical with that proclaimed at the Resurrection, -that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, and that Christ is the only -begotten Son of God. - -It is not as one who has acquired truth by long struggle, not as one who -has fought or forced His way to light, that Christ presents Himself in -the Gospels, but as one who can say: “I am the way, the truth, the -life,” “the light of the world.” Yet along with this stupendous demand -upon the faith of humanity there is a humility and simplicity -undiscoverable in the Buddha of the Pitakas. Self-consciousness, -self-reliance, self-culture—these are the phrases most suggestive of the -system and of the life of the great Indian sage, while not -self-abasement, but self-oblivion, characterises the teaching and life -of Jesus of Nazareth. Identity with the Highest, manifested by absolute -surrender to Him, is the essence of the Revelation of Christ. Always is -the Father confessed to be the source of all grace and truth, and if the -Son asks to be glorified, it is that the Father may be glorified in Him. -We are certainly not contemplating similarities when we look at the -Buddha of the Suttas and the Christ of the Gospels, but contrasts more -widely separated than the soul is from the body. In Buddha we have a -historical personage, who can be thoroughly accounted for as the product -and outgrowth of his past, and of his environment; in Christ we have one -whom no philosophy of history has ever explained. Alone and -unapproachable, He meets us as one who is really human, because He has -become man, one who has arisen among men to save them, but because He -has come through and to them. He is not just one of the many, a son of -men, the product of a divinely-trained humanity, but the Son of Man, who -as Son of God, incarnated in the nature of all men, has become the Head -and Creator of a new humanity. Correct, improve, embellish as we may, -the portrait left us of the gentle teacher of Magadha, we never can lift -him up to that level which would justify his being worshipped or being -addressed, as Jesus of Nazareth has been by the consensus of all the -Christian ages, “Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ. Thou art the -everlasting Son of the Father.” - -Footnote 120: - - _E.g._ Sinai = Hagar (Gal. iv. 24-31); also Claudius = ὁ κατέχων (2 - Thess. ii. 6, 7); Hausrath, _Life and Times of Jesus_, vol. i. p. 77. - -Footnote 121: - - Derenbourg, _Hist. de la Palestine d’après les Talmuds_, pp. 159, 202. - -Footnote 122: - - Wellhausen, _The Pharisees and Sadducees_, pp. 8, 26-43; Greifswald, - 1874. - -Footnote 123: - - Jos. _Antiq._ xiii. 5. 9, xv. 10. 4, 5; _Bell. Jud._ ii. 8. 2, 14. - -Footnote 124: - - Keim, _Jesus of Nazara_, vol. i. p. 392. - -Footnote 125: - - Delitzsch, _Jesus and Hillel_, pp. 31 _seq._; Pirké Abôth, Cambridge, - 1877, _passim_. - -Footnote 126: - - Jos. _Antiq._ xvii. 4. - -Footnote 127: - - Philo, _Quod omnis Probus Liber_, p. 12. - -Footnote 128: - - Bühler, _Ind. Ant._ vol. vii. p. 143; Jacobi, “Mahâvira and his - Predecessors,” _Ind. Ant._ vol. viii. pp. 311-314; Kern, _History of - Buddhism in India_, vol. i. p. 143; Colebrooke’s _Essays_, vol. i. p. - 380. - -Footnote 129: - - See “Jainism,” by Dr. Shoolbred—Report of the Missionary Conference, - 1888, vol. i. p. 41; Wilson’s _Essays_, vol. i. p. 427 _seq._ - -Footnote 130: - - “Sramana,” in Brahman speech, was a man who performed hard penances, - from _sram_, to work hard. There is another Sanscrit root, _sam_, to - quiet, and from it afterwards the popular etymology derived the word. - See Professor Max Müller’s translation of the Dhammapada in _Sacred - Books of the East_, vol. x. p. 65 _note_. - -Footnote 131: - - There seems to have been four great divisions of Sramanas, with as - many as sixty-three philosophical systems represented by them. The - Brahmanas were also similarly divided. See Sutta Nipâta, _Sacred Books - of the East_, vol. xi. Part ii. pp. 15, 16, 88, 93. - -Footnote 132: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, p. 71. - -Footnote 133: - - See _Year-Book of Protestant Theology_ for 1883 for an account of the - views of Professor Loman of Amsterdam. - -Footnote 134: - - M. Senart, _Legend of Buddha_, Paris, 1875; Kern, _History of Buddhism - in India_: Schoebel. _Buddh. Actes de la Soc. Philol._; Paris, 1874, - vol iv. pp. 160 _seq._ - -Footnote 135: - - Annual Report of the Asiatic Society; Paris, July 1875. - -Footnote 136: - - Cunningham, _Ancient Geog. of India_, vol. i. p. 147; Oldenberg, - _Buddha, etc._, p. 95; Beal, _Chinese Buddhism_, p. 67. - -Footnote 137: - - “Mâra eat le démon de l’amour, du péché et de la mort,” says Burnouf - in his _Introduction to the Study of Indian Buddism_, p. 76; see also - Sutta Nipâta, _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. Part ii. p. 159, for - the popular conception of Buddha’s temptation; the arrows of Mâra are - “flower-pointed,” like Kama’s, the Hindu god of love. See Dhammapada, - _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. Part i. p. 17. - -Footnote 138: - - Geikie, _Life of Christ_, vol. i. p. 449. - -Footnote 139: - - Mahavagga, i. 5. 2; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xvii. - -Footnote 140: - - This is not the place to discuss the substance of their respective - teachings. Their aims seemed to be similar, for both proclaimed - freedom to be gained by the Truth, or saving knowledge, but their - conceptions of the knowledge that saves are as widely contrasted as - are their ideas of salvation. If we put the Sermon on the Mount side - by side with Buddha’s first sermon (translated in vol. xi. p. 146 of - _Sacred Books of the East_) we find contradiction in almost every - sentence. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” is an utterance not only - foreign to but in direct antithesis to the preaching of Buddha. He has - no sympathy with the “poor in spirit,” if we take the phrase in the - light of the old Hebrew concept of it. His benediction is reserved for - the self-conscious and self-reliant, who are bent upon self-culture - and self-development. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy - heart, etc., and thy neighbour as thyself.” Buddha found no higher to - adore, and no other than self to consider. The moral precepts in his - law are based on no appeal to conscience, and are inspired by no sense - of duty. Others were regarded as the occasion for winning merit, and - kindness done to them was not done for their sake, but with the view - of securing the safety of the doer. - -Footnote 141: - - Dr. Oldenberg (_Buddha, etc._, p. 148) very properly remarks that - Ambapali the courtesan was no Mary Magdalene, and that she was not - regarded by Buddha as the woman that was a sinner was regarded by - Christ. Buddha had not Christ’s horror of sin, and therefore felt none - of His boundless pity for the frailty of its victims; of hatred of sin - in the Christian sense Buddhism knows nothing. Its highest virtue is - imperturbability, a serenity that is apathetic in regard to the most - outrageous wrong or the most heinous wickedness. Cariya Pitaka, iii. - 15; also _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. Part ii. p. 151. - -Footnote 142: - - Bishop Bigandet, _Life of Gaudama_, p. 287; Professor H. Wilson, - _Essays_, vol. ii. p. 243; Wheeler, _History of India_, vol. iii. p. - 139; Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, p. 148; Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, in - _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xi. pp. 71, 72. - -Footnote 143: - - Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, vi. 10, _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xi. p. - 114. Dr. Edkins, in _Chinese Buddhism_, p. 57, gives a version of an - appearance of Buddha after cremation to his mother, Máya, who came - down from heaven to see his coffin. Professor Childers finds no trace - in any Pali earliest literature of any belief in Buddha’s existence - after death (_Dictionary of Pali Language_, p. 472, note 1). - -Footnote 144: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, pp. 322, 323; Kuenen, Hibbert Lectures, p. - 264. - -Footnote 145: - - In the Bhagavadgitá loving devotion for Krishna is demanded as the - only means of salvation; but Krishna-worship began very considerably - later than the origin of Christianity. Professor Müller admits - (Gifford Lectures, p. 99) that Christian influences were possible - then, but says that there is no necessity for admitting them. He cites - the passage from Bhagavad. ix. 29 (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. - viii. p. 34), “They who worship me with devotion or love, they are in - me, and I in them,” as an interesting parallel to John vi. 7 and xvii. - 23, but we must remember that St. John’s words were circulating all - over the world for generations before these were penned. - -Footnote 146: - - Mahavagga, v. 1. 18. - -Footnote 147: - - The Lalita Vistara, of which there are many versions, is the chief - authority for the legends. In the _Buddhist Birth-Stories_, translated - by T. W. Rhys Davids, in Bigandet’s _Life of Gaudama_, and Spence - Hardy’s Manual (_Legends of the Buddhists_), in the _Romantic Legend_ - of Sakya Buddha, translated by Professor S. Beal, will be found a - large and interesting miscellany of the prodigies connected with the - coming of Buddha. - -Footnote 148: - - A wife, not a virgin; _Romantic Legend_, pp. 32, 36, 37, 41. - -Footnote 149: - - Lalita Vistara, p. 63, Calcutta edition; _Buddhist Birth-Stories_, pp. - 62, 68. - -Footnote 150: - - Nalaka Sutta, Sutta Nipâta, xi. 1. 20, 21; _Sacred Books of the East_, - vol. x. Asita, the aged ascetic, is said to have ascended to heaven - after his daily repast, and upon finding the gods in joyful commotion - he at length returned to see the new-born wonder (_Birth-Stories_, p. - 69). - -Footnote 151: - - Title given by the translator of the Dhanima-Kakka-ppavatana Sutta, in - vol. xi. of _Sacred Books of the East_. - -Footnote 152: - - Spence Hardy, _Manual of Buddhism_, p. 187, quoting the Pujáwaliya, - said to be later than the thirteenth century A.D. - -Footnote 153: - - Sutta Nipâta, _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. Part ii. p. 17. - -Footnote 154: - - _Ibid._ vol. x. Part ii. pp. 31, 45. - -Footnote 155: - - Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, iv. 49, 50, _ibid._ vol. xi. p. 81. - -Footnote 156: - - Bigandet, _op. cit._ p. 323; Spence Hardy, _Manual_, p. 347; - Mahâparinibhâna Sutta, vi. 11-16. - -Footnote 157: - - _Das Evangelium von Jesu in seinen Verhältnissen zur Buddha-Sage und - Buddha-Lehre_; Leipzig, 1882. - -Footnote 158: - - Let any one compare the prediction of the so-called Indian Simeon, the - Nalaka Sutta, in vol. x. p. 125 of _Sacred Books of the East_, with - Luke ii. 25; the account of the Temptation by Mara, in the _Romantic - Legend_, pp. 204, 224, or in Hardy’s _Manual of Buddhism_, p. 183, - with Matt. iv. 1; the so-called Transfiguration in Mahâparinibhâna, - iv. 49, vol. xi. _Sacred Books of the East_, p. 81, with Matt. xvii. - 1-8; the feast of the courtesan Ambopali, in Mahâparinibhâna Sutta, - ii. 16. 25, _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xi. p. 30, with Christ’s - treatment of the Magdalene in Luke vii. 36, and he will see at once - how improbable and even absurd is the theory that the Evangelists - borrowed from the Buddhist compilers. That we are dealing with quite - an inferior order of facts is apparent when we compare one of the most - touching coincidences, Buddha’s last discourse to the Beloved Ananda - in Mahâparinibhâna Sutta, v. 34. 35, “Let not yourself be troubled,” - with John xiv. 1-6. In some of the miracles accompanying the birth and - temptations of Buddha, there are not only gross absurdities but - positive indecencies, which by the simplicity and modesty and - reticence of the Gospel narratives are powerfully condemned. See - _Lalita Vistara_, chaps. vi. and vii., and _Buddhist Birth-Stories_, - vol. i. pp. 58, 68. - -Footnote 159: - - This is a very great assumption indeed. Foucaux, its translator, - assigns it to the first century B.C., but T. W. Rhys Davids assigns it - to some Nepaulese poet “who lived between six hundred and a thousand - years after Buddha’s death” (Hibbert Lectures, pp. 197, 204). A - Chinese version is said to have been in existence about 70 A.D. - Rajendralal Mitra, its English translator, admits this in his - Introduction, p. 48, but whether that was a version, or another book - altogether, or how far it corresponded with the _Lalita Vistara_, no - scholar has been confident to say. Dr. Beal also mentions a life of - Buddha by Asvaghosha as probably in circulation about the middle of - the Christian era (_Chinese Buddhism_, p. 73). - -Footnote 160: - - Mahâparinibhâna Sutta, translated by T. W. Rhys Davids, _Sacred Books - of the East_, vol. xi. - -Footnote 161: - - The blessed Buddha rebuked Pindola Bhâradvâga (for having won a bowl - of sandalwood by performing a miracle), saying, “This is improper, not - according to rule, unsuitable, unworthy of a Samana, unbecoming, and - ought not to be done. How can you for the sake of a miserable wooden - pot display before the laity the superhuman quality of your miraculous - power of Iddhi?... This will not conduce either to the conversion of - the unconverted or to the increase of the converted” (Kullavagga, v. - 8. 2). The danger of performing a miracle by power of Iddhi, for - self-glorification, is exemplified in the story of Devadatta in - Kullavagga, vii. 1. 2, 3. In the Mahavagga, Kullavagga, Sutta Nipâta, - and similar books, however, miracles are ascribed to Buddha, and - conversions attributed to their performance. - -Footnote 162: - - Luke i. 1. - -Footnote 163: - - T. W. Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, p. 128. - -Footnote 164: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, p. 190. - -Footnote 165: - - Matthew xi. 27; xxviii. 16-20. - -Footnote 166: - - Mark i. 7-11; ii. 10-28; viii. 38; xii. 35-37. - -Footnote 167: - - Pressensé, _Vie de Jésus_, p. 373. - -Footnote 168: - - Cox, _Commentary on Job_, p. 19. - -Footnote 169: - - See Mahavagga, i. pp. 15-20, for specimens of the “three thousand five - hundred” wonders of Buddha. “The marvellous in the Gospels is but - sober good sense compared with what we find in ... the Hindu European - mythologies” (Renan, _Études d’histoire Relig._ pp. 177, 203). - -Footnote 170: - - Godet, _Lectures in Defence of the Christian Faith_, pp. 118-161. - -Footnote 171: - - Dr. Dods, _Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ_, p. 201; Dr. Fairbairn, - _Studies in Religion as a Philosophy_, p. 36. - -Footnote 172: - - p. 58, one-vol. edition. - -Footnote 173: - - Trench, Hulsean Lectures, p. 150. - -Footnote 174: - - Sutta Nipâta, translated by Fausböll in vol. x. p. 102; parallel - suggested to John xviii. 37. - -Footnote 175: - - Hibbert Lectures, pp. 144-147. - -Footnote 176: - - Dorner, _Doctrine of the Person of Christ_, Introd. pp. 56-60, 64-70; - Liddon, Bampton Lectures, 1866, pp. 364-380; Lange, _Life of Christ_, - vol. i. pp. 121-124. - -Footnote 177: - - _E.g._ the Targums. - -Footnote 178: - - _E.g._ _De Opific. Mund._ i. 4; _De Mundi incor._ § 16, 17. - -Footnote 179: - - Sears, _Fourth Gospel_, pp. 220 _seq._; Westcott, _Introduction to St. - John_, pp. xvi, xvii; Dorner, _op. cit._ vol. i. pp. 327-332. - - - - - LECTURE IV. - THE DHARMA OF BUDDHA:[180] THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. - - -What was the discovery that rewarded Gotama’s long travail and conflict -under the Bo-tree at Bohimanda, and gained for him the title of Buddha, -the Awakened or Enlightened One? and what was the message of “glad -tidings” which since then has made so many millions of the human race -regard him as their Deliverer? We shall never obtain the answer to these -questions if we follow the legends and the later scriptures, although -they profess to give all the steps of the process by which he wrought -out his deliverance. These all date from a time when the seeds which he -had sown among the thorns of uncleansed superstitions, had grown up into -as gigantic and tangled a jungle of speculation as the world has ever -seen. Had he confronted his day and generation proclaiming as the result -of his laborious and painful inquiries the complicated metaphysical -system formulated in these books, he would have made few converts. He -might have become the head of another sect, the founder of another -school, but he never would have established a religion so extensive as -that which for so many centuries, and among so many peoples, has been -known by his name. - -Following the Southern scriptures, and guided by the eminent Oriental -scholars who have made them available by translations, we may be able to -trace, in the wild growth of fancy which has grown up around them, the -leading lines of the original teaching. The real doctrine of Buddha did -not profess to be a philosophy inquiring into the ultimate ground of -things. He is represented as having despised philosophisings, and as -having inveighed against profitless questionings as earnestly as did St. -Paul against vain babblings and oppositions of science falsely so -called.[181] His object was avowedly practical, and he kept silent when -asked concerning themes whose discussion did not tend to “illumination -and quiet.” Notwithstanding this, there must have been from the first, -even in the earliest forms of his teaching, ideas and thoughts beyond -the comprehension of the simple. For a while he hesitated, as we have -seen, to proclaim his discovery, because “the way” was too hidden for -men to know, and too hard, even when known, for them to follow. Like the -Jewish Scribe, he conceived that to the wise alone, and not to the -ignorant, belonged the law, and to the wise alone was reserved the hope -of final deliverance. To children, and to the uninstructed struggling -classes, the preaching was not made fully known, as really beyond them. -Unlike Christ, whose preaching was for all without exception, whose -gospel, though full of mystery, confers illumination even on babes, the -law of Buddha was in its entirety for the sages only, and instead of -conferring knowledge on those who obeyed it, it made knowledge a -condition of obtaining deliverance. Nevertheless, though the deductions -were within the grasp only of the few, his popularity proves that his -fundamental and principal dogmas must have been such as all could -understand, and they seem to have been published, as Saint-Hilaire -observes, in a language so “simple and vernacular” as to induce even the -children and the ignorant to enter the paths that lead to -deliverance.[182] - -He entered upon his travail, in order to find a way of escape from the -endless cycles of unsatisfying change, and he believed that he had -discovered it. Leavening every part of his system is his impression of -the universality of suffering; and suffering, its origin, its -extinction, and the path or method that leads to its extinction, are the -so-called “four noble truths” which constitute in Buddhism the “Law of -the Wheel.” In Buddhism the wheel is the dominant symbol, corresponding -to the cross in Christianity, and he who would preach or roll onward the -wheel must present to the affectionate consideration of the hearers -these “four sacred verities”—the verity of suffering, the verity that -concupiscence is the cause of suffering, the verity that concupiscence -can be quenched in Nirvana, and the verity that the way that leads to -Nirvana is the sublime eightfold path of Buddha’s law. From his first -public discourse at Benares—corresponding to our Lord’s Sermon on the -Mount—on to his last words on the night on which he died, this, with -manifold amplifications, but ever as the one pathetic refrain, is the -substance of his teaching, “through not understanding and grasping -which, O monks, we have had to run and wander so long in weary paths, -both you and I.”[183] - -The primitive creed of Buddhism was different from, though not wholly -antagonistic to, the popular creed or theory of life of Brahmanism. -Weighed by Brahmanism, existence was found wanting, as only illusion, a -specious something which truly was a mere nothing, and identity of the -personal with the universal self was the only reality. By Buddhism -existence was condemned, not as an illusion, but as wholly and solely -suffering.[184] “What think ye, O disciples: whether is more, the water -that is in the four great oceans, or the tears which have flown from -you, and have been shed by you, while ye strayed and wandered in this -long pilgrimage, and sorrowed and wept, because that which ye abhorred -was your portion, and that which ye loved was not your portion?”[185] It -was not “vanity of vanities!” but “misery of miseries! all is misery!” -Life was misery, because governed by the immeasurable and wretched past; -death was misery, because opening up an equally immeasurable and -wretched future. As long as man exists he must be miserable, unable to -“cease his wanderings,” and “still from one sorrow to another thrown.” -The only deliverance conceivable from this interminable evil would be to -break the bands of existence altogether. “Surely ’twere better not to -be.” And how “not to be” seems to have been the problem which Buddha -professed to solve. - -May we not conclude with Saint-Hilaire that this, “his first dogma, was -his first fatal error”?[186] With all his intellectual ability he never -sought to emancipate himself from the superstition and nightmare of -transmigration. Though he had cast off all faith in the government of a -divine power, he never questioned the belief with which the lower -aboriginal races had infected the thought of his ancestors, that life -was governed by this law. It is averred that he found it necessary to -solve the conflict between his ideas of justice and the actual order of -things, which has exercised the human mind always and everywhere. A -modern Buddhist, fortunate in having Mr. Alabaster to introduce him to -the notice of an English-reading public, so propounds this belief, and, -purged from some of its errors, tries to vindicate it. “For the law of -perfect justice,” he says, “demands that human conditions should be -equalised, and that good and bad luck should be balanced sometime and -somewhere. If a good man be poor and wretched now, he must be reaping -the fruits of what he had sown in a previous stage of existence.”[187] -Yet surely this is a very superficial theory for an Oriental professing -Western culture to formulate. It is judging of life as children and -savages judge of it, by the evidence of the senses, and according to a -very inferior and inaccurate standard of good and evil. Poverty and -suffering, though confessedly painful, may not be regarded by a good man -as wholly evil in this world. Circumstances which the savage and the -child would covet as realising their dreams of paradise may be the -reverse of desirable to the mature and thoughtful man. The believers in -transmigration make no distinction between what is evil and what is -simply painful. Evil is not that which pains, but that which defiles and -degrades and destroys, and good is not just that which pleases, but that -which elevates and ennobles and purifies. The law of absolute justice -does not require, as the modern Buddhist demands, that human conditions -should be equalised, and that all men should be treated alike; for no -two human beings all the world over are absolutely alike; but it demands -that each should receive the treatment most conducive to his healthy -growth as a moral being, and what appears to sense as the harder lot may -commend itself to reason as the better portion of the man to whom it has -been assigned, because most suited to his need. - -The dogma of transmigration is said to occupy in the Buddhist system a -position analogous to that of the Fall in our Christian theology; but in -reality the two are diametrically opposed, both in their essential ideas -and the consequences which flow from them. They are analogous only in -respect that they each profess to account for the conflict between man’s -ideal of himself and his actual condition. The existence of evil is -admitted by both, but the Buddhist believes that evil belongs to the -very essence of man, and therefore he can find no prospect of relief -from it, here or hereafter. For as long as the stream of existence -continues it will always fall below its source, and evil, according to -the inexorable rule of nature, will propagate only evil. The Hebrew, -however, did not conceive of it as essential to or as always in the -nature of man. His ancestral beliefs carry him beyond the Fall; his -pedigree starts with the most sublime of all theories of human origin -that has ever been formulated in human speech: “Let us make man in our -image and after our likeness, and let him have dominion over” the -creature. Dominion over nature man has not, for he is too much under its -dominion, and to this subjection much of his suffering is directly -traceable. The Hebrew professed to have the origin of this condition -revealed to him in a breach between man and his Maker, consequent upon -man’s self-assertion and selfish withdrawal of his life from the source -of life, which must involve suffering and death. So through all the -weary generations there is the same invariable sequence of sin entering -the world, and death by sin. And yet at his very worst the Hebrew -believed that it was once far better with the human race, and on this -belief he dared to rear the structure of his magnificent hope, that -mankind shall be restored to the original close relationship with God, -and therefore to a grander dominion over nature, and to a happier and -even more prosperous life than that of which his ancestors had dreamed -as their primeval state. - -Whatever may be said of the doctrine of the Fall, belief in it is indeed -“a condition of hope,”[188] and the belief and the hope both spring from -their faith in God as Creator and Governor of the race, which -characterised the Hebrew prophets. Wherever that faith is lively, it not -only sustains man amid the sufferings of life, but it nerves him to -struggle with physical and moral evil to vanquish it. The purer the -faith the more resolute is the struggle; the holier the Deity becomes to -the thought of man the stronger becomes his conviction that life is a -blessing, and that all its struggles may conduce to peace. There is an -instinct which seems to suggest that there are worse things than -troubles, and that they may be blessings of no mean quality after all. -Christianity has made the startling revelation that suffering is not -peculiar to man, as the consequence of his perversity in traversing the -Divine order; for not only is Christ presented to us as the greatest -sufferer, but in Him God the highest and the holiest is disclosed as -involved in it, and as taking upon Himself the responsibilities and the -sufferings which our sin and need entail. But if in Christ there is -revealed the greatest sufferer, it is as one whose suffering is not in -vain. By suffering He conquers that which has produced it; by enduring -suffering He ends it; and He reigns and finds His blessedness in making -us partakers of His victory over it. So again Christianity, unlike other -religions which promise salvation _from_ suffering, offers salvation -_through_ suffering. It alone asserts the utility of suffering; others -regard it as evil, Christianity as evil overruled for good. Others -reckon it as a mere loss or waste, Christianity as something that may be -turned to profit as the condition and preparation for joy. Joy in the -Christian conception is not the reward of suffering, nor compensation -for suffering, but the fruit and issue of suffering which leads to it, -as travail leads to birth. So instead of evading or ignoring it, Christ -would have us recognise and acquiesce in it, and even be thankful for -it, as necessary not for our personal profit, but for the gain of -mankind. By His sufferings we are healed, and through our sufferings we -fill up what remains of His for the redemption of the world. Only -through “the long travail of ages yet to be” will there be born in the -evolution of God’s redemptive purpose that better race from which all -suffering shall have passed away, because disobedience will have had an -end. Fellowship in Christ’s sufferings has thus transfigured the -afflictions of all who believe in Him. Unlike the Indian, tortured by -endless change, without any evolution from low to higher, from evil or -imperfect to what is good and perfect, the Christian can endure -suffering not only patiently but also cheerfully, knowing that he is -suffering not just for his own sake, but that in ways mysterious he is -lightening the load of many, and helping to bring to an end the long -anguish of the whole creation. - -But of this consolation which comes from faith in God the Creator, and -therefore the Redeemer of man from destruction, Buddha had deprived -himself. Unlike the Brahman who sought escape from the evils of -transmigration by a process of subsidence into the universal Self, he -professed to find no trace of this Absolute Self. The Brahman postulated -the Infinite and reasoned from it, but Buddha started from quite the -opposite pole. He professed to deal with life as he found it, and so -reasoning from man outward, he asserted that the necessity for -transmigration was involved, not in the illusion of Brahma, but in man’s -own character. Instead of being a natural or divine necessity, it was a -moral necessity created by man, which having its cause in his own action -could also by him be destroyed. - -And so Pantheistic speculation, in this instance at least, ripened into -its proper fruit. The passage from conceiving Deity as characterless -passionless self, to discarding Deity altogether from human thought, is -a sure and generally a very rapid one. When we come to think of Deity as -of being diffused and dispersed, we will soon omit the thought -altogether in the recognition only of physical force. Brahmanic -speculation had resolved the deities of the ancient books into -abstractions, and Buddha recognised no such abstractions in the -government of human life. His creed was fundamentally atheistic, as -directly contradicting belief in a supreme ruler of the universe.[189] -Not that he denied the existence of the gods believed in by his -countrymen. On the contrary, he allowed them to continue in the popular -thought and speech, and even encouraged disciples who had not yet -reached the highest knowledge to try to acquire merit by virtue, so as -to secure after death a re-birth into their society. Similarly he -admitted the existence of devils or demons, and their influence for evil -upon man. All through his career he was beset by Mara, the sensual king -of all who submit to him; but Buddha was superior not only to Mara, but -to all the gods in the popular pantheon, for they, alike with the lowest -and the weakest of things, were subject to the law of transmigration. -Man might rise to a higher heaven than what they occupied; they might -fall to the lowest hell. “Their worlds must perish like that of man, and -if ever they attained to final salvation, it could only be by the same -way in which a worm might hope to reach it.”[190] Throwing his “plummet -down the broad deep universe,” he cried, “Gods many,” but no god able to -save. All alike with men were bound in fetters, because ignorant of the -truth he knew. Naturally, therefore, they are represented in the legends -as profiting by his preaching and as seeking unto him for instruction, -while those of them who refused, or could not walk in his ways, came to -be regarded with pity.[191] - -In like manner his creed was as essentially materialistic. Man was no -spiritual being, but a bundle of Sankharas—a term, it is said, very -difficult to translate, but implying that person meant a mass of “forms” -or material qualities so changing as to be never the same for two -consecutive moments. Belief in a soul he regarded as a heresy, which he -distinctly classed with sensuality and belief in the efficacy of -sacrificial rites.[192] To the heart as the sixth sense he ascribed the -power of conceiving ideas without form, as the eye had the power of -perceiving objects; but this disappeared in dissolution as completely as -did the others, and what was re-born was not the soul but the quality, -the merit or demerit acquired. This startling assertion of Bishop -Bigandet’s[193] has been confirmed and amplified by others, specially by -Rhys Davids, and so the question at once suggests itself, now that the -governing ideas of Deity and the separate existence of the soul were -expelled from the human mind,—What was there left to give vitality and -coherence to his system as a religion? A kind of religion is conceivable -when something eternal and self-dependent is recognised, if not without -and above a man, at least within him; but here is a religion vast and -comprehensive springing from the determination to annihilate all -religion, asserting not simply that man is independent of all superior -beings, but that as the sum-total of groups of sensations, abstract -ideas, tendencies, and potentialities, nothing of his personality can -survive dissolution, and how are we to account for it?[194] - -The answer is to be sought for in the working of that great moral -instinct which is at the root of the belief in transmigration. Though -there was no person, no soul to emigrate from the body, though the man -perished, there was something which he called the Karma—a word coined by -old Brahman sages long before him, though used by them in a different -sense—that survived.[195] The aggregate of the good and evil in the life -that had come to an end formed the seed of another existence, so that -each new individual and generation became the exact and inevitable -results of those that had preceded them. It was evidently a theory of -continuity as unscientific as it was unphilosophic. It could not be -called an evolution in any sense of the word, seeing it meant the -appearance in a new individual of the mental and physical acts of -another who had ceased to be. The assertion, again, that though there -was no “continuing consciousness,” no transience of soul in any sense -from one person to the other, the two persons are one, has been very -properly stigmatised as a “psychological absurdity.”[196] From the -first, though one of their stablest dogmas, this one was a difficulty to -the Buddhists themselves. Their learned men never professed to justify -it to reason, but accepted it as a mystery, in open contradiction to -their principle that everything was to be rejected which could not be -comprehended or explained. The common people again simply ignored it, -and adhered to the belief of their fathers in continuity of life and -personal identity for man in the future. The sages might refine, but the -moral sense of the masses could not escape from the conviction that the -evil which they had done must follow them, and the good which they would -do could not be interred with their bones. Even the speculation of the -sages was a telling confirmation of the truth that man cannot get rid of -himself. He may make a mock at God, may demand, If a man die can he live -again? or how differs the life of a man from the life of a beast? but he -cannot refine away his moral sense and the instinct of retribution which -is inwoven in his inmost being. Buddha acknowledged no moral government -of Deity, discarded the old belief that the same soul must receive the -reward of the deeds done in the body; he denied even to the soul a -separate existence from the perishable body; but he was haunted by the -ghost of personal identity. He felt absolutely certain that there was a -real connection of cause and effect between past and present and future, -and that each act of the soul must work out its full effect to the -bitter end.[197] So it was only by profession that God was mocked; men -were witnesses to themselves of a Sovereign Power forcing Himself upon -them, even when they tried to forsake Him, compelling them to receive -His thoughts when they would not think for themselves. So in primitive -Buddhism we have the strange paradox that out of Atheism there arose a -religion, with a demand upon conscience almost Christian, and asserting -as Christianity does the eternal necessity of righteousness and -truth.[198] - -The analogy which has been suggested between the Buddhist dogma of Karma -and the Christian doctrine of heredity is a very interesting one. It is -strange that the law of heredity, so clearly indicated in the Bible, -should be proclaimed in our age as a modern discovery. Infidelity -formerly denounced the Bible for teaching that sin and its penalty were -transmitted from generation to generation, forgetting that but for -transgression the law of heredity could only and always entail good. -Laws are to be judged by their intention, and this one, designed to -secure and transmit the increment of good in each generation, is -manifestly perverted by conditions for which it is not responsible. The -law, however, which asserts itself in humanity by entailing on the -generations the blessing of good as well as the curse of evil, is now -being proclaimed and interpreted, not by divines, but by men of science -and philosophy. The twin truth of the unity of humanity, elemental in -the Hebrew and Christian religions, though formerly strangely forgotten -or denounced by infidelity, is also adopted as a professed discovery of -our century. We are all agreed that humanity is one, that each life is -part of a larger life, and so the injury of the part is the injury of -the whole. Sin could not enter humanity without dragging it down, and -holiness could not enter and conquer without lifting it up. If one could -appear in humanity without sin, not a link in the diseased chain, but -perfectly free from all taint of disease, is the supposition incredible -that he would have the effect upon humanity of a new creation? His -coming would imply the reversal of the drift toward evil and the -weakening of the inherited and accumulated tendency to depravity. It -would be a bringing under Divine influence of this mysterious principle -of heredity, with results for good which no human intellect can measure, -and establish a once greatly derided assertion, that as in one Adam, -that is, one kind of humanity, all die, even so in Christ shall all be -made alive. - -Buddha had a clear apprehension of the truth of heredity, but he had not -the faintest conception of the unity of humanity. His theory of life was -essentially atomic. Humanity was not to him one whole, but a congeries -of individuals, each one an end to himself, and living just to himself. -The injury done to self by wrong-doing was always present to a -Buddhist’s thought, but the suffering thus caused to others was never -taken into account. He had no idea of the whole suffering in the one, -and consequently no sense of duty to mankind. Though believing in the -propagative power of good and evil, he did not work for the good of -coming generations, but solely for the rescue of the individual from the -whirlpool of suffering existence. It has been charitably suggested that -his aim finds its analogue in the offset to personal extinction so -winningly presented by “George Eliot” and Mr. John Morley, whereby -though dead and gone for ever in ourselves, we may “live again in minds -made better by our presence,” and “in pulses stirred to -generosity.”[199] Buddhism had no such hope; the age, the system itself, -were alike incapable of conceiving it. The time for that kind of -Positivism had not come. The human mind had to undergo long centuries of -Christian culture before it was possible for the nineteenth-century -agnostic poetess and philosopher thus to expound their creed, for modern -Positivism has been powerfully though indirectly influenced by the faith -which it contradicts, and, like many of the assailants of Christianity, -it owes to it the most of its strength and the best of its weapons. - -Christianity, starting from the conception of man as no outgrowth of -nature, but a new creation in it, a being within and distinct from his -body as the driver is from the chariot,[200] has a theory of human -destiny contrasted utterly with that of Buddhism. Man’s teeth have been -set on edge because his fathers have eaten a sour grape, but the brand -of pain upon past transgressions helps him to conquer the taint -transmitted in the blood. Though he finds heavy temptation in inherited -tendencies, he finds in every temptation a way of escape in a call to -yield to other tendencies which are ever drawing his soul to goodness. -Sharing a confessedly sinful humanity, he may be partaker of a sinless -one, and thus, if evil reigns over him unto death, the law of the spirit -of life in Christ Jesus can free him from it. - -Buddhism had no such hope and goal for man; indeed, we may well wonder -that a pessimism more thorough than that of Brahmanism did not deprive -it of all hope and sink it into fatalism. Left alone to fight his way -through the universe, struggling in a maelstrom of forces with no help -for him in man, no hope of sympathy in God, a Buddhist would surely -despair. On the contrary, unlike the Moslem cowering under the thought -of relentless will, he accepted the situation with Christian -determination to improve it.[201] He could hope for deliverance, for -suffering had an origin, and if the cause could be removed then -suffering would end. The coils of misery could be unwound, the curse of -humanity could be abolished, if only man could procure for himself -emancipation from the necessity of Karma. Now this the true Buddhist -believed he could gain by the extinction of all desire. Plato adopting -the Pythagorean doctrine of transmigration, taught that the future -organism of the soul would depend upon the cravings which it had -fostered here.[202] Somewhat similarly Christians believe that the -future of the man will depend upon his most dominant present habits, and -that, disembodied, the spirit will gravitate unerringly to the society -which it has made of its kind. Buddhism, believing in no soul, -maintained that in the dying creature a particular thirst or cleaving to -existence caused the birth of another creature; and so he who would -escape from the chain of existence must endeavour, by vigorous -prosecution of the eightfold way, and the four paths or degrees of -perfection to which it led, to attain a state in which all craving for -continuity had ceased. Karma then would have no terror to him; he would -have reached a point whence he could look onwards without anxiety, -because he would be treading a path from which he never would stray. He -might still be a man, liable to suffering and subject to death, but one -purified and emancipated from all inheritance of evil, and fully assured -of Nirvana. - -And what was Nirvana, the final refuge of the emancipated Buddhist? Ever -since the religion was known in Europe great diversity of opinion has -prevailed as to the meaning of this word. It was employed by the -Brahmans many centuries before Buddha’s day, and used by them and by -himself and his disciples in so great a variety of senses that even the -learned Rajendralala Mitra, in enumerating the sects into which orthodox -Buddhists are divided in regard to it, confessed some years ago that he -had given up in despair the attempt to ascertain its meaning.[203] The -researches and discoveries of later years have enabled the translators -of the texts to write with less hesitation as to its significance, and -we are entitled to accept as solid the results of their patient -investigations. To begin with, they tell us that it means the peace -which ensues when all passion has been subdued, and all selfish craving -has been extinguished. Though practically no Buddhist hopes to attain to -it here, but only to enter the paths leading to it, it may be reached, -not in anticipation only, but in fruition.[204] Buddha may be said to -have been in Nirvana forty years, for he entered it, not in the moment -of dying, but when he attained perfection. This first conception of it, -therefore, seems a marvellous anticipation of the faith of the -Christian, who finds his heaven and enters into his rest when he is -delivered from the φρόνημα τῆς σάρκος, from all selfish clutching at the -means of existence. In both religions, taken at their highest, the goal -of aspiration was not extinction of sorrow, but extinction of self-love: -in Buddhism the quenching of _trishna_, or _upádána_, “thirst,” in -Christianity the quenching of ἐπιθυμία, “lust,” “inordinate desire.” In -both religions the goal meant finality, a state in which there was an -end of death; and in both, moreover, it meant a change which no language -could define, and to which no known standard could apply. The Christian -believer tells us that he is passing from the visible to the invisible, -from the temporal to the eternal, and in like manner the Buddhist Arahat -would only be able to allude to the great change by negations, and as -the very opposite of all we know or at present conceive. The Christian -believes in the perseverance of the saints, and the Buddhist who has -really entered the path must sooner or later reach his prize. - -But there the analogies end, while the contrasts between the two beliefs -are as irreconcilable as are their postulates. The postulates of -Christianity are the spiritual nature of man, and that his present evil -condition is not his normal one. Sin has gone extensively and deeply -into his being, for it is no mere superficial excrescence, a fault which -can be corrected, a smirch that can be washed away, but a leprosy in the -blood, which is the life. Cleansing is required and provided, but it is -the cleansing out of the whole corrupt nature by the transfusion into -the soul of a Divine life so pure, and so strong because of purity, that -it could not be holden of death. Life is the essential idea of Christian -salvation; it is the Divine gift bestowed by Christ, who came that we -might have life, and have it more abundantly. So while in the body we -groan, being burdened by a suffering flesh, it is not that we may be -unclothed, but clothed upon; not that the gift of life may be recalled, -but that it may be secured in its completeness. It is “more life and -fuller that we want.” Sanctification in the Christian conception means a -process of healing, and salvation means perfect health—the condition of -a creature freed from all inordinate desire, or desire for anything -forbidden, which is the root of all sin, and rejoicing in the untainted -bliss of being. Deathless, sinless life, the life of eternal -incorruption, “the perfect life of love, the rest of immortality,” that -is the Christian Nirvana. - -Buddhism, on the contrary, postulating the material nature of all -existence controlled by the universal law of transmigration, had no such -conception of final blessedness. Nirvana in its thought meant, indeed, -extinction in the first instance of all fleshly and selfish -dispositions; but the thirst, the “cleaving” (_tanhā_) which was to be -quenched, was not lust in the Christian sense, but the natural innocent -love of life, and Nirvana involved the extinction of that love, and of -life as the going out of a flame which had nothing else to feed upon. -Deliverance from this instinctive thirst for life is a specific germ of -which annihilation is the outcome. That Buddha so expounded it was long -questioned, and by many denied, but Dr. Oldenberg has sufficiently made -clear his attitude toward this dogma. He seems to have contented himself -with its first significance, to have evaded the necessity of deciding -the many discussions which were waged concerning the second as -profitless, and not tending to quietude and wisdom, and to have exhorted -his disciples to strive rather to enter the paths.[205] By the time, -however, the canonical books were produced, his disciples had not shrunk -from pushing his fundamental principles to their only logical -conclusion. The most ancient expositions of his doctrine disclose one -long theory of Nihilism as its only legitimate inference. If misery was -inseparable from existence, it followed that non-existence was a -blessing, and consequently man’s chief end was to aspire and strive to -reach that state in which the “very seed of existence has withered, the -lamp of life has burnt out for ever, and man can no more be born -again.”[206] - -While this was the doctrine of the philosophers, the overwhelming -majority of Buddhists in every age and country have put a very different -meaning upon the word. Just as human nature has proved too strong in -them to accept their atheistic creed, so in popular estimation from the -first, Nirvana has meant not annihilation of existence, but extinction -of suffering. They did not comprehend its metaphysical significance, but -they longed, as all men do, for release from sorrow, and a happier life -when this is over, and they took refuge in Buddha, because his law -promised to convey them over the troubles of life into a blessed -hereafter. There might be higher things for the wise to gain, but the -simple were contented with this inferior portion, and indeed they chose -the better part. For surely the conception of deliverance from -suffering, involving extinction of the being that suffers, was as -childish as that of getting rid of a toothache by cutting off the -head.[207] Rightly were they led by the infallible instincts of our -moral being to believe that the end of righteousness must be rest, but -they wandered fearfully in conceiving of rest as nothingness, for the -“end of righteousness is peace, and the fruit of peace, quietness and -assurance for ever.”[208] - -The great question with Buddha and his immediate disciples was not how -Nirvana, the goal of human aspiration, was to be defined, but how it was -to be attained. It was for him sufficiently expressed as the final -extinction of all the roots of sorrow, and he taught that this -consummation could only be reached by knowledge. Ignorance was the -ultimate ground of all suffering existence, but, as in Christianity, men -could know the truth, and the truth would set them free. According to -both religions, this knowledge could neither be transmitted by tradition -nor learned by a simple intellectual process. It implied a moral and -spiritual training, and was the fruit of obedience; but there again the -analogy ends, for the Buddhist’s idea of knowledge is as widely -contrasted with the Christian idea as is its idea of the Truth to be -known. In Christianity knowledge means Divine illumination or -revelation, the result of trustful surrender to Christ, the revealer of -the Father, and Himself the Truth. In Buddhism it meant a knowledge -gained by man himself, through a process of moral culture and -self-control.[209] In Christianity it was a grace that came through -obedience to a better Will; in Buddhism it meant simply obedience to a -Law. That law, moreover, had no commanding power to enforce it, and -involved no moral obligation in the Christian sense to obey it. It was -not a law like the law of Moses or the law of Christ, for it implied no -Lawgiver to make it binding. It was simply a rule, a method, discovered -by man, and followed because he found it expedient to follow it. -Adopting this method, observing this rule, persevering in this course, a -man would attain to knowledge of the truth of things, but this supposed -truth is the very contradiction of the truth as it is in Jesus, the -truth by which we are sanctified, and made wise unto salvation.[210] - -This should be borne in mind when in translations of Buddhist books we -find such words as “holiness,” “saints,” “paths or degrees of -sanctification,” “righteousness,” and such like. The original words -represent conceptions different from and antagonistic to those suggested -by these words to us. But keeping this in view, we may well admire and -be thankful for the high purpose and clear moral insight which enabled -Buddha to discover and set forth his way to Nirvana. The strength and -glory of Buddhism, the secret of its original attractiveness, and of its -long continuance, is its ethical system. Its metaphysical creed may -represent a very puerile philosophy, its discipline of artificial -restraint may have been the reverse of emancipation, but its moral code, -in its simple and direct and powerful appeal to the conscience, is a far -nearer approach to the Gospel than that of Gentile Stoics or of Jewish -Scribes. Avoiding sensuality on the one hand as degrading, and -asceticism on the other as unprofitable, it mapped out a _via media_ -that led far above that projected by any ancient school. It entered into -every domain of life, of thought and word and deed;[211] laid its -control, as Christianity does, on feeling and motive, and proclaimed -that the way to perfect peace was a way which no unrighteous man could -enter and no unclean man could tread. - -It is very interesting to catch, behind all its superstitions and -idolatries, and crude and childish speculations, this glimpse of an -ideal like unto that of the Son of Man, calling and leading men to -righteousness, purity, and kindness, as their only refuge. To the old -Vedic religion, and to all the class of religions of which it is the -type, morality, as we have seen, was a stranger. It was the philosopher, -and not the priest, who in old times argued of righteousness, -temperance, and judgment to come. The Hebrew, as we have seen, was the -first and only ancient religion that demanded holiness of life as -indispensable to the worship of God, and Christianity, as was natural, -recognised this old law which men had from the beginning. But Buddhism -was the first system in which morality was substituted for religion. It -had neither priests, nor temples, nor prayers, but taught men to depend -for safety solely upon a life of virtue and wisdom and goodness. Though -it implied a change of heart amounting to conversion, this was due to -the operation of no regenerating spirit, but to perseverance in courses -within the reach of any one. Anticipating, therefore, theories of life -broached now-a-days as if they were new discoveries, its endeavour to -dissociate the human from the supernatural, and to substitute the -ethical for the religious, deserves very earnest study. - -It meant man’s earnest resolve to work out his salvation with fear and -trembling, for there is no God within him working both to will and to do -of His good pleasure. It was an attempt to conceive of a morally -governed universe without a Governor. Professedly atheistic compared -with the religion out of which it arose, it has been properly described -to be “more theistic at its core than Brahmanism has ever been.”[212] It -did not trouble itself about the origin of man as an emanation from the -universal self, but it asserted the dignity of his nature as resting on -really a sounder basis. It refused to believe with the Hebrew that the -Creator had written the law on the tables of the heart, but it found the -law there written somehow, and read it almost as correctly. Like the -Christian apostle, its founder asserted that each man was a law unto -himself, the judge of his own action, and the arbiter of his fate. And -thus it came to pass that, without any conscious purpose of doing so, he -inaugurated a moral revolution which lasted for ages. It swept away an -enormous mass of superstitions from the Indian mind for centuries, -abolished many abuses, and modified more which it failed to overcome. It -has tended to civilise many barbarous races; and if among them Buddhism -has been able to bear the encumbrance of their hideous idolatries which -it assumed, it is because of the strong ethical foundation upon which it -rests. It is the ethical element in religion that is universal and -enduring, and there is a completeness and force and persuasiveness of -ethical teaching in Buddhism which all non-Christian religions lack; -there is a comprehensiveness of duty and gentleness which pre-intimate -clearly that universal Christian rule which makes it imperative that we -should not only duly consider all brethren who are human, but should say -to the worm, as within the scope of our benevolence, “Thou art my mother -and sister.” - -Let us now examine more closely this way to Nirvana as expounded in the -Suttas of Buddha, and in relation to Christ’s way of salvation. The -Christian is very simple, but as it proceeds from a much deeper -conception of human need, its method of meeting it is very different. It -was not the suffering and misdirection of men that most deeply impressed -and most powerfully affected our Lord. He came to a race made in the -image of God, that had confessedly fallen from or had failed to realise -its ideal. It was lost, as sheep are lost, by inherent tendency to -wander; as coins are lost, by the neglect of others; as prodigals are -lost, by sensuality; and as Pharisees are lost, by self-righteousness. -It was diseased and perishing, struggling not in the coils of changeful -suffering, but in the clutch of an evil power which had taken possession -of it. Sorely needing, though not seeking redemption, unable to help -itself, He had come in the name of His Father, who willed not that any -should perish, to seek and save it. His formula of salvation was plain -enough for even babes to apprehend, for all He asked was that men should -turn to and believe in Him. They could not raise themselves, but they -could look toward Him, and find deliverance in the look, for by trust in -Him as the supreme object of love and worship, they would be lifted up -out of their evil state. The deepest tides of man’s being are those -which are swayed by his faith in and love of persons, and it was upon -faith, the commonest of all powers in our nature, that Christ relied for -the deliverance of mankind from the dominion of evil. He offered Himself -to man and for man, was lifted up for them on the cross in the beauty of -suffering holiness; and as love always attracts love, and as goodness -becomes a creative power in those who appreciate it, so all who believed -Him, trusted Him, clung to Him as the weak cling to the strong, were -uplifted, and changed, and transfigured. Love not only has a dominating -but an assimilating power. We become like those whom we fervently admire -and implicitly obey. Obedience in such a case is not an obligation, but -an inspiration; so though in Christianity we speak of the Law of Christ, -it is not as an external code to which we must conform, but as a power -communicated to and operative in us. It is a law of the _spirit of -life_, a grace and blessedness of disposition, which, springing from -gratitude, will manifest itself in holiness far exceeding the -righteousness of a law, because vivified by a charity and mercy as -boundless as that which it adores. - -So when our Lord inaugurated His kingdom, He may be said to have -proclaimed in the Beatitudes His Law, for He then declared the -dispositions of those who would receive Him, and who as sons of men -trusting and following Him, would be saved and sanctified and glorified -by the Son of God. Now, though from his first sermon to the last Buddha -is represented as “instructing his disciples, inciting them, rousing -them, and gladdening them” by discoursing of blessedness, it was not of -blessedness in the gospel sense. It was the blessedness of the Old -Covenant, not of the New—the blessedness, not of them who love much -because they have been forgiven much, but of them who keep the law, and -tread “the path which opens the eyes, bestows understanding, leads to -peace of mind and full enlightenment”—the blessedness all who, walking -in the Noble Eightfold Way, must eventually reach Nirvana.[213] - -It is almost impossible to explain all that is meant by the Noble -Eightfold Way, for translators differ very greatly as to the real -meaning of the terms employed, and even when they agree, they warn us -that the words, though similar to our own, do not suggest the same -realities. The word “righteousness” and even “morality” never can have -on the lips of a true Buddhist the same signification which they have on -ours; for righteousness, apart from the fear and love of God, is an -impossible conception to us, and so would unrighteousness, unless as a -sin or an offence against Him. Buddhism has no word for ‘sin’ in our -sense, and therefore no words for ‘holiness’ or ‘saint.’ “Sin is simply -pain, demerit, and a saint is one freed from what causes pain.” “A -righteous act is one accumulating merit, an unrighteous act one -producing suffering.”[214] The Eightfold Way, interpreted by the -legends, presents us with the Buddhist conception of the perfect man, -and were we to take its constituents as equivalents to the Christian -qualities suggested by the words, we should find outlined a character -which here or anywhere must be its own beatitude, but whose blessedness -is as completely beyond the reach of sinful man as flying is beyond the -power of a bird whose pinions are broken. - -But Right Views or Belief, Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Work, -Right Livelihood, Right Exercise, Right Mindfulness, and Right -Tranquillity, must be taken, not as we accept, but as Buddhists -understand, the phrases. By right belief they unquestionably meant -belief in Buddha and the Four Verities; right resolve included -abandonment of all domestic and social duties; right speech was the -recitation or publication of the dharma; right work was specially that -of a monk; right livelihood that of living on alms; right exercise -tended to the suppression of all individuality; right mindfulness was -habitual contemplation upon the impurity and impermanence of human -nature; and right tranquillity was ecstasy.[215] To have substituted -even this in the Hindu mind for a righteousness only ceremonial and -superstitious was indeed reformation; but as an idea of Perfection it is -manifestly not only different from, but greatly inferior to, the -Christian ideal. Perfection in the case of Buddhism meant extinction of -feeling and consciousness; in Christianity it meant harmonious and full -development of being and character. In Christianity perfection meant -conformity to an Exemplar outside and above it, the likeness of a child -to a Father in heaven; but Buddhism could conceive of no exemplar, and -the man who would be perfect must strive in entire self-dependence to be -so. In Buddhism the standard is purely human; in Christianity, while the -measure required is relative, the standard is divine. So in Buddhism the -Arhat is content, and we never hear from him the confession, “I count -not myself to have attained!” but in Christianity the more saintly the -life, the greater the discontent with it. The higher we rise the more -urgent is the desire to press on. Christianity therefore opens up the -avenue to perpetual improvement, and inspiring us with a motive to -progress which can never lose its power, it provides for the soul the -only rest that will satisfy it. “In life,” says Pascal, “we are ever -believing, we seek repose, but what we really crave is agitation.” “It -is the contest that pleases us, and not the victory; the pursuit and not -the possession.”[216] Absolute truth and goodness is the perfection of -divine blessedness; the never-ceasing pursuit of it is human -blessedness. The goal we can never reach, but the watchword, “Nearer, my -God, to Thee!” seems to solve for us the problem of human destiny, for -by directing us to the life of perpetual achievement, it assures us of a -never-ending blessedness. - -The Buddhist goal of perfection and the law or way that led to it, was -by Buddha himself or his earliest disciples considered to be beyond the -power of many to attain to. His followers were soon ranged into classes -according to their ability to tread the paths which led to liberty. His -law, therefore, unlike the Ten Commandments of the Bible, which are -binding on all without distinction, was not a law for all men. Each one -was at liberty to take on him as many or as few obligations as he -pleased, according to his resolve to continue in the world, or to -abandon it, and having abandoned it according to his resolve to seek -after Arhatship and aspire to Nirvana.[217] Upon those who, conforming -outwardly, yet remained in their secular callings, was enjoined -abstinence from the five gross sins, of killing, theft, adultery, -falsehood, taking intoxicating drinks—already, with the exception of the -last, made binding on them by the Hindu religion. By refraining from -these, and by serving and maintaining the monks, even the laity could -win for themselves a happy re-birth into some world hereafter. Those -wiser ones, again,[218] who, convinced of the evil and danger of secular -life, had abandoned their homes, and entered the Order that by -meditation and abstraction they might further work out their -deliverance, bound themselves, in addition to observance of these five -commands, to eat only at stated times, to use neither perfume nor -ornament, to sleep only on mats on the ground, to abstain from dancing, -music, and worldly shows, to own and accept neither silver nor gold, and -to be perfectly chaste. For those wisest of all, who had not only -abandoned the world in order to lead the better life of the religious, -but who had strenuously resolved, in following the religious life, to -attain to Arhatship and Nirvana, there remained the much more severe -observance of what was called the “Seven Jewels of the Law,”[219] the -last and most important use to which the Noble Eightfold Way could be -put. For by earnestly struggling, meditating, mastering their precepts, -the “Ten Fetters” of Delusion, Doubt, Dependence on Ceremonial Rites, -Sensuality, Hatred, Love of life on Earth, Craving for life in Heaven, -Pride, Self-Righteousness, and Ignorance, would one by one be broken, -and long self-abnegation involved in the process would work out its full -reward. - -It is to be observed that in all these classes or stages the practice of -virtue and the cultivation of purity were considered fundamental. In the -preaching ascribed to Buddha great stress is laid on Enlightenment, and -on Meditation, which leads to it; but at the base of all this system, as -the first indispensable factor in securing perfection, was Uprightness. -In the Suttas this formula constantly recurs: “Great is the advantage, -great the fruit of earnest contemplation when set round with upright -conduct. Great is the fruit, great the advantage of intelligence when -set round with earnest contemplation. The mind set round with -intelligence is free from the greatest evils, that is to say, from -sensuality, from individuality, from delusion, and from ignorance.“ -Again, “Righteousness, earnest thought, wisdom and freedom sublime: -these are the truths realised by Gotama far-renowned.”[220] The -uprightness, or righteousness required, presents, as the Moral Law of -Scripture does, a much broader range of influence than the words would -indicate. In prohibiting lying, Buddha enjoined avoidance of all -offensive language, and of every word that could sever men. He also -instructed his disciples not only to avoid showing enmity to those who -hated them, but to overcome evil with good. Purity again in his regard -meant purity not of word and deed alone, but of thought and feeling. In -some respects his precepts go beyond the Moral Law. The command not to -kill included respect not for human beings only, but for every creature -that had life. He not only condemned drunkenness, but demanded total -abstinence as essential. The precept “Do not commit adultery” was -understood in our sense of it only by the laity; for the religious, -marriage was not an honourable estate, but one polluted and polluting. -Unlike the Moral Law, which recognises everything that is natural and -sanctifies it, the rule of Buddha in these respects was unnatural in its -restrictions. It pronounced common and unclean what God Himself has -cleansed; and, as always happens when men add to the commandments of God -in one direction, they are sure to take away from them in another. So -Buddha’s rule, though excellent in that it lays its control not on -conduct only, but on thought and feeling, is essentially negative and -defective. It does not cover man’s whole nature, nor provide for his -every possible relation. Ignoring God, it is therefore interpreted by no -positive and active principle of goodness. It is inspired by no sense of -duty, for it recognises in the universe no superior to whom anything is -due, and, unconscious of any benefit, it owns no gratitude. Consequently -unrighteousness, as an offence to or an outrage upon a better or kinder -being than self, is not in all its range of view. Unrighteousness is -only a calamity to be avoided or an imprudence not to be repeated. -Struggling to get out of the meshes of an evil net, the Buddhist might -bewail his mistake, his folly, or his feeble or ill-directed effort, but -he was totally unconscious of rebellion or ingratitude.[221] - -Moreover, in a universe where Moi-même is the only god, and a man’s own -Nirvana his only goal, the primary motive of action can rise no higher -than fear or self-interest. Apparently strong, it is really essentially -weak in regard to the maintenance of proper relations to others demanded -by the second table of the Moral Law. The suffering caused to others -through his failure to fulfil the law, or by conscious transgression of -it, makes no impression on the Buddhist, except in as far as it -interferes with his pursuit of perfection. Others are regarded only as -occasions of acquiring merit. Instead of serving them as Christ enjoins -us to do, the Buddhist serves himself of them. It is a religion of every -man for himself. It has been likened to Positivism, but it falls far -short of it, as lacking the altruism which Positivism has borrowed from -Christianity.[222] Positivism refuses to do anything for the glory of -God, but it lays great stress upon the duty of living for humanity. It -makes the great mistake of supposing that the claims of God must be -distinct from or antagonistic to the interests of humanity. It does not -recognise that they are identical—that the more the life is reserved for -God, the more of it is communicated to our fellow-men, and that we must -love the Lord our God with all our hearts, before we can love our -neighbour as ourselves. The Positivist scheme of morals, however, is -vastly superior to that of Buddhism, for in it the goal is Nirvana, -without any reference to the good of any other, and the decided -advantage of any action consists wholly and solely in the consequences -to the actor himself. - -Dr. Oldenberg has pointed out to us that the much-vaunted charity of -Buddhism, illustrated in the legends by the self-immolation of Buddha to -satisfy the hunger of a wild beast, though it “sways toward does not -even touch the law of Christian charity.”[223] Buddha’s Rule, though -benevolent to the extent that it would harm no one, and beneficent in -respect of doing good, knew nothing of Christianity’s enthusiastic -passionate desire to help and work for others.[224] It was the interest -of the true Buddhist to forgive his enemies and not to hate them,[225] -but he never considered himself bound to love them. It was good policy -for one pressing on to Arhatship to do good works, and he would go far -out of his way to do them; but he never went about doing good as one who -found his reward in the opportunity and power to do it. He was among men -not as one who ministers and gives his life to ransom others. His very -self-abnegation had egoism at its core. Between the Christian surrender -of self to God for the sake of others, and the Buddhist surrender to -others for the sake of self, there is a great gulf fixed. The first -springs from a sense of indebtedness, a consciousness of mercy -unmerited, but freely bestowed; but the other, having no sense of -forgiveness received, has no real mercy to show. The mercy of God is the -spring of all true human compassion, for he who truly receives it finds -it impossible to withhold it. It is, alas! bestowed upon many who are -too full of themselves to take it in, and in all such cases it is lost, -but in every heart that is conscious of it, it becomes a disposition to -show kindness that cannot be counted by acts, and that never will ask, -“How oft shall my brother offend me and I forgive him?” Buddhism was -friendly in its benevolence, but it never was actively charitable, in -taking upon it the infirmities and bearing the sicknesses of others. It -has no passionate desire to gather the wrecked and blighted of humanity -and to bind up their bleeding wounds and sores. On the contrary, in its -pursuit of Nirvana it passed by all such in the path of life, precisely -as the priest and Levite passed the wounded man on their way to Jericho. -It not only was selfish, but even cruel in this pursuit, for a woman in -difficulty or in distress was not to be helped by a passing monk. The -poor and the diseased and the lost were not to be considered, for they -were simply suffering the due reward of their deeds; but the -yellow-robed monks, healthy and shining-faced, were to be the recipients -of the bounty of the charitable and the proper objects of their -attention. One of its beatitudes runs thus: “Not to serve the foolish, -but to serve the wise; to honour those worthy of honour. This is the -greatest blessing.”[226] Almsgiving was indeed encouraged; but alms were -only to be bestowed upon the worthy—on the monk and Arhat—not on the -outcast and the leper, whose miserable condition indicated their -unworthiness. If the animal creation profited by their charity, which -they refused to their suffering fellow-men, it was from a selfish -motive: for the parent, or wife, or child, whom by Buddha’s rule they -were obliged to help, might be looking at them, for all they knew, out -of the eyes of the beast, and not to fulfil the precept would bring to -themselves both harm and loss.[227] Tested even socially, therefore, the -Rule of Buddha is defective, and this because it is not founded on -religion. The cause of God is eternally the cause of man. In the -Fatherhood of God is essentially involved the universal brotherhood of -man. Christ is before us as the representative of humanity, because He -is the representative of Deity. Refusal to acknowledge His supremacy -will disturb all human relationships and throw them into disorder. We -learn to do to others as Christ hath done to us; the sense of our -indebtedness will be the measure of our charity. For this end He has -chosen the poorest and the most wretched as His memorials, and He has -said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, -ye have done it unto Me.” - -To do justice to Buddha’s way, however, we must remember that the path -of uprightness (_sila_) was only the first part of it. Without external -rectitude, inward integrity would be impossible; but external rectitude, -without self-concentration, would be a foundation without a structure. -“A man must endeavour to keep constant watch over his thoughts, for our -whole existence depends upon our thinking,”[228] was one of the noble -maxims of Buddhism. It is to its credit as a religion that it recognised -that only a small part of our real life can be expressed in words and -deeds, that the true sphere of morality and human temptation was within, -and that it instructed men to keep the heart with all diligence, for out -of it are the issues of life. Buddha seems to have felt, and to have in -part at least expressed, the contrast and conflict between the seen and -the unseen in our life. He recognised, it is true, no soul, and the -warfare between the flesh and the spirit was not found in his -philosophy, but he had to account for the antagonism which every one -feels between our animality and our humanity, between what is pressing -or dragging us down, and what in us struggles to be free. The mental and -moral qualities were of far more value than the physical; the invisible -was of more consequence, because more real, than the visible. The -“mindful and thoughtful man” was the man who “looked within and not -without,” and so Buddha’s insistence upon the “noble earnestness of -meditation” as indispensable to deliverance is a grand testimony to the -truth, which no philosophy of materialism can falsify, that we are far -more concerned with what we think and feel and imagine than with what we -touch and we taste, and that our thoughts and feelings go far more into -the weaving of our character than do our words and works. - -It is alleged that in Pali literature the word for meditation -(_samadhi_), by which alone inner purity can be attained, bears to the -word for “uprightness” the same relation as that which faith in the New -Testament bears to works.[229] By uprightness, delusion is cleared away, -and by pondering constantly the five principal kinds of -meditations—Love, Pity, Joy, the Impurity of the Body, and the state of -Serene Indifference to what men think bad or good—the man was supposed -to be redeemed from all attachment.[230] It is very pathetic to note -this approach toward and yet rebound from the Christian conception of -the function of faith: for faith is the victory that overcometh the -world, with its lust of the flesh, its lust of the eye, and its pride of -life. It is that too which, because it looks to the unseen and eternal, -quenches all sordid or inordinate cleaving to life, which is the root of -so much evil and the cause of so much suffering. The apostles, -instructed of Christ, have taught us that God’s precious gift of life is -ours to use: that to keep it, to will to save and to find it, as if it -were an end and not a means, is to miss and to lose it; while to use it, -be willing to lose it for some higher good, is to keep it unto life -eternal. Now Buddha had a glimpse of this truth, that lust of existence -was the root of bitterness in humanity. He condemned as heresies the -worldly lust which says, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die,” -and the lust of other-worldliness which dreams that the life beyond will -yield as good, or better pleasures than this one;[231] but the two last -of his five principal meditations show how far apart and far short of -the victory of faith was his idea of the victory of samadhi. The -apostles’ aim was to get rid of lust; but his aim was to get rid of -life. The apostles mortified the members which are upon the earth, -anger, wrath, malice, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, just that -the higher life, the life hid with Christ in God, might grow and -brighten; but Buddha, in “cleansing himself from all impurity, little by -little, moment by moment, piece by piece,”[232] sought to escape from -the last shadow of personal existence into the blessedness of absolute -unconsciousness, if not of utter extinction. - -For this seems clearly revealed in the last or highest stage to which -the paths of uprightness and meditation were supposed to conduct, that -of enlightenment (_panna_) or spiritual abstraction, alleged to be -equivalent to prayer in other religions. The highest Christian -conception of prayer is that of communion with God; the highest Buddhist -conception of _panna_ is of a state of clairvoyance or ecstatic insight -in which “men hear with clear and heavenly ear, surpassing that of men,” -and “comprehend by their own hearts the hearts of other men,” and -“recall their own various states in former existences,” and “see with -pure and heavenly vision the procession of other beings as they pass -from life to life.”[233] Buddha evidently was believed by his disciples -to have possessed this power, and probably his own long fasting and -severe austerities, practised in the beginning of his career, acting -upon a highly nervous system, made him a believer in the reality of this -perfect insight and ecstasy of contemplation, and that it might be -acquired by all who were sufficiently persevering in pursuit of -Arhatship.[234] It must be observed, however, that he does not appear to -have regarded this as an experience to be enjoyed by the Arhat in -perpetuity; on the contrary, it was the condition preceding final and -eternal deliverance, and so it may be taken as the Buddhist conception -of Euthanasia. - -The Christian in the highest and supreme moment of life aspires, if -conscious, after the beatific vision. It is no Brahmanic absorption into -the absolute that he desires, but likeness to and communion with God. -The consciousness of personality was never more intense, the conviction -was never stronger that he has been divinely created and trained as a -separate character. By long and prayerful use of the means of grace he -has sought to bring, and to keep himself under the control of the Holy -Spirit; and he hopes that the next change will completely free him from -every trace of “sensuality, delusion, and ignorance,” and purge away -from the soul the last taint of selfishness. By long and sore -experiences he has learned that selfishness is the evil root whence -spring all the suffering and sorrow that poison life. He can therefore -understand and sympathise with the Buddhist anathema upon -“individuality,” if by that is meant the endeavour to abstract our life -from the solidarity of humanity, to use it for our own ends, and to -grudge what of it God uses for the rest of His family. This is the -Christian conception of the cause of death and all its woe, and from -this a Christian saint ever prays and struggles to be free; but it is -not from “individuality” in this sense that the Buddhist Arhat seeks -deliverance. He is bent upon the very thing from which the Christian is -anxious to escape. He wants to isolate and withdraw his portion of life -from the sum of humanity, to abstract himself from the mass, to save his -own soul; and now that he nears the goal, his whole energies are -directed, not to purify and strengthen and ennoble the personal self for -better service, by minding what is pure and lovely, and by striving -unceasingly after what is right and true, but by crushing out every -feeling into apathy, every thought into vacuity, so as to get rid of -personality, identity, and the very faintest germ of life.[235] - -And this is the goal of a race that has extended not only over the whole -range of the present, but over that of many existences; this is the -victory which crowns a fight that has continued throughout untold ages. -Truly there is something very pathetic in the conception of a struggle -after sainthood so prolonged, by one who, now a god, now an animal, now -a man, has never lost sight of his mark, and has ever pressed onwards to -it.[236] Probably we may have something to learn from it, by way of -correcting the idea that true moral and spiritual excellence, -perfection, saintliness, is the growth of a single life; but when the -goal is understood in its bare reality, as implying not destruction of -selfishness, but extinction of being, surely the reproachful question is -justified, “To what purpose is this waste?” After millennia of -transformation the nebula has formed into a star, and just at the point -when it can illumine an immensity, it disappears for ever from the -firmament. Unreckonable energy and thought have been expended upon the -production of a man, and just when he has reached the highest point of -perfection, and is most serviceable to the universe, he becomes of less -value than a vapour that vanishes away. Truly - - “the crown of our life as it closes - Is darkness; the fruit thereof dust,” - -and man walketh in a vain show, he disquieteth himself in vain, if -Buddha’s way be the only path of deliverance from evil, and Nirvana his -only goal. - -And so while we ought to be profoundly thankful for the intellectual -culture and moral earnestness that made Buddha, in spite of himself, the -reformer of Eastern Asia, it is manifest that even his best doctrines -represent very partial and one-sided truths, “dwelt upon with morbid -intensity, to the exclusion of every fact which might have modified -them.”[237] His fundamental error was his wild attempt to explain the -life of man independently of Divine control, and to guide man safely -through the perils and temptations of existence by an ethical system -founded on no appeal to an eternal principle of goodness without, but -solely to self-interest. The result, which has been to identify the -nature of man with that of the animals,[238] surely shows conclusively -that religion and morality can never be dissociated without damage to -both. A religion without morality must degrade. A system of morality -apart from religion will never upraise. Religion is for man simply -indispensable. Deity is a necessity to him, and deity he must have, -though he finds his god in a tree or makes it out of a stone. Man lives -by faith, faith in his higher self, faith in a higher than himself, who -alone can explain the conflict between his actual condition and the -ideals which he conceives. The modern Buddhist assumes that “religion is -the science of man, not the revelation of God, and he considers that -comprehensions of deity are of far less consequence than just ideas of a -man’s own self,”[239] but how can a man have a just idea of himself -apart from some idea of God? According to his idea of God will be his -estimate of himself. Buddhism, by ignoring God and preaching morality, -has certainly failed to make its adherents moral, and it has imparted to -what is noble in their morality the melancholy of despair.[240] - -Ignoring God, it could only form, or could not emancipate itself from, a -false conception of man, as part of a material system of things; but -man, though considerably involved in a material system, never can be -interpreted by it. On the contrary, nature can only be interpreted or -properly understood in man as the lower in the higher. Man is an -antagonist of nature; he is for ever condemning its ways, coming into -collision with its laws, refusing to live its life. Out of this -collision emerges his religion, while his morality originates in the -conflict between his own sense of duty and its life of animal -instinct.[241] To conform to nature, he must become a brute, but he has -in him ideals and capacities transcending it, and by exercising these -capacities in pursuit of his ideals he finds his life. Buddha confessed -to an ideal, and wrought hard to realise it, but alas for humanity when -it finds no higher than self to reverence! Buddha’s theories of -self-culture and self-deliverance reduced to practice have proved most -miserable failures. It could not be otherwise; no man is likely to move -the ship in which he sits by puffing away at the sails, or to lift -himself out of the mire by simply pulling away at his boots; and no -philosophy of self-culture, self-control, or self-rescue, can succeed, -which ignores or refuses to acknowledge man’s instinct of worship. What -he most needs is not law, not a system of morality, not even an example -or model to copy, but inspiration. He knows already enough to condemn -himself, and he has examples which, though far from perfect, quite -suffice to confound him. The command to be perfect mocks him as truly as -a command to see would mock a man stone-blind. What he does want is a -powerful moral energy within him, for lack of which he has to confess -that he cannot do the good he would, but is ever doing the evil which he -would not. His real wretchedness is not his suffering and death, not -even his ignorance, as Buddha thought, but the continual and seemingly -ineffectual struggle between the animal and the man, the flesh and the -spirit. And Buddhism was powerless to help him here. It lacked the -steady support of the sense of duty to the highest and best, the -inspiration that comes from the faith that the highest and best is for -us, and is with us, and in us. Belief in God, as Bacon reminds us, is -“essential to the consciousness of our nobility and dignity, for -certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body, and if he be not of -kin to God by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble creature.” So -Buddhism in unduly exalting man to the level of deity has in reality -degraded him. It has indeed lifted wild races out of barbarism, but it -has failed to civilise them. It has certainly not destroyed ignorance, -and the worship of intelligence has not tended to its development and -diffusion among the peoples whom it has swayed. Judged even by an -ordinary standard, the monks of either Southern or Northern Buddhism are -rarely found to be enlightened men, while the vast portion of the -peoples among whom these monks are found are about the most ignorant of -all. And just as certainly has it failed to make men free; for religion -is the guarantee of freedom. “Where there is no place left in human -thought for deity, there will soon be none found for human -liberty.”[242] The basis of individual right is the recognition of a -divine and purely moral government of man. If there be no higher than -the highest man regarding us, we have only the right to live under the -power of the strongest, and the reign of terror must succeed to that of -order and law. The history of Buddhism and the miserable governments -associated with it are telling comments upon and confirmation of the -truth that belief in God is necessary to secure the rights of man.[243] - -The progress of the human race will ever be in proportion to the -strength of its conviction that it is governed and considered and -sustained by a Power of infinite goodness ever making for righteousness. -Such a conviction means inspiration, stimulating endurance and hope, and -resolute struggle with evil in all its forms. In it is implied the -assurance that resistance can never be in vain, that failure at the very -worst is only partial success, and that all things work together for -good. The time for this gospel had not come when Buddha called upon the -people of India to “save themselves from this condition of -wretchedness,” and the result of his mighty and benevolent efforts shows -convincingly how urgent in human nature is the demand for a Faith which -will not only enlighten but enliven, which, recognising fully not only -the sufferings but the whole necessities of man, and creating strong -discontent with the world as we find it, and even disgust of human life -as it is, will quicken in us persevering and deathless efforts to reform -the one and to improve the other. Such a faith it is our privilege and -awful responsibility to communicate. Our religion is higher than our -grasp, for it is always above us. Alas! in too many cases it is higher -than our aim, for we are too inclined to let it slip, and drift on the -tides of things as they are; but mankind will never be satisfied with a -lower. “Après l’invention du blé ils ne veulent pas encore vivre du -gland.” “We needs must love the highest when we see it,” and we needs -must strive to become like the highest when we love it. The gospel -preaches consolation and hope to a suffering world, and promises grace -upon grace to every endeavour to heal and amend its condition. Christ -purifies and improves the life which we have by destroying only what is -evil, and by preserving and training and ennobling all that is truly -natural. Inexorably He demands the extinction of selfishness in all its -forms, and He will not even permit us in our prayers to think and ask -for ourselves. He reminds us that God is our Father in heaven, and what -He gives is for all His family. Sternly He denounces as sinful the -attempt to secure our own happiness here or in a better world hereafter; -but He offers the heaven and Nirvana which He found in assuming the -burdens of others, and in bearing their cross. So He assures us that it -is worth our while to live, even in a world groaning and travailing with -suffering, and that it will be worth our while, even in agony if we -must, to die. It is indeed a very evil world, but as long as we draw our -inspiration from Him we can live in it not only without damage but with -great profit. When we offer ourselves in His strength for its salvation -we will be saved from its sins. In the times of our deepest distress we -will have the peace which He left us, and when most severely beset and -cast down with sorrow because of what seems baffled endeavours, we have -only to think of that hope of ultimate victory which made Him to endure -to the end, to rise into - - “that last large joy of all, - Trust in the goodness and the love of Him - Who, making so much well, will end all well.” - -Footnote 180: - - _Dharma_, an ancient Brahman term, meaning law or order; what holds - things as they are, or ought to be. In later Sanskrit it also means - duty and virtue, _i.e._ law performed.—Gifford Lectures, _Natural - Religion_, pp. 94, 95. _Buddha_ is also an ancient Brahman term - applied to one who has attained a perfect knowledge of the - Self.—Satapatha-brahmana, xiv. 7. 2. 17. In Buddhism Dharma means - Buddha’s doctrines, “bodhi,” _i.e._ knowledge self-acquired, as - distinguished from “Veda,” _i.e._ revelation obtainable only through - the Brahmans.—Sir Monier Williams’ _Buddhism_, p. 97. - -Footnote 181: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, pp. 205-208; Rhys Davids, _Buddhism_, p. - 87; Spence Hardy, _Manual of Buddhism_, p. 375. His relation to the - philosophical systems of his day is illustrated in several Suttas; see - Sutta Nipâta, in vol. x. Part ii. of _Sacred Books of the East_, pp. - 148-152. Evidently he regarded them with aversion, and even contempt. - -Footnote 182: - - _Le Bouddha, etc._, p. 79. The legends indicate that his use of the - vernacular was matter of principle. Two Brahmans, “excelling in - speech, excelling in pronunciation,” complained that the monks - corrupted the word of the Buddhas by repeating it in their own - dialect, and asked permission to put it into classical or polished - verse. “How can you, O foolish ones, speak thus?... You are not, O - monks, to put the words of the Buddhas into polished (Sanskrit) verse. - Whosoever does so shall be guilty of a dukkata.”—Kullavagga, v. 33. 1; - _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xx. - -Footnote 183: - - Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, ii. 1. 2; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xi.; - Mahavagga, i. 6. 18, 27; _ibid._ vol. xiii. - -Footnote 184: - - Not as the Nothing, as Wuttke tries to show in _Geschichte des - Heidenthums_, ii. § 166. Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, p. 212. - -Footnote 185: - - Samyutta-ka-Nikâya, quoted by Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, p. 217. - -Footnote 186: - - _Bouddha et sa Religion_, p. iii, Introduction. - -Footnote 187: - - “The Modern Buddhist,” published in the volume called _The Wheel of - the Law: Buddhism illustrated from Siamese Sources_, by H. Alabaster; - London, 1876. - -Footnote 188: - - Dr. Westcott, _Social Aspects of Christianity_, p. 12; Aristotle, - _Ethic._, i. 1; iv. 3. - -Footnote 189: - - “The Modern Buddhist,” Alabaster, _Wheel of the Law_, p. 73; Spence - Hardy, _Eastern Monachism_, pp. 5, 339; Gogerly’s translation of the - Brahmajala Sutta in Digha Nikâya, _Journal of Ceylon Asiatic Society_, - 1846. - -Footnote 190: - - Preface to Müller’s Dhammapada, p. xxx, old ed. - -Footnote 191: - - Note at pp. 31, 32 of Dhammapada in vol. x. of _Sacred Books of the - East_. Frankfurter, App. _Bamp. Lect._ 1881, p. 349. - -Footnote 192: - - Rhys Davids, _Buddhism_, p. 95; Spence Hardy, _Manual of Buddhism_, p. - 388; Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, quoting Bhikkuni Samyutta, p. 258; - Colebrooke’s _Essays_, vol. i. p. 417, Cowell’s edition; Sabbasava - Sutta, 10, 11, 12: _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xi. - -Footnote 193: - - _Life of Gaudama_, first ed., p. 321 note; Rangoon, 1866. - -Footnote 194: - - Max Müller, introd. to Buddagosha’s Parables, p. xxx, ed. 1870. - -Footnote 195: - - The first traces of this belief are found, it is said, in the - Upanishads, Brihadáranyaka, iii. 2. 1, _Sacred Books of the East_, - vol. xv. p. 126; Dhammapada, v. 1. 127, _ibid._ vol. x. Part i. 3. 35. - -Footnote 196: - - Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, p. 94; also his _Manual of Buddhism_, - pp. 100, 106. - -Footnote 197: - - “All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded - on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or - acts with an evil thought (or polluted mind), suffering follows him as - the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the wain” (Dhammapada, - 1). “Not in the sky, not in the midst of the sea, not if we enter the - cleft of the mountains, is there known a spot in the whole world where - a man might be freed from an evil deed” (Dhammapada, 127; _Sacred - Books of the East_, vol. x.). - -Footnote 198: - - “L’athéisme devenu religion et recouvert du manteau des vertus - chrétiennes.”—Wassilief, _Buddhism_, introd. by E. Laboulaye, p. viii. - -Footnote 199: - - Professor Dods, _Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ_, p. 171. - -Footnote 200: - - Nagasēna’s figure used in controverting the idea of the separate - existence of the soul.—Milindapanha, p. 25, quoted by Oldenberg, - _Buddha_, p. 254; Hardy, _Manual_, p. 425; Rhys Davids, _Buddhism_, p. - 96. - -Footnote 201: - - Oldenberg, _op. cit._, 221. - -Footnote 202: - - _Phaedo_, Jowett’s Introd., i. 407, ed. 1875. - -Footnote 203: - - Preface to English translation of the Lalita Vistara; Calcutta. - -Footnote 204: - - Sutta Nipâta; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. pp. 33, 80. - -Footnote 205: - - _Buddha, etc._, pp. 274-284; Rhys Davids, _Buddhism_, pp. 111-123. - -Footnote 206: - - Childers, _Pali Dictionary_, Art. NIRVANA. - -Footnote 207: - - Dr. Kellogg, in his _Light of Asia and Light of the World_, pp. 223, - 252, protests very forcibly against the use by translators of the word - “immortality” as the equivalent of Nirvana. It meant, as he reminds - us, “the end of death indeed, but not because life had triumphed, but - because, life having ceased, death had nothing to feed on.” - Immortality, endless bliss, and kindred phrases, applied to it, are - only justifiable by the popular but really un-Buddhistic use of the - word Nirvana. - -Footnote 208: - - Isaiah xxxii. 11; James iii. 18. - -Footnote 209: - - Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_, pp. 97, 223. - -Footnote 210: - - “Not to know suffering, not to know the cause of suffering, not to - know the path that leads to the cessation of suffering—this is called - Ignorance.” Consequently knowledge of these things is saving - knowledge.—Mahavagga, _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xiii. p. 75, - note 2. - -Footnote 211: - - This threefold division or “doorway” (Hardy, _Manual_, p. 491), once - considered by Weber to be peculiar to Buddhism, has been proved to be - common to Brahmans, Persians, Jews, and Greeks, as well as Christians. - See interesting note at pp. 28, 29, of vol. x. of _Sacred Books of the - East_, Part i. - -Footnote 212: - - Dr. Fairbairn, _Studies in Religion and Philosophy_, p. 161. - -Footnote 213: - - Dhamma. Sutta, 2-4; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xi. pp. 146, 147; - Mahavagga, i. 6. 17-20; _ibid._ vol. xiii. pp. 94, 95. - -Footnote 214: - - Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_, p. 124. - -Footnote 215: - - Frankfurter, App. to Wordsworth’s Bampton Lectures on _The One - Religion_, p. 348; Sutta Nipâta, _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. - p. 69. - -Footnote 216: - - _Pensées_, vol. ii. p. 34; vol. i. p. 205; ed. Faugère. - -Footnote 217: - - Spence Hardy, _Manual of Buddhism_, p. 506. - -Footnote 218: - - Sutta Nipâta, _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. pp. 33, 46, 67; - Dhammapada, 284. - -Footnote 219: - - _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xi. pp. 60, 61. - -Footnote 220: - - Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, cap. iv. 4; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. - xi. - -Footnote 221: - - Saint-Hilaire, _Le Bouddha, etc._, pp. 149, 153, 161. - -Footnote 222: - - Wordsworth, Bampton Lectures on _The One Religion_, p. 91. - -Footnote 223: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, p. 289. - -Footnote 224: - - Meta Sutta, _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. p. 25. - -Footnote 225: - - See the story given in Mahavagga, x. 2. 3-20; also the story of - Kunala, Asoka’s son—this latter said by Burnouf, in his Introduction, - to be of modern origin. Quoted by Oldenberg, p. 290. - -Footnote 226: - - So Dr. Rhys Davids, _Buddhism_, p. 126. Fausböll translates, “Not - cultivating the society of,” etc. (Sutta Nipâta, _Sacred Books of the - East_, vol. x. pp. 43, 44.) - -Footnote 227: - - Dr. Edkins, _Chinese Buddhism_, p. 204. - -Footnote 228: - - Dhammapada, 157-8-9, 379-80; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. i. - -Footnote 229: - - T. W. Rhys Davids, in the Introduction to his translation of the Keto - Khila Sutta (Barrenness and Bondage), _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. - xi. p. 222, says that in reading it he was irresistibly reminded of 2 - Peter i. 5-9. The barrenness referred to in the Sutta is lack of - successful effort to be free from “the Ten Fetters” which bind man to - existence, chief of which is hankering after immortality in any form, - or without form. How contrasted is this to St. Peter’s thought! “Give - diligence to provide in your faith earnestness,” that it may be an - overcoming faith; but as faith without knowledge is superstition, and - earnestness misdirected will do harm, provide in earnestness - “knowledge”; and as knowledge ungoverned will degenerate into conceit, - provide in it “temperance”; but temperance must be inspired with - “patience,” bent on God’s glory, not personal gain; “godliness” thus - attained, “brotherly kindness” will manifest itself, and then - “charity” toward every creature—that is the grace of our Lord Jesus - Christ, the _summum bonum_, the knowledge in which we are neither to - be barren nor unfruitful. No more forcible illustration of the utter - contradiction between the two religions could be found than this - verbal analogy of “barrenness and bondage.” - -Footnote 230: - - Compare St. Paul, Phil. iv. 8: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things - are true, whatsoever things are honourable, whatsoever things are - just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, - whatsoever things are gracious; if there be any virtue, if there be - any praise, think on these things.” - -Footnote 231: - - Dhamma-Kakka-ppavattana Sutta, 6, note; _Sacred Books of the East_, - vol. xi. p. 148. - -Footnote 232: - - Dhammapada, 239; _ibid._ vol. x. p. 1. - -Footnote 233: - - Akankheya Sutta; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xi. p. 210. - -Footnote 234: - - If the legends are to be followed, he believed in the miraculous power - which resulted from it (see Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, i. 33, and iii. 22; - also Mahavagga, i. 20. 24), but he condemned the exercise of that - power for self-glorification or for paltry gain (Kullavagga, v. 8. 2; - also vii. 1, 2, 3; _Sacred Books of the East_, vols. xi. xii. xiii.). - -Footnote 235: - - See Gough, _Philosophy of the Upanishads_, pp. 267, 268. - -Footnote 236: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, p. 314. - -Footnote 237: - - Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_, p. 35. - -Footnote 238: - - Saint-Hilaire, _Le Bouddha, etc._, p. 162. - -Footnote 239: - - Mr. Alabaster, _Wheel of the Law_, preface, p. xvi. - -Footnote 240: - - Eitel, _Lectures on Buddhism_, pp. 59-70; Saint-Hilaire, _Le Bouddha_, - p. 156. - -Footnote 241: - - Jackson’s Bampton Lectures, _The Doctrine of Retribution_, p. 284; - Caird’s _Philosophy of Religion_, Croall Lectures, pp. 259 _seq._ - -Footnote 242: - - Saint-Hilaire, _Le Bouddha_, p. xxiii; Hardy’s _Eastern Monachism_, p. - 312. - -Footnote 243: - - “Prefix the name of God to this Declaration” (of the Rights of Man), - said Abbé Grégoire to the National Assembly in 1789, “or you leave it - without foundation, and make right the equivalent of force.” The - Assembly refused, but events soon confirmed his judgment.—Baring - Gould, _Development of Belief_, vol. ii. p. 88. - - - - - LECTURE V. - THE BUDDHIST SANGHA[244]: THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. - - -The designation “Church,” never wholly applicable to Buddhism in the -sense in which Christians employ it, was totally inapplicable to the -primitive Buddhist communities. The institution of the Church is -peculiar to Christianity, for though we speak of the worship of Krishna, -or the religion of Baal, we never speak of the church of the one or the -other. Christianity is the only religion which has created a society -which no political revolution can destroy, and no civilisation, however -advanced, can outlive. It may change its form, or express itself in -several co-existent forms; but it is so adapted to the nature and -necessities of man that it is properly described, in its relation to his -present condition, as divine and everlasting. - -Though the Church is the creation of Christ and the fruit of His -mission, the idea of it had been suggested to the world long ages before -He came. “Ecclesia” is peculiarly a New Testament word, but there are -found in the Old Testament Scriptures plain foreshadowings of the -reality represented by it. In Abraham, “called” out from his country and -kindred, that he might be separated unto the worship of Jehovah, we have -the first pre-intimation of the Church. In relation to other nations, -his descendants were the “peculiar people” and Ecclesia of Jehovah, and -when as a nation they failed to embody and express the universal truths, -which it is the Church’s function to communicate for the blessing of all -the world, there was called out from them, or rather there was formed -within them, “the remnant,” so often referred to by Isaiah and the -subsequent prophets; and in this spiritual community and fellowship, -dissociated from the national religion,[245] were conserved and -perpetuated the truths and ideals from which they had fallen away. After -the Captivity, in the rise of the synagogue system of worship, there was -provided an organisation, whose essential details Christ and His -apostles in instituting the Church could either adopt or copy; and there -can be no question that from out this synagogue system the Christian -Church emerged, and that even to-day it reflects some of its peculiar -features. - -The Church was the fruit of Christianity, but the Sangha was the root -out of which Buddhism sprang. In a Sangha its founder lived and learned -and taught, till as Buddha he founded his own; but just as he gave a new -significance to the doctrines in which he had been instructed, so he -gave the Sangha an application which accounts for, though it does not -justify, the designation often accorded to it of a church. As an order -without worship, a brotherhood without any recognition of the uniting -Fatherhood in heaven, a confraternity in which seniority was assigned -only to age,[246] and whose leaders never pretended to hold any priestly -office or to exercise any hierarchical authority, the Sangha at first -and for long was not a church; yet when we examine its constitution and -aims we need not wonder that the religious instincts of Buddhists, -proving stronger than their creed, should have developed their Sangha -into something like a church, with a cult which, at first consisting -only of veneration for his images and relics, for long has been almost -second to none in the world for solemnity and dignity and pomp.[247] - -We have seen that philosophic schools and religious sects originating -in secessions from the national religion abounded in India long before -Buddha’s day. In the Gangetic valley, as in Greece, the new sages -attracted their disciples by the fame of their teaching, but there, -not as in Greece, the disciples lived with their masters apart, and -distinguished from the world by peculiar dress and manners. Of -Monachism, an early outgrowth of Hindu religion, and indeed its -essential adjunct, as being the state which marked the maturity and -completion of a good man’s earthly life, there were already many -forms, all held in high respect by the people. Celibacy and mendicancy -were common to all Sanghas, but in regard to vows of silence, and -fasting, and self-torture, they differed greatly from one another. The -majority of them were Brahman in their constitution and in their -recognition of caste: but long before the rise of Buddhism the Sraman -fraternities, founded on the non-recognition of caste, were quite -equal to the purest Brahman ones in public esteem. Now in organising -the Sakya-putta-Samanas, the designation by which his disciples were -first known by the people, Buddha adopted many features and details of -discipline common to all these fraternities, while yet the peculiarity -of his doctrines gave to the community of his own disciples a -character quite distinctive. - -The Brahman Orders believed that Brahmans only could be finally saved, -and Brahman reformers could only encourage inferior castes that came to -them for enlightenment by the hope of possibly securing a higher birth -in a future state. Buddha, however, considered all men alike in respect -of need, so, knowing of only one way of deliverance, he proclaimed it -without distinction, and, like the Sramans, he opened his Sangha to all -who were willing to submit to his discipline. Unlike many of the Sraman -fraternities, he discouraged the life of solitude, and prohibited the -practice of self-torture and severe austerities. In opposition to the -hated Nigganthas, who, aiming at perfection, went about with only the -light and air for their clothing, he insisted that his disciples should -be decently clad.[248] In respect that he required obedience from -disciples only as long as they continued to be so, and would not permit -irrevocable vows—indeed, exacted from them no vow at all—his Sangha was -more like some Anglican guild than any monastic institution with which -we are acquainted. - -Still more widely did it differ, not only from many, but from all the -existing fraternities in the purpose for which he instituted it. -Hitherto India had never witnessed a religious sect that could be called -propagandist. Brahmanism was essentially exclusive, for no man could -become a Brahman by conversion. The Sraman sages again, left the masses -to ripen in evil ways for worse lives in more degraded spheres of future -existence, in order to deliver themselves by ascetic practices and -meditation. At best they taught those who resorted to them, and were -prepared to consort with them. Buddha, however, by laying upon the -brethren the obligation of extending the knowledge of the law, -inaugurated a revolution in the monastic system which anticipated that -of the great Mendicant Orders of Christendom. Just as St. Francis -emptied the monasteries and sent forth their inmates to find their own -in seeking the salvation of others, so Buddha broke down the barriers -between the Indian recluses and the world, by ordaining the members of -his Sangha to teach their fellow-men the way to liberty. “Therefore, O -brethren, to whom the truths which I have perceived have been made known -by me, having thoroughly mastered them, meditate upon them, practise -them, spread them abroad, in order that the pure Dhamma may last long -and be perpetuated, in order that it may continue to be for the good and -happiness of the great multitude, out of pity for the world, to the -good, and gain, and weal of gods and men.”[249] - -This was the original element[250] in his conception, and while one of -its effects was to save the members of the Sangha from some of the evils -besetting the life of the recluse by balancing the duty of contemplation -by that of active itineration, its chief and immediate result was to -give Buddhism an expansive power marvellous to Indians. Religious -fraternities depended upon the presence of their teachers, and -consequently the members were few, but Buddha commanded the brethren to -go forth. “Let not two of you go the same way” was the original -instruction, and preach the doctrine “which is glorious in the -beginning, glorious in the middle, glorious in the end, in the spirit -and in the letter, for the pure and perfect life, for the complete -cessation of sorrow.”[251] By and by these missionaries were authorised -to receive those who desired admission into the Sangha, and after a due -novitiate to ordain them;[252] and so we need not wonder that this -itineracy, which in the earliest days was the very essence of a good -Buddhist’s duty, should have had the effect of spreading the doctrines -and gathering converts so rapidly that in some of the earliest extant -scriptures the Sangha was known as “the Brotherhood of the Four -Quarters”[253] of what to Indian thought was the world. - -Thus far the Sangha was different from the institutions that preceded -it, but, unlike the Christian Church, which finally emerged from Judaism -as the one holy Church of all nations and of both sexes, and of all -classes of men, the Buddhist Sangha bore with it, and never lost, -several marks of its Hindu origin. One relic of its extraction it most -zealously conserved as essential to the moral restraint which it -encouraged; for though later on it attracted associates whom it -recognised as in the ways of deliverance, it was from the very first an -exclusively monastic order. Indeed, Monachism, or the life of -retirement, privation, and chastity, had in Buddhism a place quite -different from that which it occupied in Brahmanism.[254] The meditative -Brahman anchorite was not considered the only man who was in the way to -deliverance, for every believer in Brahman ascendency was free to choose -one of three ways of securing salvation,[255] but in Buddhism -renunciation of the world represented the highest form of religion, and -the indispensable condition of reaching Nirvana. So, though in opening -the Sangha to all classes, and proclaiming, in opposition to Brahmanism, -that every man was capable of the highest enlightenment, Buddha sapped -the foundation of caste, it was only to replace it in another form.[256] -The mendicant monk, as has been truly observed, took the Brahman’s -place, and for him alone Nirvana was reserved. So sharply defined were -the lines which divided the Sangha from the rest of mankind, that no one -who had not come out from the world was regarded as in it and of it. - -This was quite in keeping with the Buddhist conception of deliverance. -The Sangha simply was an attempt to realise the idea and purpose of the -creed. Salvation according to Christ meant rescue from the power of -evil, but not withdrawal from the world as so incurably evil that the -sooner man got out of it the better. Instead of making His Church an -asylum and refuge from the world, He organised it for the redemption of -the world. Instead of attempting to destroy civil society, He aimed at -its purification by the leavening influence of the new society which He -was creating. The Church was to be Christ’s witness when He was no -longer visible, the instrument by which His own power would bear upon -the wants of mankind. The slavery and the degradation of society, the -destruction of the world, was never meant to be the condition of the -existence or of the liberty and dignity of the Church. It was but a -means to an end, a means so essential that without it the end could not -be reached, but, once the end has been reached, the Church will be -superseded, or rather will be merged in the kingdom of God. So the very -symbol of it is not found in the apocalyptic visions of the new heaven -and the new earth. In the civitas of the new Jerusalem St. John saw -families and nations and kingdoms, but he could see no temple therein, -for the instrumentality of which the temple was the symbol had done its -work in the emancipation and education of the human race, and had -vanished into the more glorious and eternal realities of the throne of -God and of the Lamb. - -In Buddhism we find a set of ideas quite contradictory to all these. The -Sangha was the vehicle of rescue from out the world, not the bringer of -salvation to it; it worked not for the regeneration of society, but for -its disintegration and destruction. It considered the world to be so -hopelessly incurable, and even existence to be so weighted with misery, -that wisdom would move men to abandon the one to its fate, and goodness -impel them to strive to bring the other to an end. The monastery, -therefore, was naturally its loftiest conception of the Civitas Dei, and -into that it endeavoured to transform as large a section of humanity as -was inclined to accept its law. - -This unnatural theory of life indicates the essential weakness of -Buddhism, and makes its history very instructive to Christians. In the -Church, perhaps, room may be accorded to the monastery and convent, as -long as they are sanctified by the Christian idea of self-abnegation in -the service of others, but the attempt to transform the Church into a -monastery, dominated by the Buddhist idea of abnegation of the world for -the sake of self, can only create unmitigated evil. The effect of it in -primitive Buddhism was not only to withdraw good men from the world at -the very time when its diseased condition most required the help of -their preserving salt, but the salt itself, not being used for its -natural and proper purpose, soon lost its savour. The substitution of an -artificial for a natural standard of excellence inevitably tends to -destroy even virtue. Very soon in the Sanghas active itineracy and -devout contemplation gave way to listless indolence and enervating -reverie, and there emerged a mode of life from which the great mass of -healthy men will ever revolt, as sanctioning the idea that the more -useless we become in this world the more fitted for a better we may -safely consider ourselves to be. - -The Buddhist Sangha, therefore, though in no sense resembling the -Christian Church, does resemble some of its after-growths. These, -however, must be regarded as parasitical in their nature, for though fed -by its life, they do not spring from its root. In Christianity, -Monachism represents a tendency of human nature incidental to its -development rather than the essential fruit of Christian principle; but -the Buddhist idea of a true society is one essentially and completely -monastic. This one fact is sufficient to show that the similarities -discoverable between the Buddhist and Christian institutions are more -apparent than real, while the contrasts between them are found to be -deeper and more substantial the more they are examined. - -The monachism of Christianity originated, it is said, in the endeavour -to reproduce the ideal of excellence represented in the life of Jesus. -In the life of Jesus there was nothing monastic. Though He appeared in -the land of the Essenes, though heralded by a solitary ascetic, though -the age was one of universal defection, when because of its corruption -it seemed impossible to live a man’s life in society, Jesus lived freely -in the world as He found it, and laid His blessing on all of it that was -natural, and on all of it that was necessary. He did not refuse to enjoy -any of the good gifts of God; He warned us against despising or throwing -them away, though He asked us to be ready, when love calls, to let them -go, or relinquish them for the good of others. He gave Himself wholly to -His mission, and He took no thought for the morrow. If He called His -apostles from their secular callings, it was not because such callings -hindered their own salvation, but because, withdrawn from them for love -of God and man, they would be freer to serve the world. We have -interpreted the Apostolate as expressing His desire that in the Church -there will always be an order devoted specially to the service of -religion, but this form of service was never meant to be regarded as the -only religious service. If one calling is consecrated, it is as one day -is consecrated, that all may be sanctified thereby. The world was never -renounced by the apostles that they might work out their own salvation; -and if they “exercised” themselves it was because self-control fitted -them to render more valuable service for man’s redemption. The -missionary zeal which drove the members of the Primitive Church all over -the world to sow the seeds of truth and love made them take no thought -of what they should eat or what they should drink; and missionary zeal -all through the Christian ages has manifested the same indifference to -the Βιωτικά of existence; but those who have been most inspired by it, -and who have found nothing impracticable in following the manner of life -which our Lord Himself led, have never deemed it the only way, or even -the highest way, of Christian service. It was that to which they felt -inwardly moved and called by the Holy Ghost, and, like the apostles, -they exhorted all others to abide in the callings wherein they were -called. - -Primitive Christianity, like any other religion, was susceptible to -morbid affections, and the germs of disease with which the atmosphere -around it was charged found early a lodgment within it, and soon matured -into portentous fertility. The persecutions of the Church, the terrible -corruption of the world, the troubles and temptations consequent on the -first junction of Christianity with the Imperial Power, the mistaken -idea that the world which the Church had manifestly failed to transform, -or even preserve, was doomed, and that Christ was speedily coming in His -glory to judge it, strengthened the ascetic tendency to come out and be -separate from it.[257] By the end of the third century the deserts of -Egypt and Arabia, and the mountains of Asia Minor, were so peopled with -recluses that in one spot alone there were ten thousand men and twenty -thousand women. At the close of another century Monachism had a home in -every province of the Oriental Church, and monks and nuns formed “a -nation,” as distinct from the clergy as the clergy were from the common -believers, and in many instances they were hated and persecuted by -clergy and laity alike.[258] - -The original purpose of the founders of the new institution, however, -was not to shelter mystics and visionaries, but to train soldiers and -martyrs. Solitude was not intended to be an asylum for the weak, or an -infirmary for the diseased, but an arena for the training and testing of -athletes. “Come,” says Chrysostom,[259] “and see the tents of the -soldiers of Christ. Come, behold their order of battle.” Augustine also -refers to them as “milites Christi,” even as later on they were -designated as “the chivalry of the Church” and “the paladins of God.” -Though not of the world, and being above its ways, they were yet in it -and for it. So these retreats were not only technical schools, -representing the industries essential to the well-being of man; they -were also academies for sacred studies, from which went forth champions -like Athanasius to defend the faith against the heretic, and like Basil -to defend the Church against the Empire. They were also brotherhoods of -charity, in which in self-imposed austerities men grew tender in respect -for the miseries of others, and anticipated in much more unfavourable -times the hospitals for “sick children” and “lepers” and “incurables,” -which we are inclined to regard as the peculiar products of the latest -Christian centuries.[260] Of course, early Christian Monachism had its -ridiculous extravagances, in types like the Stylites and Browsers; and -of course even its soberer types soon degenerated through over -cultivation, till it became a greater hindrance to the spread of -Christianity than all external opposition and persecution. The spirit of -piety which it originated was speedily poisoned by superstition; -theological discussion supplanted the love of earnest study; the spirit -of obedience and loyalty was superseded by that of intrigue and revolt. -So though it spread, it was not as a contagion of health, but as an -infectious disease, whose evil effects are traceable in the decrepitude -which the Oriental Church has never been able to throw off. - -In the Western Church, Monachism, though less brilliant in its -beginnings than its Eastern precursor, has had a longer and healthier -course. It is not within the scope of this lecture even to sketch it, or -to analyse and tabulate its results. We live in an age which has -certainly little sympathy with the ideal of Christianity which it sought -to realise, but that is not sufficient reason that we should affect to -despise it, or imagine that we have outgrown the necessity for it. The -life of the recluse may be beyond our attainment, for we may be so -afraid to be alone, and so unable to endure “conversation with -ourselves,” that we have to take refuge in perpetual society. The -“weakness” of the old asceticism many of us have not the strength to -practise, for we are too much under the dominion of the flesh, which -they at least could master, and we are far too inclined to treat with -unnecessary tenderness what they chastised and immolated. The vows of -poverty and obedience and chastity may be the very medicine we require, -in a condition of public sentiment so unhealthy that a man’s standing, -and worth, and even life, seems to consist in the abundance of his -goods, and his freedom in licence to despise all authority and indulge -all his likings. No doubt, in the West as in the East, Monachism -eventually became an impediment to Christian civilisation, but not until -it had considerably regenerated and uplifted it. It kept before the -Church the dignity of manual labour, it wiped out the discredit -attaching to honest poverty, it proclaimed the equality of men by -treating rich and poor alike, and it proved the defender of the -oppressed, the mediator between the strong and the feeble. “We are the -poor of Christ,” says Bernard, “and the friendship of the poor makes us -the equals of kings.” Then just as unquestionably it was the pioneer of -learning and of enterprise, the guardian of law and the fosterer of -charity. There is hardly a city or populous centre in Europe which does -not owe its churches, universities, hospitals, charitable institutions, -either in their origin or growth, to the cœnobites and celibates of -former ages; and whether we acknowledge or repudiate our debt to them, -“its magnitude confronts us more imposingly the more we honestly -consider it.” - -But like all unnatural segregations of human beings from society, for -which man was made, Monachism everywhere became eventually an excuse for -indolence and misanthropy; a refuge for the melancholy, and for all who -had become unfit to serve either the world or the Church. Its whole -history in the Christian Church has justified the warning of St. Paul -against artificial methods of attaining to saintliness. The vices which -beset society never lost any of their power over the recluses of the -desert or the inmates of the monastery, while many other vices were -added to the host that assailed the solitary, undefended by his -fellows.