Gospel of Buddhism Ananda Coomaraswamy iiiijiiiiiiiiiiujiuiiiiuiiiluiih;iii;u:.i;niiiiiii /2. .8-, l6 , ^v' PRINCETON, N. J. '^/W Purchased by the Mrs. Robert Lenox Kennedy Church History Fund. vision. ..\^..\m,.\.TA!.sJ ' Di Section i,.^,^. r^ ry rj I'latk 1' laK K-CUT l.M.\(.l': OF THK BUDDHA Chinese, Long-men (6th century. A.n ). After Chavannes, Mission archcBologique dans la Chine septenlrionale BUDDHA AND THE GOSPEL OF BUDDHISM BUDDHA AND THE GOSPEL OF BUDDHISM »/ sr ANANDA COOMARASWAMY D.Sc. AUTHOR OF "ARTS AND CRAFTS OF INDIA AND CEYLON" "RAJPUT painting" AND "ESSAYS IN NATIONAL IDEALISM" JOINT-AUTHOR OF "MYTHS OF THE HINDUS AND BUDDHISTS" DEC r. 1916 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR BY ABANINDRO NATHTAGORE CLE. y NANDA LAL BOSE AND THIRTY-TWO REPRODUCTIONS IN BLACK AND WHITE FROM PHOTOGRAPHS NEW YORK G. p. PUTNAM'S SONS I 9 I 6 TO A. E. PRINTED AT THF< BALLANTYNE PRESS LONDON, ENGLAND PREFACE THE aim of this book is to set forth as simply as possible the Gospel of Buddhism according to the Buddhist scriptures, and to consider the Buddhist systems in relation, on the one hand, to the Brahmanical systems in which they originate, and, on the other hand, to those systems of Christian mysticism which afford the nearest analogies. At the same time the endeavour has been made to illustrate the part which Buddhist thought has played in the whole development of Asiatic culture, and to suggest a part of the significance it may still possess for modern thinkers. The way of the Buddha is not, indeed, concerned directly with the order of the world, for it calls on higher men to leave the market-place. But the order of the world can only be established on a foundation of knowledge : every evil is ultimately traceable to ignorance. It is necessary, then, to recognize the world for what it truly is. Gautama teaches us that the marks of this life are imperfection, transcience, and the absence of any changeless individu- ality. He sets before us a siwimum bomini closely akin to the Christian mystic conception of ' self-naughting.' Here are definite statements which must be either true or false, and a clearly defined goal which we must either accept or refuse. If the statements be false, and if the goal be worthless, it is of the highest importance that the former should be refuted and the latter discredited. But if the diagnosis be correct and the aim worthy, it is at least of equal importance that this should be generally recognized : for we cannot wish to perpetuate as the basis of our sociology a view of life that is demonstrably false or a purpose demonstrably contrary to our conception of the good. Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism This book is designed, therefore, not as an addition to our already over burdened libraries of information, but as a definite contribution to the philosophy of life. Our study of alien modes of thought and feeling, if it is to be of any real use to us, must be inspired by other than curious motives or a desire to justify our own system. For the common civilization of the world we need a common will, a recognition of common problems, and to co-operate in their solution. At this moment, when the Western world is beginning to realize that it has failed to attain the fruit of life in a society based on competition and self-assertion, their lies a profound significance in the discovery of Asiatic thought, where it is affirmed with no uncertain voice that the fruit of life can only be attained in a society based on the con- ception of moral order and mutual responsibility. Let me illustrate by a single quotation the marvellous direct- ness and sincerity of the social ethic to which the psychology of Buddhism affords its sanction : Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered is unhappy. Stories are told of Asiatic rulers paying the price of kino-doms for a single word of