[261] “Woe to him that is alone, for when he falls there is not -another to raise him up! Woe to him that is alone, for there is no one -to keep him from falling!” are the lessons of this long mistaken attempt -to realise an undemanded standard of excellence; and yet, just because -of the consistency of its ideal with one side of Christian service, -modern Christendom, though in altered and modified forms, has not parted -with Monachism yet. - -“The ideal of the Christian monk,” says Montalembert, “is that of -manhood in its purest and most energetic form—manhood intellectually and -morally superior, devoting itself to efforts greater and more sustained -than are exacted in a worldly career; and this not to make earthly -service a stepping-stone to heaven, but of life a long series of -victories for man.”[262] Surely this is the ideal of every Christian -minister truly consecrated to the service of man; yea, the ideal of -every brother or sister who, married or single, in business or society, -is trying to reach forward to the mark of our high calling. There is no -code of disabilities in the service of Christ, and the way to the -highest honours is open to all who wish to enter it, of whatever -condition or rank or mental capacity they may be. When this common ideal -was fallen from in the monastic orders, it was being realised by many -private members of the Church; when the professional Church had -falsified it, it was being upheld by so-called “men of the world”; and -therefore, as a natural consequence, when the monastic orders of -Christendom became corrupt, society, true to its better instincts, rose -up and reformed them or swept them away. There was always a large volume -of life outside the particular channel which these orders filled, to -purify it when it became foul, or to force it onward, when stagnant, -into the life of the Church. - -But it was not so in Buddhism. Its lay associates, however numerous, -were but the fringes of religious communities essentially and wholly -monastic. When, therefore, deterioration or degradation in the Order set -in, reformation of it by the people was hopeless. In the Order this -deterioration showed itself earlier that its dominant ideal was lower -than the Christian. In early Christian Monachism, fortitude and devotion -all sprang from the immolation of self for the universal good. In -Buddha’s Sangha, however, though there was both devotion and fortitude -displayed, the goal to be reached was simply self-rescue. Its course of -beneficence therefore was not only shorter but shallower. -Unintentionally it wrought out social reforms, and perhaps political -revolution. It restrained luxury, and checked the unbounded sensuality -to which Indians are prone; it rebuked the earthly-minded, and witnessed -nobly of the higher interests of life to peoples that sorely needed the -testimony. It not only propagated morality, but promoted learning, and a -love of the beautiful in nature and art, but its force was eventually -exhausted. Very early it sank into the stagnation in which it has -existed for centuries, and any advance registered by the nations among -whom the institution has existed has been due, for more than a thousand -years, to the influx of Christian ideas and sentiments. - -Its own methods hastened its decay. Like all Eastern religious growths, -it represented the piety of inertion. Manual labour of all kinds was -placed under the ban, and beyond attending to the cleanliness of his -person and of his lodging the Buddhist monk was not allowed to do -anything save itinerate for his maintenance and the preaching of the -law. He was instructed that every moment abstracted from meditation was -serious loss. This was in direct contradiction to the very first rule of -Christian solitary life, which even in the stifling heat of the desert -demanded manual tasks, which fasting might be said to have doubled, -continued through the long day till vespers summoned the labourers to -worship. The Buddhist monk knew neither the healthy life of physical -exertion nor the spiritual refreshment of worship. He might vindicate -his idleness against the reproaches of the industrious by the assertion -that he too in his quiet life was also “ploughing and sowing” to much -better purpose,[263] but then the effect of his ploughing and the fruit -of his sowing were all confined to himself, who alone was freed by it -from suffering. He could not answer, as the Nicæan monk and quondam -courtier replied to Valens, when challenged as to whither he was going, -“I go to pray for your empire.”[264] Augustine has indeed assured us -that “the less a monk labours in anything but prayer the more -serviceable he is to men”; but the prayer which he had in view was not -selfish. On the contrary, the tears and penitential exercises of men who -had become strangers to all personal desires “were mighty to drown sin -and purify the world.”[265] As long as monks were truly prayerful, and -nuns, like vestals, kept alive the sacred fire for every hearth, they -represented that side of the Church’s mediation which is most important -and effective; for no one can be really effective in the service of man -who is not frequent in the service of waiting upon God. The heroes of -the Christian Church, who have evangelised and civilised the wild waste -places of the world, who, like the apostle, laid aside every encumbrance -to run their race, were, like the apostle, men of much meditation and -prayer. We have no such examples in Buddhism, for it lacked the -provision which alone could nurture them. In the life of the Buddhist -monk there was probably more, and more intense meditation than in that -of the Christian, but there was a vast difference in their respective -themes of meditation. The Christian could draw his inspiration from a -source far higher and purer than himself, and in communion with the -Father, Redeemer, Sanctifier of his spirit gather a strength which -astonished the world; but what possible inspiration for endeavour could -come to a poor Buddhist monk who was chiefly occupied in contemplating -the impurity of his perishable body, and whose very highest theme of -meditation was simply “nothing whatever”?[266] - -Another essential distinction between the two modes of life is disclosed -in their relation to charity. We have seen that Buddhism had no -conception of charity in the Christian sense, and that practical charity -in it was represented from a pole quite opposite to that of -Christianity. As if conscious of its defects, later Buddhism originated -faith in and hope of Maitreya, the Buddha who is next to come, and who, -as the son of love, will realise its unconscious prophecies, fulfil its -longings, and perfect all things; but notwithstanding this the Buddhist -monk continued to be the receiver, not the dispenser, of charity. His -whole merit consisted in taking what it was the merit of the layman to -offer him:[267] and the taking was all for himself and for his Order. He -had no conception of the life suggested in the saying, “As poor, yet -making many rich,” and he never could have said of his monastery that it -was “l’infirmière des pauvres.” To offer charity to others was the last -conception which he could form of his duty: yea, to clothe the naked, -take the leper from the dunghill, and help the outcast, was the very -reverse of his duty. His creed as to misery in this being the fruit of -evil done in a former existence, cut him off from that service of the -lost and fallen which in Christendom has been accounted glorious, and -for the rendering of which, several of its monastic institutions have -been spared the penalty of their corruption. - -The charity which the Buddhist monk practised was in his preaching and -exposition of the law for the deliverance of the multitudes. And that -this may be the very highest form in which benevolence can express -itself all Christians must admit, for the greatest gift which any man -can bestow is the truth which makes one free. Buddhist monk and -Christian missionary alike proclaimed a gospel for the redemption of -men; and as the gospel of Christ’s salvation brings ever many blessings -in its train, so the preaching of the mendicant Buddhist was attended -with material beneficial results to those who heard and believed it. The -Buddhist, however, while expounding the law for the rescue of the -individual, never laboured, like the Christian missionary, for his -temporal and social improvement. His message had no promise for the life -that now is, and consequently he never seems to have played the part so -nobly sustained by many of the monks of Christendom—that of defending -the oppressed and befriending the helpless. He never, so far as can be -gathered from the texts, proclaimed the equality of men in the same way -and for the same purpose as a Christian reformer would preach it. -Theoretically, he maintained the right of all classes to be admitted to -the brotherhood, but Dr. Oldenberg has asserted that “in the composition -of the Order a marked leaning to the existing aristocracy was -observable.”[268] Buddha never had occasion to confess with the -Christian apostle “that not many noble, not many mighty, were called,” -nor had his Order ever to bear the reproach of the Church, that its -members were recruited from the lowest strata of society. The references -to his disciples from the first all indicate people of rank and wealth -and education. It is not implied that persons of humble origin would -have been rejected had they come, only that “the scriptures afford no -evidence that they did come”; and yet they yield unmistakable evidence -that, as the Order prospered, all lepers, cripples, blind, or one-eyed -persons, all who were deaf and dumb, all who were consumptive or subject -to fits, were rejected.[269] The Order was for the reputable, the noble, -and especially for the religious, for the Brahman votary, and Sraman -seeker after truth. These again were all attracted to it; they were not -sought out as by the Christian Church. Not for one moment would Christ -allow the Church to become select. He not only welcomed all -penitents—for all men needed salvation, and the poorest and the -guiltiest were most in need of it,—but He sent forth His apostles to -seek and gather them, and in order to reason down all natural fears, -based on the personal unworthiness of these outcasts of society, they -were instructed to “compel them to come in.”[270] - -Of propagandism in this sense the Buddhist Sangha knew nothing. It was -moved by no enthusiasm of humanity; it felt nothing of that earnestness -which from the days of the apostles has characterised the true -propagators of the gospel. In no discourse that has come down to us is -there any impassioned entreaty of men to repent and believe. There is no -sorrow over the unbelieving who refuse their salvation, no burning -indignation against those who despise or who scoff at the truth. In -Buddha’s last view of the world there is no weeping as over Jerusalem, -reprobate because of its wickedness, and in none of his successors do we -find any trace of the apostle’s willingness to be anathema for the sake -of his brethren. - -This tolerant spirit of Buddhism, however, has been contrasted, as -greatly in its favour, with that alleged intolerance which Christianity -is supposed to have inherited from Judaism. We must remember that -Christianity must be judged as it is presented in Christ, and not by His -professing followers, who have often misrepresented Him. Of hypocrisy, -cruelty, deceit, Christ was indeed intolerant, but toward error and -misbelief, because of ignorance, He was very compassionate. Christianity -would make no compromise, again, with false systems of heathendom. It -would have no peace save through victory; it would not accept a place in -the Pantheon for its Lord, and it was content to be persecuted till He -was allowed to rule from the throne of the world. The alleged -intolerance of Christianity, therefore, is simply its conviction of the -infinite importance and value to all men of the truth which compels it -to be propagandist. Now if Buddhism tolerates everything, it is because -it is not sure about anything, but, on the contrary, is in doubt about -everything. It is essentially sceptical, “raising the rejection of every -affirmation to the rank of a principle.”[271] Earnestness in a preacher -of sceptical quietism was an impossibility. He had no heart touched with -the feeling of heavenly love, wounded by sin, impelling him to proclaim -forgiveness, and he had no such hearts to appeal to. The Christian -missionary appeals to soul and conscience in name of a Saviour crucified -for sin; the Buddhist missionary only appealed through the intellect to -self-interest. His preaching was purely didactic, expository, and -advisory in character. He was at best a theologian or moral philosopher -teaching the ignorant, and not a preacher aiming at the conviction of -sinners, endeavouring, with his whole heart and strength and mind, to -sway them to conversion.[272] He never experienced the almost consuming -glow and fervour of inspiration which made the apostles agonise in their -mission. “Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.” “I -pray you, in Christ’s stead, Be ye reconciled to God.” As might have -been expected, the early enthusiasm of Buddhists for the enlightenment -of others soon died out, and its missionary spirit, once spent, has -never undergone a true revival. It can boast of many ecclesiastics and -philosophers, but for hundreds of years it cannot point in its -honour-roll to either a Xavier or a Livingstone. It has long ago ceased -to be aggressive. At this day no Oriental Buddhist seriously -contemplates becoming a missionary. Paris may add to its attractions and -curiosities a real Buddhist temple,[273] but the priests who officiate -in it, however devoted they may be to their cult, will certainly never -dream of taking the trouble of preaching it in the streets. - -In the Church of the middle ages, supposed to consist only of pope and -bishops and clergy and monks and nuns, of which mediævalism a remnant -survives in those who speak of “entering the Church,” not when as -children they are baptized into its communion, but when they are to be -ordained to service in it, we must look for any resemblance to the -Buddhist Sangha. In ancient India, a church, meaning the fellowship of -the faithful in its totality, was an impossibility. Brahmanism had no -church, and never attempted a conversion, but Buddha in seeking to -rescue others from evil, and in offering a place of escape which they -were free to accept or reject, created not a church but a precursor of -one.[274] Admission into his Brotherhood was at first open to all who -requested it, but as disciples crowded around him, and parents -complained that they were bereaved of their children, and masters that -they were robbed of their slaves, and creditors that they were deprived -of what was owing by their debtors, and even the judges that criminals -escaped the prison; and when accusations grew frequent and loud that the -new movement would ruin households, injure the State, and depopulate the -country, restrictions were devised. Gradually conditions were imposed by -which all who were diseased, or criminals, or soldiers, or debtors, or -slaves, or children under fifteen years of age, or youths under twenty -who had not received their parents’ consent, were disqualified.[275] At -first the disciple was admitted without any ceremony, beyond that of -shaving the whole head, and putting on the yellow robes which -distinguished the ascetic and the recluse, but eventually a rite of -initiation was adopted, which in Ceylon has continued substantially -unaltered to this day. - -It consisted of two stages;[276] the first that of the novitiate into -which a candidate could be received by any fully accredited monk. The -ceremony was called the Pabbagga, or “outgoing,” a word used from old -time to describe the last act of a pious Brahman, when, warned by -approaching age, he gave up his possessions to his family, and left them -to enter upon the hermit life of meditation. The Buddhists naturally -adopted it to mark the first step by which a layman at any age exchanged -the secular for the religious life. It was a confession that he desired -to be done with the world, to put off the old man with his deeds and to -put on the new. So with head and face completely shaven, and holding -three lengths of yellow cotton cloth, first torn to render them -valueless, and then sewed together, he presented his petition three -times, that “the reverend monks would take pity on him, and invest him -with the robes, that, like them, he might escape sorrow.” The presiding -monk then tied the clothes around his neck, repeating sentences -regarding the perishable nature of the body, and the petitioner retired. -When he reappeared he had laid aside the loin-cloth, generally the only -article of raiment in tropical lands, and had assumed the new -investiture of the two under-garments and the loose robe, which covered -the whole body, except the right shoulder, of a Buddhist mendicant. -Three times, thus clothed, in “robes of humility and religion,” in -reverential salaam to the monk or monks present, he made public -confession that he took refuge in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and receiving -instructions as to conduct and duty, he became a Sramanera, a bachelor -as it were, a monk of lower degree. - -When the novice who had thus “gone forth” from the world, or from the -membership of another fraternity, had “seen the truth, mastered the -truth, understood the truth, penetrated the truth; when he had overcome -uncertainty, dispelled all doubts, was dependent on nobody else for his -knowledge of the doctrines of the Teacher,”[277] he presented himself -before the Order, of whom ten members at least had to be in session, and -reverentially cowering on the ground with his hands clasped on his -forehead, he three times entreated them “to take pity upon him and draw -him out of the evil world by granting him Upasampada” or the “arrival” -initiation rite.[278] Then followed his examination as to whether he was -qualified[279] in his person, his health, his social and civil -relations, whether he had provided an alms-bowl and the yellow robes, -what was his own name, and that of the teacher with whom he was to -consort, and whom he was to serve during a course of five years’ -instruction in the whole doctrine and discipline of the system. If the -answers to all these questions were satisfactory, the resolution to -receive him was formally put by the presiding monk, and thrice repeated: -“Whosoever of the venerable is for granting Upasampada to this novice, -with brother So-and-so for his teacher, let him be silent.” When no -dissent was intimated the resolution was passed. “The Sangha is in -favour of it, therefore it is silent—thus I understand,” said the -president, and the novice became a Samana, a fully accredited member of -the Order of Bikkhus. - -There was certainly nothing of the Church in all this ceremony, and Sir -Monier Williams very properly guards us from applying to it the sacred -word of ordination.[280] Any one who cares to read the texts in which -the proceedings are described will be inclined to think that the -questions put to the novice, in their childishness and absurdity, seem -diabolically framed to caricature the solemn and soul-searching -questions addressed to candidates for the Holy Ministry. Yet in the -instruction given to the newly admitted member, concerning the “four -chief forbidden acts” from which he must abstain, and “the four -resources”[281] in which he was to trust, there was a touch of the -solemnity which belongs to the charge which follows Christian -ordination. The monk was reminded that in regard to what was pleasant -and permissible to other men he had subjected himself to self-denial and -a yoke. He might receive from the pious, without offence, offerings of -food and clothing, and medicine and shelter, but he must be prepared for -the hard life of one whose food might only be scraps and refuse put into -his bowl, whose clothing might have to be made of cast-off rags, whose -shelter might often be the tree in the jungle or the cave in the rock, -and whose medicine might be only the foul deposit of the cattle-pen. He -was warned that any breach of the four cardinal precepts—against -unchastity, which to him meant what to others was the lawful estate of -marriage, against theft, even of a blade of grass, against murder, even -to the crushing of a flea, against assumption of virtues not really -possessed,—would necessitate expulsion from the Order. “For even as a -man whose head is cut off cannot live with the trunk; ... as a dry leaf -separate from the stalk can never again become green; ... as a stone -split in two cannot be made into one; ... as a palm whose top is -destroyed cannot again grow, so the monk who breaks the least of these -laws is no longer a Samana, no longer a follower of the -Sakya-putta.”[282] - -To the credit of Buddha, however, it must be observed, that a monk who -had entered the Order was at any time free to withdraw from it. If he -had a hankering after home, or the pleasures of the old life which he -had forsaken, he was exhorted to confess his weakness and renounce a -vocation which he had found too high for him. He had simply to declare -before a witness that he renounced Buddha, Dharma, Sangha—yea, he could -go forth without making any declaration at all. Freely as he had joined, -as freely could he abandon the brethren; no anger was expressed or even -felt; no discredit attached to him, for the working out of his -deliverance was his own concern. Yea, if at any time he repented of his -action, and desired to renew with the companions of wiser days the -relation of votary or novice, he was not subjected to any discipline, -such as a lapsed member of the Church might be expected to undergo when -seeking re-communion. He was treated upon his confession as though his -past had not been remembered, and as if his folly or fault had never -been committed.[283] Such facility of withdrawal and readmission seemed -to tend to laxity, and may have occasioned very great abuses, but on the -very face of it, it appears calculated to preserve monastic life in -India in a much healthier condition than has always prevailed in the -recluse institutions of Christendom. In how many cases has the monastery -become worse than a prison, and the convent become a very chamber of -tortures, because occupied by reluctant tenants, who have been cruelly -immured in them against their will, or have thoughtlessly devoted -themselves to a vocation for which they were totally unfit. The Eastern -sage may even have shown greater wisdom than the Western bishops and -presbyters, who have bound over for life those admitted to a sacred -profession, so that freedom from it can only be got by ignominious -expulsion, and by degradation for a fault or a crime. - -The Sangha from the first was an order of Cœnobites, not Solitaries, and -it was an exception for a mendicant to be alone; for with his practical -insight Buddha seems to have discovered that the life of solitude has -more disadvantages and dangers than that of fellowship. So he ordained -that the newly admitted monk must attach himself for five years to a -tutor and teacher,[284] one of whom must have been ten years in the -Order, rendering to them such personal offices as Elisha rendered to -Elijah, and receiving such parental instruction as St. Paul bestowed -upon his son in the faith. No vow of obedience, so essential to the -monastic rule of Christendom, unless in regard to the laws of the Order, -was exacted. No man could be called Rabbi among them, for the knowledge -which brought deliverance could be and must be acquired by each man for -himself.[285] A monk was expected to reverence his superior in age and -knowledge, but his obedience was to be rendered not to his brother, who -was simply his equal in respect of need and capability of deliverance, -but only to _The Law_ which alone could secure it. - -While obedience to a superior was not exacted, the law of poverty and -chastity was as obligatory upon the Buddhist monk as on the members of -the Christian Orders. Francis of Assisi could not more highly have -eulogised poverty as “the way to salvation, the nurse of humility, the -root of perfection,” than did the Indian monks who compiled the Buddhist -scriptures. “In supreme felicity live we, though we call nothing our -own. Feeding on happiness, we are like the gods in the regions of -light.”[286] Food a monk could receive, but not ask for, and of what he -so received he could only have one meal a day. Gold or silver he could -on no account accept, though he might accept its equivalents in food or -medicine. If like Achan’s wedge it was found to have been secreted by -any covetous member, one of the brethren had to hide it away in the -jungle, in a place which could not again be recognised. Bitter -controversies regarding this prohibition seem to have exercised the -primitive Sanghas, and though it was successfully maintained for long, -concessions in relation to it were eventually agreed upon. These however -proved as fatal to the prosperity of the Buddhist, as similar -concessions proved to that of the Western monastic establishments. They -were seeds of evil which speedily grew up into thickets of trouble. The -individual member professed to observe the original law and maintain the -principle that “a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of his -goods,” but the several fraternities came speedily to abound in lands -and property of every kind, so that in the East as in the West it may be -said the monasteries fell, because crushed with their weight of wealth. - -Even while the primitive rule was observed the mendicants could easily -procure what of the necessaries of food and shelter and clothing they -required; the jungle gave them all the shelter they needed, though it -exposed them to frequent perils of being poisoned by snake-bites, and -devoured by beasts. The rains put an end periodically to their -peregrinations, and gathered the twos and threes who had been -associating together into common retreat in the viharas. These -originally were intended to be only temporary shelters from the annual -floods, but as by degrees the system extended into distant regions, they -became permanent institutions, each one a centre of influence in its own -territory, like the abbeys in the original dioceses of mediæval Europe. - -Life in a Buddhist vihara two thousand years ago must however have been -very different from life in a monastic establishment in the middle ages. -Labour, as we have seen, of no kind was allowed, either among them or -for them. “A monk who digs the earth or causes it to be dug is liable to -punishment.”[287] Scant time was allowed for sleep, and when there were -no books to read or transcribe, the studies or literary occupations of -the West were out of the question. All the intellectual energies were -claimed for the repetition of such sacred works as they knew, and for -the committing to memory of others which they had only acquired. -Examination of self, meditation on the five principal themes which -occupied the place of prayer or devotion in their system, was expected -to absorb the most of the day. Notwithstanding its intervals of -instruction and discussion, it must have been a very vacant life indeed, -lacking entirely the worship, and most of the duties, which rendered -monastic life in Christendom, if not always profitable, at least -supportable. - -Two outstanding features of it, however, compare very favourably with -some forms of the ascetic life both in India and Europe. In the Buddhist -Sanghas would be witnessed neither the slovenliness nor the dirtiness -which has often been associated with the life of those who have -renounced the world and have professed to despise its pleasant things. -Around them, - - “Besmeared with mud and ashes, crouching foul, - In rags of dead men, wrapped about their loins,”[288] - -were many solitaries endeavouring to gain perfection or exhibit it, in -types more conform to Nebuchadnezzar in his madness or the demoniacs who -had their dwellings in the tombs. Buddha condemned uncleanliness in all -its forms. The robes which he enjoined his monks to wear may have been -made up of rags picked up from a dunghill or from a cemetery, but they -were scrupulously washed, properly dyed, and carefully mended. The -ground all round the vihara, as well as its floors within, had to be -swept every day, and its every item of furniture had to be punctually -dusted and garnished. His monks were Pharisees in regard to the washing -of hands and bowls and other utensils, and they anticipated our modern -demand for proper ventilation.[289] A Buddhist mendicant of the days of -King Asoka might prove a good model of personal neatness and domestic -tidiness for many a Christian minister in these days of Queen Victoria. -He belonged to an Order originally founded by a man who was in every -sense a gentleman, and which for long numbered among its members many -noble and even princely men. Inheriting their instincts, he stoutly -maintained their traditions, that “neither plaited hair, nor dirt, nor -lying on the earth, nor rubbing with dust, can purify a mortal who has -not overcome desires”; “that he who, though well dressed, exercises -tranquillity, is quiet, subdued, restrained, chaste, and has ceased to -find fault with all other beings, he is indeed a Brahmana, a Sramana, a -Bikkhu.”[290] - -Again, in these old pictures of Buddhist Sangha life, there is no -reflection of that insane passion for suffering which marked the gaunt -and self-mutilated Yogis around them, and which also distinguished many -of the ascetics of Christendom. The flagellations, and lacerations, and -macerations which at one time became popular in European monasteries, -and which made even a man like the founder of the Franciscan Order -refuse food and sleep for days together, spend whole nights in winter up -to the neck in snow or water, put ashes in the meals which had been -cooked for him, would not for an hour have been tolerated; yea, they -would have been laughed out of the world by Buddha and his monks. -Wherever they went, they encountered grievous companies of - - “Eyeless and tongueless, sexless, crippled, deaf: - The body by the mind being thus stripped - For glory of much suffering, and the bliss - Which they shall win,”[291] - -but they never seem to have been tempted to give way to this -intoxication which was supposed to make men gods. Self-denial was -essential, but severe austerities and bodily penance were strongly -discouraged. “Blooming, well-fed, with healthy colour and skin,” is the -description often given in the old texts of a model Bikkhu. Buddha, when -first met by the Brahman sages after his illumination, surprised them by -the serenity of his countenance, the purity and brightness of his -complexion. Among the first salutations addressed to the brethren on -their return from their wanderings was the question whether they had -been well fed.[292] It is true some Buddhist saints might be found -sitting for days in the burning sun, oblivious to its fiery torments, -but these must have been exceptions, for there is no mistaking either -the teaching or the life of Buddha himself. All these extravagant -cruelties, by which men have abused or sought to destroy the most -beautiful organism and the most perfect instrument which has ever been -produced in this world, were by him regarded as foolish and dangerous, -and as debasing as the sensualism which they sought to avoid. - -Though we have hitherto referred to the Buddhist Order, it is hardly -correct to think of it as just one community. Though theoretically the -Sangha of Buddha was the ideal unit, practically it never became so. -After his decease there was no central governing power to direct and -inspire the whole organisation. The patriarchs, of whom a long -succession is given, were not hierarchs in the Greek or Latin -sense.[293] They were simply outstanding Arhats, the heroic defenders -and apostles of the system. Primitive Buddhism was represented not by -one but by many Sanghas, for each brother as he went forth became the -centre of a new fraternity. Its original cultus was based on the idea -that community of aim would suffice to gather the knots of people who -lived near each other for mutual confession and instruction and -discipline. So they continued a custom which had come down from their -Vedic ancestors, who, in the four days of the lunar month, when the moon -is new, or full, or half-way between the two, celebrated the fast -preparatory to the offering of the intoxicating Soma. The Buddhists had -neither fast, nor sacrifice, nor offering, nor any form of religious -worship whatever, but in these days they gathered for careful -examination of themselves in the light of the Prohibitions, for public -confession one to another, and for discipline. For these weekly -gatherings the manual of the Pâtimokkha or Disburdenment was composed, -it is averred, by Buddha himself.[294] To this public catechising and -purgation of the Roll all the brethren had to come; even a sick man was -only excused when he could assure the assembly, through a sponsor, that -he was clean of fault, and if no brother was available for this office -the assembly had to adjourn to meet at his couch. Its president, who -also summoned the brethren, was the monk of the longest standing among -them. So far it seemed to anticipate our principle of Presbyterian -parity, but, like Convocation, it was an exclusively ecclesiastical -gathering, for neither nun, nor novice, nor layman was allowed to be -present. Like our presbyteries when applying their privy censures, they -expected to be “alone.” Then, when all were reverentially placed, in -presence of no heart-searching God, but before one another, there was -recited by the president the order of confessional, according to the -rule that if there was no transgression there was no interruption, and -silence indicated innocence. - -First came the recitation of the gravest offences: the four Pârâgikâ -renounced upon their admission, commission of any one of which involved -expulsion from the Order. Then came the list of the less serious -transgressions—Samghâdisesas, involving temporary degradation, and -lastly that of the Pâkittya, or venial faults, which were atoned for by -simple confession. It was a lengthy, minute, ill-arranged form of -inquisition, more comprehensive and rigid than any catechism of the -confessional which Romanism ever devised.[295] It out-phariseed the -Pharisees in its trivialities and repetitions and straining out of -gnats, and no manual of the cloister ever discovered, could equal its -disgusting details of every conceivable form of unnatural vice supposed -to be perpetrable by the brethren.[296] It reads more like a suggestion -to sin than a defence against temptation. We can understand from it -alone, how impossible it was for Buddhism to live up to its true -principles, how incapable it was of urging on the steady moral progress -of the race, and of even realising the example of its founder. Life’s -whole strength was wasted in watching against petty and artificial -transgressions, so that none was available for the prosecution of real -duty. Yet if deliverance was to come by the law, the most trivial -details of action had to be tried; but here, as elsewhere, by the law -was only the knowledge of sin, and that not as an offence against an -infinitely Holy One, but only as a misfortune, or at worst an -imprudence, a stumbling-block placed by man himself in the way of -advancing his interest. - -At the close of the rainy season, when the brethren were making ready -for their wanderings, another solemn conference for self-purgation was -held. In this exercise of the Pâvârana or Invitation no one known to be -under the burden of scandal could take part, but all who were -consciously clean, from the oldest to the youngest, invited the brethren -to name any offence which during their common retreat they might have -noted in their conduct. “I invite, venerable ones, the Order; if ye have -seen anything offensive on my part, or have heard anything, or have any -suspicion about me, have pity upon me, and name it. If I see it, I will -make amends.”[297] It may be asked whether such an institution as this -could ever have flourished in Christendom, although the purest of our -Churches might adopt it with profit. These Buddhist brethren could not -pray the one for the other, but they could confess their faults one to -another by a simpler and more effective method than has ever been -attempted by the confessional. That institution in Christendom has -tended more to corrupt and degrade than to purify and elevate society, -for it has interfered with the divinely instituted and much more ancient -confessional of home. In its secrecy, sealed by affection to father or -mother, or brother or sister, can be told out the things that burn -within; and no priest or ecclesiastic can usurp this parental or -brotherly function without injuring what they must earnestly desire to -protect. This confessional, however, of the one to the whole little -brotherhood, making them watch for and consider one another, must have -tended to mutual edification. It seems of all the observances of the -Sangha to have most nearly realised one great purpose of the Church, -that of being helpful to each other’s salvation. St. Paul and St. James -would have felt at home in such a conference. They would probably have -warned the brethren against judging one another, and they would have -instructed them that only One whose knowledge is perfect, because His -love is infinite, could try the lives of men; but they would have -commended them for this honest endeavour to fulfil one of the precepts -of the perfect law of liberty: “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a -fault, ye who are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of -meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” - -The part played by woman in the early history of Buddhism was analogous -to that assumed by woman in relation to primitive Christianity. Women -were among the most zealous supporters of Buddha, ministering to him of -their substance. Subsequently, as in the case of the Christian Church, -the largest proportion of the wealth which was lavished in such -marvellous munificence upon the Order came from female votaries. -Evidently in those days in India the position of woman was not so -degraded and helpless as it afterwards became. Women in old Indian -literature are seen to be much more on an equality with men; they are -not only represented as receiving scholastic instruction, but even to -them as authoresses some of the Vedic hymns were ascribed.[298] At any -rate, women appear in almost every Buddhist episode, and they move about -with a freedom which contrasts strangely with the seclusion and -restraint in which in India they have lived for ages. In the character -of Buddha there seems to have been much that was peculiarly attractive -to the best type of women, and at least one of these stands forth with -very clearly marked individuality.[299] His mother is only a shadow in -the legends, and we can only conjecture what the parent of so good and -gentle a man must have been. But his wife confronts us with so much that -is womanly in the picture that we feel she must have been drawn from -life. Very pathetic and tender is the graphic account of her first -interview with him, upon his return as the illustrious Buddha to his -father’s house.[300] When all came to do him honour, Yasodhara did not -come, for she said, “If I am of any value in his eyes, he will come -himself, and I can welcome him better here.” Buddha, noting her absence, -went attended by two of his disciples to the place where she was, and he -warned his companions not to prevent her should she seek to embrace him, -although no member of the Order could touch or be touched by a woman. -And when she saw him, a mendicant in yellow robes, with shaven head and -face—though she knew it would be so—she could not contain herself, but -fell at his feet, which she held, passionately weeping. Then remembering -the great and impassable gulf which he had fixed between them, she rose -and stood at his side. His father sought to apologise for her, telling -how in the greatness of her love she mourned and afflicted her soul for -loss of him, and refused to be comforted. She became his disciple; and -when afterwards, much against his inclination, he admitted women into a -separate branch of the Order, the poor wife, whom he had not only -widowed, but had bereft of her only child, “passed into the silent -life,” as one of the first of Buddhist nuns. - -All candid readers of the early Buddhist scriptures will admit that -Buddha must not only have been gentle in disposition but pure in -character. From male and female disciples alike he demanded chastity, in -the Christian conception of the virtue. In the reported discourses of -Buddha there is the same absence of direct denunciation of the vices -that corrupt society which is observable in the Gospels; but the -impression made by the reading of both narratives, is that of characters -so far removed from such vices, that people in their presence or under -their influence could not even think of them. In both narratives we have -presentations of “women who were sinners” in relation to Buddha and -Christ, but it will be confessed that the effect produced upon us is -very different in each case. The Indian episodes lack the stirrings of -the depths of spiritual feeling, the creative word of command exorcising -the lust, and unsealing the long congealed fountains of penitence, which -confront us so prominently in the scenes of the gospel. Buddha was a -pure man, demanding purity from all who would be saved, but demanding it -only as moralists have demanded it all along. There did not radiate from -him that blending of horror of sin and of pity for sinners which makes -the influence of Christ upon the wickedness and infirmities of men to be -unique in its regenerative power. Had Christ insisted upon purity just -as Buddha did, the world would have profited little by the teaching. -Unquestionably the mission of Buddha, though intended to make for -chastity, has not purified Eastern Asia from the gross and unnatural -vices to which all along it has been prone. - -For Buddha’s conception and estimate of woman was very inferior to that -of Christ.[301] She was regarded by him through the medium of the -traditional prejudice of her inferiority to man in every respect. To -him, as to Plato, women, of all snares which the tempter spreads for -man, were the most dangerous. Not only was the very smallest love for -them to be destroyed, but they were to be avoided, not to be spoken to, -not looked upon,[302] not to be helped even when in distress. Of their -future as women in the life hereafter he had no hope,[303] and the only -reward which he could hold out to them for obedience or benevolent -service, the very highest object of aspiration which he could present, -was that they might be re-born as men in another stage of existence. His -disciple Ananda did good service when he wrung from him permission to -form the order of Nuns,[304] for a nun might hope for salvation; but -alas for woman and for the progress of society if she had no other -gospel to trust in than that which Buddha preached! - -His ideal of purity was from the first vitiated by his celibate views of -life, and from these views human nature has always revolted in -proportion to the honesty with which men have striven to realise them. -Celibacy, when dominant or prevalent, has only produced a more vicious -and unnatural condition of society than that from which it attempted to -escape. The Son of Man represented nobler traditions, and taught far -sublimer doctrine. Woman, though different from, and in some respects -weaker, is in others higher and purer than man, and altogether his -consort. The pure love of the man for the woman was recognised by Christ -as one of the most sanctifying influences in life; and marriage, the -most sacred of all Divine institutions, as the bond which more than any -other keeps society together, obtained His special benediction, and was -committed by Him to His Church to guard as the palladium of social -freedom and dignity. Notwithstanding its many defections, the Church has -never been permitted to lose sight of the Lord’s ideal. Even in the days -of corrupted faith, when its laudation of virginity was most -extravagant, its unmistakable tendency was to acknowledge the true -dignity of the wife.[305] A recent writer professes to be unable “to see -that Christianity has had any favourable effect on the position of -women—on the contrary, it tended rather to lower their character and -contract the range of their activities.”[306] It is noticeable that his -facts or quotations are drawn from a period when asceticism had deeply -tainted the Church, and that they cannot be held to represent the -tendency of the teaching of Christ. The unmistakable influence of His -religion has been to ennoble family relations, and to secure woman in -her true position as the companion and helpmeet of man. It has been -stated by one who cannot be regarded as a special pleader, that what -most differentiates the European from the Hindu branch of the Aryan -race, is that the first has steadily carried forward, for the elevation -of woman, the series of reforms[307] from which the other, though going -a little way, recoiled. No one need fear to assert that the chief factor -in these reforms, sometimes carried against the resistance and -opposition of the Church, was the spirit of Christianity. In proportion -as the example of Christ has been honoured, and His teaching has been -accepted and obeyed, the emancipation of woman and the recognition of -her real rights have been secured. In any case it is certain that the -religion of Buddha, though probably not intended to perpetuate the -inferior position characteristic of woman in the East, has succeeded -neither in lifting her out of it, nor in preventing her from lapsing -more deeply into it. - -The time for discovering the worth of woman had not come in Buddha’s -age, and we must remember his antecedents and surroundings before we -condemn his estimate of or his relations to her. If the tradition be -reliable, he prophesied, upon yielding to Ananda’s intercession, that -because of women holy living would not long be preserved. They would -prove in the fair field of his Order what “the disease of mildew proved -to be in a field of rice.”[308] So though he admitted them to a separate -branch of the Order, he placed them under very stringent regulations, -and thoroughly under the tutelage of the monks. “A nun, though admitted -a nun a hundred years ago, must bow reverentially before a monk, though -only admitted to-day.” She must not pass the rainy season in a district -in which monks were not residing; she must report herself twice a month -to the Sangha for confession and instruction; she must give the Pavâranâ -invitation, and she must, if guilty of offence, atone for it before both -monks and nuns. She could only be admitted after a two years’ novitiate; -under no circumstances must she revile or rebuke a monk; yea, on no -occasion whatever must she charge him with any offence.[309] Between -them and the superior sex the strictest separation was maintained from -the first. The brother who was to teach and exhort them was never -allowed to enter their nunnery, unless a sister was very ill. For a monk -to journey alone with a nun, to cross a river in the same boat with one, -to sit alone with a nun, with or without witnesses, was a very grave -offence.[310] In short, in the Buddhist Sangha women were only tolerated -at the best, and they were very severely guarded and restrained, as -creatures not at all calculated to influence any one for good, and who -could only be prevented or tamed from doing mischief or harm.[311] - -The Sangha, as a brotherhood and sisterhood leading a celibate life, -coupled with abstinence from labour and from active services of charity, -was simply vicious in its tendency, and it proved one of the most -obstinate hindrances to the realisation of Buddha’s best ideas, and one -of the most powerful factors in the degradation of his religion. Human -nature was too strong to submit to such artificial restrictions; so very -early there gathered around him and his monks many who would not abandon -their families and their callings, though they took refuge in Buddha, -and proved the reality of their devotion by faithful service of the -Order and practice of the Law. These were the votaries, “upasaka” -(masc.), “upasika” (fem.), corresponding with the lay associates of the -great Mendicant Orders of Christendom. Converted to the observance of -the precepts, they could only, as long as they continued in the world, -be sustained by a very faint and far-off hope of deliverance. -Theoretically they might attain to sainthood, and from “this shore” of -common life, in most exceptional cases they might “pass across the -dominion of death,” and reach to the other shore.[312] The father of -Buddha is said to have done so on his deathbed, and another is recorded -in the legends as having gained Nirvana.[313] As a rule, however, it was -reckoned impossible for them to gain what was considered as so barely -possible for the Order of Mendicants, that only one or two even of them -did actually gain it here. Pious votaries, however, could hope for a -happy re-birth, and for strength of merit to be acquired; in some -hereafter sufficient to enable them eventually to pluck the fruit of -Nirvana. For such lay associates no ceremony of initiation was required; -only in presence of a monk the candidates made profession that they took -refuge in Buddha and Dharma and Sangha. They had to observe certain -precepts and prohibitions; had to renounce any trade involving the -making or selling of arms, or the killing of animals; they had to -abstain from all traffic in and use of intoxicating drinks, and to put -far away from them all falsehood, and theft, and unchastity. To seal -this, however, no formal vow was demanded of the votary, and to maintain -them in their obedience no pastoral supervision was accorded. When they -transgressed, even in the matter of scandalous living, there was neither -censure nor discipline, and when they offended by injuring the Order or -insulting one of its members, the only penalty inflicted was the refusal -of their invitations to dine, and the withdrawal from them of the -alms-bowl.[314] Into the Uposatha assemblies they dared not intrude, and -from the very slightest share of the business of the Order they were -strictly excluded.[315] They could only listen to the preaching of the -monks, whom they could feed, and lodge, and endow with houses and lands; -and all the reward they could hope for, was the prospect of acquiring in -some future life merit sufficient to enable them to renounce the world -and become mendicants like them. For the present they were not inside, -but only about, the circle of the Sakkya-putta-Samanas; he was not a -member of the family, but only a servitor and a slave.[316] The elect, -the disciples in deed and in truth, the heirs of salvation, were -exclusively the monks; and the Upâsaka at the best was one for whom it -was good “continuously to dispense rice milk, and honey lumps, if he had -a longing for joy, whether he desired heavenly joy or coveted only human -prosperity,”[317] His merit was most likely to be acquired by being -useful to the good, who served him by accepting his offerings,[318] and -taught him—though to a purpose undreamed of by St. Paul when he quoted -his Saviour’s saying—that in his case, at least, it was “more blessed to -give than to receive.” - -It is to the lasting honour of Buddha that he converted the Sangha into -a propaganda for preaching to all his way of salvation. He did not, for -he could not, conceive of that better society which our Lord has created -in the Holy Catholic Church. It is true, alas! that the actual or -visible Church has often caricatured, and has never yet properly -represented, its Lord’s ideal; but it has never been permitted wholly to -lose sight of that Kingdom whose citizenship is free to all who believe -and repent, and of that royal priesthood of which all are members who -trust in the one sacrifice and prevailing intercession of the Great High -Priest of our profession. If the visible Church has failed to convert, -or even to attract, the members of the Buddhist Sanghas, it is because -of something wrong in its methods, or false in its presentation; for -notwithstanding its failure, it possesses in the great gospel of the -Divine Fatherhood intrusted to its keeping, potentialities for gathering -all mankind into the only brotherhood which will satisfy their -heaven-born aspirations. The manifestation of it may still be a far-off -Divine event, and to bring it about God may employ many agencies other -than those which the Church as at present organised may be willing to -recognise or to use; but once that holy brotherhood is manifested, He -alone will be found at the head of it, who on His way to His agony, and -to the cross on which He was to reveal to the uttermost the love of the -Creator for the human race, paused by the brook Kedron, and made this -supplication mingle with the ripple of its waters and the whispers of -the olives of Gethsemane, “I pray ... that they all may be one, even as -thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us.” - -Footnote 244: - - _Sangha_, originally an assembly (of disciples gathered around a Hindu - sage). In Buddhism, the entire fraternity (like the Order of Francis - or Dominic).—Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_, p. 176. - -Footnote 245: - - Robertson Smith, _Prophets of Israel_, p. 275. - -Footnote 246: - - Kullavagga, vi. 2, 3, 4; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xx.. - -Footnote 247: - - Weber, _Indian Literature_, p. 306. - -Footnote 248: - - Dhammapadda, 141; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. Part i.; - Pâtimokkha Sekhiyá Dhammâ, 1, 2, 3, 4; _ibid._ vol. xiii. p. 59. - -Footnote 249: - - Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, iii. 65; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xi. - -Footnote 250: - - Kuenen, Hibbert Lectures, p. 279. - -Footnote 251: - - Mahavagga, i. 11; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xiii. - -Footnote 252: - - _Ibid._ i. 12; _ibid._ vol. xiii. - -Footnote 253: - - _Ibid._ viii. 27. 5; _ibid._ vol. xvii.; Kullavagga, vi. 1. 3; _ibid._ - vi. 9. 2; _ibid._ vol. xx. - -Footnote 254: - - Kuenen, Hibbert Lectures, pp. 251 _seq._ The doctrine that it bore - nobler fruit is expressly contradicted by some. See Âpastamba, pres. - ii. pat. ix. khan. 23; also pres. ii. pat. ix. k. 24. 15; _Sacred - Books of the East_, vol. ii. pp. 156, 159. - -Footnote 255: - - The way of “Works”—ceremonial and sacrificial religion; the way of - “Faith”—devotion (heart) to the deities without works; the way of - “Knowledge,” or true enlightenment.—Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_, - p. 95. - -Footnote 256: - - Saint-Hilaire, _Le Bouddha, etc._, p. 152. - -Footnote 257: - - Not without protest, however, by fathers and doctors of the Church. - See Hermas, _Simil._ v.; Clem. _Strom._ iii.; Tertullian, _De - Jejunio_, p. 123 _seq._; _De Pallio_, p. 181 _seq._ - -Footnote 258: - - Gieseler, _Eccles. Hist._ vol. i. pp. 289 _seq._; Neander’s _Church - Hist._ vol. iii. pp. 305 _seq._ - -Footnote 259: - - Hom. on St. Matth. 69, 70. - -Footnote 260: - - Montalembert, _Monks of the West_, vol. i. p. 319; Neander’s _Church - History_, vol. iii. pp. 338, 339. - -Footnote 261: - - Cassian, _Collationes_, ii. 5-8; _De Instit. Monachi_, x.; _De - capitalibus vitiis_, quoted by Farrar, _Lives of the Fathers_, vol. - ii. p. 224; Burton, _Anatomy of Melancholy_, ii. 510. - -Footnote 262: - - _Monks of the West_, vol. i. p. 27. - -Footnote 263: - - Sutta Nipâta, 75-81; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. p. ii. - -Footnote 264: - - Theod. _Eccles. Hist._ lib. iv. cap. 26. - -Footnote 265: - - “They prayed for the whole world.”—Chrysost. H. 78, _In Johannem_. - -Footnote 266: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, pp. 317, 318. - -Footnote 267: - - Mahavagga, viii. 15; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xvii. - -Footnote 268: - - “I am not aware of any instances in which the pariah of the age is - mentioned as a member of the Order.” “According to Buddhist dogmatics, - a good Sudra or Vaisya could only hope to be re-born as a Kshatrya, - and this clearly indicates that the distinctions of castes had by no - means vanished or become worthless in Buddha’s consciousness” - (_Buddha, etc._, p. 156). - -Footnote 269: - - Mahavagga, i. 39. 76; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xiii. - -Footnote 270: - - Christianity does not, as Goethe averred, “prefer what is despised and - feeble,” but as in God’s eyes nothing is despised and abject, so, in - fellowship with the Father, Christ cherished the maimed and lame and - blind, though hated of the soul of the natural man, and this - disposition will ever be a “mark” or “note” of the true Church of - Christ. - -Footnote 271: - - Kuenen, Hibbert Lectures, 1882, p. 284; Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, - 1881, p. 155. - -Footnote 272: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, pp. 181, 182. - -Footnote 273: - - _The Scotsman_, August 17th, 1889. - -Footnote 274: - - E. Burnouf, _Science des Religions_, p. 94. - -Footnote 275: - - Mahavagga, i. 49. 6. - -Footnote 276: - - _Ibid._ i. 54. 5; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xiii. - -Footnote 277: - - Mahavagga, i. 7. 10-15; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xiii. - -Footnote 278: - - Mahavagga, i. 29. - -Footnote 279: - - _Ibid._ i. 76. 1-10. - -Footnote 280: - - _Buddhism_, p. 80; Dr. Rhys Davids states that a new or cloister name - was given on admission, in exchange for the family one (Hibbert - Lectures, p. 39), but Professor Oldenberg alleges that this is - supported only by solitary cases (_Buddha, etc._, p. 353 note). - -Footnote 281: - - Mahavagga, i. 30. 1-4; also _ibid._ vi. 14. 6; and Kullavagga, vi. - 1-2. - -Footnote 282: - - Mahavagga, i. 78. 1-5. - -Footnote 283: - - Mahavagga, i. 79. 1-3. - -Footnote 284: - - Mahavagga, i. 25. 1-24, for the duties of novice to his Upagghâya; - _ibid._ i. 32, Kullavagga, viii. 13, 14, for his duties to his - Âkariya. The duties to both are the same, but the Upagghâya seems to - have been the more important of the two tutors. - -Footnote 285: - - Dr. Rhys Davids, _Handbook of Buddhism_, p. 169. - -Footnote 286: - - Dhammapada, 200; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. Part i. - -Footnote 287: - - Pâtimokkha; Pakittiyá Dhammâ, 10; said to be because he might kill or - harm some living creature. - -Footnote 288: - - Sir Edwin Arnold, _Light of Asia_, p. 95. - -Footnote 289: - - Kullavagga, v. vi. viii. _passim_; Mahavagga, i. 25. 15. - -Footnote 290: - - Dhammapada, 141, 142; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. Part i. - -Footnote 291: - - Sir Edwin Arnold, _Light of Asia_, pp. 95, 96. - -Footnote 292: - - Mahavagga, i. 31. 4. - -Footnote 293: - - Introduction to Dhammapada, _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. p. - xliv: a long list quoted from the _Northern Scripture_ by Dr. Edkins - in _Chinese Buddhism_. - -Footnote 294: - - The question was thrice put, “Are ye pure?” Mahavagga, ii. 1-36. - -Footnote 295: - - See for a specimen the Kullavaga, v. 21; _Sacred Books of the East_, - vol. xx. - -Footnote 296: - - Bishop of Colombo, in _Nineteenth Century_, July 1888. - -Footnote 297: - - Mahavagga, iv. 1. 18; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xiii. - -Footnote 298: - - Weber, _Indische Studien_, x. 118; Metrical translations by Dr. John - Muir, p. 250, where Professor Eggeling is quoted. - -Footnote 299: - - Mahâ-pagâpati the Gotami, his aunt and nurse (Kullavaga, x. 1) whose - entreaty, through Ananda, led him to found the Order of Bikkhuni, - seems more than a name. Visâkhâ, “the rich and bountiful,” is another - type of votary (Mahavagga, viii. 15). - -Footnote 300: - - _Buddhist Jataka Stories_, translated by Rhys Davids, pp. 87, 90; - Bigandet, _Life of Gaudama_, old ed., pp. 156, 168. - -Footnote 301: - - Dhammapada, 284; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. - -Footnote 302: - - Book of the Great Decease, v. 23; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xi. - -Footnote 303: - - Eitel, _Lectures on Buddhism_, p. 10. - -Footnote 304: - - Kullavagga, x. 1. 3, 4; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xx. - -Footnote 305: - - Clement of Alexandria gives prominence to the value of marriage and of - the family life, _Strom._ vii., _Paedag._ iii. So Tertullian, _Ad - Uxorem_, ii. c. 8. - -Footnote 306: - - Principal Donaldson, _Contemporary Review_, Sept. 1889. - -Footnote 307: - - Sir Henry S. Maine, _Early History of Institutions_, p. 341. - -Footnote 308: - - Kullavagga, x. 1. 6. - -Footnote 309: - - Kullavagga, x. 1. 27. - -Footnote 310: - - Pâtimokkha; Pakittiyâ Dhammâ, 6, 7, 27, 66, 67. - -Footnote 311: - - “You are not, O monks, to bow down before women, to rise up in their - presence, to stretch out your joined hands towards them, nor to - perform towards them those duties that are proper to them (from an - inferior to a superior).”—Kullavagga, x. 3. 1. “Giving honour unto the - wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the - grace of God.”—1 Peter iii. 1-7. - -Footnote 312: - - Dhammapada, 85, 86; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. x. - -Footnote 313: - - T. W. Rhys Davids, _Handbook of Buddhism_, p. 125; Spence Hardy, - _Eastern Monachism_, p. 199. - -Footnote 314: - - The bowl was “turned down” in relation to him, and his house became an - unlawful resort.—Kullavagga, v. 20. 3; _Sacred Books of the East_, - vol. xx. - -Footnote 315: - - Sir Monier Williams states that though votaries did not confess to - monks, the four days were observed by them.—_Buddhism_, p. 84. - -Footnote 316: - - Oldenberg, _Buddha, etc._, p. 162 note. - -Footnote 317: - - Mahavagga, vi. 24. 1-6. - -Footnote 318: - - Kullavagga, vi. 1-5; _ibid._ vi. 4. 10. - - - - - LECTURE VI. - THE TWO RELIGIONS IN HISTORY. - - - I.—External Diffusion. - - -In His apostles, and the disciples who gathered round them, endowed with -the memory of His words and deeds, two simple sacraments, and a promise -that He would be with them to the end of the æon, while they fulfilled -His commission to evangelise and baptize all nations in the name of the -Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, the continuance of the -Church which our Lord had founded was secured. Buddha left behind him -neither sacrament to signify and seal the benefits which he had -conferred, nor any promise of personal fellowship with or interest in -his followers; but he was survived by the Monastic Order which he had -founded, by a law containing the essentials of his system, and a form of -discipline containing the customs to be observed in their assemblies, -and the rules to which all the brethren were to be subject. Though the -personal guide to Nirvana was lost to them, they still in the law -possessed his way to it, and by observing the law, and following his -way, they would fulfil his last stirring exhortation,[319] “Be ye lamps -unto yourselves, be ye a refuge to yourselves, O monks.” - -So much importance being attached to the law, his disciples, immediately -after his decease, according to the tradition, set about collecting the -materials of it, in his remembered discourses, decisions, and in all -that he said; and this labour of recalling, determining, and -perpetuating his teaching seems to have occupied them for several -generations. There is no trace of any corresponding anxiety on the part -of the Christian Church to collect the words of the Lord Jesus. The -Gospels are not the earliest of our scriptures, and they were produced -more for the edification of Jewish and Gentile converts, than to secure -for the Church a standard of belief and of discipline. The function of -the Church was not so much to recall and perpetuate the teaching of its -Lord as to interpret the significance of His life, and death, and -resurrection. No written or remembered instructions were required, for -the apostles believed that they had Himself to tell them on every -occasion what they should do and teach. From the very first they prayed -to Him in full assurance that He heard and answered them. They believed -that He had shown Himself to some of them, and that He was witnessed for -in all of them by a new possession. The Gentile world had been familiar -with the μανία of the medium through whom a Divine oracle was supposed -to be given, and with the _rabies_ of the howling priests of the goddess -Cybele, but the Christians professed to be inspired by the πνεῦμα ἅγιον. -In some instances this inspiration manifested itself in extravagant -forms and in mysterious utterances,[320] but those who were most under -its control had complete possession of themselves; their speech was -intelligible, and sober, and most convincing, making “manifest the -secrets of the heart.” - -Unquestionably this belief in the presence of Christ in the -Spirit—whether truly founded or not—was universal in the Church. All -the utterances of primitive Christianity, the scriptures of its -apostles, the treatises of its fathers and doctors, and all the -monuments of the first ages, bear witness not to a Christ who once -lived and had died, but who was living triumphant and glorified, -reigning for them, and in them to reign. Unquestionably also in this -belief was the hiding of that power which enabled the Church to -confront the whole world, endure the full weight of its persecutions, -and finally win the victory over it. It also explains the appearance -in the Church, from the first, of that succession of persons who, -because of their strongly marked individualities, gave both direction -and impetus to its progress. Buddhism, though both its southern and -northern scriptures record a patriarchal succession, and though -probably not deficient in highly cultured disciples, seems to have -lacked from the very first men who had genius to organise or intellect -to command its forces. Its own early writings disclose a movement -which very speedily congealed, because ruled only by a remembered law, -interpreted by very adulterated traditions. Christianity represents -quite a different movement; it was not the perpetuation of a system, -but the development of a new inspiration, of a life manifested in -Christ and communicated to all who believed on Him. Consequently it -never was without its heroes, whom it had the power to produce; and -consequently also it never could stiffen into a tradition, for where -its leaders attempted to fix it, in either confession or in ritual, it -was sure to evade them. It has been appropriately described as “the -most changeable of religions,”[321]—mutable in its forms, immutable in -its essence. For Christianity is not a system either of philosophy or -theology; it is a perpetually reforming spirit, fed by faith in One -who is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. - -Both religions entered the world as missionaries bent upon its -conversion, and though Buddhism was afterwards to eclipse Christianity -in the superficial extent of its conquests, the annals of the primitive -Church record a much more rapid extension. The early development of -Christianity, even taking into account the circumstances which helped or -facilitated its progress, remains one of the marvels of history. In the -New Testament the Church is seen to have gained a footing almost -wherever the waves of the Diaspora had reached. St. Paul found -Christians not only in Rome, but in little Puteoli, and his letters -imply that there were churches in Spain and in southern Gaul. St. Peter -wrote from Babylon to a wide circle of Christian communities gathered -out of the regions of Asia Minor.[322] There seem to have been even then -churches in most of the chief cities, and in a multitude of minor towns -all over the Empire; and there is no reason to distrust the tradition, -that before the last of the apostles fell asleep, the gospel had called -multitudes living far beyond the bounds of the Empire to make good their -citizenship in the kingdom of God. - -The churches may have been small in respect of membership, for the rapid -diffusion of Christianity by no means involved the conversion _en masse_ -of the people. Facts will hardly bear out the glowing testimony of -Gregory Thaumaturgus, who found in the populous metropolis of a large -province only seventeen Christians, and in twenty-five years reported -that he could find only seventeen heathens.[323] With Gibbon we may have -to discount as “splendid exaggeration” the testimony of Tertullian, -“Hesterni sumus, et vestra omnia implevimus.” Still the direct testimony -of Tacitus as to the multitude of Christians in Rome, the evidence of -the Catacombs, and many other indications, point to the conclusion that -the rapid numerical increase of Christians was as singular as was the -territorial diffusion of their religion. The whole Empire must have been -sensibly leavened, and the converts must for long have been gathered -from other than the lower classes of society, before the conversion of -Constantine became possible. Emperors—even Roman ones—follow in such -matters, and do not lead their subjects; and so we may be sure what had -at first been glad tidings to the slaves and the poor must for some time -have become the consolation of many a noble Pudens and Linus, and of -many a Claudia of royal descent, before it could be recognised as the -religion of the State.[324] - -Many circumstances undoubtedly contributed to this result. A -consolidated empire, with nearly all the representative nations fused -into a union, comprising all the existing elements of culture and forces -of civilisation; the great Roman highways, with means of easy -communication so abundant as to be surprising to us; the widespread -understanding of the two leading languages, making virtually of one -speech a great section of the most important part of the world; the -innumerable communities of Jews, everywhere tolerated, and “cutting -channels through the adamantine mass of heathen society,”[325] immensely -aided the missionary activities of the apostles and their followers. -Moreover, the moral and religious condition of the Empire, the -bankruptcy of the old faith, the despair and confusion and perplexity of -people, everywhere seeking mightier or better deities than they knew, -everywhere trembling “between the two immensities of terror,” rendered -possible the victory of Christianity. Multitudes were thus prepared to -welcome a Deliverer who had come in the name, not of Jupiter Maximus -Tonans, but of the Father in heaven, to give peace in this world’s -tribulations, and sure hope of joy in the world beyond it.[326] And yet -all this, even when added to Gibbon’s five causes, will not account for -the historical puzzle, that a faith, originating in a manger in a Syrian -cattle-shed, brooded over for thirty years of a life of poverty and -toil, preached for three, with the result of being almost universally -rejected, and quenched to all appearance in the blood of crucifixion, -should immediately after the death of its Founder have broken out all -over the Roman world. Converting its agents from farms, and harbours, -and prisons, it called them to martyrdom; for it sent them—poor -“weavers, and shoe-makers, and fullers, and illiterate clowns”—to -proclaim “barbarous dogmas,” and “extravagant hopes,” “universally -detested” by Jew and Gentile, and to bear the full weight of a prolonged -series of persecutions involving indescribable tortures and -disgrace.[327] Yet somehow it never paused for a moment, never abated -one iota of its claim, till in the course of a few generations it was -found upon the throne. We never will explain this wonder by showing how, -as a system of ethics, or as a new theory of life, it found the -condition of the world favourable to its reception. The correlation of -the state of the world to the new faith has been claimed as -providential,—an indication of a Divine purpose making all things work -together, for this manifestation of a new power or principle of life in -society, which as yet has had no historical counterpart.[328] - -The early scriptures of Buddhism, though preserving a tradition that in -twelve years from the time in which the doctrine was first preached it -had spread over sixteen kingdoms, disclose no such rapidity of -diffusion. The kingdoms referred to are not to be regarded as kingdoms -in our sense of the word, for in extent and influence they would not -equal a German principality, and were probably only tribal communities. -After the death of Buddha the many Sanghas that had arisen seem to have -suffered for lack of a central governing power. If his Order is to be -called a Church, it had manifestly no church-government. It had synods, -and assemblies, and councils, but not one with the authority of an -Œcumenical as representative of the whole. It was more Congregational -than Presbyterian in its constitution, and for this very reason it was -weak when compared with the compact organisation of Brahmanism, with -which it competed for supremacy. Disorder and dissension are traceable -in it from the first, and the early texts, though containing many -admonitions against schism, warnings that offences must come, and woes -upon those who would cause them, record no practical steps to prevent or -remedy them.[329] Vigorous expansion was consequently not to be looked -for, and for two centuries we may safely infer that Buddhism represented -only a struggling sect, which, beyond the limits in which it was first -preached, had made little, if indeed any, progress. - -At the close of this period, when its literature was reaching a -canonical form, and its manuals of discipline and common order were -generally in use, it found its Constantine in the conqueror -Chandragupta. In opposition to the Brahmans, who despised him for his -low-caste origin, he seems to have lifted it from obscurity into the -sunshine of really imperial favour. His grandson Asoka, who consolidated -his conquests, proved its Theodosius, in not only greatly endowing it, -but in establishing its supremacy. There were no quarrels between him -and the Sanghas as to their independence, as afterwards between the -Emperors and the Popes, for, like a true son of the Church, he -acknowledged their authority. By obeying in appearance, he in reality -became, what Buddhism since the death of its founder sorely needed, the -head of the system, and under his wise and energetic rule, the religion -emerged into a vigour which it was to maintain for centuries. - -An earnest Buddhist, he seems to have been something better. He called -himself Pryadarsi,[330] the “beloved of the gods,” and a Daniel indeed -he appears to have been, raised up for the blessing of millions. His -edicts—stone inscriptions found all over India—the first written -testimonies which Buddhism left of itself,[331] all breathe a lofty -spirit of righteousness and kindness and toleration, appealing to both -Brahman and Buddhist, and commending themselves at this day, “to Jew and -Christian and Moslem alike, as part of the universal religion of -humanity.”[332] One of them refers to a council which he assembled at -Patna, for the pacification and reformation of the Order. During its -session the ancient collections of rules and dogmas were rehearsed, and -as the list is considerably shorter than the contents of the Tripitaka, -we may be sure that the Southern tradition that Buddha himself was the -author of all the books comprising that collection has no foundation in -fact.[333] A far more momentous act of this ancient council than the -recension of the canon, was that of establishing the first great -Buddhist missions. To a revived and reformed Order the suggestion of the -pious king, that they should go forth and fulfil their great teacher’s -original commission, was welcome. Their dissensions, as has often -happened in Christendom, were due to their living to themselves. An army -inactive in quarters, is more likely to quarrel or mutiny than one in -service in the field. These good Buddhists wisely determined to carry -the war of deliverance beyond them, and so into the Punjab, Kashmir, the -Central Himalayan regions, over into the Malay Peninsula, went the -missionaries, armed only with the words of the Law or the legends which -had been floating round the memory of their master, and supported only -by the offerings put into their alms-dish, to gain whatever victories -they could in the fair conflict of reason with reason.[334] - -In India they would of course be supported by imperial influence, and -indeed the mission to Ceylon, headed by Mahinda, the son of Asoka, seems -to have been accredited by royal embassy; but nowhere was Buddhism -propagated as Islam subsequently was by Mohammed, or as Christianity was -by Charlemagne, with an army at its back. Races ever ready to credit the -supernatural would probably be more easily won by the wonders which were -then being formulated in reference to Buddha; but whatever be the -explanation of it, the success of these missionaries anticipated that of -the apostles. In Ceylon there was founded a Sangha, which was destined -to nurse and preserve the original creed in somewhat of its purity, when -all the others betrayed and corrupted it. Surviving several changes of -dynasty, that Sangha, 330 years after Buddha’s decease, is said to have -reduced its canon to writing. The result has been somewhat contradictory -to the theory, that it matters very little whether a canon be oral or -written, for Southern Buddhism, having an authority to which it was thus -earlier anchored, has held more closely to the original system, from -which, having no such check for long, every section of Northern Buddhism -has irrecoverably fallen away. - -After the death of Asoka, the empire which he sought to consolidate by -the preaching of the Law fell to pieces, and Buddhism was destined to be -tested by more than one rude shock. A Brahman reaction took place, which -is even supposed to have resulted in the persecution of all Buddhists -living in India. If so, it was the first which the religion -encountered—so unlike Christianity, which had to endure for three -centuries the fierce assaults of its enemies. Persecution by a religion -so tolerant as Brahmanism is hard to conceive, but if it took place at -this period, it only tended, as in the early Christian trials, to the -wider expansion of the persecuted faith. “They that were scattered -abroad went everywhere preaching” the Law. Some of them pushed through -Afghanistan into the regions of Central Asia, and there, just as -Ulphilas and Severinus, centuries later, gained a hold over the wild -races that conquered the moribund Empire, so Buddhist missionaries -succeeded in sowing the seeds of their Law among the rude Scythian -tribes, who were then in great commotion in their vast inland steppes. -Driven from their ancestral homes, a branch of the great tribe of Huns -about 160 B.C. overthrow the Bactrian kingdom, and after generations of -struggle they conquered Kashmir, the Punjab, and a considerable part of -India. Then just as the Goths and Huns, in the moment of their conquest -of Rome, tendered their submission to Christianity, so the conversion of -Kaniska, the greatest of the Indo-Scythian kings, a contemporary with -Augustus and Antony, enabled Buddhism to enter with fresh vigour upon a -second period of very brilliant supremacy.[335] - -Though the difference between the Northern and Southern Buddhists was -already showing itself, and though soon after it manifested itself in a -divergence as complete as that which sundered the Greek Orthodox from -the Latin Catholic Churches, monumental evidence, harmonising with that -derived from its own literary relics, indicates that for four or five -centuries after this Buddhism was most successfully propagated almost -everywhere save in India. In the land of its origin it was gradually -declining, because drawing nearer to the Brahmanism from which it had -seceded. Fa-Hian in the end of the fourth century, though describing it -as dominant everywhere, found the place of its nativity only a -wilderness.[336] Later on, the viharas were deserted, the dagobas in -ruins, “the monks were few, the heretics many,” and by the seventh -century the process of assimilation with and absorption into Hinduism -was in India, save in widely separated and remote localities, almost -complete. What it lost in India, however, it was to gain in other -directions. Its greatest conquest was in China. In the days of Asoka -eighteen missionaries are said to have reached China, where they are -held in reverence to this day, their images occupying a conspicuous -place in every temple. The faith which they introduced seemed to have -struggled with very little success to gain a footing till about A.D. -68.[337] Thirteen years before this date, in obedience to a vision which -appeared to him at Troas, St. Paul brought Christianity from Asia to -Europe. On the thirtieth day of the twelfth Chinese month in A.D. 68, -the Emperor Mingti, in consequence of a dream, sent ambassadors to the -distant West for Buddhist monks and manuscripts.[338] Travelling in -almost royal state, the invited missionaries were accorded in China a -welcome in marvellous contrast to the reception of the Christian apostle -in the first colonial city he had reached. From this time onwards a -perpetual succession of monks and manuscripts entered China; yet, though -tolerated from the first, and often royally patronised, centuries -elapsed before it succeeded in winning a place as one of the three -religions of China, while Christianity, persecuted from the first, -succeeded after a fierce struggle in conquering the Empire of Rome, and -then by a long process in evangelising Europe. - -The conversion of the most of Eastern Asia was the work of the Northern -or more corrupt Buddhism. Southern Buddhism, like the orthodox Eastern -Church, which contented itself with its evangelistic achievements among -the Goths, and its Nestorian missions, soon exhausted its propagative -force. The introduction of the religion into Burma, Siam, and the -adjacent kingdoms, may be said to sum up its triumphs. Northern -Buddhism, on the other hand, ran from the beginning of our era a course -of unchecked triumphs. In the close of the fourth century it spread from -China to Corea, and in the sixth it reached Japan. Previous to this it -entered the isolated regions of Tibet, more welcomed than resisted by -the demonolatrous inhabitants on account of the adulterated form in -which it presented itself. There, after a struggle for some two -centuries, it succeeded, about the period when Islam was beginning its -conquests elsewhere, in securing strong royal support. After -experiencing for many generations the vicissitudes of popularity and -persecution, the conquests of Genghiz, and the strong favour of Kublai, -his greatest successor, established its hierarchy as supreme, and in -spite of changes of dynasty, it has there dominated the whole relations -of life in a manner like unto, but to an extent far beyond, the wildest -dreams of Rome’s most ambitious Pope.[339] - -It thus appears that Buddhism in the second period of its history, and -after it had succeeded in winning the support of powerful kings, reached -its furthest extension and achieved its grandest conquests. -Christianity, on the other hand, was more rapidly diffused in the -primitive than in the subsequent ages. Tested by its intensive hold upon -the nations, it had only nominally converted the Roman Empire by the end -of the fourth century. Gibbon’s estimate of the number of Christians -within it, is acknowledged by friendly authorities,[340] like Bishop -Lightfoot, to err if at all on the side of excess. During the reign of -Constantine, probably not a twentieth of the whole population of the -Empire were Christians, even by profession. After this period, no doubt, -the proportion must have greatly increased, for the barbarous hordes -that poured downwards in successive deluges over the South were -converted so suddenly and so silently that “scarce a legend remains to -tell the tale.” In regard, however, to the conversion of heathen Europe, -it is a mistake to suppose that the missionaries had only to come, and -see, and conquer. The conversion of England by the Roman monks, and of -Ireland, Scotland, and Wales by Oriental and, it is said, Arian -missionaries, cannot be said to have been accomplished before the close -of the seventh century. Afterwards, the conversion of Central and -Northern Germany occupied the Celtic and British missionaries for two -centuries. The conversion of the Scandinavians, beginning in the ninth, -could not be said to have been effected till the middle of the eleventh -century, while that of Slavonia, undertaken in the tenth, did not -terminate, if indeed even then, before the sixteenth century. The -conquest of Europe was the result of a prolonged and often desultory -warfare, in which, while the advance was slow, Christianity sometimes -failed to hold the ground which it had gained. The powerful Churches in -Asia, the seats of its great Councils and the capitals of its rule, -either died or were swept away; Antioch and Constantinople, once its -citadels, became the strongholds of an alien and hostile faith; the -mighty Churches of Egypt and Abyssinia dwindled into a condition of -immedicable disease, and the flourishing Church of Africa, with its more -than six hundred bishoprics, was simply, because ripe for destruction, -obliterated by the forces of Islam. Toward the latter half of the tenth -century it seemed as if Christianity in Europe was surely following the -fate of Buddhism before its disappearance from India. On all sides it -was pressed in the deadly grip of Pagan and Moslem alike, while its -bishops, and priests, and nobles, oblivious of the danger, were living -in sinful self-indulgence. It seemed as if Christendom was being surely -blotted out from the geography of the world; and yet as by a miracle it -survived, or was preserved, till came the Renaissance, and that -marvellous emergence of missionary zeal, which sent Christianity, -Reformed and Unreformed, to the very ends of the earth, and which, -increasing in every generation since then, was never more abundant nor -more fervent than now.[341] - -Christianity, unlike Buddhism, came very early into collision with the -most advanced civilisation and highest culture of the world, while -Buddhism for centuries encountered only the religions of inferior -peoples. The only equal or superior civilisation which it met was that -of China, and there, though tolerated and even patronised from the -first, it seems for centuries to have been regarded as an exotic. -Natives of India, like the Jews in the Roman Empire, were allowed to -build Buddhist temples, but only in the fourth century A.D. did Chinese -people begin extensively to be converted to the Buddhist religion. As it -rose into favour its conflicts with the Confucianists began, and the -issue of its varied fortunes has been, that though indirectly it has -greatly influenced, it has only subdued a section of the Chinese -people.[342] While other inferior races came quickly under its -influence, the most civilised of Eastern peoples resisted it, and have -at most only been leavened by it.[343] Christianity had also its easy -conquests, as when some northern tribes were converted in a day by the -baptism of their chiefs; but its principal struggle with the historic -Paganism of aristocratic Rome was fierce and obdurate. There the -position, as in the case of Hinduism to-day, was not carried by assault, -but by slow and almost imperceptible approaches. The Church at Rome for -two centuries was more a Greek than a Latin one. The names of its -bishops were Greek, and the Catacomb inscriptions sufficiently indicate -that Greek was the language of its members. Slowly and indirectly, -however, it gained the hold upon ancient thought and custom, operating -like an alterative in the system, supplanting what was good, by simply -taking possession of it and inspiring it with a new life, while that -which was decaying and waxing old gradually vanished away. - -In this respect, therefore, there is a significant difference between -the two religions. Christianity, with all the world against it, and in -spite of three centuries of unparalleled persecutions, succeeded in -vanquishing the highest, while yet approving itself as a gospel to the -lowest civilisation. Buddhism, with the greatest powers of the Eastern -world in its favour, and never, perhaps, save in China, called to bear -the shock of a single persecution, has only succeeded in being accepted -by inferior branches of the human race. The Hindu Aryans, assimilating -what of it they approved, rejected what of it was peculiar and -distinctive. The Semitic followers of Islam simply crushed it under -foot, and it never rose high enough even to touch the Western -Aryans.[344] Very early it withdrew itself entirely within the circles -of the Turanian peoples; and if to-day in Mongolia, Manchuria, among the -Kalmucs on the Wolga, and the Bunjads on the shores of the Baikal Sea, -it may be said to be advancing, the most competent authorities assure us -that everywhere else its progress is arrested, and that, even where it -is most upheld by local governments, in the regions of its most dominant -supremacy, it yields manifest signs of decay.[345] - -Another and even more significant contrast is found in the fact that the -advance of Christianity has ever been farthest and most rapid when its -faith was purely taught and most consistently illustrated. It never -sought peace with other religions without being defeated, and never -allied itself with superstition without bringing shame and disaster on -all concerned. It has had its periods of deterioration and defection, -but somehow it has always survived them. Indeed, its vitality is as -truly indicated by the corruptions which it has outlived, as by the -external opposition which it has vanquished. Its real conquests are due -to the expansive power of its inherent and original principles. The very -opposite is the case with Buddhism. Its fundamental principles being -unnatural and repugnant to the essential instincts of mankind, it was -from the very first a morbid growth, having in it the seeds of decay. It -never could have lived in the strength of its own principles, and so the -story of its advance is one of perpetual compromise with every popular -superstition that it met. The more it assimilated itself to them, the -more it seemed to grow; but as foreign influences took possession of it, -its own life oozed out of it, till very early it represented a system so -perverted that its founder would have repudiated and abhorred it. The -Church has often travestied Christianity, but it never fell from the -faith so fearfully as Buddhism has everywhere fallen from the original -doctrine of Buddha. Religion, worship, even the purest, he intended by -his system to supersede, and now his name is employed to support the -grossest of all superstitions,[346] a religion with more idols in it -than that of the most idolatrous of peoples, a worship founded on the -efficacy of magical incantations, and of prayers rendered by machines. -Just for this very reason its - - - II.—Internal History - - -is very instructive, and we shall now proceed to consider a few of its -most salient points. - -Buddhism, in a quiet land and tranquil age, was launched upon the world -as a new theory of life—a system so rounded off and completed that its -disciples had no other duty than that of believing, obeying, and -propagating it. Christianity, on the other hand, began its career amid -the convulsions of political revolution, and for three centuries of -conflict it had to fight every inch of its way. It was not, however, as -a new system that it appeared in history, but as a new principle of -life, round which all the moral, and spiritual, and intellectual -energies which it found in mankind, and all which itself might awaken, -might form and gather strength. It was impossible, therefore, that it -ever could remain stationary. Its apostles were commissioned to carry on -all that their Lord had “begun both to do and to teach.” He distinctly -promised them increase of knowledge and power from on high, and all the -changes which increase or growth implies. To-day His religion could no -more be made to return to the form in which it was manifested eighteen -centuries ago than man could be made to put on the clothes of his -childhood. Its development, however, is that of its inherent life, -manifesting all the continuity and identity of the sapling with the -tree, of the boy with the man. Like all growing things, it has been -subject to disease by contagion and infection, but it has always -preserved life in sufficient volume to slough off its impurities and to -pass onward through reformation to health. Now, the history of Buddhism, -on the contrary, reveals only a long process of degradation, without -having manifested any power as yet to recover and to reform itself -according to its original and essential principles.[347] - -The offspring of Brahmanism, from which it differed more in degree than -in substance, at no period of its history did it succeed in completely -disentangling itself from it. Not only did the forms of the old religion -cling to it; its very life was continued in the new. While Buddha -rejected all the sacrificial rites and religious observances of -Brahmanism, and preached a law subversive of all its faith in -revelation, he accepted and continued its ascetism and its hope of -deliverance by a process of meditation and of abstraction. It was by -himself, therefore, and not by his cousin Dêvadatta,[348] that the -heretic leaven was introduced into the lump. Dêvadatta’s attempted -changes were not innovations, but a return to the primitive rule, a -logical deduction from a law which Gotama never wholly rejected. Just as -to the patriarchs of the Greek, the Western or Romish Church “is the -chief heresy of latter days,” just as the Pope was branded in their -Encyclical of 1848 “as the first founder of German Rationalism,”[349] so -the successive advances and orthodox decisions of the Buddhist Councils -were denounced as apostasies by men like Dêvadatta. Still these changes -were due in great measure to the beliefs which Buddhism had inherited, -for when in the inevitable rebound from its unnatural Nihilism the -theistic movement set in, the spirit of Brahmanism, which had passed -into it at the first, began to assert itself, and, interpenetrating it -more and more, prepared it for that issue in which, blending with the -popular forms in which Brahmanism was then expressing itself, Buddhism -merged into the composite system of Hinduism which confronts us in India -to-day. - -In Christianity, as in nature, the grafting of the good stock upon the -wild conquered the wild. Christ took nothing from Judaism but the -universalism of its prophets, its faith in one living and true God, the -Heavenly Father of multitudes whom Abraham was ignorant of, and Israel -did not acknowledge. His apostles, judged by the literature which they -have bequeathed, seem faithfully to have carried out His principles; but -many of their converts were strict Jews, who insisted upon some visible -connection with the old religion. Just as Dêvadatta, their prototype, -held that a true Buddhist must first be a good Brahman in respect of -asceticism, so they insisted that Christians were debtors to keep what -of the old law was expressed in circumcision, and the observance of -certain other commandments and ordinances. The danger of Christianity -being reduced to the bondage of the old was serious, but the inspiration -of St. Paul, the providential destruction of the nation, and the -marvellous spread of the religion among the Gentiles, eventually -overcame it. The spirit of Judaism, it is true, has never been wholly -cast out from the Christian Church. All through its history it is -traceable in one form or another of the ritualism and asceticism which, -like Brahmanism, it may be held to represent. There have been times when -it has attained to portentous and pernicious influence, and such times -may happen again; but from the early days there has always been in -Christianity vitality sufficient to detect and try and condemn it; and -so though Judaism, and even Paganism, to some extent, still taint the -theology and worship of the Church, we need have no fear that the genius -of the old religion will ever gain, as it did in the case of Buddhism, -permanent ascendency over the new. - -The opposite of Ritualism and Asceticism, represented by Judaism and -Brahmanism, is the Rationalism which such reforming religions may be -said to beget of themselves; and if its spirit of inquiry be -uncontrolled, it will certainly dissipate their energy. As early as St. -Paul’s day we see Rationalism working upon the development of -Christianity, and necessitating the rise of a theology, which, perhaps -inevitably, has often been confounded with, and, in the estimation of -many, has supplanted the Christian religion. The many sects which -Rationalism produced in the first centuries do not so much indicate -hostility to the new faith, as the mighty ferment through which the -minds of men were passing in regard to it. Now though Buddhist -scriptures manifest rationalistic movements in the Sanghas from the -first, they seem to have proceeded in quite a different direction. Of -conflict as to fundamentals of creed there appears to be very little -trace, but there are abundant indications of considerable controversy as -to practice. The first quarrel traceable in the Christian Church arose -over the peculiar institution of community of goods; and though the -Sanghas avoided that mistake, their earliest troubles were concerning -the possession of property. The original rule enjoined upon the brethren -absolute poverty, and the regulations in regard to food and shelter were -equally stringent. Very soon after Buddha’s decease a reaction set in, -and a feeling began to prevail that his standard of morality and his -ideal of the Order were too lofty for all but exceptional men to -realise. He may have succeeded as the fully Enlightened One, but common -men could not hope to “wind themselves so high;” so out of consideration -for human infirmity there commenced a constant and increasing relaxation -in their interpretation of his precepts of perfection.[350] The law of -absolute poverty was modified to the extent that property might be held -in common, and the laws regulating diet, dress, and even meditation, -were soon subjected to the same treatment. The wealth which poured in -upon them, and the consequent improvement of their position, was not -followed by corresponding spiritual growth. The more they prospered, the -more the fundamental principles of the Order were neglected, evaded, or -explained away. The friendly conferences of the rainy season gave place -to controversy, and controversy proved so fruitful of schism, that very -early in its career Buddhism is said to have produced eighteen different -sects, ranged in four great divisions. Yet in no one schism seemed there -a great principle to be involved; they were but Pharisee quarrels at -best, in which though they strained out the gnat they swallowed the -camel.[351] - -Side by side with this relaxation of the law advanced the growth of the -legends concerning him who first preached it. The further they removed -from his decease, the higher, as was natural, he rose in their esteem. -As one by one the fathers fell asleep, and the early enthusiasm died, -and the law was felt to be more and more burdensome, the less he seemed -to be a man of like passions with themselves, till eventually they came -to regard him as “omniscient and absolutely sinless.”[352] He had taken -away their gods, and disowned their religious cravings. He professed to -find no proper divine being to whom any instinct should attach -itself—yea, in his dissection and analysis of human nature he found no -religious faculty to be relied upon; but he could not unmake his -fellow-men, whose religious instinct education can neither originate nor -eradicate; and so, defrauded of its natural gratification, it inevitably -turned to illegitimate methods of appeasing itself. In the first -instance, it found the objects of its reverence in the relics which -survived him, the law which he preached, and the Order which he founded. -Originally it could not be called worship; it was more an expression of -affectionate homage.[353] But so strong is man’s impulse to worship, -that very early they expressed it in images of Buddha everywhere, though -the images of the Law and of the Order have only been found in the lands -where the Northern Buddhism reigns. - -This earliest triad of personalities, called “triratna,” the three gems -or three holies, seems to have been suggested by, and certainly -corresponds with, the primitive triad of deities in the old Indian -Pantheon.[354] It was the first indication of the bankruptcy of -Buddhism, of its failure out of its own resources to meet the religious -wants of its disciples, and it marked only the beginning of a revolt, -which was to issue in complete disavowal of every doctrine essential to -original Buddhism. The religious conscience and common sense which -rebelled against its unnatural atheism, would not long be satisfied with -the worship of the memory of a completely vanished Buddha, or of the -idea of an impersonal Law, or of a miscellaneous Order. So pious -Buddhists turned readily to a doctrine said to be taught by the Master, -and formulated before the settlement of the Southern canon in its -present form, according to which Buddha is not a distinctive name of -just one person, but a title descriptive of a long series of Enlightened -Ones, who, leaving, as he was supposed to have done, the estate of a -Bôdhisatva[355] in the Tushita heavens, appeared at distant intervals to -proclaim the same truth for the deliverance of men and gods. The names -of twenty-four of these Buddhas who preceded Gotama have been handed -down, and the name of his successor, to whom, upon the attainment of -Buddhahood, he transferred his Bôdhisatvaship, and who is to appear -after five thousand years for the rediscovery of the truth, was -announced as Mâitrêya. To this coming one, the Buddha of “kindness and -mercy”—thought to be a personification by some imaginative poet of the -gentle spirit of Buddhism—the thoughts and the hopes of the disciples -turned, and out of this hope arose a doctrinal system, which, expanding -and enlarging by manifold additions as the time went on, showed that -however atheistic the original creed might be, the religion itself had -become polytheistic.[356] To Mâitrêya, in his glorious heavens, the -deliverer of distant generations, prayers ascended, and worship was -rendered by all Buddhists everywhere alike; and out of this cult by far -the largest section of them began to evolve deity after deity, till the -heavens, in which Buddha could find no superior to himself, were crowded -with objects of idolatrous regard. - -In this polytheistic development a very great distinction emerged -between the Northern or Mahāyāna and the Southern or Hināyāna system of -Buddhism. How the divergence originated has not been clearly -ascertained, but about the beginning of the Christian era it seems to -have been very manifest, and at that time, when sectarian controversy -and philosophical speculation threatened to rend the system into -fragments, Nâgârdjuna,[357] a monk of Nâlanda, is said to have done for -Northern Buddhism what Gregory and Benedict did for the Western Church. -Under him, and certainly after him, Northern Buddhism, both in respect -of expansive power and of dogmatic and ritualistic development, left -Southern Buddhism far behind it. The Hināyāna, or the “little way” of -deliverance, is believed to have been applied by the Northern, not -without contempt for the Southern school’s arrestment. They did not -profess to contradict the Southern faith: they simply included it, and -advanced in their “great way” beyond it. To the Southern the _summum -bonum_ of life meant Arhatship, for that once attained there would be no -more re-birth. They acknowledged and worshipped only one Bôdhisatva, the -coming Mâitrêya; but the doctors of the North, properly conceiving the -estate of the Bôdhisatva to be nobler than that of Arhat, propounded it -as the goal of aspiration. Arhatship would indeed secure one’s own -deliverance; but Bôdhisatvahood would enable them, as possible coming -Buddhas, to confer the blessings of deliverance upon countless -multitudes. Along with Mâitrêya they discovered many persons who, like -Buddha’s great disciples and their successors, had through merit, -acquired in a long series of lives, taken his Tushita heavens by -violence; but who, unlike him, were under no obligation to quit their -celestial abodes, and proceed through Buddhahood to Nirvana. They might -enjoy their blessedness to the full, and sit beside their nectar without -concern, for they fulfilled every function expected of them in being -objects of worship, to whom mortals could appeal for comfort in sorrow -and help in time of need. - -In India, as early as Fa-Hian’s time, and probably earlier in -China,[358] out of these happy gods a new triad was formulated, -receiving such worship as Hindus would render to their later triad of -deities, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva. The title of one of these, Mandjus-ri, -was said to have been the name of the monk who, two hundred and fifty -years after Buddha, introduced the religion into Nepaul, and founded the -system which Nâgârdjuna consolidated.[359] He in this connection is -believed to be the personification of that “wisdom” or “spiritual -insight” which the Northern school valued so highly. Another deity, -Avalôkitês’vara, “the lord who sees from on high,” is supposed to be the -mythical term for that “kindly providence” which watched over the whole -Buddhist world. And Vajra-dhara, “the thunderer,” represented the power -which protected the faithful from the malice of demons. How such a -worship, so contradictory to the doctrines of primitive Buddhism, came -to be introduced and recognised, is a puzzle to all our scholars. Rhys -Davids and Sir Monier Williams are inclined to regard it as suggested by -the second Hindu triad of deities already referred to. Professor Max -Müller[360] considers it to be a graft from the superstitions of some -northern Scythian or Turanian race, while Dr. Beal advances the theory -that it was in all probability introduced from a western monotheistic -religion, either landward through Persia, or by sea from Arabia. However -it came, from this date and onwards, all over the wide extent of -territory covered by it, Buddhism rapidly deteriorated. While the -Southern system was everywhere yielding to the influence of the popular -mythology, and that so unmistakably that it became, wherever it reached, -“the unconscious propagator of Hindu doctrine,” the Northern became a -heterogeneous mixture of all the superstitions which it met. From this -second triad of deities it went on discovering or inventing its five -triads of Dhyâni-Buddhas, among whom Gotama was the emanation of -Avalôkitês’vara, who again was the æon of Amitâbha, “immeasurable -light.” Behind all these again, they professed to find the Adi-Buddha, -the primordial Buddha, who, out of himself, by the exercise of five -meditations, evolved the Five Dhyâni.[361] Each of these again by -“insight” evolved their corresponding æons, who in their turn from out -of their immaterial essence produced a material world. It is as if the -Gnosticism which had broken out in the West long before this time had -also invaded the distant East,[362] and as if its dreams, more -restrained by Western sobriety, were in the East free to produce a -phantasmagoria more confused still. Certainly it is a convincing proof -that, notwithstanding its rich ethical sources, the essential principles -of Buddhism had no inherent propagative power. For just as it had to -return from its atheism to the deities which it had discarded, so it had -to substitute for its Nihilism the Western Paradise, where, beyond the -confines of the world, the pious Buddhist at last hopes to join the one -Supreme Amitâbha, and millions of blessed Buddhas discoursing upon all -things good, in a state in which there is no sorrow, and, “strangest to -say, no Nirvana.”[363] - -The more these imaginary deities increased, the more must the earnest -moral teachings of Buddha have been obscured. The discovery of the -Bôdhisatvas opened the way to a rapid declension from primitive -self-culture to a system of “voluntary humility.” Discipleship became -easier in proportion as the worship of these shadowy creations extended. -It is much easier to idolise than obey, to say, “Lord, Lord,” than to do -the thing which he commands. This falling away from the high Buddhist -rule of self-control, proceeding step by step with the growth of the -legends, is just an illustration of the tendency in every religion to -allow the ethical and metaphysical elements so to drift asunder, that -instead of being one in holy wedlock they become thoroughly and -irreconcilably opposed. - -It was inevitable in Buddhism that morality, considered essential to -self-rescue, should be supplanted by that debasing belief in the -efficacy of rites which the system was launched to destroy. Its founder -went to the unnatural extreme of ignoring man’s craving for -reconciliation. He had no faith in Divine forgiveness, or in the grace -of repentance, and he never wearied of pouring contempt upon sacrifice -and prayer. No Hebrew prophet could be more severe in his scorn of -useless rites; but then the Hebrew believed in the efficacy of one -sacrifice, a “heart broken by sorrow,” for sin not as a misfortune or a -folly, but as an offence to a Holy Being who was ready to forgive, and -to be pleased with the worship of a will surrendered in gratitude and in -love. Very early in his history man has indicated his sense of -alienation from God in his endeavours to discover an atonement. The -instinctive sense of wrong relations to the powers that govern life has -been liable to fearful perversion, but Buddha, with all his -denunciation, could not destroy it, nor reason men out of it. He could -induce some to withdraw their imploring cries and glances from the gods, -but he could not sweep the heavens clean of them. Belief in the -existence[364] of gods, and demons, and fairies, and charms against -ill-luck, was strong in his disciples from the first; and when an object -of worship was recognised and allowed, an elaborate ritual of worship, -and latterly of propitiation, was rapidly developed. In Northern -Buddhism this recoil was most extreme, for there, especially in Nepāl -and Tibet, belief in the efficacy of rites deteriorated into belief in -spells and incantations, till it issued in the Tantra system—a mixture -of magic and sorcery whose abominable doctrines, Burnouf, out of very -loathing, refused to translate to us.[365] Christianity has had many -corrupters, who have never scrupled to propose or to accept any -compromise with heathenism at all calculated to strengthen the power of -the priesthood, but it never had its Âsanga,[366] who cleverly succeeded -in reconciling the demonolatry of the people of Nepāl and Tibet with the -acceptance of the Buddhist system. This he did by placing their male and -female devils in the inferior heavens as worshippers of Buddha and -Avalôkitês’vara, and by thus making it possible for the half-savage -tribes to bring their sacrifices, even of blood, to their congenial -shrines, and under cover of allegiance to the priests of the new to -continue the old hideous idolatry. - -This discovery of Âsanga’s is said to have secured the rapid extension -of the Buddhist hierarchy in these half-barbarous regions; but the -hierarchy itself indicated a complete reversal of the primitive -constitution of the Order. Buddha endeavoured to emancipate his -fellow-men from faith in the efficacy of a priesthood to mediate between -men and Deity, or to secure deliverance. He never dreamed that either -temple or priest would arise in his system; but the temple grew -naturally out of the dagoba and the relics which it enshrined, and the -priesthood as naturally was evolved from the Sthavira or senior Bikkhu. -In Southern Buddhism the priest is more like a Protestant minister of -religion than like a priest in the Romish sense of the word; but in -Northern Buddhism, and especially in that form of it dominant in Tibet, -the people from the seventh century have been completely under the power -of the Lamas who alone can work out their salvation. With the exception -of a short interval of neglect and persecution, a hierarchy marvellously -similar to, and no doubt in some respects suggested by, that of Romish -Christianity, has completely controlled all the relations of life,[367] -with the terrible result that cruelty and immorality most abhorrent to -the good and gentle Buddha have been permitted to assert themselves -unopposed, though a devotee who slaughters his fellow-men in cold blood -will shudder with horror if by accident he should tread upon a worm or -crush an over-irritating flea.[368] - -Only once in that region has it experienced any attempt at reform. In -the fourteenth century, when the policy of the Ming dynasty in reducing -the predominance of any one sect had prepared the way for him, -Tsong-Kapa, “the Tibetan Luther,” endeavoured to effect a revival of the -primitive rules of the Order, and succeeded in restoring something of -the ancient simplicity in dress, the celibacy of the priests, the -fortnightly confession, the season of yearly retreat, and the invitation -ceremony at its close. He set his face also against the Shamanism of the -Tantra system, adhered to the purer forms of the earlier Mahāyāna -school, and succeeded in creating a new sect, whose leaders in the -fifteenth century were by the Chinese Emperor recognised as titular -lords over the Church and tributary rulers over the State, under the -titles of Dalai Lāma and Pantshen Lāma. The dream of Hildebrand or Leo -for the Papacy was for centuries more than realised in the Lāmaism of -Tibet, for the Lamas are more than Popes, being re-incarnations of -Avalôkitês’vara and of his father Amitabha, who never die, but at the -act of dying transfer themselves into another body, born at that very -moment, to be found in it in due time through a procedure, according to -lot, never yet known to fail. When discovered, he has, however, to be -accepted after the Erastian fashion by the Chinese Government or its -representative, who, with the Desi or Regent, must also be present when -the final lot is drawn.[369] - -Never under the Papacy, even in the times when its pretensions were most -extravagant, and its power was most unchecked, has Christianity -deteriorated so fearfully as Buddhism has done in Nepāl and Tibet. Not -even in the Abyssinian—the most degraded of all the Churches that have -worn the name of Christ, in respect of its incorporation of old Jewish -rites and Egyptian superstitions—can we find the contrivance of the -prayer-wheel, or the poles with their silken flags blazoned with the six -sacred syllables, “om mani padme hum,”[370] fluttering their supposed -incantations to the heavens. Buddhism’s ages of worship have been only a -long sad history of degradation, of perpetual falling from bad to -worse.[371] The higher the worship of Buddhists for the founder of their -system has risen, the more have they fallen from his virtue; but in -Christianity the ages of strongest devotion to Christ have ever been the -periods of progress. The more intense man’s reverence for Christ has -been, the loftier has been the standard of virtue attained. Worship and -pursuit of holiness have gone hand in hand, and we cannot conceive of a -life truly offered up in adoration of Christ ever proving immoral or -impure. - -The story of Buddhism in India, where without much resistance it yielded -to the seductions of Vishnaism and Sivaism, the record of its conquests -in the surrounding countries, and especially in those just referred to, -present few and slight analogies to the history of Christianity; but the -story of Buddhism in China as related by those most competent to testify -of the changing forms which it assumed from the fourth century onwards, -is significantly akin to that of Christianity after it became the -religion of the Empire. China, unlike India, had before the Christian -era a very ancient history, marked by distinct epochs. Its annals, even -of the eighth century B.C., seem to reflect a civilisation similar to -that of Europe in the thirteenth century A.D. Two thousand years B.C. -the Chinese are said to have attained to an idea of Deity somewhat -equivalent to the El Elion of Melchizedek.[372] Shangti, the highest of -all spirits to whom the people sacrificed, was the Creator, Preserver, -and Governor of the world, unapproachable by the sinner, but merciful to -all penitents; and in this idea of God, and in the morality which sprang -from it, we have the secret of that social and political progress whose -arrestment and decay Confucius lamented. Living in a degenerate age, he -laboured earnestly as a reformer of personal morality and social order; -but, departing himself from the ancestral faith in a Supreme Ruler of -nature and man, “respecting, but keeping aloof, as he said, from all -spiritual beings,” expressively silent as to the future, and refusing to -present motives of conduct drawn from consideration of it, his vigorous -ministry, conducted for many years in many of the States, could only -have the effect of preparing the way for a real regeneration of society. -He had great faith in man, as born good, with an innate moral faculty -which only contact with the world and the delusion of the senses prevent -from making him virtuous. Man was made for society, and the five -relations of which society consists—that of ruler and subject, husband -and wife, parent and child, elder brother and younger, and friend and -friend—were Divine ordinances. His standard of personal righteousness -and social purity, his strong faith in the power of example, his golden -rule, “_What you would not like to have done to yourself, do not to any -other_,”[373] his demand, as urgent as was that of Isaiah or -Socrates,[374] that language should be used ever with scrupulous care to -express only the thing that is, have gone far to form, with beneficial -ethical results, the ordinary Chinese character. His ignoring of -personal Deity, only referred to under the vague term Heaven, and of the -future of man, could not long arrest the degeneracy of society or purge -out the secret vices burrowing beneath its surface. If Buddha is to be -regarded in his bold metaphysical speculations as the first of Gnostics, -Confucius in his pure secularism may be designated the first Agnostic, -and the monotonous and stagnant type of humanity which his teaching has -produced may be a warning of the kind of civilisation which the world -may expect should ever philanthropic secularism supplant or supersede -the religion of Christ.[375] - -Contemporary with Confucius, though much older in years, was Lao-tsze -the Venerable, the author of the celebrated Tâo-teh-King, in which not -only Romish missionaries but scholars like Montucci of Berlin (1808) and -Remusat[376] (1823) professed to find the mystery of the Holy Trinity -and the name of Jehovah phonetically expressed. Twenty years later -Stanislas Julien[377] dispelled these illusions, and showed that the -treatise was as agnostic in its essential teachings as were the Analects -of Confucius. A poet and a mystic, he gave his whole strength to enforce -the virtue of Tao—the _way_[378] of man’s return to that spontaneity of -action without motive which prevails in nature, and which will manifest -itself in man, in humility, gentleness, refusal to take precedence in -the world, in accounting the great as the small, the small as the great, -and _in recompensing injury with kindness_.[379] He does not affirm the -existence of God, but he does not deny it, and his language seems to -imply it. Certainly there is not a word which savours of superstition, -and yet he is the reputed founder of a most idolatrous religion, which -is found in shape five centuries after his death. The works of his -earliest followers are said to be full of the most grotesque and absurd -beliefs. As early as 221 B.C. some of them were in search of the Eastern -Hesperides, where grew the herb of immortality. In the first century -A.D. another professor of Taoism invented a pill containing the elixir -of life, and spells which could tame and destroy by the touch of a -pencil millions of demons. All through its history it has been a -conglomerate of superstitions so base, and so contrasted with the -teaching of the Tâo-teh-King, that to make the author of that literary -relic bear the obloquy of even the slightest connection with Taoism, -appears to be one of the grossest wrongs of history.[380] - -These sages preceded Buddha by a century, whose religion, though it came -into contact with China shortly after the reign of Asoka, did not -seriously begin to influence it till about the fourth century A.D. The -Buddhism of that period was the religion of the Northern school, well -advanced in its second stage of degeneracy. Wherever it was encouraged, -or allowed to maintain itself, it reared monasteries and nunneries, -temples and shrines of idols and relics, and established the worship of -saints and images, which sometimes, like winking Madonnas, opened their -eyes and otherwise worked miracles. Its effect upon Taoism was simply to -absorb it; for before then that religion had neither monasteries nor -temples, nor any system of worship. All these it borrowed from Buddhism, -whose Triratna and endless pantheon of deities it greedily accepted, -with the effect that though Taoism has existed nominally distinct from -Buddhism in China, it has simply been as Buddhism in a native dress, and -thus far the Hindu mind can be truly said to have powerfully influenced -Chinese thought. - -By the Confucians the reception of Buddhism was very different. They -might have laughed at its idolatrous system budding vigorously into -life, but they could not endure its full-blown anti-social Monasticism. -Its morality they could appreciate, though it seemed inferior to their -own; for though its teaching as to future rewards commended itself to -the moral instincts of the masses, the Confucians, more logical than -Buddhists, averred that to avoid wrong-doing for fear of future -punishment was not doing right for its own sake; while to labour for -happiness hereafter led to neglect of the present, and promoted lazy -inactivity. Such a scheme of religion was by them judged inimical to -virtue, which was its own reward, and the manner of life by which it was -illustrated was condemned as particularly immoral. The State, the -Family, Society, were Divine institutions which ought to be maintained -and perfected. Industry, public and private, was essential to their -ideal of propriety; and Buddhism, with its religion of inaction, its -celibate rule, and abandonment of all secular business, was simply -odious to the instincts of a practical and kindly people. There could -only be war between two such contradictory systems—a war not of words, -but, on the Chinese side at least, of very hard blows. Their hostility -manifested itself in repeated and prolonged persecutions. In one of -these 250,000 monks and nuns were forced to return to social life, while -their property was confiscated, and the copper of their images and bells -was minted into coin. The Confucians have long ceased to persecute, but -they have never withdrawn their first indictment against the Buddhists -for teaching what to them is criminal because disloyal, and immoral[381] -because anti-social. - -To the ethical system of China, as represented by Confucians, Mahāyāna -Buddhism could not add much, if indeed anything, of value; but its -speculative philosophy seems peculiarly to have fascinated them, and it -produced remarkable and permanent changes in their thinking. The -literature and the art of China reflect not Chinese but Indian scenes -and manners. Its grammatical and arithmetical sciences owe much to -Indian tutelage. An educated Chinaman, while avowing himself Confucian -in respect of ethics, will in all metaphysical problems reason according -to Buddhist methods and enunciate Buddhist ideas. To this extent, -therefore, it affected the Confucians, but not with beneficial results. -It aided Confucius in his evil work of shaking the faith of “the -classes” in the personal Ruler of the Universe, while its effect upon -“the masses” was even more injurious, for it dragged them down to a -polytheism from which for centuries they had been free, and put in place -of the impersonal principle with which Confucius had supplanted their -ancestral faith, those shadowy crowds of Buddhas and Bôdhisatvas, to -lead them still further away from the purer works and ways of more -reverential ages.[382] - -The episodes in the history of Chinese Buddhism from the fourth century -onward were marvellously similar to the scenes and incidents witnessed -in Europe during the same period in connection with the Christian -Church. Cardinal Newman has somewhere said that in “professing to write -the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon has reluctantly, but -actually, written the Rise and Progress of Christianity.” The most -zealous defender of the faith, however, must admit that the Christianity -which maintained in Europe from the fourth century onward had grievously -declined from that of the primitive ages. It is the fashion in some -quarters to attribute this degradation to the alliance of the Church -with the State, and to aver that had it kept apart from the embraces of -the Emperors it would have preserved itself from corruption. -Unquestionably Constantine was a “sair sanct” to the Church; a convert -more from expedience than conviction, he and his successors endeavoured -to utilise the Christian hierarchy to buttress their own throne. -Unquestionably, too, the Church suffered more indignity and harm from -the Christian Emperors who patronised it, than ever it did from the -heathen Emperors who persecuted it. Candid inquiries will, however, -convince most people that the alliance with the Empire was more an -incident in than the cause of the Church’s degradation. The transfer of -the seat of rule to the Bosporus left the Western Church free from the -Imperial influence to regulate its own affairs, and yet it became not -less but even more corrupt than its Oriental neighbour. The truth seems -to be that the corruption of the Church was due more to its external or -material prosperity than to anything else. To churches and to nations -that is the real ordeal by fire. In the poverty and struggles they have -higher hopes, but when difficulties are surmounted, and they dwell at -ease, they mistake or forget their vocation. The adversity and terrible -persecution of the Church, coincident with its primitive enthusiasm, did -a very great deal to preserve its health and purity; and it was simply -natural, and to be expected, that when it emerged into prosperity and -popular favour, like Jeshurun in his fatness, it should have rebelled, -and instead of serving as it was ordained to do, should have usurped the -power to rule. - -The iconography of early Christianity reflects even more clearly than -its literature the various stages of its deterioration. As long as the -world was against it, and it was compelled to use such places as the -Catacombs for its shelter and worship, its faith was pure, and its life -was full of exhilaration and brightness. Its symbolism was thoroughly -ideal and spiritual, in sharp and instructive contrast with every Pagan -specimen that has been discovered, and with its own subsequently -paganised art. It was a symbolism, moreover, only of its hopes, and not -of its one object of faith or of worship. It tolerated no symbol in -worship save the water of Baptism and the bread and the wine of the -Eucharist. It needed, as yet, no crucifix, not even a cross,[383] and it -would not allow any image to reveal to the imagination the present but -invisible Christ, or to suggest the profound meaning of His atonement. -But when it went forth, the admired of the world, into the sunshine, and -began to rear the grand basilicas, and people them with the tombs of the -martyrs and the enshrined relics of the saints, the very desire to rise -led it to fight heathenism with its own weapons, and to copy its -splendours.[384] Even before this it was falling back from the simple -service of the synagogue to that of the destroyed temple, but now it was -found adopting the heathen festivals, or accommodating its own to their -dates, and incorporating with its own the more imposing rites of still -popular heathen fanes. To “offer the new law’s new oblation” it invented -a new ritual and priesthood; and seeing a priesthood must have somewhat -to offer, it discovered a new sacrifice in the very sacrament which was -the Divine pledge and human thanksgiving for the abrogation of all -external sacrifice.[385] Then the government of the Empire became the -model of its organisation, and soon it was crowned in a Papacy -professing to dominate, as vicegerent for Christ, a world which -confessedly it has not yet been able to convert. - -It is not necessary to trace the sickening degradation of Christianity -through all its encounters and compromises with heathenism, till in the -gathering gloom its degenerate art reached a point where it dared to -portray to the eye of sense the death-pangs of the Son of God, and its -worship touched a depth of idolatry in which it symbolised the mystery -of the Holy Trinity by a three-headed figure quite after the model of -the Hindu Trimurti. It is sufficient to say that it appears to have -proceeded on parallel lines, and at as rapid a pace as the degeneracy of -Buddhism in the East. It too has its iconography as well as its -literature, and it is interesting to trace its passage from its earliest -graffiti—the stone edicts of Asoka, where we have the religion without -even the name of the founder—through the carvings of the Sanchi gateway, -where there is alteration, though to no considerable extent, on to those -at Amravati, where we have the full-blown Buddhism to which China to a -considerable extent succumbed.[386] Through all this period everywhere -in Chinese Buddhist temples were seen the idols of the saints, -everywhere were found their worshipped relics. A bone, a tooth, a single -hair, would be purchased by the revenue of a State and welcomed with -imperial honours. The rationalists of the West might protest as loudly -and as scoffingly as they pleased that there was as much wood of the -true cross and as many veritable nails of it in Europe as would suffice -to build a navy. The Confucian mandarins at the court of a -relic-worshipping Emperor might indignantly denounce the desecration and -pollution of the royal palace by the introduction of part of the carrion -of a monk who had died long ago.[387] With the father of Gideon, -deriding the wonder-working powers of these relics, they might insist -that they, and even Buddha himself, should plead, Baal-like, for -themselves against their iconoclastic ire; but at that time neither law, -nor persecution, nor common sense could prevail to cure this perverted -disposition. Belief in the virtue of a fetich marks both the infancy and -decay of most religions. In Chinese Buddhism to-day this belief is as -vigorous as ever, and notwithstanding the influence of the Reformation, -and the spread of scientific discovery, this belief marks an extreme of -thought from which neither Romanism nor Protestantism as yet can be said -to be free. - -The Buddhism of the earliest traditions was concerned chiefly with -morality as essential to deliverance, and the Christianity of the New -Testament is a faith and hope and love, dominating and fusing and -moulding life after a nobler type. In China, as elsewhere, the Buddhism -of morality gave way to the Buddhism of mystic contemplation. Yielding -to the same tendency which afterwards made so many Christians abandon -the paths of obedience and practice of righteousness for the cultivation -of the inner life, Buddhism as early as 520 A.D. was prepared to follow -eagerly Bôdiharma,[388] who came from Southern India to sweep away the -alien growth of all book-instruction, and to establish the truth that -“out of mind there is no Buddha, out of Buddha there is no mind; that -virtue is not to be sought, and vice is not to be shunned; that nothing -is to be looked upon as pure or polluted, for all that is needed is to -avoid both good and evil, and he that can do this is a truly religious -man.”[389] - -In proclaiming that ethical distinctions mark an inferior stage of -discipleship, for a “good man, though never against, is always above -them,” Bôdiharma, the nominal founder of Esoteric Buddhism, simply -formulated more clearly the teaching of Nâgârdjuna, the reputed founder -of the Mahāyāna system. It was only another expression of that -indefinable phase of thought, found in all religions as mysticism, and -which, though commonly identified only with its extravagant outbursts, -is really of the very essence of religion. The dominating thought in a -religious man is that of a Supreme One in whom we live and move and have -our being, and there are times in his worship when the balance of -consciousness is disturbed, and self is lost in consciousness of the -Divine. Man without the aid of prayer or sacramental grace finds in -himself the revelation, and alas! as his consciousness is always -imperfect, and very often confused, the revelation is too often -distorted and the reverse of Divine.[390] - -Mysticism, as was natural in a religion quickening both thought and -emotion, appeared early in Christianity, and from the days of St. John -it has never lacked a representative. In its manifold varieties and -aberrations it presents many similarities to the mysticism of the East, -but in reality it is as different from it in its nature as it is distant -from it in its source. Eastern mysticism has always been more -speculative than practical in character. Pantheistic in its origin, it -assumes that all things are as divine as it is their nature to be, and -aspires to get at the unity of being. Western mysticism, on the other -hand, starts always from a sense of the disorder and alienation of -things, and endeavours to get at man’s true life. The Eastern finds its -object within, the Western generally without; the Eastern considers -identity with Deity a natural state, the Western regards perfect -fellowship with Deity as a goal of spiritual attainment. In Christianity -mysticism has been occasional in its manifestations, and has always been -regarded as an innovation; but in the East it is the normal deduction -from Hindu Pantheism and Buddhist Nihilism.[391] Nâgârdjuna and -Bôdiharma were the natural outcome of Gotama’s teaching. In Christianity -it has often shown itself to be marvellously practical, and generally in -revolt from some stereotyped system of dogma or form of worship. Though -associated in our thoughts more with the sentimental than the -intellectual aspects of religion,[392] it has manifested frequently a -decidedly rationalistic tendency. Refusing to be dominated by authority -or to be bound by antiquity, it has questioned fearlessly the dicta of -Scripture, avowing that reason is not superseded, but divinely inspired -and controlled as the organ of revelation. In Christianity its -extravagances may be forgiven in consideration of the benefits which -have flowed from it. It powerfully helped to bring about the -Reformation, and since then, in the Churches, whether reformed or -unreformed, it has tended to sweeten and intensify devotion. It has kept -them mindful of their common lineage by insisting upon those essential -and universal truths which are confessed to be vital in all religions, -and especially by proclaiming the supremacy of the Holy Spirit as the -fountain of all enlightenment and activity. - -As manifested in St. Paul and St. John, mysticism is the recognition of -the Holy Spirit as the Witness of Christ, and therefore the supreme lord -over all man’s emotions and reasonings and purposes. Consequently the -asceticism with which mysticism has always been associated has been in -Christianity more kept under control. Occasionally it has lapsed into -frightful excesses; indeed, the extravagances practised in the East to -attain to insight have been equalled by the devices resorted to by many -in the West to gain the vision of the Divine. In ingenious methods of -self-torture the West certainly vied with the East, but at self-torture -perverted Christianity stopped, while degenerate Buddhism went on to -invent and put in practice most revolting methods of self-destruction as -well. The law of Buddha prohibited this, and forbade even the mention of -the advantages of death. It was an offence of the gravest kind, punished -by the severest penalty which the Order could inflict,[393] for a monk -to procure a weapon for the purpose of taking away his life, or to teach -how death may be procured. Still, in India before Fa-Hian’s time, -self-murder was practised, and in China Imperial edicts against -self-mutilation and self-immolation were required to prevent fanatics -evading the primitive law by the quibble, that while prohibiting -suicide, Buddha enjoined the destruction of anger and lust, and that it -was against these alone that they raised their hand, in order to -complete their deliverance.[394] - -Christianity demands that an ἄσκησις shall be practised by all who -desire the illumination of the Spirit, for all that is vile must be -purged out of life, and all that is animal in it must be subdued. The -discipline, however, is always moral as well as religious, and it aims -only at controlling, never, like Stoicism or Cynicism, at stifling or -violating natural affection. Unlike Plato, who regarded matter as evil, -Christ and His apostles recognised it as the creature of God, and taught -us to seek the seat of evil, not in the body, but in the perverted will. -In the spirit is the true _fons et origo mali_; but as the occasion of -sin directly or indirectly often originates in some desire for bodily -indulgence or some dread of bodily pain, temperance and fortitude demand -that the body, if not inured to hardness, should be at least kept under -control. So bodily exercise,[395] though in itself profiting little, -profiteth much as moral discipline, a means to a spiritual end. -Consequently the fast in its literal sense has its place in the -Christian system as an expedient generally most required in the times -when we are inclined to despise it. The fanaticism which would destroy -or injure what is natural is condemned by Christianity as severely as is -the sensuality which would unduly strengthen it. What it demands is that -the whole nature be educated and ennobled by loving surrender to the -control of an infinitely holy Will. Enjoyment of the vision beatific, -communion with the Divine Being, is the _summum bonum_ of Christianity, -and that is the portion only of the sanctified. “Blessed are the pure in -heart: for they shall see God.” - -Bôdiharma’s mystic or esoteric Buddhism had no such influences to steady -and sober it, and its aberrations were wilder than the fancies of our -delirium. The supernatural pretensions of mysticism have always been -disallowed or condemned in Christianity by overwhelming healthy-minded -majorities, but the consequence of the practice of Esoteric Buddhism was -believed by all to be supernatural power. An adept in it professed to -see through all ages and worlds, and move through space by a sheer -exercise of will. All the phenomena of modern spiritualism may have been -witnessed in India and China two thousand years ago—yea, centuries -perhaps before Buddha appeared. The first pretenders to these mysteries -were the Indian Yogis and the medicine-men of savage and barbarous -races.[396] The “Neo-Buddhism” and “Theosophy” of to-day simply confront -us in the cast-off yellow rags of these pitiful superstitions. Their -disciples attempt to warm themselves and to walk in the light of the -unhallowed flames which the deluded followers of Bôdiharma believed they -could kindle. In whatever way the phenomena of spiritualism are to be -explained—and one cannot say what phenomena may emerge when the human -mind is abandoned to vacuity, and the human will to an ungoverned -fancy—we may be certain that investigation of them will never disclose -the reality of benign supernatural power. What capabilities may be -dormant in humanity no one can tell. Christ who redeemed us is the -prophecy of what He can make us. He had supernatural power because His -being accorded perfectly with the Heavenly Father’s will; but -supernatural power as manifested by Christ is very different indeed from -the ludicrous exhibitions of the “spiritualists.” Christ’s supernatural -power was not manifested just in their ways, and certainly not by their -methods; will it ever be acquired?[397] - -It is not compatible with our space to trace the parallels between -Esoteric Buddhism and some nineteenth-century forms of speculation in -which the finite is again seen to be going back to the absolute, and the -reality of everything but the self is denied. On the religious side, -however, it is interesting to notice a later stage of it in a system -which, originating not long after Bôdiharma, took some four centuries to -establish itself. The T’ien-t’ai or Chi-Che school differed from -Bôiharma’s theory of pure mental abstraction to be gained through -complete withdrawal from all sensible surroundings, in that it sought to -aid contemplation by sensuous exercises. Worship of gay idols, music of -many persons chanting in unison, postures of kneeling and standing, -exercises of continued and loud recitation, with intervals of profound -silence and intense meditation, were supposed to produce the desired -illumination. It seemed to be the first recognition of feeling in the -Buddhist religion, and the first attempt to employ it to produce -ecstasy. The same attempt has often been repeated in the history of -Christianity, sometimes in very grotesque and extravagant forms. In -every outburst of religious enthusiasm we may see rude examples of it, -but it is also the principle on which æsthetic worship is generally -defended. It is a reminder, therefore, to some very superior people, of -our common human nature, and a warning that when left to itself, or -indulged, even the æsthetic, like all other instincts, will just run the -same round of extravagance in manifold and ever-recurring variety. - -The tendency in human nature to pervert a religion is as strongly -manifested in Christianity as in Buddhism; but there is this outstanding -distinction between them, that while a survey of Buddhism shows that -everywhere it has run its course, and has exhausted its intellectual and -moral and spiritual resources, Christianity upon examination appears to -be only in an early stage of development. In spite of the perversions of -the Church, and its repeated resistance to Christian movements, -Christianity has always produced what has condemned and corrected and -vanquished them. It is the recuperative power of Christianity which most -distinguishes it. There is nothing in the history of Buddhism which at -all corresponds with the Reformation. To-day all over the world it is -stereotyped and unprogressive, whereas everywhere in Christendom there -is ferment of thought and stirring of life, plainly indicating that -whatever power may claim the past, Christianity has the sure promise of -the future. - -In China, two hundred and seventy years ago, originated a sect whose -adherents, scattered through the villages of the Eastern Provinces, and -belonging principally to the lower classes of society, may be called -Protestant or Reformed Buddhists. They are described by Dr. Edkins[398] -as opposed to idolatry in all its forms, as having no temple, but only -plain meeting-houses, signalised with only the common tablet to heaven, -earth, king, parents, and teachers, as their symbol of reverence. Their -worship consists not in ceremonies, but in quiet meditation, and inner -adoration of the all-pervading Buddha. They are called the “Do-Nothing -Sect,” not because they are idle, like the ignorant inmates of the -monasteries—for they are really industrious and virtuous,—but because -they hold that the highest virtue is never intentional, but wholly -unconscious of self. Like M. Aurelius,[399] they consider that to ask to -be “paid for virtue is as if the eye demanded a recompence for seeing.” -In thinking of them, the words of the Lord Jesus recur to us: “Do good, -and lend, hoping for nothing again.” George Fox, and the quiet and -charitable Society which he founded, and which still continues in formal -garb his protest against all formalism in worshipping God, not by -clamouring to Him, but in silently waiting till He speaks, seems to be -the realisation of what these good Wu-wei-Kiau aspire to in their -religion. They have not been able to free themselves from Buddhism or -Taoism. Buddha, though not worshipped, is believed in by them, and they -have found an object of adoration in Kîn-mu, the Golden Mother of the -soul, who can protect and deliver from calamity, and even save those -that have died from misery. They have four principal festivals, two of -which celebrate the birth and death of Lo-tsu, their founder. On these -occasions three small cups of tea and nine tiny loaves of bread are -placed on the tables, according to the appointment of Lo-tsu himself. On -this account they are nicknamed “the Tea and Bread Sect.” They are -strict vegetarians, but in no other sense ascetics, honouring marriage -and family life, and having no monastic institute among them. They aver -that one of their leaders during a persecution was crucified, and their -great hope is that the world will soon come to an end, and that the -Golden Mother will appear, to take all her children—all who believe in -her as they do—home to her beautiful heaven. - -This can hardly be called a reformation of Buddhism according either to -its original form or its fundamental principles. It is a departure from, -and an immense improvement upon it, which is manifestly due to foreign -and probably Christian influence. The Nestorians entered China in the -seventh, and the Jesuits in the sixteenth century, while Reformed -Christianity only came in contact with China in the present generation. -If it be denied that Christianity helped to produce the Do-Nothing Sect, -it will be difficult to disprove the claim that, directly or indirectly, -it has done much to produce the latest forms in which, in China and -Japan, Buddhism is now presented to the world. In both countries -Reformed Buddhists are found differing in much from one another, but -generally agreeing in rejecting polytheism for the worship of one -divinity: in China, Kwan-yin, who for long has changed sexes, and is now -the goddess of mercy; in Japan, Buddha, whose attribute is Amita, the -infinite. One sect, called the “Salvation without Works Sect,” has -progressed greatly in Japan, under the title of Shin-Shin, “the true -religion.” The worshipper renounces all merit, and trusts for salvation -in nothing but the mercy of Amita.[400] The soul is brought into a state -of salvation by an act of faith, and though sure of salvation, the -faithful must not abandon the struggle with evil, for holiness is not -the beginning, but the result of salvation. In Kioti, a Buddhist sect -has a college quite Western in its curriculum and arrangements. There -too the Japanese newspapers not only record the successes of able -Buddhist preachers in spreading their doctrine, and in founding schools, -they advertise a Buddhist propaganda for the conversion of Europe and -America. Its only organ as yet is a little magazine called the _Bijou of -Asia_, but it is printed in English for the enlightenment of all who -believe in the moribund creeds of the West, and for the rescue -especially of souls from the snare of that Christian superstition which -“happily all over the world is rapidly declining in power”! - -If this be not impure Christianity, no one will dare to call it pure -Buddhism. Surely it is a hopeful indication for the future of Japan, as -being evidently a movement somewhat similar to that inaugurated in India -by Rammohun Roy, and greatly furthered in our days by Chunder Sen. The -first professed to trace his reform to the Upanishads rediscovered, and -expounded, and applied; and the second to the Vedas as the primitive -fountains of the faith. Both reformers and their work would have been -impossible two thousand years ago; yea, they would have been equally -impossible to-day, had not the West given of its thoughts to the East, -and Christendom communicated to it something of its better life. It is -one thing to read the Vedas and Upanishads, as the Rishis recited or the -Brahmans expounded them long ago, and quite another to have them -interpreted by natives of India, around whose forefathers for several -generations all the influences of Christian civilisation have been -playing. So is it with the reforming Buddhists of China and Japan, who -have enterprise to send their sons to study at our British Universities. -They are reading their old literature—even when rejecting our systems of -belief—with minds unconsciously saturated with Christian intelligence, -and no doubt they often find there what the Gospel has put in -themselves. - -We may rest assured that the reform of the Oriental religions will only -be effected by the infusion into them of the spirit of Christianity. A -higher religion meeting them as Christianity does, may not supplant or -destroy them, but it will revive and transform them. It will destroy -much that is false, correct much that is wrong, supply all they lack, -and so in the end annul them. The product will not likely be a facsimile -of any of the Churches of Christendom. It may be a religion in which -Buddha and the great teachers of his system will be lifted to their -places among the prophets who, “since the world began,” unconsciously -testified, by their errors as well as by their truths, by their failures -as well as by their successes, to the Mystery to be revealed. The fact -that in Buddhism the object of worship is not the Buddha that was, but -Mâitrêya who is to be, is a pathetic confession that its Messiah has yet -to come. Though Buddha did not proclaim His coming, the result of his -mission bears witness to the need of Him. So he was a lawgiver preparing -the way for Moses, even as Moses prepared the way for the Baptist, and -as the Baptist heralded the Christ of God. Could his voice reach down -to-day from “the quiet shore” to the millions who have taken hold of him -in hope of finding deliverance from the miseries and perplexities of -this sinful world, it would be to repeat a testimony once heard on -Jordan’s banks from him than whom no one born of woman was greater: -“There standeth One among you whom ye know not, the latchet of whose -shoes I am not worthy to unloose.” - -Footnote 319: - - Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, ii. 33. 35. - -Footnote 320: - - 1 Corinthians xiv. - -Footnote 321: - - “Das Christenthum ist das allerveränderlichste; das ist sein - besonderer Ruhm.”—Rothe, _Stille Stunden_, p. 357. - -Footnote 322: - - Acts xxviii. 13; Rom. xv. 24; 2 Tim. iv. 10; 1 Peter i. 1. - -Footnote 323: - - Greg. Nyss. _Op._ iii. 574. - -Footnote 324: - - Keim, _Rom und Christenthum_, p. 417. - -Footnote 325: - - Uhlhorn, _Conflict of Christianity_, pp. 54, 90. - -Footnote 326: - - Neander, _Church History_, vol. i. pp. 10, 40. - -Footnote 327: - - Orig. _cont. Cels._ iii. 44-54; Tatian, c. 33; Minut. Felix, _Octav._ - 8. 12; Tertull. _Apolog._ 37 _et passim_. - -Footnote 328: - - Newman, _Grammar of Assent_, pp. 460 _seq._ - -Footnote 329: - - Kullavagga, iv. 14. 25; also _ibid._ vii. 1. 5; _Sacred Books of the - East_, vol. xx. - -Footnote 330: - - E. Burnouf, _Science of Religions_, p. 288, notes the analogy between - Pryadarsi and “a man greatly beloved” in Daniel ix. 23. - -Footnote 331: - - See _Lotus de la bonne Loi_, App. x. p. 659 _seq._: Prinsep’s trans., - _Jour. Asiat. Soc. Beng._ vol. vii. pp. 219 _seq._; Prof. H. H. - Wilson’s, vol. xii. of _Jour. Asiat. Soc. Beng._ pp. 153 _seq._ - -Footnote 332: - - Wheeler, _History of India_, vol. iii. p. 214. - -Footnote 333: - - T. W. Rhys Davids, _Handbook of Buddhism_, p. 225. - -Footnote 334: - - Dipavamso, chap. viii. - -Footnote 335: - - T. W. Rhys Davids, _Handbook of Buddhism_, p. 259. - -Footnote 336: - - _Buddhist Records of the Western World_, trans. by Prof. Beal, vol. - i.; Fo-Kwo-ki, chap. xxii. p. xlix, vol. ii; Hiuen Tsiang, B. vi. pp. - 13, 14. - -Footnote 337: - - Lassen, _Indische Alterth._ vol. ii. p. 1078; vol. iv. p. 741. - -Footnote 338: - - Dr. Beal, _Buddhism in China_, p. 61; Dr. Edkins, _Chinese Buddhism_, - Preface, p. i. - -Footnote 339: - - _Buddhism in Tibet_, E. Schlagintweit, pp. 61-75. - -Footnote 340: - - _Comparative Progress of Ancient and Modern Missions._ - -Footnote 341: - - Dr. Maclear, _Gradual Conversion of Europe_, pp. 6-12. - -Footnote 342: - - _Nouveau Journ. Asiat._ pp. 106, 137, 139. - -Footnote 343: - - Dr. Edkins, _Chinese Buddhism_, pp. 84, 207. - -Footnote 344: - - “It may be safely asserted that no Aryan race, while existing in - anything like purity, was ever converted to Buddhism, or could - permanently adopt its doctrines.”—Fergusson, _Tree and Serpent - Worship_, p. 67. The old Turanian race, far from being savage, or even - barbarous, not only laid the basis of Chinese civilisation, but seems - to have been also the first civiliser of Western Asia, and the first - to spread art and science along the southern coasts of Europe. The - Iberian, Etruscan, Phœnician, Hittite, even Egyptian monuments, are - now acknowledged to be relics of this mighty race, which must have - sent horde after horde over Asia and Europe long before the historic - advance westwards in the thirteenth century A.D.; its latest invasion - of India may have been represented, not by Scythian ancestors of - Buddha, but the Sikhs.—Conder, “Early Races of Western Asia,” _Journ. - Anthrop. Inst._ August 1889, pp. 30-43. - -Footnote 345: - - Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_, Introduction; Eitel, _Lectures on - Buddhism_. - -Footnote 346: - - Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_, pp. 114, 156. - -Footnote 347: - - Wassilief, _Le Bouddhisme_, etc., pp. 14, 18. - -Footnote 348: - - Dêvadatta’s Five Points (Kullavagga, vii. 3. 14, 15) all insist upon a - more ascetic rule than the Sangha practised. - -Footnote 349: - - Stanley, _Eastern Church_, pp. 45, 50. - -Footnote 350: - - Turnour, “Pali Bud. Annals,” _Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng._ vol. vi. p. - 729; Wassilief, _Le Bouddhisme, etc._, p. 18. - -Footnote 351: - - The beginning of the dissensions is related in Kullavagga vii. with - much legendary adornment. There too, in vii. 5, and in Mahavagga, x. - 1. 6, the distinction is drawn between “dissension” and “schism,” and - the woe predicted for the breaker-up of the Sangha when it was at - peace: “He is boiled for a kalpa in Niraya, doomed for so long to a - penance of misery.” The reconciler of a divided Sangha was made happy - for a kalpa in heaven. - -Footnote 352: - - T. W. Rhys Davids, _Handbook of Buddhism_, p. 182. - -Footnote 353: - - Beal, _Chinese Buddhism_, p. 101: “a worship of association and - memory.” - -Footnote 354: - - Agni. Indra, Sūrya; Kern, _Buddhismus_, vol. ii. p. 156; Sir Monier - Williams, _Buddhism_, p. 175. - -Footnote 355: - - “A being whose essence (sattva) has become intelligence (bodhu) - derived from _self-enlightening_ intellect, and who has only once more - to pass through human existence before attaining Buddhahood.”—Eitel, - _Sanskrit-Chinese Dict._, p. 26; Sir Monier Williams’ _Buddhism_, p. - 98. - -Footnote 356: - - Wassilief, _Le Bouddhisme, etc._, pp. 124 _seq._; Burnouf, _Le Lotus - de la bonne Loi_, p. 302. - -Footnote 357: - - Nâgârdjuna, the Nagasēna of the Milindipanha, was the chief - representative, if not founder, of one of the Mahāyāna Schools. He has - been regarded as a mythical personage, and the name has been supposed - to be the generic one of various authors and doctors of the system. - For an account of Hināyāna and Mahāyāna doctrine, with its - subdivisions, see Wassilief, _Le Bouddhisme, etc._, pp. 9 _seq._, 118 - _seq._; Schlagintweit, _Buddhism in Tibet_, pp. 19-57. Nâlanda must - have been a very important centre in Buddhist times.—Fergusson, _Tree - and Serpent Worship_, p. 79. - -Footnote 358: - - Dr. Edkins says about 190 A.D. - -Footnote 359: - - Burnouf, _Introd. à l’histoire du Bud. Ind._ vol. i. pp. 220, 224 - (Paris, 1844); also Burnouf, _Le Lotus de la bonne Loi_, chap. xxiv. - pp. 261-268; also Appendix III. pp. 498-511 (Paris, 1852). - -Footnote 360: - - Müller, Gifford Lectures, _Natural Religion_, p. 543; Dr. Beal, - _Buddhism in China_, p. 123; Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_, p. 195. - -Footnote 361: - - Hodgson, _Illustrations of the Literature and Religion of the - Buddhists_, p. 30; Burnouf, _Introduction, etc._, pp. 116-121; also in - note at p. 118, quoting Hodgson. - -Footnote 362: - - Though strong affinities exist between Gnosticism and Buddhism, which - may indicate later connection, in their origin they appear to have - been quite distinct. The methods, aims, and terminology of Gnosticism, - all betoken derivation from purely Western sources. It is quite - possible that Gnosticism may have given Adi-Buddha to the East, but - the question of their relations is still undetermined. See Weber, - _Hist. Ind. Lit._ p. 309; Obry’s _Nirvana, etc._, p. 161; Bishop - Lightfoot, Essay on the Essenes (_Epistle to Colossians_), p. 157; - _Home and Foreign Review_, vol. iii. pp. 143 _seq._ (1863). - -Footnote 363: - - Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_, p. 203; Dr. Beal, _Chinese Buddhism_, - p. 128; Dr. Eitel, _Lectures_, p. 98. - -Footnote 364: - - Kullavagga, v. 21. 4; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xx. - -Footnote 365: - - _Introd._ § vi. p. 558: “La plume se refuse à transcrire des doctrines - aussi misérables quant à la forme, qu’odieuses et dégradantes pour le - fond.” - -Footnote 366: - - Âryasanga, founder of the Yôgacharya or contemplative system of - Mahāyāna (_circa_ 400 A.D.). For an account of his doctrine, see - Wassilief, _Le Boudd._ pp. 288 _seq._, and Schlagintweit, _Bud. in - Tibet_, pp. 39 _seq._, 46 _seq._; Rhys Davids, _Buddhism_, p. 207 - _seq._ - -Footnote 367: - - A writer in the _Nineteenth Century_, October 1889, professes to - describe the testimony of the only reporter who has written of Lhása - since Huc and Gabet were expelled from it forty-five years ago. - According to this witness, the Church is now actually in grip of the - State, though nominally dominant. Of five members of the Council of - the Grand Lama four are laymen, superior military officers, with the - Regent at their head. Till the Grand Lama is eighteen years of age, - the Regent is supreme, and for sixty years, not a single Grand Lama, - chosen as an infant, has survived his eighteenth birthday!! - -Footnote 368: - - Buddhism, however, introduced into Tibet the benefits of the art of - writing, the reduction of its language to an alphabet, and grammar; - and not only the sacred literature represented by the collection of - the Kandjur, but the very miscellaneous literature of the Tandjur. - Several of its Buddhist missionaries and the kings who favoured them - were really great men. Kublai Khan and the first Lamistic Pope - Phags-pa, 1259-94, rendered lasting service to the cause of - civilisation. See Köppen’s _Die Lamaische Hierarchie und Kirche_, - being vol. ii. of his celebrated and most laborious work, _Die - Religion des Buddha_; T. W. Rhys Davids, Art. LAMAISM, _Encyc. Brit._ - vol. xiv.; Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_, pp. 262-302. - -Footnote 369: - - The most recent and reliable information as to this perverted form of - Buddhism—if it is to be called Buddhism, for it seems to be no more - Buddhism than Vandoux worship can be called Christianity—will be found - in the works of T. W. Rhys Davids; Sir Monier Williams, _Buddhism_; - Babu Sarat Chunder Das, “Religious Hist. of Thibet,” _Journ. Asiat. - Soc. Beng._ 1881; _Life and Works of Alex. Csoma de Koros_, Th. Duka, - Lond. 1885; E. Colborne Baber, _Travels and Researches in Western - China_; Bushell’s “Hist. of Thibet,” _Journ. R.A.S._ vol. xii. - 1878-79. - -Footnote 370: - - An invocation of Avalôkitês’vara, who is believed to have delivered it - to the Tibetans.—Klaproth, _Fragments Bouddhiques_, p. 27; Hodgson, - _Illustrations_, p. 171; Charles Loring Brace, _Gesta Christi_, p. - 455. - -Footnote 371: - - Schlagintweit, _Buddhism in Tibet_, pp. 227-272. - -Footnote 372: - - _Chinese Review_, vol. xi. p. 162; Beal, _Buddhism in China_, p. 233. - -Footnote 373: - - Once when a heathen asked Hillel to show him the whole Jewish religion - in a few words, he replied, “_Do not unto others what thou wouldst not - should be done unto thee_.” Kuenen’s _Religion of Israel_, p. 243 - (quotes Talmud, Sabbath, 31 a.) - -Footnote 374: - - See Isaiah xxxii. 5, 6. Socrates says in _Phaedo_, “to use words - wrongly and indefinitely is not merely an error in itself; it also - creates evil in the soul.” A vast amount of mischief is done by the - misapplication of good adjectives to bad subjects. All true reformers, - with Confucius, labour for a rectification of names. - -Footnote 375: - - Shu King, Shi King, Pref. and Introd. pp. 1-27, by Dr. Legge; _Sacred - Books of the East_, vol. iii. - -Footnote 376: - - _Mémoire sur la Vie et les Opinions de Lao-tsze._ - -Footnote 377: - - Translation of the Tâo-teh-King, under the title, _Le Livre de la Voie - et de la Vertu_. - -Footnote 378: - - μέθοδος, Prof. Douglas, _Confucianism and Taoism_, p. 189. - -Footnote 379: - - It is very interesting to find, so long before Christianity, and so - far from its cradle, this fundamental rule in Christian morals. In the - Book of Proverbs its enunciation may have preceded that in the - Tao-teh-King in point of time; but its being uttered at the end of the - world, along with the “golden rule” of Confucius, prove how - essentially one are the moral instincts of humanity. - -Footnote 380: - - Dr. Legge’s Preface to vol. iii. of _Sacred Books of the East_, p. - xxi; also Art. LAO-TSZE, _Encyc. Brit._ vol. xiv. - -Footnote 381: - - Dr. Edkins, _Chinese Buddhism_, pp. 128, 202; Beal, _Introduction to - Fa-Hian_, p. 27. - -Footnote 382: - - Douglas, _Confucianism_, p. 84; Beal, _Buddhism in China_, p. 235; - Edkins, _Chinese Buddhism_, p. 333. - -Footnote 383: - - In the whole range of the Catacombs no crucifix, and only very few - crosses have been found, and these generally in a disguised form. The - communion of the early Church was with Christ risen and triumphant; it - was only when the spirit and fervour of worship declined that it made - so much of the crucifixion.—Northcote and Brownlow’s Abridgment of De - Rossi’s _Roma Sotterranea_; Smith and Cheetham, _Dict. of Christian - Antiq._, Art. CATACOMBS, pp. 294 _seq._; Witherow, _Catacombs_, pp. - 260, 281. - -Footnote 384: - - The efficiency of _relic-worship_ may be said to have been established - as early as the fourth century. Julian compares the churches to whited - sepulchres, full of dead men’s bones. Development of _image-worship_ - proceeded _pari passu_ with the erection of fine churches and their - adornment with painting and sculpture. There were all along strong - protests from individual bishops, and even prohibitions by Councils, - but the fashion was too strong for their fulminations. Even in the - eighth century the iconoclastic reformation of Leo the Isaurian was - too late. His zeal, moreover, was wrongly directed. He assailed high - art, and condemned only the truly fine paintings, sparing the ruder - and more ancient productions, and leaving untouched the worship of and - disgraceful traffic in relics, real and spurious. It is not to be - wondered at that in opposition to all this Gregory in the West became - the champion of art as an aid to devotion.—Milman, _Lat. - Christianity_, vol. ii. p. 152. - -Footnote 385: - - In protesting against the Mass, the Reformed Churches maintain the - universal priesthood, and therefore perpetual sacrifice, of the - visible Church. As Christ’s witness on earth, the Church must be - always offering itself, in thanksgiving for its own redemption, for - the salvation of the world. - -Footnote 386: - - Fergusson, _Tree and Serpent Worship_, p. 67; Cunningham, _Bhilsa - Topes_, p. 130. - -Footnote 387: - - Dr. Edkins, _Chinese Buddhism_, p. 126; Judges vi. 31. - -Footnote 388: - - Originally called Bódhitara, but renamed by his teacher Payantara, in - token of his religious “insight.” He is said to have brought to China - the famous alms-bowl, which all the Buddhas of the Kalpa have used, - and will use, and whose final disappearance will indicate that the - religion is about to perish. Thus Buddhism has also its San Greal. - Bôdiharma is called the “wall-gazing Brahman,” though a Kshatrya, - because on his arrival in China he spent nine years in silent - meditation.—Eitel, _Sanskrit Chinese Dict._ p. 24. - -Footnote 389: - - Dr. Edkins, _Chinese Buddhism_, p. 130. - -Footnote 390: - - Men who have in vain sought God without have happily found Him in the - witness of their own conscience and affection, but generally they who - conceitedly reject the revelation without them only obscure the seeing - faculty within. “When mysticism threw off external authority it went - mad, as in the revolutionary pantheism of the Middle Ages. When it - incorporated itself more and more in revealed truth, it became a - benign power—as on the eve of the Reformation.”—Vaughan, _Hours with - the Mystics_, vol. ii. p. 356. - -Footnote 391: - - “Mysticism,” A. Seth, _Encyc. Brit._ vol. xvii. pp. 129-136. - -Footnote 392: - - Correctly so, if we are to judge of Mysticism even from its purest - phases and its best representatives, _e.g._ the Quietism of Madame - Guyon, the Spiritualism of Swedenborg, the Romanticism of F. von - Hardenberg, better known as Novalis. Even on its speculative or - philosophical side, it would not be difficult to cull from the - writings of the Cambridge Platonists, and the Idealists of Europe and - America, extracts equivalent to the aphorisms of Novalis, that “action - is morbid,” “to dream is to overcome,” that “the soul must abandon the - actual world if it would discover in the recesses of the mystic night - the Queen of Heaven, Eternal Beauty.”—_Hymns to Night_, Schriften, - vol. ii. p. 158. - -Footnote 393: - - Pâtimokkha; Pârâgikâ Dhammâ, 3; _Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xiii. - -Footnote 394: - - Beal, Introduction to _Fa-Hian_, p. 42. In an important aspect the - perversion of Christianity was worse than that of Buddhism. The - Buddhist ascetics, though merciless to themselves, never tortured - their vanquished opponents. There is no parallel to the Romish - Inquisition and some Protestant atrocities in any of the annals of - Buddhism. - -Footnote 395: - - ἡ σωματικὴ γυμνασία, 1 Tim. iv. 8. - -Footnote 396: - - Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, vol. i. p. 440. - -Footnote 397: - - “Vient enfin le mysticisme de la dernière époque, qui, de même que - tous les mysticismes, finit de la manière la plus misérable, et - enfante une idolâtrie grossière, ainsi que les stupides pratiques de - la sorcellerie” (Laboulaye, Introd. to La Comme’s transl. of - Wassilief’s _Buddhism_, p. xlv). This has often been verified in the - religious history of the West, and the fate of many former “spiritual” - aspirants to enter or to peer into the Invisible and Unutterable - should be a powerful warning to all who are now aiming at surpassing - the natural conditions of existence. In endeavouring to transcend - humanity, we are likely to fall miserably below it. - -Footnote 398: - - _Chinese Buddhism_, pp. 370-379. - -Footnote 399: - - Also Seneca: “We do not love virtue because it gives us pleasure, but - it gives us pleasure because we love it.”—_De Vit. Beat._ c. ix. “In - doing good man should be like the vine, producing grapes, and asking - for nothing in having done so.”—M. Aurel. v. 6 and ix. 42. - -Footnote 400: - - Herzog, _Encyclop._ (Schaff), vol. i. p. 334. - - - - - POSTSCRIPT. - - -In endeavouring to perform the very honourable task assigned to me, I -have had to contend all along with the difficulty of comprising in six -what would require many more lectures properly to relate. Much which was -actually prepared I have been forced to omit, consoling myself with the -thought that, after all, I had simply to lecture and not to write a -compendious treatise, and that it was my business to sketch as -truthfully as I could what it was simply impossible, within the limits -prescribed, adequately to depict. It was originally my intention to give -in parallel quotations the alleged similarities between the contents of -the Pitakas and the New Testament, but the conditions of time and space -compelled me to be content with references to specimens of them in the -_Sacred Books of the East_, from which any ordinary English reader may -be able to form a judgment concerning them. Moreover, when well on with -the work, I discovered that a much more thorough examination of -Professor Seydel’s _Buddhist-Christian Harmony_ than I could profess to -make had already been published by Professor Kellogg of Allegheny, U.S., -in his book on the _Light of Asia and the Light of the World_. An Indian -missionary of eleven years’ experience, and the author of an excellent -Grammar of the Hindi language, can write upon this subject, not only -with greater authority, but to much better purpose, than one who only -knows Indian books through the medium of European translations, and who -has not seldom been compelled to take on trust what he felt strongly -inclined to question. If Dr. Kellogg’s book is not extensively read in -this country, it certainly deserves to be. - -Our sketch has been confined to Buddhism as a religion and as an ethical -system. The philosophy which has grown out of it, and especially the -psychology which lies at the base of its original dogmas, would require -a large volume to expound. A great field is open here for those who have -the ability and the leisure to cultivate it; and though good work has -already been done in it, we may be convinced that, until this psychology -has been more thoroughly investigated, we must continue in uncertainty -as to what original Buddhism was. Though much has been written upon the -origin and growth of Buddhism, the first authoritative words are only -now beginning to be spoken by the learned translators of the Pali texts; -and though they have dispelled illusions and corrected false impressions -not a few, we cannot affirm that there is a strong consensus of opinion -among them as to the life and teaching of the founder of Buddhism. One -is greatly impressed by the modest hesitation with which they have -presented their views, but this very diffidence makes one fear that we -may be attributing to Buddha sayings which he never uttered, or that we -have drawn from them inferences which he would have disowned. - -In working out a sketch like this, the temptation constantly besetting -one is to compare or contrast actual Buddhism with ideal Christianity. - -I have endeavoured to bear in mind that our modern religion may in many -features grossly misrepresent that of its Divine Author, and, indeed, -that “Christianity has all along been much embarrassed in being obliged -to apologise for Christendom.”[401] In like manner I have tried to make -plain the great distinction between the original system of Buddha and -that which very soon came to be known by his name. An Oriental will -certainly misjudge Christianity if he derives his knowledge of it from -mediæval theology or from some nineteenth-century sermons; and we may -unconsciously commit the same mistake in ascribing to the primitive -dogmas the interpretation put upon them by its later schools.[402] I -have read several books in which this mistake was flagrant, and I should -be extremely sorry to follow their bad example. In the present state of -our knowledge, however, and until the earliest texts have been -accurately ascertained, and sifted, and classified, this, to a certain -extent, is inevitable, and therefore excusable. If I have failed in my -attempt to portray accurately even the salient features of this great -religion, it has been from no desire to caricature it. The days have -surely passed when it could be said that we were “too infatuated by a -sense of the superiority of our own to make a fair survey of other -religions.”[403] It is our duty, and it will be for our interest, to do -justice to them, and, instead of being content with the schoolboy’s -endeavour to prove them false, we should seek carefully among the ruins -of the most degraded of them for all the elements of truth we can -discover. It is in this direction that we must proceed if we would find -solid foundations for a true Christian theology, and the more we address -ourselves to the work the more likely shall we be to convince the Church -of the proper value of the Faith deposited in its keeping, and to rouse -it to realise its destiny and fulfil its glorious mission to the world. - -In correcting these sheets for the press, I have often been sensible of -my great obligations to a very highly valued personal friend, whose -goodness was as remarkable as his learning. May I be forgiven if, in -gratitude for his kind and generous help in these very studies, given -now long ago, I desire to keep alive the memory of this justly esteemed -Sanskrit scholar, by adding this little stone to his cairn, and adorning -my book with the name of Dr. John Muir. - -Footnote 401: - - _Eternal Atonement_, by Dr. R. D. Hitchcock, p. 157. - -Footnote 402: - - T. W. Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, p. 196. - -Footnote 403: - - Quinet, _Le Génie des Religions_, p. 13. - -Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty, _at the -Edinburgh University Press_. - - - - - ● Transcriber’s Notes: - ○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). - ○ Footnotes have been moved to follow the lectures in which they are - referenced. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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margin-top: 2em; } - div.tnotes { padding-left:1em;padding-right:1em;background-color:#E3E4FA; - border:1px solid silver;margin:1em 5% 0 5%;text-align:justify; } - abbr {border:none; text-decoration:none; font-variant:normal; } - </style> - </head> - <body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Buddhism and Christianity, by Archibald Scott</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Buddhism and Christianity</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>A Parallel and a Contrast</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Archibald Scott</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 15, 2022 [eBook #67171]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Heiko Evermann, David King, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Books project.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY ***</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_on'>on</span> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_i'>i</span> - <h1 class='c001'>BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY <br /> A PARALLEL AND A CONTRAST</h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_iii'>iii</span><span class='xxlarge'><b>BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY</b></span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='xlarge'><b>A PARALLEL AND A CONTRAST</b></span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='large'><b>BEING</b></span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='xlarge'><b>THE CROALL LECTURE FOR 1889-90</b></span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='large'><b>BY</b></span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='xxlarge'><b>ARCHIBALD SCOTT, D.D.</b></span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='large'><b>MINISTER OF ST. GEORGE’S PARISH, EDINBURGH</b></span></div> - <div class='c003'>EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS</div> - <div class='c000'>MDCCCXC</div> - <div class='c000'>[<i>All rights reserved.</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_v'>v</span> - <h2 class='c004'>PREFACE</h2> -</div> -<p class='c005'>In endeavouring to sketch in so limited a space -even the most salient features of the many-sided -religion of Buddhism it is possible that -here and there I may have misrepresented it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>If so, I hope the fault will be attributed to inadvertence, -or rather to disadvantages under which -I have worked. The sacred beliefs of any section -of mankind are entitled to receive at our hands not -only justice but kindly consideration, and a religion -so vast and in some respects so wonderful as -Buddhism ought to have much to commend it to -our sympathy. Long and patient study of it has -indeed greatly modified opinions originally formed -concerning it, but it has only tended to increase -respect for so earnest an effort of the intellect to -solve the mystery of human life and destiny. -Even Christians may have something to learn -<span class='pageno' id='Page_vi'>vi</span>from Buddhists. The divers and seemingly antagonistic -Churches of Christendom help to educate -and reform each other, and non-Christian religions -may perform a similar office to Christianity in -bringing into prominence some universal truths -which its creeds have allowed to slip into forgetfulness. -Our perception and apprehension of what -Christianity really is will be all the clearer and -firmer for an impartial study of the system -formulated so long ago by Gotama the Buddha.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The aim of the Lecture has not been to use the -extravagances of Buddhism as a foil to set off the -excellencies of Christianity. That Christianity as -a religion is immensely superior to Buddhism goes -without saying, unless in the case of a very small -and conceited and purblind minority. I have tried -by a fair exposition of what is best and highest -in this religion to discover its feeling after something -better and higher still, and to suggest rather -than indicate the place which it occupies in the -religious education of humanity. As</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Man hath all which nature hath, but more,</div> - <div class='line in2'>And in that more lie all his hopes of good,”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>so Christianity, while having in it in fuller measure -and clearer form every truth that has vivified any -other religion, has in it, as the new creation to which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_vii'>vii</span>the long travail of the soul under every form of -faith has from the first been pointing, something -peculiar and contrasted—which is the Divine answer -to all their aspirations. This we do not need -to demonstrate: indeed it may be a verity, as -incapable of demonstration as is that of the existence -of Deity or the immortality of the soul. -It is sure eventually to be almost universally -recognised, and meanwhile, whether accepted or -denied, we may say—<i>E pur si muove</i>.</p> - -<hr class='c009' /> - -<p class='c006'>Very gratefully would I acknowledge my profound -obligations to all who have instructed me in -this subject. Though we no longer regard the -Saddharma-Pundarika and Lalita Vistara as good -specimens of Buddhism, we still venerate the great -scholars who first introduced them to our notice. -The splendid productions of Burnouf, Foucaux, -Köppen, Stanislas Julien, Hodgson and Turnour; -the excellent works of Spence Hardy, Gogerly, -Bigandet and <abbr class='spell'>H. H.</abbr> Wilson, and, among the -best of all, the laborious and faithful Dictionary -of Professor Childers, though several of them are -unfortunately out of print, are not likely to be -soon out of date. It is with pleasure that we -find them so frequently quoted or referred to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_viii'>viii</span>by our latest and best authorities. Still, ever -since Professor Max Müller organised his truly -catholic enterprise of the translation of the -Sacred Books of the East, he has brought us -very considerably nearer to real Buddhist teachers -themselves. To praise the scholarship of himself, -and Oldenberg, and Rhys Davids, and Kern, -and Fausböll, and others of his <i>collaborateurs</i>, -would be unwarrantable presumption on my part; -but as a humble disciple very willing to learn, I -am glad to have this opportunity of publicly -expressing my appreciation of the great services -which in their editions of old Eastern texts, and in -these series of translations, they are rendering to -the cause of religion.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The lectures were drafted and in great part -written before I read the very valuable works of -Sir Monier Williams on <i>Buddhism</i> and of Dr. -Kellogg on the <i>Light of Asia and the Light of the -World</i>. I specially mention these books as likely -to prove very useful guides to any one desirous of -prosecuting the subject of the present Lecture. -In the notes I have marked my indebtedness to -them, and to many authors of what has already -become a great literature. Many others whose -works have been of service to me in a course of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_ix'>ix</span>reading extending over many years are not -noted, simply because in the caprices of memory -my peculiar obligations to them could not at the -time be recalled.</p> - -<p class='c006'>For in regard to Buddhism I do not profess to -add any original information to the stock already -acquired. Others have extracted the ore from these -old and interesting fields, and minted it into gold -and silver. What has thus been rendered available -many like myself can only reduce into copper or -bronze, but if only our work be faithfully done, -we may thus help in increasing the currency and -in extending its circulation. With this in view -I accepted the honour which the Croall Trustees -conferred upon me in calling me to undertake this -Lecture, and if the only effect of my efforts be to -stimulate other ministers of the Church more advantageously -situated to prosecute their researches to -much better purpose, no one will be more pleased -than myself.</p> - -<p class='c006'>ARCHIBALD SCOTT.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='sc'>Edinburgh</span>, <i><abbr title='twenty-fifth'>25th</abbr> December 1889</i>.</p> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_xi'>xi</span> - <h2 class='c004'>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> -<p class='c005'><a href='#lecture-1'>LECTURE <abbr title='one'>I.</abbr></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>INTRODUCTORY: NECESSITY FOR A PROPER COMPARISON OF -BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Schopenhauer’s prediction as to the influence of Oriental studies upon -European religion and philosophy—New science of Comparative -Theology—Its value to the expounders of Christianity—Study of -all religions binding upon Christians—Special claims of Buddhism—Its -duration and wide-spread diffusion—The quality of its doctrinal -and ethical system—The correspondences between it and -Christianity—Instructive parallels of historical development—Resemblances, -if granted or assumed, not to be accounted for by -theory of derivation—Renan—<abbr class='spell'>E.</abbr> Burnouf—Ernest de Bunsen—Both -religions independent in origin, though analogous in development—What -the significance of this—True answer to be found, not -by examining alleged resemblances between the religions, but their -points of contradiction and contrast—Unity of humanity involves -organic unity of language and of religion—What is meant by -organic unity and development of religion—Declarations of Scripture—Christianity -as the universal religion has much in common with -all—has something peculiar to itself which it possesses in contrast—In -this will be found not only its superiority to all the rest, but -the answer to all their cravings and aspirations, <i>Pages <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>-58</i></p> -<p class='c005'><a href='#lecture-2'>LECTURE <abbr title='two'>II.</abbr></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>THE HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS OF BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY, -AND THE EVIDENTIAL VALUE OF THEIR RESPECTIVE -SCRIPTURES.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Both religions inherited and produced scriptures—Christian scriptures -criticised for eighteen centuries—Buddhist scriptures as yet only in -part available for examination—Admissions made by translators in -regard to them—Strong contrasts between two sets of scriptures, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xii'>xii</span>in respect of authenticity and genuineness—Impossible to regard -the two as of similar canonical or authoritative value—In Buddhism -only oral traditions for centuries—Effect of the lack of a real canon -in primitive Buddhism—Effect of a fixed and written canon in the -development of Christianity—Antecedents of Buddhism—Vedic -India—Brahmanic India—Development of Brahmanic speculation—Its -highest reach in philosophical Brahmanism—The Upanishads—Pursuit -of Atman—Antecedents of Christianity—Patriarchal belief -in Deity—Mosaic stage of religious belief—The religion of Moses -and the prophets too pure for the people under the kings—Destruction -of the kingdom—Effect of Captivity on the prophets—on -the people—Difference between the beliefs and hopes of the -Diaspora and those of the returned Palestinian Jews—Preparation -of the Empire and world beyond it for the dawn of -Christianity, <i>Pages <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>-125</i></p> -<p class='c005'><a href='#lecture-3'>LECTURE <abbr title='three'>III.</abbr></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>THE BUDDHA OF THE PITAKAS: THE CHRIST OF THE -NEW TESTAMENT.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Palestine at the birth of Christ—India at the birth of Gotama—Like, -yet unlike—Analogies in development of previous beliefs and -speculation—Contrasts—Gotama’s life and ministry contrasted -with the life and ministry of Jesus—The difference between -their personal relations to the religions which they founded—“I -take refuge in Buddha”—“I believe in Christ”—The supernatural -in both religions—Pre-existence, incarnation, and miracles -ascribed to Buddha—Sources of information as to these beliefs -examined and compared with the Gospel accounts—Relation of the -miracles to each religion—Nature of the miracles themselves—Growth -of Buddhist legends described by <abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids—Implied -growth of the Christian legends examined—Essential -contrasts manifest all through—Buddha can be accounted for, but -Christ is the Miracle of History, <i>Pages <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>-191</i></p> -<p class='c005'><a href='#lecture-4'>LECTURE <abbr title='four'>IV.</abbr></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>THE DHARMA OF BUDDHA: THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Gotama’s discovery at Bohimanda—The Four Sacred Verities—The -noble Eightfold Way—His theory of life different from but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xiii'>xiii</span>not wholly antagonistic to that of speculative Brahmanism—Existence -not illusion, but essentially evil—Transmigration—“Modern -Buddhists’” defence of the dogma—Contrast -between it and Christian doctrine of the Fall—Christianity -in its sorest struggle with evil hopeful—Buddhism hopeless—atheistic—materialistic, -yet has its own way, not of victory, -but of retreat and escape—Doctrine of Karma analogous to -Christian doctrine of Heredity, yet really contrasted—Goal of all -Buddhist aspiration and effort—Nirvana, point-blank contradiction -to Christian goal, yet way to it analogous—Arhatship as essential -in Buddhism as holiness is in Christianity—Noble quality of -Buddhist ethical code—Its approach to the Christian rule—A law -not for all—Its degrees or paths of perfection—Uprightness—Meditation—Enlightenment—Christ’s -way of salvation and sanctification -by the Holy Spirit through the truth—Essential defects of -Buddhist scheme, <i>Pages <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>-252</i></p> -<p class='c005'><a href='#lecture-5'>LECTURE <abbr title='five'>V.</abbr></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>THE BUDDHIST SANGHA: THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Church the fruit of Christianity, the Sangha the root out of which -Buddhism sprang—The Sangha not a Church but an Order—Different -from the many Orders then existing, yet with a likeness to -them which it never lost—Renunciation of secular life an indispensable -qualification for membership—Analogous to yet essentially -different from Monachism in Christianity, and in utter contrast -to the idea and reality of the Christian Church—The Sangha as -theoretically open to all, and propagandist in its purpose, a precursor -of the Church—Actual disqualifications for membership—Ceremonial -of admission—The “outgoing” from the world—Ceremonial of -Confirmation—The “arrival”—The novitiate or tutelage—The rule -of the Sangha—No vows of obedience to superiors—Stringent vows of -poverty and chastity—Difference between a Buddhist Vihara and -a Christian monastery—Favourable features of Buddhist monastic -life—The Uposatha gathering—The Pâtimokkha catechising—The -Pavârâna invitation—Relation of women to the Sangha—Institution -of Order of Bikkhuni—The relation of the laity to the -Sangha—The Buddhist layman’s only possible “merit,” and his -only hope, <i>Pages <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>-313</i></p> -<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_xiv'>xiv</span><a href='#lecture-6'>LECTURE <abbr title='six'>VI.</abbr></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>THE RELIGIONS IN HISTORY.</p> - -<p class='c006'>External diffusion—Both religions missionary—Vastly different in respect -of their messages—Buddhist endeavour to perpetuate a system—Christian -endeavour to set forth and interpret the facts of a miraculous -life—Effect of belief in Christ’s continued presence upon the -Church—Rapid diffusion of Christianity during the first four -centuries—Condition of Buddhism during a similar period—Spread -of Christianity after Constantine—Spread of Buddhism after Asoka—Difference -in the peoples affected by both religions—Inferences—Internal -history—Buddhism and Brahmanism—Christianity and -Judaism—In Buddhism an early abandonment of fundamental -principles manifest—Recoil of human nature from its Atheism into -Polytheism and Tantrism—Degradation of Southern and Northern -Buddhism—Buddhism in Tibet—Christianity in Abyssinia—History -of Chinese Buddhism from fourth century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr> analogous -to that of Christianity in Europe from same date—Deterioration of -both religions similarly indicated—Bôdiharma—Modern Neo-Buddhism—The -T’ien-t’ai School—Reformed Buddhism in China—in -Japan—Its most modern attitude—Difference between Buddhism -and Christianity—Alike in their tendency to deteriorate—Christianity -alone manifests a reforming and progressive power—Resources -of Buddhism manifestly exhausted—Christianity apparently -in only an initial stage of development, <i>Pages <a href='#Page_314'>314</a>-386</i></p> -<p class='c005'><a href='#postscript'><span class='sc'>Postscript</span></a>, <i>Pages <a href='#Page_387'>387</a>-391</i></p> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span> - <h2 id='lecture-1' class='c004'>LECTURE <abbr title='one'>I.</abbr> <br /> NECESSITY FOR A PROPER COMPARISON OF THE TWO RELIGIONS.</h2> -</div> -<p class='c005'>Early in this century Schopenhauer, fascinated by -the contents of the Upanishads, which had been -translated from the Persian into Latin by the illustrious -discoverer of the Zend-Avesta, ventured to -predict that the influence of the newly-found Sanskrit -literature upon the philosophy of the future -would not be less profound than was that of the -revival of Greek upon the religion of the fourteenth -century.<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c010'><sup>[1]</sup></a> That century was marked by the close of -the mediæval age, and the beginning of the times -of Reformation in which we are privileged to live. -The Reformation was not an event, but the inauguration -of a period. Its significance was far deeper -than that of a revolt from ecclesiastical superstition -and corruption. It meant a quickening of the -human spirit, and a consequent awakening of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>human intellect, to which many forces other than -the leading religious ones, contributed; and its -effects are visible not simply in the changes which -it immediately produced, but in the revolution -which is still actively progressing in all our social, -political, and religious relations. The movement -designated by the Reformation is manifestly far -from having exhausted itself, and there can be no -question that its course has been greatly accelerated -by the studies to which Schopenhauer referred.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The re-discovery of India, lost to Europe for -centuries after the beginning of the Christian era, -almost as completely as America was hidden from -it, was a fact of even greater import than the resurrection -of Greece. It was no wilderness of ruins -which was thus disclosed, from which only the -shards of a long-buried civilisation could be exhumed, -but a living and cultured world, whose -institutions were rooted in an antiquity more profound -than Greece could claim, and whose language -and manners and religion were separated from the -West by far more than a hemisphere. So totally -unlike to the Western world was it, that the labours -and sacrifices of several generations of the finest -intellects of Europe were required before a key -could be found to interpret its significance. Since -the days when Anquetil Duperron, after many -adventures and hardships, succeeded in breaking -<span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span>through the tangled thicket which guarded its -treasures, the scholars of all nations have pressed -into it, each one announcing, as he emerged, the -dawn or the progress of another Renaissance, whose -meaning and direction and ultimate issues only -the rash will venture to predict or pretend to foresee.</p> - -<p class='c006'>One of the first-fruits of their combined or independent -researches is the new science of Religion. -By a careful collection, analysis, and comparison of -all the beliefs of mankind available, with the view -of eliciting what is peculiar to each, and what they -all share in common, its professors aim at discovering -what may be the real nature and origin and purpose -of all religion.<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c010'><sup>[2]</sup></a> As yet it should hardly be -designated a science, for though the elements for it -undoubtedly exist, they are too widely scattered to -be of service for immediate induction. The materials -already collected have not been sufficiently -sifted, and moreover, it requires the assistance of -other sciences, as yet too immature, to render it -effective support. The title may not be a “misnomer,”<a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c010'><sup>[3]</sup></a> -but only a somewhat inflated expression by -which an age, rather wise in its own conceit, proclaims -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>the discovery of a new field of learning which -it means assiduously to cultivate. The discovery -however is a solid one, and the assiduity of those -who would improve it is unmistakable; year by -year their numbers increase, their implements improve -in quality, and this generation may not pass -away before an abundant harvest has been reaped.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Another indication of the change that is coming -over the world is the attitude which Christian -divines now assume toward other religions. Fifty -years ago the attempt to compare our Bible and our -Creed with the scriptures of other religions would -have been regarded as a sacrilegious surrender of -what was holy to the dogs. This was due not so -much to prejudice on the part of the expounders of -Christianity as to aversion to the avowedly anti-christian -spirit in which these researches were -prosecuted. The Comparative method was then -frequently employed, as it had been by the Encyclopædists -of last century, for the purpose of discrediting -and degrading Christianity. The conclusion -was often foregone before the process began; -and so it was natural that reverent but timid minds -jealous for their religion, and anxious to guard it -from insult, should decline such encounters. Now, -however, orthodox theologians are quite aware that -in this matter they have to reckon with other -than the professed enemies of Christianity. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>ablest advocates of Comparative Theology are not -only free from antichristian prejudice, but they -protest against it as inimical to the science itself.<a id='r4' /><a href='#f4' class='c010'><sup>[4]</sup></a> -It is not infidelity, but Providence, that is forcing -us to investigate the origin of our religion, and to -search its scriptures in the fuller light which we -now enjoy. We are being divinely taught that we -cease to revere a heavenly gift the moment we -begin to idolise it; that the disposition most fatal -to ourselves, most dishonouring to our religion, is -that which would regard its scriptures as charmed -relics too sacred to be examined, and only to be -brought by an undevout and apostate Church, in -the moment of its extreme peril, into the field of -battle with the Philistines. To shrink from the -comparison of our Faith with the religious beliefs of -those whom we acknowledge to be bone of our bone, -and flesh of our flesh, is to manifest a cowardly lack -of confidence in its Author. It is at the judgment-bar -of all the ages that He means to make good His -claim to be the Judge of all mankind. The more -He is tried, the more will His authority be confessed -to be divine. He certainly invited inspection -and comparison, and He may have had other -than Hebrew scriptures in His view when He instructed -us to “search them, for they testify of Me.”<a id='r5' /><a href='#f5' class='c010'><sup>[5]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>The comparative study of other religions, so far -from being prejudicial to the claims of Christianity, -will be helpful in establishing its sublime -pre-eminence among them, and in enabling us to -discharge to their adherents the duty which its -Founder has imposed upon us. It may modify -considerably our theology, but it will strengthen -our fundamental beliefs. As a general rule, we -may assert that the strength of a man’s faith will -be found to be in direct proportion to his knowledge -of the everlasting and unchangeable laws by -which the universe is governed. It is our theology -alone that is assailed, and we are learning that -theology, as a system of reasoning upon materials -furnished not only by religion itself, but also by -some other “ologies,” must be based on other and -higher authority than that of an infallible Council, -or that of a chapter whose significance was supposed -to be unalterably fixed two or three thousand years -ago. The religion which revolted against the assumption -of the Scribe in our Lord’s day, and -which disallowed the claim of the Pope some three -centuries ago to be the sole interpreters of revelation, -is not only testing the authenticity of the texts to -which the appeal was then made, but is inquiring -into their actual significance by collating them with -the truths of another revelation as divine. It is -not that men want to get rid of dogma, for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>dogma of some kind there must ever be. There -will always be a vast deal which we must believe, -because there is much that can only thus be known; -but a satisfactory dogmatic foundation must henceforth -be sought in facts anterior to any scriptures, -or to any church that would interpret them, viz., in -the elemental necessities and aspirations of our -common human nature. It has been wisely said -that “the theology which fails to meet the demands -of the whole man is simply doomed.”<a id='r6' /><a href='#f6' class='c010'><sup>[6]</sup></a> What is -wanted therefore for theology is some broad and -solid basis, to be laid by analysing, comparing, and -co-ordinating all religious beliefs within our reach. -In each of them we may hope to find some truth—it -may be very feebly and very partially expressed—of -no more value by itself than a flake of gold -found in an immense drift of sand or mass of quartz, -but yet of immense value as indicating the source -from which it came and the substance to which it -claims affinity. All separate and imperfect truths -point towards some higher truth which will unite -and fulfil and interpret them. And so every religion, -however erroneous it may be, is prophetic—because -found in a humanity that is essentially one—of -a universal religion, a faith which is not just -one of the faiths of the nations, but is the divine -<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>answer, unchanged and inexhaustible, to all the -aspirations of mankind. The study of other religions -therefore, even of those of the most degraded -peoples, and of those most contradictory of -our own, is as binding upon us as is the study of -our Bibles. For us “history” has been truly said -“to stand in the place of prophecy,”<a id='r7' /><a href='#f7' class='c010'><sup>[7]</sup></a> and it is only -by gathering up and considering its testimony that -we can appreciate the worth of the treasure which -has been given to us, that we may communicate it -to all the world.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Prominent among the religions that challenge -our consideration is the one which, following -authorities acknowledged to be the best, we will -endeavour briefly to sketch and to expound. It is -not an obsolete system, appealing only to the poetic -sentiment from a vanished past, like the religion -of Greece, but one which confronts us with vitality -sufficient to overshadow a considerable portion of -the populous East. Two thousand four hundred -years have passed since it was first proclaimed, -and though it disappeared long ago from the land -of its birth, it still reigns in many kingdoms, and -continues to spread its influence in several directions -in Central and Northern Asia. To tell its -story completely would be to write the history of -nearly the whole of China, India, and the countries -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>that lie around or between them. Till very -recently it was generally computed that quite one-third -of the human family, though widely separated -geographically and otherwise, professed to find in -Buddhism consolation sufficient to strengthen them -to do the work and endure the sufferings of life, -and to confront with calmness the necessity of -death.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Were this computation correct, Buddhism would -have to be accounted by far the most widely accepted -of all the religions of mankind. It has however -been seriously challenged by those whose experience -and candour are beyond question. According -to their enumeration, Buddhism must rank only -fourth in the scale of numerical comparison among -the great faiths of the world, for instead of there -being five hundred millions of adherents, as we -were previously led to believe, probably not more -than one hundred millions of professing Buddhists -can be found in all the world.<a id='r8' /><a href='#f8' class='c010'><sup>[8]</sup></a> The question in -dispute after all is one of only secondary importance, -for we can hardly conceive of any one other -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>than some democratic fanatic who would propose -to settle the truth of a religion by a reckoning of -the suffrages which it could command. Numerical -statistics of religious adherence furnish only -an indirect test even of influence. It is impossible -to indicate even geographically the range of a -religion. We are very properly reminded that -“the influence of Buddhism in India may be -immense, though not a single Buddhist temple -exists in it, while its influence in China and -Ceylon may be vastly over-stated in figures, for -many Chinese Buddhists may be called Confucianists -and Taoists, and many Singhalese worshippers -at Buddha’s shrines are far from being only -or altogether Buddhists.”<a id='r9' /><a href='#f9' class='c010'><sup>[9]</sup></a> Indeed everywhere, -though chiefly in Thibet, Nepaul, and Mongolia, -the religion which is called Buddhism is no more -Buddhist than the survivals of Pagan worship -and belief which are found in some extreme forms -of Romanism can be called Christian.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The rapidity with which and the extent to -which a religion has spread is no certain indication -of its capability to meet and satisfy the real -spiritual necessities of mankind. A religion may -rapidly gain, and retain for long, an ascendency -over many men, without possessing any of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>qualities essential to its being recognised as the -one religion of all men. The catholicity of a faith -is indicated not by the extent of the supremacy -which it has acquired, but by the quality of its -contents. Universal truths are not necessarily the -truths which have won the consent of the greatest -numbers. The test of <i>quod ubique, semper, et ab -omnibus</i>, if thoroughly applied, would have established -the truth of many a degrading superstition -in former times. “It is not that which is common -to barbarism and civilisation which is most truly -human, but precisely that in which civilisation -differs from barbarism.”<a id='r10' /><a href='#f10' class='c010'><sup>[10]</sup></a> The divinity of a -religion, instead of being attested by the readiness -with which it is accepted, may be indicated by the -antagonism which it at first evokes. Truth at no -time depends upon majorities, at least in this -world, for here truth of any kind, when first proclaimed, -instead of meeting a generally friendly -reception, has to win its victory by conflict and -lay in martyrdom the foundation of its throne.<a id='r11' /><a href='#f11' class='c010'><sup>[11]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>It is not on account of its adherents, however, -nor of the superficial extent of its supremacy—though -such facts have indeed a very pathetic -significance—but it is in respect of the quality of -its original faith, that Buddhism is considered -worthy of comparison with Christianity. We -must not be repelled by the childish superstitions -and gross absurdities with which it is incrusted, -for in a religion so ancient and extensive this is -just what we might expect to find; nor should -we be surprised at the marvellous and grotesque -legends which profess to relate its origin and -early history, for these, as Professor Müller has very -properly reminded us, “are the clouds, not alway -rosy, that gather round the sunrise of any religion.”<a id='r12' /><a href='#f12' class='c010'><sup>[12]</sup></a> -In the estimation of its severest critics, -Buddhism must occupy a grand and exalted -place in the general history of religions.<a id='r13' /><a href='#f13' class='c010'><sup>[13]</sup></a> Among -the various systems of the non-Christian world, -ancient or modern, none can compare with it in -respect of its ethical code, its spirit of toleration -and gentleness, and its beneficent influence upon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>many wild populations that have embraced it. -Neither Zeno nor Marcus Aurelius conceived a -higher theory of morals, in which justice and -temperance were infused by kindness, than that -which the founder of Buddhism successfully reduced -to practice. It was the most natural of all -things therefore, that it had only to be introduced -to the notice of Christendom to win for -itself a degree of admiration accorded to no other -heathen faith.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We would be understating its claims, however, -if we referred to it as appealing only to our -Christian consideration and sympathy. It has -been brought into the lists of criticism as the rival -of Christianity. Modern unbelief is forcing it -upon our notice as a much truer philosophy of -existence and a more satisfactory theory of the -universe than that furnished by Christianity. -We cannot let it alone, were it for no other -reason that it will not let us alone. In the -civilised and semi-civilised portions of the East -its disciples have long ago ceased to propagate it, -and as a form of belief it may be said that there -not only has it reached the limits of its extension, -but that its present condition is one of “increasing -disintegration and decay.”<a id='r14' /><a href='#f14' class='c010'><sup>[14]</sup></a> Even in the -East, however, among the classes who have most -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>come under the influence of Western culture, the -spirit of Buddhism shows considerable vitality, and -there its spirit is coming into constant and active -collision with Christianity every day. The educated -or intelligent Buddhist of Burmah or Siam -tells us plainly that he will not give up his -ancient faith for Christianity; for notwithstanding -the manifold and manifest absurdities of his -ancestral religion, he professes to find the same -in the forms in which Christianity has been presented -to him. By the light of our science we -have helped him to weed out his old superstitions, -and he will not accept from us any new ones. -In language marvellously akin to that of the -founder of Buddhism, he discards every religion as -involving the worship of deity, and he professes -to find in Suttas more ancient than our Gospels -a morality as sublime, a charity as comprehensive, -and a system of faith sufficient to bear the strain -of all his necessities, whether present or future.<a id='r15' /><a href='#f15' class='c010'><sup>[15]</sup></a> -In short, Buddhism as professed by a modern -Oriental with any pretension to culture, is almost -identical with that paradoxical condition of thought -or belief which maintains, and indeed professes to -be spreading in Christendom as modern Agnosticism.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>But it is not in an attitude of resistance only -that Buddhism confronts Christianity even in the -East. In Ceylon, if we are to trust the <i>Times -of India</i>,<a id='r16' /><a href='#f16' class='c010'><sup>[16]</sup></a> it numbers among its typical gains “a -young highly educated European lady and a -clergyman of the English Church,” and these, it is -averred, “are not the first, and are not likely to be -the last of its direct converts from the Christian -churches.” In Europe and America also, not -among the lower and less educated, but among -the higher ranks of society, among people affecting -culture and new light, are to be found not a -few professing admirers, if not practical followers, -of Buddha and his law. The admiration of many -of these dilettanti may sometimes be found to be in -exact proportion to their ignorance of Buddhism. -Their information is drawn almost exclusively from -such sources as are supplied by the romance of -Sir Edwin Arnold and works like those produced -by Mr. Sinnett and Colonel Olcott;<a id='r17' /><a href='#f17' class='c010'><sup>[17]</sup></a> but even -when we discount all these, we must own that -here and there we find some thoughtful and -earnest people who profess to have come out from -bondage to the beggarly elements of the Church’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>faith to gentle Buddha’s better gospel of liberty. -Mr. Alabaster’s <i>Modern Buddhist</i> finds a co-religionist -not only in the disciples of Feuerbach -and Von Hartmann, but in every “fervent atheist” -who, acknowledging nothing in the universe save -man, and a system of unbending law in which he -is involved, and with which he is sometimes confounded, -has been compelled to deify humanity -and to demand for its idol a service worthy of a -divine object of faith.</p> - -<p class='c006'>So another prediction of Schopenhauer’s, uttered -in the beginning of the century, seems to be repeated -in many publications at its close. “In India,” he -affirmed, “our religion will never strike root; the -primitive wisdom of the human race will never be -pushed aside by any incidents in Galilee. On -the contrary, Indian wisdom will flow back upon -Europe, and produce a thorough change in our -knowing and thinking.”<a id='r18' /><a href='#f18' class='c010'><sup>[18]</sup></a> He certainly laboured -hard to bring about the fulfilment of his prophecy, -preaching Nirvana as the goal of moral effort, -though confessing that his own animal propensities -allowed him no hope of attaining it. In his lifetime -his strenuous endeavours were unsuccessful, and he -died in 1860 in comparative neglect. Since then, -and especially since the publication of his book -<i>Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung</i>, the doctrine -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>painfully planted, has taken root in the congenial -soil prepared for it by Comte and his disciples. -Spiritualism again—which, though originating only -in 1848, in circumstances almost ludicrous, has -spread so rapidly and extensively that it now -claims to count its converts by millions all over -the world—has obviously contributed to the dissemination -and growth of pseudo-Buddhist ideas. -With a literature of over five hundred psychological -works—many of them voluminous and very -costly—and with forty-six periodicals regularly -published in Europe and America, it not only -assails Christianity, but supports the doctrine -that “the Reign of Law has supplanted the -Reign of God; that just as we have ceased to -embody the conception of the State in a person, it -is time we should cease similarly to embody the -conception of the universe, for loyalty to a personal -ruler is an anachronism in the nineteenth century, -and will some day become extinct.”<a id='r19' /><a href='#f19' class='c010'><sup>[19]</sup></a> Its apostles -profess to find in the Christian faith many signs of -disintegration, and they look “to the bloodless and -innocent record of Buddhism for the reconstruction -of true religious faith upon a permanent basis.”<a id='r20' /><a href='#f20' class='c010'><sup>[20]</sup></a> -This they expound in a so-called theosophy in -phraseology largely borrowed from the New Testament, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>but descriptive of a curious amalgam of later -Buddhist and Hindu doctrines utterly contradictory -to the essential teaching of Christianity.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Occultism, Esoteric Buddhism, which professes to -supplant the religion of Jesus, and to prepare the -way of the twelfth of the Messiahs, whose mission -is to harmonise the perverted teaching of his predecessors,<a id='r21' /><a href='#f21' class='c010'><sup>[21]</sup></a> -and thus establish the universal religion of -humanity, is not likely to occasion serious concern. -It is just another of those instances in which the -diseases of a lower civilisation are communicated to -one superior and more robust. Just as plagues -originating in the ruined or degraded populations -of the East have repeatedly desolated large portions -of Europe, where they found physical conditions -favourable to their spread, so there are mental and -moral epidemics which, generated among inferior -religions, propagate themselves in the very highest, -for reasons almost similar. There are modern conditions -which present very close affinities to those -out of which Buddhism arose. It has been truly -called the religion of despair, and it seems suited to -that intellectual <i>ennui</i> in which many profess to -live who find themselves confronted by problems -which they are unable to solve. The enervating -agnosticism and sentimental pessimism of our -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>generation furnish the very soil in which the germs -of Buddhism are most likely to mature; but the -spiritual life of Christendom is too robust to succumb -to its heresy of inertion and moral defeat. The -system of Buddha, even as laid out by himself, is -not at all likely to entrap any considerable number -of Western nineteenth-century thinkers; and this -mongrel system of Neo-Buddhism, though professing -to be founded on that ancient creed, will only find -adherents among peculiar people. There is always -a tendency in the most advanced civilisation, on the -part of some who are freed from the necessity of -industry, so essential to man’s mental and moral -as well as to his physical health, to revert to -beliefs and customs peculiar to earlier and inferior -stages of culture. It is a curious and significant -fact,<a id='r22' /><a href='#f22' class='c010'><sup>[22]</sup></a> that not among the working and professional -classes, but among the upper and fashionable ranks -of modern society, such survivals of ancient superstition -as intercourse with spirits and palmistry are -chiefly now to be found. For such unstable souls -as have been or may be tempted to be drawn into -these practices by an appeal to the authority of the -beautiful character limned for our generation in the -<i>Light of Asia</i>, I know no better restorative than a -plain exposition of primitive Buddhism. It will be -seen then that this modern fungus is a growth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>almost as foreign in its nature to real Buddhism as -it is to true Christianity. The degenerate Buddhism -from which it borrows its largest stock of -ideas bears the same relation to the actual teaching -of Buddha that the Cabbala bear to the prophecies -of the Old Testament, and the doctrines which it -counts upon as most popular and attractive are -precisely those which Buddha would have treated -with his most withering scorn.</p> - -<p class='c006'>There is yet another characteristic of this religion -which has commended it more to the unbelief than -the belief of our age. Many agreements are alleged -to subsist between the contents of the New Testament -and those of the sacred books which profess to -record the life and express the teaching of Buddha. -Its ancient Pitakas are said to be filled with stories -resembling the narratives of the Evangelists, with -sayings which recall the parables, and miracles -reflecting the signs and wonders which signalised -the ministry of Jesus. It is averred that with the -single exception of the Crucifixion—and how immense -is the significance of that exception I shall -endeavour in a subsequent lecture to show,—it -would be easy to find in them a parallel to -almost every incident related in the Gospel. Most -startling of all are said to be the resemblances between -the central figures in both sets of scriptures. -For Buddhism, as truly as Christianity, has its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>ideal of a perfect human life, illustrated in one who, -like unto the Son of Man, went about doing good, and -enforcing by his example the pure morality which -he preached, but who, most unlike the Son of Man, -without any sustaining belief in deity, or hope of -sympathy or help from any divine being, professed -to have made good his own salvation, and to teach -all whom he could reach the way to work out theirs.</p> - -<p class='c006'>When we come to examine its history, we find -that it has followed a line of development strikingly -parallel to that of Christianity, and the -parallels thus furnished by its antecedents and -progress, and by the external and foreign influences -which encountered and modified it, are -those which have the most interest and instruction -for the student of Religion. In order, however, to -ascertain their significance, we must examine these -alleged correspondences of story and of doctrine; -for these have powerfully influenced a certain class -of thinkers, as supplying confirmation of a charge -brought against our religion in almost the beginning -of its history, that after all there was -nothing original in Christ, and nothing new in -His teaching. That resemblances do exist, not -only between the forms in which Buddhism confronts -us in some quarters of the world and the -ritual and organisation of a large section of the -Christian Church, but between the contents of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>Buddhist scriptures as we have them now, and -those of the New Testament, all must admit. As -we cast a hasty and general glance over them we -see how natural and how pardonable was the old -rough and ready method of accounting for them by -the supposition of direct transference of the various -lineaments from the one to the other. The early -Jesuit missionaries did not hesitate to assert that -the Buddhists, by assimilating and incorporating -the rites and doctrines of the primitive missionaries, -had succeeded in producing a caricature of -Christianity. In like manner, when in Central -America—till then as independent of Europe as if it -had been separated not by untraversed oceans, but -by the immensities that divide the planets—the -Spaniards found to their amazement a most complex -religion, with priests, and monasteries, and -temples adorned with the cross and statues of a -goddess with an infant in her arms, they could only -explain the mystery by averring that it was a -gigantic mimetic ruse of the devil to lead the -unhappy nations astray. The suppositions in both -cases are not likely to be seriously supported now. -Indeed, it is far more likely, as the author of <i>Ancient -Christianity</i> and Dr. Prinsep and others have -attempted to show, that in the East we have to -seek for the origin of several institutions and rites -once considered the peculiar growth of Greek or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>Latin Christianity. There can be little doubt that -as these religions spread they would come in contact -with and react upon each other.<a id='r23' /><a href='#f23' class='c010'><sup>[23]</sup></a> It is difficult -in the present state of our knowledge to indicate -their first conjunction, or to trace their various -intercommunications, but that they have been -mutually indebted to each other is sufficiently -attested by their histories. In later Hinduism -and Buddhism and Lamaism there are plain indications -of the action of the Western upon the -Eastern religions. Romanism, on the other hand, -has set its official seal upon the relationship, by -incorporating a legend of Buddha among its “Lives -of the Saints,” by canonising the founder of this -most antichristian of all religions, and by consecrating -the <abbr title='twenty-seventh'>27th</abbr> November as a day on which -he may be invoked for intercession.<a id='r24' /><a href='#f24' class='c010'><sup>[24]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Though as yet the field is only opening out, and -its exploration is only beginning, there can be little -doubt that it will be found that in their advanced -stages Buddhism and Greek and Latin Christianity -have contributed to each other’s resources; but it -is quite another matter to assert that the existence -of the one religion accounts for the origin of -the other, and that Christianity, as the junior of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>the two, is simply “a product of India spoiled in -its route to Palestine.”<a id='r25' /><a href='#f25' class='c010'><sup>[25]</sup></a> Those who allege that -the sources of Christianity may be discovered in -Buddhism are bound not to assume but clearly to -trace and demonstrate the medium of communication -between the two. As yet the allegation, -though frequently made, appears to be incapable -of proof. Renan’s picture of “wandering Buddhist -monks who overran the whole world, and converted -on the banks of the Jordan, by their garb and -manners, people who did not understand their -language, like the Franciscan monks in later days,” -is only a pious imagination.<a id='r26' /><a href='#f26' class='c010'><sup>[26]</sup></a> And so are the -theories elaborated by <abbr title='Monsieur'>M.</abbr> Emile Burnouf in the -<i>Science of Religions</i> and by <abbr title='Monsieur'>M.</abbr> Ernest de Bunsen -in his <i>Angel Messiah of the Buddhists</i>. Both these -authors have explained to their own satisfaction -the derivation of Christianity from old Indian or -Aryan beliefs, which, transmitted through Parthia -to the Babylonian Jews, by them communicated to -the Essenes John Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth, -and from them again passed on to the Therapeut -Stephen, were formulated in the plastic mind of Paul -of Tarsus into the Christian dogmas which we now -revere. The scheme is devised with thoroughly -French precision, and the treatises in which it is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>elaborated, full as they are of indications of great -ingenuity and laborious research, are interesting as -any romance. For scientific purposes, however, they -have hardly more historic worth than a romance. -Based upon assumptions, they are constructed almost -entirely of hypotheses: when a difficulty emerges, -it is solved by a supposition which further on is confirmed -by a “reasonable expectation” of something -else, so that by and by the supposition meets us as -an established result. They abound in analogies, -some of which transgress as flagrantly the laws of -time as the theory once advanced that the story of -Christ is only a reflection of the legend of Krishna, -seeing that belief in Krishna did not arise in India -till centuries after Christianity had reached its -shores. “The laws of language<a id='r27' /><a href='#f27' class='c010'><sup>[27]</sup></a> are also violated -as openly as they were by the discovery that -the mysterious word ‘Om’ of the Upanishads is -the equivalent of the ‘Amen’ in ancient Hebrew -worship.” It may be as possible by this method -to prove the connection between the Vedic and -Levitical institutions, as it is possible to establish -the conclusion that the old Aryan symbol of the -fire sticks is the fontal idea of the Cross, or that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>the Vedic word “Agni” is equivalent to the -Latin “Agnus Dei.” Dr. <abbr class='spell'>J.</abbr> Estlin Carpenter<a id='r28' /><a href='#f28' class='c010'><sup>[28]</sup></a> and -Professor Kuenen<a id='r29' /><a href='#f29' class='c010'><sup>[29]</sup></a> have most exhaustively and -decisively exposed the vanity of such speculations, -which, on the whole, may be regarded as a good -confirmation of a saying uttered by Professor <abbr class='spell'>H. H.</abbr> -Wilson some thirty years ago, in reference to -those who would derive Christianity from Indian -sources, that “the disposition to draw impossible -analogies is not yet wholly extinct.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>As far as the history of Buddhism can be traced -it presents no actual point of contact with either -Syria or Egypt or Europe. Even after it became -a missionary religion its progress was never westwards, -and at no period did it reach further in this -direction than the region now known as Afghanistan. -The civilisation of the West offered no opportunity -for its enthusiasm, and none of the great Western -cities appear in its records. In the few scattered -extracts which survive of the writings of those -Greeks who visited India during or subsequent to -the period of Alexander’s invasion, there is no -indication of a knowledge of Buddhism, nor any -allusion to Buddha by name. We have to come -down to the times of Clement of Alexandria<a id='r30' /><a href='#f30' class='c010'><sup>[30]</sup></a> and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>of Bardesanes the Syrian before we have any -tangible evidence of the slightest acquaintance on -the part of the West with Buddhism. The first -writer mentions Buddha by name, the second distinguishes -his monks from the Brahmans, and gives -some details as to their customs, but it is impossible -from their statements to conjecture how much -they knew of the faith to which they alluded, and -most absurd to infer from them that they were -affected with the slightest admiration for it.<a id='r31' /><a href='#f31' class='c010'><sup>[31]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>If Christianity be the offspring of Buddhism, or -even if Buddhism exercised any direct influence -upon its earliest development, some indications of -that influence should be traceable in the Jewish -and Greek literature of that period. Yet in spite -of the most searching examination none have as yet -been found, and it is not at all likely that they ever -will be found.<a id='r32' /><a href='#f32' class='c010'><sup>[32]</sup></a> Our religion was well advanced in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>its course before we find in the works of its -defenders any sign of acquaintance with the -Buddhist legend, or any expression of suspicion, as -on the part of Cyril and Ephraim of Jerusalem in -the fourth century, that the taint of some of the -heresies which had infected the Church might be -traced to its contagion. Then, unfortunately for -the ingeniously constructed theory that the -doctrines were secretly transmitted by the channel -already indicated till they reached <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul through -Stephen the Therapeut, the only passage on which -the existence of Therapeuts in Apostolic times could -be founded has been recently proved to be a -spurious interpolation in the writings of Philo of a -treatise forged several centuries after his death.<a id='r33' /><a href='#f33' class='c010'><sup>[33]</sup></a> -Research can find no trace of Therapeuts in Alexandria -nor anywhere else till Monachism had become -the fashion in the Christian Church. Bishop -Lightfoot has convincingly proved that the theory -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>of the transmission of Christian doctrine from the -Buddhists of India through the Babylonian Jews -to the Essenes has not the slightest trace of evidence -to support it, but that, on the contrary, the -weight of evidence and probability is all against it.<a id='r34' /><a href='#f34' class='c010'><sup>[34]</sup></a> -Again, any one who compares the Gospel account -of the life of the Baptist with the description given -in Josephus<a id='r35' /><a href='#f35' class='c010'><sup>[35]</sup></a> of the manners and tenets of the -Essenes will find that just as the Essenes owed -nothing to Buddha, so Christ, and even John -Baptist, owed nothing to them. Though similar in -a few external points, the Baptist’s preaching and -manner of living were essentially antagonistic to -those of the little Jewish sect which had severed -itself not only from Jewish society but from Jewish -hopes. The teaching of Christ, again, whose manner -of life, notoriously in contrast to that of His -herald, was throughout a powerful though silent -contradiction to every doctrine which the Essenes -held, and it would be extravagant to assert that -He owed to it even an illustration of His own.<a id='r36' /><a href='#f36' class='c010'><sup>[36]</sup></a> It -may be safely asserted that the theory of the -derivation of Christianity from Buddhism breaks -down at every point at which it is tested. We may -dismiss it in the words of Professor Kuenen, that the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>“so-called connection between Essenism and Christianity -cannot bear serious inquiry for a moment,” -and in those of the learned Bishop,<a id='r37' /><a href='#f37' class='c010'><sup>[37]</sup></a> “that though -the Essenes may have had some connection with -Persia, their system was antagonistic to that of -Buddhism in everything save the spirit of despair -which called both into existence.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>The whole supposition of Burnouf and De Bunsen, -and writers of the school to which they belong, is -based upon a most exaggerated and indeed fictitious -estimate of the Indian contribution to the -sum of human knowledge. It assumes that India -was the cradle of all wisdom, and that from that -favoured land of primeval light went forth from -time to time the apostles of religion and the -expounders of all philosophy. Yet history reveals -not the slightest trace of any such propaganda -westward before the coming of Christ, and though -centuries after we have slight notices of Indian -travellers to the West, we do not find a missionary -among them. We have historic evidence, however, -of the Western races reaching India certainly before -the coming of Christ, and probably long before -the birth of the founder of Buddhism, and we can -hardly suppose that races with enterprise and -intelligence sufficient to discover and conquer the -Hindus would appear only before them as beggars -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>to receive their alms. We forget that the wave of -Aryan humanity that poured downward into India -really deflected from the path of progress, and that -under climatic and other unfavourable conditions, -and through intermixture with inferior races, it -stagnated, while that which proceeded westward -improved the more the farther it advanced. We -have a tolerably clear idea of the civilisation of -Western Asia in the time of Solomon, whose navy -is supposed to have traded with India. It comprehended -capitals with magnificent buildings, -public works, and well-guarded highways; commerce -protected and encouraged; law administered; -religion observed, and learning cultivated. What -Indian civilisation meant at the same period we can -only conjecturally infer from the literature that is -extant, but we have clearer glimpses of it five -centuries later as the home of a mixed race, -geographically severed from the rest of the world, -living in village settlements, which only here and -there were large enough to be called towns, divided -into clans whose wealth consisted chiefly in pasture -and tillage lands, and flocks and herds.<a id='r38' /><a href='#f38' class='c010'><sup>[38]</sup></a> A kingdom -in the sense in which Solomon would have used the -word did not exist. In respect of civilisation -Palestine was far ahead of India, and in respect of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>religious development, its theology, though greatly -tainted with heathen superstitions, was sufficiently -pure and strong to save the Hebrew from requiring -instruction at the wattle huts of a race that confounded -God with His works. If Ophir be the name -of an Indian port, then Solomon’s navy brought back -from it gold, and ivory, and curious things indicated -by Sanskrit words for which the Hebrew chronicler -could find no equivalent. The sailors may have -picked up a few fables and riddles and proverbs, -but surely in regard to religion and philosophy, the -superior and stronger race would be more likely to -impart of their abundance to the lower and weaker -than to enrich themselves out of their poverty.</p> - -<p class='c006'>When we come to the Greek invasion we move -on more solid ground, and we can handle events -which have left permanent and very traceable -effects; but in the historic notices that remain, -we have no trace of Hindu influence upon Greek -civilisation. Instead of Greek religion and philosophy -being enriched by the Indian, the opposite -is more likely to have been the case. The invasion -of Alexander must have originated a host of new -thoughts in India, which may yet be traced in the -works of the prolific Buddhist scholars, who are -said to have lived in the Punjab during the period -of the Greek domination.<a id='r39' /><a href='#f39' class='c010'><sup>[39]</sup></a> It is alleged with fair -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>show of reason to have given rise to some new -products, such as the art of writing, a currency in -coin, stone sculpture, none of which have as yet -been traced in India in any previous period.<a id='r40' /><a href='#f40' class='c010'><sup>[40]</sup></a> The -appearance in India of the drama, the epic, of new -views of mathematics, astronomy, physics, are all -said to be subsequent to and consequences of the -Greek invasion. And this is what we might -expect, for all through the historical ages the -Hindu, instead of enriching Western nations, has -been a needy borrower from them. He has always -been more ready to absorb than impart, ever -greedy of foreign ideas, and ever ready to be -modified by external culture. The beneficent influence -of India is indeed traceable in China, whose -science it undoubtedly improved, and whose literature -it has greatly enriched; but with the exception -of the cipher so useful in our arithmetical -notation, it is questionable whether India has -contributed to the stock of Western wisdom one -single religious or philosophic or scientific truth.<a id='r41' /><a href='#f41' class='c010'><sup>[41]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The wealthy are more likely to lend to than -to borrow from the poor; the wise more likely to -teach, though they do sometimes learn from the -less instructed. The strong may be infected by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>the diseases of the feeble, but generally the contagion -of health radiates from the more robust -to the weaker vitalities. The “power” which the -touch of the East has “made to go forth from us”<a id='r42' /><a href='#f42' class='c010'><sup>[42]</sup></a> -no doubt flows back in quickened life upon ourselves. -As these Oriental studies proceed, the -tables will perhaps be turned upon the school -that would derive all our philosophy and religion -from old Indian sources. We have seen that -two successive waves of Western life flowed eastwards -upon the shores of India. Another rich -stream of Semitic thought in pre-Buddhistic -times, represented by such religious teachers as -the second Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, -reached the Tigris, and we may ask, Was the -Indus unknown to them? We do not assert that -they knew it, but surely it was just as easy -for a Jew to reach India as for Burnouf or de -Bunsen’s Buddhists to reach Babylon. It was just -as probable that a Jewish pedlar found his way -eastward through Parthia to India, with other -and more precious goods in his possession than -the Babylonian wares in his pack, as it was that -Renan’s wandering Buddhist monk found his -way to the Jordan. Later on there is a tradition—and -though it is only a tradition, what a find to -Messieurs Renan, Burnouf, and de Bunsen would -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>one similar Buddhist tradition be!—that one of the -original twelve apostles of Jesus evangelised a portion -of the western shores of India. So, founding -on all these data, only assuming—as we are entitled -to assume—that the East was well connected with -the West by the sea routes from Arabia and by -the land route through Persia, and remembering -that there is nothing so volatile and permeating as -thought, is the speculation so very extravagant -that old Indian philosophy and religion, though -following their own course, may have been modified -and purified by contact with the thoughts of -the West? What if the conjecture be hazarded -that from the West a thousand years <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr> was -communicated the theistic impulse which produced -what is best in the Upanishads—the truth, viz., of -the unity which is behind and above all variety, -the One Absolute into which all thought and all -being is resolved?<a id='r43' /><a href='#f43' class='c010'><sup>[43]</sup></a> What if it be some day -asserted that the teaching of the Hebrew prophets -before the Diaspora, as to the worthlessness of -sacrifice to put away sin and to promote communion -with God, may have insinuated itself into -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>the reveries of Indian ascetics in their forest -retreats, and made the teaching of reformers like -Buddha possible? And what if to <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Thomas -may be indirectly traced that influence which -made later Buddhism differ so materially from -the primitive, and approach in the similarities -of its legends so close to the Gospel narratives? -Dr. Kellogg already proclaims that “it may be -affirmed with certainty that no man can show that -the legend of Buddha, in a form containing any -coincidence which could be held to argue a borrowing -from it by Christians, was in existence before -the Christian era”; “that all the various versions -of the legend in any language date from a time -later than the Christian era”; “that the chief -Sanskrit authority for it cannot be proved in the -judgment of the most competent critics to have -existed in its present form nearly as far back as -the Christian era”; and though he does not allege -any actual transference from the Gospel to the -Buddha legend, he avers with justifiable confidence -that the opportunity for “such a transference -before the Sanskrit version assumed its present -form is an indubitable fact.”<a id='r44' /><a href='#f44' class='c010'><sup>[44]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>These suggestions, though just as worthy of -consideration and support as the theory that Christianity -is either an offshoot of Vedic Brahminism -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>or a direct product of Buddhist speculation, need -not be discussed at present. We may content ourselves -with the conclusions formed by our most -reliable authorities, that Buddhism and Christianity -in their origin and earliest development were perfectly -independent of each other. The births of -their founders were separated by centuries, and the -spheres of their ministry by almost the whole extent -of Asia. While thus sundered by the conditions -of both time and space, they were still more so by -their intellectual peculiarities and antecedents. The -Indian differed very widely from the Jew in his -way of looking at and reasoning about things. He -would be very differently impressed by the same or -similar phenomena, and he would communicate his -impressions by a very different method. Geographically -India was shut up from the rest of the world, -and the Aryans who went down into it were left -in a manner hardly paralleled by other peoples to -develop their own life out of itself, and according -to its own laws. In far less favourable circumstances, -and far removed from the educational -stimulus of contact with alien or cognate nations, -they came to stand alone as a people scarcely intelligible -by others. The Jews, on the other hand, -were early brought into the stream of human movement. -Mingled with many peoples, sent from land -to land, they became in spite of their passionate love -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>for their own country the cosmopolitans of the -world. Consequently when the two races came in -contact, the circles of thought and feeling in which -they moved could hardly be said to touch. Solomon’s -sailors, as regards religious or philosophical -treasures, could neither give nor take away. They -had almost nothing in common with the strange -people whom they met. The Sanskrit words which -they took home to designate the peculiar products -obtained in Ophir indicated how helpless they -would have been to understand the metaphysics of -India even had they inquired about them. The -natives of Western India a thousand years before -Christ were as helpless to understand the Jew. -You have only to compare a prophecy of Israel of -the eighth century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr> with the earliest of the -Upanishads to find how widely separated at that -date was the Semite from the Aryan of India. -Even when their own kinsmen visited them, when -the descendants of sires who had occupied the same -cradle and had heard the same stories told over -them in the one primeval home, met for deadly strife -in the wars of Alexander on the plains of the Punjab, -they were aliens in almost everything. Later -on, when Christian missionaries, anxious to teach -them better ways, succeeded in influencing their -religious conceptions, the Hindus always modified -what of our faith they adopted. The question how -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>far the early proclamation of the Gospel in India influenced -the development of Hinduism is by the best -of judges considered not yet settled,<a id='r45' /><a href='#f45' class='c010'><sup>[45]</sup></a> but even those -who affirm the reality of this influence admit that -Hinduism did not so much incorporate the doctrines -as assimilate the ideas of Christianity. The ultimate -decision of this question, however, does not in any -way affect the one before us. We may be almost -certain that the great mass of Indian speculation on -man and his relations to the infinite, for many centuries -before our era, was developed originally from -the resources of the Indian mind quite apart from -foreign influences. The same assertion will hold -good as to the rise of Greek philosophy and of the -Christian religion. Not one of the three can -be understood without careful reference to their -particular antecedents, but they can never be -accounted for by any theory of derivation of the -one from the other.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is the fact of this complete independence of -each other in origin, coupled with their analogous -development, and the many supposed agreements -in their systems, which makes the study of Buddhism -so interesting. What does this signify? What -important law in providence does it indicate or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>illustrate? Our best guides content themselves -with calling attention to the analogies, and they -are chary as yet of drawing inferences from them. -The wisdom of such caution is apparent when we -find that the supposed coincidences require to be -examined and discussed. Most of them have been -found to be superficial and accidental, and, when -probed, very essential and fundamental contrasts are -discovered beneath them. Now to judge correctly -concerning these religions we must try not their -analogies but their contradictions. The analogies -may be only seeming, and the contrasts may be very -real and profound. On every point that is truly -characteristic the two religions may be separated -as widely as the zenith is from the nadir. All -religions are parallel in their tendencies, and every -approach to truth must inevitably produce resemblances -in religious belief. The resemblances -may indicate the aspirations of a moral and religious -nature common to all men; and in what is peculiar to -Christianity, what it possesses in contrast, may be -found the divine answer to these aspirations. The -two religions may proceed in parallel lines, but on -very different planes, and from quite opposite directions. -Thus the morality of Buddhism so deservedly -admired is in no sense peculiar to Buddhism, for -much of it was taught in India before Buddha -appeared, and in China before his law was proclaimed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>in it. It is the natural outgrowth of the -moral sense of mankind where circumstances are -favourable to its development. But high as the -law of Buddha is, it only “approaches, swings -toward,” as Oldenberg tells us, but never reaches or -touches the law of Christ.<a id='r46' /><a href='#f46' class='c010'><sup>[46]</sup></a> There is in the Christian -Gospel something which the Buddhist system plainly -lacks, and which Buddhism out of any evolution -of its own inherent energy could never produce. -Christianity seems to be superior to it, not in the -sense that the infant is superior to the embryo, but -as man is superior to the animal, which yet may be -said of very necessity to precede him. The lower -organism in creation, though not accounting for the -higher, may reach out after and indicate the necessity -for it, and the higher by fulfilling the lower -will interpret it. Just as the mineral, vegetable, -and animal world all point to some higher creative -fact, which in man is to sum up and perfect them, -so the many lower religions of the human race all -point to a higher, which is to annul and fulfil them. -No theory of evolution has yet accounted for man. -He appears in the universe as a new creature while -part of a very old system of creation, and related to -all its inferior forms. So Christianity, in one sense -as old as human history, and related to every form -<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>of religion by which man has tried to satisfy his -spiritual cravings, may not be elaborated out of any -of them as their products, but confronts us as a -new fact of history to satisfy and complete them.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This conclusion is one which many students of the -science of religion are not prepared to accept. To -them Christianity is simply one of the natural -religions, and at best their highest but necessary -outgrowth. Just as they allege that the origin of -man is to be found in the lowest type of the savage, -so they seek for the genesis of his religious consciousness -in his lowest animal wants and fears, -and they profess to trace the development of -that consciousness from its first almost shapeless -forms, through the monstrosities of Fetichism, then -of Animism, Polytheism, Monotheism, till it finds its -ultimate culmination in Christ. Now Christianity -is indeed a natural religion; were it otherwise, it -would cease to be divine. It supplies all man’s -natural wants, and it satisfies and educates all -man’s natural aspirations. While, however, there -is nothing <i>un</i>natural in it, we aver that there is -something supranatural in its ideal, fitting it to answer -the necessities of a being who has in him all that -nature has, and a great deal more. Man is a being -akin on one side of his nature to both the ape and -the worm, but he is also what they are not. “The -pressure of the infinite on his senses” awakens -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>feelings, and originates a train of thought in which -he soon becomes conscious of relations to a higher -than nature his inferior, and to other than men his -equals. There is that in him which once it is aroused -refuses to believe that what he sees or handles or -tastes is all, and that there can be no higher being -than himself. If his own most perfect machine does -not express all his intelligence, he cannot believe -that all possible intelligence is comprehended and expressed -in the world of nature. Behind and beyond -all these physical arrangements of the world, which -seem fully to meet the lower wants of his being, he -feels that there must be higher arrangements corresponding -to his peculiar wants. Just because he -finds every appetite has its corresponding object, -and every organ implies an element for which it is -fitted,—so that if there be an eye there must be -light, and if lungs there must be air,—so this -feeling or instinct which impels him to seek the -unknown Power, “for whose sake he feels constrained -to do what he does not like to do, or to -abstain from what he would like to do,”<a id='r47' /><a href='#f47' class='c010'><sup>[47]</sup></a> is the -pledge not only that He exists, but that he has -already and always been found by Him, as One who -understands perfectly his thoughts and wants, and -is freely communicating with him.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is not in the anthropoid ape that we may -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>hope to find the origin of man, and it is not in the -terror of the savage cowering before the majesty -and mystery of nature that we are likely to find -the genesis of his religion. Even if anthropology -succeeded in proving that savagery was the first -type in which humanity was expressed, and that -its bestial rites inspired by terror was the first form -of human religion, it would not then have accounted -for their origin. The gulf between the religious -savage and the non-religious speechless ape would -remain as vast as ever. The first manifested -beginning of a work may be rude enough, “as -is the rough block which receives the first stroke -of the sculptor who has designed to produce a -statue; but the real beginning,” as we have been -eloquently reminded, “is in the plan of the artist, -and to perceive his ideal we have to wait for the -final result.”<a id='r48' /><a href='#f48' class='c010'><sup>[48]</sup></a> It is in the end therefore that -we may be said to find and understand the author. -So the origin of man, and the genesis of his religion, -is more likely to be indicated by that divine fiat -which one of the ancient authors of Genesis has -dared to formulate, “Let us make man in our -image, and after our likeness.” According to that -conception, man is a creature, neither equal with, -nor perfect as the Being who conceived him, but -having affinity with his Creator, and from the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>very first manifesting capacity and potentiality of -indefinite progress to be gained by the divine education -to which he is everlastingly subjected.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is not in the plan of our lecture to discuss -these momentous questions, or to enter the lists -against the representatives of the sciences of -Anthropology or Religion. Anthropology is not -sufficiently advanced to scatter the mystery that -surrounds the cradle of the human race: and it -would be rash for the apostles of the other science -to maintain that they have succeeded in tracing -the lines of that process, out of which Christianity -or even Buddhism is alleged to have evolved from -the shapeless superstitions of the primitive savage, -before they confront us as facts in the history of -human thought. Observation and experience alike -seem to counsel greater caution in making our -deductions and drawing our inferences. Indeed -there seems to be almost as much evidence in -favour of the theory of degradation as there is in -favour of that of evolution. There is no inherent -tendency in human society to pass ever on and ever -up to something better and nobler. No race, by its -own inherent strength, seems to have raised itself -from barbarism into anything that can be called -true civilisation; but we have abundant proof in -the Aztecs of former generations, and the negroes -of the Black Republic in the present day, that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>races can terribly decline. A state of civilisation is -very difficult to keep, as well as difficult to gain.<a id='r49' /><a href='#f49' class='c010'><sup>[49]</sup></a> -And so far as observation goes, savage life and -religion appear to be “not the dawning of a -society about to rise, but the fading remains of -one sinking in storms, overthrown and shattered -by overwhelming catastrophes.” Humboldt and -Niebuhr, quoted by Whately in his lecture on -the Origin of Civilisation, both protest as strongly -as he did himself against those who profess to find -in the wreck of the civilised and religious man his -original representative,<a id='r50' /><a href='#f50' class='c010'><sup>[50]</sup></a> and our best authority in -the science of religion assures us that Fetichism, -far from being the initial of an upward course, -marks the very last stage in the downward course -of religion.<a id='r51' /><a href='#f51' class='c010'><sup>[51]</sup></a> It should content us, in the present -state of our knowledge, to find that humanity is -capable both of development and degradation. -Savagery and civilisation are not separated from -each other by impassable barriers: savagery is at -least a possibility to a civilised race;<a id='r52' /><a href='#f52' class='c010'><sup>[52]</sup></a> civilisation is -not beyond the reach of the savage. On the surface -of the very highest civilisation many things appear -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>which are also to be seen in the lowest: and just as -in the lowest organisms certain rudimentary traces -are found of members which are perfected in organisms -above them, so the very lowest savagery seems -to exhibit an upward tendency. In the same way -the very purest religions have clinging to them -traces of the lowest superstitions. Not in Buddhism -only, but even in Christianity, we find forms -of Animism and Fetichism; but the question -whether both religions first manifested themselves -in these lower forms, with which they are still -partly incrusted, must not be held to be settled -in the affirmative because these traces of them -exist. Instead of being survivals which they -have not yet sloughed off or outgrown, they may -be parasitical growths indicating degradation and -disease.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Though the researches hitherto prosecuted have -not resulted in the discovery of a law regulating -the development of religion,<a id='r53' /><a href='#f53' class='c010'><sup>[53]</sup></a> they all point to a -common religious faculty peculiar to man, and -indicate that the religious instinct is co-extensive -with the human race. Nothing, it is true, in the -nature of things forbids the discovery of tribes -absolutely without religion; but as matter of fact, -no such have been found. And as Tylor remarks, -“those who assert the contrary disprove their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>theories by the facts which they allege in -support of them.”<a id='r54' /><a href='#f54' class='c010'><sup>[54]</sup></a> Now, if we find in all sections -of humanity, even far apart from each other, the -same groping after an Author and Governor of our -being, and the same forecasting of our destiny, -though in most contradictory, and, alas! often fearfully -perverted ways, we may safely infer as a -fundamental truth that humanity, though broken -up into many fragments, is really an organic unity, -and that the Christian dogma simply expresses a -scientific fact, “that God hath made of one all -nations on the face of the earth.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>If the organic unity of humanity be granted, -the organic unity of language and of religion too -would seem to be deducible from it as simple -corollaries. But we must be careful in defining -wherein this organic unity consists. We may -assume that in regard to language it does not -consist in a perfect primitive speech, broken up at -later times into numberless forms to be used richly -and copiously by some civilised, but scantily by -barbarous peoples.<a id='r55' /><a href='#f55' class='c010'><sup>[55]</sup></a> In regard to religion it does -not mean a complete compendium of truth supernaturally -given to the fathers of the human race, -from which, while all men have erred more or less, -some have fearfully fallen away. Such a view, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>though held generally once, would be condemned -by Christian theologians now as irreligious in principle, -for it would seek for the roots of religion -not in the nature of man, but in some external -enactment, and would make religion, which is -essentially spontaneous, to be something mechanical -or compulsory in action.<a id='r56' /><a href='#f56' class='c010'><sup>[56]</sup></a> The unity of language -does not consist in a common vocabulary, -but in a common faculty which all men have of -expressing their feelings and their thoughts; and -the unity of religion does not consist in a number -of fundamental beliefs which all men have in -common; but in the universal instinct to believe -in, and reverence and obey, a power higher and -better than ourselves. The faculty, the instinct -in each case is one; yet it has been developed, -if we are to use that word, in very different -degrees. In some tribes the faculty of reckoning -is so weak, that they have numerals only to five, -and their vocabulary is so poor as to express only -objects around them or their own sensuous wants. -In the same way in some peoples the religious -faculty is so stunted as almost to be amorphous. -It exists as it were in embryo; in other peoples -it perplexes us by the monstrosities in which it is -expressed, but the monstrosity, as we are reminded,<a id='r57' /><a href='#f57' class='c010'><sup>[57]</sup></a> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>may mark a further growth which also points onward -to something more complete, and may be in -itself a type of things not seen as yet. Observation -therefore seems to detect a religious tendency -in process of evolution, and if so, the only question -is as to whether that tendency develops by its own -inherent power, or by a process of education intelligently -conducted; in other words, whether man -grows into his religion, or whether he is instructed -in it by the revelation of a mind higher than his own.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The New Testament writers, while proclaiming -the organic unity of humanity, proclaim as clearly -that the organic development of religion proceeds -under Divine control. The phrase “organic development -of religion” may only be a modern way -of designating that long continuous process by -which God reveals His mind and will for the -education of the human race, which culminated -when He “who at sundry times and in divers manners,” -in various ways and in different measures, -“spake unto the fathers by the prophets,” spoke unto -us by His Son. Holy Scripture from first to last -is consistent in its teaching as to this. It tells of -a Divine Spirit not operative only in one race or in -one part of the world during a few centuries of its -history, but striving with human souls always and -everywhere. It tells us that God never left the -world without a witness of Himself; it reminds us -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>of prophets—certainly not all of the one nation—who, -trained to grasp and to proclaim moral and -spiritual truths, were sent to lead among their fellow-men -lives so pure and unselfish as profoundly to -affect the moral progress of the whole human race. -In a word, it reveals Deity not as apart from man -and uninterested in him, but as an everlasting -agent in human history,—working out an eternal -purpose hid as a mystery from all ages, but now -manifested in the last times to us; the purpose of -gathering together not only the scattered and alienated -nations, but “all things which are in heaven -and which are on earth in One,” even in Christ.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The proclamation of this universality of the -Divine purpose is one of the chief distinctive characteristics -of Christianity. Its canonical Scriptures -from beginning to end contradict the Jewish heresy, -that God, though He has made of one all nations, -has only taken one or two under His protection, -and has no care for the rest. They tell us that God -cares for the sparrow that flits over the heads of the -most degraded of the human race, and for the worm -that crawls under their feet; and by implication they -warn us that to assert that He who has provided for -the wants of the reptile and the bird has made no -provision for the spiritual wants of those whom He -is said to have made in His image, is blasphemy -more heinous than ever heathen or atheist has -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>uttered. “The same Lord over all is rich in mercy -unto all,” and “He is not far from any one” of them. -He has left none “without a witness.” Though He -has given some more than others, He has left no -one without something. The religious instinct in -some He has specially trained and illuminated, not -because He regards them as favourites—for He is -no respecter of persons—but because through them -He would work out His beneficent plan for all. A -few are indeed chosen, but that many may be -called, and when one individual or one people is -selected and peculiarised, it is that through them -all nations may be blessed.</p> - -<p class='c006'><abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul, quoting to the Athenians from one of -their own poets, reminded them that “we are all His -offspring,” and as such we are all divinely cared for. -It is true that He does not deal with all after the -same fashion, and His dealings will always be perplexing -if we apply to them only the standard of -man and the measures of time; but if we remember -that “He is God, and not man,” that “His years -are throughout all generations,” and that we “can -see only a portion of His ways,” we may trust that -by-and-by He will show that He has wasted neither -His own patience nor His creatures’ strength. For -though He may not be dealing with us after the -same fashion, He is dealing with all toward the -same blessed end, the end which He has revealed in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>Christ, through whom, and by whom, and in whom, -all men and things are to be reconciled.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We can only judge of His purpose by what of -it has been disclosed. Humanity, essentially and -fundamentally one, exhibits most manifold variety. -While the unity of the race secures its sympathy -with all its members, in its variety there is secured -its indefinite expansion and progress. No family -could always keep together in one spot: the -differences of disposition and character among its -members demand their separation as the condition -of harmony. The family of man is a scattered -one, not merely to prevent jealousy and -hostility between its members, but to promote -their education. The training of the race seems to -proceed on principles somewhat analogous to those -which we ourselves have adopted in the education -of our children. We never could hope to educate a -large number of children of various ages and mental -capacities, by keeping them all in one class; so we -break them up, and isolate, and grade them, and -train some of them specially for the sake of all, -that they may be their leaders and teachers. -Even so, we find nations widely separated by -natural barriers, that the characteristic energies of -each may be developed, till the time comes when -one or other of them is needed for the elevation or -reformation of the rest. That the division of nations -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>and the separate training of nations entered deeply -into the counsels of Providence, may be learned by -a glance at the configuration of the world, and -the influences which are exercised by soil and -climate and circumstance upon any single nation. -The blessed effect of this division may be seen by -the slightest survey of history in the corrective, -educative, redemptive influence which they have -exercised upon each other.<a id='r58' /><a href='#f58' class='c010'><sup>[58]</sup></a> And yet a survey of -the history of the last eighteen centuries will just -as plainly indicate a Divine purpose of drawing the -nations toward unity. Babel may mark the Divine -purpose of the primeval economy, and Pentecost -may be the sign of the present. The wonder in the -plain of Shinar was, that through diversity of speech -men were ceasing to understand each other. The -wonder in Jerusalem was, that men of the most -widely separate nationalities heard, each in their -own tongue, Christian evangelists proclaim the marvellous -works of God. Religion, which up till the -coming of Christ, had proved a repellent and divisive -force, began at that time to prove an attractive, -harmonising, and transforming power. A new -spring-tide dawned upon man’s religious conceptions, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>and truths after which all had been groping, -but which none had attained to, emerged grandly -into prominence. The Fatherhood of the One living -and eternal God, the Divine Son, in whom all men -are brethren, and the Holy Spirit, dealing with -every man, working upon him and in him to conform -him to the likeness of the highest and best, -began to be revealed; and the more that revelation -is accepted the more the reconciliation of the -race advances.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is not our interest, therefore, to sever Christianity -from all connection with the manifold forms -in which the religious instinct and faculty of man -has found expression. If it could be proved that -our religion stands in no relation to anything which -men in other religions thought or believed, it would -be discovered defective, and we would have to abandon -the claim that it is the universal religion of -humanity. To assert that all previous religious -ideas must be expunged as erroneous or false, so that -an entirely new message might be written, is to contradict -the evangelical doctrine as to the nature of -Christ and the purpose of His mission to the world. -The New Testament writers assert that Christ is -the source of all the truth that was ever uttered, -the inspirer of all the goodness that was ever seen, -and that He is the stimulator and educator of man’s -every reaching out after God. The noblest thinkers, -it is true, failed to comprehend the truth, and their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>highest religion failed to satisfy them; but we must -not think of them as divinely permitted to fail to -teach us the glory of Christ as the ultimate revelation -of God. Here, as in all similar cases, failure -was rather a partial success; for by the effort to -reach it the mind was trained to receive and grasp -the reality when it was disclosed. Some one has said -that all pre-Christian religions are just Christ partially—very -very partially—realised. Certainly they -all point to Him, and but for Him they would have -been abortive. They all suggest Him, in respect -that they each claim something to satisfy and unite -them. Christianity thus proves itself Divine, not -in being absolutely different from, nor even in being -vastly superior to, but in the fact that it harmonises -and completes them. Instead, therefore, of being -scared by the resemblances to Christianity which we -meet in other religions, we should be thankful for -their discovery. The early Apologists were not -frightened when Celsus,<a id='r59' /><a href='#f59' class='c010'><sup>[59]</sup></a> in the second century, -submitted his alleged parallels to Christian doctrine -and ethics, in order to prove that what Christians -called revelation had already been attained -by the unassisted efforts of heathen minds. Anticipating -the language of the eighteenth century -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>Deists, he proclaimed that “Christianity was as old -as creation.” His parallels were often found to be -defective, and many of them had only to be looked -at to show the immense superiority of the Christian -quotations. Augustine turned them against himself, -when he showed that to claim entire originality -for Christianity, to deny the existence of any light -before Christ came, and the possibility of any silent -universal revelation through reason and conscience, -was to contradict His Messiahship. To ignore -what God had done before, would have cut Him off -from God and man. We would expect the Son -of Man to confirm the deepest convictions of the -human race. We would expect the Son of God -to claim and utilise all the truth God’s Spirit had -spoken in ages past. “Siquis vera loquitur, prior -est quam ipse veritas? O Homo, attende Christum, -non quando ad te venerit, sed quando te fecerit.”<a id='r60' /><a href='#f60' class='c010'><sup>[60]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The more of Christian doctrine and ethics we -find in other religions, the more Divine will Christianity -appear. There is not a truth which has -verified and sustained any other religion which is -not found in Christianity, in fuller amount and in -clearer form. Christianity differs from all other -religions, not because it is a purer system of moral -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>truth, but because it is the manifestation of a -Divine life, and because in that life it reveals the -<i>power</i> which alone can reconcile the knowing with -the doing of duty. It professes only to have one -original, one distinctive element; but how much is -involved in that profession? for this original is Christ -Himself, and all its doctrines and precepts are vital -only because of their connection with Christ. Whole -libraries of moral and doctrinal anthologies would -not make up for the obliteration of His likeness -from the religious consciousness of the world: “It -would be like consoling ourselves for the loss of -the sun by the kindling of ten thousand artificial -lamps.”<a id='r61' /><a href='#f61' class='c010'><sup>[61]</sup></a> He confronts the ages, as the One to -whom all religions point, of whom all true prophets -of the human race have unconsciously testified. -They, like the Founder of this great religion, whose -alleged resemblances will be found, as we examine -them, to be rather point-blank contradictions and -contrasts to the Christian doctrines and story, may -have indeed been burning and shining lights, and -men were willing for a season to rejoice in their -light. They were “not that Light,” but as voices -crying in the night for its arising they came to -“bear witness of it”: the Light not of Asia only, -nor yet only of Europe, but the “Light which -lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span> - <h2 id='lecture-2' class='c004'>LECTURE <abbr title='two'>II.</abbr> <br /> THE HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS OF BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY, AND THE EVIDENTIAL VALUE OF THEIR RESPECTIVE SCRIPTURES.</h2> -</div> -<p class='c005'>It should be an advantage to the study of -Buddhism that even in its origin it confronts us -as the religion of a people sufficiently advanced -in civilisation to be able to formulate their metaphysical -conceptions and present us with their religious -beliefs organised in a system. Like Christianity -it not only inherited but also produced -a considerable and very miscellaneous literature, -whose contents throw valuable light upon the past -from which it emerged and upon the course which -it followed, and like Christianity it has left its -stamp on most of the institutions of the peoples -among whom it was successfully propagated. When -all these sources of information have been properly -investigated, we may hope that the story of the -rise and progress of Buddhism in the East will -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>be revealed with something at least of the clearness -with which the history of Christianity is -disclosed by the literature and art of the West.</p> - -<p class='c006'>To trace, however, the dawn and spread of -Buddhism with anything like historical accuracy -for the first six or seven hundred years of its -course, is a task as yet beyond the literary ability -of the times. It is doubtful whether the materials -for such a work have as yet been collected, and he -would be a bold man who would claim for the task -of sifting what has already been furnished more -than an earnest beginning. Not even Saint-Hilaire -would now repeat the assertion so confidently -made thirty years ago,<a id='r62' /><a href='#f62' class='c010'><sup>[62]</sup></a> that “no new discoveries -can change our conclusions regarding it”; for during -the past generation the effect of fuller information -has been not only to modify, but in several -instances to revolutionise the theories formed -concerning it. Discoveries are multiplying every -year; and, though the knowledge thus acquired -serves often more to reveal difficulties than to solve -them, we may be thankful that the examination -of them is engaging the attention of the highest -order of scholarship, and hopeful, yea, even confident -that since so many of the ablest and most patient -minds are turned in this direction, the aggregate -of progress will speedily be immense.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>All that we know of Buddhism, and all that -we are likely to know of it, is to be gathered from -its own Scriptures; and a comparison of these -with the Christian Scriptures reveals at the very -outset a difference amounting to a vast contrast -between them. The original Scriptures of Christianity -have been before the tribunal of the world’s -keenest and most hostile criticism for 1800 years; -but we are only now beginning to make the -acquaintance of the Scriptures of Buddhism, which -have hardly been subjected to any cross-questioning -worthy of the name. Those who have ventured -to assail have only published their inability to -understand them, and those most competent to -criticise may be pardoned if they handle tenderly -the fragments which they are collecting and translating -for our use. The services which they are -thus rendering to religion as well as to science are -very great. Previously we had only anthologies -extracted often without reference to date or authorship -or connection to judge from, but now these -learned pundits are furnishing us with books -containing not only the wisdom and beauties of -Eastern literature, but its follies and blemishes as -well. Omitting only what is obscene and offensive -to the moral sense,<a id='r63' /><a href='#f63' class='c010'><sup>[63]</sup></a> they are giving us specimens -of several strata of Oriental thought and belief, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>vertically and thoroughly cut, from which a correct -understanding of the essential features of this very -peculiar religion may with considerable probability -be ascertained.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Only a portion of the Buddhist Scriptures are -as yet available, and these we are certainly not at -liberty to place side by side as of equal evidential -value with the contents of the New Testament. -It is said that two thousand manuscripts of the -New Testament, or of portions of it, have been -discovered, several of which are of great antiquity, -and notwithstanding the immense number of various -readings on points of detail, the text of the -oldest corresponds substantially with that of the -books as we have them to-day. We are informed, -however, on the best authority, that “all Indian -manuscripts are comparatively modern, that no -manuscript written one thousand years ago is now -existent in India, and that it is almost impossible -to find one written five hundred years ago; for -most manuscripts which claim to be of that date -are merely copies of old ones, the dates of which -are repeated by the copyists.”<a id='r64' /><a href='#f64' class='c010'><sup>[64]</sup></a> It is admitted, -moreover, that the literary honesty of these Indian -translators and copyists is very questionable, that -the books of the Buddhists have undergone wholesale -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>textual alterations, that none of the Sanskrit -works as yet known to us are unadulterated specimens -of transmitted doctrines, that the oldest and -most reliable authorities for the life of Buddha -exaggerate greatly events which are said to have -happened, and ascribe to him long discourses of -which the writers themselves were the composers.<a id='r65' /><a href='#f65' class='c010'><sup>[65]</sup></a> -In respect, therefore, of literary accuracy and faithfulness -of purpose, these old compilers and re-editors -of the Buddhist books are far below the -standard which criticism has inexorably applied to -the versionists of the Christian Scriptures.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The faithfulness of our English versions is -vouched for by the names of the translators, and -yet they admit that their translations are only -approximations.<a id='r66' /><a href='#f66' class='c010'><sup>[66]</sup></a> From the very nature of the -case they must be so. The East is very far distant -from the West; its ways are not our ways; -its thoughts are not our thoughts. Some one -has said that “the <i>Iliad</i> is separated from the -<i>Rig Veda</i> by an interval of several civilisations”; -and if so, how vast must be the gulf separating -Vedic and even Buddhist metaphysicians from the -British philosopher of to-day! It is simply impossible -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>for the most impartial translator to put -himself in the place of the ancient Indian sage, and -to prevent his own preconceptions from insinuating -themselves among the data with which he has to -deal. He has to express, as we have been reminded, -“a lower order of ideas in a higher order -of terms, and use words suggesting a wealth of -analysis and association quite foreign to the -thought to be reproduced. Translation from a -lower to a higher language is thus a process of -elevation.”<a id='r67' /><a href='#f67' class='c010'><sup>[67]</sup></a> In reading these translations and -the books founded upon them, we have constantly -to guard against giving to such terms as “sin,” -“lust,” “salvation,” “law,” “church,” and many -others, our Christian conceptions of them. We -are often perplexed whether the phrases employed, -and even the very titles of the treatises, be really -the equivalents of the ancient texts and titles, or -nineteenth century conceptions of what they may -be made to mean. A European scholar inheriting -the results of ages of Christian culture may be -more likely to interpret the reach of an old -Buddhist expression than the monk who first -used it; but he is always in danger of confounding -that reach with his own firm grasp of truth, -and of expressing his conceptions by phraseology -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>which, if it could be explained to the ancient, -would be rejected by him as inconsistent with -his original meaning.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Another strong contrast between the two sets -of scriptures emerges when we attempt to fix the -dates at which the earliest Buddhist works were -produced. The New Testament is admitted by -authorities who cannot be accused of prejudice in -favour of Christianity and even by antichristian -critics, to contain the actual writings of some of -the original disciples of Jesus. The very latest of -the books which compose it was in circulation -within a century after His death, while the -great bulk of them were accepted before half a -century had passed as the testimonies of those -who were eye-witnesses of the rise of our religion.<a id='r68' /><a href='#f68' class='c010'><sup>[68]</sup></a> -M. Renan admits that the three Synoptical Gospels -are the “tender remembrances and simple narratives -of the first and second generations of Christians, -written in substantially their present form -by the men whose names they bear.”<a id='r69' /><a href='#f69' class='c010'><sup>[69]</sup></a> The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>epistle of <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> James and several of the epistles -of <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul are almost now unanimously accepted -as the products of the first generation. <abbr title='Monsieur'>Mons.</abbr> -<abbr class='spell'>E.</abbr> Burnouf therefore may safely aver that “the -history of Christian doctrine and worship bears -the crown over all others in respect that its -records are complete.”<a id='r70' /><a href='#f70' class='c010'><sup>[70]</sup></a> What of these records -are comprised in the New Testament, though -tried by the severest of tests, continues to-day -as they were eighteen centuries ago delivered to -the Church. Though the various readings in the -<abbr title='manuscripts'>mss.</abbr> are said to be counted by 200,000, hardly -one of them can be said to affect a fundamental -doctrinal or historical statement; and so outstanding -and distinct is their canonical character that -it requires no external authority, but only comparison -with them, to disclose what of early Christian -literature is to be regarded as apocryphal.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The evidence on which Orientalists have to rely -in fixing the date of the Buddhist scriptures is -confessedly such “that we must not be surprised -if those who are accustomed to test historical and -chronological evidence in reference to Greece and -Rome declined to be convinced by it.”<a id='r71' /><a href='#f71' class='c010'><sup>[71]</sup></a> For centuries -after the death of Buddha his followers -assure us that they had no written books constituting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>their rules of faith and manners. The -earliest written collection of which in their own -records we have any historical trace is that of -Ceylon, and all that can be said of it is “that -there is nothing improbable” that part of it may -have been reduced to writing about the first -century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr>, but the whole was only fixed about -420 <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr> The Nepaulese collection is said to date -only from the first Christian century; but it is -not alleged that the whole of the works now -in it were even then in existence. According to -their own tradition, they had no written biography -of Buddha till about the first century of our era, -and no one who has examined that narrative or -read the opinions expressed by Orientalists as to -the date when it was produced—opinions so divergent -as to indicate a difference of several centuries—would -ever dream of employing it as -evidence of what is alleged in it to have happened. -It is simply impossible, therefore, to regard the -Buddhist’s Pitakas as if they were of similar -authoritative value with the New Testament, for, -in fact, in respect of canonical worth they do not -deserve to be ranked with much of our later -patristic literature.</p> - -<p class='c006'>A very high antiquity, however, is claimed by -Buddhists for these collections. According to the -Dipavanso, their earliest available chronicle, dating -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>only from the fifth century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr>, the doctrines orally -communicated by Buddha to his disciples were by -them immediately after his death revised and classified -under the three divisions of Vinaya, Abhidharma, -and Sutta, in which they have always since then -been preserved. This collection having passed -through the crucible of a council held at Vaisali a -hundred years later, was fixed as canonical at -another held in the reign of Asoka about 242 <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr> -It is urged that a canon, to be authoritative, does -not require to be written, and that Indians claim -for one orally transmitted higher authority than for -one transcribed. The art of writing was probably -unknown in India in Buddha’s time, and so, thrown -back upon their resources, memory was by the -Indians cultivated to an extent which enabled them -to dispense with methods deemed by nearly all -other peoples to be essential to accuracy. Eminent -Orientalists therefore, while regarding the account -of the first council as apocryphal, are yet inclined -to admit—from the identity of the threefold division -in all the schools that have been tested, from the -similarity of the titles of the contents of all the -various collections, and especially from the quality of -the writings themselves—that the tradition recorded -in the Dipavanso is well founded, and that considerable -portions of the Vinaya and Sutta literature may -date from a hundred years after the death of Buddha.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>In assuming so much, however, these scholars -by no means believe that they have found in these -texts the actual teaching of Buddha in an unadulterated -condition. While not thinking it possible -to impugn the substantial accuracy of the Vinaya -texts, though given in Pali translations of the lost -dialect in which they were originally preached, they -tell us that the oldest of the Sutta texts are “not -his teachings nor the teachings of his immediate -disciples, who could not have spoken of him in the -manner in which he is there described. They are -only founded on his teachings, and record existing -beliefs as to the doctrines which he actually taught.”<a id='r72' /><a href='#f72' class='c010'><sup>[72]</sup></a> -For “the fundamental and original doctrines they -may be accepted as fairly trustworthy authorities,” -but for the facts of his life they are even at the -best very questionable guides. Nearer to the -origin of Buddhism and of the person of its founder -we are not likely to get than in the book entitled -by its translator the Sutta of the Great Decease; -but he confesses that even in it we are standing on -anything but solid ground, and that we are only -able to catch a distant and most uncertain glimpse -of the figure of the great Teacher as he comes -out at rare intervals from the mist of legends -which, designed to adorn and magnify, have in reality -diminished and obscured his real personality.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>For our knowledge of Buddhism, therefore, we -have for centuries only oral traditions to rely upon. -Of these traditions only a portion may be traced -approximately to the times of Buddha, and of the -fragments which can possibly be traced not one -contains a narrative nor any historical reference to -passing events. On the contrary, our knowledge -of the origin of Christianity is derived not from -fragments of oral tradition, but from a set of -canonical writings, many of them traceable close to -the generation that witnessed Christ’s death, in -which the story of His ministry is set in historical -relation to the age in which He appeared, and -His peculiar doctrines are so fixed that any addition -to them is at once recognised as spurious. Between -the extremes of criticism as to the period -covered by the life of Christ there is a difference -of only half a dozen years; but there is a difference -in Buddhist traditions of more than a thousand -years as to the date of Buddha’s birth, and even -European scholars, after carefully sifting traditions -and writings, have only been able approximately to -fix dates for his death ranging over a period of -175 years.<a id='r73' /><a href='#f73' class='c010'><sup>[73]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>For historical accuracy, therefore, the traditions -are as worthless as they are for any photographic -presentation of the various persons who figure in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>them. In truth we have in them neither chronology -nor biography. Events and actors are equally -indistinct; we have only a background without -any perspective, and pasteboard puppets projected -against it which might be designated by -any name whatever. Even in respect of transmission -of doctrine, oral tradition was found very -early to have failed. The reason given in their -chronicles for resorting to writing is confession -sufficient that they considered that method of -preserving the deposit of the faith a safer one.<a id='r74' /><a href='#f74' class='c010'><sup>[74]</sup></a> -So divergent had the renderings and so corrupt -had the texts become—“for even the monks of the -great council were blamed for turning the religion -upside down, for distorting the sense and teaching -of the five Nikayas, for casting aside that Sutta -and Vinaya, and making imitations of them changing -this to that<a id='r75' /><a href='#f75' class='c010'><sup>[75]</sup></a>—that the profoundly wise priests, -foreseeing the perdition of the people (from the -perversion of the doctrines), and in order that the -religion might endure for ages, wrote the same in -books.”<a id='r76' /><a href='#f76' class='c010'><sup>[76]</sup></a> Before this time the many schisms which -had arisen were powerful illustrations of the evils -which the “profoundly wise” transcribers deplored, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>and of that falling away from the original creed -which this religion had already suffered for lack of -a secured basis of faith.<a id='r77' /><a href='#f77' class='c010'><sup>[77]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>For the want of an authoritative standard told -very severely against the early history of Buddhism. -Its rapid and widespread extension was due, not -so much to the natural development of its own -principles as to its assimilation of the external -and foreign influences with which it came in contact. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>Its advance was the result more of compromise -than of conquest.<a id='r78' /><a href='#f78' class='c010'><sup>[78]</sup></a> It welcomed or tolerated, -at least it could not or did not defend itself against -the introduction of many parasitical germs which -were destined to arrest its growth and pass into its -life. As the ivy covers and adorns the oak only -to suck away with its million mouths its strength, -so the popular beliefs which Buddhism incorporated -from without, as well as the defections from -the original teaching which took place within it, -produced very soon upon it alterations so extensive -that its founder would have disclaimed or would -have been really unable to recognise it as his -own.</p> - -<p class='c006'>No temptation happened to Buddhism, however, -but such as is common to all the higher religions. -As far as observation and experience go, the lower -types of religion continue unchanged; but those -that confront us upon a higher level are in a -perpetual flux, in which change does not always -indicate progress. Instead of tracing their path -by the superstitions which they have outgrown, -their course may be indicated by those which they -have incorporated. Man, in his exodus of faith, is -always tempted to go back to the condition from -which he has emerged, or to fall away to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>religions by which he is surrounded. Mosaism and -Christianity had to pass through this trial, and -certainly they did not pass through it unscathed. -They suffered from the corruption of popular superstitions -and of Pagan rites, all of which, as in the -case of Buddhism, were defended by an appeal -to tradition. Just as every Buddhist innovator -was ready with some forgotten saying or Sutta -alleged to have been delivered by the “Blessed -One,” sometimes miraculously preserved through -the ages till the necessity for the revelation arose, -so the Popes and the Fathers of Christendom were -never at a loss for authorities when, professing -to develop and define, they in reality were adding -to the faith and the worship and the claims of -the Church.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But Christianity from the very earliest possessed -what Buddhism for a long period lacked. -In its canonical writings it conserved not only a -check upon this apostasy, but a security for reformation. -Mechanical though it seems, there was -a providence in the early committal to writing -of such books as compose our Bibles. In the fact -that their successive disclosures of truth were -thus registered there is more significance than at -first appears. It is admitted by all that man’s -progress depends in no small degree on his ability -to secure and hand down the treasures of his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>wisdom and experience. The art of writing is thus -recognised to be one of the most moving powers -in the world. The nations that have depended -upon it for the transmission of knowledge inherited -or acquired, have certainly made more progress in -religion and civilisation than those that have -neglected or despised it. It is significant that the -writers of the Bible have all recognised this condition -of human progress, and that many of them -have represented themselves as instructed by the -Divine authority, from whom they profess to have -received their communications, to make them permanent -in popular language and in plain written -form.<a id='r79' /><a href='#f79' class='c010'><sup>[79]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>In the history of the Hebrews there is not a -single recorded instance of religious reformation in -which the law and the testimony, or the scrolls -of the prophets, did not play an important part. -In like manner the New Testament, which embodies -the ideals and perpetuates the standard -which is to regulate its course, not only saved Christianity -from the perils which threatened its earliest -spread, but has often rescued it from the degradation -into which it has fallen. Canonical books -may only give, as it has been said, “the reflected -image of the real doctrines of the founder of a -religion, an image always blurred and distorted -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>by the medium through which it has to pass”;<a id='r80' /><a href='#f80' class='c010'><sup>[80]</sup></a> -but in the case of the New Testament the Church -has never developed, or thought it possible to -develop, a purer reflection. Advance as it may, -the Church never can outgrow the ideals of its -youth, and change what it pleases, it never can -improve them. Whenever the Church assumed -supremacy over its law, and whenever tradition -superseded its testimony, it yielded to the disintegrating -influences of heathenism. It was rapidly -lapsing into polytheism when Mohammed rose with -a spurious and mutilated version of the Scriptures -to recall it to the witness of true Scriptures to the -unity and sovereignty of God. Later on, when -sinking through formalism into superstition and -sorcery almost as degrading as any Indian, Luther, -by the re-discovery of the Greek Testament, -brought about a reformation which not only saved -Europe, but has created a new Western and -Southern world. In every revival and every advance -which has taken place since then there may -be traced, directly or indirectly, the regenerative -influences of the Christian originals. On its -human side the Christian Church will always be -in danger of losing its pure conceptions and noble -aims in grosser forms of belief and in lower ambitions; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>but high over all its degradation towers in -its early Scriptures the majesty and spirituality of -its Divine authority, and we have only to look up -to be first convicted, then attracted and redeemed. -The purest sections of the Christian Church, the -surest and the first to outgrow all unworthy expressions -of Christianity, are those which adhere -most closely to the original rule of faith and worship. -It is quite possible that we “may be only -too apt to make a fetich of our sacred books”;<a id='r81' /><a href='#f81' class='c010'><sup>[81]</sup></a> -but somehow the Christian communities that most -revere their sacred books show that they are least -likely to fall into this danger. The more we obey -the Scriptures, the less likely are we to idolise -them. The New Testament, so far from attaching -any mystical or talismanic value to its contents, -tells us that the letter killeth, and the spirit alone -giveth life. It is otherwise with the Buddhist -Tripitaka. Its authors claim meritorious efficacy -not only for the repetition of its sentences, but for -the very sound of its words, “as if they were -capable of elevating every one who hears them to -heavenly abodes in future existence.” Sir Monier -Williams has illustrated this by a legend long -current, not in northern Buddhist countries, but -in Ceylon, where a purer Buddhism prevails. -According to it, two monks were heard by five -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>hundred bats reciting in a cave the law of Buddha, -and they by merely hearing gained such merit -that in death they were re-born as men, and ultimately -through successive re-births were raised -to the fellowship of the gods.<a id='r82' /><a href='#f82' class='c010'><sup>[82]</sup></a> Of course this is -simply a legend, a thing of hay or straw that has -got mixed with the purer primitive faith; but it -indicates that the course of the current flows in -quite an opposite direction from the faith which -allows itself to be dominated and guided by the -canon of Holy Scriptures.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The quality of the contents of the two sets of -writings is not under discussion, but we cannot help -remarking one characteristic of the Christian Scriptures -which is not likely to emerge in our longest -acquaintance with the Buddhist books. No one -ever expects that the genuineness of the contents -of the Tripitaka will ever be discussed with anything -like the intensity and acerbity with which -we have discussed the genuineness of the books of -the Bible. The long and fierce contendings that -have been waged over each portion of the Gospels -will never take place over any of the Suttas. We -have been working for five centuries to secure a -proper English translation of the Holy Bible, and -we are not satisfied with it yet: does any one -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>expect a similar expenditure of labour to secure a -proper version of the Tripitaka? It is possible that -scholarship will by and by exhaust this particular -field of Oriental research, and “having catalogued -its discoveries will put them aside and proceed to -more interesting studies”; but though men have -quarrelled about and questioned the Holy Scriptures -for eighteen centuries they are not likely to -come to a term of their hostility or curiosity. The -ceaseless endeavour to disprove, refute, shows that -we cannot get rid of them. There must be something -either in the history of their production or -the quality of their contents, or the range of their -influence, which separates them from all sacred -books of the type of the Buddhist Tripitaka. -Certainly we cannot conceive it possible that any -of these so-called Bibles of other religions will -ever among any civilised people supplant the -Christian Bible. “One chapter of Isaiah,” says -Quinet,<a id='r83' /><a href='#f83' class='c010'><sup>[83]</sup></a> “has more in it than a whole Republic of -Plato.” One Psalm of David will outweigh all the -religious lore of the Vedas. One sentence of Moses, -“The Lord our God is one Lord: I the Lord am -holy,” is worth all the speculations of the devout -and learned authors of the Upanishads. Not that -the Republic, the Vedas, the Upanishads are to be -despised. On the contrary, the more they are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>studied the more likely is the Bible to be revered, -for the truth that is in them is only prophetic of -truth which could not then be revealed and received. -We may outlive and outgrow the teaching of these -wise ancients, but we have not yet transcended the -originals of Christianity, and it is not at all likely -that we ever shall. There is an end to the perfection -of all other systems, but here is “a commandment -exceeding broad,” “whose line has gone -through all the earth, and its word to the end -of the world.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>From this slight notice of the literature which -Buddhism has produced let us proceed to glance at -the literature which it inherited, with the view of -catching a glimpse of the conditions out of which -it arose. As with man’s language, so is it with his -other distinctive birthright: we can only understand -a religion when we have ascertained its -antecedents. Christianity emerged from a previous -religion of which it professed to be the complement. -Our Lord appeared among a people whose spiritual -history extended over several thousand years. -They had a sacred canon, professing to register the -successive Divine revelations made to their ancestors, -which was fixed as we have it now at least two, -and perhaps more, centuries before He came. Instead -of breaking with the past He acknowledged -and appropriated it; instead of abrogating their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>law, He fulfilled it; instead of disowning their -prophets He claimed them as His witnesses. In -prosecuting His mission He brought upon Himself -the fierce antagonism of the existing Church, whose -leaders in less than three years succeeded in having -Him crucified; but His constant appeal was to their -ever-venerated Scriptures. His apostles again -record and expound the incidents of His ministry -and His death as realising the pre-intimations of -their ancient rites, and as fulfilling all their prophecies; -and all along faith in the Divine origin -of Christianity is never supposed to be weakened -but to be greatly confirmed by an appeal to the -religion which it annulled and supplanted.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now Buddhism grew out of Brahmanism, but -however divergent their relations eventually became, -it was originally accepted as a natural consequence -of it. Unlike Christianity and Judaism, there was -for long no trace of serious antagonism between the -Brahmans and many generations of the successors -of Buddha. Brahmans formed a considerable portion -of his followers, and in regard to his teaching, -his doctrines, where not identical, were not likely to -offend them. <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul scandalised the Pharisees -by preaching that outward Jewish connection -marked by the seal of circumcision profited -nothing, but long before Buddha’s time Brahman -teachers had declared, as he did, to that most -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>exclusive of the Indian elect, that the true Brahman -was not a person born within the sacred caste, but -only the thoughtful and self-controlled man:<a id='r84' /><a href='#f84' class='c010'><sup>[84]</sup></a> that -a bad mind and wicked deeds are what defile a -man, and that no outward observances can purify -him.<a id='r85' /><a href='#f85' class='c010'><sup>[85]</sup></a> Buddha has been designated as the best and -wisest and greatest of Hindus; “a reformer of -Hinduism who ignored its superstitions and follies, -and sought to elevate and refine its dogmas.”<a id='r86' /><a href='#f86' class='c010'><sup>[86]</sup></a> It -is now considered very questionable whether the -difference between the two systems ever grew into -hostility involving persecution of the new religion -by the old. The two streams of Hindu belief seem -for long in their course in India to have flowed -peaceably side by side, and if Buddhism eventually -disappeared from India as a separate and distinct -system, it was not altogether because it was crushed -by persecution, but because it returned to enrich -and modify the religion from which it originally -parted.<a id='r87' /><a href='#f87' class='c010'><sup>[87]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Buddhism was thus an offspring of Brahmanism, -but Brahmanism was itself the product of a religion -older still. Behind Buddhism lies a great and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>undefined past, a past with no history in the -proper sense of the word, and absolutely without -chronology; but out of this vast and nebulous era -there has been extracted a rich traditional literature, -and Oriental scholars working on principles similar -to those by which geologic periods are determined,<a id='r88' /><a href='#f88' class='c010'><sup>[88]</sup></a> -are endeavouring by an examination of the various -civilisations reflected in that literature to establish -the leading stages in the growth of prehistoric -Indian thought. The sacred books of India disclose -sufficiently in outline the social and religious progress -of the people from a period of great antiquity. -No one can tell when the oldest fragments of them -were originally composed, but some of them are -said to have been in circulation among the Aryans -when one immigrant contingent of them had arrived -at the confluence of Jumna with the Ganges,<a id='r89' /><a href='#f89' class='c010'><sup>[89]</sup></a> and if -so, they image for us the life and beliefs of a people -who must have been contemporaries with Moses -some fifteen centuries at latest before the coming of -Christ.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is now asserted that this Aryan immigration -had been preceded from the same quarter by an -earlier one, in a past so very remote that the -Indians had lost completely the memory of it, and -that by the time this second wave had reached -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>the north-west Gangetic tracts, the first had -pushed its way as far east as the delta, where -first vanquishing it finally amalgamated with the -aboriginal tribes. It is supposed that from out -of this earliest section arose the natural ancestors -of Buddha, while in the second and intellectually -superior section we must look for the religious -teachers from whom his spiritual lineage is to be -traced.<a id='r90' /><a href='#f90' class='c010'><sup>[90]</sup></a> For with them were introduced the -Vedas, revealing the earliest forms of civilisation -and religion in that great section of the human -family to which we ourselves belong. We see -pictured in the Rig-Veda a people who, in -complexion, manner, and rites, were at first as -distinct from the native Indian races as were the -Israelites from those of Canaan. Patriarchal in -their institutions, pastoral or agricultural in their -pursuits, they confront us as a primitive but -certainly not a barbarous folk. Nurtured by the -invigorating climate and magnificent scenery of an -ancestral home “on the very roof of the world,” -they had reached a social condition in which, in a -language fitly called “polished,” or “carefully -made” (Sanskrita), they were as fitly called -“Aryan” or “noble.” They practised the arts -of Jabal and Jubal, venerated their sages and -poets, and called their wives and daughters by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>names of beauty and grace like that of Naamah. -Their religion, though polytheistic, was not inspired -by dread of evil spirits or awe of ancestral shades, -but by wonder of the world around them and -their own awakening instincts. Man in these -ancient fragments, as in the first pages of our -Bible, is evidently a creature transcending the -savage, and made in a diviner image than the -type from which it is maintained he must have -sprung. Instead of consorting with or worshipping -the animals, he exercises dominion over -them; he questions himself and the heavens and -the earth concerning their origin and author, and -with some divine authentic instinct which he has -never lost, he seems to be growing into the -feeling that not only the trinity of supernatural -powers which he worshipped, but his very self, are -the children of some primordial and eternal Dyaus, -the father of all.</p> - -<p class='c006'>While the earliest light that falls upon our -ancestors reveals them as a religious people, whose -worship, simple and rudimentary as it was, indicated -a sense of inferiority, and also, as one who -ought to know informs us, “some sense of flaw -in the relationship, some concept of sin and -guilt,”<a id='r91' /><a href='#f91' class='c010'><sup>[91]</sup></a> to the deities worshipped, it is to be -noted that gods and men were felt to be too -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>much akin to allow of spiritual aspiration, or of -high moral significance in man’s religious acts. -The ethical or rather spiritual elements so vital -to the Biblical conceptions of religion may not -be quite foreign to the earliest Veda, but they are -scantily, if at all, represented in it. No prayer -can be said to have ever been directed to obtain -forgiveness, or growth in goodness, in the Bible -sense. The sinner was for the most part only a -defaulter in respect of offerings, and his guilt -was that of a person who refused to render -homage. That the gods might be able to watch -over and enrich mankind, they had to be fed and -sustained. The worshipper was thus in a certain -degree necessary to the worshipped. The sense -of submissive gratitude to the Deity which meets -us in the earliest fragments of the Bible is not -expressed, for religion was conceived of as a kind -of exchange in which men purchased a right to -divine help by service rendered, and “each man -satisfied his higher instinct according to his own -conception of the character of the being on whose -favour his welfare was thought to depend.”<a id='r92' /><a href='#f92' class='c010'><sup>[92]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Centuries later, in another strata of sacred -literature, composed in prose, dogmatic and liturgic -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>in character, and designated Brahmanas,<a id='r93' /><a href='#f93' class='c010'><sup>[93]</sup></a> we behold -the same branch of the Aryan family in a -further stage of their history. Their patriarchal -age has vanished, and their heroic seems passing -into the aristocratic and hierarchic. Caste has -appeared as the invariable attendant upon conquest, -when the victor is separated from the -vanquished by language, complexion, and religion. -It is not so much caste, however, in the ordinary -sense of the word, as class, sternly prohibiting -marriage not only with the aboriginal tribes, but -between persons of unequal rank, and anticipating -the organisation of European society in the middle -ages. In the nobles, who were subordinate only -to the Church, the burghers or merchants socially -distinct from and inferior to the nobles, and in -the villeins or serfs of the conquered territories, -we have an exact parallel to the old Indian system, -in which Sudra, Vaisya, Kshatrya, all formed -steps in a social pyramid, on the top of which the -Brahman was throned.<a id='r94' /><a href='#f94' class='c010'><sup>[94]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Thus early in the history of the Indian people -emerged that sacerdotal institution which was to -exercise so powerful and eventually so sinister an -influence upon their religious progress. In Vedic -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>times the father of the family and the rajah of the -clan were the celebrants of the religious rites, but -as life became more complicated ceremonies became -more laborious, and men who had preserved the -knowledge of the old hymns, and the religious -formularies which had died out from the common -people, gradually took the rajah’s place. As -thought widened, men refused to be satisfied with -guardian deities that could be fed with rice and -butter. The sense of human law reflected itself -in the conception of divine rulers governing men, -and penalties inflicted by man for wrong-doing -suggested expiation for the infringed laws of deity. -This idea of sacrifice, of which there is said to be no -trace in the flesh feasts of earlier times, becomes -prominent in the offerings of the period. “The -shedding of blood, the burning of a limb of the -victim in the fire, by some at least was believed -to atone for transgression, and it is probable that -at one time the religious instinct expressed itself -in human sacrifice.<a id='r95' /><a href='#f95' class='c010'><sup>[95]</sup></a>” In any case, the development of -the idea of the great efficacy of sacrifice as a means -of compelling the gods to do the will of the worshipper—yea, -of elevating the worshipper to their -privileges and rank,—must soon have had the effect -of making a priesthood, at first only helpful, to be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>necessary as the sole agents between man and -deity. By preserving the memory of what had -faded from the vulgar, by transmitting to their -families a lore which became the more sacred the -more it was forgotten, the professional liturgists or -sacrificers, at first satirised by the poets as was the -Romish friar by the minstrel in the middle ages, -imperceptibly grew into an order whose privileges -were more exclusive and whose pretensions were -higher than were ever asserted in Israel by the -descendants of Aaron. Among the Hebrews the -priesthood was never allowed to gain complete -ascendency. Its representatives were subordinated -to the king, who was the fountain of all law, and -they were kept in check by the prophets as the -ministers of Divine revelation; but the Brahmans -came to be regarded as not only the guardians of -religion, but the teachers of all knowledge and the -source of all authority. They owned no superior, -were subject to no law in the state: each one was -a pope in himself, more independent of the crown -and the commonwealth than a Christian pope -ever pretended to be, and had a faith in his personal -infallibility which no Christian pope affected to -have. In India there resulted from the ascendency -all the evils that were manifested in Judaism -and in Latin Christianity; and in India far worse -results were produced. For, left to themselves as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>superior beings apart from the actual world, who -never could err, they gave their minds that licence -which too often in the history of thought has been -confounded with liberty, and, as always happens -when self-restraint is disregarded, the result in this -instance was the production, not of a system of -philosophy, but a crude conglomerate of incongruous -phantasies more resembling a chaos than a -cosmos.<a id='r96' /><a href='#f96' class='c010'><sup>[96]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Let us not suppose that the Brahmans were -originally, or even eventually, the vain and greedy -and self-seeking bigots which the name unfortunately -suggests to a European. They gained the -ascendency because they cultivated the power to -rise; they represent what many are inclined to -revere as the ideal aristocracy, that of Intellect. -They were not ignorant priests, but learned philosophers, -from whom sprung again and again the -reformers who headed the revolt from an overdone -ritual, and from a faith which expressed itself -wholly in metaphysical speculations. By them -were excogitated the Upanishads and the laws of -Manu, two of the most wonderful literary productions -of mankind. From there too came the great -epic poems of the Rāmāyana and the Mahābhārata, -poems in some respects equal to the Homeric, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>in cleverness of purpose, which is said to be that of -arresting the progress of Buddhism, equalling anything -which the Society of Jesus ever produced to -counteract the Reformation. In its complexity and -adaptability and many-sidedness Brahmanism is -unrivalled by any human system, and the men who -first gave it expression and directed its earliest -movements must rank among the most original and -daring of thinkers.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But they were Indians living in the period -beginning about the tenth century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr>, in a land -as completely cut off from the rest of the world as -they were severed from the practical life of their -countrymen. They had the same earnest and inquisitive -mind which their westward-moving kinsmen had -inherited with them from their trans-Himalayan -ancestors, but in them it had to work out its -advances in more adverse conditions. The tribes -that went westward marched along the uplands, in -zones of climate and through scenery and conditions -stimulating effort, both mental and physical. Consequently -they went on improving their beliefs, till -they apprehended the truth which lies at the base -of all true systems of faith, the immortality of the -soul, and developed a philosophy which represents -man’s most successful attempt to grasp that divine -unity after which man in his polytheism is ever -feeling. It was otherwise with the branch that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>went southwards. They had to live under physical -conditions not conducive to energy, under burning -skies which repressed, and on soils which rendered -industry unnecessary. As they gained ascendency -over the aborigines the vices of the vanquished -race told fatally upon them. Their sensual worship, -customs like polygamy and sutteeism, ascetic -practices and sorcerous rites, took possession of -them; and, most marked of all, a belief very widely -spread among the lower tribes of mankind so -terribly bewitched them that to this day the Indian -mind has never been able to break away from its -fascination.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This belief in transmigration, with the pessimism -which is its inevitable concomitant, was wholly -absent from their ancient Vedic faith. At intervals -from the times of Pythagoras it has infected the -religion and philosophy of the Western Aryans, but -never to any extent or with any serious result. -Its true habitat and breeding-place, like that of the -cholera, is among the degraded and broken-down -populations of the East. It was communicated from -the native Indian races to the Hindus, who unfortunately -were prepared to receive it through the -depressing and degenerating influences of tropical -life on a northern-born family. Anyway, while their -more fortunate brethren were eagerly groping after, -in their westward progress, the truth of immortality, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>and thirsting for more life and fuller, they in -their fat Gangetic plains, wearied of life as something -not worth having, yet dreading death because -it was appointed unto man not once but many times -to die, were seeking some way of deliverance from -this inherited curse. And the Brahmans professed -to point to it. Their earliest popular conception of -deliverance was simply that of re-birth in a happier -world, perchance secured by sacrificial rites and religious -acts, but such a conception could not long -satisfy, and eventually it gave way in the higher -class of minds to nobler views. In India, as elsewhere, -men soon became conscious of the more -solid security of merit procured by a life of justice -and mercy. Man’s future was in his own and not -in the hands of a priest: its happiness or misery -would be no accident, but the sure result of good -or evil done here and now. Therefore the wise -man endeavoured laboriously and continuously to -collect merit by good deeds, “as the white ant -builds her house, for with these as his guide he -could hope to traverse a gloom hard to be crossed.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>But by and by even this belief ceased to satisfy -them, for how could man hope to liberate himself -from the bondage of endless change as long as, -seeking only a happier existence, he was content -to be a citizen of the changeable? Let him seek -reunion with Brahma, of which he is an emanation. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>So here again, while the Westerns were finding the -path which would lead them from polytheism to -theism, and were growing into nobler conceptions -of what the individual self should be, the speculative -ascetics of the East, in a life of meditation far -apart, were trying to subside rather than rise into -Brahma the Absolute as a river reunites with the -ocean. In their earlier Brahmanas their fathers -knew nothing of Brahma as deity, and at no time -did Brahma mean to the Indian what deity meant -to the Western Aryan. Polytheism in India never -became theism in the old Greek sense, nor even -Pantheism in our nineteenth-century sense. The -mysterious all-pervading Presence was indeed early -detected by the Indians as the “Breath” of all -things, but the name employed by them to distinguish -it signified only the universal self. In no -sense was it the conscious author, but only the -irrepressible source of things because reflected upon -by illusion. Brahma Atman was neither the infinitely -intelligent nor the perfectly blessed, in our -sense of the word. It was simply thought without -cognition, beatitude without consciousness. “The -Hindu never thinks of asserting that Brahma knows -or even has consciousness, but always that Brahma -is knowledge.” “It is simply impersonal being, -absolute unity contrasted with disruption, from -which existence, as an emanation wholly and only -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>evil, because originating in a mistake, must move -through endless cycles of change, until the way of -escape be discovered and followed by which the -erratic spark may be absorbed in the central fire.”<a id='r97' /><a href='#f97' class='c010'><sup>[97]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Such a speculation was manifestly an advance -upon Vedic materialism, which sought to bring -down the gods to the side of man as useful guardians, -and upon early Brahmanism which sought by -sacrifice to force them to do man’s will, and by and -by to elevate man to their level. In endeavouring, -however, to abstract its disciples from the superstitions -of the priests, it tampered with the foundations -of religion. It never attempted to propitiate -the gods—for, even if superior to man, they were as -much involved in the labyrinth of transmigration -as he was himself,—but it professed in a universe of -illusion to have discovered the only real. It dared -to name the Absolute; so, withdrawing from the -world, it practiced austerities for the sake of illumination, -gave itself up to meditation to reduce the -personal self to an abstraction, and endeavoured thus -to escape from the necessity of existence in time -and space into “passionless, characterless being.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>All this is expounded in the Upanishads, the -special scriptures of philosophical Brahmanism.<a id='r98' /><a href='#f98' class='c010'><sup>[98]</sup></a> -Though translated by Professor Max Müller, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>lucidly interpreted by Professor Gough, readers of -ordinary philosophical culture find them very hard -to understand, and in spite of the high commendation -of them by Rammohun Roy and Schopenhauer, -they will be inclined to question whether -these “beginnings of thought,” “conceptions hardly -formed,” though essential to a proper knowledge of -Indian philosophy, “should be ranked among the -outstanding productions of the human mind.”<a id='r99' /><a href='#f99' class='c010'><sup>[99]</sup></a> -Throughout their long and most tedious verbiage, -however, one dominant idea is ever discoverable—that -the chief end of the wise man is to know, not -the forms of things, but the great self of all things, -and seek his deliverance not by practice of religion -but by pursuit of Gnosis.<a id='r100' /><a href='#f100' class='c010'><sup>[100]</sup></a> Religion would indeed -secure rewards, but they would only be transient; -religion might regulate and modify the course of -migration, but only Gnosis could break its adamantine -chain. “The vision of Atman is the only deliverance, -for by it all ties are loosened”; “the vision -of the self is the light of the world, to which only -the purest minds attain.” To reach it not only the -bonds of desire must be broken, but of ignorance -too. “For Atman is highly exalted above all reverence -and effort, above holiness and unholiness.” “It, -the uncreated, is beyond all good and evil,” and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>upon rewards and punishments, upon both good -and evil, the sage must turn his back, for he alone -who knows the Universal is free, from Karman and -from Kâma (action and desire) which hold captive -the self in the net of the impermanent.<a id='r101' /><a href='#f101' class='c010'><sup>[101]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>This is said to be the last outcome of Brahmanic -belief, and “indeed the highest point -reached by Indian philosophy.”<a id='r102' /><a href='#f102' class='c010'><sup>[102]</sup></a> Manifestly, it can -never be designated a gospel. It was a deliverance -impossible for the many, and possible only for the -few; a promise not to the suffering millions, but -to the mystic and the sage, and to them it came -not with the hope of a nobler character to be -attained, and of a purer, higher life to be reached, -but only with that of a dreamless repose—“the -sleep eternal in an eternal night”—when the soul -ceases to be soul, merged “like the weariest river” -in a shoreless and waveless sea. And this was -the system in which the wisest and saintliest in -Buddha’s days were nurtured. He was no Brahman -by caste, but as pure Kshatrya he would be instructed -in his youth by Brahmans, and in early -manhood he for long consorted with them. He had -mental capacity, and spiritual energy, more than -adequate to the task of comprehending as fully as -they did their very abstruse theosophies. From -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>their speculation he derived much of his terminology, -like Karma and Nirvana; and even Buddha, -words which, till recently, it was considered he had -to coin. Many doctrines which were once regarded -as peculiarly his own were taught in their jungle -schools by learned Brahmans centuries before he -was born. Without the Brahmans he could not -have been produced, and yet his system will be -found to be original and distinct. They furnished -the phraseology in which he expressed himself, the -methods by which he wrought, the institutions like -that of the wandering Bikkhu, by which his system -was spread; but in essentials we will find that his -teaching was not only different from but antagonistic -to theirs, and that, had the principles which he -enunciated been truly accepted and consistently -carried out, this noblest of the Reformers of Hinduism -would have reformed it out of existence.</p> - -<p class='c006'>During this pre-Buddhistic era, much longer, -perhaps, than is generally supposed, another process -of development was going on among one section of -the Semitic stock, in a small handbreadth of a land -on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. The -several stages of that development have also been -unconsciously recorded in a literature so peculiar in -its motive, and method, and character, as to separate -it from the national literatures of all the world. It -is not that it claims to be inspired, for the same -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>claim is advanced by the Indian, and indeed by or -for every collection of religious writings extant; -but while in the literature of India we see represented -the struggles of man to reach the Deity, -that of Palestine professes to represent the endeavour -of Deity to reach and to communicate with -men. Intensely patriotic as a people, the sacred -literature of the Hebrews is essentially religious. -Their historians are not permitted to record, and -the poets are not allowed to sing their own national -achievements, but only the mighty works and the -praises of Jehovah their God. The shame of their -many defeats, and of their final destruction, is -ascribed always to their own sin, but any national -success or prosperity is due to the Divine favour. -Alike through all their victories and disasters, an -Almighty Hand is acknowledged to be shaping their -destiny, and to be working out a purpose which, -often entirely hidden, and at best only very imperfectly -understood by them, is seen toward the close -of their sad and eventful history, to comprehend the -larger destinies of mankind in a salvation of God -which “all the ends of the earth” were to see.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The relative antiquity of the Hebrew and Indian -scriptures is not a matter which we are called upon -to discuss. It is possible that some hymns in the -Rig-Veda may be older than anything which we -possess in the Bible, but it is almost absolutely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>certain that most of the books of the Hebrew Bible -were in circulation as scriptures, and that the whole -of it was in the shape in which we have it now, -before any ancient Indian sacred book was reduced -to writing. The Pentateuch, in the form in which -we have it now, is probably not the most ancient -of the Hebrew writings. It appears to be a very -composite production, containing works of different -authors, written originally at different places and -at different times. The most destructive criticism, -however, admits that it embodies very ancient traditions—many -of them not peculiar to the Hebrews,—which -were open to a succession of very talented -narrators. These traditions may indicate their -derivation from a once common ancestral home, or -acquirement by later contact with foreign nations, -but they are in nowise incorporations; for in the -Hebrew books they are not only presented in forms -far more refined, but they are employed to suggest -or to unfold a spiritual teaching quite beyond the -capacity of the peoples among whom it is alleged -they originated. No one denies that we have in -the Pentateuch writings as old as the time of -Moses, and probably fragments of writings much -older still. Ewald<a id='r103' /><a href='#f103' class='c010'><sup>[103]</sup></a> ascribes an important portion -of it to the times of the later judges, another still -more important section to a priest of Solomon’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>reign, and the Book of Deuteronomy to the time -of Hezekiah. Even if we are compelled to accept -later dates than these, it follows that they are older -than any Upanishad, or even any of the Brahmanas. -There was a Law, a Book of the Covenant, a Book -of Origins, in currency probably before the authors -of any of the Brahmanas was born; and even if we -are to regard the contents of these works as only -traditional, we may surely assume that the Hebrew -traditions are as credible as the Indian. It is -quite true “that religion exists long before it is -expressed in a canon, and that law runs and rules -long before it is written in a code,”<a id='r104' /><a href='#f104' class='c010'><sup>[104]</sup></a> but in regard -to accuracy neither suffers from being so definitely -registered. Hitherto the maxim affecting such -matters has been, and for a long time henceforth -we may be certain it will be, not <i>litera locuta</i>, -but <i>litera scripta manet</i>.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Again, we are not called upon to maintain in this -lecture the chronological exactness or the historical -faithfulness of the sacred annals of Israel; all that -is asserted is that in them we have as faithful a -mirror of the ages which they profess to reflect as -we have in the Indian. The characters in the -scenes which they produce are neither puppets nor -shadows, but very living and substantial realities. -The personages at least are men whose idiosyncrasies -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>are sharply but naturally defined, and whose -speech, and manners, and conduct, and beliefs, accord -wonderfully well with the places and the periods -in which they meet us. We have to examine the -Hebrew annals however, not to verify the details -of ancient transactions which they record, but simply -to ascertain the beliefs which they contain and -illustrate. The truth or the error of these beliefs -we need not discuss, for the beliefs themselves are -facts of great importance, and so are the consequences -that flowed from them; and when we compare -these beliefs with those which we have been -considering, we will find a development parallel -indeed, but of an entirely different class of ideas -or religious thoughts.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In the Rig-Veda we have reflected the immigration -of a higher race into what has been called the -Holy Land of India. The Rig-Veda dates from -about the times of the Exodus or the invasion -of the Holy Land of Palestine. The Hebrew traditions, -like the Indian, tell of an earlier immigration -of their fathers into the same Palestine -some five centuries previous. When we examine -the narratives in which this earlier immigration is -recorded, we find the patriarchs moving along among -similar conditions, but representing a much higher -level of religious thought than the Aryans when -they reached the Ganges. Though everywhere -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>living among nature-worshippers, and though -showing the taint of that worship in their own conduct, -their religion is neither that of physiolatry -nor idolatry.<a id='r105' /><a href='#f105' class='c010'><sup>[105]</sup></a> Abraham was not a polytheist; -he came out of Ur of the Chaldees—whether that -be a designation of a geographical region or a -description of a religious state—not as one who -trembled before the forces of Nature, afraid to -inquire what they meant or whence they came; not -as one who had discovered behind them the Infinite -Self, out of which, because of ignorance or illusion, -he and they had emanated, but as a man who -believed in a Personal Deity who had created and -continued to control them, and who, though El-Elion -and Shaddai, yet watched over and communicated -with Abraham as his best of friends. We -need not ascribe to the patriarch an intelligence -which he did not possess. God may have been in -his thought too much the almighty Protector of -himself and of his descendants—for in that age the -family of the chief would be all-important, and the -idea even of the nation had not yet germinated,—but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>that he apprehended God under a strictly -moral aspect is vouched for by his life, as the -founder of a new epoch to which his latest descendant -looked back with thankfulness.<a id='r106' /><a href='#f106' class='c010'><sup>[106]</sup></a> We may not -be able to prove that Abraham’s conception of Deity -was monotheistic in our conception of the word. -It lacked the sublimity of Isaiah’s conception and -the definiteness of that of Moses. There was -naturally a great deal of darkness clinging about -it, but his ideas of duty and religion and worship -were far higher than entered the thoughts of a -Vedic or Brahmanic sage. The rite of Blood Covenant, -universal in the Semitic tribes, he felt divinely -impelled to offer Godward; and the same impulse is -said to have led him to offer in proof of his allegiance -to his unseen and almighty Friend the sacrifice of his -only son. But there was unmistakably imparted by -Abraham to the ancient rite of circumcision a far -higher and more spiritual idea, and it is noteworthy -that while the spiritual part of his awful sacrifice -was accepted, the slaying of the son was rejected, -with the effect of stamping, in the very morning -of Hebrew history, the Divine abhorrence upon -that form of propitiation to which the unrestrained -instinct of man has everywhere been prone. His -worship, his sacrifice, his whole service, instead of -being regarded as a means of making Deity serviceable -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>to man, or of raising man to the comfortable -condition of Deity, meant the surrender of the -heart and of the whole life to His will, not as only -mightier, but juster and more merciful than he was -himself, and therefore perfectly worthy of trust -and love. And so it is plain that whether the patriarchs -represent a race fallen because of sin, from -purer knowledge and more intimate communion -with God, or one providentially educated from the -very lowest animalism, they indicate a religious -stage to which the greatest things became possible. -They are stammering at least the glorious Name, -comprised in three letters, whose significance millennial -ages of study can never exhaust. They -believe in God, who, behind and beyond Nature, -and greater than it, is revealing Himself as one -infinitely worthy of their allegiance and adoration, -and their faith becomes righteousness.</p> - -<p class='c006'>When we reach the Mosaic period we find that -though clouds and darkness are round the throne -of the Eternal, the light that streams from it into -the minds of men reveals, just more clearly, the -same one living and true God. According to the -Book of Origins, a period of four hundred and eighty -years separated the patriarchal from the Mosaic age, -and during that period the Hebrew tribes had -first been sheltered, and then for long enslaved, by -the most civilised of all peoples in the ancient -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>world. Astonished by the grandeur of Egypt, -they at last succumbed to its religion; and while -oppression in the pent-up Egyptian cities deteriorated -fearfully their physical condition, slavery and -idolatry wrought with terrible effect upon their -character. They came out of Egypt a cowardly -horde, leprous in body, childish and brutish in -their disposition. Their children however entered -Palestine, more than a generation after, a powerful -and consolidated and victorious force, whose fear -was upon all the surrounding tribes; and their -annals ascribe all this to revival and reformation -due to Divine revelation and training under the -plastic genius of one of Egypt’s wisest men, and -one of the greatest prophets of the human race.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The oldest Hebrew historian states that Moses -wrote two tables of the Covenant, and one entire, -though small, Book of Laws besides; and though -it were proved to universal satisfaction that he -never wrote anything else than the Ten Words, -and the preface<a id='r107' /><a href='#f107' class='c010'><sup>[107]</sup></a>: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our -God is one,” it will be admitted that no one in -all the old world has ever contributed more than -he did to man’s stock of the highest of all knowledge. -The truth communicated by the patriarchs -in the word Creator was of supreme moment and -promise for the human race, for by it man was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>saved from the sin and folly of confounding the -Deity with His works. The idea of a Creator occurs -indeed in the Vedas,<a id='r108' /><a href='#f108' class='c010'><sup>[108]</sup></a> but not as an idea that -ever got hold of the popular mind, or ever ripened -into the conception of Creator which we have in -the Bible. The Brahman expounders of Vedic -thought made deity the sum of all that is, a being -that is ever becoming, a universe that is never -completed. The Hebrew, on the contrary, conceived -of the universe as God’s work—not God. -It was but a part of His ways, and as nothing -before Him. In the Indian creed emanation continues -indefinitely, and their sacred books record -a never-ending genesis. In the Hebrew Bible two -pages suffice to relate the genesis of the world and -man. Between the deities of the Vedas and the -Jehovah of Moses there is no natural progression, -and we never in any series, however prolonged, -can reach from the one to the other. The Indian -deities are simply one with Nature, and like its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>forces they are multitudinous, capricious, evanescent; -but the Deity of Moses is One, Supreme, -Invisible, not to be likened to anything we can -see or hear—eternal as One who alone is, and -causes to be: “I Am that I Am!” The effect of -such a belief was to raise all men who learned of -Moses above the worship and tyranny of Nature, -before which so many of the tribes of mankind -have prostrated themselves. It made them regard -the animal creation especially as existing not for -their adoration but for their use; and Nature itself -and all its forces as powers to be studied, subdued, -and governed. The germs of man’s faith in his own -imperishableness, implanted from the first, began -to sprout the moment he found himself capable -of knowing and serving this Eternal and Invisible -One as the Author and Controller of his being.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Comparisons are often instituted between the -Mosaic ethical code and that of other religions, -with the view of showing that there is nothing -peculiar in it, and that instead of being fuller it -appears to be even defective when placed side by -side with some of them. The peculiarity of the -Mosaic code is in its first table, which nearly all -the others lack. The Mosaic is an interpretation -of the law written in men’s hearts by the light of -religion: it is the manifestation of religious truth -as the real foundation of ethics. Morality has so -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>long been associated with religion in our thought -that we speak at times as if it had been always -so; but among no ancient people, save among the -Hebrews, did any worshipper expect morality from -their deities. On the contrary, they conceived of -them as having all their own appetites and passions -and vices, so that as civilisation advanced men -were often far nobler and purer than the gods -which they worshipped. When we remember that -physiolatry, from its lowest to its highest form, -tolerates and even consecrates the vilest impurities -by its worship, we can realise what a new and -creative power was communicated when the conviction -had laid hold of man that Deity is one who -is Himself all that man ought to be, one who can -only be propitiated by righteousness and appeased -by truth. Human progress became not only possible -then, but it was secured. So pure an idea of -God meant a loftier idea of man. It involved the -poorest and the humblest of men in vast responsibilities, -and therefore it implied for them rights -and dignities equal to those of the highest of men; -for the supreme all-holy Lord God was no respecter -of persons, and the beggar on the dunghill was in -His eyes as precious as the prince upon the throne.<a id='r109' /><a href='#f109' class='c010'><sup>[109]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>From the period when Vedic speculation first -began its course to that in which it produced its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>earliest Upanishad, these moral and spiritual truths -were not kept secret among the philosophic few, -but were prophesied in the gates and streets of -every Hebrew city. No one can say that they were -thankfully received and loyally obeyed by the -people of Israel; on the contrary, their whole -history represents the struggle of a stubborn and -rebellious race against a revelation too pure and -spiritual to be acceptable to them. Their religion -was always higher than themselves, but while -towering above them, it perpetually hovered round -them, contradicting their most cherished inclinations, -and condemning their most deeply rooted -habits. The invisible God, of whom no likeness -was to be tolerated, who was not to be worshipped -even in the greatest of His works, was too far removed -from their sympathies. It took centuries -of severe handling to uproot their strong tendency -to Nature-worship; yea, the Divine detestation of -it had to be branded in the national conscience -by their final overthrow. Eventually, however, -the truth got rooted in the mind of a “remnant” -of them that God is not to be worshipped under -any symbol, and cannot be enshrined in temples -made with hands; that the heaven of heavens -cannot contain Him; that in gifts and offerings He -takes no pleasure, but that He dwells with the -meek and lowly, and finds a pleasing sacrifice in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>the contrite spirit and broken heart. The divinity -of the revelation seems attested by the fact that -it continued all throughout their history above -them, rebuking and condemning, but never suffering -them altogether to fall away from it. And -this is still its relation to ourselves: it is a creed -contradicting our life, a Divine law in direct -opposition to all that claims to be popular; for -where even yet is the Christian who can be said -fully to realise all that is summed up in the truth, -“God is not to be worshipped by man as though -He needed anything;” “God is a spirit, and they -that worship Him must worship Him in spirit -and in truth”?</p> - -<p class='c006'>The universality as well as the purity and -spirituality of this fundamental article of the -Hebrew faith separates it from and elevates it -above the Indian beliefs. Nature-worship has -always been local and ethnic in its range; the -gods of the hills are not the gods of the valleys, -and the deities of Assyria command no reverence -in Egypt. To the Hebrew was first communicated -the catholic faith that the one Lord over all is -rich in mercy unto all. The treasure was received, -it is true, in an earthen vessel, by a people who -could only apprehend as children what we are -expected to hold in the comprehensions of men.<a id='r110' /><a href='#f110' class='c010'><sup>[110]</sup></a> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>In patriarchal times by the people generally the -One Lord was conceived of too much as just the protector -of the family. In Mosaic times the great and -terrible God who avenged Himself on Egypt was -thought of too much as the champion of the tribes. -Under David and the kings He was too much the -sovereign of the nation and of the Holy Land; -and so it was down to the times of the Captivity. -All throughout this period, however, there were -perpetual protests against this attempt to ethnicise -a faith essentially catholic. They were reminded -that the Holy One was Lord over all the earth; -that though they were a peculiar people, they were -not His only people. The prophets of other nations -were brought to testify to them; their own prophets -were sent to warn the heathen that they should not -die. All through their history they were admonished -that their gift was too large for their little nation to -contain; that it was theirs only in proportion as -it was imparted or shared, and that as a nation they -could only exist if all nations were blessed in them.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Alas however for them, all this seemed in vain -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>in its effect upon the nation at large; the treasure -was forgotten in their estimate of the vessel; their -own destiny loomed largest in their conceptions of -Providence. It was not the holy Lord God who was -to have universal dominion, but they His favourites, -and therefore their king would reign over all lands -and keep his feet on the neck of their foes. Out -of this fatal error, and out of the childish superstition -akin to it, that material prosperity was the -sole or chief reward of devotion, came all their -unbelief and apostasy, and so when the succession -of prophets had in vain testified to them that the -Lord alone was to be exalted—that before Him, not -before them, must all peoples bow,—the threatenings -long uttered were fulfilled: the nation was -shattered, its palladium, the temple, was destroyed, -and they were driven beyond the Euphrates.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Then however ensued a course of events which -must be regarded as among the greatest surprises -of history; for just when they and their religion -might have been expected to vanish as completely -as the ten tribes previously deported had vanished, -they are found to be preserved; and the worship of -Jehovah, instead of being extinguished by the dominant -worship of Babylon, is seen to emerge in the -course of two generations more vigorous and considerably -purer than ever it had been before. It was -during the Exile that the real nature of the religion -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>of Israel, as one adapted and destined to enlighten -and sanctify far more than a single people, began -to be truly discerned.<a id='r111' /><a href='#f111' class='c010'><sup>[111]</sup></a> The Jewish people had a -great deal to learn from Babylon and Persia, and -they returned to their own land with clearer conceptions -of immortality, the resurrection, the spiritual -world and judgment to come, than any of their -forefathers had gained. Scholars, however, who -enlarge upon their indebtedness to their conquerors, -seem to forget how much they had to communicate -to them. In the psalms of the pre-Exilian period, -and in the doctrines of Moses and the prophets, -they carried with them a treasure richer than the -whole wisdom of the East. So though they learned -much from Babylon, they also learned in it to -appreciate the gifts which they had previously -despised. Sorrow and penitence helped to clear -their spiritual vision, and prepared them for the -prophecies of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. They -learned that though banished from the Holy Land -they were not thereby cast out—as their fathers -imagined—from the presence of Jehovah; that, -though the temple had been destroyed and sacrifice -had been suspended, God could still be worshipped -with sincerity and truth. The teachings of their -prophets brought home with conviction to them -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>the oracles of their earlier seers, that obedience was -better than sacrifice, and contrition than sin-offering,—“that -he that doeth repentance, it is imputed -to him as if he went to Jerusalem, built a temple and -altar, and wrought all the sacrifices of the law.”<a id='r112' /><a href='#f112' class='c010'><sup>[112]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>With the destruction of the temple there arose -the synagogue, which, with its reading of the Law -and the Prophets, its chanting of the Psalms, its -offering of prayer, and the giving heed to the voices -of the elders, represented a far higher and more -spiritual service than temple courts reeking with -sacrifices and steaming with incense. It is true -that they were still fascinated by the material -splendours of the former days; for after their -return they restored Jerusalem, rebuilt the temple, -and re-appointed its services. A revival led to -a reformation, which, following the old lines as -closely as possible, assumed the form of a retrogression -rather than advance. The new energies -of the nation were repressed by a Levitical domination -as rigid and intolerant as Brahmanism -ever was in India. It was not the spirit of the -Living God but the hand of the long dead Moses -that was to rule their conscience and mould their -history. The consequence was just what might -have been anticipated. Human nature revolted -from subjugation to a system which had served -<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>its day. Religion, where it was earnest, stiffened -into formalism, and formalism in many cases congealed -into hypocrisy, and, as inevitably happens, -intellect raised its protest against this irreligious -religion in many anti-religious and even atheistic -forms. Meanwhile synagogues rose all over the -land, promoting doctrine rather than ritual, stimulating -rather than repressing discussion, and thus -conserving and propagating the truths that prepared -the ways of the Lord. Only a handful -however, had returned; the majority of the exiles -prospered and multiplied, and, unlike the ten -tribes, were not absorbed among the Gentiles. -At the beginning of the Christian era, for one Jew -living in Palestine there would be a hundred -living beyond it, not only in Babylonia, but in -Greece, and Egypt, and Italy, and all over the Empire. -There were many Jews in Spain, in Britain, -and in the dark territories beyond the Danube; and -though they adapted themselves to foreign ways, -and became all things to all men, in regard to -their religion and their intimate connection with -Jerusalem they still continued to be Jews.<a id='r113' /><a href='#f113' class='c010'><sup>[113]</sup></a> -As their nationality declined their faith arose. -By and by, not content with the heathen toleration -for their religion as only one of the many -in the world, they began to spread it abroad. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>Judaism, with the temple and the Levitical law, -would in Palestine eventually have petrified, but -the Diaspora, with the Synagogue and the Septuagint, -enabled Israel to play their proper parts as -the religious teachers of mankind. Proselytism -gradually became very vigorous and successful; -devout men and women everywhere, unable to -find peace of conscience in the intoxicating and -demoralising rites of Pagan temples, turned from -them to take hold of the skirts of the man who -was a Jew. In a manner and to an extent which -even the youthful Isaiah never could have dreamed, -Jerusalem began to attract out of every nation -under heaven the kind of people who were found -in its streets at Pentecost,—Parthians and Medes, -and dwellers in Pontus and Arabia, and the eunuch -of far distant Ethiopia.<a id='r114' /><a href='#f114' class='c010'><sup>[114]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>As we have noticed the highest outcome of -Vedic thought in pursuit of Atman, let us also -notice the highest development of Hebrew belief -in their hope of Messiah, whose germs are traceable -in their faith from the first. For example, -one of the earliest and most lasting effects of their -conception of Deity was the conviction of their -own unworthiness and inability to live in the -presence of the holy God. Though they were to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>be a kingdom of priests for other nations, they -dared not enter into the relationship which priest -implied. They required a mediator like Moses, -who could speak to the Holy One for them, and -receive for them His message. Their whole worship -was based on this feeling, and the purer and -higher rose their conceptions of God, the more -intense became their self-abasement. Between -Him and the noblest of His creatures there was -an impassable gulf. Though He was far, far off -from them, He was far too near—so near that they -could not go anywhither from His presence, and -yet in their dread there was a yearning to come -near to Him and to see Him face to face. The -Brahman aspired to lose himself in the Absolute, -in the pure light of characterless knowledge; the -Hebrew, mastered by the personality of God, -longed to see Him as He is. And never more -earnest was this longing in the Hebrew to behold -the beauty of the Lord, and to be satisfied with -His likeness, than in the times of his deepest self-humiliation -and keenest contrition. “I pray Thee, -pardon the <i>iniquity</i> of Thy people;” “I beseech -Thee, show us Thy <i>glory</i>;” “and these two pangs -so counter and so keen,” shame and reverence -akin to dread, aspiring love, were to prove not -only the purification of their own faith, but the -birth-throe of a better hope for the world.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>For their dread and shame sprang from their -consciousness of their own evil, and their aspiration -from an instinct which whispered that evil, though -deeply ingrained in, was not essential to the being -of man. Their sense of sin was very poignant, -more so than in the case of any other people. The -Hindus had a conception of merit, but a very poor -and weak conception of sin. They were more impressed -by life’s suffering than by the taint of which -it was only the consequence. But the Hebrews -felt the shame and the curse of that taint as no -people ever felt it. They had quite a vocabulary -to express the many shades and degrees of the -feeling of it; yet in their speculations they were -led to believe that this taint was not inherent in -their nature nor ineradicable from it. There was a -time when sin was not; there might be a time when -it would not be. The dominion of evil was an interlude, -and though terribly prolonged in human experience, -it might have an end. That was the central -ideal of the Fall which they pictured on the first -page of their Bible, and conserved in their seventh-day -Sabbath.<a id='r115' /><a href='#f115' class='c010'><sup>[115]</sup></a> In the fact of man’s creation they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>felt that his redemption was involved, and so the -Hebrew dread of and longing for God were reconciled -by a hope that though to man belongeth -shame, to God belongeth mercy as the God of -salvation. There was another and a better covenant -than that which had been concluded with their -ancestors at Sinai, or with the first father of their -tribes long before. It was made not with Moses or -Abraham for Israel, but for all nations with a Divine -Mediator, who, behind all that was of man, though -yet the seed of the woman, would, in a way that -neither Moses nor any of the prophets could understand, -eventually make an end of sin.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The history and the literature of the Hebrews -would be a perplexing enigma without this hope. -Like their faith, it was too pure and spiritual for -them to receive, and to the very latest it always -appears with something of the defilement of their -religious condition clinging to it. During the -Exile, however, this hope became purer and -stronger, and the imagery in which they embodied -it became more evangelical and spiritual than that -employed by earlier poets and prophets. The -section of the Hebrews that returned to Palestine -held it in increased strength, but with the old -national taint upon it. Their own restoration and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>the favour of Persia kindled anew the foolish -dreams of their ancestors, and, alas! when Persia -disappointed them, and its favour was supplanted -by oppression, and the kingdom, instead of rising -Phœnix-like out of its ashes, became the battlefield -or the gage of foreign nations, there broke out -in Palestine the bitterest plague of unbelief and -apostasy that had ever assailed the nation. For -idolatry, for overlaying or corrupting the worship -of Jehovah, their forefathers had often been severely -chastised, but no prophet had as yet complained of -a temple deserted and an altar defiled by unworthy -offerings. And this was because men professed to -have discovered in the destruction of their national -hopes that after all religion was vain, and there was -no profit in serving God.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Any one who has intelligently read Malachi, or -the sayings of Agur the proverb-collector,<a id='r116' /><a href='#f116' class='c010'><sup>[116]</sup></a> or the -Book of Ecclesiastes, will see to what a depth of -scepticism, if not indeed of atheism, their perverted -Messianic hopes had brought the Jews of Palestine. -We appreciate the criticism which regards Coheleth, -so alien to the healthy and joyous spirit of the -Hebrew religion, as the natural outgrowth of this -period.<a id='r117' /><a href='#f117' class='c010'><sup>[117]</sup></a> When faith in Israel’s imperishable kingdom -<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>seemed to be completely wrecked, when ministers -of religion led the revolt from it, and unrighteous -rulers and corrupt society made life in Palestine, as -in Rome in Nero’s day, not worth the living, it is -not to be wondered that this one which has survived, -but that “many books”<a id='r118' /><a href='#f118' class='c010'><sup>[118]</sup></a> should have been -written to echo the cry, “All is vanity.” We may -listen to it as a note of despair from a pessimist in -whose people religion had died, because disappointed -political ambition had shown them that “no earthly -good” came of serving God; or we may read it as -the protest of some healthy-minded Jew against -that orthodox asceticism which after the Captivity -invaded religion, and led to the rise of Pharisaism -and Essenism. In any case, it seems to mark the -proper close in Palestine of an age of national -perverted faith and hope. The Essenes like the -Indian ascetics had hope neither for the nation’s -recovery nor for the establishment anywhere of a -kingdom of God. The Pharisees, on the contrary, -had hope, but it was the old political hope, and in -them, though Egyptian and Syrian and Greek -and Roman had trodden the nation under foot, and -though the Maccabees had suffered and poured out -their blood in vain, it seemed to grow stronger and -stronger. Ready to believe any impostor, and to -rise at the faintest call, their fanaticism more than -<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>once betrayed the people into ineffectual and most -sanguinary revolts; but it had one result that was -not wholly evil, for they drew after them the multitudes -to the desert, when the thunder of the -Baptist’s cry reached Jerusalem, “The kingdom of -God is at hand.”<a id='r119' /><a href='#f119' class='c010'><sup>[119]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>So was it in Palestine; but among the Diaspora -all over the Empire the hope of Messiah assumed -a purer and more catholic form. Everywhere it -was strong, but the broader horizons by which -they were surrounded saved them from the delusions -which intoxicated the Palestinian Jew. In -classical literature there are tokens that it had -filtered into Gentile minds. It was undoubtedly -vague and shadowy even at its brightest, but in -the Sibyl and Pollio its fulfilment signified something -more important than a successful revolution -in Palestine. It meant mighty changes impending -that would bring good to all the world, the augury -of a star that would soon glimmer in the eastern -horizon, and grow and brighten till it would be -seen to be not a light for Asia only, but the Sun of -Righteousness with healing in His beams for every -nation under heaven.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We have thus been following two lines of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>religious movement, perfectly independent of each -other, far apart geographically, still further apart in -the beliefs which inspired them. We have seen -how the melody of joy and health which the Indians -brought with them from our common primeval home -ended in a sigh of despair. Individual existence, -at first so full of wonder and delight, lost soon -its freshness and glory, and came to be felt to be -such a burden that emancipation from it by absorption -into the Absolute was hailed as a boon. The -human mind, leaving its childhood behind it, and -advancing to question itself and the universe, after -a season of movement and sense of freedom and -power, somehow lost or missed the way. Oppressed -in the toils of the jungle, and wandering ever -further from practical life as it proceeded, it lay -down vanquished, longing only to be at rest and in -quiet as infants that never saw the light.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The other line of development marks not the -course of a speculation, but the growth of a faith -laying hold of mankind with creative and transforming -power. This faith, never dissociated from, -but seeking to dominate and reform actual life, -condemned inertion, and fostered hope for a race -working out its salvation, because convinced that -God is working in them both to will and to do. -We see a light streaming from above into the -darkness of man, paining and blinding at first the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>organs which it seeks to purify. We see a struggle -on the part of the creatures to bring the Most High -down to their level, and make Him their servant, -and a striving of the Divine Spirit to train them as -children. We see a mighty Hand laid ever on a -peculiar people, at times so softly that they hardly -felt it, at times with conscious guiding and sustaining -power; at times chastising them sorely by the -sword of the enemy and the heart-hunger of exile, -but never giving them over unto death. Not for -forty years, but for twice forty generations we see -Him leading and humbling and proving them, till in -the souls of the aptest—though only “a remnant” -of them—He had rooted ideals of human destiny -which never can perish. Then, that all might be -ready in the fulness of time, He scattered them -among the nations, and lo! when required they -are everywhere, crying in the crowded capitals of -the East and of the West, in the darkness of the -North and the brightness of the South, “Prepare -ye in the desert an highway for the Lord.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span> - <h2 id='lecture-3' class='c004'>LECTURE <abbr title='three'>III.</abbr> <br /> THE BUDDHA OF THE PITAKAS: THE CHRIST OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.</h2> -</div> -<p class='c005'>The condition of Palestine and the progress of -events in it at the beginning of the Christian era, -are set in the clear light of history, and defined by -an accurate chronology. To the superficial observer -it appeared to be a prosperous land, for it was -fertile and carefully tilled, populous, and, in the -northern regions especially, teeming with the fruits -of industry. It had reached the commercial stage -of civilisation, and everywhere, in well-built cities -adorned with palatial buildings, many of them the -abodes of merchants who rivalled the Italian nobles -and Herodian princes in the costliness of their -manner of living, it yielded indications of the -luxury which successful commerce brings in its -train. But as always happens when wealth -abounds in a land, there was a corresponding -amount of poverty. While the rich were lavishing -fortunes upon selfish and gigantic follies, an increasing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>multitude, born and bred in squalor, were -struggling for very existence. In the days of the -Son of Man their numbers were vastly increased -by political troubles which disturbed trade and -depressed agriculture. So to an eye that looked -beneath the surface this seemingly prosperous -Palestine was diseased and in a dangerous condition, -for pauperism and discontent were rapidly maturing -the seeds of anarchy, and preparing for the successive -revolutions in which so many perished before -the Roman eagles swept down upon the carcass -of a State politically dead, because morally and -socially corrupt.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Under the Herodian dominion, secured as it had -been by the destruction of an illustrious royal house -and the sacrifice of their bravest patriots, the sympathies -of the people revolted from the throne to -cluster for a time around the temple; but just as -the dignity of the office of the high priest was -rising in their estimation, successive nominations -to it by the king and procurator of men odious to -the good turned the tide in a different direction. -The hierarchy was represented by the Sadducees, a -party small in number and far from popular. -Though wearing names of ancient and honoured -families, they were obviously careless alike of the -sanctuary and of the interests of the nation. Strict -observers of the law of their Davidic ancestor, they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>rejected the prevalent interpretations of it, and all -the new-fangled doctrines concerning angels and -spirits, and the resurrection of the just, which had -been formulated since the Exile. Especially opposed -to the belief that the keeping of the law would -procure for a man recompence in a future state, -they held that the law must be kept to the letter -just because it was God’s will, even though the -soul died with the body. Their wealth and position -as the aristocracy brought them into connection -with the representatives of the great foreign powers -of the times, whose manners and fashions they -copied; but the nearer they drew to the Roman -and Asmonean nobility the further they drew -apart from the people whom they never pretended -to love, and who, equally alienated, regarded them -with similar dislike.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Withdrawn from the temple, the affections of -people were freely given to the synagogue leaders as -the representatives and fosterers of the national ideals -and hopes. In these days every small town had its -synagogue, while in Jerusalem alone there were said -to be four hundred and eighty. These were not only -places of worship, but schools in which the Law was -made the common possession of all without distinction, -and also arenas for exciting discussion, in which -was nursed that love of dialectics to which so many -striking analogies exist both in India and Greece. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>They were dominated by the Scribes, the sole -copiers for the ever increasing synagogues of the -ancient Scriptures, and the true interpreters of the -law. Pedantic and self-important though they -generally were, they were revered so by the people -for their piety and gifts that from them were -chiefly selected the members of the court of the -Sanhedrim, which represented all that was left to -the nation of executive power. Their Cabbala, -revealing the secret doctrines to be found in -names, of which we have specimens in the -writings of <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul,<a id='r120' /><a href='#f120' class='c010'><sup>[120]</sup></a> and the mystic significance -of numbers, of which we have traces in the Apocalypse, -may be only interesting now as curiosities, -but we must never forget that they rendered -undying service to the world in preserving from -corruption, by many arts carefully studied and -applied, the texts of Holy Scripture.<a id='r121' /><a href='#f121' class='c010'><sup>[121]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The Pharisees, the Nazarites of the nation as their -name implies, the democratic antagonists of the aristocratic -Sadducees, the staunch opponents of the -Gentile, the believers in the coming kingdom of the -just, were deservedly the most popular of all the -religious sects in Palestine. More liberal than the -Sadducees in their interpretation of the law in its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>bearing upon the people, they never thought of exacting -for faults or transgressions the ancient penalties; -but they were far more severe in their personal -observance of it.<a id='r122' /><a href='#f122' class='c010'><sup>[122]</sup></a> To the mass of them it was a -ladder by which they might climb into the kingdom -of heaven; and out of it, to make sure of this end, -they evolved a most comprehensive system of bye-laws, -as sacred to them as the original precepts by -which every action and word and relation of life -was regulated. Pharisaism was just Brahmanism, -and though more ethically applied it was in its -spirit and aim as selfish. Bent only upon accumulating -merit, in character it became eventually as -morally impure. Forgetting in their attention to -petty details the weightier obligations of life, disregarding -their neighbours that they might provide -for their own recompence, the Pharisees became as -a class so corrupt as to draw upon them the most -scathing of all the denunciations of our Lord.</p> - -<p class='c006'>More Pharisaic than the Pharisees, said to be -an offshoot or secession from them, the Essenes in -their desert communities sought by the worship -of Jehovah in the spirit of the prophets, and yet -apparently by prayers to the sun, and by an ascetic -and celibate life, to deliver the immortal soul from -material impurity, to educate it to enjoy the -beatific vision, and to prophesy the secret things -<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>of the future. In these communities of pious -people, the very flower of Judaism,<a id='r123' /><a href='#f123' class='c010'><sup>[123]</sup></a> the only ray -of light in the deepening darkness, some may be -pardoned in professing to find the dawn of Christianity—not -in its external arrangements, but its -inward dispositions and beliefs. In its avowal that -morality was superior to legal observance, in its -endeavour to prepare the mind by calm to receive -the Divine instruction, in its sabbatic sanctification -of all days of the week, in its estimate of all work -as religious, and of every meal as sacramental, it -pre-intimated the teaching of the coming gospel; -but while its arrangements may have suggested the -monastic institutions of Christendom, we can never -regard it as the matrix of Christianity. Its life -was just the last flickering ray of Judaism, a bright -gleam irradiating the features of a moribund age, -but not that of a new birth with promise of a -mighty future. It was not the rush of a new force -into the battle of the redemption of humanity, but -the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>sauve qui peut</i></span> of a rout which it believed to -be universal. As pessimist as Brahmanism in its -views of life, though more Buddhist than Brahman -in its methods, its aim was the same—that of -rescuing the individual from a world nigh unto -perdition and really not worth the saving.<a id='r124' /><a href='#f124' class='c010'><sup>[124]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>In the virtuous Pharisee and the pious Essene -<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>Judaism found its best representatives;<a id='r125' /><a href='#f125' class='c010'><sup>[125]</sup></a> but at -most there were only six thousand Pharisees<a id='r126' /><a href='#f126' class='c010'><sup>[126]</sup></a> and -four thousand Essenes<a id='r127' /><a href='#f127' class='c010'><sup>[127]</sup></a> in all the nation, and, alas! -the majority of the Pharisees were not sincere; -and the Essenes, though really in earnest, had -abandoned the nation to its fate. Among the -religious classes piety and morality had become -so dissociated that a man who in the matter of -belief or of worship would strain at a gnat, -might in practice without condemnation swallow -a camel. The result of this fatal divorce between -creed and conduct was seen in a social corruption -which augured everywhere the gathering -of the storm-clouds of retribution. At that time -Greece was dead, and what was best in its spirit -had passed into Alexandria. There, blending with -the more robust spirit of the Hebrew religion, it -was forming that Hellenism which, though it never -could account for the origin, was yet powerfully to -influence the unfolding of our religion. In Hellenism -we have the natural resultant of the conflux of -Eastern and Western thought, which, according to -some, will explain the birth of Christianity. In it -certainly the Aryan and the Semite were seen contributing -their very best thoughts, and the product -<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>was—Philo; but Philo-Judæus is neither <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul -nor <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John, and the Christ of the Gospels is further -beyond him than the heavens are above the earth.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In Alexandria Greece might be said to live, -but Rome was hopelessly dying. Drunk with the -cup of the sorceries of all nations, embruted with -every lust, it was staggering to a doom which -neither law, even the best conceived and most -thoroughly administered, nor philosophy, even the -wisest and most consistently illustrated, could -avert. The civilisation of the Western world was -marvellous: it was a world not only of poets and -artists, of brave soldiers and subtle statesmen, -but of sound moralists too; but civilisation, powerless -to save, could only cover with broidered robes -the leprous body, or adorn with golden trappings -its bier, and morality could not restore what -was sick unto death. When Rome and Palestine -were alike corrupt, there was no hope for the -world in man; yet when all help in man faileth, -there never lacketh help in God, and so, just when -the night was blackest, and despair had seized on -all save a few aged people in the courts of Zion, -and a few thoughtful Magi in the distant East, lo! -over a Babe in the cattle-crib of a leewan in Bethlehem -was descried the shining of the Star of Hope.</p> - -<p class='c006'>When we turn from Palestine to the holy land -of Magadha, the cradle of Buddhism in the sixth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr>, we find no light of history streaming -upon it. All is dim and shadowy, with no chronology -to define events, and no incidents to distinguish -personalities. It is like a land of dreams -to our modern conception, but it is not a chaos. -We can trace to a certain extent movements in it, -and as we follow them there emerges in outline -sufficiently clear a real civilisation, which, though -lacking the stir and endeavour, the commerce and -the art of the West, and really inferior to it, is -yet most interesting in its pathetic resemblances, -and all the more instructive that its beliefs and -institutions were formed out of antecedents and -predispositions very different from any of which -the Western world had experience.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is evident from the very cursory survey -already made that religious belief in India and in -the West must have passed through phases significantly -similar. In both it proceeded from faith -in a revealed system of truth—in India in the inspired -Vedas, in Palestine in the inspired oracles. -Human speculation in both cases was begotten, -and for long it was educated in faith in revelation, -then beginning to rationalise; in both cases it -unintentionally undermined what at first it only -endeavoured to explain. Turning from ancient -scrolls to the study of the book of human nature, -whose pages, though often tattered and defiled, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>are always fascinating, it was staggered by the -contradiction between man’s ideals of goodness and -justice and the realities of human history. Out of -this collision arose the Promethean demand that -the divine powers that govern life “should either -explain or abdicate.” In Palestine this wrestle with -the inequalities of providence originated early, and -continued all along; but it was confined within -limits by faith in the personality of Deity as one -so infinitely greater than man that only a part of -His ways could be understood. Indian speculation -never reached the approaches to this idea of -God: it wandered into a Pantheism of a grosser -type than ever the West was acquainted with, and -once it reached that stage it could not stop. Just -as in Greece pantheism ripened into the materialism -of the Epicurean and the atheism of the Stoic, -so in India, even before the days of Gotama, may -have begun that open revolt against Deity, in the -perilous attempt of reason to explain by itself the -universe, with which his name has since then been -most closely associated.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The religious world in India in the times preceding -his birth, like the religious world of Palestine, -had a hierarchy represented by the Brahmans, -the indispensable functionaries in all sacrificial -services. Corresponding to the Scribes were the -Teviggi, the reciters and expounders of the sacred -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>and still unwritten books. The Rabbin had their -analogies in reforming Brahmans, who alone or in -communities that had gathered round them professed -to teach the higher discipline which could -secure deliverance. If a multitude of sects be an -indication of intellectual movement, there was as -much stir in Brahmanism as in Judaism. In the -Pali books there are mentioned as contemporaries of -Buddha six noted teachers of great schools, the -most formidable of whom, or at least the most -hated of his soul, was the head of an ascetic sect -which, like the Essenes, had renounced the world -to make good their own salvation. This Niggantha -sect, still represented in India by close upon half a -million of adherents in the district of Rajputana, -claims not only to have preceded the founder of -Buddhism by two hundred and fifty years, but to -have anticipated the essentials of his system.<a id='r128' /><a href='#f128' class='c010'><sup>[128]</sup></a> Its -philosophical and ethical doctrines are almost in -accord with his, while its cosmogony and ritual -incline more towards those of Hinduism. Its adherents -apply to their founder the titles “Victor” -or Jina, and “Enlightened One” or Buddha, -which many imagine were ascribed solely to Gotama; -but whether Buddhism sprang from it or -gave birth to Jainism is a question still undecided. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>The only solid fact as yet ascertained is that from -the earliest traceable period their mutual relations -are marked by that pronounced intolerance<a id='r129' /><a href='#f129' class='c010'><sup>[129]</sup></a> which -prevails when kinsfolk quarrel.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Collision and antagonism between sects in India -was neither so sharp nor so fierce as in Palestine, -and Buddha ministered in conditions much more -favourable to the propagation of his system than did -Jesus Christ. The Sadducean opponents of Christ -represented a powerful hierarchy, the Pharisees a -popular democracy, and the Scribes an influential -Sanhedrim, with power of inflicting a sentence of -death. The Essenes never mingle in the scenes -of the Gospel, and it is questionable if they are -ever referred to in them. Over all and dominating -all was a most jealous and vigilant Roman despotism, -ever ready to turn even a religious quarrel to -its own account, so that it was the most natural -of things that an opposition thus represented should -nip, as it were, Christianity in the very bud by -crucifying its Founder. In Magadha, however, it -was otherwise. The broad distinction was between -Brahmans and Sramans,<a id='r130' /><a href='#f130' class='c010'><sup>[130]</sup></a> the latter a general title -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>covering many secessions from Brahmanism, and -the popular favour was equally bestowed on both. -The Brahmans, though dominant, had not the -power, and to their credit do not seem to have had -the will, to persecute. It was not from them, but -from the scholastic and conceited Teviggi and -from the ascetic sects that Buddha encountered -most formidable opposition; and yet even in these -cases opposition was not rigid. It was a war not -of blows, but of words, in which an appeal to the -secular arm or to force was out of the question. A -new sect, therefore, especially one that had donned -the yellow robes and alms-bowl of the mendicant, -protesting against the debasing belief in the efficacy -of Brahmanic rites, or the virtue gained by extravagant -Yogi austerities, would obtain from the people -at large more favour than resistance or disdain.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The intellectual movement in India appears -thus to have been extensive and many-sided. In -the multitude of sects there is a guarantee for -freedom,<a id='r131' /><a href='#f131' class='c010'><sup>[131]</sup></a> and competition in the proclamation of -truth is better than monopoly; but in religion, as -in trade, the competition of over-multiplying sects -tends to increase adulteration. So in early Buddhist -literature, while there is incontestable evidence of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>the existence of honest instructors, there is also unquestionable -evidence of the abundance of quacks, -who trifled with truth simply to make a gain of -it, and of shallow but clever professionals, who -dealt with gravest themes in the spirit of the mere -debater.<a id='r132' /><a href='#f132' class='c010'><sup>[132]</sup></a> So there, as in Palestine in the days of -Coheleth, through over-discussion the old faith was -rapidly evaporating. In the Brahmans, religion had -degenerated into formalism; in the Teviggi, into -traditionalism. In the philosophic Sramans it was -in many instances passing into blank atheism; and -among the ascetics, into despair. While this was -the condition of the learned and of the few, the -masses everywhere, like the Ammé Ha-árets in -Palestine, were wandering—no man caring for them—further -and further into the idolatries and sensualities -of Hinduism. Morality was perishing, the -writing on the heart was getting more indistinct, -and conscience becoming more confused. Then, -just as five centuries later, when faith was almost -gone, Christ came to restore it by communicating -new life, so when divine law was in danger of fading -from the consciousness of men, there arose one to -assert its eternal supremacy; preaching the creed -of Coheleth without his fear of God, and enforcing -the keeping of the commandments, not as expressed -in Vedas or interpreted in Brahmanas, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>as written in every fibre of the body and every -faculty of the being, as the only way to safety.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Who was he? Like the Author of Christianity, -he has had to contend, as it were, for the recognition -of his personal existence. Even to-day it is maintained -that neither Christ nor Buddha ever existed, -that they were merely incarnations of popular conceptions, -and that all the legends concerning them -can be reduced to a combination of anterior mythological -elements. These mythical theories, however, -in regard to the origin of Christianity, may -be considered among the curiosities of criticism;<a id='r133' /><a href='#f133' class='c010'><sup>[133]</sup></a> -and in regard to the origin of Buddhism, though -more justified by the confessed uncertainty as to -dates, they have been satisfactorily dispelled as -another instance of refining overdone.<a id='r134' /><a href='#f134' class='c010'><sup>[134]</sup></a> Brahmanism -and the successive phases of Hinduism can be -traced to no individual founder, but in investigating -the origin of Buddhism we breathe a very different -atmosphere. There is a human and moral character -about it which the other Indian religions lack: -something real as in Mosaism, and palpable as in -Islam.<a id='r135' /><a href='#f135' class='c010'><sup>[135]</sup></a> We may rest assured that Buddhism had -for its founder a real person, and though our best -<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>authorities have had to search for their facts -through a vast amount of fabulous materials, we may -accept the dates which they have approximately -fixed for his birth and death, and the outlines -which they have sketched of his life and ministry.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Gotama, a name still found among the Rajput -chiefs of Nagara, was born in the north-eastern -region of India, about a hundred miles from -Benares, about the year <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr> 557. His father, a -Sakya, a name unknown in any native Indian -family, and said to indicate descent from a race -of northern nomad immigrants, was rajah of Kapila, -and his mother was a daughter of the family -of Koli.<a id='r136' /><a href='#f136' class='c010'><sup>[136]</sup></a> His principalities, of very limited extent, -seem to have been eventually swallowed up by the -greater Indian monarchies, for when Fa-Hian visited -the country Kapila had become a vast solitude, -and there for ages its very name has perished from -the living speech of men. Even though his royal -pedigree be an embellishment of the later legends, -there seems no reason to doubt that his father was -noble and rich according to the standard of the -time, and sufficiently independent of Brahman domination -to train his son in his own way. It seems -not to have been in their studies, but in the exercises -befitting a warrior prince, that Gotama was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>educated, though a disposition thoughtful and -melancholy, and strongly sympathetic, appears to -have disinclined him from such a mode of life. -Even as a youth the darker sides of existence -threw a shadow over him; the sufferings of mankind -were among his earliest impressions, and he -brooded over them till his mind, poisoned by the -contemplation of them, threw its gloom over everything -around him, and made the very air hang -heavy with the weight of woe.</p> - -<p class='c006'>To one driven as he was to the conclusion that -existence was a burden rather than a blessing, -death, according to the belief in which he had -been nurtured, could afford no relief; but hope -seemed to dawn for him as he thought of the -happy yellow-robed sages who, freed from his -horror, were tranquil and dignified, abstracted -alike from pleasure and pain. So after a period of -irresolution and struggle, in the very prime of his -manhood, he stole away from his wife and his new-born -child, and cast in his lot with the forest -recluses. Having lived some time with them, and -having found that their ascetic discipline failed -to satisfy his aspirations, he left them, and joined -two philosophic Brahmans, who taught him the -science of meditation in its lower and higher degrees. -Though he had profited so much by their -instruction and discipline that he rose in six years -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>from being a disciple to a teacher, he confessed -that he had not found by their methods the imperishable -and permanent quietude which he coveted. -So, abandoning all his disciples, he withdrew into -solitude, and plunged into fasting so rigorous that -he nearly destroyed himself; then, finding that the -secret of deliverance was not thus to be obtained, -he returned, amid the contempt of his former companions, -to a more genial mode of life. Then, all -alone in the jungle, its manifold discomforts, the -memories of home, and the fruitlessness of all his -endeavours, assailed him with the force of a temptation -to desist from the quest; but rallying all his -powers for one supreme effort, he eventually, under -a banyan-tree at Bohimanda, triumphed—awoke as -one before whom all illusion had vanished, and who -by no divine illumination, but by his own personal -energy, had attained to knowledge of the causes of -all things, and had at last become the Buddha, the -Enlightened One.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We need have no difficulty in accepting this -outline of the man’s spiritual history as substantially -correct; and assuming it to be so, we see at -once that it is contrasted in every point with the -early history of Jesus of Nazareth. In the Indian -narrative, <abbr class='spell'><i>e.g.</i></abbr>, we have long and prolix details of -the youth and manhood of Gotama; in the Christian -Gospels very few incidents, one pregnant -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>saying, two or three words of description, sum up -the whole record of Christ’s biography till He -appeared before the Baptist. This silence is surely -suggestive, for it could not have been the result of -ignorance or forgetfulness. “It is silence, where, -to a moral certainty,” as is indicated alike by the -apocryphal Gospels and the Buddhist legends, -“men left to themselves would have used much -speech.” In the Gospels the things which we are -naturally curious to know are concealed from us, -and there is disclosed only the spiritual reality in -which Christianity consists. Where He was, how -He looked, what He did during these long years of -waiting and preparation, the Evangelists have not -told us; but they have revealed enough to show -what He was. Scenery and circumstances are as -nothing, because the life that was revealing itself -in them was everything; and of the unfolding of -that life, the few and slight but most suggestive -touches of the Gospels enable us to form clearer conceptions -than we are ever likely to form of Gotama’s -from the abundant incidents of the Buddhist story.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Thus while the son of the Indian rajah did not -require to keep from himself anything that his heart -desired, Jesus of Nazareth in the home of Galilee -had to deny Himself, and to endure in the commonest -kind of labour a hardness which the -Indian youth, in the inertion of his class and race, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>regarded as part of the curse of existence. Still, -Jesus had meat to eat which the other knew not -of; He had bread enough and to spare, while the -other was perishing of hunger. Rich in poverty, -while Gotama was poor in his abundance, Jesus -the carpenter appears highly exalted in what the -other would have called humiliation. There, -while Gotama, having everything which he could -desire at his call, had discovered that human life -was worse than vanity, Jesus, self-surrendered in -faithful service of others, was learning how full -of blessedness and how rich in power of blessing -the life of any man might be. The angels of -nature and providence, by the lilies of the field -and the children in the market-place, instructed -him in a wisdom which no Indian sage ever -dreamed of; and though He saw the wretchedness -of this evil world as Gotama never saw it, -and felt for the misery of men as Gotama never -could feel, He saw what even Buddha the Enlightened -never could descry, the face of a Father -in Heaven not frowning in wrath but yearning in -pity over all. So, instead of repelling, the suffering -and evil of the world drew Jesus closer to it, till, -finding His grace, not as Gotama found His wisdom, -in desire to be delivered from it, but in the depth -of His longing to save it, He gave Himself to it -and for it, as for a joy that was set before Him.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>Again, the enlightenment of Gotama was the -result of a painful struggle, first between inclination -and duty, and then with great perplexities of -duty, but in Christ it was painless and natural, -like the growing of the dawn into the day. His -pure and at first joyous life unfolded itself like a -beautiful morning under the animating impulse of -love to God and to all His creatures. As He grew -in consciousness of the heaven within, He became -more conscious of the disorder without, and more -sensible of His isolation in regard to it. As year -by year the sense not of the world’s misery but of -its guilt increased within Him, there would also -increase the longing that it should be taken away. -Very early the conviction took possession of Him, -that He was not here to win His own way to -deliverance, but to be about His Father’s business. -Gradually the Father’s business was revealed to -Him, and when the preaching of the Baptist had -made it clear, without any wrestle like Gotama’s, -Christ, ever close to His Father, and ever clear in -His duty, set Himself at once to fulfil it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is often alleged that the temptation in the -wilderness, which marked the close of our Lord’s -long period of silent preparation, is an exact -parallel to the fasting and temptation which -preceded Gotama’s enlightenment at Bohimanda. -There is doubtless an external similarity sufficient -<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>to arrest our attention, but the internal contrasts -disclose experiences of quite different characters. -In the light of their respective histories, these -occurrences, though often referred to as miraculous, -were in reality most natural. They represent -experiences of which there could be no witnesses, -and which, indescribable in plain words, could only -be suggested by a kind of parable. The temptations -are recorded not as they were presented to -the persons tried, but in the character which they -assumed when their drift was discovered and their -aim was detected. Both were assailed by suggestions, -raising in them a tumult of emotion, which, -if unresisted or yielded to, would in Gotama’s case -have been equivalent to abandonment of his quest -for deliverance for the sake of sensual indulgence -offered by Mâra and his daughters, and in the case -of Christ, to refusal to live by obedience, to tempting -the Holy One of Israel, and to worshipping -the splendid majesty of wrong. The temptations -were real, assailing the will, seeking to paralyse -or to change it; and their force in each case would -be in proportion to the depth and purity of the -natures assailed. Gotama, though unmistakably -a man of high spiritual aspiration, was attacked -by sensual visions,<a id='r137' /><a href='#f137' class='c010'><sup>[137]</sup></a> which could not possibly have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>been a temptation to a nature like Christ’s. He -had “to repel as evil what to other men would -have appeared as ideals of good, and had to turn -away from what the noblest of men would have -cherished as innocent dreams or splendid chances,”<a id='r138' /><a href='#f138' class='c010'><sup>[138]</sup></a> -because to His pure eyes they were Satanic temptations. -He suffered, being tempted, but His trouble -and suffering were caused neither by irresolution, -nor vanity, nor fear, but by His own lowly humility -and to the sense of the exceeding greatness of His -mission.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Gotama, sorely concerned about himself, went -apart to fast and meditate and wrestle for his own -deliverance, but Christ went apart not to fast—fasting -was an unheeded incident in and not the -aim of His retirement, and in no perplexity about -His own salvation, for that was assured and made -the basis of assault,—but that in quiet meditation -He might see more clearly the way by which the salvation -of God could be brought to mankind. Christ -was forced to acknowledge that absolute surrender to -His Father’s will in His mission meant absolute -antagonism to the world, and He was tried by suggestions -as to the mode of prosecuting His mission, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>all the more seductive that they were confessed to -be natural. Might He not, as the Beloved of -Heaven, to carry the world along with Him, and to -save multitudes from suffering, swerve just a little -from His high ideal, and accommodate His ways to -suit their prejudices? These temptations in the -beginning continued His temptations to the very -close of His ministry. Not once, but all His life, as -He hungered for the sympathy and trust of those -whom He sought to save, was He tempted, as in -Capernaum, when many fell away from Him, to -“change the stones into bread.” Not once only did -He stand on “the battlements of the temple,” nor -once only was He offered “all the kingdoms of the -world and the glory of them.” Again and again -was He in peril when He stood high in the opinion -of the crowds, and heard them in their Hosanna -entreating Him, through His very sympathy with -and love for them, to gratify their wishes; yet in -every case the temptation was rejected without the -slightest wavering the moment it was understood. -“Get thee behind me, Satan.” “Thou shalt not -tempt the Lord thy God.” “The cup which my -Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?”</p> - -<p class='c006'>For again, Christ conquered because from the -beginning to the closing agony He stood firm rooted -in obedience and in submission to the will of a -Higher than self; but the Buddhist writers want to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>impress the very opposite of this upon us in regard -to Gotama’s victory. He is said to have conquered -Mâra by the force of his own will, and won his way -to light by his individual energy alone. After he -became Buddha he hesitated whether he would -preach the way of deliverance to men, not because, -like Moses and the Hebrew prophets, he had no -confidence in himself and required the assurance of -a divine strength not his own. He had perfect -assurance in himself, but he had no confidence at -first in the ability of others to comprehend and to -follow him in a way so difficult to find and so hard -to tread.<a id='r139' /><a href='#f139' class='c010'><sup>[139]</sup></a> He asked no deity to help him, for he -was greater and wiser than all the gods. In the -legends Brahma is said in intercession to have -pressed him to preach the way, and moved eventually -by no intercession, but simply by his own -pity for men lost in the vortices of miserable existence, -he went forth in no strength but his own to -preach and to teach in a ministry, not of shame and -humiliation and death, but one of great exaltation -and honour.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This conception colours the narrative of his -whole career. In the later scriptures he is designated -the Tathâgata (He who has gone or arrived -at Nirvana), the very reverse and point-blank contradiction -of Christ the Messiah, He who was sent. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>There was no higher to send him, no wiser to -teach. He came in his own name; but Jesus, as -one sent by Him into the world, went forth in -the name of His Father. Though He made demands -upon the faith of the world compared with which -the pretensions of Gotama are trivial—for at the -highest he only claimed to be Buddha the Enlightened, -while Christ spake of Himself as the “Light -of the world,”—yet in Christ’s claim there was ever -a sense of dependence expressed or implied, as of -one who of His own self could do nothing, and who -only taught what His Father had showed Him. -Both spake with authority, and not as the scribes; -both superseded the traditional domination of what -was said by men of old times with the emphatic -“I say unto you”; but there is a vast difference in -the quality of this authority in the two cases. The -authority of Buddha sprang from his acknowledged -intellectual superiority, but the authority of Jesus -sprang from spiritual insight. The deliverances of -Buddha were given after the manner of a Socratic -dialogue, and he won his converts and vanquished -opponents by his dialectic skill.<a id='r140' /><a href='#f140' class='c010'><sup>[140]</sup></a> But in all the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>encounters of Christ with His enemies there was no -forcing of their reason to gain His end. His replies -and counter questions were brief and direct and -incisive; they were like the fiat of a king or the -sentence of an unchallengeable judge, from which -reason and conscience alike confessed that there -could be no appeal.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Certainly in the two ministries was fulfilled a -saying of Christ, “I am come in my Father’s name, -and ye receive me not; if another shall come in his -own name, him will ye receive,” for after a very -short period of imperfect success the public career -of Gotama became a continuous victorious progress. -Disciples, drawn mostly from the highest classes—the -Brahmans, the nobles, and the wealthy merchants—flocked -round him wherever he appeared. He -journeyed followed by admiring crowds, he had -only to show himself to impress, and he had only to -preach to convince. The most stubborn resistance -became fluid under his spell, and those who approached -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>to confute were sure to succumb to his -sweet reasonableness. He was supported by powerful -rajahs, and those who did not show him proper -reverence were punished according to their edicts. -He was lodged in parks and gardens and palaces, -several of which were gifted to him for the use of -his Order. Accessible always to people of all castes, -and of every condition, and of both sexes, he -received the attention of the courtesan, and shared -her feast and accepted her offering,<a id='r141' /><a href='#f141' class='c010'><sup>[141]</sup></a> but he always -maintained the nobility and purity of an irreproachable -character, and wherever he was found it was -as the prophet of righteousness, temperance, and -judgment to come. Rejoicing through his long and -honourable ministry, sometimes loath to die, as foreseeing -the troubles which would befall his Order -after his decease, he at last, when over fourscore -years, in a sickness alleged to have been induced -by partaking too freely of some rich food, with the -quiet dignity and composure of a saint, fell asleep, -and was buried with the funeral obsequies which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>Indians then bestowed on the bodies of their -greatest kings.<a id='r142' /><a href='#f142' class='c010'><sup>[142]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>It would be impossible, in every respect, to find -a more absolute contrast to all this than the story -of Jesus of Nazareth. If He was popular, it was -only for a little, and then only with the masses. -The aristocracy and the religious classes stood aloof, -and soon entered into a conspiracy to get rid of -Him. He had a few disciples among them, like -Joseph of Arimathæa, and Nicodemus, and the -family at Bethany, but the words of the prophet -accurately sum up the narratives of the Gospel, -that He was “despised and rejected of men.” To -follow Him meant joining in no triumphal procession, -but in a struggle against storm and tide which -was sure to end in death. Suspected from the -first, and speedily denounced, He was watched and -tracked and driven from place to place, till at last -the toils of the hunters closed successfully around -Him, and at the age of thirty-three He was crucified -as a malefactor between two robbers on Calvary.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But the grand and crowning distinction between -the import and effect of the two ministries emerged -at the close. After Gotama died and his body was -burned, and his relics had been reverently gathered, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>and distributed, and enshrined in costly dagobas -erected in the various scenes of his labours, there -was an end of him. He had gone out into the -void, according to his own theory of the hereafter, -and, no longer capable of being of use to his -disciples, he exhorted them to be “their own refuge, -their own law, and to work diligently out their -salvation.”<a id='r143' /><a href='#f143' class='c010'><sup>[143]</sup></a> But when Jesus had been crucified -there was manifestly not an end, but rather a new -beginning of His personal influence, a rising in -fuller power, a coming again with greater authority. -From the very morning of His ministry He took -His death into His plan, as the consummation of -one stage of His mission, without which His plan -would have been a failure. All His teaching centred -in His death, as a moral and spiritual necessity in -Divine providence. Instead of complaining of it, -He pointed to it as the seal of His Messiahship, -“the cause for which He was born, the end for -which He came into the world,” “the hour” of His -glorification. The very setting of crime and passion -which His enemies sought to give to the manner -of it only made it in His estimation more divine. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>Instead of evading it He went straight to meet it, -when the time had come, as one who had a purpose -to fulfil by it. That purpose He announced to be -the development of His personal resources, the -liberation of the creative energies of His being. -As uncrucified He might be weak, as crucified He -would be so mighty as to “draw all men unto -Him.” The event amply fulfilled the prediction, -for shortly after the crucifixion Christ again confronted -the world in another form and in far -greater power. The followers of Buddha went -forth testifying to his law, and they prefaced their -preaching by the invariable formula, “Thus have -I heard, when the Blessed One lived in ——.” -Their mission was simply to recall and declare and -expound the system of a master who had been -absolutely lost to them, but the apostles of Christ -from the very first testified not of a doctrine, but -of Christ Himself, as one who having died still -lived, was reigning in mightier power, and would -be with them always, even to the end of the -æon.</p> - -<p class='c006'>For we must bear in mind that Buddha and -Christ stand in very contrasted relations to the -systems of belief which they each founded. Soon -after Buddha’s death, if not before it, the formula -of admission into his order began with the phrase, -“I take refuge in Buddha,” which consequently -<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>has been described by some as the “first article in -the Buddhist creed.” We must not for a moment -however suppose that this expression is of equal -or even of similar significance to our confession, -“I believe in Christ.” Gotama in the whole course -of his preaching never asked his hearers for faith -in himself as essential to their emancipation. All -that he demanded was obedience to the law, disposition -to enter, and determination to follow the -paths which he had discovered. He could not -give them Nirvana, nor even bring them to it; he -could only tell them the way to it, which he had -found, and as he had succeeded so might they -by their own individual energy.<a id='r144' /><a href='#f144' class='c010'><sup>[144]</sup></a> We are thus not -free to explain Buddhism from and by the person -of its founder; it is perfectly explicable apart from -him, as if he had never lived; but apart from -Christ, and without the light thrown upon it by His -person, Christianity would be an enigma. Christ -from the first demanded faith in Himself as essential -to salvation.<a id='r145' /><a href='#f145' class='c010'><sup>[145]</sup></a> Belief in what He taught was always -<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>subordinated to trust in Himself. Consequently the -apostles never said, ‘Observe the precepts; follow -the paths, and you will find the way of escape,’ -but always “Believe in (<i>or</i> on) the Lord Jesus Christ -and thou shalt be saved.” They pointed to Him -as the sole object of faith and worship, as the only -rule and example and inspiration. Their creed, their -theology, their ethical code, were not elaborated in -systems; they were all comprehended in a Person -who required neither apologists nor defenders, but -only witnesses who would manifest and declare Him.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This must be borne in mind when we consider -the miraculous elements which are common to the -presentation, given in both religions, of their respective -Authors. The story of Buddha, as we have -hitherto followed it, tells of a great renunciation, -but of one that can hardly be called unparalleled in -the history of religion. He was probably neither -the first nor the last noble Indian youth who -“for the sake of that supreme goal of the higher -life went out from all and every household gain -and comfort, to become a houseless wanderer.”<a id='r146' /><a href='#f146' class='c010'><sup>[146]</sup></a> -But the story as we have it in the Buddhist books -is very different.<a id='r147' /><a href='#f147' class='c010'><sup>[147]</sup></a> Had any one asked a yellow-robed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>missionary, about the time when the last -Gospel was being written, what he meant by the -Buddha, he would have begun by telling of one -who, thousands of ages back, in the shining world -of the gods, out of pity for the miseries of men, -resolved to become a Buddha that he might teach -them the way of deliverance, and who through -many transformations—in which he was baptized -into all experiences, even those of rat and a clod of -earth—at last reached the point when, coming down -from heaven, and entering, in the form of a white -elephant, the side of the wedded wife<a id='r148' /><a href='#f148' class='c010'><sup>[148]</sup></a> of a great -king,<a id='r149' /><a href='#f149' class='c010'><sup>[149]</sup></a> was born as Buddha. He would tell of a -mysterious baptism, when two full streams of perfumed -water fell from heaven upon him, while all the -gods in all the worlds raised in responsive harmony -the heavenly song; of a holy sage who descended from -heaven to greet him with predictions of his glorious -career;<a id='r150' /><a href='#f150' class='c010'><sup>[150]</sup></a> of many prodigies displayed by him in his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>illustrious youth; of his mighty struggle with and -victory over Mâra, Lord of all Desires, and of his -going forth as a great king, at the urgent request -of the great god Brahma, to preach Nirvana and -deliver the world.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Then he would tell how when he set “a-rolling -the wheel” of the “kingdom of righteousness,”<a id='r151' /><a href='#f151' class='c010'><sup>[151]</sup></a> he -did so with such effect that not only multitudes of -men, but eighty thousand gods and angels, “hearing, -each in their own tongue, though the language -was that of Magadha,”<a id='r152' /><a href='#f152' class='c010'><sup>[152]</sup></a> were by one sermon imbued -with saving knowledge and converted; how during -his long and holy ministry, by discourses and -parables and miracles, he brought countless millions -of men and women, and gods and sprites and fairies, -to find the right way; how the great devas came -to worship or to ask counsel from him;<a id='r153' /><a href='#f153' class='c010'><sup>[153]</sup></a> how, inviolable -and invincible, there could not be found, -either in this world or in the world of the devas, -Mâras, Brahmans, “any who could either scatter -his thoughts or cleave his heart”;<a id='r154' /><a href='#f154' class='c010'><sup>[154]</sup></a> how he was -transfigured,<a id='r155' /><a href='#f155' class='c010'><sup>[155]</sup></a> and at last, when the time was come, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>accompanied by a disciple very dear to him, how -he lay down like a king between two trees. Then -when winds were hushed, and streamlets silenced, -and flowers from heaven shed their blossoms over -him like rain-drops, and a great earthquake -rumbled, and the sun and moon hid their faces, -and the great Brahma lamented, rising through -light to light he achieved the full Nirvana.<a id='r156' /><a href='#f156' class='c010'><sup>[156]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>It is not wonderful that Christians who have -only read or heard of the statements current as to -the remarkable coincidences between the miraculous -incidents recorded in the Buddhist legends and -the Christian Gospels should be perplexed, and -that not a few of those who are anti-Christian in -their attitude should have almost jumped to the -conclusion that the biographers of the two lives must -have known of each other’s works and borrowed -each other’s traditions. Examination of the alleged -coincidences, however, reveals that there is no occasion -for the perplexity in the one case, and no ground -for the jubilation in the other. By no honest process -of manipulation can we turn the supposed similarities -into even probable identities. The incidents -illustrate very widely contrasted lives, and enforce -dogmas utterly contradictory to each other. If any -one is desirous of ascertaining the coincidences -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>which are stated to exist, he will find them clearly -set forth and classified by Professor Seydel in his -so-called Buddhist Harmony;<a id='r157' /><a href='#f157' class='c010'><sup>[157]</sup></a> and if he require -any more than his own common sense to guide him -to an opinion concerning them, he had better consult -the Appendix to Professor Kuenen’s Hibbert -Lectures on <i>National Religions and Universal -Religions</i>, Dr. Kellogg’s <i>Light of Asia and Light -of the World</i>, and Dr. <abbr class='spell'>J.</abbr> Estlin Carpenter’s article -in the <i>Nineteenth Century</i>, December 1880, “On the -Obligations of the New Testament to Buddhism.” -These authorities will confirm the judgment which -any unbiassed and intelligent juryman would form, -from considering the evidence adduced in support -of the theory of borrowing, and from a simple comparison -of the alleged parallels themselves, that -Buddhism had not the smallest direct influence on -the origin of Christianity. So fundamentally unlike -are the alleged “similarities” that the hypothesis of -the derivation of the contents of the Gospels from -Buddhist sources is as ridiculous as would be the -supposition that the Venus of Milo was copied from -the rude idol or hideous fetich of an aboriginal tribe.<a id='r158' /><a href='#f158' class='c010'><sup>[158]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>When the missionaries of the two religions first -came into actual contact has not yet been ascertained, -and the influence of the Christian ideals of -self-oblivion upon the most essentially selfish system -of salvation ever promulgated to the world has yet -to be traced. The conception of self-renunciation -which is set forth in the legends may have originated -in the memory of the kindness and gentleness -and goodness of one whose life was far nobler than -his creed, and it may have assumed greater strength -and clearness when the teaching of the Gospels -came to be reflected upon it. It may or it may not, -but of this we may be positively certain, that the -writers of the New Testament and the composers -of the earliest Buddhist traditions knew positively -nothing of each other’s productions. This is a -conclusion accepted by the very best authorities on -the subject, and it is maintained with the greatest -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>firmness by those of them who discount the miraculous -occurrences found in the scriptures of both -religions as only the fond fancies which their -affectionate disciples gradually wove around the -memories of their respective teachers. They hold -that working independently of each other, but under -similar influences and in similar conditions, it was -simply natural that they should have come to -adorn with wonders somewhat alike in character -the story of two lives so pure and beneficial.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The learned author of the Hibbert Lectures for -1881 has made some very interesting and important -suggestions as to the rise of the Buddhist legends, -and as he seems to imply a similar growth of the -“Christian legend,” it may be advisable to consider -both accounts in their relation to the literary -sources which profess to authenticate them. Let -us assume, therefore, that the Lalita Vistara was -actually in circulation about the beginning of the -Christian era,<a id='r159' /><a href='#f159' class='c010'><sup>[159]</sup></a> and let us take for granted that one -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>of the oldest Suttas,<a id='r160' /><a href='#f160' class='c010'><sup>[160]</sup></a> professing to relate a portion -of Buddha’s ministry, was extant in the form in -which we have it, some three centuries earlier, -or a century after Buddha’s death. A comparison -of these two productions reveals at once the fact -that in the earliest there is no reference to the -divinity, pre-existence, or supernatural birth of -Buddha, and making allowance for the usual exaggeration -of language, that there are very few -miraculous incidents recorded in it. It has been -asserted that Buddha never professed to work a -miracle. Certainly the fragments of his original -teaching which survive indicate that he would be -the first to repudiate all such as have been ascribed -to him. Be that as it may, it is a literary fact -that in the supposed earliest books only a few -miracles are recorded. We may infer therefore -that by the time they were composed his orthodox -disciples had not formed those conceptions of his -person and mission which their pious descendants -later on learned to believe and to proclaim.<a id='r161' /><a href='#f161' class='c010'><sup>[161]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>The Gospels are not the earliest Christian -writings, and not several, but many, “narratives -concerning those matters which had been fulfilled -or established among” Christians, even as they -“delivered them who were eye-witnesses and -ministers of the word,”<a id='r162' /><a href='#f162' class='c010'><sup>[162]</sup></a> were probably in circulation -before the Gospels were written. Some of -the Epistles of <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul also, in all probability, -preceded those collections of “the words and -deeds of the Lord”; but the substance of the -three first Gospels was very early produced, and we -may be morally certain that they contain the beliefs -which the very first generation of Christians entertained -concerning Him. The truth of these beliefs -is not now under discussion, but only the fact of -them, and the kind of people who were influenced -by them. It is averred “that the outward conditions -in which Buddhism and Christianity arose -were similar, and so were the mental qualities of -the disciples of both religions”;<a id='r163' /><a href='#f163' class='c010'><sup>[163]</sup></a> but the conditions -were most dissimilar in this respect, that Buddhism -originated in the dimness of an unhistoric age, and -Christianity in an age and land so irradiated by -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>the light of history that we know more clearly -what was happening then and there than we do of -what occurred in Europe a thousand years after. -The mental qualities of the disciples of both religions -again seem to have been most unlike. About -Ananda and his companions we know really nothing -but the names, for they meet us in the Buddhist -records as mere lay figures, completely resembling -one another, and with no individuality to distinguish -them.<a id='r164' /><a href='#f164' class='c010'><sup>[164]</sup></a> We may assume, however, that they -belonged to one or other of the many sects of Brahmans -or Sramans, and if so, that they were dreamy -and contemplative men, withdrawn from practical -life, and finding in the life of meditation a sphere -more congenial to them than the actual world of -which they were parts. They appear to have been -directly and thoroughly unlike to the very marked -personalities represented by the Evangelists and -the other apostles of Christ, who were all drawn -from practical life to be His followers. They were -the very reverse of speculative; they had little -imagination and almost no poetry in them; they -were very dull of comprehension in regard to truths -higher than the few which they inherited, and very -incredulous about any unwonted occurrence said to -have taken place outside the little circle of their -own observation. In their conscientious, matter-of-fact -<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>way of looking at things they were the very -last men to dream dreams or weave legends around -the memory of one whom they revered; and we -have their own confession, not of their slowness of -apprehension merely, but of their unbelief at first -in regard to all supernatural manifestations.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Now while the supernatural only rarely meets us -in the most ancient Buddhist productions, where -we would naturally have expected it to have predominated, -it meets us in the very earliest writings -of Christianity, where we would not have expected -it at all. Christ to His first disciples and apostles -was a miraculous being. The claim formulated in -<abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John’s Gospel, which is probably the latest -book in the New Testament, is that advanced for -Christ by <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul in his earliest extant letter to -the churches. The Christ of <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John is not a new -Person, but the same Divine Being of whom <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> -Paul says, “He being in the form of God” was -“found on earth in fashion as a man.” He may -have been all wrong as to the ground of his belief; -he may have been an epileptic, a visionary, a man -subject to trances, whose intense spiritual affinities -disqualified him from judging calmly of matters of -history; but there is no mistake as to his own belief -and that of the other evangelists and writers of the -New Testament. The teaching of <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul and <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> -John concerning Christ is set forth in <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Matthew -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>with a clearness which no language can improve -upon.<a id='r165' /><a href='#f165' class='c010'><sup>[165]</sup></a> <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Mark dwells primarily upon the humanity -of Jesus, a most important fact, presenting a -historic basis without which Christian truth would -have been little more than a mystic speculation; -but even in <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Mark that humanity is not -described as unfolding under conditions which are -merely normal.<a id='r166' /><a href='#f166' class='c010'><sup>[166]</sup></a> The life to which he testifies is -not just that of Jesus of Nazareth, but of the Christ -of God, who speaks with more than human authority. -The development which is traceable in the theology -of the Epistles is the expansion of the significance -of the events recorded in the Gospels. The latest -writings may more fully interpret the teaching of -the earlier ones, but in them we find no other -Gospels, but only anathemas pronounced on those -who pretend to have them. In them a larger -domain is seen expanding beneath our gaze, but it -is visible only in the light of the central figure that -meets us in the first. Plainly, therefore, while the -earliest Buddhist witnesses account for their master -and his teaching in the ordinary ways, and while -their successors much later on in their attempts -to embellish his portrait have produced quite a -different person from the man of whom they first -testified, the very earliest Christian writers could -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>not account for Christ in any other way than by -regarding Him as a supernatural being, who did not -come into the world and did not leave it in the -way of all other men. It is possible that they may -all have been deluded, but if so, they vouched for -their sincerity by their martyrdoms. The delusion, -moreover, was at least universally and most -consistently maintained, and it is the first instance -in the history of mankind where a delusion has produced -intellectual activity and expansion so wonderful -as to have changed the current of history, and -originated the great throbbing ever-enlarging world -of Christendom which confronts us now.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Another significant contrast between the two -sets of writings is found in the fact that while we -can dissociate the miraculous elements from the -Buddhist Pitakas without detriment to their other -contents, we find it impossible to apply the same -process with the like results to the New Testament. -No one questions that primitive Buddhism is -improved by being freed from the portents which -subsequently gathered around it, for primitive -Buddhism is an intellectual and moral system, a -theory of the universe more likely to be obscured -than elucidated by an appeal to the supernatural. -Christianity, however, while appealing both to -intellect and conscience, does so as the revelation of -a life which, as a new thing, might break through -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>all men’s conceptions of what was ordinary or -necessary. The first appearance of life on this -planet as an unwonted phenomenon would be -accompanied by manifestations miraculous to all who -only judged by experience of what had already -been. So would be the first appearance of man to -those who judged of things by what was possible to -the actual animal world. That the manifestation -of One who had come that men might have life, and -have it more abundantly, should be accompanied -with phenomena new and strange to mankind -might have been expected. Christ, as revealing an -ideal of excellence to which things as they are in -nature, and men as they now are in society, do not -conform, will in truth contradict the present working -of both. This at least is the impression inevitably -produced by the reading of the New Testament. Its -teaching is throughout founded upon, and it would be -quite unintelligible without reference to, the supernatural. -To dissociate the miraculous portions from -the rest of its contents would be not only to mutilate -but to destroy it.<a id='r167' /><a href='#f167' class='c010'><sup>[167]</sup></a> Not the theological and -metaphysical elements only, but even “the ethical, -are so interwoven into one fibre with the supernatural -in the New Testament that it is impossible -to detach them without destroying the whole fabric.”<a id='r168' /><a href='#f168' class='c010'><sup>[168]</sup></a> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>Verily a Gospel without the miracles and all -that accounts for them would be a very strange -book.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Another very distinctive feature in the New -Testament accounts is displayed in the character of -the wonders there recorded. Indeed, this distinguishing -element is found in all the miraculous narratives -of the Bible. If it be true that the ancient -writers or redactors of Scripture have employed the -legends of other nations to illustrate their works, -it must be conceded that they have immensely improved, -and made a much better use of them. The -story of the creation of the world, of the primeval -paradise, and of the deluge, may be only myths common -to several nations, but somehow, while all other -writers just lose themselves in these myths, the -Hebrews alone have laid hold of them to enforce -the sublimest views ever formulated in human -speech concerning the origin of the world and of -man. The narratives of the Old Testament are -evidently not constructed to startle the reader with -portents, but to disclose the providential dealings -of a holy and merciful God with man to enlighten -and save him. The Gospels in like manner are not -written to record miraculous occurrences, nor are -miracles introduced to glorify Christ: they are -simply referred to as incidents in His ministry. -When we compare the prodigies ascribed to Buddha -<span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>during the many changes of his pre-existence, or -during his ministry, with the miracles of the -Gospels, they are like the rough casts in clay or -wood made by a rude or childish people contrasted -with the perfect productions of nature in the world -of animals or of men. They may endure comparison -with the portents found in the Apocryphal books, or -in the Lives of the Saints, but placed side by side -with the Gospel miracles they serve only to illustrate -the difference between what is artificial and grotesque, -and what is original and natural. There is -a marked sobriety in the Gospel accounts totally -lacking in the Buddhist legends. The latter serve -no other end but to exalt and magnify Buddha,<a id='r169' /><a href='#f169' class='c010'><sup>[169]</sup></a> -but the Gospel miracles are all founded in some -great human necessity which they are intended to -supply. The Buddhist marvels are simply produced -to startle us, the Christian are recorded as signs to -instruct us. What a gulf separates the conception -of Buddha leaping high in air amid the sounding of -the bells of the heavens and the plaudits of all the -gods, just to prove that he was Buddha, from the -account of Christ’s refusal to work a miracle to win -the adherence of the crowd, or give the sign from -heaven to vanquish Sadducean unbelief! The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>Gospel miracles are few after all, but they all flow -from and are in harmony with the original idea of -Christ as Messiah which is assumed in all the -Gospels. The mighty works done by Him are all -such as might be expected to be done in a world -like this by the Son of a heavenly Father. The cure -of all manner of disease, the exorcism of all the evil -spirits that have afflicted humanity, the victory over -death, the control of all the forces of nature, were -all in the scope of one who came hither to establish -the kingdom of God. Christ’s miracles were all -signs of man’s present and prophecies of his future -relations to all the evils that afflict him. They all -remind us of the Divine original ideal that man, -perfectly obedient to God, must exercise dominion -over His creatures in this world. Man’s present -antagonism to nature, and the disorder seen in his -own social relations, are alike due to his refusal to -merge his will in God’s, and the miracles of our -Saviour are all prophecies that when through -obedience to or faith in God he shall be restored -to holiness, he will find his social and external -relations improved, and will regain over nature that -spiritual authority which even already the winds -and the waves in part recognise and obey.<a id='r170' /><a href='#f170' class='c010'><sup>[170]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Again, the New Testament writers claim for -Christ what the early disciples of Buddha never -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>dreamed of claiming for their master, and they -insist upon their claim, though it is associated with -the meanest and apparently most contradictory of -elements. It is not the glorification but the humiliation -of Christ which constitutes the marvel in the -Gospels. It was very natural that the Evangelists -should imagine that the angels should sing over the -birth of a Saviour, but it was not natural that they -should conceive of them singing over a babe in a -manger. It was not wonderful, again, for Jews to -believe that the coming of their Messiah was -divinely announced, but it is very wonderful that -they should believe that this annunciation was -made to unknown shepherds. It was certainly -not in that way their Messiah was expected to -come. Had He come in the way they expected, -the miracles might naturally have been accounted -for which they associated with His coming; but, as -matter of fact, it requires the miracle to account -for their belief in Him. And so it is all through -in the Gospels. That the Messiah should be discovered -to be the Son of God need not surprise us, -but that the Son of God should be recognised by -Jews in the form of a servant, enduring patiently -the contradiction of sinners, submitting to trial, to -torture, to death on the cross, is one of the greatest -marvels in the whole history of religion. This -combination of glory and shame was a difficulty in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>the way of faith, not a help or support of it. The -claim, we must remember, was not advanced for -Christ by the Evangelists after He died; it was -formulated by Himself, and by Him it was asserted -more conspicuously, and with greater frequency -and emphasis toward the close of His earthly life. -It was the only charge on which He was condemned; -all other accusations brought against Him -broke down; but this one He admitted—that He -called Himself the Son of God. Questioned upon -it, He would not retract. “Thou sayest,” was all -His reply, and for the saying He was ordered to -the cross. Yet upon the cross His assertion was -strengthened. Had He been a pretender, He would -never have so comported Himself before Pilate and -Herod; had He been self-deluded, He never would -have said to His fellow-sufferer on Calvary: “To-day -shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The -torture of crucifixion was sufficient to expel the -hallucinations of the maddest brain, but the Evangelists -show that while faith in His Messiahship -was, during His crucifixion, fading even from His -disciples, in Himself it was stronger than ever, and -at the very last it was communicated to a dying -robber, who trusted that He had power to absolve -him, and to open to him the gates of a better life. -Now, all this surely never could naturally have -occurred to Jewish men to conceive, and if their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>records be only fictions, the devout creations of -over fond imaginations, then their legends are -miracles themselves.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Some one has said that it is possible to find in -the Buddhist books a parallel to every incident in -the Gospels; if so, these parallels will be found to -be very far apart; but to the incident of the Crucifixion -there can be no parallel. That one historical -event separates not only the two systems of thought -and belief, but marks off Christianity from all other -religions in the world. Till the crucifixion of Jesus -was accomplished, the idea of associating with Deity -humiliation, and of conceiving of God as dying the -death of a slave upon the cross, would have been -regarded as the grossest impiety. The fundamental -idea of the Incarnation was not wholly foreign to -the mind either of India or of Greece; to the Jew -it was not a natural thought, but one so anti-Semitic -that Jew and Moslem alike have rejected -Christianity because of it;<a id='r171' /><a href='#f171' class='c010'><sup>[171]</sup></a> but the incarnation of -Deity represented in the Gospels, the humiliation of -the Godhead implied in the Crucifixion, is an idea -which never could have originated in the mind of -either Gentile or Jew. It is one of the things of -God which the natural man cannot conceive, a -mystery hid from all ages until it was revealed, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>apparently, unless we admit the reality of the -revelation, we never can account for the faith.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The miraculous personality of Christ is thus -the outstanding and distinctive feature of the -Christian writings. As the mists clear away in -the East, Buddha emerges more and more in the -stature of a good and great man, but Christ rises -upon us as one who cannot be accounted for according -to the measure of any man, nor even that of -an angel. It is not as a teacher, a guide out of -the difficulties of life, that He meets us, but as a -Revealer and Saviour. It is thus He has been -accepted by His disciples, and upon their faith He -has reared His Church. It is thus He conceived of -Himself, and His conception is not more astounding -than are the simplicity and lowliness and -meekness of His character. He is Himself thus -the miracle of miracles, wholly inexplicable on -any human theory devised to account for Him; -and till that one miracle is solved, all questions -as to the miracles which are ascribed to Him can -afford to wait for their solution.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We have no desire to exaggerate the value of -the miraculous elements in Christianity, but it -does not appear to be true wisdom that would -depreciate them or ignore them altogether. Miracles -by many have been wrongly considered, and they -have been often expounded by the advocates of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>Christianity in such a way as to create instead of -removing difficulties connected with the faith. On -the other hand, many who reject or refuse to consider -them seem afflicted by a kind of mental -semeiophobia which in its own way may be as -dangerous an affliction as hydrophobia is. The -proper way is to consider them in relation to the -nature and purpose of the Revelation with which -they are associated. The miracle may sometimes -be found only in the form of the narrative, as a -hieroglyph whose purpose we are too lazy to search -for, whose meaning we are too stupid to elucidate. -The theory that miracles are only figurative expressions -of spiritual truth is not true, as it is generally -expounded; but it has a truth in it which must -never be overlooked. Every miracle is a parable, -and every parable is a miracle. It is the spiritual -reality revealed by both which gives them value, -and not the wonder in them by which we are at -first arrested. Yet without the wonder to arrest -us we might never have received the revelation. -“What did the apostle mean,” asks Robert -Elsmere,<a id='r172' /><a href='#f172' class='c010'><sup>[172]</sup></a> “by death to sin and self? what the -precise idea attached by him to being risen with -Christ? Are this death and resurrection necessarily -dependent upon certain alleged historical -events, or are they not primarily, and were there -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>not, even in Paul’s mind, two aspects of a spiritual -process perpetually re-enacted in the soul of man, -and constituting the veritable revelation of God? -Which is the stable and lasting witness of the -Father? the spiritual history of the individual and -of the world, or the envelope of miracle to which -hitherto mankind has attached such importance?” -The envelope certainly would be as worthless without -the message which it carries as a husk from -which the kernel has dropped. Would <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul, -however, ever have conceived the spiritual truths -referred to, if they had not been suggested by historical -facts? Could he ever have conceived of a -death to sin had the world never witnessed the -death of the Holy Christ upon the cross? Could -he ever have dreamed of rising again in the power -of a new life if the tomb in the garden nigh Golgotha -had never been found empty of its crucified -occupant? Is he not just suggesting the significance -of very exceptional historical events? He -may be wrong in his interpretation, but there can -be no mistake that the interpretation is founded -upon the history, that it was the event which -originated his theory, and not his theory that produced -the story of the event. Christian theology, -instead of giving this miraculous character to the -tragic story of the life and death of Christ, has -been called into existence by man’s endeavours to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>account for it as a fact not only marvellous, but -simply unique in the experience of mankind.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is not likely that the miraculous elements in -the Christian religion will be found to be “the -produce of its primitive theology, which will fade -out of the conception of men as theology advances -and becomes purified.” The demonstration of this -must not be assumed to be complete because the -miraculous is also found in other religions. We -must be able to account for it in all of them. -It is, indeed, the natural tendency of humanity -to magnify and eventually to deify its heroes, -to embellish their careers with similar marvels, to -apply to them figurative language very liable to -be misunderstood, which in later generations -hardens into erroneous beliefs. That Christians -as well as Buddhists have done so is sufficiently -attested by the apocryphal Gospels, but we must -not conclude that because there are so many fictitious -and counterfeit wonders in currency there -can be no real miracles. We must examine each -religion on its merits, and its miraculous elements -in the light of their purpose and of their actual -genesis; and if we do so in the case of Christianity, -we will probably discover the one supernatural -reality from which the shadows in all other -religions are reflected, and to which they all point.<a id='r173' /><a href='#f173' class='c010'><sup>[173]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>Dr. Rhys Davids, in the Hibbert Lectures, informs -us that the early Buddhist conception of -Gotama was dominated and transformed by two -ideals, neither of which had any necessary connection -with the man himself. One of them, due to -political experience, made him finally assume in -the popular imagination the office of a Universal -King; while the other, due to philosophic speculation, -invested him with the attribute of Perfect -Wisdom. The implied parallel between this conception, -coloured as it grew by the sun myths which -it incorporated, and the Christian conception of -Jesus, suggested by the titles King of Glory and -Divine Word, is obvious to everybody. Yet examination -of the supposed similarities only reveals -essential contrasts between the two sets of beliefs. -The political experiences in India which are referred -to occurred about two centuries after the -death of Buddha. The victories of Chandragupta, -resulting in the consolidation of a kingdom such as -Indians had never before witnessed, combined with -his patronage of the Buddhist monks, may have -suggested the idea of the universal monarch. “His -achievements recalled the nearly forgotten poetry -of the Vedic legends, while the new and popular -ethics of Buddha invested him with a righteousness -which made him a worthy Lord of the Four -Quarters (of the Globe).” So in one of the Suttas, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>said to be early, and which may have been assuming -shape at this time, words like these are put in -the mouth of Buddha:—“I am a king, O Sela, an -incomparable, religious king; with justice I roll the -wheel, the wheel that is irresistible.”<a id='r174' /><a href='#f174' class='c010'><sup>[174]</sup></a> With this -conception of Cakka-vatti, a glorious king, was -connected, avers Dr. Rhys Davids, that of an age -in which plenty and peace were to abound as the -fruits of righteousness.<a id='r175' /><a href='#f175' class='c010'><sup>[175]</sup></a> The idea of a golden age -is common to most religions, and as the Western -Aryans always preserved it, we may conclude that -the branch which reached India carried it thither -with them. Soon, however, as the belief in transmigration -took possession of them, they seem to -have lost it. Their book of the generations of man -did not mount higher than the Fall; existence was -essentially evil in their thought, and belief in a -golden age on earth, either in the past or in the -future, was quite inconsistent with the creed which -Buddhists inherited or created. The other branch -of the Aryan stock so cherished it that it adorns -their most beautiful mythologies; but even with -them the golden age was always placed in the past, -and the world, fallen from good, was supposed to be -degenerating from bad to worse. And so it is that -the fondest glances of even the happy Greek are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>not forward but backward cast, and that sadness -mingles with his most mirthful music.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is possible at least that changes so favourable -to the fortunes of the new religion, and the -social reforms which followed its extension, may -have awakened in the pious the memories of old -Vedic faith; and that the victories of Chandragupta -may have suggested to the authors of the Suttas -the idea of the invincible Buddha advancing -through the ages, as the chariot-wheel of the sun -disperses the clouds in the heavens. It is certain, -however, that neither Buddha nor his earliest disciples -ever dreamed of applying the title of Cakka-vatti -to or of associating the promise of a better -time with himself. To old Vedic faith as supporting -his teaching or predicting his mission he never -appealed; he ignored all previous teaching: and -indeed in ancient Indian teaching, uninspired by -either promise or hope, there is nothing prophetic. -In the case of Christianity it is quite the contrary. -The conception of the Messiah as the righteous -and glorious King, under whose reign all the world -would be blessed, was not suggested by political -experience two centuries after the dawn of Christianity. -It was formulated and predicted many -centuries before the coming of Christ. The -Hebrew, like the Aryan, never lost the memory -of a happy past, but, unlike the Aryan, he placed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>his paradise not only in the past but in the future. -With far richer materials at his command than -the Aryan seems to have possessed for painting a -vanished golden age, the Hebrew poets made very -sparing use of them. A few paragraphs exhaust -all they have to say as to the traditions of a -paradise that had been lost, but their whole Bible -is full of the hope of the good time which is coming -to all the world. This hope, centred as it was in -their Messiah, Christianity from the very first took -up and promised to fulfil. The ministry of Jesus -was scarcely begun before it was associated with -Him. Among the first questions asked concerning -Him was, “Is not this Messias?” Among the -earliest declarations made was, “We have found -the Messias.” Very soon in His career He confessed, -“I that speak unto thee am He!” The -Gospels and Epistles would be unintelligible without -this perpetual reference to Messianic prediction; -it is the golden thread which runs through -all the Old Testament and unites it with the -New. In its Messianic hope, Old Testament prophecy -reached its highest and purest development, -and the New Testament claims that in Christ it -is finding its fulfilment. It may be alleged of -course that the prophecy and the claim are alike -delusions, but the prophecy at least was a fact, and -its application to Christ was no legendary growth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>of a later generation, but the original and essential -testimony of the earliest Christian teachers.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The other conception of Perfect Wisdom represented -by Buddha the Awakened or Enlightened -One is also confessedly an aftergrowth. The -earliest traces which we have of Gotama after -his death disclose him as a man who gained his -knowledge by severe struggle, and who therefore, -in the estimation of his followers, was a “Jina” -or conqueror. As time went on, and his memory -rose in the estimation of later generations, the -faithful, guided by their belief in transmigration, -projected this struggle for Buddhahood further and -further into former stages of existence, till at last -the idea was conceived that he was only one of -a long series of Buddhas, of whom he was not to -be the last. The development of this interesting -speculation, with its distinctions into Buddhas -who only save themselves—Paccekabuddhas—and -the Sammâsambuddhas, who appear at very rare -intervals, able and willing to save to the uttermost, -need not here be traced. It is sufficient -to note how unlike and contradictory is this belief -to that which dominates in our religion. In -Christ we have the <i>only</i> Messiah, and He, having -once come, we do not look for another. The hope -of the Christian is fixed upon His coming again -in glory; but it is the coming again of the <i>same</i> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>Jesus. The unity of Deity colours and pervades -all our thoughts of Divine communications with -mankind; “there is one God, and one Mediator -between God and man.” Consequently the doctrine -of the Divine Word formulated in connection -with Christ in <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John’s Gospel represents a -very different set of ideas from the conception of -Buddha as the Perfect Wisdom, to whom all worlds -and all times were open. That conception of -Buddha was probably an incorporation into the -Buddhist creed from foreign sources, but the idea -of Christ as the Son, “unto whom all things have -been delivered by the Father,” so that “no one -knoweth the Son save the Father, neither doth -any know the Father save the Son, and he to -whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him,” was -a common one among the very earliest Christians -of whom we have any trace. <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Matthew, <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> -Mark, <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul, <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Luke all preach Christ, “unto -whom has been committed all knowledge and -judgment,” “who is before all things, and in whom -all things consist,” “the image of the invisible -God, in whom it pleased the Father that all -fulness should dwell.”<a id='r176' /><a href='#f176' class='c010'><sup>[176]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>And so it is not in the latest Gospel but in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>earliest Scriptures that we have the first indications -of this doctrine as Christ the Word, though -in the latest, as we might expect, it is more clearly -formulated and more fully expounded. Written -after the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the -ancient Church, and the recognition of the Gentiles -as fellow-heirs, by one who was quite conscious of -the new intellectual position which Christianity -occupied in relation to the speculations of Syria -and Egypt, and of the dangers which thereby -accrued to the faith, its author took up a term -very current at the time in theosophic and metaphysical -writings, and specially those of Philo, to -set forth the truth of the Life whose manifestation -he had witnessed. That <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John did not borrow -the term from Philo is evident from the very different -use which he has made of it, and the very -different purpose which he had in view. By it -Philo expressed the conception of Divine intelligence -in the abstract, while <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John employed it -to suggest the concrete idea of God’s personal -action. Both found it in the Septuagint and the -Hebrew traditional lore;<a id='r177' /><a href='#f177' class='c010'><sup>[177]</sup></a> but while Philo gave -it a Greek, <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John adhered to its Hebrew significance. -The first chapter of <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John compared -with a page of Philo<a id='r178' /><a href='#f178' class='c010'><sup>[178]</sup></a> will reveal at once the difference -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>between them, and convince us that the -teaching of Philo concerning the Logos leads further -and further away from the idea of the incarnation -which is the foundation-truth of the teaching -of <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John. His doctrine would be quite unintelligible -as an application or continuation of the -doctrine of Philo, but it is intelligible and consistent -as the final co-ordination of truths concerning -the Divine Being disclosed in the Old -Testament viewed by a man whose antecedents -and modes of thought were very different from -those of the Alexandrian sage.<a id='r179' /><a href='#f179' class='c010'><sup>[179]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The ideas suggested by the “Angel of the -Presence” in the historic and prophetic books, by -the “Word of the Lord” in the Psalms, and by -“Wisdom” in the Books of Wisdom, indicate the -rays which converge in <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John’s doctrine of the -Christ. As one who tarried long after the first -generation of Christians had gone to their rest, as -one who had not only pondered longer, and in -deeper silence, the Life he had seen manifested, -but who had found its interpretation in such providences -as the spreading of the Churches and the -destruction of the State, he was abler to meet the -necessities of a wider age, by setting the truth in -rounder form and clearer light; but while he expands -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>and expounds the teaching of the first generation, -he adds and introduces not a single element. -His testimony is identical with that proclaimed at -the Resurrection, that Jesus of Nazareth is the -Christ, and that Christ is the only begotten Son of -God.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is not as one who has acquired truth by long -struggle, not as one who has fought or forced His -way to light, that Christ presents Himself in the -Gospels, but as one who can say: “I am the way, -the truth, the life,” “the light of the world.” Yet -along with this stupendous demand upon the faith -of humanity there is a humility and simplicity -undiscoverable in the Buddha of the Pitakas. Self-consciousness, -self-reliance, self-culture—these are -the phrases most suggestive of the system and of the -life of the great Indian sage, while not self-abasement, -but self-oblivion, characterises the teaching -and life of Jesus of Nazareth. Identity with the -Highest, manifested by absolute surrender to Him, -is the essence of the Revelation of Christ. Always -is the Father confessed to be the source of all grace -and truth, and if the Son asks to be glorified, it is -that the Father may be glorified in Him. We are -certainly not contemplating similarities when we -look at the Buddha of the Suttas and the Christ -of the Gospels, but contrasts more widely separated -than the soul is from the body. In Buddha we -<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>have a historical personage, who can be thoroughly -accounted for as the product and outgrowth of his -past, and of his environment; in Christ we have one -whom no philosophy of history has ever explained. -Alone and unapproachable, He meets us as one -who is really human, because He has become man, -one who has arisen among men to save them, but -because He has come through and to them. He -is not just one of the many, a son of men, the product -of a divinely-trained humanity, but the Son -of Man, who as Son of God, incarnated in the -nature of all men, has become the Head and Creator -of a new humanity. Correct, improve, embellish -as we may, the portrait left us of the gentle -teacher of Magadha, we never can lift him up to -that level which would justify his being worshipped -or being addressed, as Jesus of Nazareth -has been by the consensus of all the Christian ages, -“Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ. Thou art -the everlasting Son of the Father.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span> - <h2 id='lecture-4' class='c004'>LECTURE <abbr title='four'>IV.</abbr> <br /> THE DHARMA OF BUDDHA:<a id='r180' /><a href='#f180' class='c010'><sup>[180]</sup></a> THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.</h2> -</div> -<p class='c005'>What was the discovery that rewarded Gotama’s -long travail and conflict under the Bo-tree at -Bohimanda, and gained for him the title of Buddha, -the Awakened or Enlightened One? and what was -the message of “glad tidings” which since then has -made so many millions of the human race regard -him as their Deliverer? We shall never obtain the -answer to these questions if we follow the legends -and the later scriptures, although they profess to -give all the steps of the process by which he -wrought out his deliverance. These all date from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>a time when the seeds which he had sown among -the thorns of uncleansed superstitions, had grown up -into as gigantic and tangled a jungle of speculation -as the world has ever seen. Had he confronted his -day and generation proclaiming as the result of -his laborious and painful inquiries the complicated -metaphysical system formulated in these books, he -would have made few converts. He might have -become the head of another sect, the founder of -another school, but he never would have established -a religion so extensive as that which for so many -centuries, and among so many peoples, has been -known by his name.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Following the Southern scriptures, and guided -by the eminent Oriental scholars who have made -them available by translations, we may be able to -trace, in the wild growth of fancy which has grown -up around them, the leading lines of the original -teaching. The real doctrine of Buddha did not -profess to be a philosophy inquiring into the -ultimate ground of things. He is represented as -having despised philosophisings, and as having inveighed -against profitless questionings as earnestly -as did <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul against vain babblings and oppositions -of science falsely so called.<a id='r181' /><a href='#f181' class='c010'><sup>[181]</sup></a> His object was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>avowedly practical, and he kept silent when asked -concerning themes whose discussion did not tend -to “illumination and quiet.” Notwithstanding this, -there must have been from the first, even in the -earliest forms of his teaching, ideas and thoughts -beyond the comprehension of the simple. For a -while he hesitated, as we have seen, to proclaim -his discovery, because “the way” was too hidden -for men to know, and too hard, even when known, -for them to follow. Like the Jewish Scribe, he -conceived that to the wise alone, and not to the -ignorant, belonged the law, and to the wise alone -was reserved the hope of final deliverance. To -children, and to the uninstructed struggling -classes, the preaching was not made fully known, -as really beyond them. Unlike Christ, whose -preaching was for all without exception, whose -gospel, though full of mystery, confers illumination -even on babes, the law of Buddha was in its entirety -for the sages only, and instead of conferring -knowledge on those who obeyed it, it made knowledge -a condition of obtaining deliverance. Nevertheless, -though the deductions were within the -grasp only of the few, his popularity proves that -his fundamental and principal dogmas must have -been such as all could understand, and they seem -<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>to have been published, as Saint-Hilaire observes, -in a language so “simple and vernacular” as to -induce even the children and the ignorant to enter -the paths that lead to deliverance.<a id='r182' /><a href='#f182' class='c010'><sup>[182]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>He entered upon his travail, in order to find a -way of escape from the endless cycles of unsatisfying -change, and he believed that he had discovered -it. Leavening every part of his system is his impression -of the universality of suffering; and suffering, -its origin, its extinction, and the path or -method that leads to its extinction, are the so-called -“four noble truths” which constitute in Buddhism -the “Law of the Wheel.” In Buddhism the wheel -is the dominant symbol, corresponding to the cross in -Christianity, and he who would preach or roll onward -the wheel must present to the affectionate consideration -of the hearers these “four sacred verities”—the -verity of suffering, the verity that concupiscence -is the cause of suffering, the verity that -concupiscence can be quenched in Nirvana, and the -verity that the way that leads to Nirvana is the -sublime eightfold path of Buddha’s law. From his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>first public discourse at Benares—corresponding to -our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount—on to his last -words on the night on which he died, this, with -manifold amplifications, but ever as the one pathetic -refrain, is the substance of his teaching, “through -not understanding and grasping which, O monks, -we have had to run and wander so long in weary -paths, both you and I.”<a id='r183' /><a href='#f183' class='c010'><sup>[183]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The primitive creed of Buddhism was different -from, though not wholly antagonistic to, the -popular creed or theory of life of Brahmanism. -Weighed by Brahmanism, existence was found -wanting, as only illusion, a specious something -which truly was a mere nothing, and identity of -the personal with the universal self was the only -reality. By Buddhism existence was condemned, -not as an illusion, but as wholly and solely suffering.<a id='r184' /><a href='#f184' class='c010'><sup>[184]</sup></a> -“What think ye, O disciples: whether is -more, the water that is in the four great oceans, or -the tears which have flown from you, and have been -shed by you, while ye strayed and wandered in this -long pilgrimage, and sorrowed and wept, because -that which ye abhorred was your portion, and that -which ye loved was not your portion?”<a id='r185' /><a href='#f185' class='c010'><sup>[185]</sup></a> It was not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>“vanity of vanities!” but “misery of miseries! all -is misery!” Life was misery, because governed by -the immeasurable and wretched past; death was -misery, because opening up an equally immeasurable -and wretched future. As long as man exists -he must be miserable, unable to “cease his wanderings,” -and “still from one sorrow to another -thrown.” The only deliverance conceivable from -this interminable evil would be to break the bands -of existence altogether. “Surely ’twere better not -to be.” And how “not to be” seems to have been -the problem which Buddha professed to solve.</p> - -<p class='c006'>May we not conclude with Saint-Hilaire that -this, “his first dogma, was his first fatal error”?<a id='r186' /><a href='#f186' class='c010'><sup>[186]</sup></a> -With all his intellectual ability he never sought to -emancipate himself from the superstition and nightmare -of transmigration. Though he had cast off all -faith in the government of a divine power, he never -questioned the belief with which the lower aboriginal -races had infected the thought of his ancestors, that -life was governed by this law. It is averred that -he found it necessary to solve the conflict between -his ideas of justice and the actual order of things, -which has exercised the human mind always and -everywhere. A modern Buddhist, fortunate in -having Mr. Alabaster to introduce him to the notice -of an English-reading public, so propounds this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>belief, and, purged from some of its errors, tries to -vindicate it. “For the law of perfect justice,” he -says, “demands that human conditions should be -equalised, and that good and bad luck should be -balanced sometime and somewhere. If a good man -be poor and wretched now, he must be reaping the -fruits of what he had sown in a previous stage of -existence.”<a id='r187' /><a href='#f187' class='c010'><sup>[187]</sup></a> Yet surely this is a very superficial -theory for an Oriental professing Western culture to -formulate. It is judging of life as children and -savages judge of it, by the evidence of the senses, -and according to a very inferior and inaccurate -standard of good and evil. Poverty and suffering, -though confessedly painful, may not be regarded by -a good man as wholly evil in this world. Circumstances -which the savage and the child would covet -as realising their dreams of paradise may be the reverse -of desirable to the mature and thoughtful man. -The believers in transmigration make no distinction -between what is evil and what is simply painful. -Evil is not that which pains, but that which -defiles and degrades and destroys, and good is not -just that which pleases, but that which elevates and -ennobles and purifies. The law of absolute justice -does not require, as the modern Buddhist demands, -that human conditions should be equalised, and that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>all men should be treated alike; for no two human -beings all the world over are absolutely alike; but -it demands that each should receive the treatment -most conducive to his healthy growth as a moral -being, and what appears to sense as the harder lot -may commend itself to reason as the better portion -of the man to whom it has been assigned, because -most suited to his need.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The dogma of transmigration is said to occupy -in the Buddhist system a position analogous to that -of the Fall in our Christian theology; but in reality -the two are diametrically opposed, both in their -essential ideas and the consequences which flow -from them. They are analogous only in respect that -they each profess to account for the conflict between -man’s ideal of himself and his actual condition. -The existence of evil is admitted by both, but the -Buddhist believes that evil belongs to the very -essence of man, and therefore he can find no prospect -of relief from it, here or hereafter. For as long as -the stream of existence continues it will always fall -below its source, and evil, according to the inexorable -rule of nature, will propagate only evil. The -Hebrew, however, did not conceive of it as essential -to or as always in the nature of man. His ancestral -beliefs carry him beyond the Fall; his -pedigree starts with the most sublime of all theories -of human origin that has ever been formulated in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>human speech: “Let us make man in our image and -after our likeness, and let him have dominion over” -the creature. Dominion over nature man has -not, for he is too much under its dominion, and to -this subjection much of his suffering is directly -traceable. The Hebrew professed to have the -origin of this condition revealed to him in a breach -between man and his Maker, consequent upon man’s -self-assertion and selfish withdrawal of his life from -the source of life, which must involve suffering and -death. So through all the weary generations there -is the same invariable sequence of sin entering the -world, and death by sin. And yet at his very -worst the Hebrew believed that it was once far -better with the human race, and on this belief he -dared to rear the structure of his magnificent hope, -that mankind shall be restored to the original close -relationship with God, and therefore to a grander -dominion over nature, and to a happier and even -more prosperous life than that of which his ancestors -had dreamed as their primeval state.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Whatever may be said of the doctrine of the -Fall, belief in it is indeed “a condition of hope,”<a id='r188' /><a href='#f188' class='c010'><sup>[188]</sup></a> -and the belief and the hope both spring from their -faith in God as Creator and Governor of the race, -which characterised the Hebrew prophets. Wherever -that faith is lively, it not only sustains man -<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>amid the sufferings of life, but it nerves him to -struggle with physical and moral evil to vanquish -it. The purer the faith the more resolute is the -struggle; the holier the Deity becomes to the -thought of man the stronger becomes his conviction -that life is a blessing, and that all its struggles may -conduce to peace. There is an instinct which seems -to suggest that there are worse things than troubles, -and that they may be blessings of no mean quality -after all. Christianity has made the startling -revelation that suffering is not peculiar to man, as -the consequence of his perversity in traversing the -Divine order; for not only is Christ presented to us -as the greatest sufferer, but in Him God the highest -and the holiest is disclosed as involved in it, and -as taking upon Himself the responsibilities and the -sufferings which our sin and need entail. But if in -Christ there is revealed the greatest sufferer, it is as -one whose suffering is not in vain. By suffering He -conquers that which has produced it; by enduring -suffering He ends it; and He reigns and finds -His blessedness in making us partakers of His -victory over it. So again Christianity, unlike other -religions which promise salvation <i>from</i> suffering, -offers salvation <i>through</i> suffering. It alone asserts -the utility of suffering; others regard it as evil, -Christianity as evil overruled for good. Others -reckon it as a mere loss or waste, Christianity as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>something that may be turned to profit as the condition -and preparation for joy. Joy in the Christian -conception is not the reward of suffering, nor compensation -for suffering, but the fruit and issue of -suffering which leads to it, as travail leads to birth. -So instead of evading or ignoring it, Christ would -have us recognise and acquiesce in it, and even be -thankful for it, as necessary not for our personal -profit, but for the gain of mankind. By His sufferings -we are healed, and through our sufferings we -fill up what remains of His for the redemption of -the world. Only through “the long travail of ages -yet to be” will there be born in the evolution of -God’s redemptive purpose that better race from -which all suffering shall have passed away, because -disobedience will have had an end. Fellowship in -Christ’s sufferings has thus transfigured the afflictions -of all who believe in Him. Unlike the Indian, -tortured by endless change, without any evolution -from low to higher, from evil or imperfect to what -is good and perfect, the Christian can endure suffering -not only patiently but also cheerfully, knowing -that he is suffering not just for his own sake, but -that in ways mysterious he is lightening the load -of many, and helping to bring to an end the long -anguish of the whole creation.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But of this consolation which comes from faith -in God the Creator, and therefore the Redeemer of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>man from destruction, Buddha had deprived himself. -Unlike the Brahman who sought escape from the -evils of transmigration by a process of subsidence -into the universal Self, he professed to find no -trace of this Absolute Self. The Brahman postulated -the Infinite and reasoned from it, but -Buddha started from quite the opposite pole. He -professed to deal with life as he found it, and so -reasoning from man outward, he asserted that the -necessity for transmigration was involved, not in -the illusion of Brahma, but in man’s own character. -Instead of being a natural or divine necessity, it -was a moral necessity created by man, which -having its cause in his own action could also by -him be destroyed.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And so Pantheistic speculation, in this instance -at least, ripened into its proper fruit. The passage -from conceiving Deity as characterless passionless -self, to discarding Deity altogether from human -thought, is a sure and generally a very rapid one. -When we come to think of Deity as of being diffused -and dispersed, we will soon omit the thought -altogether in the recognition only of physical force. -Brahmanic speculation had resolved the deities of -the ancient books into abstractions, and Buddha -recognised no such abstractions in the government -of human life. His creed was fundamentally -atheistic, as directly contradicting belief in a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>supreme ruler of the universe.<a id='r189' /><a href='#f189' class='c010'><sup>[189]</sup></a> Not that he -denied the existence of the gods believed in by -his countrymen. On the contrary, he allowed -them to continue in the popular thought and -speech, and even encouraged disciples who had -not yet reached the highest knowledge to try to -acquire merit by virtue, so as to secure after death -a re-birth into their society. Similarly he admitted -the existence of devils or demons, and their -influence for evil upon man. All through his career -he was beset by Mara, the sensual king of all who -submit to him; but Buddha was superior not only -to Mara, but to all the gods in the popular pantheon, -for they, alike with the lowest and the -weakest of things, were subject to the law of transmigration. -Man might rise to a higher heaven -than what they occupied; they might fall to the -lowest hell. “Their worlds must perish like that -of man, and if ever they attained to final salvation, -it could only be by the same way in which a worm -might hope to reach it.”<a id='r190' /><a href='#f190' class='c010'><sup>[190]</sup></a> Throwing his “plummet -down the broad deep universe,” he cried, “Gods -many,” but no god able to save. All alike with -men were bound in fetters, because ignorant of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>truth he knew. Naturally, therefore, they are -represented in the legends as profiting by his -preaching and as seeking unto him for instruction, -while those of them who refused, or could not walk -in his ways, came to be regarded with pity.<a id='r191' /><a href='#f191' class='c010'><sup>[191]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>In like manner his creed was as essentially -materialistic. Man was no spiritual being, but a -bundle of Sankharas—a term, it is said, very -difficult to translate, but implying that person -meant a mass of “forms” or material qualities so -changing as to be never the same for two consecutive -moments. Belief in a soul he regarded as a -heresy, which he distinctly classed with sensuality -and belief in the efficacy of sacrificial rites.<a id='r192' /><a href='#f192' class='c010'><sup>[192]</sup></a> To -the heart as the sixth sense he ascribed the power -of conceiving ideas without form, as the eye had -the power of perceiving objects; but this disappeared -in dissolution as completely as did the -others, and what was re-born was not the soul but -the quality, the merit or demerit acquired. This -startling assertion of Bishop Bigandet’s<a id='r193' /><a href='#f193' class='c010'><sup>[193]</sup></a> has been -confirmed and amplified by others, specially by Rhys -Davids, and so the question at once suggests itself, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>now that the governing ideas of Deity and the separate -existence of the soul were expelled from the -human mind,—What was there left to give vitality -and coherence to his system as a religion? A kind -of religion is conceivable when something eternal -and self-dependent is recognised, if not without -and above a man, at least within him; but here -is a religion vast and comprehensive springing from -the determination to annihilate all religion, asserting -not simply that man is independent of all -superior beings, but that as the sum-total of -groups of sensations, abstract ideas, tendencies, -and potentialities, nothing of his personality can -survive dissolution, and how are we to account -for it?<a id='r194' /><a href='#f194' class='c010'><sup>[194]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The answer is to be sought for in the working -of that great moral instinct which is at the root -of the belief in transmigration. Though there was -no person, no soul to emigrate from the body, -though the man perished, there was something -which he called the Karma—a word coined by -old Brahman sages long before him, though used -by them in a different sense—that survived.<a id='r195' /><a href='#f195' class='c010'><sup>[195]</sup></a> The -aggregate of the good and evil in the life that had -come to an end formed the seed of another existence, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>so that each new individual and generation -became the exact and inevitable results of those -that had preceded them. It was evidently a -theory of continuity as unscientific as it was unphilosophic. -It could not be called an evolution -in any sense of the word, seeing it meant the -appearance in a new individual of the mental and -physical acts of another who had ceased to be. -The assertion, again, that though there was no -“continuing consciousness,” no transience of soul -in any sense from one person to the other, the -two persons are one, has been very properly stigmatised -as a “psychological absurdity.”<a id='r196' /><a href='#f196' class='c010'><sup>[196]</sup></a> From -the first, though one of their stablest dogmas, this -one was a difficulty to the Buddhists themselves. -Their learned men never professed to justify it to -reason, but accepted it as a mystery, in open contradiction -to their principle that everything was -to be rejected which could not be comprehended -or explained. The common people again simply -ignored it, and adhered to the belief of their -fathers in continuity of life and personal identity -for man in the future. The sages might refine, -but the moral sense of the masses could not escape -from the conviction that the evil which they had -done must follow them, and the good which they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>would do could not be interred with their bones. -Even the speculation of the sages was a telling -confirmation of the truth that man cannot get rid -of himself. He may make a mock at God, may -demand, If a man die can he live again? or how -differs the life of a man from the life of a beast? -but he cannot refine away his moral sense and the -instinct of retribution which is inwoven in his -inmost being. Buddha acknowledged no moral -government of Deity, discarded the old belief -that the same soul must receive the reward of the -deeds done in the body; he denied even to the -soul a separate existence from the perishable body; -but he was haunted by the ghost of personal -identity. He felt absolutely certain that there -was a real connection of cause and effect between -past and present and future, and that each act of -the soul must work out its full effect to the bitter -end.<a id='r197' /><a href='#f197' class='c010'><sup>[197]</sup></a> So it was only by profession that God was -mocked; men were witnesses to themselves of a -Sovereign Power forcing Himself upon them, even -when they tried to forsake Him, compelling them -<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>to receive His thoughts when they would not think -for themselves. So in primitive Buddhism we have -the strange paradox that out of Atheism there -arose a religion, with a demand upon conscience -almost Christian, and asserting as Christianity does -the eternal necessity of righteousness and truth.<a id='r198' /><a href='#f198' class='c010'><sup>[198]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The analogy which has been suggested between -the Buddhist dogma of Karma and the Christian -doctrine of heredity is a very interesting one. It is -strange that the law of heredity, so clearly indicated -in the Bible, should be proclaimed in our age as a -modern discovery. Infidelity formerly denounced -the Bible for teaching that sin and its penalty were -transmitted from generation to generation, forgetting -that but for transgression the law of heredity could -only and always entail good. Laws are to be -judged by their intention, and this one, designed to -secure and transmit the increment of good in each -generation, is manifestly perverted by conditions -for which it is not responsible. The law, however, -which asserts itself in humanity by entailing on the -generations the blessing of good as well as the curse -of evil, is now being proclaimed and interpreted, not -by divines, but by men of science and philosophy. -The twin truth of the unity of humanity, elemental -in the Hebrew and Christian religions, though -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>formerly strangely forgotten or denounced by infidelity, -is also adopted as a professed discovery of -our century. We are all agreed that humanity is -one, that each life is part of a larger life, and so -the injury of the part is the injury of the whole. -Sin could not enter humanity without dragging it -down, and holiness could not enter and conquer without -lifting it up. If one could appear in humanity -without sin, not a link in the diseased chain, but -perfectly free from all taint of disease, is the -supposition incredible that he would have the effect -upon humanity of a new creation? His coming -would imply the reversal of the drift toward evil and -the weakening of the inherited and accumulated -tendency to depravity. It would be a bringing -under Divine influence of this mysterious principle -of heredity, with results for good which no human -intellect can measure, and establish a once greatly -derided assertion, that as in one Adam, that is, one -kind of humanity, all die, even so in Christ shall all -be made alive.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Buddha had a clear apprehension of the truth -of heredity, but he had not the faintest conception -of the unity of humanity. His theory of life was -essentially atomic. Humanity was not to him one -whole, but a congeries of individuals, each one an -end to himself, and living just to himself. The -injury done to self by wrong-doing was always -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>present to a Buddhist’s thought, but the suffering -thus caused to others was never taken into account. -He had no idea of the whole suffering in the one, and -consequently no sense of duty to mankind. Though -believing in the propagative power of good and evil, -he did not work for the good of coming generations, -but solely for the rescue of the individual from the -whirlpool of suffering existence. It has been -charitably suggested that his aim finds its analogue -in the offset to personal extinction so winningly -presented by “George Eliot” and Mr. John Morley, -whereby though dead and gone for ever in ourselves, -we may “live again in minds made better by -our presence,” and “in pulses stirred to generosity.”<a id='r199' /><a href='#f199' class='c010'><sup>[199]</sup></a> -Buddhism had no such hope; the age, the system -itself, were alike incapable of conceiving it. The -time for that kind of Positivism had not come. The -human mind had to undergo long centuries of -Christian culture before it was possible for the -nineteenth-century agnostic poetess and philosopher -thus to expound their creed, for modern Positivism -has been powerfully though indirectly influenced by -the faith which it contradicts, and, like many of the -assailants of Christianity, it owes to it the most of -its strength and the best of its weapons.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Christianity, starting from the conception of -man as no outgrowth of nature, but a new creation -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>in it, a being within and distinct from his body -as the driver is from the chariot,<a id='r200' /><a href='#f200' class='c010'><sup>[200]</sup></a> has a theory of -human destiny contrasted utterly with that of -Buddhism. Man’s teeth have been set on edge -because his fathers have eaten a sour grape, but the -brand of pain upon past transgressions helps him to -conquer the taint transmitted in the blood. Though -he finds heavy temptation in inherited tendencies, -he finds in every temptation a way of escape in a -call to yield to other tendencies which are ever -drawing his soul to goodness. Sharing a confessedly -sinful humanity, he may be partaker of a sinless -one, and thus, if evil reigns over him unto death, -the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus can free -him from it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Buddhism had no such hope and goal for man; -indeed, we may well wonder that a pessimism more -thorough than that of Brahmanism did not deprive -it of all hope and sink it into fatalism. Left alone -to fight his way through the universe, struggling -in a maelstrom of forces with no help for him in -man, no hope of sympathy in God, a Buddhist -would surely despair. On the contrary, unlike the -Moslem cowering under the thought of relentless -will, he accepted the situation with Christian -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>determination to improve it.<a id='r201' /><a href='#f201' class='c010'><sup>[201]</sup></a> He could hope for -deliverance, for suffering had an origin, and if the -cause could be removed then suffering would end. -The coils of misery could be unwound, the curse -of humanity could be abolished, if only man could -procure for himself emancipation from the necessity -of Karma. Now this the true Buddhist believed -he could gain by the extinction of all desire. Plato -adopting the Pythagorean doctrine of transmigration, -taught that the future organism of the soul -would depend upon the cravings which it had -fostered here.<a id='r202' /><a href='#f202' class='c010'><sup>[202]</sup></a> Somewhat similarly Christians believe -that the future of the man will depend upon -his most dominant present habits, and that, disembodied, -the spirit will gravitate unerringly to the -society which it has made of its kind. Buddhism, -believing in no soul, maintained that in the dying -creature a particular thirst or cleaving to existence -caused the birth of another creature; and so he -who would escape from the chain of existence must -endeavour, by vigorous prosecution of the eightfold -way, and the four paths or degrees of perfection to -which it led, to attain a state in which all craving -for continuity had ceased. Karma then would have -no terror to him; he would have reached a point -whence he could look onwards without anxiety, -because he would be treading a path from which he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>never would stray. He might still be a man, liable -to suffering and subject to death, but one purified -and emancipated from all inheritance of evil, and -fully assured of Nirvana.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And what was Nirvana, the final refuge of the -emancipated Buddhist? Ever since the religion -was known in Europe great diversity of opinion has -prevailed as to the meaning of this word. It was -employed by the Brahmans many centuries before -Buddha’s day, and used by them and by himself and -his disciples in so great a variety of senses that even -the learned Rajendralala Mitra, in enumerating -the sects into which orthodox Buddhists are divided -in regard to it, confessed some years ago that he -had given up in despair the attempt to ascertain its -meaning.<a id='r203' /><a href='#f203' class='c010'><sup>[203]</sup></a> The researches and discoveries of later -years have enabled the translators of the texts to -write with less hesitation as to its significance, and -we are entitled to accept as solid the results of their -patient investigations. To begin with, they tell us -that it means the peace which ensues when all -passion has been subdued, and all selfish craving -has been extinguished. Though practically no -Buddhist hopes to attain to it here, but only to -enter the paths leading to it, it may be reached, not -in anticipation only, but in fruition.<a id='r204' /><a href='#f204' class='c010'><sup>[204]</sup></a> Buddha may -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>be said to have been in Nirvana forty years, for he -entered it, not in the moment of dying, but when -he attained perfection. This first conception of it, -therefore, seems a marvellous anticipation of the -faith of the Christian, who finds his heaven and -enters into his rest when he is delivered from the -φρόνημα τῆς σάρκος, from all selfish clutching at -the means of existence. In both religions, taken -at their highest, the goal of aspiration was not -extinction of sorrow, but extinction of self-love: in -Buddhism the quenching of <i>trishna</i>, or <i>upádána</i>, -“thirst,” in Christianity the quenching of ἐπιθυμία, -“lust,” “inordinate desire.” In both religions the -goal meant finality, a state in which there was an -end of death; and in both, moreover, it meant a -change which no language could define, and to -which no known standard could apply. The -Christian believer tells us that he is passing from -the visible to the invisible, from the temporal to the -eternal, and in like manner the Buddhist Arahat -would only be able to allude to the great change by -negations, and as the very opposite of all we know -or at present conceive. The Christian believes in -the perseverance of the saints, and the Buddhist -who has really entered the path must sooner or -later reach his prize.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But there the analogies end, while the contrasts -between the two beliefs are as irreconcilable as are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>their postulates. The postulates of Christianity -are the spiritual nature of man, and that his present -evil condition is not his normal one. Sin has gone -extensively and deeply into his being, for it is no -mere superficial excrescence, a fault which can be -corrected, a smirch that can be washed away, but -a leprosy in the blood, which is the life. Cleansing -is required and provided, but it is the cleansing out -of the whole corrupt nature by the transfusion into -the soul of a Divine life so pure, and so strong because -of purity, that it could not be holden of -death. Life is the essential idea of Christian salvation; -it is the Divine gift bestowed by Christ, who -came that we might have life, and have it more -abundantly. So while in the body we groan, being -burdened by a suffering flesh, it is not that we may -be unclothed, but clothed upon; not that the gift -of life may be recalled, but that it may be secured -in its completeness. It is “more life and fuller -that we want.” Sanctification in the Christian -conception means a process of healing, and salvation -means perfect health—the condition of a creature -freed from all inordinate desire, or desire for anything -forbidden, which is the root of all sin, and -rejoicing in the untainted bliss of being. Deathless, -sinless life, the life of eternal incorruption, “the -perfect life of love, the rest of immortality,” that is -the Christian Nirvana.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>Buddhism, on the contrary, postulating the -material nature of all existence controlled by the -universal law of transmigration, had no such conception -of final blessedness. Nirvana in its thought -meant, indeed, extinction in the first instance of all -fleshly and selfish dispositions; but the thirst, the -“cleaving” (<i>tanhā</i>) which was to be quenched, was not -lust in the Christian sense, but the natural innocent -love of life, and Nirvana involved the extinction of -that love, and of life as the going out of a flame -which had nothing else to feed upon. Deliverance -from this instinctive thirst for life is a specific germ -of which annihilation is the outcome. That Buddha -so expounded it was long questioned, and by many -denied, but Dr. Oldenberg has sufficiently made -clear his attitude toward this dogma. He seems to -have contented himself with its first significance, -to have evaded the necessity of deciding the many -discussions which were waged concerning the -second as profitless, and not tending to quietude -and wisdom, and to have exhorted his disciples to -strive rather to enter the paths.<a id='r205' /><a href='#f205' class='c010'><sup>[205]</sup></a> By the time, -however, the canonical books were produced, his -disciples had not shrunk from pushing his fundamental -principles to their only logical conclusion. -The most ancient expositions of his doctrine disclose -one long theory of Nihilism as its only legitimate -<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>inference. If misery was inseparable from existence, -it followed that non-existence was a blessing, -and consequently man’s chief end was to aspire and -strive to reach that state in which the “very seed -of existence has withered, the lamp of life has burnt -out for ever, and man can no more be born again.”<a id='r206' /><a href='#f206' class='c010'><sup>[206]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>While this was the doctrine of the philosophers, -the overwhelming majority of Buddhists in every -age and country have put a very different meaning -upon the word. Just as human nature has proved -too strong in them to accept their atheistic creed, -so in popular estimation from the first, Nirvana has -meant not annihilation of existence, but extinction -of suffering. They did not comprehend its metaphysical -significance, but they longed, as all men -do, for release from sorrow, and a happier life when -this is over, and they took refuge in Buddha, because -his law promised to convey them over the -troubles of life into a blessed hereafter. There -might be higher things for the wise to gain, but the -simple were contented with this inferior portion, and -indeed they chose the better part. For surely the -conception of deliverance from suffering, involving -extinction of the being that suffers, was as childish -as that of getting rid of a toothache by cutting off -the head.<a id='r207' /><a href='#f207' class='c010'><sup>[207]</sup></a> Rightly were they led by the infallible -<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>instincts of our moral being to believe that the end -of righteousness must be rest, but they wandered -fearfully in conceiving of rest as nothingness, for -the “end of righteousness is peace, and the fruit of -peace, quietness and assurance for ever.”<a id='r208' /><a href='#f208' class='c010'><sup>[208]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The great question with Buddha and his immediate -disciples was not how Nirvana, the goal -of human aspiration, was to be defined, but how -it was to be attained. It was for him sufficiently -expressed as the final extinction of all the roots -of sorrow, and he taught that this consummation -could only be reached by knowledge. Ignorance -was the ultimate ground of all suffering existence, -but, as in Christianity, men could know the truth, -and the truth would set them free. According to -both religions, this knowledge could neither be -transmitted by tradition nor learned by a simple -intellectual process. It implied a moral and -spiritual training, and was the fruit of obedience; -but there again the analogy ends, for the Buddhist’s -idea of knowledge is as widely contrasted with the -Christian idea as is its idea of the Truth to be -known. In Christianity knowledge means Divine -<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>illumination or revelation, the result of trustful -surrender to Christ, the revealer of the Father, and -Himself the Truth. In Buddhism it meant a knowledge -gained by man himself, through a process of -moral culture and self-control.<a id='r209' /><a href='#f209' class='c010'><sup>[209]</sup></a> In Christianity it -was a grace that came through obedience to a better -Will; in Buddhism it meant simply obedience to -a Law. That law, moreover, had no commanding -power to enforce it, and involved no moral obligation -in the Christian sense to obey it. It was not a law -like the law of Moses or the law of Christ, for it -implied no Lawgiver to make it binding. It was -simply a rule, a method, discovered by man, and -followed because he found it expedient to follow it. -Adopting this method, observing this rule, persevering -in this course, a man would attain to -knowledge of the truth of things, but this supposed -truth is the very contradiction of the truth as it -is in Jesus, the truth by which we are sanctified, -and made wise unto salvation.<a id='r210' /><a href='#f210' class='c010'><sup>[210]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>This should be borne in mind when in translations -of Buddhist books we find such words as -“holiness,” “saints,” “paths or degrees of sanctification,” -“righteousness,” and such like. The original -<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>words represent conceptions different from and -antagonistic to those suggested by these words to -us. But keeping this in view, we may well admire -and be thankful for the high purpose and clear -moral insight which enabled Buddha to discover -and set forth his way to Nirvana. The strength -and glory of Buddhism, the secret of its original -attractiveness, and of its long continuance, is its -ethical system. Its metaphysical creed may represent -a very puerile philosophy, its discipline of -artificial restraint may have been the reverse of -emancipation, but its moral code, in its simple and -direct and powerful appeal to the conscience, is a -far nearer approach to the Gospel than that of -Gentile Stoics or of Jewish Scribes. Avoiding sensuality -on the one hand as degrading, and asceticism -on the other as unprofitable, it mapped out a -<i>via media</i> that led far above that projected by any -ancient school. It entered into every domain of -life, of thought and word and deed;<a id='r211' /><a href='#f211' class='c010'><sup>[211]</sup></a> laid its control, -as Christianity does, on feeling and motive, and -proclaimed that the way to perfect peace was a -way which no unrighteous man could enter and no -unclean man could tread.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>It is very interesting to catch, behind all its -superstitions and idolatries, and crude and childish -speculations, this glimpse of an ideal like unto that -of the Son of Man, calling and leading men to -righteousness, purity, and kindness, as their only -refuge. To the old Vedic religion, and to all -the class of religions of which it is the type, -morality, as we have seen, was a stranger. It was -the philosopher, and not the priest, who in old -times argued of righteousness, temperance, and -judgment to come. The Hebrew, as we have -seen, was the first and only ancient religion that -demanded holiness of life as indispensable to -the worship of God, and Christianity, as was -natural, recognised this old law which men had -from the beginning. But Buddhism was the first -system in which morality was substituted for religion. -It had neither priests, nor temples, nor -prayers, but taught men to depend for safety solely -upon a life of virtue and wisdom and goodness. -Though it implied a change of heart amounting to -conversion, this was due to the operation of no -regenerating spirit, but to perseverance in courses -within the reach of any one. Anticipating, therefore, -theories of life broached now-a-days as if they -were new discoveries, its endeavour to dissociate the -human from the supernatural, and to substitute the -ethical for the religious, deserves very earnest study.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>It meant man’s earnest resolve to work out his -salvation with fear and trembling, for there is no -God within him working both to will and to do of -His good pleasure. It was an attempt to conceive -of a morally governed universe without a Governor. -Professedly atheistic compared with the religion out -of which it arose, it has been properly described to -be “more theistic at its core than Brahmanism has -ever been.”<a id='r212' /><a href='#f212' class='c010'><sup>[212]</sup></a> It did not trouble itself about the -origin of man as an emanation from the universal -self, but it asserted the dignity of his nature as -resting on really a sounder basis. It refused to -believe with the Hebrew that the Creator had -written the law on the tables of the heart, but it -found the law there written somehow, and read it -almost as correctly. Like the Christian apostle, its -founder asserted that each man was a law unto himself, -the judge of his own action, and the arbiter of -his fate. And thus it came to pass that, without -any conscious purpose of doing so, he inaugurated a -moral revolution which lasted for ages. It swept -away an enormous mass of superstitions from the -Indian mind for centuries, abolished many abuses, -and modified more which it failed to overcome. It -has tended to civilise many barbarous races; and if -among them Buddhism has been able to bear the -encumbrance of their hideous idolatries which it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>assumed, it is because of the strong ethical foundation -upon which it rests. It is the ethical element -in religion that is universal and enduring, and there -is a completeness and force and persuasiveness of -ethical teaching in Buddhism which all non-Christian -religions lack; there is a comprehensiveness -of duty and gentleness which pre-intimate -clearly that universal Christian rule which makes -it imperative that we should not only duly consider -all brethren who are human, but should say to the -worm, as within the scope of our benevolence, -“Thou art my mother and sister.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>Let us now examine more closely this way to Nirvana -as expounded in the Suttas of Buddha, and in -relation to Christ’s way of salvation. The Christian -is very simple, but as it proceeds from a much deeper -conception of human need, its method of meeting it -is very different. It was not the suffering and misdirection -of men that most deeply impressed and -most powerfully affected our Lord. He came to a -race made in the image of God, that had confessedly -fallen from or had failed to realise its ideal. It was -lost, as sheep are lost, by inherent tendency to -wander; as coins are lost, by the neglect of others; -as prodigals are lost, by sensuality; and as Pharisees -are lost, by self-righteousness. It was diseased and -perishing, struggling not in the coils of changeful -suffering, but in the clutch of an evil power which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>had taken possession of it. Sorely needing, though -not seeking redemption, unable to help itself, He -had come in the name of His Father, who willed not -that any should perish, to seek and save it. His -formula of salvation was plain enough for even -babes to apprehend, for all He asked was that men -should turn to and believe in Him. They could -not raise themselves, but they could look toward -Him, and find deliverance in the look, for by trust -in Him as the supreme object of love and worship, -they would be lifted up out of their evil state. The -deepest tides of man’s being are those which are -swayed by his faith in and love of persons, and it -was upon faith, the commonest of all powers in our -nature, that Christ relied for the deliverance of -mankind from the dominion of evil. He offered -Himself to man and for man, was lifted up for them -on the cross in the beauty of suffering holiness; and -as love always attracts love, and as goodness -becomes a creative power in those who appreciate -it, so all who believed Him, trusted Him, clung -to Him as the weak cling to the strong, were -uplifted, and changed, and transfigured. Love not -only has a dominating but an assimilating power. -We become like those whom we fervently admire -and implicitly obey. Obedience in such a case is -not an obligation, but an inspiration; so though in -Christianity we speak of the Law of Christ, it is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>not as an external code to which we must conform, -but as a power communicated to and operative in us. -It is a law of the <i>spirit of life</i>, a grace and blessedness -of disposition, which, springing from gratitude, -will manifest itself in holiness far exceeding the -righteousness of a law, because vivified by a charity -and mercy as boundless as that which it adores.</p> - -<p class='c006'>So when our Lord inaugurated His kingdom, He -may be said to have proclaimed in the Beatitudes -His Law, for He then declared the dispositions of -those who would receive Him, and who as sons of -men trusting and following Him, would be saved -and sanctified and glorified by the Son of God. -Now, though from his first sermon to the last -Buddha is represented as “instructing his disciples, -inciting them, rousing them, and gladdening them” -by discoursing of blessedness, it was not of blessedness -in the gospel sense. It was the blessedness of -the Old Covenant, not of the New—the blessedness, -not of them who love much because they have been -forgiven much, but of them who keep the law, and -tread “the path which opens the eyes, bestows understanding, -leads to peace of mind and full enlightenment”—the -blessedness all who, walking in the Noble -Eightfold Way, must eventually reach Nirvana.<a id='r213' /><a href='#f213' class='c010'><sup>[213]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>It is almost impossible to explain all that is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>meant by the Noble Eightfold Way, for translators -differ very greatly as to the real meaning of the -terms employed, and even when they agree, they -warn us that the words, though similar to our own, -do not suggest the same realities. The word “righteousness” -and even “morality” never can have on the -lips of a true Buddhist the same signification which -they have on ours; for righteousness, apart from -the fear and love of God, is an impossible conception -to us, and so would unrighteousness, unless as a -sin or an offence against Him. Buddhism has no -word for ‘sin’ in our sense, and therefore no words for -‘holiness’ or ‘saint.’ “Sin is simply pain, demerit, -and a saint is one freed from what causes pain.” “A -righteous act is one accumulating merit, an unrighteous -act one producing suffering.”<a id='r214' /><a href='#f214' class='c010'><sup>[214]</sup></a> The Eightfold -Way, interpreted by the legends, presents us -with the Buddhist conception of the perfect man, -and were we to take its constituents as equivalents -to the Christian qualities suggested by the words, -we should find outlined a character which here or -anywhere must be its own beatitude, but whose -blessedness is as completely beyond the reach of -sinful man as flying is beyond the power of a bird -whose pinions are broken.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But Right Views or Belief, Right Resolve, Right -Speech, Right Work, Right Livelihood, Right Exercise, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>Right Mindfulness, and Right Tranquillity, -must be taken, not as we accept, but as Buddhists -understand, the phrases. By right belief they unquestionably -meant belief in Buddha and the Four -Verities; right resolve included abandonment of all -domestic and social duties; right speech was the -recitation or publication of the dharma; right -work was specially that of a monk; right livelihood -that of living on alms; right exercise tended -to the suppression of all individuality; right mindfulness -was habitual contemplation upon the impurity -and impermanence of human nature; and -right tranquillity was ecstasy.<a id='r215' /><a href='#f215' class='c010'><sup>[215]</sup></a> To have substituted -even this in the Hindu mind for a righteousness -only ceremonial and superstitious was indeed -reformation; but as an idea of Perfection it is -manifestly not only different from, but greatly -inferior to, the Christian ideal. Perfection in the -case of Buddhism meant extinction of feeling -and consciousness; in Christianity it meant harmonious -and full development of being and character. -In Christianity perfection meant conformity -to an Exemplar outside and above it, the likeness of -a child to a Father in heaven; but Buddhism could -conceive of no exemplar, and the man who would -be perfect must strive in entire self-dependence to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>be so. In Buddhism the standard is purely human; -in Christianity, while the measure required is relative, -the standard is divine. So in Buddhism the -Arhat is content, and we never hear from him the -confession, “I count not myself to have attained!” -but in Christianity the more saintly the life, the -greater the discontent with it. The higher we rise -the more urgent is the desire to press on. Christianity -therefore opens up the avenue to perpetual -improvement, and inspiring us with a motive to progress -which can never lose its power, it provides -for the soul the only rest that will satisfy it. “In -life,” says Pascal, “we are ever believing, we seek -repose, but what we really crave is agitation.” “It -is the contest that pleases us, and not the victory; -the pursuit and not the possession.”<a id='r216' /><a href='#f216' class='c010'><sup>[216]</sup></a> Absolute -truth and goodness is the perfection of divine -blessedness; the never-ceasing pursuit of it is -human blessedness. The goal we can never reach, -but the watchword, “Nearer, my God, to Thee!” -seems to solve for us the problem of human destiny, -for by directing us to the life of perpetual achievement, -it assures us of a never-ending blessedness.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Buddhist goal of perfection and the law or -way that led to it, was by Buddha himself or his -earliest disciples considered to be beyond the power -of many to attain to. His followers were soon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>ranged into classes according to their ability to -tread the paths which led to liberty. His law, -therefore, unlike the Ten Commandments of the -Bible, which are binding on all without distinction, -was not a law for all men. Each one was at liberty -to take on him as many or as few obligations as he -pleased, according to his resolve to continue in the -world, or to abandon it, and having abandoned it -according to his resolve to seek after Arhatship -and aspire to Nirvana.<a id='r217' /><a href='#f217' class='c010'><sup>[217]</sup></a> Upon those who, conforming -outwardly, yet remained in their secular callings, -was enjoined abstinence from the five gross sins, -of killing, theft, adultery, falsehood, taking intoxicating -drinks—already, with the exception of the -last, made binding on them by the Hindu religion. -By refraining from these, and by serving and -maintaining the monks, even the laity could win -for themselves a happy re-birth into some world -hereafter. Those wiser ones, again,<a id='r218' /><a href='#f218' class='c010'><sup>[218]</sup></a> who, convinced -of the evil and danger of secular life, had -abandoned their homes, and entered the Order -that by meditation and abstraction they might -further work out their deliverance, bound themselves, -in addition to observance of these five commands, -to eat only at stated times, to use neither -perfume nor ornament, to sleep only on mats on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>the ground, to abstain from dancing, music, and -worldly shows, to own and accept neither silver nor -gold, and to be perfectly chaste. For those wisest -of all, who had not only abandoned the world -in order to lead the better life of the religious, but -who had strenuously resolved, in following the -religious life, to attain to Arhatship and Nirvana, -there remained the much more severe observance of -what was called the “Seven Jewels of the Law,”<a id='r219' /><a href='#f219' class='c010'><sup>[219]</sup></a> -the last and most important use to which the Noble -Eightfold Way could be put. For by earnestly -struggling, meditating, mastering their precepts, -the “Ten Fetters” of Delusion, Doubt, Dependence -on Ceremonial Rites, Sensuality, Hatred, Love -of life on Earth, Craving for life in Heaven, Pride, -Self-Righteousness, and Ignorance, would one by -one be broken, and long self-abnegation involved -in the process would work out its full reward.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is to be observed that in all these classes or -stages the practice of virtue and the cultivation of -purity were considered fundamental. In the preaching -ascribed to Buddha great stress is laid on Enlightenment, -and on Meditation, which leads to it; but -at the base of all this system, as the first indispensable -factor in securing perfection, was Uprightness. -In the Suttas this formula constantly recurs: -“Great is the advantage, great the fruit of earnest -<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>contemplation when set round with upright conduct. -Great is the fruit, great the advantage of -intelligence when set round with earnest contemplation. -The mind set round with intelligence is -free from the greatest evils, that is to say, from -sensuality, from individuality, from delusion, and -from ignorance.“ Again, “Righteousness, earnest -thought, wisdom and freedom sublime: these are -the truths realised by Gotama far-renowned.”<a id='r220' /><a href='#f220' class='c010'><sup>[220]</sup></a> The -uprightness, or righteousness required, presents, as -the Moral Law of Scripture does, a much broader -range of influence than the words would indicate. -In prohibiting lying, Buddha enjoined avoidance of -all offensive language, and of every word that could -sever men. He also instructed his disciples not only -to avoid showing enmity to those who hated them, -but to overcome evil with good. Purity again in -his regard meant purity not of word and deed alone, -but of thought and feeling. In some respects his -precepts go beyond the Moral Law. The command -not to kill included respect not for human beings -only, but for every creature that had life. He not -only condemned drunkenness, but demanded total -abstinence as essential. The precept “Do not commit -adultery” was understood in our sense of it only -by the laity; for the religious, marriage was not an -honourable estate, but one polluted and polluting. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>Unlike the Moral Law, which recognises everything -that is natural and sanctifies it, the rule of Buddha -in these respects was unnatural in its restrictions. -It pronounced common and unclean what God Himself -has cleansed; and, as always happens when men -add to the commandments of God in one direction, -they are sure to take away from them in another. -So Buddha’s rule, though excellent in that it lays -its control not on conduct only, but on thought and -feeling, is essentially negative and defective. It -does not cover man’s whole nature, nor provide for -his every possible relation. Ignoring God, it is -therefore interpreted by no positive and active -principle of goodness. It is inspired by no sense -of duty, for it recognises in the universe no superior -to whom anything is due, and, unconscious of any -benefit, it owns no gratitude. Consequently unrighteousness, -as an offence to or an outrage upon a -better or kinder being than self, is not in all its -range of view. Unrighteousness is only a calamity -to be avoided or an imprudence not to be repeated. -Struggling to get out of the meshes of an evil net, -the Buddhist might bewail his mistake, his folly, or -his feeble or ill-directed effort, but he was totally -unconscious of rebellion or ingratitude.<a id='r221' /><a href='#f221' class='c010'><sup>[221]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Moreover, in a universe where Moi-même is the -only god, and a man’s own Nirvana his only goal, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>the primary motive of action can rise no higher -than fear or self-interest. Apparently strong, it is -really essentially weak in regard to the maintenance -of proper relations to others demanded by the -second table of the Moral Law. The suffering caused -to others through his failure to fulfil the law, or by -conscious transgression of it, makes no impression -on the Buddhist, except in as far as it interferes -with his pursuit of perfection. Others are regarded -only as occasions of acquiring merit. Instead of -serving them as Christ enjoins us to do, the -Buddhist serves himself of them. It is a religion -of every man for himself. It has been likened to -Positivism, but it falls far short of it, as lacking -the altruism which Positivism has borrowed from -Christianity.<a id='r222' /><a href='#f222' class='c010'><sup>[222]</sup></a> Positivism refuses to do anything -for the glory of God, but it lays great stress upon -the duty of living for humanity. It makes the -great mistake of supposing that the claims of God -must be distinct from or antagonistic to the interests -of humanity. It does not recognise that they are -identical—that the more the life is reserved for -God, the more of it is communicated to our fellow-men, -and that we must love the Lord our God with -all our hearts, before we can love our neighbour as -ourselves. The Positivist scheme of morals, however, -is vastly superior to that of Buddhism, for in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>it the goal is Nirvana, without any reference to -the good of any other, and the decided advantage of -any action consists wholly and solely in the consequences -to the actor himself.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Dr. Oldenberg has pointed out to us that the -much-vaunted charity of Buddhism, illustrated in -the legends by the self-immolation of Buddha to -satisfy the hunger of a wild beast, though it “sways -toward does not even touch the law of Christian -charity.”<a id='r223' /><a href='#f223' class='c010'><sup>[223]</sup></a> Buddha’s Rule, though benevolent to the -extent that it would harm no one, and beneficent -in respect of doing good, knew nothing of Christianity’s -enthusiastic passionate desire to help and -work for others.<a id='r224' /><a href='#f224' class='c010'><sup>[224]</sup></a> It was the interest of the true -Buddhist to forgive his enemies and not to hate -them,<a id='r225' /><a href='#f225' class='c010'><sup>[225]</sup></a> but he never considered himself bound to -love them. It was good policy for one pressing on -to Arhatship to do good works, and he would go -far out of his way to do them; but he never went -about doing good as one who found his reward in -the opportunity and power to do it. He was -among men not as one who ministers and gives his -life to ransom others. His very self-abnegation -had egoism at its core. Between the Christian surrender -<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>of self to God for the sake of others, and -the Buddhist surrender to others for the sake of -self, there is a great gulf fixed. The first springs -from a sense of indebtedness, a consciousness of -mercy unmerited, but freely bestowed; but the -other, having no sense of forgiveness received, has -no real mercy to show. The mercy of God is the -spring of all true human compassion, for he who -truly receives it finds it impossible to withhold it. -It is, alas! bestowed upon many who are too full of -themselves to take it in, and in all such cases it is -lost, but in every heart that is conscious of it, it -becomes a disposition to show kindness that cannot -be counted by acts, and that never will ask, “How -oft shall my brother offend me and I forgive him?” -Buddhism was friendly in its benevolence, but it -never was actively charitable, in taking upon it the -infirmities and bearing the sicknesses of others. It -has no passionate desire to gather the wrecked and -blighted of humanity and to bind up their bleeding -wounds and sores. On the contrary, in its pursuit -of Nirvana it passed by all such in the path of -life, precisely as the priest and Levite passed the -wounded man on their way to Jericho. It not -only was selfish, but even cruel in this pursuit, -for a woman in difficulty or in distress was not to -be helped by a passing monk. The poor and the -diseased and the lost were not to be considered, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>for they were simply suffering the due reward of -their deeds; but the yellow-robed monks, healthy -and shining-faced, were to be the recipients of the -bounty of the charitable and the proper objects of -their attention. One of its beatitudes runs thus: -“Not to serve the foolish, but to serve the wise; -to honour those worthy of honour. This is the -greatest blessing.”<a id='r226' /><a href='#f226' class='c010'><sup>[226]</sup></a> Almsgiving was indeed encouraged; -but alms were only to be bestowed upon -the worthy—on the monk and Arhat—not on the -outcast and the leper, whose miserable condition -indicated their unworthiness. If the animal creation -profited by their charity, which they refused -to their suffering fellow-men, it was from a selfish -motive: for the parent, or wife, or child, whom by -Buddha’s rule they were obliged to help, might be -looking at them, for all they knew, out of the eyes -of the beast, and not to fulfil the precept would -bring to themselves both harm and loss.<a id='r227' /><a href='#f227' class='c010'><sup>[227]</sup></a> Tested -even socially, therefore, the Rule of Buddha is -defective, and this because it is not founded on -religion. The cause of God is eternally the cause -of man. In the Fatherhood of God is essentially -involved the universal brotherhood of man. Christ -is before us as the representative of humanity, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>because He is the representative of Deity. Refusal -to acknowledge His supremacy will disturb all -human relationships and throw them into disorder. -We learn to do to others as Christ hath done -to us; the sense of our indebtedness will be the -measure of our charity. For this end He has -chosen the poorest and the most wretched as His -memorials, and He has said, “Inasmuch as ye have -done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye -have done it unto Me.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>To do justice to Buddha’s way, however, we -must remember that the path of uprightness (<i>sila</i>) -was only the first part of it. Without external -rectitude, inward integrity would be impossible; -but external rectitude, without self-concentration, -would be a foundation without a structure. “A -man must endeavour to keep constant watch over -his thoughts, for our whole existence depends upon -our thinking,”<a id='r228' /><a href='#f228' class='c010'><sup>[228]</sup></a> was one of the noble maxims of -Buddhism. It is to its credit as a religion that -it recognised that only a small part of our real life -can be expressed in words and deeds, that the true -sphere of morality and human temptation was -within, and that it instructed men to keep the -heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues -of life. Buddha seems to have felt, and to have in -part at least expressed, the contrast and conflict -<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>between the seen and the unseen in our life. He -recognised, it is true, no soul, and the warfare between -the flesh and the spirit was not found in his -philosophy, but he had to account for the antagonism -which every one feels between our animality and -our humanity, between what is pressing or dragging -us down, and what in us struggles to be free. -The mental and moral qualities were of far more -value than the physical; the invisible was of more -consequence, because more real, than the visible. -The “mindful and thoughtful man” was the man -who “looked within and not without,” and so -Buddha’s insistence upon the “noble earnestness -of meditation” as indispensable to deliverance is -a grand testimony to the truth, which no philosophy -of materialism can falsify, that we are far -more concerned with what we think and feel and -imagine than with what we touch and we taste, -and that our thoughts and feelings go far more -into the weaving of our character than do our words -and works.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is alleged that in Pali literature the word -for meditation (<i>samadhi</i>), by which alone inner -purity can be attained, bears to the word for “uprightness” -the same relation as that which faith in -the New Testament bears to works.<a id='r229' /><a href='#f229' class='c010'><sup>[229]</sup></a> By uprightness, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>delusion is cleared away, and by pondering -constantly the five principal kinds of meditations—Love, -Pity, Joy, the Impurity of the Body, and -the state of Serene Indifference to what men think -bad or good—the man was supposed to be redeemed -from all attachment.<a id='r230' /><a href='#f230' class='c010'><sup>[230]</sup></a> It is very pathetic -to note this approach toward and yet rebound from -the Christian conception of the function of faith: -for faith is the victory that overcometh the world, -with its lust of the flesh, its lust of the eye, and its -pride of life. It is that too which, because it looks -to the unseen and eternal, quenches all sordid or -inordinate cleaving to life, which is the root of so -<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>much evil and the cause of so much suffering. The -apostles, instructed of Christ, have taught us that -God’s precious gift of life is ours to use: that to -keep it, to will to save and to find it, as if it were an -end and not a means, is to miss and to lose it; while -to use it, be willing to lose it for some higher good, -is to keep it unto life eternal. Now Buddha had a -glimpse of this truth, that lust of existence was the -root of bitterness in humanity. He condemned as -heresies the worldly lust which says, “Let us eat -and drink, for to-morrow we die,” and the lust of -other-worldliness which dreams that the life beyond -will yield as good, or better pleasures than this -one;<a id='r231' /><a href='#f231' class='c010'><sup>[231]</sup></a> but the two last of his five principal meditations -show how far apart and far short of the -victory of faith was his idea of the victory of -samadhi. The apostles’ aim was to get rid of lust; -but his aim was to get rid of life. The apostles -mortified the members which are upon the earth, -anger, wrath, malice, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, -just that the higher life, the life hid with -Christ in God, might grow and brighten; but -Buddha, in “cleansing himself from all impurity, -little by little, moment by moment, piece by -piece,”<a id='r232' /><a href='#f232' class='c010'><sup>[232]</sup></a> sought to escape from the last shadow of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>personal existence into the blessedness of absolute -unconsciousness, if not of utter extinction.</p> - -<p class='c006'>For this seems clearly revealed in the last or -highest stage to which the paths of uprightness -and meditation were supposed to conduct, that -of enlightenment (<i>panna</i>) or spiritual abstraction, -alleged to be equivalent to prayer in other religions. -The highest Christian conception of prayer is that -of communion with God; the highest Buddhist -conception of <i>panna</i> is of a state of clairvoyance -or ecstatic insight in which “men hear with -clear and heavenly ear, surpassing that of men,” -and “comprehend by their own hearts the hearts of -other men,” and “recall their own various states in -former existences,” and “see with pure and heavenly -vision the procession of other beings as they pass -from life to life.”<a id='r233' /><a href='#f233' class='c010'><sup>[233]</sup></a> Buddha evidently was believed -by his disciples to have possessed this power, and -probably his own long fasting and severe austerities, -practised in the beginning of his career, acting upon -a highly nervous system, made him a believer in -the reality of this perfect insight and ecstasy of -contemplation, and that it might be acquired by all -who were sufficiently persevering in pursuit of -Arhatship.<a id='r234' /><a href='#f234' class='c010'><sup>[234]</sup></a> It must be observed, however, that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>he does not appear to have regarded this as an -experience to be enjoyed by the Arhat in perpetuity; -on the contrary, it was the condition -preceding final and eternal deliverance, and so it -may be taken as the Buddhist conception of -Euthanasia.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Christian in the highest and supreme -moment of life aspires, if conscious, after the beatific -vision. It is no Brahmanic absorption into the -absolute that he desires, but likeness to and communion -with God. The consciousness of personality -was never more intense, the conviction was never -stronger that he has been divinely created and -trained as a separate character. By long and prayerful -use of the means of grace he has sought to bring, -and to keep himself under the control of the Holy -Spirit; and he hopes that the next change will -completely free him from every trace of “sensuality, -delusion, and ignorance,” and purge away from the -soul the last taint of selfishness. By long and -sore experiences he has learned that selfishness is -the evil root whence spring all the suffering and -sorrow that poison life. He can therefore understand -and sympathise with the Buddhist anathema -upon “individuality,” if by that is meant the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>endeavour to abstract our life from the solidarity -of humanity, to use it for our own ends, and to -grudge what of it God uses for the rest of His -family. This is the Christian conception of the -cause of death and all its woe, and from this a -Christian saint ever prays and struggles to be -free; but it is not from “individuality” in this -sense that the Buddhist Arhat seeks deliverance. -He is bent upon the very thing from which the -Christian is anxious to escape. He wants to isolate -and withdraw his portion of life from the sum of -humanity, to abstract himself from the mass, to save -his own soul; and now that he nears the goal, his -whole energies are directed, not to purify and -strengthen and ennoble the personal self for better -service, by minding what is pure and lovely, and -by striving unceasingly after what is right and -true, but by crushing out every feeling into -apathy, every thought into vacuity, so as to get -rid of personality, identity, and the very faintest -germ of life.<a id='r235' /><a href='#f235' class='c010'><sup>[235]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>And this is the goal of a race that has extended -not only over the whole range of the present, but -over that of many existences; this is the victory -which crowns a fight that has continued throughout -untold ages. Truly there is something very -pathetic in the conception of a struggle after sainthood -<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>so prolonged, by one who, now a god, now an -animal, now a man, has never lost sight of his -mark, and has ever pressed onwards to it.<a id='r236' /><a href='#f236' class='c010'><sup>[236]</sup></a> Probably -we may have something to learn from it, -by way of correcting the idea that true moral and -spiritual excellence, perfection, saintliness, is the -growth of a single life; but when the goal is -understood in its bare reality, as implying not -destruction of selfishness, but extinction of being, -surely the reproachful question is justified, “To -what purpose is this waste?” After millennia of -transformation the nebula has formed into a star, -and just at the point when it can illumine an -immensity, it disappears for ever from the firmament. -Unreckonable energy and thought have -been expended upon the production of a man, -and just when he has reached the highest point -of perfection, and is most serviceable to the -universe, he becomes of less value than a vapour -that vanishes away. Truly</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in8'>“the crown of our life as it closes</div> - <div class='line'>Is darkness; the fruit thereof dust,”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>and man walketh in a vain show, he disquieteth -himself in vain, if Buddha’s way be the only path -of deliverance from evil, and Nirvana his only goal.</p> - -<p class='c006'>And so while we ought to be profoundly thankful -for the intellectual culture and moral earnestness -<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>that made Buddha, in spite of himself, the -reformer of Eastern Asia, it is manifest that even -his best doctrines represent very partial and one-sided -truths, “dwelt upon with morbid intensity, -to the exclusion of every fact which might have -modified them.”<a id='r237' /><a href='#f237' class='c010'><sup>[237]</sup></a> His fundamental error was -his wild attempt to explain the life of man independently -of Divine control, and to guide man -safely through the perils and temptations of -existence by an ethical system founded on no -appeal to an eternal principle of goodness without, -but solely to self-interest. The result, which -has been to identify the nature of man with -that of the animals,<a id='r238' /><a href='#f238' class='c010'><sup>[238]</sup></a> surely shows conclusively -that religion and morality can never be dissociated -without damage to both. A religion without -morality must degrade. A system of morality -apart from religion will never upraise. Religion -is for man simply indispensable. Deity is a -necessity to him, and deity he must have, though -he finds his god in a tree or makes it out of a -stone. Man lives by faith, faith in his higher -self, faith in a higher than himself, who alone can -explain the conflict between his actual condition -and the ideals which he conceives. The modern -Buddhist assumes that “religion is the science of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>man, not the revelation of God, and he considers -that comprehensions of deity are of far less consequence -than just ideas of a man’s own self,”<a id='r239' /><a href='#f239' class='c010'><sup>[239]</sup></a> but -how can a man have a just idea of himself apart -from some idea of God? According to his idea of -God will be his estimate of himself. Buddhism, by -ignoring God and preaching morality, has certainly -failed to make its adherents moral, and it has -imparted to what is noble in their morality the -melancholy of despair.<a id='r240' /><a href='#f240' class='c010'><sup>[240]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Ignoring God, it could only form, or could not -emancipate itself from, a false conception of man, -as part of a material system of things; but man, -though considerably involved in a material system, -never can be interpreted by it. On the contrary, -nature can only be interpreted or properly understood -in man as the lower in the higher. Man is -an antagonist of nature; he is for ever condemning -its ways, coming into collision with its laws, refusing -to live its life. Out of this collision emerges -his religion, while his morality originates in the -conflict between his own sense of duty and its life -of animal instinct.<a id='r241' /><a href='#f241' class='c010'><sup>[241]</sup></a> To conform to nature, he must -become a brute, but he has in him ideals and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>capacities transcending it, and by exercising these -capacities in pursuit of his ideals he finds his life. -Buddha confessed to an ideal, and wrought hard to -realise it, but alas for humanity when it finds no -higher than self to reverence! Buddha’s theories -of self-culture and self-deliverance reduced to -practice have proved most miserable failures. It -could not be otherwise; no man is likely to move -the ship in which he sits by puffing away at the -sails, or to lift himself out of the mire by simply -pulling away at his boots; and no philosophy of -self-culture, self-control, or self-rescue, can succeed, -which ignores or refuses to acknowledge man’s instinct -of worship. What he most needs is not law, -not a system of morality, not even an example or -model to copy, but inspiration. He knows already -enough to condemn himself, and he has examples -which, though far from perfect, quite suffice to -confound him. The command to be perfect mocks -him as truly as a command to see would mock a -man stone-blind. What he does want is a powerful -moral energy within him, for lack of which he -has to confess that he cannot do the good he would, -but is ever doing the evil which he would not. -His real wretchedness is not his suffering and death, -not even his ignorance, as Buddha thought, but the -continual and seemingly ineffectual struggle between -the animal and the man, the flesh and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>spirit. And Buddhism was powerless to help him -here. It lacked the steady support of the sense of -duty to the highest and best, the inspiration that -comes from the faith that the highest and best is -for us, and is with us, and in us. Belief in God, -as Bacon reminds us, is “essential to the consciousness -of our nobility and dignity, for certainly man is -of kin to the beasts by his body, and if he be not of -kin to God by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble -creature.” So Buddhism in unduly exalting man -to the level of deity has in reality degraded him. -It has indeed lifted wild races out of barbarism, -but it has failed to civilise them. It has certainly -not destroyed ignorance, and the worship of intelligence -has not tended to its development and -diffusion among the peoples whom it has swayed. -Judged even by an ordinary standard, the monks -of either Southern or Northern Buddhism are rarely -found to be enlightened men, while the vast -portion of the peoples among whom these monks -are found are about the most ignorant of all. And -just as certainly has it failed to make men free; -for religion is the guarantee of freedom. “Where -there is no place left in human thought for deity, -there will soon be none found for human liberty.”<a id='r242' /><a href='#f242' class='c010'><sup>[242]</sup></a> -The basis of individual right is the recognition of a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>divine and purely moral government of man. If -there be no higher than the highest man regarding -us, we have only the right to live under the power of -the strongest, and the reign of terror must succeed -to that of order and law. The history of Buddhism -and the miserable governments associated with it -are telling comments upon and confirmation of the -truth that belief in God is necessary to secure the -rights of man.<a id='r243' /><a href='#f243' class='c010'><sup>[243]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The progress of the human race will ever be in -proportion to the strength of its conviction that it -is governed and considered and sustained by a -Power of infinite goodness ever making for righteousness. -Such a conviction means inspiration, -stimulating endurance and hope, and resolute -struggle with evil in all its forms. In it is implied -the assurance that resistance can never be in vain, -that failure at the very worst is only partial success, -and that all things work together for good. The -time for this gospel had not come when Buddha -called upon the people of India to “save themselves -from this condition of wretchedness,” and the result -of his mighty and benevolent efforts shows convincingly -how urgent in human nature is the demand -<span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>for a Faith which will not only enlighten but enliven, -which, recognising fully not only the sufferings -but the whole necessities of man, and creating -strong discontent with the world as we find it, and -even disgust of human life as it is, will quicken in -us persevering and deathless efforts to reform the -one and to improve the other. Such a faith it is -our privilege and awful responsibility to communicate. -Our religion is higher than our grasp, for -it is always above us. Alas! in too many cases -it is higher than our aim, for we are too inclined -to let it slip, and drift on the tides of things as -they are; but mankind will never be satisfied -with a lower. <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Après l’invention du blé ils ne -veulent pas encore vivre du gland.”</span> “We needs -must love the highest when we see it,” and we -needs must strive to become like the highest when -we love it. The gospel preaches consolation and -hope to a suffering world, and promises grace upon -grace to every endeavour to heal and amend its -condition. Christ purifies and improves the life -which we have by destroying only what is evil, and -by preserving and training and ennobling all that is -truly natural. Inexorably He demands the extinction -of selfishness in all its forms, and He will not -even permit us in our prayers to think and ask for -ourselves. He reminds us that God is our Father -in heaven, and what He gives is for all His family. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>Sternly He denounces as sinful the attempt to -secure our own happiness here or in a better world -hereafter; but He offers the heaven and Nirvana -which He found in assuming the burdens of others, -and in bearing their cross. So He assures us that -it is worth our while to live, even in a world groaning -and travailing with suffering, and that it will be -worth our while, even in agony if we must, to die. -It is indeed a very evil world, but as long as we -draw our inspiration from Him we can live in it -not only without damage but with great profit. -When we offer ourselves in His strength for its -salvation we will be saved from its sins. In the -times of our deepest distress we will have the peace -which He left us, and when most severely beset -and cast down with sorrow because of what seems -baffled endeavours, we have only to think of that -hope of ultimate victory which made Him to endure -to the end, to rise into</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in20'>“that last large joy of all,</div> - <div class='line'>Trust in the goodness and the love of Him</div> - <div class='line'>Who, making so much well, will end all well.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span> - <h2 id='lecture-5' class='c004'>LECTURE <abbr title='five'>V.</abbr> <br /> THE BUDDHIST SANGHA<a id='r244' /><a href='#f244' class='c010'><sup>[244]</sup></a>: THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.</h2> -</div> -<p class='c005'>The designation “Church,” never wholly applicable -to Buddhism in the sense in which Christians -employ it, was totally inapplicable to the primitive -Buddhist communities. The institution of the -Church is peculiar to Christianity, for though we -speak of the worship of Krishna, or the religion of -Baal, we never speak of the church of the one or -the other. Christianity is the only religion which -has created a society which no political revolution -can destroy, and no civilisation, however advanced, -can outlive. It may change its form, or express -itself in several co-existent forms; but it is so -adapted to the nature and necessities of man that -it is properly described, in its relation to his -present condition, as divine and everlasting.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Though the Church is the creation of Christ -and the fruit of His mission, the idea of it had -been suggested to the world long ages before He -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>came. “Ecclesia” is peculiarly a New Testament -word, but there are found in the Old Testament -Scriptures plain foreshadowings of the reality represented -by it. In Abraham, “called” out from his -country and kindred, that he might be separated -unto the worship of Jehovah, we have the first pre-intimation -of the Church. In relation to other -nations, his descendants were the “peculiar people” -and Ecclesia of Jehovah, and when as a nation they -failed to embody and express the universal truths, -which it is the Church’s function to communicate -for the blessing of all the world, there was called -out from them, or rather there was formed within -them, “the remnant,” so often referred to by Isaiah -and the subsequent prophets; and in this spiritual -community and fellowship, dissociated from the -national religion,<a id='r245' /><a href='#f245' class='c010'><sup>[245]</sup></a> were conserved and perpetuated -the truths and ideals from which they had fallen -away. After the Captivity, in the rise of the synagogue -system of worship, there was provided an -organisation, whose essential details Christ and -His apostles in instituting the Church could either -adopt or copy; and there can be no question that -from out this synagogue system the Christian -Church emerged, and that even to-day it reflects -some of its peculiar features.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Church was the fruit of Christianity, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>the Sangha was the root out of which Buddhism -sprang. In a Sangha its founder lived and learned -and taught, till as Buddha he founded his own; -but just as he gave a new significance to the -doctrines in which he had been instructed, so he -gave the Sangha an application which accounts for, -though it does not justify, the designation often -accorded to it of a church. As an order without -worship, a brotherhood without any recognition of -the uniting Fatherhood in heaven, a confraternity -in which seniority was assigned only to age,<a id='r246' /><a href='#f246' class='c010'><sup>[246]</sup></a> and -whose leaders never pretended to hold any priestly -office or to exercise any hierarchical authority, the -Sangha at first and for long was not a church; yet -when we examine its constitution and aims we -need not wonder that the religious instincts of -Buddhists, proving stronger than their creed, should -have developed their Sangha into something like a -church, with a cult which, at first consisting only -of veneration for his images and relics, for long -has been almost second to none in the world for -solemnity and dignity and pomp.<a id='r247' /><a href='#f247' class='c010'><sup>[247]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>We have seen that philosophic schools and -religious sects originating in secessions from the -national religion abounded in India long before -Buddha’s day. In the Gangetic valley, as in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>Greece, the new sages attracted their disciples by -the fame of their teaching, but there, not as in -Greece, the disciples lived with their masters apart, -and distinguished from the world by peculiar dress -and manners. Of Monachism, an early outgrowth -of Hindu religion, and indeed its essential adjunct, -as being the state which marked the maturity and -completion of a good man’s earthly life, there were -already many forms, all held in high respect by the -people. Celibacy and mendicancy were common to -all Sanghas, but in regard to vows of silence, and fasting, -and self-torture, they differed greatly from one -another. The majority of them were Brahman in -their constitution and in their recognition of caste: -but long before the rise of Buddhism the Sraman -fraternities, founded on the non-recognition of caste, -were quite equal to the purest Brahman ones in -public esteem. Now in organising the Sakya-putta-Samanas, -the designation by which his disciples -were first known by the people, Buddha adopted -many features and details of discipline common to -all these fraternities, while yet the peculiarity of -his doctrines gave to the community of his own -disciples a character quite distinctive.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Brahman Orders believed that Brahmans -only could be finally saved, and Brahman reformers -could only encourage inferior castes that came to -them for enlightenment by the hope of possibly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>securing a higher birth in a future state. Buddha, -however, considered all men alike in respect of -need, so, knowing of only one way of deliverance, -he proclaimed it without distinction, and, like the -Sramans, he opened his Sangha to all who were -willing to submit to his discipline. Unlike many -of the Sraman fraternities, he discouraged the -life of solitude, and prohibited the practice of self-torture -and severe austerities. In opposition to -the hated Nigganthas, who, aiming at perfection, -went about with only the light and air for their -clothing, he insisted that his disciples should be -decently clad.<a id='r248' /><a href='#f248' class='c010'><sup>[248]</sup></a> In respect that he required -obedience from disciples only as long as they continued -to be so, and would not permit irrevocable -vows—indeed, exacted from them no vow at all—his -Sangha was more like some Anglican guild than -any monastic institution with which we are acquainted.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Still more widely did it differ, not only from -many, but from all the existing fraternities in the -purpose for which he instituted it. Hitherto India -had never witnessed a religious sect that could be -called propagandist. Brahmanism was essentially -exclusive, for no man could become a Brahman by -conversion. The Sraman sages again, left the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>masses to ripen in evil ways for worse lives in more -degraded spheres of future existence, in order to -deliver themselves by ascetic practices and meditation. -At best they taught those who resorted to -them, and were prepared to consort with them. -Buddha, however, by laying upon the brethren the -obligation of extending the knowledge of the law, -inaugurated a revolution in the monastic system -which anticipated that of the great Mendicant -Orders of Christendom. Just as <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Francis emptied -the monasteries and sent forth their inmates to -find their own in seeking the salvation of others, -so Buddha broke down the barriers between the -Indian recluses and the world, by ordaining the -members of his Sangha to teach their fellow-men -the way to liberty. “Therefore, O brethren, to -whom the truths which I have perceived have been -made known by me, having thoroughly mastered -them, meditate upon them, practise them, spread -them abroad, in order that the pure Dhamma may -last long and be perpetuated, in order that it may -continue to be for the good and happiness of the -great multitude, out of pity for the world, to the -good, and gain, and weal of gods and men.”<a id='r249' /><a href='#f249' class='c010'><sup>[249]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>This was the original element<a id='r250' /><a href='#f250' class='c010'><sup>[250]</sup></a> in his conception, -and while one of its effects was to save the members -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>of the Sangha from some of the evils besetting the -life of the recluse by balancing the duty of contemplation -by that of active itineration, its chief and -immediate result was to give Buddhism an expansive -power marvellous to Indians. Religious fraternities -depended upon the presence of their teachers, and -consequently the members were few, but Buddha -commanded the brethren to go forth. “Let not two -of you go the same way” was the original instruction, -and preach the doctrine “which is glorious in the -beginning, glorious in the middle, glorious in the -end, in the spirit and in the letter, for the pure and -perfect life, for the complete cessation of sorrow.”<a id='r251' /><a href='#f251' class='c010'><sup>[251]</sup></a> -By and by these missionaries were authorised to -receive those who desired admission into the -Sangha, and after a due novitiate to ordain them;<a id='r252' /><a href='#f252' class='c010'><sup>[252]</sup></a> -and so we need not wonder that this itineracy, -which in the earliest days was the very essence -of a good Buddhist’s duty, should have had the -effect of spreading the doctrines and gathering -converts so rapidly that in some of the earliest -extant scriptures the Sangha was known as “the -Brotherhood of the Four Quarters”<a id='r253' /><a href='#f253' class='c010'><sup>[253]</sup></a> of what to -Indian thought was the world.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Thus far the Sangha was different from the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>institutions that preceded it, but, unlike the Christian -Church, which finally emerged from Judaism -as the one holy Church of all nations and of both -sexes, and of all classes of men, the Buddhist Sangha -bore with it, and never lost, several marks of its -Hindu origin. One relic of its extraction it most -zealously conserved as essential to the moral -restraint which it encouraged; for though later on -it attracted associates whom it recognised as in -the ways of deliverance, it was from the very first -an exclusively monastic order. Indeed, Monachism, -or the life of retirement, privation, and -chastity, had in Buddhism a place quite different -from that which it occupied in Brahmanism.<a id='r254' /><a href='#f254' class='c010'><sup>[254]</sup></a> The -meditative Brahman anchorite was not considered -the only man who was in the way to deliverance, -for every believer in Brahman ascendency was -free to choose one of three ways of securing salvation,<a id='r255' /><a href='#f255' class='c010'><sup>[255]</sup></a> -but in Buddhism renunciation of the world -represented the highest form of religion, and the -indispensable condition of reaching Nirvana. So, -though in opening the Sangha to all classes, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>proclaiming, in opposition to Brahmanism, that -every man was capable of the highest enlightenment, -Buddha sapped the foundation of caste, it was -only to replace it in another form.<a id='r256' /><a href='#f256' class='c010'><sup>[256]</sup></a> The mendicant -monk, as has been truly observed, took the -Brahman’s place, and for him alone Nirvana was -reserved. So sharply defined were the lines which -divided the Sangha from the rest of mankind, that -no one who had not come out from the world was -regarded as in it and of it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This was quite in keeping with the Buddhist -conception of deliverance. The Sangha simply was -an attempt to realise the idea and purpose of the -creed. Salvation according to Christ meant rescue -from the power of evil, but not withdrawal from the -world as so incurably evil that the sooner man got -out of it the better. Instead of making His Church -an asylum and refuge from the world, He organised -it for the redemption of the world. Instead of -attempting to destroy civil society, He aimed at its -purification by the leavening influence of the new -society which He was creating. The Church was to -be Christ’s witness when He was no longer visible, -the instrument by which His own power would -bear upon the wants of mankind. The slavery and -the degradation of society, the destruction of the -world, was never meant to be the condition of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>the existence or of the liberty and dignity of the -Church. It was but a means to an end, a means -so essential that without it the end could not be -reached, but, once the end has been reached, the -Church will be superseded, or rather will be -merged in the kingdom of God. So the very -symbol of it is not found in the apocalyptic -visions of the new heaven and the new earth. In -the civitas of the new Jerusalem <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John saw -families and nations and kingdoms, but he could -see no temple therein, for the instrumentality of -which the temple was the symbol had done its -work in the emancipation and education of the -human race, and had vanished into the more -glorious and eternal realities of the throne of God -and of the Lamb.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In Buddhism we find a set of ideas quite contradictory -to all these. The Sangha was the vehicle -of rescue from out the world, not the bringer of -salvation to it; it worked not for the regeneration -of society, but for its disintegration and destruction. -It considered the world to be so hopelessly -incurable, and even existence to be so weighted with -misery, that wisdom would move men to abandon -the one to its fate, and goodness impel them to -strive to bring the other to an end. The monastery, -therefore, was naturally its loftiest conception of -the Civitas Dei, and into that it endeavoured to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>transform as large a section of humanity as was -inclined to accept its law.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This unnatural theory of life indicates the -essential weakness of Buddhism, and makes its -history very instructive to Christians. In the -Church, perhaps, room may be accorded to the -monastery and convent, as long as they are sanctified -by the Christian idea of self-abnegation in -the service of others, but the attempt to transform -the Church into a monastery, dominated by the -Buddhist idea of abnegation of the world for the -sake of self, can only create unmitigated evil. The -effect of it in primitive Buddhism was not only -to withdraw good men from the world at the very -time when its diseased condition most required -the help of their preserving salt, but the salt itself, -not being used for its natural and proper purpose, -soon lost its savour. The substitution of an artificial -for a natural standard of excellence inevitably -tends to destroy even virtue. Very soon in the -Sanghas active itineracy and devout contemplation -gave way to listless indolence and enervating -reverie, and there emerged a mode of life from -which the great mass of healthy men will ever -revolt, as sanctioning the idea that the more useless -we become in this world the more fitted for -a better we may safely consider ourselves to be.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Buddhist Sangha, therefore, though in no -<span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>sense resembling the Christian Church, does resemble -some of its after-growths. These, however, -must be regarded as parasitical in their nature, -for though fed by its life, they do not spring from -its root. In Christianity, Monachism represents -a tendency of human nature incidental to its development -rather than the essential fruit of Christian -principle; but the Buddhist idea of a true -society is one essentially and completely monastic. -This one fact is sufficient to show that the similarities -discoverable between the Buddhist and -Christian institutions are more apparent than real, -while the contrasts between them are found to be -deeper and more substantial the more they are -examined.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The monachism of Christianity originated, it -is said, in the endeavour to reproduce the ideal -of excellence represented in the life of Jesus. In -the life of Jesus there was nothing monastic. -Though He appeared in the land of the Essenes, -though heralded by a solitary ascetic, though the -age was one of universal defection, when because -of its corruption it seemed impossible to live a -man’s life in society, Jesus lived freely in the world -as He found it, and laid His blessing on all of it -that was natural, and on all of it that was necessary. -He did not refuse to enjoy any of the good -gifts of God; He warned us against despising or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>throwing them away, though He asked us to be -ready, when love calls, to let them go, or relinquish -them for the good of others. He gave Himself -wholly to His mission, and He took no thought -for the morrow. If He called His apostles from -their secular callings, it was not because such callings -hindered their own salvation, but because, -withdrawn from them for love of God and man, -they would be freer to serve the world. We have -interpreted the Apostolate as expressing His desire -that in the Church there will always be an order -devoted specially to the service of religion, but this -form of service was never meant to be regarded as -the only religious service. If one calling is consecrated, -it is as one day is consecrated, that all -may be sanctified thereby. The world was never -renounced by the apostles that they might work -out their own salvation; and if they “exercised” -themselves it was because self-control fitted them -to render more valuable service for man’s redemption. -The missionary zeal which drove the -members of the Primitive Church all over the -world to sow the seeds of truth and love made -them take no thought of what they should eat -or what they should drink; and missionary zeal -all through the Christian ages has manifested the -same indifference to the Βιωτικά of existence; but -those who have been most inspired by it, and who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>have found nothing impracticable in following the -manner of life which our Lord Himself led, have never -deemed it the only way, or even the highest way, -of Christian service. It was that to which they -felt inwardly moved and called by the Holy Ghost, -and, like the apostles, they exhorted all others -to abide in the callings wherein they were called.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Primitive Christianity, like any other religion, -was susceptible to morbid affections, and the -germs of disease with which the atmosphere around -it was charged found early a lodgment within it, -and soon matured into portentous fertility. The -persecutions of the Church, the terrible corruption -of the world, the troubles and temptations consequent -on the first junction of Christianity with -the Imperial Power, the mistaken idea that the -world which the Church had manifestly failed to -transform, or even preserve, was doomed, and that -Christ was speedily coming in His glory to judge -it, strengthened the ascetic tendency to come out -and be separate from it.<a id='r257' /><a href='#f257' class='c010'><sup>[257]</sup></a> By the end of the third -century the deserts of Egypt and Arabia, and the -mountains of Asia Minor, were so peopled with -recluses that in one spot alone there were ten -thousand men and twenty thousand women. At -<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>the close of another century Monachism had a -home in every province of the Oriental Church, -and monks and nuns formed “a nation,” as -distinct from the clergy as the clergy were from -the common believers, and in many instances they -were hated and persecuted by clergy and laity -alike.<a id='r258' /><a href='#f258' class='c010'><sup>[258]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The original purpose of the founders of the -new institution, however, was not to shelter mystics -and visionaries, but to train soldiers and martyrs. -Solitude was not intended to be an asylum for -the weak, or an infirmary for the diseased, but an -arena for the training and testing of athletes. -“Come,” says Chrysostom,<a id='r259' /><a href='#f259' class='c010'><sup>[259]</sup></a> “and see the tents of -the soldiers of Christ. Come, behold their order of -battle.” Augustine also refers to them as “milites -Christi,” even as later on they were designated as -“the chivalry of the Church” and “the paladins -of God.” Though not of the world, and being -above its ways, they were yet in it and for it. -So these retreats were not only technical schools, -representing the industries essential to the well-being -of man; they were also academies for sacred -studies, from which went forth champions like -Athanasius to defend the faith against the heretic, -and like Basil to defend the Church against the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>Empire. They were also brotherhoods of charity, -in which in self-imposed austerities men grew -tender in respect for the miseries of others, and -anticipated in much more unfavourable times the -hospitals for “sick children” and “lepers” and -“incurables,” which we are inclined to regard as -the peculiar products of the latest Christian centuries.<a id='r260' /><a href='#f260' class='c010'><sup>[260]</sup></a> -Of course, early Christian Monachism had -its ridiculous extravagances, in types like the -Stylites and Browsers; and of course even its -soberer types soon degenerated through over cultivation, -till it became a greater hindrance to the -spread of Christianity than all external opposition -and persecution. The spirit of piety which it originated -was speedily poisoned by superstition; theological -discussion supplanted the love of earnest -study; the spirit of obedience and loyalty was -superseded by that of intrigue and revolt. So -though it spread, it was not as a contagion of -health, but as an infectious disease, whose evil -effects are traceable in the decrepitude which the -Oriental Church has never been able to throw off.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In the Western Church, Monachism, though -less brilliant in its beginnings than its Eastern -precursor, has had a longer and healthier course. -It is not within the scope of this lecture even to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>sketch it, or to analyse and tabulate its results. -We live in an age which has certainly little sympathy -with the ideal of Christianity which it -sought to realise, but that is not sufficient reason -that we should affect to despise it, or imagine that -we have outgrown the necessity for it. The life of -the recluse may be beyond our attainment, for we -may be so afraid to be alone, and so unable to -endure “conversation with ourselves,” that we -have to take refuge in perpetual society. The -“weakness” of the old asceticism many of us have -not the strength to practise, for we are too much -under the dominion of the flesh, which they at -least could master, and we are far too inclined to -treat with unnecessary tenderness what they chastised -and immolated. The vows of poverty and -obedience and chastity may be the very medicine -we require, in a condition of public sentiment so -unhealthy that a man’s standing, and worth, and -even life, seems to consist in the abundance of his -goods, and his freedom in licence to despise all -authority and indulge all his likings. No doubt, -in the West as in the East, Monachism eventually -became an impediment to Christian civilisation, but -not until it had considerably regenerated and uplifted -it. It kept before the Church the dignity -of manual labour, it wiped out the discredit attaching -to honest poverty, it proclaimed the equality -<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>of men by treating rich and poor alike, and it -proved the defender of the oppressed, the mediator -between the strong and the feeble. “We are the -poor of Christ,” says Bernard, “and the friendship -of the poor makes us the equals of kings.” Then -just as unquestionably it was the pioneer of learning -and of enterprise, the guardian of law and the -fosterer of charity. There is hardly a city or -populous centre in Europe which does not owe its -churches, universities, hospitals, charitable institutions, -either in their origin or growth, to the -cœnobites and celibates of former ages; and whether -we acknowledge or repudiate our debt to them, -“its magnitude confronts us more imposingly the -more we honestly consider it.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>But like all unnatural segregations of human -beings from society, for which man was made, -Monachism everywhere became eventually an excuse -for indolence and misanthropy; a refuge for -the melancholy, and for all who had become unfit -to serve either the world or the Church. Its -whole history in the Christian Church has justified -the warning of <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul against artificial methods -of attaining to saintliness. The vices which beset -society never lost any of their power over the -recluses of the desert or the inmates of the -monastery, while many other vices were added to -the host that assailed the solitary, undefended -<span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>by his fellows.<a id='r261' /><a href='#f261' class='c010'><sup>[261]</sup></a> “Woe to him that is alone, for -when he falls there is not another to raise him up! -Woe to him that is alone, for there is no one to -keep him from falling!” are the lessons of this -long mistaken attempt to realise an undemanded -standard of excellence; and yet, just because of -the consistency of its ideal with one side of Christian -service, modern Christendom, though in altered -and modified forms, has not parted with Monachism -yet.</p> - -<p class='c006'>“The ideal of the Christian monk,” says Montalembert, -“is that of manhood in its purest and -most energetic form—manhood intellectually and -morally superior, devoting itself to efforts greater -and more sustained than are exacted in a worldly -career; and this not to make earthly service a -stepping-stone to heaven, but of life a long series -of victories for man.”<a id='r262' /><a href='#f262' class='c010'><sup>[262]</sup></a> Surely this is the ideal of -every Christian minister truly consecrated to the -service of man; yea, the ideal of every brother -or sister who, married or single, in business or -society, is trying to reach forward to the mark -of our high calling. There is no code of disabilities -in the service of Christ, and the way to -the highest honours is open to all who wish to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>enter it, of whatever condition or rank or mental -capacity they may be. When this common ideal -was fallen from in the monastic orders, it was -being realised by many private members of the -Church; when the professional Church had falsified -it, it was being upheld by so-called “men of the -world”; and therefore, as a natural consequence, -when the monastic orders of Christendom became -corrupt, society, true to its better instincts, rose -up and reformed them or swept them away. -There was always a large volume of life outside -the particular channel which these orders filled, -to purify it when it became foul, or to force it -onward, when stagnant, into the life of the Church.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But it was not so in Buddhism. Its lay -associates, however numerous, were but the fringes -of religious communities essentially and wholly -monastic. When, therefore, deterioration or degradation -in the Order set in, reformation of it -by the people was hopeless. In the Order this -deterioration showed itself earlier that its dominant -ideal was lower than the Christian. In early -Christian Monachism, fortitude and devotion all -sprang from the immolation of self for the universal -good. In Buddha’s Sangha, however, though there -was both devotion and fortitude displayed, the -goal to be reached was simply self-rescue. Its -course of beneficence therefore was not only -<span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>shorter but shallower. Unintentionally it wrought -out social reforms, and perhaps political revolution. -It restrained luxury, and checked the unbounded -sensuality to which Indians are prone; it rebuked -the earthly-minded, and witnessed nobly of the -higher interests of life to peoples that sorely needed -the testimony. It not only propagated morality, -but promoted learning, and a love of the beautiful -in nature and art, but its force was eventually -exhausted. Very early it sank into the stagnation -in which it has existed for centuries, and any -advance registered by the nations among whom -the institution has existed has been due, for more -than a thousand years, to the influx of Christian -ideas and sentiments.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Its own methods hastened its decay. Like all -Eastern religious growths, it represented the -piety of inertion. Manual labour of all kinds -was placed under the ban, and beyond attending -to the cleanliness of his person and of his lodging -the Buddhist monk was not allowed to do anything -save itinerate for his maintenance and the -preaching of the law. He was instructed that -every moment abstracted from meditation was -serious loss. This was in direct contradiction to -the very first rule of Christian solitary life, which -even in the stifling heat of the desert demanded -manual tasks, which fasting might be said to have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>doubled, continued through the long day till -vespers summoned the labourers to worship. The -Buddhist monk knew neither the healthy life of -physical exertion nor the spiritual refreshment -of worship. He might vindicate his idleness -against the reproaches of the industrious by the -assertion that he too in his quiet life was also -“ploughing and sowing” to much better purpose,<a id='r263' /><a href='#f263' class='c010'><sup>[263]</sup></a> -but then the effect of his ploughing and the -fruit of his sowing were all confined to himself, -who alone was freed by it from suffering. He -could not answer, as the Nicæan monk and quondam -courtier replied to Valens, when challenged as to -whither he was going, “I go to pray for your -empire.”<a id='r264' /><a href='#f264' class='c010'><sup>[264]</sup></a> Augustine has indeed assured us that -“the less a monk labours in anything but prayer -the more serviceable he is to men”; but the prayer -which he had in view was not selfish. On the -contrary, the tears and penitential exercises of men -who had become strangers to all personal desires -“were mighty to drown sin and purify the world.”<a id='r265' /><a href='#f265' class='c010'><sup>[265]</sup></a> -As long as monks were truly prayerful, and nuns, -like vestals, kept alive the sacred fire for every -hearth, they represented that side of the Church’s -mediation which is most important and effective; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>for no one can be really effective in the service -of man who is not frequent in the service of waiting -upon God. The heroes of the Christian -Church, who have evangelised and civilised the -wild waste places of the world, who, like the -apostle, laid aside every encumbrance to run -their race, were, like the apostle, men of much -meditation and prayer. We have no such examples -in Buddhism, for it lacked the provision which -alone could nurture them. In the life of the -Buddhist monk there was probably more, and -more intense meditation than in that of the -Christian, but there was a vast difference in their -respective themes of meditation. The Christian -could draw his inspiration from a source far higher -and purer than himself, and in communion with -the Father, Redeemer, Sanctifier of his spirit -gather a strength which astonished the world; -but what possible inspiration for endeavour could -come to a poor Buddhist monk who was chiefly -occupied in contemplating the impurity of his -perishable body, and whose very highest theme -of meditation was simply “nothing whatever”?<a id='r266' /><a href='#f266' class='c010'><sup>[266]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Another essential distinction between the two -modes of life is disclosed in their relation to charity. -We have seen that Buddhism had no conception -of charity in the Christian sense, and that practical -<span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>charity in it was represented from a pole quite -opposite to that of Christianity. As if conscious -of its defects, later Buddhism originated faith in -and hope of Maitreya, the Buddha who is next to -come, and who, as the son of love, will realise its -unconscious prophecies, fulfil its longings, and -perfect all things; but notwithstanding this the -Buddhist monk continued to be the receiver, not -the dispenser, of charity. His whole merit consisted -in taking what it was the merit of the layman -to offer him:<a id='r267' /><a href='#f267' class='c010'><sup>[267]</sup></a> and the taking was all for himself -and for his Order. He had no conception of the -life suggested in the saying, “As poor, yet making -many rich,” and he never could have said of his -monastery that it was <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“l’infirmière des pauvres.”</span> -To offer charity to others was the last conception -which he could form of his duty: yea, to clothe -the naked, take the leper from the dunghill, and -help the outcast, was the very reverse of his duty. -His creed as to misery in this being the fruit of -evil done in a former existence, cut him off from -that service of the lost and fallen which in Christendom -has been accounted glorious, and for the -rendering of which, several of its monastic institutions -have been spared the penalty of their -corruption.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The charity which the Buddhist monk practised -<span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>was in his preaching and exposition of the -law for the deliverance of the multitudes. And -that this may be the very highest form in -which benevolence can express itself all Christians -must admit, for the greatest gift which -any man can bestow is the truth which makes -one free. Buddhist monk and Christian missionary -alike proclaimed a gospel for the redemption -of men; and as the gospel of Christ’s salvation -brings ever many blessings in its train, so -the preaching of the mendicant Buddhist was -attended with material beneficial results to those -who heard and believed it. The Buddhist, however, -while expounding the law for the rescue of -the individual, never laboured, like the Christian -missionary, for his temporal and social improvement. -His message had no promise for the life that now -is, and consequently he never seems to have played -the part so nobly sustained by many of the monks -of Christendom—that of defending the oppressed -and befriending the helpless. He never, so far as -can be gathered from the texts, proclaimed the -equality of men in the same way and for the same -purpose as a Christian reformer would preach it. -Theoretically, he maintained the right of all classes -to be admitted to the brotherhood, but Dr. Oldenberg -has asserted that “in the composition of the -Order a marked leaning to the existing aristocracy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>was observable.”<a id='r268' /><a href='#f268' class='c010'><sup>[268]</sup></a> Buddha never had occasion to -confess with the Christian apostle “that not many -noble, not many mighty, were called,” nor had his -Order ever to bear the reproach of the Church, -that its members were recruited from the lowest -strata of society. The references to his disciples -from the first all indicate people of rank and wealth -and education. It is not implied that persons of -humble origin would have been rejected had they -come, only that “the scriptures afford no evidence -that they did come”; and yet they yield unmistakable -evidence that, as the Order prospered, all -lepers, cripples, blind, or one-eyed persons, all who -were deaf and dumb, all who were consumptive or -subject to fits, were rejected.<a id='r269' /><a href='#f269' class='c010'><sup>[269]</sup></a> The Order was for -the reputable, the noble, and especially for the -religious, for the Brahman votary, and Sraman -seeker after truth. These again were all attracted -to it; they were not sought out as by the Christian -Church. Not for one moment would Christ -allow the Church to become select. He not only -welcomed all penitents—for all men needed salvation, -and the poorest and the guiltiest were most -<span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>in need of it,—but He sent forth His apostles to -seek and gather them, and in order to reason down -all natural fears, based on the personal unworthiness -of these outcasts of society, they were instructed -to “compel them to come in.”<a id='r270' /><a href='#f270' class='c010'><sup>[270]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Of propagandism in this sense the Buddhist -Sangha knew nothing. It was moved by no -enthusiasm of humanity; it felt nothing of that -earnestness which from the days of the apostles -has characterised the true propagators of the -gospel. In no discourse that has come down to -us is there any impassioned entreaty of men to -repent and believe. There is no sorrow over the -unbelieving who refuse their salvation, no burning -indignation against those who despise or who scoff -at the truth. In Buddha’s last view of the world -there is no weeping as over Jerusalem, reprobate -because of its wickedness, and in none of his successors -do we find any trace of the apostle’s willingness -to be anathema for the sake of his brethren.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This tolerant spirit of Buddhism, however, has -been contrasted, as greatly in its favour, with that -alleged intolerance which Christianity is supposed -to have inherited from Judaism. We must -<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>remember that Christianity must be judged as it -is presented in Christ, and not by His professing -followers, who have often misrepresented Him. Of -hypocrisy, cruelty, deceit, Christ was indeed intolerant, -but toward error and misbelief, because of -ignorance, He was very compassionate. Christianity -would make no compromise, again, with false systems -of heathendom. It would have no peace save through -victory; it would not accept a place in the Pantheon -for its Lord, and it was content to be persecuted till -He was allowed to rule from the throne of the world. -The alleged intolerance of Christianity, therefore, -is simply its conviction of the infinite importance -and value to all men of the truth which compels -it to be propagandist. Now if Buddhism tolerates -everything, it is because it is not sure about anything, -but, on the contrary, is in doubt about everything. -It is essentially sceptical, “raising the -rejection of every affirmation to the rank of a -principle.”<a id='r271' /><a href='#f271' class='c010'><sup>[271]</sup></a> Earnestness in a preacher of sceptical -quietism was an impossibility. He had no heart -touched with the feeling of heavenly love, wounded -by sin, impelling him to proclaim forgiveness, and -he had no such hearts to appeal to. The Christian -missionary appeals to soul and conscience in name -of a Saviour crucified for sin; the Buddhist -<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>missionary only appealed through the intellect to -self-interest. His preaching was purely didactic, -expository, and advisory in character. He was at -best a theologian or moral philosopher teaching -the ignorant, and not a preacher aiming at the -conviction of sinners, endeavouring, with his whole -heart and strength and mind, to sway them to -conversion.<a id='r272' /><a href='#f272' class='c010'><sup>[272]</sup></a> He never experienced the almost consuming -glow and fervour of inspiration which made -the apostles agonise in their mission. “Now is the -accepted time, now is the day of salvation.” “I -pray you, in Christ’s stead, Be ye reconciled to God.” -As might have been expected, the early enthusiasm -of Buddhists for the enlightenment of others soon -died out, and its missionary spirit, once spent, has -never undergone a true revival. It can boast of -many ecclesiastics and philosophers, but for hundreds -of years it cannot point in its honour-roll -to either a Xavier or a Livingstone. It has long -ago ceased to be aggressive. At this day no -Oriental Buddhist seriously contemplates becoming -a missionary. Paris may add to its attractions and -curiosities a real Buddhist temple,<a id='r273' /><a href='#f273' class='c010'><sup>[273]</sup></a> but the priests -who officiate in it, however devoted they may be -to their cult, will certainly never dream of taking -the trouble of preaching it in the streets.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>In the Church of the middle ages, supposed -to consist only of pope and bishops and clergy -and monks and nuns, of which mediævalism a -remnant survives in those who speak of “entering -the Church,” not when as children they are baptized -into its communion, but when they are to -be ordained to service in it, we must look for any -resemblance to the Buddhist Sangha. In ancient -India, a church, meaning the fellowship of the -faithful in its totality, was an impossibility. Brahmanism -had no church, and never attempted a -conversion, but Buddha in seeking to rescue others -from evil, and in offering a place of escape which -they were free to accept or reject, created not a -church but a precursor of one.<a id='r274' /><a href='#f274' class='c010'><sup>[274]</sup></a> Admission into -his Brotherhood was at first open to all who -requested it, but as disciples crowded around him, -and parents complained that they were bereaved -of their children, and masters that they were -robbed of their slaves, and creditors that they -were deprived of what was owing by their debtors, -and even the judges that criminals escaped the -prison; and when accusations grew frequent and -loud that the new movement would ruin households, -injure the State, and depopulate the country, restrictions -were devised. Gradually conditions were -imposed by which all who were diseased, or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>criminals, or soldiers, or debtors, or slaves, or -children under fifteen years of age, or youths -under twenty who had not received their parents’ -consent, were disqualified.<a id='r275' /><a href='#f275' class='c010'><sup>[275]</sup></a> At first the disciple -was admitted without any ceremony, beyond that -of shaving the whole head, and putting on the -yellow robes which distinguished the ascetic and -the recluse, but eventually a rite of initiation -was adopted, which in Ceylon has continued -substantially unaltered to this day.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It consisted of two stages;<a id='r276' /><a href='#f276' class='c010'><sup>[276]</sup></a> the first that of the -novitiate into which a candidate could be received -by any fully accredited monk. The ceremony was -called the Pabbagga, or “outgoing,” a word used -from old time to describe the last act of a pious -Brahman, when, warned by approaching age, he -gave up his possessions to his family, and left -them to enter upon the hermit life of meditation. -The Buddhists naturally adopted it to mark the -first step by which a layman at any age exchanged -the secular for the religious life. It was a confession -that he desired to be done with the world, -to put off the old man with his deeds and to put -on the new. So with head and face completely -shaven, and holding three lengths of yellow cotton -cloth, first torn to render them valueless, and then -<span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>sewed together, he presented his petition three -times, that “the reverend monks would take pity -on him, and invest him with the robes, that, like -them, he might escape sorrow.” The presiding -monk then tied the clothes around his neck, repeating -sentences regarding the perishable nature -of the body, and the petitioner retired. When -he reappeared he had laid aside the loin-cloth, -generally the only article of raiment in tropical -lands, and had assumed the new investiture of -the two under-garments and the loose robe, which -covered the whole body, except the right shoulder, -of a Buddhist mendicant. Three times, thus clothed, -in “robes of humility and religion,” in reverential -salaam to the monk or monks present, he made -public confession that he took refuge in Buddha, -Dharma, Sangha, and receiving instructions as -to conduct and duty, he became a Sramanera, a -bachelor as it were, a monk of lower degree.</p> - -<p class='c006'>When the novice who had thus “gone forth” -from the world, or from the membership of another -fraternity, had “seen the truth, mastered the truth, -understood the truth, penetrated the truth; when -he had overcome uncertainty, dispelled all doubts, -was dependent on nobody else for his knowledge -of the doctrines of the Teacher,”<a id='r277' /><a href='#f277' class='c010'><sup>[277]</sup></a> he presented -himself before the Order, of whom ten members -<span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span>at least had to be in session, and reverentially -cowering on the ground with his hands clasped on -his forehead, he three times entreated them “to take -pity upon him and draw him out of the evil world -by granting him Upasampada” or the “arrival” -initiation rite.<a id='r278' /><a href='#f278' class='c010'><sup>[278]</sup></a> Then followed his examination as to -whether he was qualified<a id='r279' /><a href='#f279' class='c010'><sup>[279]</sup></a> in his person, his health, -his social and civil relations, whether he had -provided an alms-bowl and the yellow robes, what -was his own name, and that of the teacher with -whom he was to consort, and whom he was to -serve during a course of five years’ instruction in -the whole doctrine and discipline of the system. -If the answers to all these questions were satisfactory, -the resolution to receive him was formally -put by the presiding monk, and thrice repeated: -“Whosoever of the venerable is for granting Upasampada -to this novice, with brother So-and-so -for his teacher, let him be silent.” When no -dissent was intimated the resolution was passed. -“The Sangha is in favour of it, therefore it is -silent—thus I understand,” said the president, -and the novice became a Samana, a fully accredited -member of the Order of Bikkhus.</p> - -<p class='c006'>There was certainly nothing of the Church in -all this ceremony, and Sir Monier Williams very -properly guards us from applying to it the sacred -<span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>word of ordination.<a id='r280' /><a href='#f280' class='c010'><sup>[280]</sup></a> Any one who cares to read -the texts in which the proceedings are described -will be inclined to think that the questions put -to the novice, in their childishness and absurdity, -seem diabolically framed to caricature the solemn -and soul-searching questions addressed to candidates -for the Holy Ministry. Yet in the instruction -given to the newly admitted member, concerning -the “four chief forbidden acts” from which -he must abstain, and “the four resources”<a id='r281' /><a href='#f281' class='c010'><sup>[281]</sup></a> in which -he was to trust, there was a touch of the solemnity -which belongs to the charge which follows Christian -ordination. The monk was reminded that in -regard to what was pleasant and permissible to -other men he had subjected himself to self-denial -and a yoke. He might receive from the pious, -without offence, offerings of food and clothing, -and medicine and shelter, but he must be prepared -for the hard life of one whose food might only -be scraps and refuse put into his bowl, whose -clothing might have to be made of cast-off rags, -whose shelter might often be the tree in the -jungle or the cave in the rock, and whose medicine -<span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>might be only the foul deposit of the cattle-pen. -He was warned that any breach of the four cardinal -precepts—against unchastity, which to him meant -what to others was the lawful estate of marriage, -against theft, even of a blade of grass, against murder, -even to the crushing of a flea, against assumption -of virtues not really possessed,—would necessitate -expulsion from the Order. “For even as a man -whose head is cut off cannot live with the -trunk; ... as a dry leaf separate from the stalk -can never again become green; ... as a stone -split in two cannot be made into one; ... as a -palm whose top is destroyed cannot again grow, -so the monk who breaks the least of these laws is -no longer a Samana, no longer a follower of the -Sakya-putta.”<a id='r282' /><a href='#f282' class='c010'><sup>[282]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>To the credit of Buddha, however, it must be -observed, that a monk who had entered the Order -was at any time free to withdraw from it. If he -had a hankering after home, or the pleasures of -the old life which he had forsaken, he was exhorted -to confess his weakness and renounce a vocation -which he had found too high for him. He had -simply to declare before a witness that he -renounced Buddha, Dharma, Sangha—yea, he -could go forth without making any declaration at -all. Freely as he had joined, as freely could he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>abandon the brethren; no anger was expressed -or even felt; no discredit attached to him, for the -working out of his deliverance was his own concern. -Yea, if at any time he repented of his action, -and desired to renew with the companions of -wiser days the relation of votary or novice, he -was not subjected to any discipline, such as a -lapsed member of the Church might be expected -to undergo when seeking re-communion. He was -treated upon his confession as though his past -had not been remembered, and as if his folly or -fault had never been committed.<a id='r283' /><a href='#f283' class='c010'><sup>[283]</sup></a> Such facility -of withdrawal and readmission seemed to tend -to laxity, and may have occasioned very great -abuses, but on the very face of it, it appears -calculated to preserve monastic life in India in a -much healthier condition than has always prevailed -in the recluse institutions of Christendom. In -how many cases has the monastery become worse -than a prison, and the convent become a very -chamber of tortures, because occupied by reluctant -tenants, who have been cruelly immured in them -against their will, or have thoughtlessly devoted -themselves to a vocation for which they were -totally unfit. The Eastern sage may even have -shown greater wisdom than the Western bishops -and presbyters, who have bound over for life those -<span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>admitted to a sacred profession, so that freedom -from it can only be got by ignominious expulsion, -and by degradation for a fault or a crime.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The Sangha from the first was an order of -Cœnobites, not Solitaries, and it was an exception -for a mendicant to be alone; for with his practical -insight Buddha seems to have discovered that -the life of solitude has more disadvantages and -dangers than that of fellowship. So he ordained -that the newly admitted monk must attach himself -for five years to a tutor and teacher,<a id='r284' /><a href='#f284' class='c010'><sup>[284]</sup></a> one of -whom must have been ten years in the Order, -rendering to them such personal offices as Elisha -rendered to Elijah, and receiving such parental -instruction as <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul bestowed upon his son in -the faith. No vow of obedience, so essential to -the monastic rule of Christendom, unless in regard -to the laws of the Order, was exacted. No man -could be called Rabbi among them, for the knowledge -which brought deliverance could be and -must be acquired by each man for himself.<a id='r285' /><a href='#f285' class='c010'><sup>[285]</sup></a> A -monk was expected to reverence his superior in -age and knowledge, but his obedience was to -be rendered not to his brother, who was simply -<span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>his equal in respect of need and capability of -deliverance, but only to <i>The Law</i> which alone -could secure it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>While obedience to a superior was not exacted, -the law of poverty and chastity was as obligatory -upon the Buddhist monk as on the members of -the Christian Orders. Francis of Assisi could -not more highly have eulogised poverty as “the -way to salvation, the nurse of humility, the root -of perfection,” than did the Indian monks who -compiled the Buddhist scriptures. “In supreme -felicity live we, though we call nothing our own. -Feeding on happiness, we are like the gods in the -regions of light.”<a id='r286' /><a href='#f286' class='c010'><sup>[286]</sup></a> Food a monk could receive, -but not ask for, and of what he so received he -could only have one meal a day. Gold or silver -he could on no account accept, though he might -accept its equivalents in food or medicine. If like -Achan’s wedge it was found to have been secreted -by any covetous member, one of the brethren had -to hide it away in the jungle, in a place which -could not again be recognised. Bitter controversies -regarding this prohibition seem to have exercised -the primitive Sanghas, and though it was successfully -maintained for long, concessions in relation to -it were eventually agreed upon. These however -proved as fatal to the prosperity of the Buddhist, as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>similar concessions proved to that of the Western -monastic establishments. They were seeds of -evil which speedily grew up into thickets of trouble. -The individual member professed to observe the -original law and maintain the principle that “a -man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of his -goods,” but the several fraternities came speedily -to abound in lands and property of every kind, so -that in the East as in the West it may be said -the monasteries fell, because crushed with their -weight of wealth.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Even while the primitive rule was observed -the mendicants could easily procure what of the -necessaries of food and shelter and clothing they -required; the jungle gave them all the shelter they -needed, though it exposed them to frequent perils -of being poisoned by snake-bites, and devoured by -beasts. The rains put an end periodically to their -peregrinations, and gathered the twos and threes who -had been associating together into common retreat -in the viharas. These originally were intended to -be only temporary shelters from the annual floods, -but as by degrees the system extended into distant -regions, they became permanent institutions, each -one a centre of influence in its own territory, like -the abbeys in the original dioceses of mediæval -Europe.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Life in a Buddhist vihara two thousand years -<span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>ago must however have been very different from -life in a monastic establishment in the middle ages. -Labour, as we have seen, of no kind was allowed, -either among them or for them. “A monk who -digs the earth or causes it to be dug is liable to -punishment.”<a id='r287' /><a href='#f287' class='c010'><sup>[287]</sup></a> Scant time was allowed for sleep, -and when there were no books to read or transcribe, -the studies or literary occupations of the -West were out of the question. All the intellectual -energies were claimed for the repetition of such -sacred works as they knew, and for the committing -to memory of others which they had only acquired. -Examination of self, meditation on the five principal -themes which occupied the place of prayer -or devotion in their system, was expected to absorb -the most of the day. Notwithstanding its intervals -of instruction and discussion, it must have been -a very vacant life indeed, lacking entirely the -worship, and most of the duties, which rendered -monastic life in Christendom, if not always profitable, -at least supportable.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Two outstanding features of it, however, compare -very favourably with some forms of the ascetic -life both in India and Europe. In the Buddhist -Sanghas would be witnessed neither the slovenliness -nor the dirtiness which has often been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>associated with the life of those who have renounced -the world and have professed to despise its pleasant -things. Around them,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Besmeared with mud and ashes, crouching foul,</div> - <div class='line'>In rags of dead men, wrapped about their loins,”<a id='r288' /><a href='#f288' class='c010'><sup>[288]</sup></a></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>were many solitaries endeavouring to gain perfection -or exhibit it, in types more conform to -Nebuchadnezzar in his madness or the demoniacs -who had their dwellings in the tombs. Buddha -condemned uncleanliness in all its forms. The -robes which he enjoined his monks to wear -may have been made up of rags picked up -from a dunghill or from a cemetery, but they -were scrupulously washed, properly dyed, and carefully -mended. The ground all round the vihara, -as well as its floors within, had to be swept -every day, and its every item of furniture had to -be punctually dusted and garnished. His monks -were Pharisees in regard to the washing of hands -and bowls and other utensils, and they anticipated -our modern demand for proper ventilation.<a id='r289' /><a href='#f289' class='c010'><sup>[289]</sup></a> A -Buddhist mendicant of the days of King Asoka -might prove a good model of personal neatness -and domestic tidiness for many a Christian minister -in these days of Queen Victoria. He belonged -to an Order originally founded by a man who was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>in every sense a gentleman, and which for long -numbered among its members many noble and -even princely men. Inheriting their instincts, he -stoutly maintained their traditions, that “neither -plaited hair, nor dirt, nor lying on the earth, nor -rubbing with dust, can purify a mortal who has -not overcome desires”; “that he who, though -well dressed, exercises tranquillity, is quiet, subdued, -restrained, chaste, and has ceased to find -fault with all other beings, he is indeed a Brahmana, -a Sramana, a Bikkhu.”<a id='r290' /><a href='#f290' class='c010'><sup>[290]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Again, in these old pictures of Buddhist Sangha -life, there is no reflection of that insane passion -for suffering which marked the gaunt and self-mutilated -Yogis around them, and which also distinguished -many of the ascetics of Christendom. -The flagellations, and lacerations, and macerations -which at one time became popular in European -monasteries, and which made even a man like the -founder of the Franciscan Order refuse food and -sleep for days together, spend whole nights in -winter up to the neck in snow or water, put -ashes in the meals which had been cooked for -him, would not for an hour have been tolerated; -yea, they would have been laughed out of the -world by Buddha and his monks. Wherever -they went, they encountered grievous companies of</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c007'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>“Eyeless and tongueless, sexless, crippled, deaf:</div> - <div class='line'>The body by the mind being thus stripped</div> - <div class='line'>For glory of much suffering, and the bliss</div> - <div class='line'>Which they shall win,”<a id='r291' /><a href='#f291' class='c010'><sup>[291]</sup></a></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>but they never seem to have been tempted to give -way to this intoxication which was supposed to -make men gods. Self-denial was essential, but -severe austerities and bodily penance were strongly -discouraged. “Blooming, well-fed, with healthy -colour and skin,” is the description often given in -the old texts of a model Bikkhu. Buddha, when -first met by the Brahman sages after his illumination, -surprised them by the serenity of his -countenance, the purity and brightness of his complexion. -Among the first salutations addressed -to the brethren on their return from their wanderings -was the question whether they had been -well fed.<a id='r292' /><a href='#f292' class='c010'><sup>[292]</sup></a> It is true some Buddhist saints might -be found sitting for days in the burning sun, -oblivious to its fiery torments, but these must -have been exceptions, for there is no mistaking -either the teaching or the life of Buddha himself. -All these extravagant cruelties, by which men have -abused or sought to destroy the most beautiful -organism and the most perfect instrument which -has ever been produced in this world, were by -him regarded as foolish and dangerous, and as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>debasing as the sensualism which they sought to -avoid.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Though we have hitherto referred to the Buddhist -Order, it is hardly correct to think of it as -just one community. Though theoretically the -Sangha of Buddha was the ideal unit, practically -it never became so. After his decease there was -no central governing power to direct and inspire -the whole organisation. The patriarchs, of whom -a long succession is given, were not hierarchs in -the Greek or Latin sense.<a id='r293' /><a href='#f293' class='c010'><sup>[293]</sup></a> They were simply outstanding -Arhats, the heroic defenders and apostles -of the system. Primitive Buddhism was represented -not by one but by many Sanghas, for each -brother as he went forth became the centre of a -new fraternity. Its original cultus was based -on the idea that community of aim would suffice -to gather the knots of people who lived near each -other for mutual confession and instruction and -discipline. So they continued a custom which had -come down from their Vedic ancestors, who, in -the four days of the lunar month, when the moon -is new, or full, or half-way between the two, -celebrated the fast preparatory to the offering of -the intoxicating Soma. The Buddhists had neither -fast, nor sacrifice, nor offering, nor any form of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>religious worship whatever, but in these days they -gathered for careful examination of themselves in -the light of the Prohibitions, for public confession -one to another, and for discipline. For these -weekly gatherings the manual of the Pâtimokkha -or Disburdenment was composed, it is averred, by -Buddha himself.<a id='r294' /><a href='#f294' class='c010'><sup>[294]</sup></a> To this public catechising and -purgation of the Roll all the brethren had to come; -even a sick man was only excused when he could -assure the assembly, through a sponsor, that he was -clean of fault, and if no brother was available for -this office the assembly had to adjourn to meet -at his couch. Its president, who also summoned -the brethren, was the monk of the longest standing -among them. So far it seemed to anticipate our -principle of Presbyterian parity, but, like Convocation, -it was an exclusively ecclesiastical gathering, -for neither nun, nor novice, nor layman was -allowed to be present. Like our presbyteries -when applying their privy censures, they expected -to be “alone.” Then, when all were reverentially -placed, in presence of no heart-searching God, but -before one another, there was recited by the -president the order of confessional, according to -the rule that if there was no transgression there -was no interruption, and silence indicated innocence.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>First came the recitation of the gravest offences: -the four Pârâgikâ renounced upon their admission, -commission of any one of which involved -expulsion from the Order. Then came the list of -the less serious transgressions—Samghâdisesas, -involving temporary degradation, and lastly that -of the Pâkittya, or venial faults, which were atoned -for by simple confession. It was a lengthy, minute, -ill-arranged form of inquisition, more comprehensive -and rigid than any catechism of the confessional -which Romanism ever devised.<a id='r295' /><a href='#f295' class='c010'><sup>[295]</sup></a> It out-phariseed -the Pharisees in its trivialities and repetitions and -straining out of gnats, and no manual of the cloister -ever discovered, could equal its disgusting details -of every conceivable form of unnatural vice supposed -to be perpetrable by the brethren.<a id='r296' /><a href='#f296' class='c010'><sup>[296]</sup></a> It -reads more like a suggestion to sin than a defence -against temptation. We can understand from it -alone, how impossible it was for Buddhism to live -up to its true principles, how incapable it was of -urging on the steady moral progress of the race, -and of even realising the example of its founder. -Life’s whole strength was wasted in watching -against petty and artificial transgressions, so that -none was available for the prosecution of real duty. -Yet if deliverance was to come by the law, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>most trivial details of action had to be tried; but -here, as elsewhere, by the law was only the knowledge -of sin, and that not as an offence against an -infinitely Holy One, but only as a misfortune, or -at worst an imprudence, a stumbling-block placed -by man himself in the way of advancing his interest.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At the close of the rainy season, when the -brethren were making ready for their wanderings, -another solemn conference for self-purgation was -held. In this exercise of the Pâvârana or Invitation -no one known to be under the burden of scandal -could take part, but all who were consciously clean, -from the oldest to the youngest, invited the -brethren to name any offence which during their -common retreat they might have noted in their -conduct. “I invite, venerable ones, the Order; if -ye have seen anything offensive on my part, or have -heard anything, or have any suspicion about me, -have pity upon me, and name it. If I see it, I will -make amends.”<a id='r297' /><a href='#f297' class='c010'><sup>[297]</sup></a> It may be asked whether such -an institution as this could ever have flourished in -Christendom, although the purest of our Churches -might adopt it with profit. These Buddhist -brethren could not pray the one for the other, -but they could confess their faults one to another -by a simpler and more effective method than has -ever been attempted by the confessional. That institution -<span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span>in Christendom has tended more to corrupt -and degrade than to purify and elevate society, -for it has interfered with the divinely instituted -and much more ancient confessional of home. In -its secrecy, sealed by affection to father or mother, -or brother or sister, can be told out the things that -burn within; and no priest or ecclesiastic can usurp -this parental or brotherly function without injuring -what they must earnestly desire to protect. This -confessional, however, of the one to the whole little -brotherhood, making them watch for and consider -one another, must have tended to mutual edification. -It seems of all the observances of the -Sangha to have most nearly realised one great -purpose of the Church, that of being helpful to -each other’s salvation. <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul and <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> James -would have felt at home in such a conference. -They would probably have warned the brethren -against judging one another, and they would have -instructed them that only One whose knowledge -is perfect, because His love is infinite, could try -the lives of men; but they would have commended -them for this honest endeavour to fulfil one of the -precepts of the perfect law of liberty: “Brethren, -if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are -spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, -considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>The part played by woman in the early history -<span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>of Buddhism was analogous to that assumed by -woman in relation to primitive Christianity. Women -were among the most zealous supporters of Buddha, -ministering to him of their substance. Subsequently, -as in the case of the Christian Church, the -largest proportion of the wealth which was lavished -in such marvellous munificence upon the Order -came from female votaries. Evidently in those -days in India the position of woman was not so -degraded and helpless as it afterwards became. -Women in old Indian literature are seen to be -much more on an equality with men; they are not -only represented as receiving scholastic instruction, -but even to them as authoresses some of the Vedic -hymns were ascribed.<a id='r298' /><a href='#f298' class='c010'><sup>[298]</sup></a> At any rate, women appear -in almost every Buddhist episode, and they move -about with a freedom which contrasts strangely -with the seclusion and restraint in which in India -they have lived for ages. In the character of -Buddha there seems to have been much that was -peculiarly attractive to the best type of women, and -at least one of these stands forth with very clearly -marked individuality.<a id='r299' /><a href='#f299' class='c010'><sup>[299]</sup></a> His mother is only a shadow -<span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>in the legends, and we can only conjecture what -the parent of so good and gentle a man must have -been. But his wife confronts us with so much that -is womanly in the picture that we feel she must -have been drawn from life. Very pathetic and -tender is the graphic account of her first interview -with him, upon his return as the illustrious Buddha -to his father’s house.<a id='r300' /><a href='#f300' class='c010'><sup>[300]</sup></a> When all came to do him -honour, Yasodhara did not come, for she said, “If -I am of any value in his eyes, he will come himself, -and I can welcome him better here.” Buddha, -noting her absence, went attended by two of his -disciples to the place where she was, and he warned -his companions not to prevent her should she seek -to embrace him, although no member of the -Order could touch or be touched by a woman. -And when she saw him, a mendicant in yellow -robes, with shaven head and face—though she knew -it would be so—she could not contain herself, but -fell at his feet, which she held, passionately weeping. -Then remembering the great and impassable -gulf which he had fixed between them, she rose -and stood at his side. His father sought to apologise -for her, telling how in the greatness of her love -she mourned and afflicted her soul for loss of him, and -refused to be comforted. She became his disciple; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>and when afterwards, much against his inclination, -he admitted women into a separate branch of the -Order, the poor wife, whom he had not only widowed, -but had bereft of her only child, “passed into the -silent life,” as one of the first of Buddhist nuns.</p> - -<p class='c006'>All candid readers of the early Buddhist scriptures -will admit that Buddha must not only have -been gentle in disposition but pure in character. -From male and female disciples alike he demanded -chastity, in the Christian conception of the virtue. -In the reported discourses of Buddha there is the -same absence of direct denunciation of the vices -that corrupt society which is observable in the -Gospels; but the impression made by the reading -of both narratives, is that of characters so far removed -from such vices, that people in their presence -or under their influence could not even think of -them. In both narratives we have presentations of -“women who were sinners” in relation to Buddha -and Christ, but it will be confessed that the effect -produced upon us is very different in each case. -The Indian episodes lack the stirrings of the depths -of spiritual feeling, the creative word of command -exorcising the lust, and unsealing the long congealed -fountains of penitence, which confront us so -prominently in the scenes of the gospel. Buddha -was a pure man, demanding purity from all who -would be saved, but demanding it only as moralists -<span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span>have demanded it all along. There did not -radiate from him that blending of horror of sin -and of pity for sinners which makes the influence -of Christ upon the wickedness and infirmities -of men to be unique in its regenerative power. -Had Christ insisted upon purity just as Buddha -did, the world would have profited little by -the teaching. Unquestionably the mission of -Buddha, though intended to make for chastity, -has not purified Eastern Asia from the gross and -unnatural vices to which all along it has been -prone.</p> - -<p class='c006'>For Buddha’s conception and estimate of woman -was very inferior to that of Christ.<a id='r301' /><a href='#f301' class='c010'><sup>[301]</sup></a> She was regarded -by him through the medium of the traditional -prejudice of her inferiority to man in every -respect. To him, as to Plato, women, of all snares -which the tempter spreads for man, were the most -dangerous. Not only was the very smallest love -for them to be destroyed, but they were to be -avoided, not to be spoken to, not looked upon,<a id='r302' /><a href='#f302' class='c010'><sup>[302]</sup></a> -not to be helped even when in distress. Of their -future as women in the life hereafter he had no -hope,<a id='r303' /><a href='#f303' class='c010'><sup>[303]</sup></a> and the only reward which he could hold out -to them for obedience or benevolent service, the very -<span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span>highest object of aspiration which he could present, -was that they might be re-born as men in another -stage of existence. His disciple Ananda did good -service when he wrung from him permission to form -the order of Nuns,<a id='r304' /><a href='#f304' class='c010'><sup>[304]</sup></a> for a nun might hope for salvation; -but alas for woman and for the progress of -society if she had no other gospel to trust in than -that which Buddha preached!</p> - -<p class='c006'>His ideal of purity was from the first vitiated -by his celibate views of life, and from these views -human nature has always revolted in proportion to -the honesty with which men have striven to realise -them. Celibacy, when dominant or prevalent, has -only produced a more vicious and unnatural condition -of society than that from which it attempted -to escape. The Son of Man represented nobler -traditions, and taught far sublimer doctrine. -Woman, though different from, and in some respects -weaker, is in others higher and purer than man, -and altogether his consort. The pure love of the -man for the woman was recognised by Christ as -one of the most sanctifying influences in life; and -marriage, the most sacred of all Divine institutions, -as the bond which more than any other keeps -society together, obtained His special benediction, -and was committed by Him to His Church to -guard as the palladium of social freedom and dignity. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_306'>306</span>Notwithstanding its many defections, the Church -has never been permitted to lose sight of the Lord’s -ideal. Even in the days of corrupted faith, when -its laudation of virginity was most extravagant, its -unmistakable tendency was to acknowledge the -true dignity of the wife.<a id='r305' /><a href='#f305' class='c010'><sup>[305]</sup></a> A recent writer professes -to be unable “to see that Christianity has had any -favourable effect on the position of women—on the -contrary, it tended rather to lower their character -and contract the range of their activities.”<a id='r306' /><a href='#f306' class='c010'><sup>[306]</sup></a> It is -noticeable that his facts or quotations are drawn -from a period when asceticism had deeply tainted -the Church, and that they cannot be held to represent -the tendency of the teaching of Christ. -The unmistakable influence of His religion has been -to ennoble family relations, and to secure woman in -her true position as the companion and helpmeet of -man. It has been stated by one who cannot be -regarded as a special pleader, that what most differentiates -the European from the Hindu branch of -the Aryan race, is that the first has steadily carried -forward, for the elevation of woman, the series of -reforms<a id='r307' /><a href='#f307' class='c010'><sup>[307]</sup></a> from which the other, though going a -little way, recoiled. No one need fear to assert -<span class='pageno' id='Page_307'>307</span>that the chief factor in these reforms, sometimes -carried against the resistance and opposition of the -Church, was the spirit of Christianity. In proportion -as the example of Christ has been honoured, -and His teaching has been accepted and obeyed, -the emancipation of woman and the recognition of -her real rights have been secured. In any case it -is certain that the religion of Buddha, though -probably not intended to perpetuate the inferior -position characteristic of woman in the East, has -succeeded neither in lifting her out of it, nor in -preventing her from lapsing more deeply into it.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The time for discovering the worth of woman -had not come in Buddha’s age, and we must -remember his antecedents and surroundings before -we condemn his estimate of or his relations -to her. If the tradition be reliable, he prophesied, -upon yielding to Ananda’s intercession, that because -of women holy living would not long be -preserved. They would prove in the fair field of -his Order what “the disease of mildew proved to -be in a field of rice.”<a id='r308' /><a href='#f308' class='c010'><sup>[308]</sup></a> So though he admitted them -to a separate branch of the Order, he placed them -under very stringent regulations, and thoroughly -under the tutelage of the monks. “A nun, though -admitted a nun a hundred years ago, must bow -reverentially before a monk, though only admitted -<span class='pageno' id='Page_308'>308</span>to-day.” She must not pass the rainy season in a -district in which monks were not residing; she -must report herself twice a month to the Sangha -for confession and instruction; she must give the -Pavâranâ invitation, and she must, if guilty of -offence, atone for it before both monks and nuns. -She could only be admitted after a two years’ -novitiate; under no circumstances must she revile -or rebuke a monk; yea, on no occasion whatever -must she charge him with any offence.<a id='r309' /><a href='#f309' class='c010'><sup>[309]</sup></a> Between -them and the superior sex the strictest -separation was maintained from the first. The -brother who was to teach and exhort them was -never allowed to enter their nunnery, unless a sister -was very ill. For a monk to journey alone with a -nun, to cross a river in the same boat with one, to -sit alone with a nun, with or without witnesses, was -a very grave offence.<a id='r310' /><a href='#f310' class='c010'><sup>[310]</sup></a> In short, in the Buddhist -Sangha women were only tolerated at the best, and -they were very severely guarded and restrained, as -creatures not at all calculated to influence any one -for good, and who could only be prevented or tamed -from doing mischief or harm.<a id='r311' /><a href='#f311' class='c010'><sup>[311]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_309'>309</span>The Sangha, as a brotherhood and sisterhood -leading a celibate life, coupled with abstinence from -labour and from active services of charity, was -simply vicious in its tendency, and it proved one -of the most obstinate hindrances to the realisation -of Buddha’s best ideas, and one of the most powerful -factors in the degradation of his religion. -Human nature was too strong to submit to such -artificial restrictions; so very early there gathered -around him and his monks many who would not -abandon their families and their callings, though -they took refuge in Buddha, and proved the reality -of their devotion by faithful service of the Order -and practice of the Law. These were the votaries, -“upasaka” (masc.), “upasika” (fem.), corresponding -with the lay associates of the great Mendicant Orders -of Christendom. Converted to the observance of the -precepts, they could only, as long as they continued -in the world, be sustained by a very faint and far-off -hope of deliverance. Theoretically they might -attain to sainthood, and from “this shore” of -common life, in most exceptional cases they might -“pass across the dominion of death,” and reach to the -other shore.<a id='r312' /><a href='#f312' class='c010'><sup>[312]</sup></a> The father of Buddha is said to have -done so on his deathbed, and another is recorded in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_310'>310</span>the legends as having gained Nirvana.<a id='r313' /><a href='#f313' class='c010'><sup>[313]</sup></a> As a rule, -however, it was reckoned impossible for them to gain -what was considered as so barely possible for the -Order of Mendicants, that only one or two even -of them did actually gain it here. Pious votaries, -however, could hope for a happy re-birth, and for -strength of merit to be acquired; in some hereafter -sufficient to enable them eventually to pluck the -fruit of Nirvana. For such lay associates no ceremony -of initiation was required; only in presence of a -monk the candidates made profession that they took -refuge in Buddha and Dharma and Sangha. They -had to observe certain precepts and prohibitions; -had to renounce any trade involving the making or -selling of arms, or the killing of animals; they had -to abstain from all traffic in and use of intoxicating -drinks, and to put far away from them all falsehood, -and theft, and unchastity. To seal this, however, -no formal vow was demanded of the votary, and to -maintain them in their obedience no pastoral supervision -was accorded. When they transgressed, even -in the matter of scandalous living, there was neither -censure nor discipline, and when they offended by -injuring the Order or insulting one of its members, -the only penalty inflicted was the refusal of their -invitations to dine, and the withdrawal from them of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_311'>311</span>the alms-bowl.<a id='r314' /><a href='#f314' class='c010'><sup>[314]</sup></a> Into the Uposatha assemblies they -dared not intrude, and from the very slightest share -of the business of the Order they were strictly excluded.<a id='r315' /><a href='#f315' class='c010'><sup>[315]</sup></a> -They could only listen to the preaching of -the monks, whom they could feed, and lodge, and -endow with houses and lands; and all the reward -they could hope for, was the prospect of acquiring -in some future life merit sufficient to enable them -to renounce the world and become mendicants like -them. For the present they were not inside, but -only about, the circle of the Sakkya-putta-Samanas; -he was not a member of the family, but only a -servitor and a slave.<a id='r316' /><a href='#f316' class='c010'><sup>[316]</sup></a> The elect, the disciples in -deed and in truth, the heirs of salvation, were exclusively -the monks; and the Upâsaka at the best -was one for whom it was good “continuously to dispense -rice milk, and honey lumps, if he had a -longing for joy, whether he desired heavenly joy or -coveted only human prosperity,”<a id='r317' /><a href='#f317' class='c010'><sup>[317]</sup></a> His merit was -most likely to be acquired by being useful to the -good, who served him by accepting his offerings,<a id='r318' /><a href='#f318' class='c010'><sup>[318]</sup></a> -and taught him—though to a purpose undreamed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_312'>312</span>of by <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul when he quoted his Saviour’s saying—that -in his case, at least, it was “more blessed -to give than to receive.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is to the lasting honour of Buddha that he -converted the Sangha into a propaganda for preaching -to all his way of salvation. He did not, for he -could not, conceive of that better society which our -Lord has created in the Holy Catholic Church. It -is true, alas! that the actual or visible Church has -often caricatured, and has never yet properly represented, -its Lord’s ideal; but it has never been permitted -wholly to lose sight of that Kingdom whose -citizenship is free to all who believe and repent, -and of that royal priesthood of which all are members -who trust in the one sacrifice and prevailing -intercession of the Great High Priest of our profession. -If the visible Church has failed to convert, -or even to attract, the members of the Buddhist -Sanghas, it is because of something wrong in its -methods, or false in its presentation; for notwithstanding -its failure, it possesses in the great gospel -of the Divine Fatherhood intrusted to its keeping, -potentialities for gathering all mankind into the -only brotherhood which will satisfy their heaven-born -aspirations. The manifestation of it may still -be a far-off Divine event, and to bring it about -God may employ many agencies other than those -which the Church as at present organised may be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_313'>313</span>willing to recognise or to use; but once that holy -brotherhood is manifested, He alone will be found -at the head of it, who on His way to His agony, -and to the cross on which He was to reveal to the -uttermost the love of the Creator for the human -race, paused by the brook Kedron, and made this -supplication mingle with the ripple of its waters -and the whispers of the olives of Gethsemane, “I -pray ... that they all may be one, even as thou, -Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also -may be in us.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_314'>314</span> - <h2 id='lecture-6' class='c004'>LECTURE <abbr title='six'>VI.</abbr> <br /> THE TWO RELIGIONS IN HISTORY.</h2> -</div> -<h3 class='c011'>I.—External Diffusion.</h3> -<p class='c005'>In His apostles, and the disciples who gathered -round them, endowed with the memory of His -words and deeds, two simple sacraments, and a -promise that He would be with them to the end -of the æon, while they fulfilled His commission to -evangelise and baptize all nations in the name of -the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, -the continuance of the Church which our Lord had -founded was secured. Buddha left behind him -neither sacrament to signify and seal the benefits -which he had conferred, nor any promise of personal -fellowship with or interest in his followers; -but he was survived by the Monastic Order which -he had founded, by a law containing the essentials -of his system, and a form of discipline containing -the customs to be observed in their assemblies, and -the rules to which all the brethren were to be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_315'>315</span>subject. Though the personal guide to Nirvana -was lost to them, they still in the law possessed his -way to it, and by observing the law, and following -his way, they would fulfil his last stirring exhortation,<a id='r319' /><a href='#f319' class='c010'><sup>[319]</sup></a> -“Be ye lamps unto yourselves, be ye a refuge -to yourselves, O monks.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>So much importance being attached to the law, -his disciples, immediately after his decease, according -to the tradition, set about collecting the -materials of it, in his remembered discourses, -decisions, and in all that he said; and this labour -of recalling, determining, and perpetuating his -teaching seems to have occupied them for several -generations. There is no trace of any corresponding -anxiety on the part of the Christian Church to -collect the words of the Lord Jesus. The Gospels -are not the earliest of our scriptures, and they were -produced more for the edification of Jewish and -Gentile converts, than to secure for the Church a -standard of belief and of discipline. The function -of the Church was not so much to recall and perpetuate -the teaching of its Lord as to interpret the -significance of His life, and death, and resurrection. -No written or remembered instructions were -required, for the apostles believed that they had -Himself to tell them on every occasion what they -should do and teach. From the very first they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_316'>316</span>prayed to Him in full assurance that He heard and -answered them. They believed that He had shown -Himself to some of them, and that He was witnessed -for in all of them by a new possession. The -Gentile world had been familiar with the μανία of -the medium through whom a Divine oracle was -supposed to be given, and with the <i>rabies</i> of the -howling priests of the goddess Cybele, but the -Christians professed to be inspired by the πνεῦμα -ἅγιον. In some instances this inspiration manifested -itself in extravagant forms and in mysterious utterances,<a id='r320' /><a href='#f320' class='c010'><sup>[320]</sup></a> -but those who were most under its control -had complete possession of themselves; their speech -was intelligible, and sober, and most convincing, -making “manifest the secrets of the heart.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>Unquestionably this belief in the presence of -Christ in the Spirit—whether truly founded or not—was -universal in the Church. All the utterances -of primitive Christianity, the scriptures of its -apostles, the treatises of its fathers and doctors, -and all the monuments of the first ages, bear witness -not to a Christ who once lived and had died, -but who was living triumphant and glorified, reigning -for them, and in them to reign. Unquestionably -also in this belief was the hiding of that power -which enabled the Church to confront the whole -world, endure the full weight of its persecutions, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_317'>317</span>finally win the victory over it. It also explains the -appearance in the Church, from the first, of that -succession of persons who, because of their strongly -marked individualities, gave both direction and -impetus to its progress. Buddhism, though both -its southern and northern scriptures record a patriarchal -succession, and though probably not deficient -in highly cultured disciples, seems to have lacked -from the very first men who had genius to organise -or intellect to command its forces. Its own early -writings disclose a movement which very speedily -congealed, because ruled only by a remembered -law, interpreted by very adulterated traditions. -Christianity represents quite a different movement; -it was not the perpetuation of a system, but the -development of a new inspiration, of a life manifested -in Christ and communicated to all who believed -on Him. Consequently it never was without -its heroes, whom it had the power to produce; and -consequently also it never could stiffen into a -tradition, for where its leaders attempted to fix it, -in either confession or in ritual, it was sure to evade -them. It has been appropriately described as “the -most changeable of religions,”<a id='r321' /><a href='#f321' class='c010'><sup>[321]</sup></a>—mutable in its -forms, immutable in its essence. For Christianity -is not a system either of philosophy or theology; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_318'>318</span>it is a perpetually reforming spirit, fed by faith in -One who is the same yesterday, and to-day, and -for ever.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Both religions entered the world as missionaries -bent upon its conversion, and though Buddhism -was afterwards to eclipse Christianity in the superficial -extent of its conquests, the annals of the -primitive Church record a much more rapid extension. -The early development of Christianity, even -taking into account the circumstances which helped -or facilitated its progress, remains one of the marvels -of history. In the New Testament the Church is -seen to have gained a footing almost wherever the -waves of the Diaspora had reached. <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul found -Christians not only in Rome, but in little Puteoli, -and his letters imply that there were churches in -Spain and in southern Gaul. <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Peter wrote from -Babylon to a wide circle of Christian communities -gathered out of the regions of Asia Minor.<a id='r322' /><a href='#f322' class='c010'><sup>[322]</sup></a> There -seem to have been even then churches in most of -the chief cities, and in a multitude of minor towns -all over the Empire; and there is no reason to -distrust the tradition, that before the last of the -apostles fell asleep, the gospel had called multitudes -living far beyond the bounds of the Empire to make -good their citizenship in the kingdom of God.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The churches may have been small in respect -<span class='pageno' id='Page_319'>319</span>of membership, for the rapid diffusion of Christianity -by no means involved the conversion <i>en masse</i> of -the people. Facts will hardly bear out the glowing -testimony of Gregory Thaumaturgus, who found in -the populous metropolis of a large province only -seventeen Christians, and in twenty-five years reported -that he could find only seventeen heathens.<a id='r323' /><a href='#f323' class='c010'><sup>[323]</sup></a> -With Gibbon we may have to discount as “splendid -exaggeration” the testimony of Tertullian, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Hesterni -sumus, et vestra omnia implevimus.”</span> Still -the direct testimony of Tacitus as to the multitude -of Christians in Rome, the evidence of the Catacombs, -and many other indications, point to the -conclusion that the rapid numerical increase of Christians -was as singular as was the territorial diffusion -of their religion. The whole Empire must have -been sensibly leavened, and the converts must for -long have been gathered from other than the lower -classes of society, before the conversion of Constantine -became possible. Emperors—even Roman -ones—follow in such matters, and do not lead their -subjects; and so we may be sure what had at first -been glad tidings to the slaves and the poor must -for some time have become the consolation of many -a noble Pudens and Linus, and of many a Claudia -of royal descent, before it could be recognised as -the religion of the State.<a id='r324' /><a href='#f324' class='c010'><sup>[324]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_320'>320</span>Many circumstances undoubtedly contributed -to this result. A consolidated empire, with nearly -all the representative nations fused into a union, -comprising all the existing elements of culture and -forces of civilisation; the great Roman highways, -with means of easy communication so abundant as -to be surprising to us; the widespread understanding -of the two leading languages, making -virtually of one speech a great section of the most -important part of the world; the innumerable -communities of Jews, everywhere tolerated, and -“cutting channels through the adamantine mass of -heathen society,”<a id='r325' /><a href='#f325' class='c010'><sup>[325]</sup></a> immensely aided the missionary -activities of the apostles and their followers. -Moreover, the moral and religious condition of the -Empire, the bankruptcy of the old faith, the despair -and confusion and perplexity of people, everywhere -seeking mightier or better deities than they knew, -everywhere trembling “between the two immensities -of terror,” rendered possible the victory of -Christianity. Multitudes were thus prepared to -welcome a Deliverer who had come in the name, -not of Jupiter Maximus Tonans, but of the Father -in heaven, to give peace in this world’s tribulations, -and sure hope of joy in the world beyond -it.<a id='r326' /><a href='#f326' class='c010'><sup>[326]</sup></a> And yet all this, even when added to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_321'>321</span>Gibbon’s five causes, will not account for the historical -puzzle, that a faith, originating in a manger -in a Syrian cattle-shed, brooded over for thirty -years of a life of poverty and toil, preached for -three, with the result of being almost universally -rejected, and quenched to all appearance in the -blood of crucifixion, should immediately after the -death of its Founder have broken out all over the -Roman world. Converting its agents from farms, -and harbours, and prisons, it called them to martyrdom; -for it sent them—poor “weavers, and shoe-makers, -and fullers, and illiterate clowns”—to proclaim -“barbarous dogmas,” and “extravagant -hopes,” “universally detested” by Jew and Gentile, -and to bear the full weight of a prolonged series of -persecutions involving indescribable tortures and -disgrace.<a id='r327' /><a href='#f327' class='c010'><sup>[327]</sup></a> Yet somehow it never paused for a -moment, never abated one iota of its claim, till in -the course of a few generations it was found upon -the throne. We never will explain this wonder -by showing how, as a system of ethics, or as a new -theory of life, it found the condition of the world -favourable to its reception. The correlation of the -state of the world to the new faith has been -claimed as providential,—an indication of a Divine -purpose making all things work together, for this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_322'>322</span>manifestation of a new power or principle of life -in society, which as yet has had no historical -counterpart.<a id='r328' /><a href='#f328' class='c010'><sup>[328]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The early scriptures of Buddhism, though preserving -a tradition that in twelve years from the -time in which the doctrine was first preached it -had spread over sixteen kingdoms, disclose no such -rapidity of diffusion. The kingdoms referred to are -not to be regarded as kingdoms in our sense of the -word, for in extent and influence they would not -equal a German principality, and were probably -only tribal communities. After the death of -Buddha the many Sanghas that had arisen seem to -have suffered for lack of a central governing power. -If his Order is to be called a Church, it had manifestly -no church-government. It had synods, and -assemblies, and councils, but not one with the -authority of an Œcumenical as representative of the -whole. It was more Congregational than Presbyterian -in its constitution, and for this very reason -it was weak when compared with the compact -organisation of Brahmanism, with which it competed -for supremacy. Disorder and dissension are traceable -in it from the first, and the early texts, though -containing many admonitions against schism, warnings -that offences must come, and woes upon those -who would cause them, record no practical steps to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_323'>323</span>prevent or remedy them.<a id='r329' /><a href='#f329' class='c010'><sup>[329]</sup></a> Vigorous expansion was -consequently not to be looked for, and for two -centuries we may safely infer that Buddhism -represented only a struggling sect, which, beyond -the limits in which it was first preached, had made -little, if indeed any, progress.</p> - -<p class='c006'>At the close of this period, when its literature -was reaching a canonical form, and its manuals -of discipline and common order were generally -in use, it found its Constantine in the conqueror -Chandragupta. In opposition to the Brahmans, -who despised him for his low-caste origin, he seems -to have lifted it from obscurity into the sunshine -of really imperial favour. His grandson Asoka, -who consolidated his conquests, proved its Theodosius, -in not only greatly endowing it, but in -establishing its supremacy. There were no quarrels -between him and the Sanghas as to their independence, -as afterwards between the Emperors -and the Popes, for, like a true son of the Church, -he acknowledged their authority. By obeying -in appearance, he in reality became, what Buddhism -since the death of its founder sorely needed, -the head of the system, and under his wise and -energetic rule, the religion emerged into a vigour -which it was to maintain for centuries.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_324'>324</span>An earnest Buddhist, he seems to have been -something better. He called himself Pryadarsi,<a id='r330' /><a href='#f330' class='c010'><sup>[330]</sup></a> -the “beloved of the gods,” and a Daniel indeed -he appears to have been, raised up for the blessing -of millions. His edicts—stone inscriptions found -all over India—the first written testimonies which -Buddhism left of itself,<a id='r331' /><a href='#f331' class='c010'><sup>[331]</sup></a> all breathe a lofty spirit of -righteousness and kindness and toleration, appealing -to both Brahman and Buddhist, and commending -themselves at this day, “to Jew and Christian and -Moslem alike, as part of the universal religion of -humanity.”<a id='r332' /><a href='#f332' class='c010'><sup>[332]</sup></a> One of them refers to a council which -he assembled at Patna, for the pacification and -reformation of the Order. During its session the -ancient collections of rules and dogmas were -rehearsed, and as the list is considerably shorter -than the contents of the Tripitaka, we may be sure -that the Southern tradition that Buddha himself -was the author of all the books comprising that -collection has no foundation in fact.<a id='r333' /><a href='#f333' class='c010'><sup>[333]</sup></a> A far more -momentous act of this ancient council than the -recension of the canon, was that of establishing the -first great Buddhist missions. To a revived and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_325'>325</span>reformed Order the suggestion of the pious king, -that they should go forth and fulfil their great -teacher’s original commission, was welcome. Their -dissensions, as has often happened in Christendom, -were due to their living to themselves. An army -inactive in quarters, is more likely to quarrel or -mutiny than one in service in the field. These good -Buddhists wisely determined to carry the war of -deliverance beyond them, and so into the Punjab, -Kashmir, the Central Himalayan regions, over into -the Malay Peninsula, went the missionaries, armed -only with the words of the Law or the legends -which had been floating round the memory of their -master, and supported only by the offerings put into -their alms-dish, to gain whatever victories they -could in the fair conflict of reason with reason.<a id='r334' /><a href='#f334' class='c010'><sup>[334]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>In India they would of course be supported by -imperial influence, and indeed the mission to Ceylon, -headed by Mahinda, the son of Asoka, seems to have -been accredited by royal embassy; but nowhere was -Buddhism propagated as Islam subsequently was by -Mohammed, or as Christianity was by Charlemagne, -with an army at its back. Races ever ready to -credit the supernatural would probably be more -easily won by the wonders which were then being -formulated in reference to Buddha; but whatever -be the explanation of it, the success of these missionaries -<span class='pageno' id='Page_326'>326</span>anticipated that of the apostles. In Ceylon -there was founded a Sangha, which was destined -to nurse and preserve the original creed in somewhat -of its purity, when all the others betrayed -and corrupted it. Surviving several changes of -dynasty, that Sangha, 330 years after Buddha’s -decease, is said to have reduced its canon to writing. -The result has been somewhat contradictory to the -theory, that it matters very little whether a canon -be oral or written, for Southern Buddhism, having -an authority to which it was thus earlier anchored, -has held more closely to the original system, from -which, having no such check for long, every section -of Northern Buddhism has irrecoverably fallen away.</p> - -<p class='c006'>After the death of Asoka, the empire which he -sought to consolidate by the preaching of the Law -fell to pieces, and Buddhism was destined to be tested -by more than one rude shock. A Brahman reaction -took place, which is even supposed to have resulted -in the persecution of all Buddhists living in India. -If so, it was the first which the religion encountered—so -unlike Christianity, which had to -endure for three centuries the fierce assaults of its -enemies. Persecution by a religion so tolerant as -Brahmanism is hard to conceive, but if it took place -at this period, it only tended, as in the early Christian -trials, to the wider expansion of the persecuted -faith. “They that were scattered abroad went everywhere -<span class='pageno' id='Page_327'>327</span>preaching” the Law. Some of them pushed -through Afghanistan into the regions of Central -Asia, and there, just as Ulphilas and Severinus, -centuries later, gained a hold over the wild races -that conquered the moribund Empire, so Buddhist -missionaries succeeded in sowing the seeds of their -Law among the rude Scythian tribes, who were then -in great commotion in their vast inland steppes. -Driven from their ancestral homes, a branch of the -great tribe of Huns about 160 <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr> overthrow the -Bactrian kingdom, and after generations of struggle -they conquered Kashmir, the Punjab, and a considerable -part of India. Then just as the Goths and Huns, -in the moment of their conquest of Rome, tendered -their submission to Christianity, so the conversion -of Kaniska, the greatest of the Indo-Scythian -kings, a contemporary with Augustus and Antony, -enabled Buddhism to enter with fresh vigour upon -a second period of very brilliant supremacy.<a id='r335' /><a href='#f335' class='c010'><sup>[335]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Though the difference between the Northern -and Southern Buddhists was already showing itself, -and though soon after it manifested itself in a -divergence as complete as that which sundered the -Greek Orthodox from the Latin Catholic Churches, -monumental evidence, harmonising with that -derived from its own literary relics, indicates that -for four or five centuries after this Buddhism was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_328'>328</span>most successfully propagated almost everywhere -save in India. In the land of its origin it was -gradually declining, because drawing nearer to the -Brahmanism from which it had seceded. Fa-Hian -in the end of the fourth century, though describing -it as dominant everywhere, found the place of its -nativity only a wilderness.<a id='r336' /><a href='#f336' class='c010'><sup>[336]</sup></a> Later on, the viharas -were deserted, the dagobas in ruins, “the monks were -few, the heretics many,” and by the seventh century -the process of assimilation with and absorption into -Hinduism was in India, save in widely separated -and remote localities, almost complete. What it -lost in India, however, it was to gain in other -directions. Its greatest conquest was in China. -In the days of Asoka eighteen missionaries are said -to have reached China, where they are held in -reverence to this day, their images occupying a -conspicuous place in every temple. The faith which -they introduced seemed to have struggled with very -little success to gain a footing till about <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr> 68.<a id='r337' /><a href='#f337' class='c010'><sup>[337]</sup></a> -Thirteen years before this date, in obedience to a -vision which appeared to him at Troas, <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul -brought Christianity from Asia to Europe. On -the thirtieth day of the twelfth Chinese month in -<abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr> 68, the Emperor Mingti, in consequence of a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_329'>329</span>dream, sent ambassadors to the distant West for -Buddhist monks and manuscripts.<a id='r338' /><a href='#f338' class='c010'><sup>[338]</sup></a> Travelling in -almost royal state, the invited missionaries were -accorded in China a welcome in marvellous contrast -to the reception of the Christian apostle in the first -colonial city he had reached. From this time -onwards a perpetual succession of monks and -manuscripts entered China; yet, though tolerated -from the first, and often royally patronised, centuries -elapsed before it succeeded in winning a -place as one of the three religions of China, while -Christianity, persecuted from the first, succeeded -after a fierce struggle in conquering the Empire -of Rome, and then by a long process in evangelising -Europe.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The conversion of the most of Eastern Asia was -the work of the Northern or more corrupt Buddhism. -Southern Buddhism, like the orthodox -Eastern Church, which contented itself with its -evangelistic achievements among the Goths, and its -Nestorian missions, soon exhausted its propagative -force. The introduction of the religion into Burma, -Siam, and the adjacent kingdoms, may be said to -sum up its triumphs. Northern Buddhism, on the -other hand, ran from the beginning of our era a -course of unchecked triumphs. In the close of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_330'>330</span>fourth century it spread from China to Corea, and -in the sixth it reached Japan. Previous to this it -entered the isolated regions of Tibet, more welcomed -than resisted by the demonolatrous inhabitants -on account of the adulterated form in which -it presented itself. There, after a struggle for some -two centuries, it succeeded, about the period when -Islam was beginning its conquests elsewhere, in -securing strong royal support. After experiencing -for many generations the vicissitudes of popularity -and persecution, the conquests of Genghiz, -and the strong favour of Kublai, his greatest successor, -established its hierarchy as supreme, and -in spite of changes of dynasty, it has there dominated -the whole relations of life in a manner like -unto, but to an extent far beyond, the wildest -dreams of Rome’s most ambitious Pope.<a id='r339' /><a href='#f339' class='c010'><sup>[339]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>It thus appears that Buddhism in the second -period of its history, and after it had succeeded in -winning the support of powerful kings, reached its -furthest extension and achieved its grandest conquests. -Christianity, on the other hand, was more -rapidly diffused in the primitive than in the subsequent -ages. Tested by its intensive hold upon -the nations, it had only nominally converted the -Roman Empire by the end of the fourth century. -Gibbon’s estimate of the number of Christians within -<span class='pageno' id='Page_331'>331</span>it, is acknowledged by friendly authorities,<a id='r340' /><a href='#f340' class='c010'><sup>[340]</sup></a> like -Bishop Lightfoot, to err if at all on the side of excess. -During the reign of Constantine, probably not a -twentieth of the whole population of the Empire -were Christians, even by profession. After this -period, no doubt, the proportion must have greatly -increased, for the barbarous hordes that poured -downwards in successive deluges over the South -were converted so suddenly and so silently that -“scarce a legend remains to tell the tale.” In -regard, however, to the conversion of heathen -Europe, it is a mistake to suppose that the missionaries -had only to come, and see, and conquer. -The conversion of England by the Roman monks, -and of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales by Oriental -and, it is said, Arian missionaries, cannot be said -to have been accomplished before the close of the -seventh century. Afterwards, the conversion of -Central and Northern Germany occupied the Celtic -and British missionaries for two centuries. The -conversion of the Scandinavians, beginning in the -ninth, could not be said to have been effected till -the middle of the eleventh century, while that of -Slavonia, undertaken in the tenth, did not terminate, -if indeed even then, before the sixteenth century. -The conquest of Europe was the result of a prolonged -and often desultory warfare, in which, while the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_332'>332</span>advance was slow, Christianity sometimes failed to -hold the ground which it had gained. The powerful -Churches in Asia, the seats of its great Councils -and the capitals of its rule, either died or were -swept away; Antioch and Constantinople, once its -citadels, became the strongholds of an alien and -hostile faith; the mighty Churches of Egypt and -Abyssinia dwindled into a condition of immedicable -disease, and the flourishing Church of Africa, with -its more than six hundred bishoprics, was simply, -because ripe for destruction, obliterated by the forces -of Islam. Toward the latter half of the tenth century -it seemed as if Christianity in Europe was surely -following the fate of Buddhism before its disappearance -from India. On all sides it was pressed in -the deadly grip of Pagan and Moslem alike, while -its bishops, and priests, and nobles, oblivious of -the danger, were living in sinful self-indulgence. -It seemed as if Christendom was being surely -blotted out from the geography of the world; and -yet as by a miracle it survived, or was preserved, till -came the Renaissance, and that marvellous emergence -of missionary zeal, which sent Christianity, -Reformed and Unreformed, to the very ends of the -earth, and which, increasing in every generation -since then, was never more abundant nor more -fervent than now.<a id='r341' /><a href='#f341' class='c010'><sup>[341]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_333'>333</span>Christianity, unlike Buddhism, came very early -into collision with the most advanced civilisation and -highest culture of the world, while Buddhism for -centuries encountered only the religions of inferior -peoples. The only equal or superior civilisation -which it met was that of China, and there, though -tolerated and even patronised from the first, it seems -for centuries to have been regarded as an exotic. -Natives of India, like the Jews in the Roman -Empire, were allowed to build Buddhist temples, -but only in the fourth century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr> did Chinese -people begin extensively to be converted to the -Buddhist religion. As it rose into favour its conflicts -with the Confucianists began, and the issue of -its varied fortunes has been, that though indirectly -it has greatly influenced, it has only subdued a -section of the Chinese people.<a id='r342' /><a href='#f342' class='c010'><sup>[342]</sup></a> While other inferior -races came quickly under its influence, the most -civilised of Eastern peoples resisted it, and have at -most only been leavened by it.<a id='r343' /><a href='#f343' class='c010'><sup>[343]</sup></a> Christianity had -also its easy conquests, as when some northern -tribes were converted in a day by the baptism of -their chiefs; but its principal struggle with the -historic Paganism of aristocratic Rome was fierce -and obdurate. There the position, as in the case of -Hinduism to-day, was not carried by assault, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_334'>334</span>by slow and almost imperceptible approaches. The -Church at Rome for two centuries was more a Greek -than a Latin one. The names of its bishops were -Greek, and the Catacomb inscriptions sufficiently -indicate that Greek was the language of its members. -Slowly and indirectly, however, it gained the hold -upon ancient thought and custom, operating like -an alterative in the system, supplanting what was -good, by simply taking possession of it and inspiring -it with a new life, while that which was decaying -and waxing old gradually vanished away.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In this respect, therefore, there is a significant -difference between the two religions. Christianity, -with all the world against it, and in spite of three -centuries of unparalleled persecutions, succeeded in -vanquishing the highest, while yet approving itself -as a gospel to the lowest civilisation. Buddhism, -with the greatest powers of the Eastern world in -its favour, and never, perhaps, save in China, called -to bear the shock of a single persecution, has only -succeeded in being accepted by inferior branches of -the human race. The Hindu Aryans, assimilating -what of it they approved, rejected what of it was -peculiar and distinctive. The Semitic followers -of Islam simply crushed it under foot, and it never -rose high enough even to touch the Western Aryans.<a id='r344' /><a href='#f344' class='c010'><sup>[344]</sup></a> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_335'>335</span>Very early it withdrew itself entirely within the -circles of the Turanian peoples; and if to-day in -Mongolia, Manchuria, among the Kalmucs on the -Wolga, and the Bunjads on the shores of the Baikal -Sea, it may be said to be advancing, the most competent -authorities assure us that everywhere else -its progress is arrested, and that, even where it is -most upheld by local governments, in the regions -of its most dominant supremacy, it yields manifest -signs of decay.<a id='r345' /><a href='#f345' class='c010'><sup>[345]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Another and even more significant contrast is -found in the fact that the advance of Christianity -has ever been farthest and most rapid when its -faith was purely taught and most consistently illustrated. -It never sought peace with other religions -without being defeated, and never allied itself with -superstition without bringing shame and disaster -on all concerned. It has had its periods of deterioration -and defection, but somehow it has always -<span class='pageno' id='Page_336'>336</span>survived them. Indeed, its vitality is as truly indicated -by the corruptions which it has outlived, -as by the external opposition which it has vanquished. -Its real conquests are due to the expansive -power of its inherent and original principles. -The very opposite is the case with Buddhism. Its -fundamental principles being unnatural and repugnant -to the essential instincts of mankind, it was -from the very first a morbid growth, having in it -the seeds of decay. It never could have lived in -the strength of its own principles, and so the story -of its advance is one of perpetual compromise with -every popular superstition that it met. The more it -assimilated itself to them, the more it seemed to -grow; but as foreign influences took possession of -it, its own life oozed out of it, till very early it -represented a system so perverted that its founder -would have repudiated and abhorred it. The Church -has often travestied Christianity, but it never fell -from the faith so fearfully as Buddhism has everywhere -fallen from the original doctrine of Buddha. -Religion, worship, even the purest, he intended by -his system to supersede, and now his name is employed -to support the grossest of all superstitions,<a id='r346' /><a href='#f346' class='c010'><sup>[346]</sup></a> -a religion with more idols in it than that of the -most idolatrous of peoples, a worship founded on -the efficacy of magical incantations, and of prayers -<span class='pageno' id='Page_337'>337</span>rendered by machines. Just for this very reason -its</p> -<h3 class='c011'>II.—Internal History</h3> -<p class='c005'>is very instructive, and we shall now proceed to -consider a few of its most salient points.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Buddhism, in a quiet land and tranquil age, was -launched upon the world as a new theory of life—a -system so rounded off and completed that its -disciples had no other duty than that of believing, -obeying, and propagating it. Christianity, on the -other hand, began its career amid the convulsions of -political revolution, and for three centuries of conflict -it had to fight every inch of its way. It was -not, however, as a new system that it appeared in -history, but as a new principle of life, round which -all the moral, and spiritual, and intellectual energies -which it found in mankind, and all which itself -might awaken, might form and gather strength. -It was impossible, therefore, that it ever could -remain stationary. Its apostles were commissioned -to carry on all that their Lord had “begun both to -do and to teach.” He distinctly promised them -increase of knowledge and power from on high, and -all the changes which increase or growth implies. -To-day His religion could no more be made to -return to the form in which it was manifested -eighteen centuries ago than man could be made -to put on the clothes of his childhood. Its development, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_338'>338</span>however, is that of its inherent life, -manifesting all the continuity and identity of the -sapling with the tree, of the boy with the man. -Like all growing things, it has been subject to -disease by contagion and infection, but it has always -preserved life in sufficient volume to slough off its -impurities and to pass onward through reformation -to health. Now, the history of Buddhism, on the -contrary, reveals only a long process of degradation, -without having manifested any power as yet to -recover and to reform itself according to its original -and essential principles.<a id='r347' /><a href='#f347' class='c010'><sup>[347]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The offspring of Brahmanism, from which it -differed more in degree than in substance, at no -period of its history did it succeed in completely -disentangling itself from it. Not only did the -forms of the old religion cling to it; its very life -was continued in the new. While Buddha rejected -all the sacrificial rites and religious observances of -Brahmanism, and preached a law subversive of all -its faith in revelation, he accepted and continued -its ascetism and its hope of deliverance by a process -of meditation and of abstraction. It was by himself, -therefore, and not by his cousin Dêvadatta,<a id='r348' /><a href='#f348' class='c010'><sup>[348]</sup></a> that -the heretic leaven was introduced into the lump. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_339'>339</span>Dêvadatta’s attempted changes were not innovations, -but a return to the primitive rule, a logical -deduction from a law which Gotama never wholly rejected. -Just as to the patriarchs of the Greek, -the Western or Romish Church “is the chief heresy -of latter days,” just as the Pope was branded in -their Encyclical of 1848 “as the first founder of German -Rationalism,”<a id='r349' /><a href='#f349' class='c010'><sup>[349]</sup></a> so the successive advances and -orthodox decisions of the Buddhist Councils were -denounced as apostasies by men like Dêvadatta. -Still these changes were due in great measure to -the beliefs which Buddhism had inherited, for -when in the inevitable rebound from its unnatural -Nihilism the theistic movement set in, the spirit -of Brahmanism, which had passed into it at the -first, began to assert itself, and, interpenetrating -it more and more, prepared it for that issue in -which, blending with the popular forms in which -Brahmanism was then expressing itself, Buddhism -merged into the composite system of Hinduism -which confronts us in India to-day.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In Christianity, as in nature, the grafting of the -good stock upon the wild conquered the wild. -Christ took nothing from Judaism but the universalism -of its prophets, its faith in one living and -true God, the Heavenly Father of multitudes whom -Abraham was ignorant of, and Israel did not acknowledge. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_340'>340</span>His apostles, judged by the literature -which they have bequeathed, seem faithfully to -have carried out His principles; but many of their -converts were strict Jews, who insisted upon some -visible connection with the old religion. Just as -Dêvadatta, their prototype, held that a true -Buddhist must first be a good Brahman in respect -of asceticism, so they insisted that Christians were -debtors to keep what of the old law was expressed -in circumcision, and the observance of certain other -commandments and ordinances. The danger of -Christianity being reduced to the bondage of the -old was serious, but the inspiration of <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul, -the providential destruction of the nation, and the -marvellous spread of the religion among the Gentiles, -eventually overcame it. The spirit of Judaism, -it is true, has never been wholly cast out from the -Christian Church. All through its history it is -traceable in one form or another of the ritualism -and asceticism which, like Brahmanism, it may be -held to represent. There have been times when it -has attained to portentous and pernicious influence, -and such times may happen again; but from the -early days there has always been in Christianity -vitality sufficient to detect and try and condemn -it; and so though Judaism, and even Paganism, to -some extent, still taint the theology and worship of -the Church, we need have no fear that the genius -<span class='pageno' id='Page_341'>341</span>of the old religion will ever gain, as it did in the -case of Buddhism, permanent ascendency over the -new.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The opposite of Ritualism and Asceticism, represented -by Judaism and Brahmanism, is the Rationalism -which such reforming religions may be said -to beget of themselves; and if its spirit of inquiry -be uncontrolled, it will certainly dissipate their -energy. As early as <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul’s day we see -Rationalism working upon the development of -Christianity, and necessitating the rise of a theology, -which, perhaps inevitably, has often been -confounded with, and, in the estimation of many, -has supplanted the Christian religion. The many -sects which Rationalism produced in the first centuries -do not so much indicate hostility to the new -faith, as the mighty ferment through which the -minds of men were passing in regard to it. Now -though Buddhist scriptures manifest rationalistic -movements in the Sanghas from the first, they seem -to have proceeded in quite a different direction. Of -conflict as to fundamentals of creed there appears -to be very little trace, but there are abundant -indications of considerable controversy as to practice. -The first quarrel traceable in the Christian -Church arose over the peculiar institution of community -of goods; and though the Sanghas avoided -that mistake, their earliest troubles were concerning -<span class='pageno' id='Page_342'>342</span>the possession of property. The original rule -enjoined upon the brethren absolute poverty, and -the regulations in regard to food and shelter were -equally stringent. Very soon after Buddha’s -decease a reaction set in, and a feeling began to -prevail that his standard of morality and his ideal -of the Order were too lofty for all but exceptional -men to realise. He may have succeeded as the -fully Enlightened One, but common men could -not hope to “wind themselves so high;” so out -of consideration for human infirmity there commenced -a constant and increasing relaxation in -their interpretation of his precepts of perfection.<a id='r350' /><a href='#f350' class='c010'><sup>[350]</sup></a> -The law of absolute poverty was modified to the -extent that property might be held in common, -and the laws regulating diet, dress, and even -meditation, were soon subjected to the same treatment. -The wealth which poured in upon them, -and the consequent improvement of their position, -was not followed by corresponding spiritual growth. -The more they prospered, the more the fundamental -principles of the Order were neglected, evaded, or -explained away. The friendly conferences of the -rainy season gave place to controversy, and controversy -proved so fruitful of schism, that very -early in its career Buddhism is said to have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_343'>343</span>produced eighteen different sects, ranged in four -great divisions. Yet in no one schism seemed -there a great principle to be involved; they were -but Pharisee quarrels at best, in which though -they strained out the gnat they swallowed the -camel.<a id='r351' /><a href='#f351' class='c010'><sup>[351]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Side by side with this relaxation of the law -advanced the growth of the legends concerning him -who first preached it. The further they removed -from his decease, the higher, as was natural, he -rose in their esteem. As one by one the fathers -fell asleep, and the early enthusiasm died, and the -law was felt to be more and more burdensome, -the less he seemed to be a man of like passions -with themselves, till eventually they came to regard -him as “omniscient and absolutely sinless.”<a id='r352' /><a href='#f352' class='c010'><sup>[352]</sup></a> He -had taken away their gods, and disowned their -religious cravings. He professed to find no proper -divine being to whom any instinct should attach -itself—yea, in his dissection and analysis of human -nature he found no religious faculty to be relied -upon; but he could not unmake his fellow-men, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_344'>344</span>whose religious instinct education can neither -originate nor eradicate; and so, defrauded of its -natural gratification, it inevitably turned to illegitimate -methods of appeasing itself. In the first -instance, it found the objects of its reverence in -the relics which survived him, the law which he -preached, and the Order which he founded. -Originally it could not be called worship; it was -more an expression of affectionate homage.<a id='r353' /><a href='#f353' class='c010'><sup>[353]</sup></a> But -so strong is man’s impulse to worship, that very -early they expressed it in images of Buddha -everywhere, though the images of the Law and -of the Order have only been found in the lands -where the Northern Buddhism reigns.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This earliest triad of personalities, called “triratna,” -the three gems or three holies, seems to -have been suggested by, and certainly corresponds -with, the primitive triad of deities in the old Indian -Pantheon.<a id='r354' /><a href='#f354' class='c010'><sup>[354]</sup></a> It was the first indication of the -bankruptcy of Buddhism, of its failure out of its -own resources to meet the religious wants of its -disciples, and it marked only the beginning of a -revolt, which was to issue in complete disavowal -of every doctrine essential to original Buddhism. -The religious conscience and common sense which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_345'>345</span>rebelled against its unnatural atheism, would not -long be satisfied with the worship of the memory -of a completely vanished Buddha, or of the idea -of an impersonal Law, or of a miscellaneous Order. -So pious Buddhists turned readily to a doctrine -said to be taught by the Master, and formulated -before the settlement of the Southern canon in -its present form, according to which Buddha is not -a distinctive name of just one person, but a title -descriptive of a long series of Enlightened Ones, -who, leaving, as he was supposed to have done, the -estate of a Bôdhisatva<a id='r355' /><a href='#f355' class='c010'><sup>[355]</sup></a> in the Tushita heavens, -appeared at distant intervals to proclaim the same -truth for the deliverance of men and gods. The -names of twenty-four of these Buddhas who preceded -Gotama have been handed down, and the -name of his successor, to whom, upon the attainment -of Buddhahood, he transferred his Bôdhisatvaship, -and who is to appear after five thousand -years for the rediscovery of the truth, was announced -as Mâitrêya. To this coming one, the -Buddha of “kindness and mercy”—thought to be -a personification by some imaginative poet of the -gentle spirit of Buddhism—the thoughts and the -hopes of the disciples turned, and out of this hope -<span class='pageno' id='Page_346'>346</span>arose a doctrinal system, which, expanding and -enlarging by manifold additions as the time went -on, showed that however atheistic the original -creed might be, the religion itself had become -polytheistic.<a id='r356' /><a href='#f356' class='c010'><sup>[356]</sup></a> To Mâitrêya, in his glorious heavens, -the deliverer of distant generations, prayers -ascended, and worship was rendered by all Buddhists -everywhere alike; and out of this cult by -far the largest section of them began to evolve -deity after deity, till the heavens, in which Buddha -could find no superior to himself, were crowded -with objects of idolatrous regard.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In this polytheistic development a very great -distinction emerged between the Northern or -Mahāyāna and the Southern or Hināyāna system -of Buddhism. How the divergence originated has -not been clearly ascertained, but about the beginning -of the Christian era it seems to have been -very manifest, and at that time, when sectarian -controversy and philosophical speculation threatened -to rend the system into fragments, Nâgârdjuna,<a id='r357' /><a href='#f357' class='c010'><sup>[357]</sup></a> a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_347'>347</span>monk of Nâlanda, is said to have done for Northern -Buddhism what Gregory and Benedict did for the -Western Church. Under him, and certainly after -him, Northern Buddhism, both in respect of expansive -power and of dogmatic and ritualistic development, -left Southern Buddhism far behind it. The -Hināyāna, -or the “little way” of deliverance, is -believed to have been applied by the Northern, -not without contempt for the Southern school’s -arrestment. They did not profess to contradict -the Southern faith: they simply included it, and -advanced in their “great way” beyond it. To -the Southern the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>summum bonum</i></span> of life meant -Arhatship, for that once attained there would be -no more re-birth. They acknowledged and worshipped -only one Bôdhisatva, the coming Mâitrêya; -but the doctors of the North, properly conceiving -the estate of the Bôdhisatva to be nobler than that -of Arhat, propounded it as the goal of aspiration. -Arhatship would indeed secure one’s own deliverance; -but Bôdhisatvahood would enable them, as -possible coming Buddhas, to confer the blessings of -deliverance upon countless multitudes. Along with -Mâitrêya they discovered many persons who, like -Buddha’s great disciples and their successors, had -through merit, acquired in a long series of lives, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_348'>348</span>taken his Tushita heavens by violence; but who, -unlike him, were under no obligation to quit their -celestial abodes, and proceed through Buddhahood -to Nirvana. They might enjoy their blessedness to -the full, and sit beside their nectar without concern, -for they fulfilled every function expected of them in -being objects of worship, to whom mortals could -appeal for comfort in sorrow and help in time of -need.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In India, as early as Fa-Hian’s time, and probably -earlier in China,<a id='r358' /><a href='#f358' class='c010'><sup>[358]</sup></a> out of these happy gods a new -triad was formulated, receiving such worship as -Hindus would render to their later triad of deities, -Brahma, Vishnu, Siva. The title of one of these, -Mandjus-ri, was said to have been the name of -the monk who, two hundred and fifty years after -Buddha, introduced the religion into Nepaul, and -founded the system which Nâgârdjuna consolidated.<a id='r359' /><a href='#f359' class='c010'><sup>[359]</sup></a> -He in this connection is believed to be -the personification of that “wisdom” or “spiritual -insight” which the Northern school valued so -highly. Another deity, Avalôkitês’vara, “the lord -who sees from on high,” is supposed to be the -mythical term for that “kindly providence” which -watched over the whole Buddhist world. And -<span class='pageno' id='Page_349'>349</span>Vajra-dhara, “the thunderer,” represented the -power which protected the faithful from the malice -of demons. How such a worship, so contradictory -to the doctrines of primitive Buddhism, came to -be introduced and recognised, is a puzzle to all -our scholars. Rhys Davids and Sir Monier Williams -are inclined to regard it as suggested by -the second Hindu triad of deities already referred -to. Professor Max Müller<a id='r360' /><a href='#f360' class='c010'><sup>[360]</sup></a> considers it to be a -graft from the superstitions of some northern -Scythian or Turanian race, while Dr. Beal advances -the theory that it was in all probability introduced -from a western monotheistic religion, either -landward through Persia, or by sea from Arabia. -However it came, from this date and onwards, -all over the wide extent of territory covered by -it, Buddhism rapidly deteriorated. While the -Southern system was everywhere yielding to -the influence of the popular mythology, and that -so unmistakably that it became, wherever it -reached, “the unconscious propagator of Hindu -doctrine,” the Northern became a heterogeneous -mixture of all the superstitions which it met. -From this second triad of deities it went on discovering -or inventing its five triads of Dhyâni-Buddhas, -among whom Gotama was the emanation -<span class='pageno' id='Page_350'>350</span>of Avalôkitês’vara, who again was the æon -of Amitâbha, “immeasurable light.” Behind all -these again, they professed to find the Adi-Buddha, -the primordial Buddha, who, out of himself, -by the exercise of five meditations, evolved the -Five Dhyâni.<a id='r361' /><a href='#f361' class='c010'><sup>[361]</sup></a> Each of these again by “insight” -evolved their corresponding æons, who in their turn -from out of their immaterial essence produced a -material world. It is as if the Gnosticism which had -broken out in the West long before this time had -also invaded the distant East,<a id='r362' /><a href='#f362' class='c010'><sup>[362]</sup></a> and as if its dreams, -more restrained by Western sobriety, were in the -East free to produce a phantasmagoria more confused -still. Certainly it is a convincing proof -that, notwithstanding its rich ethical sources, the -essential principles of Buddhism had no inherent -propagative power. For just as it had to return -from its atheism to the deities which it had -discarded, so it had to substitute for its Nihilism -<span class='pageno' id='Page_351'>351</span>the Western Paradise, where, beyond the confines -of the world, the pious Buddhist at last hopes to -join the one Supreme Amitâbha, and millions of -blessed Buddhas discoursing upon all things good, -in a state in which there is no sorrow, and, -“strangest to say, no Nirvana.”<a id='r363' /><a href='#f363' class='c010'><sup>[363]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The more these imaginary deities increased, the -more must the earnest moral teachings of Buddha -have been obscured. The discovery of the Bôdhisatvas -opened the way to a rapid declension from -primitive self-culture to a system of “voluntary -humility.” Discipleship became easier in proportion -as the worship of these shadowy creations -extended. It is much easier to idolise than obey, -to say, “Lord, Lord,” than to do the thing -which he commands. This falling away from the -high Buddhist rule of self-control, proceeding step -by step with the growth of the legends, is just an -illustration of the tendency in every religion to -allow the ethical and metaphysical elements so to -drift asunder, that instead of being one in holy -wedlock they become thoroughly and irreconcilably -opposed.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It was inevitable in Buddhism that morality, -considered essential to self-rescue, should be supplanted -by that debasing belief in the efficacy of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_352'>352</span>rites which the system was launched to destroy. -Its founder went to the unnatural extreme of -ignoring man’s craving for reconciliation. He had -no faith in Divine forgiveness, or in the grace of -repentance, and he never wearied of pouring contempt -upon sacrifice and prayer. No Hebrew -prophet could be more severe in his scorn of useless -rites; but then the Hebrew believed in the efficacy -of one sacrifice, a “heart broken by sorrow,” for sin -not as a misfortune or a folly, but as an offence to -a Holy Being who was ready to forgive, and to be -pleased with the worship of a will surrendered in -gratitude and in love. Very early in his history -man has indicated his sense of alienation from God -in his endeavours to discover an atonement. The -instinctive sense of wrong relations to the powers -that govern life has been liable to fearful perversion, -but Buddha, with all his denunciation, could not -destroy it, nor reason men out of it. He could -induce some to withdraw their imploring cries and -glances from the gods, but he could not sweep the -heavens clean of them. Belief in the existence<a id='r364' /><a href='#f364' class='c010'><sup>[364]</sup></a> of -gods, and demons, and fairies, and charms against -ill-luck, was strong in his disciples from the first; -and when an object of worship was recognised and -allowed, an elaborate ritual of worship, and latterly -of propitiation, was rapidly developed. In Northern -<span class='pageno' id='Page_353'>353</span>Buddhism this recoil was most extreme, for there, -especially in Nepāl and Tibet, belief in the -efficacy of rites deteriorated into belief in spells -and incantations, till it issued in the Tantra system—a -mixture of magic and sorcery whose abominable -doctrines, Burnouf, out of very loathing, refused to -translate to us.<a id='r365' /><a href='#f365' class='c010'><sup>[365]</sup></a> Christianity has had many corrupters, -who have never scrupled to propose or to -accept any compromise with heathenism at all -calculated to strengthen the power of the priesthood, -but it never had its Âsanga,<a id='r366' /><a href='#f366' class='c010'><sup>[366]</sup></a> who cleverly -succeeded in reconciling the demonolatry of the -people of Nepāl and Tibet with the acceptance of -the Buddhist system. This he did by placing their -male and female devils in the inferior heavens -as worshippers of Buddha and Avalôkitês’vara, and -by thus making it possible for the half-savage -tribes to bring their sacrifices, even of blood, to -their congenial shrines, and under cover of allegiance -to the priests of the new to continue the old -hideous idolatry.</p> - -<p class='c006'>This discovery of Âsanga’s is said to have secured -the rapid extension of the Buddhist hierarchy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_354'>354</span>in these half-barbarous regions; but the hierarchy -itself indicated a complete reversal of the primitive -constitution of the Order. Buddha endeavoured to -emancipate his fellow-men from faith in the efficacy -of a priesthood to mediate between men and Deity, -or to secure deliverance. He never dreamed that -either temple or priest would arise in his system; -but the temple grew naturally out of the dagoba -and the relics which it enshrined, and the priesthood -as naturally was evolved from the Sthavira or -senior Bikkhu. In Southern Buddhism the priest -is more like a Protestant minister of religion than -like a priest in the Romish sense of the word; but -in Northern Buddhism, and especially in that form -of it dominant in Tibet, the people from the seventh -century have been completely under the power of -the Lamas who alone can work out their salvation. -With the exception of a short interval of neglect -and persecution, a hierarchy marvellously similar to, -and no doubt in some respects suggested by, that -of Romish Christianity, has completely controlled -all the relations of life,<a id='r367' /><a href='#f367' class='c010'><sup>[367]</sup></a> with the terrible result that -cruelty and immorality most abhorrent to the good -and gentle Buddha have been permitted to assert -<span class='pageno' id='Page_355'>355</span>themselves unopposed, though a devotee who -slaughters his fellow-men in cold blood will shudder -with horror if by accident he should tread upon a -worm or crush an over-irritating flea.<a id='r368' /><a href='#f368' class='c010'><sup>[368]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Only once in that region has it experienced any -attempt at reform. In the fourteenth century, -when the policy of the Ming dynasty in reducing -the predominance of any one sect had prepared -the way for him, Tsong-Kapa, “the Tibetan -Luther,” endeavoured to effect a revival of the -primitive rules of the Order, and succeeded in -restoring something of the ancient simplicity in -dress, the celibacy of the priests, the fortnightly -confession, the season of yearly retreat, and the -invitation ceremony at its close. He set his face -also against the Shamanism of the Tantra system, -adhered to the purer forms of the earlier Mahāyāna -<span class='pageno' id='Page_356'>356</span>school, and succeeded in creating a new sect, -whose leaders in the fifteenth century were by the -Chinese Emperor recognised as titular lords over -the Church and tributary rulers over the State, -under the titles of Dalai Lāma and Pantshen -Lāma. The dream of Hildebrand or Leo for the -Papacy was for centuries more than realised in the -Lāmaism of Tibet, for the Lamas are more than -Popes, being re-incarnations of Avalôkitês’vara and -of his father Amitabha, who never die, but at the -act of dying transfer themselves into another body, -born at that very moment, to be found in it in due -time through a procedure, according to lot, never -yet known to fail. When discovered, he has, however, -to be accepted after the Erastian fashion by -the Chinese Government or its representative, who, -with the Desi or Regent, must also be present -when the final lot is drawn.<a id='r369' /><a href='#f369' class='c010'><sup>[369]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Never under the Papacy, even in the times -when its pretensions were most extravagant, and -its power was most unchecked, has Christianity -<span class='pageno' id='Page_357'>357</span>deteriorated so fearfully as Buddhism has done in -Nepāl and Tibet. Not even in the Abyssinian—the -most degraded of all the Churches that have worn -the name of Christ, in respect of its incorporation of -old Jewish rites and Egyptian superstitions—can -we find the contrivance of the prayer-wheel, or the -poles with their silken flags blazoned with the six -sacred syllables, “om mani padme hum,”<a id='r370' /><a href='#f370' class='c010'><sup>[370]</sup></a> fluttering -their supposed incantations to the heavens. Buddhism’s -ages of worship have been only a long sad -history of degradation, of perpetual falling from bad -to worse.<a id='r371' /><a href='#f371' class='c010'><sup>[371]</sup></a> The higher the worship of Buddhists for -the founder of their system has risen, the more have -they fallen from his virtue; but in Christianity the -ages of strongest devotion to Christ have ever been -the periods of progress. The more intense man’s -reverence for Christ has been, the loftier has been -the standard of virtue attained. Worship and pursuit -of holiness have gone hand in hand, and we -cannot conceive of a life truly offered up in adoration -of Christ ever proving immoral or impure.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The story of Buddhism in India, where without -much resistance it yielded to the seductions of -Vishnaism and Sivaism, the record of its conquests -in the surrounding countries, and especially in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_358'>358</span>those just referred to, present few and slight analogies -to the history of Christianity; but the story of -Buddhism in China as related by those most competent -to testify of the changing forms which it -assumed from the fourth century onwards, is significantly -akin to that of Christianity after it became -the religion of the Empire. China, unlike India, -had before the Christian era a very ancient history, -marked by distinct epochs. Its annals, even of the -eighth century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr>, seem to reflect a civilisation -similar to that of Europe in the thirteenth century -<abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr> Two thousand years <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr> the Chinese are -said to have attained to an idea of Deity somewhat -equivalent to the El Elion of Melchizedek.<a id='r372' /><a href='#f372' class='c010'><sup>[372]</sup></a> Shangti, -the highest of all spirits to whom the people sacrificed, -was the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of -the world, unapproachable by the sinner, but -merciful to all penitents; and in this idea of God, -and in the morality which sprang from it, we have -the secret of that social and political progress whose -arrestment and decay Confucius lamented. Living -in a degenerate age, he laboured earnestly as a -reformer of personal morality and social order; but, -departing himself from the ancestral faith in a -Supreme Ruler of nature and man, “respecting, -but keeping aloof, as he said, from all spiritual -beings,” expressively silent as to the future, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_359'>359</span>refusing to present motives of conduct drawn from -consideration of it, his vigorous ministry, conducted -for many years in many of the States, could only -have the effect of preparing the way for a real -regeneration of society. He had great faith in man, -as born good, with an innate moral faculty which -only contact with the world and the delusion of -the senses prevent from making him virtuous. Man -was made for society, and the five relations of which -society consists—that of ruler and subject, husband -and wife, parent and child, elder brother and -younger, and friend and friend—were Divine ordinances. -His standard of personal righteousness -and social purity, his strong faith in the power of -example, his golden rule, “<i>What you would not like -to have done to yourself, do not to any other</i>,”<a id='r373' /><a href='#f373' class='c010'><sup>[373]</sup></a> his -demand, as urgent as was that of Isaiah or Socrates,<a id='r374' /><a href='#f374' class='c010'><sup>[374]</sup></a> -that language should be used ever with scrupulous -care to express only the thing that is, have gone -far to form, with beneficial ethical results, the -ordinary Chinese character. His ignoring of personal -<span class='pageno' id='Page_360'>360</span>Deity, only referred to under the vague term -Heaven, and of the future of man, could not long -arrest the degeneracy of society or purge out the -secret vices burrowing beneath its surface. If -Buddha is to be regarded in his bold metaphysical -speculations as the first of Gnostics, Confucius in -his pure secularism may be designated the first -Agnostic, and the monotonous and stagnant type -of humanity which his teaching has produced may -be a warning of the kind of civilisation which -the world may expect should ever philanthropic -secularism supplant or supersede the religion of -Christ.<a id='r375' /><a href='#f375' class='c010'><sup>[375]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Contemporary with Confucius, though much -older in years, was Lao-tsze the Venerable, the -author of the celebrated Tâo-teh-King, in which not -only Romish missionaries but scholars like Montucci -of Berlin (1808) and Remusat<a id='r376' /><a href='#f376' class='c010'><sup>[376]</sup></a> (1823) professed to -find the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the name -of Jehovah phonetically expressed. Twenty years -later Stanislas Julien<a id='r377' /><a href='#f377' class='c010'><sup>[377]</sup></a> dispelled these illusions, and -showed that the treatise was as agnostic in its essential -teachings as were the Analects of Confucius. -A poet and a mystic, he gave his whole strength to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_361'>361</span>enforce the virtue of Tao—the <i>way</i><a id='r378' /><a href='#f378' class='c010'><sup>[378]</sup></a> of man’s return -to that spontaneity of action without motive which -prevails in nature, and which will manifest itself -in man, in humility, gentleness, refusal to take precedence -in the world, in accounting the great as -the small, the small as the great, and <i>in recompensing -injury with kindness</i>.<a id='r379' /><a href='#f379' class='c010'><sup>[379]</sup></a> He does not affirm -the existence of God, but he does not deny it, and -his language seems to imply it. Certainly there is -not a word which savours of superstition, and yet -he is the reputed founder of a most idolatrous -religion, which is found in shape five centuries after -his death. The works of his earliest followers are -said to be full of the most grotesque and absurd -beliefs. As early as 221 <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr> some of them were -in search of the Eastern Hesperides, where grew -the herb of immortality. In the first century -<abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr> another professor of Taoism invented a pill -containing the elixir of life, and spells which could -tame and destroy by the touch of a pencil millions -of demons. All through its history it has been a -conglomerate of superstitions so base, and so contrasted -with the teaching of the Tâo-teh-King, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_362'>362</span>that to make the author of that literary relic bear -the obloquy of even the slightest connection with -Taoism, appears to be one of the grossest wrongs of -history.<a id='r380' /><a href='#f380' class='c010'><sup>[380]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>These sages preceded Buddha by a century, -whose religion, though it came into contact with -China shortly after the reign of Asoka, did not -seriously begin to influence it till about the fourth -century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr> The Buddhism of that period was the -religion of the Northern school, well advanced in -its second stage of degeneracy. Wherever it was -encouraged, or allowed to maintain itself, it reared -monasteries and nunneries, temples and shrines of -idols and relics, and established the worship of -saints and images, which sometimes, like winking -Madonnas, opened their eyes and otherwise worked -miracles. Its effect upon Taoism was simply to -absorb it; for before then that religion had neither -monasteries nor temples, nor any system of worship. -All these it borrowed from Buddhism, whose Triratna -and endless pantheon of deities it greedily -accepted, with the effect that though Taoism has -existed nominally distinct from Buddhism in China, -it has simply been as Buddhism in a native dress, -and thus far the Hindu mind can be truly said to -have powerfully influenced Chinese thought.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_363'>363</span>By the Confucians the reception of Buddhism -was very different. They might have laughed at -its idolatrous system budding vigorously into life, -but they could not endure its full-blown anti-social -Monasticism. Its morality they could appreciate, -though it seemed inferior to their own; for though -its teaching as to future rewards commended itself -to the moral instincts of the masses, the Confucians, -more logical than Buddhists, averred that to avoid -wrong-doing for fear of future punishment was not -doing right for its own sake; while to labour for -happiness hereafter led to neglect of the present, -and promoted lazy inactivity. Such a scheme of -religion was by them judged inimical to virtue, -which was its own reward, and the manner of life -by which it was illustrated was condemned as particularly -immoral. The State, the Family, Society, -were Divine institutions which ought to be maintained -and perfected. Industry, public and private, -was essential to their ideal of propriety; and Buddhism, -with its religion of inaction, its celibate rule, -and abandonment of all secular business, was simply -odious to the instincts of a practical and kindly -people. There could only be war between two -such contradictory systems—a war not of words, -but, on the Chinese side at least, of very hard blows. -Their hostility manifested itself in repeated and -prolonged persecutions. In one of these 250,000 -<span class='pageno' id='Page_364'>364</span>monks and nuns were forced to return to social -life, while their property was confiscated, and the -copper of their images and bells was minted into -coin. The Confucians have long ceased to persecute, -but they have never withdrawn their first -indictment against the Buddhists for teaching what -to them is criminal because disloyal, and immoral<a id='r381' /><a href='#f381' class='c010'><sup>[381]</sup></a> -because anti-social.</p> - -<p class='c006'>To the ethical system of China, as represented by -Confucians, Mahāyāna Buddhism could not add much, -if indeed anything, of value; but its speculative -philosophy seems peculiarly to have fascinated them, -and it produced remarkable and permanent changes -in their thinking. The literature and the art of -China reflect not Chinese but Indian scenes and -manners. Its grammatical and arithmetical sciences -owe much to Indian tutelage. An educated Chinaman, -while avowing himself Confucian in respect of -ethics, will in all metaphysical problems reason -according to Buddhist methods and enunciate -Buddhist ideas. To this extent, therefore, it -affected the Confucians, but not with beneficial -results. It aided Confucius in his evil work of -shaking the faith of “the classes” in the personal -Ruler of the Universe, while its effect upon “the -masses” was even more injurious, for it dragged -<span class='pageno' id='Page_365'>365</span>them down to a polytheism from which for centuries -they had been free, and put in place of the impersonal -principle with which Confucius had supplanted -their ancestral faith, those shadowy crowds of -Buddhas and Bôdhisatvas, to lead them still further -away from the purer works and ways of more -reverential ages.<a id='r382' /><a href='#f382' class='c010'><sup>[382]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>The episodes in the history of Chinese Buddhism -from the fourth century onward were marvellously -similar to the scenes and incidents witnessed in -Europe during the same period in connection -with the Christian Church. Cardinal Newman has -somewhere said that in “professing to write the -Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Gibbon has -reluctantly, but actually, written the Rise and -Progress of Christianity.” The most zealous defender -of the faith, however, must admit that the -Christianity which maintained in Europe from the -fourth century onward had grievously declined from -that of the primitive ages. It is the fashion in -some quarters to attribute this degradation to the alliance -of the Church with the State, and to aver that -had it kept apart from the embraces of the Emperors -it would have preserved itself from corruption. -Unquestionably Constantine was a “sair sanct” to -the Church; a convert more from expedience than -<span class='pageno' id='Page_366'>366</span>conviction, he and his successors endeavoured to -utilise the Christian hierarchy to buttress their -own throne. Unquestionably, too, the Church -suffered more indignity and harm from the Christian -Emperors who patronised it, than ever it did from -the heathen Emperors who persecuted it. Candid -inquiries will, however, convince most people that -the alliance with the Empire was more an incident in -than the cause of the Church’s degradation. The -transfer of the seat of rule to the Bosporus left the -Western Church free from the Imperial influence -to regulate its own affairs, and yet it became not -less but even more corrupt than its Oriental neighbour. -The truth seems to be that the corruption -of the Church was due more to its external or material -prosperity than to anything else. To churches -and to nations that is the real ordeal by fire. In -the poverty and struggles they have higher hopes, -but when difficulties are surmounted, and they dwell -at ease, they mistake or forget their vocation. The -adversity and terrible persecution of the Church, -coincident with its primitive enthusiasm, did a -very great deal to preserve its health and purity; -and it was simply natural, and to be expected, -that when it emerged into prosperity and popular -favour, like Jeshurun in his fatness, it should have -rebelled, and instead of serving as it was ordained -to do, should have usurped the power to rule.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_367'>367</span>The iconography of early Christianity reflects -even more clearly than its literature the various -stages of its deterioration. As long as the world -was against it, and it was compelled to use such -places as the Catacombs for its shelter and worship, -its faith was pure, and its life was full of exhilaration -and brightness. Its symbolism was thoroughly -ideal and spiritual, in sharp and instructive contrast -with every Pagan specimen that has been -discovered, and with its own subsequently paganised -art. It was a symbolism, moreover, only of its -hopes, and not of its one object of faith or of -worship. It tolerated no symbol in worship save -the water of Baptism and the bread and the wine -of the Eucharist. It needed, as yet, no crucifix, -not even a cross,<a id='r383' /><a href='#f383' class='c010'><sup>[383]</sup></a> and it would not allow any image -to reveal to the imagination the present but -invisible Christ, or to suggest the profound meaning -of His atonement. But when it went forth, -the admired of the world, into the sunshine, and -began to rear the grand basilicas, and people them -with the tombs of the martyrs and the enshrined -<span class='pageno' id='Page_368'>368</span>relics of the saints, the very desire to rise led it to -fight heathenism with its own weapons, and to copy -its splendours.<a id='r384' /><a href='#f384' class='c010'><sup>[384]</sup></a> Even before this it was falling -back from the simple service of the synagogue to -that of the destroyed temple, but now it was found -adopting the heathen festivals, or accommodating -its own to their dates, and incorporating with its -own the more imposing rites of still popular heathen -fanes. To “offer the new law’s new oblation” it -invented a new ritual and priesthood; and seeing -a priesthood must have somewhat to offer, it discovered -a new sacrifice in the very sacrament which -was the Divine pledge and human thanksgiving for -the abrogation of all external sacrifice.<a id='r385' /><a href='#f385' class='c010'><sup>[385]</sup></a> Then the -government of the Empire became the model of its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_369'>369</span>organisation, and soon it was crowned in a Papacy -professing to dominate, as vicegerent for Christ, a -world which confessedly it has not yet been able -to convert.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It is not necessary to trace the sickening -degradation of Christianity through all its encounters -and compromises with heathenism, till in -the gathering gloom its degenerate art reached a -point where it dared to portray to the eye of sense -the death-pangs of the Son of God, and its worship -touched a depth of idolatry in which it symbolised -the mystery of the Holy Trinity by a three-headed -figure quite after the model of the Hindu Trimurti. -It is sufficient to say that it appears to have proceeded -on parallel lines, and at as rapid a pace as -the degeneracy of Buddhism in the East. It too -has its iconography as well as its literature, and it -is interesting to trace its passage from its earliest -graffiti—the stone edicts of Asoka, where we have -the religion without even the name of the founder—through -the carvings of the Sanchi gateway, -where there is alteration, though to no considerable -extent, on to those at Amravati, where we have the -full-blown Buddhism to which China to a considerable -extent succumbed.<a id='r386' /><a href='#f386' class='c010'><sup>[386]</sup></a> Through all this period -everywhere in Chinese Buddhist temples were seen -<span class='pageno' id='Page_370'>370</span>the idols of the saints, everywhere were found their -worshipped relics. A bone, a tooth, a single hair, -would be purchased by the revenue of a State and -welcomed with imperial honours. The rationalists -of the West might protest as loudly and as scoffingly -as they pleased that there was as much wood of -the true cross and as many veritable nails of it -in Europe as would suffice to build a navy. The -Confucian mandarins at the court of a relic-worshipping -Emperor might indignantly denounce the -desecration and pollution of the royal palace by -the introduction of part of the carrion of a monk -who had died long ago.<a id='r387' /><a href='#f387' class='c010'><sup>[387]</sup></a> With the father of -Gideon, deriding the wonder-working powers of -these relics, they might insist that they, and even -Buddha himself, should plead, Baal-like, for themselves -against their iconoclastic ire; but at that -time neither law, nor persecution, nor common -sense could prevail to cure this perverted disposition. -Belief in the virtue of a fetich marks both -the infancy and decay of most religions. In -Chinese Buddhism to-day this belief is as vigorous -as ever, and notwithstanding the influence of the -Reformation, and the spread of scientific discovery, -this belief marks an extreme of thought from which -neither Romanism nor Protestantism as yet can be -said to be free.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_371'>371</span>The Buddhism of the earliest traditions was -concerned chiefly with morality as essential to -deliverance, and the Christianity of the New -Testament is a faith and hope and love, dominating -and fusing and moulding life after a nobler type. -In China, as elsewhere, the Buddhism of morality -gave way to the Buddhism of mystic contemplation. -Yielding to the same tendency which afterwards -made so many Christians abandon the -paths of obedience and practice of righteousness -for the cultivation of the inner life, Buddhism as -early as 520 <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr> was prepared to follow eagerly -Bôdiharma,<a id='r388' /><a href='#f388' class='c010'><sup>[388]</sup></a> who came from Southern India to -sweep away the alien growth of all book-instruction, -and to establish the truth that “out of mind -there is no Buddha, out of Buddha there is no -mind; that virtue is not to be sought, and vice is -not to be shunned; that nothing is to be looked -upon as pure or polluted, for all that is needed is -to avoid both good and evil, and he that can do -this is a truly religious man.”<a id='r389' /><a href='#f389' class='c010'><sup>[389]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_372'>372</span>In proclaiming that ethical distinctions mark -an inferior stage of discipleship, for a “good man, -though never against, is always above them,” -Bôdiharma, the nominal founder of Esoteric Buddhism, -simply formulated more clearly the teaching -of Nâgârdjuna, the reputed founder of the Mahāyāna -system. It was only another expression of that -indefinable phase of thought, found in all religions -as mysticism, and which, though commonly identified -only with its extravagant outbursts, is really -of the very essence of religion. The dominating -thought in a religious man is that of a Supreme -One in whom we live and move and have our -being, and there are times in his worship when -the balance of consciousness is disturbed, and self -is lost in consciousness of the Divine. Man without -the aid of prayer or sacramental grace finds in -himself the revelation, and alas! as his consciousness -is always imperfect, and very often confused, -the revelation is too often distorted and the reverse -of Divine.<a id='r390' /><a href='#f390' class='c010'><sup>[390]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Mysticism, as was natural in a religion quickening -<span class='pageno' id='Page_373'>373</span>both thought and emotion, appeared early -in Christianity, and from the days of <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John it -has never lacked a representative. In its manifold -varieties and aberrations it presents many -similarities to the mysticism of the East, but in -reality it is as different from it in its nature as it -is distant from it in its source. Eastern mysticism -has always been more speculative than practical -in character. Pantheistic in its origin, it assumes -that all things are as divine as it is their nature -to be, and aspires to get at the unity of being. -Western mysticism, on the other hand, starts always -from a sense of the disorder and alienation of -things, and endeavours to get at man’s true life. -The Eastern finds its object within, the Western -generally without; the Eastern considers identity -with Deity a natural state, the Western regards -perfect fellowship with Deity as a goal of spiritual -attainment. In Christianity mysticism has been -occasional in its manifestations, and has always been -regarded as an innovation; but in the East it is the -normal deduction from Hindu Pantheism and Buddhist -Nihilism.<a id='r391' /><a href='#f391' class='c010'><sup>[391]</sup></a> Nâgârdjuna and Bôdiharma were -the natural outcome of Gotama’s teaching. In Christianity -it has often shown itself to be marvellously -practical, and generally in revolt from some stereotyped -system of dogma or form of worship. Though -<span class='pageno' id='Page_374'>374</span>associated in our thoughts more with the sentimental -than the intellectual aspects of religion,<a id='r392' /><a href='#f392' class='c010'><sup>[392]</sup></a> it -has manifested frequently a decidedly rationalistic -tendency. Refusing to be dominated by authority -or to be bound by antiquity, it has questioned fearlessly -the dicta of Scripture, avowing that reason is -not superseded, but divinely inspired and controlled -as the organ of revelation. In Christianity its -extravagances may be forgiven in consideration of -the benefits which have flowed from it. It powerfully -helped to bring about the Reformation, and -since then, in the Churches, whether reformed or -unreformed, it has tended to sweeten and intensify -devotion. It has kept them mindful of their common -lineage by insisting upon those essential and -universal truths which are confessed to be vital -in all religions, and especially by proclaiming the -supremacy of the Holy Spirit as the fountain of -all enlightenment and activity.</p> - -<p class='c006'>As manifested in <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul and <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John, mysticism -<span class='pageno' id='Page_375'>375</span>is the recognition of the Holy Spirit as the Witness -of Christ, and therefore the supreme lord over all -man’s emotions and reasonings and purposes. Consequently -the asceticism with which mysticism has -always been associated has been in Christianity more -kept under control. Occasionally it has lapsed into -frightful excesses; indeed, the extravagances practised -in the East to attain to insight have been -equalled by the devices resorted to by many in the -West to gain the vision of the Divine. In ingenious -methods of self-torture the West certainly vied with -the East, but at self-torture perverted Christianity -stopped, while degenerate Buddhism went on to invent -and put in practice most revolting methods of -self-destruction as well. The law of Buddha prohibited -this, and forbade even the mention of the -advantages of death. It was an offence of the gravest -kind, punished by the severest penalty which the -Order could inflict,<a id='r393' /><a href='#f393' class='c010'><sup>[393]</sup></a> for a monk to procure a weapon -for the purpose of taking away his life, or to teach -how death may be procured. Still, in India before -Fa-Hian’s time, self-murder was practised, and in -China Imperial edicts against self-mutilation and -self-immolation were required to prevent fanatics -evading the primitive law by the quibble, that -while prohibiting suicide, Buddha enjoined the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_376'>376</span>destruction of anger and lust, and that it was -against these alone that they raised their hand, -in order to complete their deliverance.<a id='r394' /><a href='#f394' class='c010'><sup>[394]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'>Christianity demands that an ἄσκησις shall be -practised by all who desire the illumination of the -Spirit, for all that is vile must be purged out of -life, and all that is animal in it must be subdued. -The discipline, however, is always moral as well as -religious, and it aims only at controlling, never, -like Stoicism or Cynicism, at stifling or violating -natural affection. Unlike Plato, who regarded -matter as evil, Christ and His apostles recognised it -as the creature of God, and taught us to seek the -seat of evil, not in the body, but in the perverted -will. In the spirit is the true <i>fons et origo mali</i>; -but as the occasion of sin directly or indirectly -often originates in some desire for bodily indulgence -or some dread of bodily pain, temperance and fortitude -demand that the body, if not inured to hardness, -should be at least kept under control. So -bodily exercise,<a id='r395' /><a href='#f395' class='c010'><sup>[395]</sup></a> though in itself profiting little, -profiteth much as moral discipline, a means to a -spiritual end. Consequently the fast in its literal -<span class='pageno' id='Page_377'>377</span>sense has its place in the Christian system as an -expedient generally most required in the times -when we are inclined to despise it. The fanaticism -which would destroy or injure what is natural is -condemned by Christianity as severely as is the -sensuality which would unduly strengthen it. What -it demands is that the whole nature be educated -and ennobled by loving surrender to the control -of an infinitely holy Will. Enjoyment of the vision -beatific, communion with the Divine Being, is the -<i>summum bonum</i> of Christianity, and that is the -portion only of the sanctified. “Blessed are the -pure in heart: for they shall see God.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>Bôdiharma’s mystic or esoteric Buddhism had -no such influences to steady and sober it, and its -aberrations were wilder than the fancies of our delirium. -The supernatural pretensions of mysticism -have always been disallowed or condemned in Christianity -by overwhelming healthy-minded majorities, -but the consequence of the practice of Esoteric -Buddhism was believed by all to be supernatural -power. An adept in it professed to see through all -ages and worlds, and move through space by a sheer -exercise of will. All the phenomena of modern -spiritualism may have been witnessed in India and -China two thousand years ago—yea, centuries -perhaps before Buddha appeared. The first pretenders -to these mysteries were the Indian Yogis -<span class='pageno' id='Page_378'>378</span>and the medicine-men of savage and barbarous -races.<a id='r396' /><a href='#f396' class='c010'><sup>[396]</sup></a> The “Neo-Buddhism” and “Theosophy” -of to-day simply confront us in the cast-off yellow -rags of these pitiful superstitions. Their disciples -attempt to warm themselves and to walk in the -light of the unhallowed flames which the deluded -followers of Bôdiharma believed they could kindle. -In whatever way the phenomena of spiritualism -are to be explained—and one cannot say what -phenomena may emerge when the human mind is -abandoned to vacuity, and the human will to an -ungoverned fancy—we may be certain that investigation -of them will never disclose the reality of -benign supernatural power. What capabilities may -be dormant in humanity no one can tell. Christ -who redeemed us is the prophecy of what He -can make us. He had supernatural power because -His being accorded perfectly with the Heavenly -Father’s will; but supernatural power as manifested -by Christ is very different indeed from the -ludicrous exhibitions of the “spiritualists.” Christ’s -supernatural power was not manifested just in -their ways, and certainly not by their methods; -will it ever be acquired?<a id='r397' /><a href='#f397' class='c010'><sup>[397]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_379'>379</span>It is not compatible with our space to trace the -parallels between Esoteric Buddhism and some -nineteenth-century forms of speculation in which -the finite is again seen to be going back to the -absolute, and the reality of everything but the self -is denied. On the religious side, however, it is -interesting to notice a later stage of it in a system -which, originating not long after Bôdiharma, took -some four centuries to establish itself. The T’ien-t’ai -or Chi-Che school differed from Bôiharma’s theory -of pure mental abstraction to be gained through -complete withdrawal from all sensible surroundings, -in that it sought to aid contemplation by sensuous -exercises. Worship of gay idols, music of many -persons chanting in unison, postures of kneeling -and standing, exercises of continued and loud -recitation, with intervals of profound silence and -intense meditation, were supposed to produce the -desired illumination. It seemed to be the first -recognition of feeling in the Buddhist religion, and -the first attempt to employ it to produce ecstasy. -The same attempt has often been repeated in the -history of Christianity, sometimes in very grotesque -<span class='pageno' id='Page_380'>380</span>and extravagant forms. In every outburst of -religious enthusiasm we may see rude examples -of it, but it is also the principle on which æsthetic -worship is generally defended. It is a reminder, -therefore, to some very superior people, of our -common human nature, and a warning that when -left to itself, or indulged, even the æsthetic, like all -other instincts, will just run the same round of -extravagance in manifold and ever-recurring variety.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The tendency in human nature to pervert a -religion is as strongly manifested in Christianity -as in Buddhism; but there is this outstanding -distinction between them, that while a survey of -Buddhism shows that everywhere it has run its -course, and has exhausted its intellectual and moral -and spiritual resources, Christianity upon examination -appears to be only in an early stage -of development. In spite of the perversions of the -Church, and its repeated resistance to Christian -movements, Christianity has always produced what -has condemned and corrected and vanquished them. -It is the recuperative power of Christianity which -most distinguishes it. There is nothing in the -history of Buddhism which at all corresponds with -the Reformation. To-day all over the world it is -stereotyped and unprogressive, whereas everywhere -in Christendom there is ferment of thought and -stirring of life, plainly indicating that whatever -<span class='pageno' id='Page_381'>381</span>power may claim the past, Christianity has the -sure promise of the future.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In China, two hundred and seventy years ago, -originated a sect whose adherents, scattered through -the villages of the Eastern Provinces, and belonging -principally to the lower classes of society, may -be called Protestant or Reformed Buddhists. -They are described by Dr. Edkins<a id='r398' /><a href='#f398' class='c010'><sup>[398]</sup></a> as opposed to -idolatry in all its forms, as having no temple, but -only plain meeting-houses, signalised with only -the common tablet to heaven, earth, king, parents, -and teachers, as their symbol of reverence. Their -worship consists not in ceremonies, but in quiet -meditation, and inner adoration of the all-pervading -Buddha. They are called the “Do-Nothing Sect,” -not because they are idle, like the ignorant inmates -of the monasteries—for they are really industrious -and virtuous,—but because they hold that the -highest virtue is never intentional, but wholly unconscious -of self. Like M. Aurelius,<a id='r399' /><a href='#f399' class='c010'><sup>[399]</sup></a> they consider -that to ask to be “paid for virtue is as if the eye -demanded a recompence for seeing.” In thinking -of them, the words of the Lord Jesus recur to us: -“Do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again.” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_382'>382</span>George Fox, and the quiet and charitable Society -which he founded, and which still continues in -formal garb his protest against all formalism in -worshipping God, not by clamouring to Him, but -in silently waiting till He speaks, seems to be the -realisation of what these good Wu-wei-Kiau -aspire to in their religion. They have not been -able to free themselves from Buddhism or Taoism. -Buddha, though not worshipped, is believed in -by them, and they have found an object of adoration -in Kîn-mu, the Golden Mother of the soul, -who can protect and deliver from calamity, and -even save those that have died from misery. They -have four principal festivals, two of which celebrate -the birth and death of Lo-tsu, their founder. On -these occasions three small cups of tea and nine -tiny loaves of bread are placed on the tables, -according to the appointment of Lo-tsu himself. -On this account they are nicknamed “the Tea and -Bread Sect.” They are strict vegetarians, but in -no other sense ascetics, honouring marriage and -family life, and having no monastic institute among -them. They aver that one of their leaders during -a persecution was crucified, and their great hope -is that the world will soon come to an end, and -that the Golden Mother will appear, to take all -her children—all who believe in her as they do—home -to her beautiful heaven.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_383'>383</span>This can hardly be called a reformation of Buddhism -according either to its original form or its -fundamental principles. It is a departure from, -and an immense improvement upon it, which is -manifestly due to foreign and probably Christian -influence. The Nestorians entered China in the -seventh, and the Jesuits in the sixteenth century, -while Reformed Christianity only came in contact -with China in the present generation. If it -be denied that Christianity helped to produce -the Do-Nothing Sect, it will be difficult to disprove -the claim that, directly or indirectly, it has done -much to produce the latest forms in which, in -China and Japan, Buddhism is now presented to the -world. In both countries Reformed Buddhists are -found differing in much from one another, but generally -agreeing in rejecting polytheism for the worship -of one divinity: in China, Kwan-yin, who for long -has changed sexes, and is now the goddess of mercy; -in Japan, Buddha, whose attribute is Amita, the -infinite. One sect, called the “Salvation without -Works Sect,” has progressed greatly in Japan, under -the title of Shin-Shin, “the true religion.” The -worshipper renounces all merit, and trusts for -salvation in nothing but the mercy of Amita.<a id='r400' /><a href='#f400' class='c010'><sup>[400]</sup></a> The -soul is brought into a state of salvation by an act -of faith, and though sure of salvation, the faithful -<span class='pageno' id='Page_384'>384</span>must not abandon the struggle with evil, for holiness -is not the beginning, but the result of salvation. -In Kioti, a Buddhist sect has a college quite Western -in its curriculum and arrangements. There -too the Japanese newspapers not only record the -successes of able Buddhist preachers in spreading -their doctrine, and in founding schools, they advertise -a Buddhist propaganda for the conversion -of Europe and America. Its only organ as yet is -a little magazine called the <i>Bijou of Asia</i>, but it is -printed in English for the enlightenment of all who -believe in the moribund creeds of the West, and -for the rescue especially of souls from the snare of -that Christian superstition which “happily all over -the world is rapidly declining in power”!</p> - -<p class='c006'>If this be not impure Christianity, no one will -dare to call it pure Buddhism. Surely it is a hopeful -indication for the future of Japan, as being evidently -a movement somewhat similar to that inaugurated -in India by Rammohun Roy, and greatly furthered -in our days by Chunder Sen. The first professed -to trace his reform to the Upanishads rediscovered, -and expounded, and applied; and the -second to the Vedas as the primitive fountains of -the faith. Both reformers and their work would -have been impossible two thousand years ago; yea, -they would have been equally impossible to-day, had -not the West given of its thoughts to the East, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_385'>385</span>and Christendom communicated to it something of -its better life. It is one thing to read the Vedas -and Upanishads, as the Rishis recited or the Brahmans -expounded them long ago, and quite another -to have them interpreted by natives of India, -around whose forefathers for several generations all -the influences of Christian civilisation have been -playing. So is it with the reforming Buddhists -of China and Japan, who have enterprise to send -their sons to study at our British Universities. -They are reading their old literature—even when -rejecting our systems of belief—with minds unconsciously -saturated with Christian intelligence, -and no doubt they often find there what the Gospel -has put in themselves.</p> - -<p class='c006'>We may rest assured that the reform of the -Oriental religions will only be effected by the -infusion into them of the spirit of Christianity. A -higher religion meeting them as Christianity does, -may not supplant or destroy them, but it will -revive and transform them. It will destroy much -that is false, correct much that is wrong, supply -all they lack, and so in the end annul them. -The product will not likely be a facsimile of any -of the Churches of Christendom. It may be a -religion in which Buddha and the great teachers -of his system will be lifted to their places among -the prophets who, “since the world began,” unconsciously -<span class='pageno' id='Page_386'>386</span>testified, by their errors as well as by -their truths, by their failures as well as by their -successes, to the Mystery to be revealed. The fact -that in Buddhism the object of worship is not the -Buddha that was, but Mâitrêya who is to be, is -a pathetic confession that its Messiah has yet -to come. Though Buddha did not proclaim His -coming, the result of his mission bears witness to -the need of Him. So he was a lawgiver preparing -the way for Moses, even as Moses prepared the -way for the Baptist, and as the Baptist heralded -the Christ of God. Could his voice reach down -to-day from “the quiet shore” to the millions -who have taken hold of him in hope of finding -deliverance from the miseries and perplexities of -this sinful world, it would be to repeat a testimony -once heard on Jordan’s banks from him than whom -no one born of woman was greater: “There standeth -One among you whom ye know not, the latchet -of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_387'>387</span> - <h2 id='postscript' class='c004'>POSTSCRIPT.</h2> -</div> -<p class='c005'>In endeavouring to perform the very honourable -task assigned to me, I have had to contend all along -with the difficulty of comprising in six what would -require many more lectures properly to relate. -Much which was actually prepared I have been -forced to omit, consoling myself with the thought -that, after all, I had simply to lecture and not to -write a compendious treatise, and that it was -my business to sketch as truthfully as I could -what it was simply impossible, within the limits -prescribed, adequately to depict. It was originally -my intention to give in parallel quotations the -alleged similarities between the contents of the -Pitakas and the New Testament, but the conditions -of time and space compelled me to be content with -references to specimens of them in the <i>Sacred Books -of the East</i>, from which any ordinary English -reader may be able to form a judgment concerning -them. Moreover, when well on with the work, I -discovered that a much more thorough examination -of Professor Seydel’s <i>Buddhist-Christian Harmony</i> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_388'>388</span>than I could profess to make had already been published -by Professor Kellogg of Allegheny, <abbr class='spell'>U.S.</abbr>, in his -book on the <i>Light of Asia and the Light of the World</i>. -An Indian missionary of eleven years’ experience, -and the author of an excellent Grammar of the -Hindi language, can write upon this subject, not -only with greater authority, but to much better -purpose, than one who only knows Indian books -through the medium of European translations, and -who has not seldom been compelled to take on -trust what he felt strongly inclined to question. -If Dr. Kellogg’s book is not extensively read in -this country, it certainly deserves to be.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Our sketch has been confined to Buddhism as a -religion and as an ethical system. The philosophy -which has grown out of it, and especially the -psychology which lies at the base of its original -dogmas, would require a large volume to expound. -A great field is open here for those who have the -ability and the leisure to cultivate it; and though -good work has already been done in it, we may be -convinced that, until this psychology has been -more thoroughly investigated, we must continue in -uncertainty as to what original Buddhism was. -Though much has been written upon the origin -and growth of Buddhism, the first authoritative -words are only now beginning to be spoken by the -learned translators of the Pali texts; and though -<span class='pageno' id='Page_389'>389</span>they have dispelled illusions and corrected false -impressions not a few, we cannot affirm that there -is a strong consensus of opinion among them as to -the life and teaching of the founder of Buddhism. -One is greatly impressed by the modest hesitation -with which they have presented their views, but -this very diffidence makes one fear that we may -be attributing to Buddha sayings which he never -uttered, or that we have drawn from them inferences -which he would have disowned.</p> - -<p class='c006'>In working out a sketch like this, the temptation -constantly besetting one is to compare or contrast -actual Buddhism with ideal Christianity.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I have endeavoured to bear in mind that our -modern religion may in many features grossly misrepresent -that of its Divine Author, and, indeed, -that “Christianity has all along been much embarrassed -in being obliged to apologise for Christendom.”<a id='r401' /><a href='#f401' class='c010'><sup>[401]</sup></a> -In like manner I have tried to make plain -the great distinction between the original system of -Buddha and that which very soon came to be known -by his name. An Oriental will certainly misjudge -Christianity if he derives his knowledge of it from -mediæval theology or from some nineteenth-century -sermons; and we may unconsciously commit the -same mistake in ascribing to the primitive dogmas -the interpretation put upon them by its later -<span class='pageno' id='Page_390'>390</span>schools.<a id='r402' /><a href='#f402' class='c010'><sup>[402]</sup></a> I have read several books in which this mistake -was flagrant, and I should be extremely sorry -to follow their bad example. In the present state of -our knowledge, however, and until the earliest texts -have been accurately ascertained, and sifted, and -classified, this, to a certain extent, is inevitable, -and therefore excusable. If I have failed in my -attempt to portray accurately even the salient -features of this great religion, it has been from no -desire to caricature it. The days have surely -passed when it could be said that we were “too -infatuated by a sense of the superiority of our own -to make a fair survey of other religions.”<a id='r403' /><a href='#f403' class='c010'><sup>[403]</sup></a> It is -our duty, and it will be for our interest, to do -justice to them, and, instead of being content with -the schoolboy’s endeavour to prove them false, we -should seek carefully among the ruins of the most -degraded of them for all the elements of truth we -can discover. It is in this direction that we must -proceed if we would find solid foundations for a true -Christian theology, and the more we address ourselves -to the work the more likely shall we be to -convince the Church of the proper value of the -Faith deposited in its keeping, and to rouse it to -realise its destiny and fulfil its glorious mission to -the world.</p> - -<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_391'>391</span>In correcting these sheets for the press, I have -often been sensible of my great obligations to -a very highly valued personal friend, whose goodness -was as remarkable as his learning. May I -be forgiven if, in gratitude for his kind and generous -help in these very studies, given now long -ago, I desire to keep alive the memory of this justly -esteemed Sanskrit scholar, by adding this little -stone to his cairn, and adorning my book with the -name of Dr. John Muir.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Printed by <span class='fss'>T.</span> and <span class='sc'>A. Constable</span>, Printers to Her Majesty, -<i>at the Edinburgh University Press</i>.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='large'>Footnotes</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. </span><span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung</i></span>, <abbr title='preface'>Pref.</abbr> <abbr title='13'>xiii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. </span>Professor Max Müller, Gifford Lectures for 1888, on <i>Natural -Religion</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 11.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f3'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, 1881, “On the Origin and -Growth of Religion as illustrated by some points in the History of Indian -Buddhism,” <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 10.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f4'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. </span>Max Müller, <i>Introduction to the Science of Religion</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 38.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f5'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. </span>John <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 39.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f6'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. </span>Baring Gould, <i>Origin and Development of Religious Belief</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 121.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f7'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. </span>Westcott, <i>Victory of the Cross</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 3, 6.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f8'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids estimates the number at five hundred millions -(<i>Handbook of Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 6). The previous general estimate was about -four hundred millions; but Dr. <abbr class='spell'>A. J.</abbr> Happer, missionary at Canton for -forty-five years, reduces this number to seventy-three millions. Sir -Monier Williams, in his recent book on Buddhism, quoting Professor -Legge’s introduction to <i>Travels of Fa-Hian</i>, calculates the number at one -hundred millions, and claims for Christianity, with its four hundred and -thirty millions of adherents, the numerical preponderance over all others.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f9'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 4, 7; Sir Monier Williams, -<i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 171.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f10'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r10'>10</a>. </span>Dr. Caird, <i>Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion</i>, Croall Lectures, -1878-9, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 82 <i>seq.</i>; <abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, 1881, -<i>On the Origin and Growth of Religion as illustrated by Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 7.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f11'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r11'>11</a>. </span>To draw proper inferences from statistics of the spread and supremacy -of a religion, we must first investigate the circumstances in which -it was propagated, and the intellectual and moral conditions of the -peoples whom it has converted. If it has gained only the belief of <i>one</i> -section of the human race, it is evidently not entitled to rank with -another which proves itself influential among <i>all</i> sections. A religion -dominant only over <i>inferior</i> races is manifestly of less value than another -which, while satisfying the wants of the lowest and most degraded -peoples, is yet fulfilling the spiritual aspirations of the <i>highest</i>. The -first, if in any way related to the second, can only be so as preparatory -and prophetic of the mission which the second alone can accomplish.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f12'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r12'>12</a>. </span><i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> Introd.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f13'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r13'>13</a>. </span>Köppen, <span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Die Religion des Buddha</i></span>, <abbr class='spell'>s.</abbr> 231; <abbr class='spell'>J.</abbr> Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire, -<i>Le Bouddha</i>, etc., <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 78, 144, 181; Spence Hardy, <i>Manual of -Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 358.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f14'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r14'>14</a>. </span>Sir Monier Williams, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='15'>xv,</abbr> Introd.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f15'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r15'>15</a>. </span>Alabaster, <i>Modern Buddhist; in the Wheel of the Law</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 73; -Trübner and <abbr title='company'>Co.</abbr>, 1871.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f16'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r16'>16</a>. </span><abbr title='fifth'>5th</abbr> April 1885. In the Madras <i>Times</i> for October 29, 1886, a -meeting of the Society for the Propagation of True Religion is advertised, -for reading and exposition of the Bhagavad-Gita.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f17'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r17'>17</a>. </span><i>The Light of Asia</i>; <i>The Occult World</i>; <i>Esoteric Buddhism</i>; <i>Theosophy -of Archaic Religions</i>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f18'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r18'>18</a>. </span><i>Parerga</i>, <abbr title='third'>3d</abbr> <abbr title='edition'>ed.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 59.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f19'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r19'>19</a>. </span><i>Westminster Review</i>, New Series, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='48'>xlviii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 469.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f20'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r20'>20</a>. </span>Gerald Massey, <i>Light</i>, <abbr title='sixteenth'>16th</abbr> June 1883.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f21'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r21'>21</a>. </span>Among these are reckoned Adam, Fohi, Laotze, Jesus, Mohammed, -and Jenghiz Khān.—Kinnealy, <i>Commentary on the Apocalypse</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 685.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f22'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r22'>22</a>. </span>Pember, <i>Earth’s Earlier Ages</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 326.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f23'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r23'>23</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>H. H.</abbr> Wilson, <i>Essays</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 376; Huc and Gabet, <i>Travel -in Tartary and Thibet</i>; translated by Mrs. <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> Sinnett and <abbr class='spell'>W.</abbr> Hazlitt.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f24'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r24'>24</a>. </span><i>Buddhist Birth Stories</i>, translated by <abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i</abbr> -Introd. <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='41'>xli.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f25'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r25'>25</a>. </span>Foucher de Careil, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Hegel et Schopenhauer</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 306.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f26'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r26'>26</a>. </span><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Vie de Jésus</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 98, <abbr title='fourth'>4th</abbr> <abbr title='edition'>ed.</abbr>; Paris, 1863.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f27'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r27'>27</a>. </span>The Buddhists, as Professor Kuenen remarks, do not believe in -angels, and they have no <i>Messiah</i>. Tathagata, which Mr. de Bunsen -translates “The Coming One,” <abbr class='spell'><i>i.e.</i></abbr> Messiah, means “One <i>who has gone</i>” -or “has arrived at” (Nirvana), like his predecessors. So Oldenberg, -Rhys Davids, Bigandet, Edkins, Rajendralal Mitra: see too Dr. Kellogg, -<i>Light of Asia and the Light of the World</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 106, 107.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f28'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r28'>28</a>. </span>See for these and other curious instances his article on “The Obligations -of the New Testament to Buddhism,” <i>Nineteenth Century</i>, <abbr title='December'>Dec.</abbr> 1880.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f29'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r29'>29</a>. </span><i>Natural and Universal Religions</i>, Hibbert Lectures, 1882.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f30'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r30'>30</a>. </span><i>Strom.</i> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 15; Porphyry, <i>de Abstin.</i> <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 17.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f31'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r31'>31</a>. </span>Schwanbeck, <i>Megasthenes Indica</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 20; Lassen, <span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Ind. Alterthumskunde</i></span>, -209; <abbr class='spell'>H. H.</abbr> Wilson, <i>Essays</i>, <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 314 <i>seq.</i>; Reinaud, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Relations -Politiques et Commerciales de l’Empire Romain avec l’Asie Central</i></span>, Paris, -1863; Priaulx, <i>Travels of Apollonius and the Indian Embassies to -Rome</i>, Paris, 1873.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f32'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r32'>32</a>. </span>The question of the disciples in John <abbr title='nine'>ix.</abbr> 2, concerning the man who -was born blind, “Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born -blind?” is alleged by Professor Seydel (<span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Das Evangelium von Jesu in -seinen Verhältnissen zu Buddha-Sage und Buddha-Lehre</i></span>) to indicate an -idea introduced into the Gospel from a foreign source, as the doctrine of -the pre-existence of souls was then unknown among the Jews. Meyer -in his critical and exegetical Handbook to <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John’s Gospel has shown -that no one required to go outside the sphere of Jewish thought for an -explanation of this part of the disciples’ question. In addition to his -quotations from the Rabbinical books illustrating this Jewish belief, -Kuenen in his brief criticism of Seydel adduces another from the -Wisdom of Solomon <abbr title='eight'>viii.</abbr> 20, as also rendering the Buddhist derivation -of this “thought quite superfluous” (Hibbert Lectures, 1882, Appendix). -Many instances of agreement in thought and phraseology with the -Gospels in passages in Buddhist works are adduced by Dr. Kellogg, -<i>Light of Asia, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 137 <i>seq.</i>, and are satisfactorily accounted for by the -similarity of circumstances under which Buddha and the Saviour taught -and the condition of men which they both perceived and described.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f33'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r33'>33</a>. </span>Lucius, <span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Die Therapeuten und ihre Stellung in der Geschichte der -Askese</i></span>, Strassburg, 1880; also <span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Der Essenismus in seinem Verhältniss -zum Judenthum</i></span>, Strassburg, 1881.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f34'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r34'>34</a>. </span>Dissertation in Commentary on <i>Colossians</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 119, 157.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f35'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r35'>35</a>. </span><i>Jewish Wars</i>, <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 8. 2-13; <i>Antiq.</i> <abbr title='13'>xiii.</abbr> 5. 9; <abbr title='15'>xv.</abbr> 10. 4, 5; <abbr title='15'>xviii.</abbr> -1. 2-6.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f36'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r36'>36</a>. </span>Edersheim, <i>Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 325.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f37'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r37'>37</a>. </span>Hibbert Lectures, 1882, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 203.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f38'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r38'>38</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde</i></span>, translated -by <abbr class='spell'>W.</abbr> Hoey, 1882, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 6; Williams and Norgate.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f39'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r39'>39</a>. </span>Dr. Joseph Edkins, <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 250, 343; Trübner, 1880.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f40'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r40'>40</a>. </span>Fergusson, <i>Tree and Serpent Worship</i>, Introduction, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 77.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f41'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r41'>41</a>. </span>This must be read in the light of Professor Max Müller’s <i>What -can India teach us?</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f42'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r42'>42</a>. </span>Luke <abbr title='8'>viii.</abbr> 46.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f43'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r43'>43</a>. </span>Even Kuenen and Wellhausen assume as established that -Monotheism shows itself with unmistakable distinctness in Hebrew -prophecies of the eighth century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr> (Hibbert Lectures, 1882, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 119; -<i>Theological Review</i>, 1874, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 329, 336; <i>Encyc. Brit.</i>, art. <span class='sc'>Israel</span>). Professor -<abbr class='spell'>H.</abbr> Schultz maintains that Monotheism was established in Israel -from the time of Moses downward, among the leaders of thought at least. -(<i>Alttest. Theolog.</i>, <abbr title='second'>2d</abbr> ed., 1878, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 440, 457.)</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f44'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r44'>44</a>. </span><i>Light of Asia and Light of the World</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 40, 102, 161.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f45'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r45'>45</a>. </span>Weber, <i>Indische Studien</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 400; <abbr class='spell'>J.</abbr> Muir, <i>Sanskrit Texts</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='34'>xxxiv</abbr>; Lorinser, <i>Bhagavadgitâ</i>, Appendix, translated by Muir in -<i>Ind. Antiq.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 283.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f46'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r46'>46</a>. </span><span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde</i></span>, translated by -<abbr title='William'>Wm.</abbr> Hoey, 1882, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 292.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f47'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r47'>47</a>. </span>Müller, Gifford Lectures, <i>Natural Religion</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 169.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f48'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r48'>48</a>. </span>Dr. Caird, <i>Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 343 <i>seq.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f49'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r49'>49</a>. </span>Sir <abbr class='spell'>A.</abbr> Mitchell, Rhind Lectures for 1876 and 1878, <i>The Past in -the Present</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 207, 214; Edinburgh, Douglas, 1880.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f50'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r50'>50</a>. </span>Whately, <i>Political Economy</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 68.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f51'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r51'>51</a>. </span>Max Müller, Gifford Lectures, <i>Natural Religion</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 54.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f52'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r52'>52</a>. </span>The savagery of a great city is in some aspects more awful than -that of Africa.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f53'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r53'>53</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 10.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f54'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r54'>54</a>. </span>Tylor, <i>Primitive Culture</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 380.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f55'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r55'>55</a>. </span>Müller, <i>Introduction to the Science of Religion</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 41; <i>Chips from -a German Workshop</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 254.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f56'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r56'>56</a>. </span>Fairbairn, <i>Studies in Religion and Philosophy</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 13.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f57'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r57'>57</a>. </span>Baring Gould, <i>Origin and Development of Religious Belief</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 109.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f58'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r58'>58</a>. </span>“Nations,” says Professor Goldwin Smith, “redeem each other. -They preserve for each other principles, truths, and hopes, and aspirations -which, committed to the keeping of one, might become extinct for -ever. They thus not only raise each other again when fallen, but they -prevent each other from falling.”—<i>Lectures on the Study of History</i>, -delivered in Oxford 1859-61, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 71.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f59'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r59'>59</a>. </span>Celsus, quoting our Lord’s saying, <abbr title='Matthew'>Matt.</abbr> <abbr title='19'>xix.</abbr> 24, and the exhortation -to forgive our enemies, <abbr title='Matthew'>Matt.</abbr> <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 43, 45, alleged they were -transferred and coarsely perverted from Plato, <i>de Legibus</i>, and <i>Crito</i>.—Origen, -<i>contra Celsum</i>, Book <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> <abbr title='chapters'>chaps.</abbr> 15, 16, and Book <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr> <abbr title='chapter'>chap.</abbr> 61.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f60'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r60'>60</a>. </span><i>Enarr. in Psalm.</i> <abbr title='140'>cxl.</abbr> 6. Clement of Alexandria regarded Greek -philosophy as a προπαιδεία or preparatory discipline for the reception -of Christian truth, <i>Strom.</i> <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> <abbr title='chapter'>chap.</abbr> 8, and as a step to something higher, -ὑποβάθραν οὖσαν τῆς κατὰ Χριστὸν φιλοσοφίας, <i>Strom.</i> <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> <abbr title='chapter'>chap.</abbr> 17.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f61'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r61'>61</a>. </span>Trench, Hulsean Lectures for 1846, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 153.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f62'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r62'>62</a>. </span>Introduction to <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Le Bouddha et sa Religion</i></span>; Paris, 1858.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f63'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r63'>63</a>. </span>Müller, Introd. to <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='21'>xxi.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f64'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r64'>64</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>A.</abbr> Burnell, <i>Indian Antiq.</i>, 1880, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 223, quoted by <abbr title='Professor'>Prof.</abbr> Max -Müller in Introduction to <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> of <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f65'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r65'>65</a>. </span>Frankfurter, Appendix to Wordsworth’s Bampton Lectures for -1881; <i>The One Religion</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 340; Eitel <i>Lectures on Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 44; -Edkins, <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 232.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f66'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r66'>66</a>. </span><abbr title='Professor'>Prof.</abbr> Max Müller, Introduction to <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> of <i>Sacred Books of the -East</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='27'>xxvii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f67'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r67'>67</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>A. E.</abbr> Gough, <i>Philosophy of the Upanishads, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 5; Trübner’s -Oriental Series.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f68'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r68'>68</a>. </span>This statement is hazarded, notwithstanding the recent reply of -the author of <i>Supernatural Religion</i> to Bishop Lightfoot’s Essays. It -will be generally conceded that he has adopted an untenable position, -and that, though his rejoinder to the learned Bishop may be a vigorous -assault, it is weak criticism. Sanday’s work on <i>The Gospels in the -Second Century</i> is on the whole a better reply than the Bishop’s to -the allegations of the author of <i>Supernatural Religion</i>, whose extreme -scepticism of literary evidence is quite equalled by his dogmatic extravagance -of statement.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f69'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r69'>69</a>. </span><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Vie de Jésus</i></span>, <abbr title='Introduction'>Introd.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> <abbr title='15'>xv, xvii</abbr>, <abbr title='fourth'>4th</abbr> <abbr title='edition'>ed.</abbr>; Paris, 1863.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f70'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r70'>70</a>. </span><i>Science de Religions</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 12, 20.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f71'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r71'>71</a>. </span>Professor Max Müller, Introd. to Dhammapada, <i>Sacred Books of -the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f72'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r72'>72</a>. </span><i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='13'>xiii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 37; <abbr title='Introduction'>Introd.</abbr>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='twenty'>xx.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f73'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r73'>73</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 27.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f74'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r74'>74</a>. </span>Mahavansa, by Turnour; Dipavansa, <abbr title='twenty'>xx.</abbr> 20, quoted by Professor -Max Müller in <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volumes'>vols.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='24'>xxiv</abbr>, and <abbr title='13'>xiii.</abbr> -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='35'>xxxv</abbr>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f75'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r75'>75</a>. </span><i>Buddhist Birth Stories</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='57'>lvii</abbr>; Trübner’s Oriental Series.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f76'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r76'>76</a>. </span>Weber, <i>Indian Literature</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 294; <i>ibid.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f77'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r77'>77</a>. </span>We may safely assert that in the mass of Buddhist literature -already available nothing has been found, nor is anything at all likely -to be found, corresponding in character and evidential value to the -Christian Scriptures. What would the New Testament have been, asks -Professor Müller, “if the spurious Gospels, the pseudo-apostolic and post-apostolic -productions, the debates of the Councils, the commentaries of -the Fathers, and the lives of the saints, had all been bound and mixed -up with it”? (<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr>, <abbr title='Introduction'>Introd.</abbr>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> <abbr title='fifteen'>xv</abbr>, <abbr title='sixteen'>xvi</abbr>.) -And yet this is a parallel to the confusion represented by the so-called -Buddhist Bible. In truth, it is not a Bible, but a library, containing -not only the earliest treatises, but the commentaries upon them made -in later ages, and extracts and repetitions from itself so extensive and -numerous that were they omitted this portentous collection—four times -as voluminous as our Christian Bible—would be found to be much -shorter than it. When the original Bible of Buddhism has been disinterred -from this pile it will be found to resemble almost in nothing our -New Testament, but it may present many analogies to the Talmud and -Targums, and perhaps some very interesting resemblances to isolated -portions of the Old Testament. As far as it has been translated to us, -the Tripitaka contain neither prophecy nor history; but one division of -it presents suggestive coincidences with portions of the apocryphal Scriptures; -and scholars may find a comparison of some of the texts of Job, -Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes with those of the Dhammapada and some of -the Suttas an agreeable and not unprofitable study, without in the -least being tempted to transfer their allegiance from the Hebrew to the -Indian sages.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f78'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r78'>78</a>. </span>Eitel, <i>Lectures on Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 6; Hunter, “Historical Aspects -of Indian Geography,” <i>Scot. Geog. Mag.</i>, <abbr title='December'>Dec.</abbr> 1888.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f79'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r79'>79</a>. </span>Rogers, <i>Superhuman Origin of the Bible</i>, Lecture <abbr title='five'>v</abbr>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f80'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r80'>80</a>. </span>Professor Max Müller, <i>Introduction to the Science of Religion</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 103.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f81'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r81'>81</a>. </span>Professor Müller, Gifford Lectures, <i>Natural Religion</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 564.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f82'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r82'>82</a>. </span><i>Record of Missionary Conference in London</i>, 1888, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 39; -also his <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 558.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f83'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r83'>83</a>. </span><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Le Génie des Religions.</i></span></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f84'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r84'>84</a>. </span>Sutta Nipata, translated by Fausböll in <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> of <i>Sacred Books of -the East</i>, Part <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 23, 76, 109, 113.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f85'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r85'>85</a>. </span><i>Ibid.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr>, <i>ibid.</i> Part <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 40. We are also reminded that a -man is not a Bikkhu because he puts on yellow robes, unless he has -cleansed himself from evil (Dhammapada, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 9, 10).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f86'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r86'>86</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 5, 145.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f87'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r87'>87</a>. </span>Sir Monier Williams, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 162, 163.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f88'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r88'>88</a>. </span>Émile Burnouf, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Science de Religions</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 24.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f89'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r89'>89</a>. </span><abbr title='Monsieur'>M.</abbr> Vivien de <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Martin, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Mémoires sur les contrées occidentales</i>.</span></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f90'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r90'>90</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 10.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f91'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r91'>91</a>. </span><i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='22'>xxii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f92'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r92'>92</a>. </span>Tylor, <i>Primitive Culture</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 338; Weber, <i>Indian Literature</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 38; Sir Monier Williams, <i>Religious Thought and Life in India</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 18.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f93'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r93'>93</a>. </span>See Satapatha-Brâhmana, translated by Professor Eggeling in <abbr title='volumes'>vols.</abbr> -<abbr title='12'>xii.</abbr> and <abbr title='26'>xxvi.</abbr> of <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>. Max Müller places the age -of these books within the ninth and seventh centuries <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f94'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r94'>94</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>E.</abbr> Quinet, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Le Génie des Religions</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 185; Paris, 1857.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f95'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r95'>95</a>. </span>Sir Monier Williams, <i>Religious Thought and Life in India</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 24, -referring to the Aitareya-Brahmana, <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr> 13.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f96'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r96'>96</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 15; <abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, Hibbert -Lectures, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 25.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f97'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r97'>97</a>. </span>Gough, <i>Philosophy of the Upanishads</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 41, 42.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f98'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r98'>98</a>. </span><i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volumes'>vols.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> and <abbr title='fifteen'>xv.</abbr> No one has dated any of -the Upanishads earlier than 600 <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr>, and some of them are very late.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f99'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r99'>99</a>. </span><i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='66'>lxvi.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f100'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r100'>100</a>. </span>Svetâsvatara-Upanishad, <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> 7, <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 14, 16, <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 13, <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 7, 9, <i>Sacred -Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='fifteen'>xv.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f101'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r101'>101</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 47, 48; Gough, <i>Phil. Upan.</i> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 61, 67.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f102'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r102'>102</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 28.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f103'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r103'>103</a>. </span><i>History of Israel</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 41, 47.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f104'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r104'>104</a>. </span>Gifford Lectures, <i>Natural Religion</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 563.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f105'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r105'>105</a>. </span>It is significant that in the beginning of the Bible Nature-worship -seems stamped as accursed in its symbol, the serpent, and that the whole -Bible from beginning to end is a Divine protest against that worship in -all its forms. Mankind in all ages is tempted to become as the gods, -and in a low condition he has almost everywhere succumbed to the -temptation. He feasts his gods, compels them to serve him, is really -higher than they, and thus he degrades himself or falls from the ideal of -one made in the image and after the likeness of God.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f106'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r106'>106</a>. </span>Ewald, <i>History of Israel</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 320-322.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f107'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r107'>107</a>. </span>Some ascribe it to the Deuteronomist, <abbr title='chapter'>ch.</abbr> <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 4.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f108'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r108'>108</a>. </span>Professor Müller finds the first traces of a Maker or Creator in the -Vedic deity Tvashtar, the carpenter—the clever workman, even smith, -forging bolts for Indra therein, Rig-Ved. <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> 55. 19. “Tvashtar, the -enlivener, endowed with many forms, has nourished the creatures and -produced them in many ways; all these worlds are his.” Of another -god, latterly called Pragâpati, he quotes Rig-Ved. <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> 81. 2, as one who, -“creating the earth, disclosed the sky by his power.” Very significantly, -however, he reminds us that the same poet loses the idea, and speaks -of the secret of creation as undiscoverable.—Müller’s <i>Natural Religion</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 245. Also Introd. to Upanishads, <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='fifteen'>xv.</abbr> -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='24'>xxiv.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f109'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r109'>109</a>. </span>Fairbairn, <i>Religion in History and in the Life of To-day</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 39-51.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f110'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r110'>110</a>. </span>It was only by their very highest and greatest souls that the Godhead -was conceived in anything of its spiritual glory. To Abraham God -was the Creator, distinct from and greater than the earth and heavens -which He had made; to Moses He was a righteous Lawgiver, training -upon eagle-wings a peculiar people; to David He was a tender and wise -Shepherd of a foolish and helpless flock; to Isaiah and the later prophets -a Father dealing with rebellious people, whom He pities, knowing -whereof they were made. These conceptions, however, cannot be said -to have been those of the mass of the people.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f111'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r111'>111</a>. </span>Kuenen, <i>National Religions and Universal Religion</i>, Hibbert -Lectures, 1882, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 187.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f112'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r112'>112</a>. </span>Edersheim, <i>Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 275.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f113'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r113'>113</a>. </span><abbr title='Josephus'>Jos.</abbr> <i>Contra Ap.</i> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 30. 32; <i>Antiq.</i> <abbr title='18'>xviii.</abbr> 1. 1; <i>Jewish Wars</i>, <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 8.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f114'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r114'>114</a>. </span>Uhlhorn, <i>Conflict of Christianity</i>, <abbr title='chapters'>chaps.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr>; <abbr title='Josephus'>Jos.</abbr> <i>Antiq.</i> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr> -9. 1, and 11. 3, and <i>Contra Ap.</i> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 10. 39; Kuenen, <i>Religion of Israel</i>, -<abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> 273 <i>seq.</i>; Renan, <i>Les Apôtres</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 253, 260.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f115'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r115'>115</a>. </span>The truth on which the Sabbath is founded is the majestic truth of -a completed creation, and one conform to the latest discoveries of -science. During the whole course of human observation no new creative -effort has been displayed in the production of a new type. The animal -and vegetable worlds stand to-day as man first beheld them. The -creative spirit has passed into the soul of man, in whose world is the -progress which nature has long ceased to manifest, and under whose -handling nature itself improves. But God, though resting from His -works of creation, is not in Scripture said to be resting from His works -of mercy: “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f116'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r116'>116</a>. </span>“The words of Agur the son of Jakeh,” Proverbs <abbr title='31'>xxxi.</abbr> 1.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f117'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r117'>117</a>. </span>Hüber, <span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Der Pessimismus</i></span>, 1876, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 8; Holdheim, Preface to -<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> of <i>Predigten</i>, quoted by Cheyne, <i>Job and Solomon</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 250-253.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f118'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r118'>118</a>. </span><abbr title='Ecclesiasticus'>Eccles.</abbr> <abbr title='12'>xii.</abbr> 12.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f119'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r119'>119</a>. </span>Edersheim, <i>Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 276; -Keim, <i>Jesus of Nazara</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 316-325; Kuenen, <i>Religion of Israel</i>, -<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 177.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f120'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r120'>120</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'><i>E.g.</i></abbr> Sinai = Hagar (<abbr title='Galatians'>Gal.</abbr> <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 24-31); also Claudius = ὁ κατέχων -(2 <abbr title='Thessalonians'>Thess.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 6, 7); Hausrath, <i>Life and Times of Jesus</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 77.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f121'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r121'>121</a>. </span>Derenbourg, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Hist. de la Palestine d’après les Talmuds</i></span>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 159, 202.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f122'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r122'>122</a>. </span>Wellhausen, <i>The Pharisees and Sadducees</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 8, 26-43; Greifswald, -1874.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f123'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r123'>123</a>. </span><abbr title='Josephus'>Jos.</abbr> <i>Antiq.</i> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr> 5. 9, <abbr title='fifteen'>xv.</abbr> 10. 4, 5; <i>Bell. Jud.</i> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 8. 2, 14.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f124'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r124'>124</a>. </span>Keim, <i>Jesus of Nazara</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 392.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f125'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r125'>125</a>. </span>Delitzsch, <i>Jesus and Hillel</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 31 <i>seq.</i>; Pirké Abôth, Cambridge, -1877, <i>passim</i>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f126'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r126'>126</a>. </span><abbr title='Josephus'>Jos.</abbr> <i>Antiq.</i> <abbr title='17'>xvii.</abbr> 4.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f127'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r127'>127</a>. </span>Philo, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Quod omnis Probus Liber</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 12.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f128'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r128'>128</a>. </span>Bühler, <i>Ind. Ant.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 143; Jacobi, “Mahâvira and his -Predecessors,” <i>Ind. Ant.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eight'>viii.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 311-314; Kern, <i>History of Buddhism -in India</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 143; Colebrooke’s <i>Essays</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 380.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f129'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r129'>129</a>. </span>See “Jainism,” by Dr. Shoolbred—Report of the Missionary Conference, -1888, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 41; Wilson’s <i>Essays</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 427 <i>seq.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f130'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r130'>130</a>. </span>“Sramana,” in Brahman speech, was a man who performed hard -penances, from <i>sram</i>, to work hard. There is another Sanscrit root, -<i>sam</i>, to quiet, and from it afterwards the popular etymology derived -the word. See Professor Max Müller’s translation of the Dhammapada -in <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 65 <i>note</i>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f131'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r131'>131</a>. </span>There seems to have been four great divisions of Sramanas, with -as many as sixty-three philosophical systems represented by them. The -Brahmanas were also similarly divided. See Sutta Nipâta, <i>Sacred Books -of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> Part <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 15, 16, 88, 93.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f132'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r132'>132</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 71.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f133'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r133'>133</a>. </span>See <i>Year-Book of Protestant Theology</i> for 1883 for an account -of the views of Professor Loman of Amsterdam.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f134'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r134'>134</a>. </span><abbr title='Monsieur'>M.</abbr> Senart, <i>Legend of Buddha</i>, Paris, 1875; Kern, <i>History of -Buddhism in India</i>: Schoebel. <i>Buddh. Actes de la Soc. Philol.</i>; Paris, -1874, vol <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 160 <i>seq.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f135'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r135'>135</a>. </span>Annual Report of the Asiatic Society; Paris, July 1875.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f136'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r136'>136</a>. </span>Cunningham, <i>Ancient Geog. of India</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 147; Oldenberg, -<i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 95; Beal, <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 67.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f137'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r137'>137</a>. </span><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Mâra eat le démon de l’amour, du péché et de la mort,”</span> says -Burnouf in his <i>Introduction to the Study of Indian Buddism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 76; -see also Sutta Nipâta, <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> Part <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 159, -for the popular conception of Buddha’s temptation; the arrows of Mâra -are “flower-pointed,” like Kama’s, the Hindu god of love. See Dhammapada, -<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> Part <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 17.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f138'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r138'>138</a>. </span>Geikie, <i>Life of Christ</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 449.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f139'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r139'>139</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 5. 2; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='17'>xvii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f140'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r140'>140</a>. </span>This is not the place to discuss the substance of their respective -teachings. Their aims seemed to be similar, for both proclaimed freedom -to be gained by the Truth, or saving knowledge, but their conceptions of -the knowledge that saves are as widely contrasted as are their ideas of -salvation. If we put the Sermon on the Mount side by side with Buddha’s -first sermon (translated in <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 146 of <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>) -we find contradiction in almost every sentence. “Blessed are the poor -in spirit” is an utterance not only foreign to but in direct antithesis to the -preaching of Buddha. He has no sympathy with the “poor in spirit,” -if we take the phrase in the light of the old Hebrew concept of it. His -benediction is reserved for the self-conscious and self-reliant, who are -bent upon self-culture and self-development. “Thou shalt love the Lord -thy God with all thy heart, etc., and thy neighbour as thyself.” Buddha -found no higher to adore, and no other than self to consider. The moral -precepts in his law are based on no appeal to conscience, and are inspired -by no sense of duty. Others were regarded as the occasion for winning -merit, and kindness done to them was not done for their sake, but with -the view of securing the safety of the doer.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f141'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r141'>141</a>. </span>Dr. Oldenberg (<i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 148) very properly remarks that -Ambapali the courtesan was no Mary Magdalene, and that she was not -regarded by Buddha as the woman that was a sinner was regarded by -Christ. Buddha had not Christ’s horror of sin, and therefore felt none -of His boundless pity for the frailty of its victims; of hatred of sin in -the Christian sense Buddhism knows nothing. Its highest virtue is -imperturbability, a serenity that is apathetic in regard to the most outrageous -wrong or the most heinous wickedness. Cariya Pitaka, <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> 15; -also <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> Part <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 151.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f142'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r142'>142</a>. </span>Bishop Bigandet, <i>Life of Gaudama</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 287; Professor <abbr class='spell'>H.</abbr> Wilson, -<i>Essays</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 243; Wheeler, <i>History of India</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 139; -Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 148; Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, in <i>Sacred -Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 71, 72.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f143'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r143'>143</a>. </span>Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 10, <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 114. Dr. Edkins, in <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 57, gives a version of an -appearance of Buddha after cremation to his mother, Máya, who came -down from heaven to see his coffin. Professor Childers finds no trace -in any Pali earliest literature of any belief in Buddha’s existence after -death (<i>Dictionary of Pali Language</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 472, note 1).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f144'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r144'>144</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 322, 323; Kuenen, Hibbert Lectures, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 264.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f145'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r145'>145</a>. </span>In the Bhagavadgitá loving devotion for Krishna is demanded as -the only means of salvation; but Krishna-worship began very considerably -later than the origin of Christianity. Professor Müller admits -(Gifford Lectures, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 99) that Christian influences were possible then, -but says that there is no necessity for admitting them. He cites the -passage from Bhagavad. <abbr title='nine'>ix.</abbr> 29 (<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eight'>viii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 34), -“They who worship me with devotion or love, they are in me, and I in -them,” as an interesting parallel to John <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 7 and <abbr title='17'>xvii.</abbr> 23, but we must -remember that <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> John’s words were circulating all over the world -for generations before these were penned.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f146'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r146'>146</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 1. 18.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f147'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r147'>147</a>. </span>The Lalita Vistara, of which there are many versions, is the chief -authority for the legends. In the <i>Buddhist Birth-Stories</i>, translated by -<abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, in Bigandet’s <i>Life of Gaudama</i>, and Spence Hardy’s -Manual (<i>Legends of the Buddhists</i>), in the <i>Romantic Legend</i> of Sakya -Buddha, translated by Professor <abbr class='spell'>S.</abbr> Beal, will be found a large and interesting -miscellany of the prodigies connected with the coming of Buddha.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f148'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r148'>148</a>. </span>A wife, not a virgin; <i>Romantic Legend</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 32, 36, 37, 41.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f149'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r149'>149</a>. </span>Lalita Vistara, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 63, Calcutta edition; <i>Buddhist Birth-Stories</i>, -<abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 62, 68.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f150'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r150'>150</a>. </span>Nalaka Sutta, Sutta Nipâta, <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> 1. 20, 21; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, -<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> Asita, the aged ascetic, is said to have ascended to heaven after -his daily repast, and upon finding the gods in joyful commotion he at -length returned to see the new-born wonder (<i>Birth-Stories</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 69).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f151'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r151'>151</a>. </span>Title given by the translator of the Dhanima-Kakka-ppavatana -Sutta, in <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> of <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f152'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r152'>152</a>. </span>Spence Hardy, <i>Manual of Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 187, quoting the Pujáwaliya, -said to be later than the thirteenth century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f153'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r153'>153</a>. </span>Sutta Nipâta, <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> Part <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 17.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f154'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r154'>154</a>. </span><i>Ibid.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> Part <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 31, 45.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f155'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r155'>155</a>. </span>Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 49, 50, <i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 81.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f156'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r156'>156</a>. </span>Bigandet, <i>op. cit.</i> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 323; Spence Hardy, <i>Manual</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 347; Mahâparinibhâna -Sutta, <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 11-16.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f157'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r157'>157</a>. </span><span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Das Evangelium von Jesu in seinen Verhältnissen zur Buddha-Sage -und Buddha-Lehre</i></span>; Leipzig, 1882.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f158'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r158'>158</a>. </span>Let any one compare the prediction of the so-called Indian Simeon, -the Nalaka Sutta, in <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 125 of <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, with -Luke <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 25; the account of the Temptation by Mara, in the <i>Romantic -Legend</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 204, 224, or in Hardy’s <i>Manual of Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 183, with -Matt. <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 1; the so-called Transfiguration in Mahâparinibhâna, <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 49, -<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 81, with <abbr title='Matthew'>Matt.</abbr> <abbr title='17'>xvii.</abbr> 1-8; the feast -of the courtesan Ambopali, in Mahâparinibhâna Sutta, <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 16. 25, <i>Sacred -Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 30, with Christ’s treatment of the Magdalene -in Luke <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr> 36, and he will see at once how improbable and even -absurd is the theory that the Evangelists borrowed from the Buddhist -compilers. That we are dealing with quite an inferior order of facts is -apparent when we compare one of the most touching coincidences, Buddha’s -last discourse to the Beloved Ananda in Mahâparinibhâna Sutta, -<abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 34. 35, “Let not yourself be troubled,” with John <abbr title='14'>xiv.</abbr> 1-6. In some -of the miracles accompanying the birth and temptations of Buddha, there -are not only gross absurdities but positive indecencies, which by the simplicity -and modesty and reticence of the Gospel narratives are powerfully -condemned. See <i>Lalita Vistara</i>, <abbr title='chapters'>chaps.</abbr> <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> and <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr>, and <i>Buddhist Birth-Stories</i>, -<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 58, 68.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f159'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r159'>159</a>. </span>This is a very great assumption indeed. Foucaux, its translator, -assigns it to the first century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>B.C.</span></abbr>, but <abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids assigns it -to some Nepaulese poet “who lived between six hundred and a thousand -years after Buddha’s death” (Hibbert Lectures, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 197, 204). A -Chinese version is said to have been in existence about 70 <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr> -Rajendralal Mitra, its English translator, admits this in his Introduction, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 48, but whether that was a version, or another book altogether, -or how far it corresponded with the <i>Lalita Vistara</i>, no scholar -has been confident to say. Dr. Beal also mentions a life of Buddha by -Asvaghosha as probably in circulation about the middle of the Christian -era (<i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 73).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f160'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r160'>160</a>. </span>Mahâparinibhâna Sutta, translated by <abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, <i>Sacred -Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f161'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r161'>161</a>. </span>The blessed Buddha rebuked Pindola Bhâradvâga (for having won -a bowl of sandalwood by performing a miracle), saying, “This is improper, -not according to rule, unsuitable, unworthy of a Samana, -unbecoming, and ought not to be done. How can you for the sake of a -miserable wooden pot display before the laity the superhuman quality -of your miraculous power of Iddhi?... This will not conduce either to -the conversion of the unconverted or to the increase of the converted” -(Kullavagga, <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 8. 2). The danger of performing a miracle by power of -Iddhi, for self-glorification, is exemplified in the story of Devadatta in -Kullavagga, <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr> 1. 2, 3. In the Mahavagga, Kullavagga, Sutta Nipâta, -and similar books, however, miracles are ascribed to Buddha, and conversions -attributed to their performance.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f162'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r162'>162</a>. </span>Luke <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 1.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f163'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r163'>163</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 128.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f164'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r164'>164</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 190.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f165'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r165'>165</a>. </span>Matthew <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> 27; <abbr title='28'>xxviii.</abbr> 16-20.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f166'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r166'>166</a>. </span>Mark <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 7-11; <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 10-28; <abbr title='eight'>viii.</abbr> 38; <abbr title='twelve'>xii.</abbr> 35-37.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f167'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r167'>167</a>. </span>Pressensé, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Vie de Jésus</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 373.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f168'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r168'>168</a>. </span>Cox, <i>Commentary on Job</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 19.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f169'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r169'>169</a>. </span>See Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 15-20, for specimens of the “three thousand -five hundred” wonders of Buddha. “The marvellous in the Gospels is -but sober good sense compared with what we find in ... the Hindu -European mythologies” (Renan, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Études d’histoire Relig.</i></span> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 177, 203).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f170'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r170'>170</a>. </span>Godet, <i>Lectures in Defence of the Christian Faith</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 118-161.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f171'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r171'>171</a>. </span>Dr. Dods, <i>Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 201; Dr. Fairbairn, -<i>Studies in Religion as a Philosophy</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 36.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f172'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r172'>172</a>. </span><abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 58, one-<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> edition.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f173'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r173'>173</a>. </span>Trench, Hulsean Lectures, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 150.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f174'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r174'>174</a>. </span>Sutta Nipâta, translated by Fausböll in <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 102; parallel -suggested to John <abbr title='18'>xviii.</abbr> 37.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f175'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r175'>175</a>. </span>Hibbert Lectures, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 144-147.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f176'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r176'>176</a>. </span>Dorner, <i>Doctrine of the Person of Christ</i>, <abbr title='Introduction'>Introd.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 56-60, 64-70; -Liddon, Bampton Lectures, 1866, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 364-380; Lange, <i>Life of -Christ</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 121-124.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f177'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r177'>177</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'><i>E.g.</i></abbr> the Targums.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f178'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r178'>178</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'><i>E.g.</i></abbr> <i>De Opific. Mund.</i> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 4; <i>De Mundi incor.</i> § 16, 17.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f179'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r179'>179</a>. </span>Sears, <i>Fourth Gospel</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 220 <i>seq.</i>; Westcott, <i>Introduction to <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> -John</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> <abbr title='16'>xvi</abbr>, <abbr title='16'>xvii</abbr>; Dorner, <i>op. cit.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 327-332.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f180'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r180'>180</a>. </span><i>Dharma</i>, an ancient Brahman term, meaning law or order; what -holds things as they are, or ought to be. In later Sanskrit it also -means duty and virtue, <abbr class='spell'><i>i.e.</i></abbr> law performed.—Gifford Lectures, <i>Natural -Religion</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 94, 95. <i>Buddha</i> is also an ancient Brahman term applied -to one who has attained a perfect knowledge of the Self.—Satapatha-brahmana, -<abbr title='14'>xiv</abbr>. 7. 2. 17. In Buddhism Dharma means Buddha’s doctrines, -“bodhi,” <abbr class='spell'><i>i.e.</i></abbr> knowledge self-acquired, as distinguished from “Veda,” -<abbr class='spell'><i>i.e.</i></abbr> revelation obtainable only through the Brahmans.—Sir Monier -Williams’ <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 97.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f181'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r181'>181</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 205-208; Rhys Davids, <i>Buddhism</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 87; Spence Hardy, <i>Manual of Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 375. His relation to the -philosophical systems of his day is illustrated in several Suttas; see -Sutta Nipâta, in <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> Part <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> of <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 148-152. -Evidently he regarded them with aversion, and even contempt.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f182'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r182'>182</a>. </span><i>Le Bouddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 79. The legends indicate that his use of the -vernacular was matter of principle. Two Brahmans, “excelling in speech, -excelling in pronunciation,” complained that the monks corrupted the -word of the Buddhas by repeating it in their own dialect, and asked -permission to put it into classical or polished verse. “How can you, O -foolish ones, speak thus?... You are not, O monks, to put the words -of the Buddhas into polished (Sanskrit) verse. Whosoever does so shall -be guilty of a dukkata.”—Kullavagga, <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 33. 1; <i>Sacred Books of the -East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='twenty'>xx</abbr>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f183'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r183'>183</a>. </span>Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 1. 2; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr>; -Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 6. 18, 27; <i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f184'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r184'>184</a>. </span>Not as the Nothing, as Wuttke tries to show in <span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Geschichte des -Heidenthums</i></span>, <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> § 166. Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 212.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f185'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r185'>185</a>. </span>Samyutta-ka-Nikâya, quoted by Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 217.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f186'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r186'>186</a>. </span><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Bouddha et sa Religion</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='three'>iii</abbr>, Introduction.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f187'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r187'>187</a>. </span>“The Modern Buddhist,” published in the volume called <i>The Wheel -of the Law: Buddhism illustrated from Siamese Sources</i>, by <abbr class='spell'>H.</abbr> -Alabaster; London, 1876.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f188'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r188'>188</a>. </span>Dr. Westcott, <i>Social Aspects of Christianity</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 12; Aristotle, -<i>Ethic.</i>, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 1; <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 3.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f189'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r189'>189</a>. </span>“The Modern Buddhist,” Alabaster, <i>Wheel of the Law</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 73; -Spence Hardy, <i>Eastern Monachism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 5, 339; Gogerly’s translation -of the Brahmajala Sutta in Digha Nikâya, <i>Journal of Ceylon Asiatic -Society</i>, 1846.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f190'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r190'>190</a>. </span>Preface to Müller’s Dhammapada, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='thirty'>xxx</abbr>, old <abbr title='edition'>ed</abbr>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f191'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r191'>191</a>. </span>Note at <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 31, 32 of Dhammapada in <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> of <i>Sacred Books -of the East</i>. Frankfurter, <abbr title='Appendix'>App.</abbr> <i>Bamp. Lect.</i> 1881, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 349.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f192'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r192'>192</a>. </span>Rhys Davids, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 95; Spence Hardy, <i>Manual of -Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 388; Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, quoting Bhikkuni Samyutta, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 258; Colebrooke’s <i>Essays</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 417, Cowell’s edition; Sabbasava -Sutta, 10, 11, 12: <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f193'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r193'>193</a>. </span><i>Life of Gaudama</i>, first <abbr title='edition'>ed.</abbr>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 321 note; Rangoon, 1866.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f194'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r194'>194</a>. </span>Max Müller, <abbr title='introduction'>introd.</abbr> to Buddagosha’s Parables, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='thirty'>xxx</abbr>, <abbr title='edition'>ed</abbr>. 1870.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f195'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r195'>195</a>. </span>The first traces of this belief are found, it is said, in the Upanishads, -Brihadáranyaka, <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> 2. 1, <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='fifteen'>xv.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 126; -Dhammapada, <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 1. 127, <i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> Part <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 3. 35.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f196'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r196'>196</a>. </span>Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 94; also his <i>Manual of Buddhism</i>, -<abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 100, 106.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f197'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r197'>197</a>. </span>“All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded -on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts -with an evil thought (or polluted mind), suffering follows him as the -wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the wain” (Dhammapada, 1). -“Not in the sky, not in the midst of the sea, not if we enter the cleft of -the mountains, is there known a spot in the whole world where a man -might be freed from an evil deed” (Dhammapada, 127; <i>Sacred Books -of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr>).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f198'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r198'>198</a>. </span><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“L’athéisme devenu religion et recouvert du manteau des vertus -chrétiennes.”</span>—Wassilief, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='introduction'>introd</abbr>. by <abbr class='spell'>E</abbr>. Laboulaye, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='eight'>viii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f199'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r199'>199</a>. </span>Professor Dods, <i>Mohammed, Buddha, and Christ</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 171.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f200'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r200'>200</a>. </span>Nagasēna’s figure used in controverting the idea of the separate -existence of the soul.—Milindapanha, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 25, quoted by Oldenberg, -<i>Buddha</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 254; Hardy, <i>Manual</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 425; Rhys Davids, <i>Buddhism</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 96.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f201'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r201'>201</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>op. cit.</i>, 221.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f202'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r202'>202</a>. </span><i>Phaedo</i>, Jowett’s <abbr title='Introduction'>Introd.</abbr>, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 407, <abbr title='edition'>ed</abbr>. 1875.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f203'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r203'>203</a>. </span>Preface to English translation of the Lalita Vistara; Calcutta.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f204'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r204'>204</a>. </span>Sutta Nipâta; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 33, 80.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f205'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r205'>205</a>. </span><i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 274-284; Rhys Davids, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 111-123.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f206'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r206'>206</a>. </span>Childers, <i>Pali Dictionary</i>, <abbr title='article'>Art</abbr>. <span class='sc'>Nirvana</span>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f207'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r207'>207</a>. </span>Dr. Kellogg, in his <i>Light of Asia and Light of the World</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 223, -252, protests very forcibly against the use by translators of the word -“immortality” as the equivalent of Nirvana. It meant, as he reminds -us, “the end of death indeed, but not because life had triumphed, but -because, life having ceased, death had nothing to feed on.” Immortality, -endless bliss, and kindred phrases, applied to it, are only justifiable -by the popular but really un-Buddhistic use of the word Nirvana.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f208'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r208'>208</a>. </span>Isaiah <abbr title='32'>xxxii.</abbr> 11; James <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> 18.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f209'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r209'>209</a>. </span>Sir Monier Williams, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 97, 223.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f210'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r210'>210</a>. </span>“Not to know suffering, not to know the cause of suffering, not to -know the path that leads to the cessation of suffering—this is called -Ignorance.” Consequently knowledge of these things is saving knowledge.—Mahavagga, -<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 75, note 2.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f211'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r211'>211</a>. </span>This threefold division or “doorway” (Hardy, <i>Manual</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 491), once -considered by Weber to be peculiar to Buddhism, has been proved to be -common to Brahmans, Persians, Jews, and Greeks, as well as Christians. -See interesting note at <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 28, 29, of <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> of <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, -Part <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f212'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r212'>212</a>. </span>Dr. Fairbairn, <i>Studies in Religion and Philosophy</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 161.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f213'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r213'>213</a>. </span>Dhamma. Sutta, 2-4; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 146, -147; Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 6. 17-20; <i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 94, 95.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f214'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r214'>214</a>. </span>Sir Monier Williams, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 124.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f215'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r215'>215</a>. </span>Frankfurter, A<abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> to Wordsworth’s Bampton Lectures on <i>The One -Religion</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 348; Sutta Nipâta, <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 69.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f216'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r216'>216</a>. </span><i>Pensées</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 34; <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 205; <abbr title='edition'>ed</abbr>. Faugère.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f217'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r217'>217</a>. </span>Spence Hardy, <i>Manual of Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 506.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f218'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r218'>218</a>. </span>Sutta Nipâta, <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 33, 46, 67; -Dhammapada, 284.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f219'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r219'>219</a>. </span><i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 60, 61.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f220'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r220'>220</a>. </span>Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, cap. <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 4; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f221'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r221'>221</a>. </span>Saint-Hilaire, <i>Le Bouddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 149, 153, 161.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f222'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r222'>222</a>. </span>Wordsworth, Bampton Lectures on <i>The One Religion</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 91.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f223'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r223'>223</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 289.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f224'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r224'>224</a>. </span>Meta Sutta, <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 25.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f225'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r225'>225</a>. </span>See the story given in Mahavagga, <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> 2. 3-20; also the story of -Kunala, Asoka’s son—this latter said by Burnouf, in his Introduction, -to be of modern origin. Quoted by Oldenberg, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 290.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f226'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r226'>226</a>. </span>So Dr. Rhys Davids, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 126. Fausböll translates, -“Not cultivating the society of,” etc. (Sutta Nipâta, <i>Sacred Books of -the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 43, 44.)</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f227'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r227'>227</a>. </span>Dr. Edkins, <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 204.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f228'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r228'>228</a>. </span>Dhammapada, 157-8-9, 379-80; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f229'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r229'>229</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, in the Introduction to his translation of -the Keto Khila Sutta (Barrenness and Bondage), <i>Sacred Books of the -East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 222, says that in reading it he was irresistibly reminded -of 2 Peter <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 5-9. The barrenness referred to in the Sutta is lack of successful -effort to be free from “the Ten Fetters” which bind man to existence, -chief of which is hankering after immortality in any form, or -without form. How contrasted is this to <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Peter’s thought! “Give diligence -to provide in your faith earnestness,” that it may be an overcoming -faith; but as faith without knowledge is superstition, and earnestness -misdirected will do harm, provide in earnestness “knowledge”; -and as knowledge ungoverned will degenerate into conceit, provide in it -“temperance”; but temperance must be inspired with “patience,” bent -on God’s glory, not personal gain; “godliness” thus attained, “brotherly -kindness” will manifest itself, and then “charity” toward every creature—that -is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the <i>summum bonum</i>, the -knowledge in which we are neither to be barren nor unfruitful. No more -forcible illustration of the utter contradiction between the two religions -could be found than this verbal analogy of “barrenness and bondage.”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f230'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r230'>230</a>. </span>Compare <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Paul, Phil. <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 8: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever -things are true, whatsoever things are honourable, whatsoever things are -just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever -things are gracious; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, -think on these things.”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f231'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r231'>231</a>. </span>Dhamma-Kakka-ppavattana Sutta, 6, note; <i>Sacred Books of the -East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 148.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f232'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r232'>232</a>. </span>Dhammapada, 239; <i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 1.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f233'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r233'>233</a>. </span>Akankheya Sutta; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 210.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f234'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r234'>234</a>. </span>If the legends are to be followed, he believed in the miraculous -power which resulted from it (see Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 33, -and <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> 22; also Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 20. 24), but he condemned the -exercise of that power for self-glorification or for paltry gain (Kullavagga, -<abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 8. 2; also <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr> 1, 2, 3; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volumes'>vols.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> -<abbr title='twelve'>xii.</abbr> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr>).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f235'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r235'>235</a>. </span>See Gough, <i>Philosophy of the Upanishads</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 267, 268.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f236'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r236'>236</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 314.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f237'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r237'>237</a>. </span>Sir Monier Williams, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 35.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f238'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r238'>238</a>. </span>Saint-Hilaire, <i>Le Bouddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 162.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f239'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r239'>239</a>. </span>Mr. Alabaster, <i>Wheel of the Law</i>, preface, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='16'>xvi</abbr>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f240'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r240'>240</a>. </span>Eitel, <i>Lectures on Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 59-70; Saint-Hilaire, <i>Le Bouddha</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 156.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f241'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r241'>241</a>. </span>Jackson’s Bampton Lectures, <i>The Doctrine of Retribution</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 284; -Caird’s <i>Philosophy of Religion</i>, Croall Lectures, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 259 <i>seq.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f242'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r242'>242</a>. </span>Saint-Hilaire, <i>Le Bouddha</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> xxiii; Hardy’s <i>Eastern Monachism</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 312.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f243'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r243'>243</a>. </span>“Prefix the name of God to this Declaration” (of the Rights of -Man), said Abbé Grégoire to the National Assembly in 1789, “or you -leave it without foundation, and make right the equivalent of force.” -The Assembly refused, but events soon confirmed his judgment.—Baring -Gould, <i>Development of Belief</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 88.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f244'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r244'>244</a>. </span><i>Sangha</i>, originally an assembly (of disciples gathered around a -Hindu sage). In Buddhism, the entire fraternity (like the Order of -Francis or Dominic).—Sir Monier Williams, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 176.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f245'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r245'>245</a>. </span>Robertson Smith, <i>Prophets of Israel</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 275.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f246'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r246'>246</a>. </span>Kullavagga, <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 2, 3, 4; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='twenty'>xx.</abbr>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f247'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r247'>247</a>. </span>Weber, <i>Indian Literature</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 306.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f248'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r248'>248</a>. </span>Dhammapadda, 141; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> Part <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr>; -Pâtimokkha Sekhiyá Dhammâ, 1, 2, 3, 4; <i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 59.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f249'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r249'>249</a>. </span>Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> 65; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f250'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r250'>250</a>. </span>Kuenen, Hibbert Lectures, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 279.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f251'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r251'>251</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 11; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f252'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r252'>252</a>. </span><i>Ibid.</i> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 12; <i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f253'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r253'>253</a>. </span><i>Ibid.</i> <abbr title='eight'>viii.</abbr> 27. 5; <i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> xvii.; Kullavagga, <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 1. 3; <i>ibid.</i> -<abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 9. 2; <i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='twenty'>xx.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f254'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r254'>254</a>. </span>Kuenen, Hibbert Lectures, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 251 <i>seq.</i> The doctrine that it bore -nobler fruit is expressly contradicted by some. See Âpastamba, pres. <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> -pat. <abbr title='nine'>ix.</abbr> khan. 23; also pres. <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> pat. <abbr title='nine'>ix.</abbr> k. 24. 15; <i>Sacred Books of the -East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 156, 159.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f255'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r255'>255</a>. </span>The way of “Works”—ceremonial and sacrificial religion; the way -of “Faith”—devotion (heart) to the deities without works; the way of -“Knowledge,” or true enlightenment.—Sir Monier Williams, <i>Buddhism</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 95.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f256'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r256'>256</a>. </span>Saint-Hilaire, <i>Le Bouddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 152.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f257'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r257'>257</a>. </span>Not without protest, however, by fathers and doctors of the Church. -See Hermas, <i>Simil.</i> <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr>; Clem. <i>Strom.</i> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr>; Tertullian, <i>De Jejunio</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 123 <i>seq.</i>; <i>De Pallio</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 181 <i>seq.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f258'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r258'>258</a>. </span>Gieseler, <i>Eccles. Hist.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 289 <i>seq.</i>; Neander’s <i>Church Hist.</i> -<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 305 <i>seq.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f259'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r259'>259</a>. </span>Hom. on <abbr title='Saint'>St.</abbr> Matth. 69, 70.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f260'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r260'>260</a>. </span>Montalembert, <i>Monks of the West</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 319; Neander’s -<i>Church History</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 338, 339.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f261'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r261'>261</a>. </span>Cassian, <i>Collationes</i>, <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 5-8; <i>De Instit. Monachi</i>, <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr>; <i>De capitalibus -vitiis</i>, quoted by Farrar, <i>Lives of the Fathers</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 224; Burton, -<i>Anatomy of Melancholy</i>, <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 510.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f262'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r262'>262</a>. </span><i>Monks of the West</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 27.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f263'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r263'>263</a>. </span>Sutta Nipâta, 75-81; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f264'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r264'>264</a>. </span>Theod. <i>Eccles. Hist.</i> lib. <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> cap. 26.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f265'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r265'>265</a>. </span>“They prayed for the whole world.”—Chrysost. <abbr class='spell'>H.</abbr> 78, <i>In Johannem</i>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f266'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r266'>266</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 317, 318.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f267'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r267'>267</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='eight'>viii.</abbr> 15; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='17'>xvii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f268'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r268'>268</a>. </span>“I am not aware of any instances in which the pariah of the -age is mentioned as a member of the Order.” “According to Buddhist -dogmatics, a good Sudra or Vaisya could only hope to be re-born as a -Kshatrya, and this clearly indicates that the distinctions of castes had -by no means vanished or become worthless in Buddha’s consciousness” -(<i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 156).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f269'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r269'>269</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 39. 76; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f270'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r270'>270</a>. </span>Christianity does not, as Goethe averred, “prefer what is despised -and feeble,” but as in God’s eyes nothing is despised and abject, so, in -fellowship with the Father, Christ cherished the maimed and lame and -blind, though hated of the soul of the natural man, and this disposition -will ever be a “mark” or “note” of the true Church of Christ.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f271'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r271'>271</a>. </span>Kuenen, Hibbert Lectures, 1882, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 284; Rhys Davids, Hibbert -Lectures, 1881, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 155.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f272'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r272'>272</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 181, 182.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f273'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r273'>273</a>. </span><i>The Scotsman</i>, August <abbr title='seventeenth'>17th</abbr>, 1889.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f274'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r274'>274</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>E.</abbr> Burnouf, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Science des Religions</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 94.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f275'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r275'>275</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 49. 6.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f276'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r276'>276</a>. </span><i>Ibid.</i> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 54. 5; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f277'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r277'>277</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 7. 10-15; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f278'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r278'>278</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 29.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f279'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r279'>279</a>. </span><i>Ibid.</i> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 76. 1-10.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f280'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r280'>280</a>. </span><i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 80; Dr. Rhys Davids states that a new or cloister -name was given on admission, in exchange for the family one (Hibbert -Lectures, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 39), but Professor Oldenberg alleges that this is supported -only by solitary cases (<i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 353 note).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f281'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r281'>281</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 30. 1-4; also <i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 14. 6; and Kullavagga, -<abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 1-2.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f282'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r282'>282</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 78. 1-5.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f283'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r283'>283</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 79. 1-3.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f284'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r284'>284</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 25. 1-24, for the duties of novice to his Upagghâya; -<i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 32, Kullavagga, <abbr title='eight'>viii.</abbr> 13, 14, for his duties to his Âkariya. -The duties to both are the same, but the Upagghâya seems to have been -the more important of the two tutors.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f285'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r285'>285</a>. </span>Dr. Rhys Davids, <i>Handbook of Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 169.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f286'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r286'>286</a>. </span>Dhammapada, 200; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> Part <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f287'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r287'>287</a>. </span>Pâtimokkha; Pakittiyá Dhammâ, 10; said to be because he -might kill or harm some living creature.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f288'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r288'>288</a>. </span>Sir Edwin Arnold, <i>Light of Asia</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 95.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f289'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r289'>289</a>. </span>Kullavagga, <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> <abbr title='eight'>viii.</abbr> <i>passim</i>; Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 25. 15.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f290'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r290'>290</a>. </span>Dhammapada, 141, 142; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> Part <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f291'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r291'>291</a>. </span>Sir Edwin Arnold, <i>Light of Asia</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 95, 96.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f292'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r292'>292</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 31. 4.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f293'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r293'>293</a>. </span>Introduction to Dhammapada, <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='44'>xliv</abbr>: a long list quoted from the <i>Northern Scripture</i> by Dr. Edkins -in <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f294'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r294'>294</a>. </span>The question was thrice put, “Are ye pure?” Mahavagga, <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 1-36.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f295'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r295'>295</a>. </span>See for a specimen the Kullavaga, <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 21; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, -<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='twenty'>xx.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f296'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r296'>296</a>. </span>Bishop of Colombo, in <i>Nineteenth Century</i>, July 1888.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f297'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r297'>297</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 1. 18; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f298'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r298'>298</a>. </span>Weber, <i>Indische Studien</i>, <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> 118; Metrical translations by Dr. -John Muir, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 250, where Professor Eggeling is quoted.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f299'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r299'>299</a>. </span>Mahâ-pagâpati the Gotami, his aunt and nurse (Kullavaga, <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> 1) -whose entreaty, through Ananda, led him to found the Order of Bikkhuni, -seems more than a name. Visâkhâ, “the rich and bountiful,” is another -type of votary (Mahavagga, <abbr title='eight'>viii.</abbr> 15).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f300'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r300'>300</a>. </span><i>Buddhist Jataka Stories</i>, translated by Rhys Davids, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 87, 90; -Bigandet, <i>Life of Gaudama</i>, old <abbr title='edition'>ed.</abbr>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 156, 168.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f301'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r301'>301</a>. </span>Dhammapada, 284; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f302'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r302'>302</a>. </span>Book of the Great Decease, <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 23; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, -<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f303'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r303'>303</a>. </span>Eitel, <i>Lectures on Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 10.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f304'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r304'>304</a>. </span>Kullavagga, <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> 1. 3, 4; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='twenty'>xx.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f305'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r305'>305</a>. </span>Clement of Alexandria gives prominence to the value of marriage -and of the family life, <i>Strom.</i> <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr>, <i>Paedag.</i> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> So Tertullian, <i>Ad -Uxorem</i>, <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr class='spell'>c.</abbr> 8.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f306'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r306'>306</a>. </span>Principal Donaldson, <i>Contemporary Review</i>, Sept. 1889.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f307'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r307'>307</a>. </span>Sir Henry <abbr class='spell'>S.</abbr> Maine, <i>Early History of Institutions</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 341.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f308'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r308'>308</a>. </span>Kullavagga, <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> 1. 6.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f309'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r309'>309</a>. </span>Kullavagga, <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> 1. 27.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f310'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r310'>310</a>. </span>Pâtimokkha; Pakittiyâ Dhammâ, 6, 7, 27, 66, 67.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f311'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r311'>311</a>. </span>“You are not, O monks, to bow down before women, to rise up in -their presence, to stretch out your joined hands towards them, nor to -perform towards them those duties that are proper to them (from an -inferior to a superior).”—Kullavagga, <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> 3. 1. “Giving honour unto the -wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace -of God.”—1 Peter <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> 1-7.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f312'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r312'>312</a>. </span>Dhammapada, 85, 86; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f313'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r313'>313</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, <i>Handbook of Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 125; Spence -Hardy, <i>Eastern Monachism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 199.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f314'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r314'>314</a>. </span>The bowl was “turned down” in relation to him, and his house became -an unlawful resort.—Kullavagga, <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 20. 3; <i>Sacred Books of the -East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='twenty'>xx.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f315'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r315'>315</a>. </span>Sir Monier Williams states that though votaries did not confess to -monks, the four days were observed by them.—<i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 84.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f316'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r316'>316</a>. </span>Oldenberg, <i>Buddha, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 162 note.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f317'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r317'>317</a>. </span>Mahavagga, <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 24. 1-6.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f318'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r318'>318</a>. </span>Kullavagga, <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 1-5; <i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 4. 10.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f319'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r319'>319</a>. </span>Mahâparanibhâna Sutta, <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> 33. 35.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f320'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r320'>320</a>. </span>1 Corinthians <abbr title='fourteen'>xiv.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f321'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r321'>321</a>. </span><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">“Das Christenthum ist das allerveränderlichste; das ist sein besonderer -Ruhm.”</span>—Rothe, <span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Stille Stunden</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 357.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f322'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r322'>322</a>. </span>Acts <abbr title='28'>xxviii.</abbr> 13; Rom. <abbr title='fifteen'>xv.</abbr> 24; 2 Tim. <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 10; 1 Peter <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> 1.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f323'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r323'>323</a>. </span>Greg. Nyss. <i>Op.</i> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> 574.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f324'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r324'>324</a>. </span>Keim, <span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Rom und Christenthum</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 417.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f325'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r325'>325</a>. </span>Uhlhorn, <i>Conflict of Christianity</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 54, 90.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f326'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r326'>326</a>. </span>Neander, <i>Church History</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 10, 40.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f327'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r327'>327</a>. </span>Orig. <i>cont. Cels.</i> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> 44-54; Tatian, <abbr class='spell'>c.</abbr> 33; Minut. Felix, <i>Octav.</i> -8. 12; Tertull. <i>Apolog.</i> 37 <i>et passim</i>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f328'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r328'>328</a>. </span>Newman, <i>Grammar of Assent</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 460 <i>seq.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f329'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r329'>329</a>. </span>Kullavagga, <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 14. 25; also <i>ibid.</i> <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr> 1. 5; <i>Sacred Books of the -East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='twenty'>xx.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f330'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r330'>330</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>E.</abbr> Burnouf, <i>Science of Religions</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 288, notes the analogy between -Pryadarsi and “a man greatly beloved” in Daniel <abbr title='nine'>ix.</abbr> 23.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f331'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r331'>331</a>. </span>See <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Lotus de la bonne Loi</i></span>, <abbr title='appendix'>App.</abbr> <abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 659 <i>seq.</i>: Prinsep’s <abbr title='translation'>trans.</abbr>, -<i>Jour. Asiat. Soc. Beng.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 219 <i>seq.</i>; <abbr title='Professor'>Prof.</abbr> <abbr class='spell'>H. H.</abbr> Wilson’s, -<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='twelve'>xii.</abbr> of <i>Jour. Asiat. Soc. Beng.</i> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 153 <i>seq.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f332'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r332'>332</a>. </span>Wheeler, <i>History of India</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 214.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f333'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r333'>333</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, <i>Handbook of Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 225.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f334'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r334'>334</a>. </span>Dipavamso, <abbr title='chapter'>chap.</abbr> <abbr title='eight'>viii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f335'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r335'>335</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, <i>Handbook of Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 259.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f336'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r336'>336</a>. </span><i>Buddhist Records of the Western World</i>, <abbr title='translated'>trans.</abbr> by <abbr title='Professor'>Prof.</abbr> Beal, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr>; -Fo-Kwo-ki, <abbr title='chapter'>chap.</abbr> <abbr title='22'>xxii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='49'>xlix</abbr>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii</abbr>; Hiuen Tsiang, <abbr class='spell'>B.</abbr> <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 13, 14.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f337'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r337'>337</a>. </span>Lassen, <i>Indische Alterth.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 1078; <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 741.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f338'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r338'>338</a>. </span>Dr. Beal, <i>Buddhism in China</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 61; Dr. Edkins, <i>Chinese -Buddhism</i>, Preface, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f339'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r339'>339</a>. </span><i>Buddhism in Tibet</i>, <abbr class='spell'>E.</abbr> Schlagintweit, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 61-75.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f340'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r340'>340</a>. </span><i>Comparative Progress of Ancient and Modern Missions.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f341'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r341'>341</a>. </span>Dr. Maclear, <i>Gradual Conversion of Europe</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 6-12.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f342'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r342'>342</a>. </span><i>Nouveau Journ. Asiat.</i> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 106, 137, 139.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f343'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r343'>343</a>. </span>Dr. Edkins, <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 84, 207.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f344'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r344'>344</a>. </span>“It may be safely asserted that no Aryan race, while existing in anything -like purity, was ever converted to Buddhism, or could permanently -adopt its doctrines.”—Fergusson, <i>Tree and Serpent Worship</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 67. The -old Turanian race, far from being savage, or even barbarous, not only laid -the basis of Chinese civilisation, but seems to have been also the first -civiliser of Western Asia, and the first to spread art and science along the -southern coasts of Europe. The Iberian, Etruscan, Phœnician, Hittite, -even Egyptian monuments, are now acknowledged to be relics of this -mighty race, which must have sent horde after horde over Asia and -Europe long before the historic advance westwards in the thirteenth -century <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr>; its latest invasion of India may have been represented, not -by Scythian ancestors of Buddha, but the Sikhs.—Conder, “Early Races -of Western Asia,” <i>Journ. Anthrop. Inst.</i> August 1889, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 30-43.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f345'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r345'>345</a>. </span>Sir Monier Williams, <i>Buddhism</i>, Introduction; Eitel, <i>Lectures on -Buddhism</i>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f346'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r346'>346</a>. </span>Sir Monier Williams, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 114, 156.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f347'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r347'>347</a>. </span>Wassilief, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Le Bouddhisme</i></span>, etc., <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 14, 18.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f348'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r348'>348</a>. </span>Dêvadatta’s Five Points (Kullavagga, <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr> 3. 14, 15) all insist upon -a more ascetic rule than the Sangha practised.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f349'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r349'>349</a>. </span>Stanley, <i>Eastern Church</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 45, 50.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f350'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r350'>350</a>. </span>Turnour, “Pali Bud. Annals,” <i>Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 729; Wassilief, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Le Bouddhisme, etc.</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 18.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f351'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r351'>351</a>. </span>The beginning of the dissensions is related in Kullavagga <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr> with -much legendary adornment. There too, in <abbr title='seven'>vii.</abbr> 5, and in Mahavagga, -<abbr title='ten'>x.</abbr> 1. 6, the distinction is drawn between “dissension” and “schism,” and -the woe predicted for the breaker-up of the Sangha when it was at peace: -“He is boiled for a kalpa in Niraya, doomed for so long to a penance -of misery.” The reconciler of a divided Sangha was made happy for -a kalpa in heaven.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f352'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r352'>352</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, <i>Handbook of Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 182.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f353'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r353'>353</a>. </span>Beal, <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 101: “a worship of association and -memory.”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f354'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r354'>354</a>. </span>Agni. Indra, Sūrya; Kern, <i>Buddhismus</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 156; Sir Monier -Williams, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 175.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f355'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r355'>355</a>. </span>“A being whose essence (sattva) has become intelligence (bodhu) -derived from <i>self-enlightening</i> intellect, and who has only once more to -pass through human existence before attaining Buddhahood.”—Eitel, -<i>Sanskrit-Chinese Dict.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 26; Sir Monier Williams’ <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 98.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f356'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r356'>356</a>. </span>Wassilief, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Le Bouddhisme, etc.</i></span>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 124 <i>seq.</i>; Burnouf, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Le Lotus de -la bonne Loi</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 302.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f357'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r357'>357</a>. </span>Nâgârdjuna, the Nagasēna of the Milindipanha, was the chief -representative, if not founder, of one of the Mahāyāna Schools. He has -been regarded as a mythical personage, and the name has been supposed -to be the generic one of various authors and doctors of the system. For -an account of Hināyāna and Mahāyāna doctrine, with its subdivisions, -see Wassilief, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Le Bouddhisme, etc.</i></span>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 9 <i>seq.</i>, 118 <i>seq.</i>; Schlagintweit, -<i>Buddhism in Tibet</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 19-57. Nâlanda must have been a very -important centre in Buddhist times.—Fergusson, <i>Tree and Serpent -Worship</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 79.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f358'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r358'>358</a>. </span>Dr. Edkins says about 190 <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f359'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r359'>359</a>. </span>Burnouf, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Introd. à l’histoire du Bud. Ind.</i></span> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 220, 224 -(Paris, 1844); also Burnouf, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Le Lotus de la bonne Loi</i></span>, <abbr title='chapter'>chap.</abbr> <abbr title='24'>xxiv.</abbr> -<abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 261-268; also Appendix <abbr title='three'>III.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 498-511 (Paris, 1852).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f360'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r360'>360</a>. </span>Müller, Gifford Lectures, <i>Natural Religion</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 543; Dr. Beal, -<i>Buddhism in China</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 123; Sir Monier Williams, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 195.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f361'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r361'>361</a>. </span>Hodgson, <i>Illustrations of the Literature and Religion of the Buddhists</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 30; Burnouf, <i>Introduction, etc.</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 116-121; also in note at -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 118, quoting Hodgson.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f362'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r362'>362</a>. </span>Though strong affinities exist between Gnosticism and Buddhism, -which may indicate later connection, in their origin they appear to have -been quite distinct. The methods, aims, and terminology of Gnosticism, -all betoken derivation from purely Western sources. It is quite possible -that Gnosticism may have given Adi-Buddha to the East, but the question -of their relations is still undetermined. See Weber, <i>Hist. Ind. Lit.</i> -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 309; Obry’s <i>Nirvana, etc.</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 161; Bishop Lightfoot, Essay on the -Essenes (<i>Epistle to Colossians</i>), <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 157; <i>Home and Foreign Review</i>, -<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 143 <i>seq.</i> (1863).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f363'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r363'>363</a>. </span>Sir Monier Williams, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 203; Dr. Beal, <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 128; Dr. Eitel, <i>Lectures</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 98.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f364'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r364'>364</a>. </span>Kullavagga, <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 21. 4; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='twenty'>xx.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f365'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r365'>365</a>. </span><i>Introd.</i> § <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 558: <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“La plume se refuse à transcrire des doctrines -aussi misérables quant à la forme, qu’odieuses et dégradantes pour le fond.”</span></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f366'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r366'>366</a>. </span>Âryasanga, founder of the Yôgacharya or contemplative system of -Mahāyāna (<i>circa</i> 400 <abbr class='spell'><span class='fss'>A.D.</span></abbr>). For an account of his doctrine, see Wassilief, -<i>Le Boudd.</i> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 288 <i>seq.</i>, and Schlagintweit, <i>Bud. in Tibet</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 39 <i>seq.</i>, -46 <i>seq.</i>; Rhys Davids, <i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 207 <i>seq.</i></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f367'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r367'>367</a>. </span>A writer in the <i>Nineteenth Century</i>, October 1889, professes to -describe the testimony of the only reporter who has written of Lhása -since Huc and Gabet were expelled from it forty-five years ago. According -to this witness, the Church is now actually in grip of the State, -though nominally dominant. Of five members of the Council of the -Grand Lama four are laymen, superior military officers, with the Regent -at their head. Till the Grand Lama is eighteen years of age, the Regent -is supreme, and for sixty years, not a single Grand Lama, chosen as an -infant, has survived his eighteenth birthday!!</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f368'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r368'>368</a>. </span>Buddhism, however, introduced into Tibet the benefits of the art -of writing, the reduction of its language to an alphabet, and grammar; -and not only the sacred literature represented by the collection of the -Kandjur, but the very miscellaneous literature of the Tandjur. Several -of its Buddhist missionaries and the kings who favoured them were -really great men. Kublai Khan and the first Lamistic Pope Phags-pa, -1259-94, rendered lasting service to the cause of civilisation. See Köppen’s -<span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Die Lamaische Hierarchie und Kirche</i></span>, being <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> of his -celebrated and most laborious work, <span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><i>Die Religion des Buddha</i></span>; <abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> -Rhys Davids, <abbr title='article'>Art.</abbr> <span class='sc'>Lamaism</span>, <i>Encyc. Brit.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='14'>xiv.</abbr>; Sir Monier Williams, -<i>Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 262-302.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f369'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r369'>369</a>. </span>The most recent and reliable information as to this perverted form -of Buddhism—if it is to be called Buddhism, for it seems to be no more -Buddhism than Vandoux worship can be called Christianity—will be -found in the works of <abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids; Sir Monier Williams, -<i>Buddhism</i>; Babu Sarat Chunder Das, “Religious Hist. of Thibet,” -<i>Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng.</i> 1881; <i>Life and Works of Alex. Csoma de -Koros</i>, Th. Duka, Lond. 1885; <abbr class='spell'>E.</abbr> Colborne Baber, <i>Travels and Researches -in Western China</i>; Bushell’s “Hist. of Thibet,” <i>Journ. <abbr class='spell'>R.A.S.</abbr></i> -<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> xii. 1878-79.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f370'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r370'>370</a>. </span>An invocation of Avalôkitês’vara, who is believed to have delivered -it to the Tibetans.—Klaproth, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Fragments Bouddhiques</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 27; Hodgson, -<i>Illustrations</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 171; Charles Loring Brace, <i>Gesta Christi</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 455.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f371'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r371'>371</a>. </span>Schlagintweit, <i>Buddhism in Tibet</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 227-272.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f372'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r372'>372</a>. </span><i>Chinese Review</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='eleven'>xi.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 162; Beal, <i>Buddhism in China</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 233.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f373'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r373'>373</a>. </span>Once when a heathen asked Hillel to show him the whole Jewish -religion in a few words, he replied, “<i>Do not unto others what thou -wouldst not should be done unto thee</i>.” Kuenen’s <i>Religion of Israel</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 243 (quotes Talmud, Sabbath, 31 <abbr class='spell'>a</abbr>.)</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f374'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r374'>374</a>. </span>See Isaiah <abbr class='spell'>xxxii.</abbr> 5, 6. Socrates says in <i>Phaedo</i>, “to use words -wrongly and indefinitely is not merely an error in itself; it also creates -evil in the soul.” A vast amount of mischief is done by the misapplication -of good adjectives to bad subjects. All true reformers, with Confucius, -labour for a rectification of names.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f375'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r375'>375</a>. </span>Shu King, Shi King, <abbr title='preface'>Pref.</abbr> and <abbr title='Introduction'>Introd.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 1-27, by Dr. Legge; -<i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f376'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r376'>376</a>. </span><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Mémoire sur la Vie et les Opinions de Lao-tsze.</i></span></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f377'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r377'>377</a>. </span>Translation of the Tâo-teh-King, under the title, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Le Livre de la -Voie et de la Vertu</i></span>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f378'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r378'>378</a>. </span>μέθοδος, Prof. Douglas, <i>Confucianism and Taoism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 189.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f379'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r379'>379</a>. </span>It is very interesting to find, so long before Christianity, and so far -from its cradle, this fundamental rule in Christian morals. In the Book -of Proverbs its enunciation may have preceded that in the Tao-teh-King -in point of time; but its being uttered at the end of the world, -along with the “golden rule” of Confucius, prove how essentially one -are the moral instincts of humanity.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f380'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r380'>380</a>. </span>Dr. Legge’s Preface to <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='three'>iii.</abbr> of <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='21'>xxi</abbr>; -also <abbr title='article'>Art.</abbr> <span class='sc'>Lao-tsze</span>, <i>Encyc. Brit.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='14'>xiv.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f381'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r381'>381</a>. </span>Dr. Edkins, <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 128, 202; Beal, <i>Introduction to -Fa-Hian</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 27.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f382'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r382'>382</a>. </span>Douglas, <i>Confucianism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 84; Beal, <i>Buddhism in China</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 235; -Edkins, <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 333.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f383'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r383'>383</a>. </span>In the whole range of the Catacombs no crucifix, and only very -few crosses have been found, and these generally in a disguised form. -The communion of the early Church was with Christ risen and triumphant; -it was only when the spirit and fervour of worship declined -that it made so much of the crucifixion.—Northcote and Brownlow’s -Abridgment of De Rossi’s <i>Roma Sotterranea</i>; Smith and Cheetham, -<i>Dict. of Christian Antiq.</i>, Art. <span class='sc'>Catacombs</span>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 294 <i>seq.</i>; Witherow, -<i>Catacombs</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 260, 281.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f384'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r384'>384</a>. </span>The efficiency of <i>relic-worship</i> may be said to have been established -as early as the fourth century. Julian compares the churches to -whited sepulchres, full of dead men’s bones. Development of <i>image-worship</i> -proceeded <i>pari passu</i> with the erection of fine churches and -their adornment with painting and sculpture. There were all along -strong protests from individual bishops, and even prohibitions by -Councils, but the fashion was too strong for their fulminations. Even in -the eighth century the iconoclastic reformation of Leo the Isaurian was -too late. His zeal, moreover, was wrongly directed. He assailed high -art, and condemned only the truly fine paintings, sparing the ruder and -more ancient productions, and leaving untouched the worship of and -disgraceful traffic in relics, real and spurious. It is not to be wondered -at that in opposition to all this Gregory in the West became the champion -of art as an aid to devotion.—Milman, <i>Lat. Christianity</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 152.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f385'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r385'>385</a>. </span>In protesting against the Mass, the Reformed Churches maintain -the universal priesthood, and therefore perpetual sacrifice, of the visible -Church. As Christ’s witness on earth, the Church must be always offering -itself, in thanksgiving for its own redemption, for the salvation of -the world.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f386'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r386'>386</a>. </span>Fergusson, <i>Tree and Serpent Worship</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 67; Cunningham, <i>Bhilsa -Topes</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 130.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f387'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r387'>387</a>. </span>Dr. Edkins, <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 126; Judges <abbr title='six'>vi.</abbr> 31.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f388'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r388'>388</a>. </span>Originally called Bódhitara, but renamed by his teacher Payantara, -in token of his religious “insight.” He is said to have brought to China -the famous alms-bowl, which all the Buddhas of the Kalpa have used, -and will use, and whose final disappearance will indicate that the religion -is about to perish. Thus Buddhism has also its San Greal. Bôdiharma -is called the “wall-gazing Brahman,” though a Kshatrya, because on his -arrival in China he spent nine years in silent meditation.—Eitel, -<i>Sanskrit Chinese Dict.</i> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 24.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f389'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r389'>389</a>. </span>Dr. Edkins, <i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 130.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f390'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r390'>390</a>. </span>Men who have in vain sought God without have happily found -Him in the witness of their own conscience and affection, but generally -they who conceitedly reject the revelation without them only obscure -the seeing faculty within. “When mysticism threw off external authority -it went mad, as in the revolutionary pantheism of the Middle Ages. -When it incorporated itself more and more in revealed truth, it became -a benign power—as on the eve of the Reformation.”—Vaughan, <i>Hours -with the Mystics</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 356.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f391'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r391'>391</a>. </span>“Mysticism,” <abbr class='spell'>A.</abbr> Seth, <i>Encyc. Brit.</i> <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='17'>xvii.</abbr> <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 129-136.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f392'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r392'>392</a>. </span>Correctly so, if we are to judge of Mysticism even from its purest -phases and its best representatives, <abbr class='spell'><i>e.g.</i></abbr> the Quietism of Madame Guyon, -the Spiritualism of Swedenborg, the Romanticism of <abbr class='spell'>F.</abbr> von Hardenberg, -better known as Novalis. Even on its speculative or philosophical -side, it would not be difficult to cull from the writings of the Cambridge -Platonists, and the Idealists of Europe and America, extracts equivalent -to the aphorisms of Novalis, that “action is morbid,” “to dream is -to overcome,” that “the soul must abandon the actual world if it would -discover in the recesses of the mystic night the Queen of Heaven, -Eternal Beauty.”—<i>Hymns to Night</i>, Schriften, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='two'>ii.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 158.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f393'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r393'>393</a>. </span>Pâtimokkha; Pârâgikâ Dhammâ, 3; <i>Sacred Books of the East</i>, -<abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='thirteen'>xiii.</abbr></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f394'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r394'>394</a>. </span>Beal, Introduction to <i>Fa-Hian</i>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 42. In an important aspect the -perversion of Christianity was worse than that of Buddhism. The -Buddhist ascetics, though merciless to themselves, never tortured their -vanquished opponents. There is no parallel to the Romish Inquisition -and some Protestant atrocities in any of the annals of Buddhism.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f395'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r395'>395</a>. </span><span lang="grc" xml:lang="grc">ἡ σωματικὴ γυμνασία</span>, 1 Tim. <abbr title='four'>iv.</abbr> 8.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f396'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r396'>396</a>. </span>Tylor, <i>Primitive Culture</i>, <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 440.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f397'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r397'>397</a>. </span><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Vient enfin le mysticisme de la dernière époque, qui, de même que -tous les mysticismes, finit de la manière la plus misérable, et enfante une -idolâtrie grossière, ainsi que les stupides pratiques de la sorcellerie”</span> -(Laboulaye, <abbr title='Introduction'>Introd.</abbr> to La Comme’s transl. of Wassilief’s <i>Buddhism</i>, -<abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> <abbr title='45'>xlv</abbr>). This has often been verified in the religious history of the -West, and the fate of many former “spiritual” aspirants to enter or to -peer into the Invisible and Unutterable should be a powerful warning -to all who are now aiming at surpassing the natural conditions of -existence. In endeavouring to transcend humanity, we are likely to -fall miserably below it.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f398'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r398'>398</a>. </span><i>Chinese Buddhism</i>, <abbr title='pages'>pp.</abbr> 370-379.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f399'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r399'>399</a>. </span>Also Seneca: “We do not love virtue because it gives us pleasure, -but it gives us pleasure because we love it.”—<i>De Vit. Beat.</i> <abbr class='spell'>c.</abbr> <abbr title='nine'>ix.</abbr> “In -doing good man should be like the vine, producing grapes, and asking -for nothing in having done so.”—<abbr class='spell'>M.</abbr> Aurel. <abbr title='five'>v.</abbr> 6 and <abbr title='nine'>ix.</abbr> 42.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f400'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r400'>400</a>. </span>Herzog, <i>Encyclop.</i> (Schaff), <abbr title='volume'>vol.</abbr> <abbr title='one'>i.</abbr> <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 334.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f401'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r401'>401</a>. </span><i>Eternal Atonement</i>, by Dr. <abbr class='spell'>R. D.</abbr> Hitchcock, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 157.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f402'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r402'>402</a>. </span><abbr class='spell'>T. W.</abbr> Rhys Davids, Hibbert Lectures, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 196.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f403'> -<p class='c006'><span class='label'><a href='#r403'>403</a>. </span>Quinet, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Le Génie des Religions</i></span>, <abbr title='page'>p.</abbr> 13.</p> -</div> -<div> - - <ul class='ul_1 c002'> - <li>Transcriber’s Notes: - <ul class='ul_2'> - <li>Footnotes have been collected at the end of the text, and are linked for ease of - reference. - </li> - </ul> - </li> - </ul> - -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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