profitable counsel. One may well inquire whether any conceivable price could have been too high for Europe to have paid for a general recognition of this truth, ere now. There is, again, a passage of the Ruru-deer Jataka which is perhaps unique in all literature in its supreme tenderness and courtesy: For who — the Bodhisattva asks — would zmllingly use harsh speech to those who have done a sinful deed, strewing salt, as it zve7'e, upon the wound of their fault ? It is with gifts such as this that Buddhism, and the Hinduism from which it issues and into which it has VI Preface again merged, stand over against the world of laissez /aire, demanding of their followers only the abandon- ment of all resentment, coveting, and dulness, and offering in return a happiness and peace beyond our reasonable understandinor- Can we denv that modes of thought which find expression thus must for ever command our deepest sympathy and most profound consideration ? It is not possible that liberation from resentment, covetinof, and dulness, should ever be ill-timed : and it is just this liberation which constitutes the ethical factor in Nibbana, where the psychological part is self- forgetfulness. It will be plainly seen to what extent I am indebted to the work of other scholars and students, and I wish to make a frank and grateful acknowledgment to all those from whose work I have freely quoted, particularly Professor and Mrs Rhys Davids and Professor Oldenberg, as well as to others to whom I am indebted for the use of photo- graphs. The latter, reproduced in monochrome, illustrate the history of Buddhist art : but beside this, the work of modern Indian painters illustrating Buddhist thought and legend is reproduced in colour. A few suggestions may be useful as a guide to pro- nunciation. Vowels generally are pronounced as in Italian: a as in America, a as m /at/ie7', e 2iS a m nave, i as in it, I as ec in greet, o as in note, u as oo in room, u as 00 in boot : ai has the sound of i in bite, au the sound of ow in cow. Every consonant is distinctly pronounced, and aspirates are distinctly heard. C has the sound of ck in ckw'ch, while i^ in some cases has the sound of sh, e.g. in Siva, Isvara, Sankara, etc. The accent falls on the first syllable or the third, rarely or never on the second. vii Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism Certain words, such as kamma, Nibbdna, Bodhisatta, etc., are quoted in these Pali forms where Hinayana Buddhism is in question, and in the more familiar Sanskrit forms karfna^ Nirvana, Bodkisattva, where the reference is to Mahayana. ANANDA COOMARASWAMY London, February 8, 191 6 Vlii CONTENTS PART I : THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA 9K PAGE PART II : THE GOSPEL OF EARLY BUDDHISM I DHAMMA 90 II SAMSARA AND KAMMA (KARMA) 104 III BUDDHIST HEAVENS AND HOW TO REACH THEM no IV NIBBANA lis V ETHICS 126 VI CONSCIENCE 137 VII SPIRITUAL EXERCISES 141 VIII CONSOLATION 148 IX THE ORDER 151 X TOLERANCE 155 XI WOMEN 159 XII EARLY BUDDHISM AND NATURE 166 XIII BUDDHIST PESSIMISM 176 XIV A BUDDHIST EMPEROR 180 PART III : CONTEMPORARY SYSTEMS I VEDANTA 187 II SAMKHYA 194 III YOGA 196 IV BUDDHISM AND BRAHMANISM 198 A I GLOSSARY INDEX PAGE Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism PART IV : THE MAHAYANA I BEGINNINGS OF THE MAHAYANA 222 II SYSTEM OF THE MAHAYANA 226 III CH'AN, OR ZEN BUDDHISM 252 PART V : BUDDHIST ART I LITERATURE 259 II SCULPTURE AND PAINTING 323 BIBLIOGRAPHY 34.7 351 359 LIST OF PLATES Facing PLATE fage A The Forty-Nine Days (Ceylon) 36 B The First Sermon (Sarnath) 38 C The First Sermon (Nepal) 40 D The Buddha Teaching (Japan) 42 E Standing Image of the Buddha (Mathura) 46 F Rock-cut Image of the Buddha (Long-men, China) 52 G Standing Image of the Buddha with Attendants (Chinese) 66 H The Quelling of Malagiri (AmaravatI) 68 J The Death of the Buddha (Polonnaruva) 80 K The Buddha in Samadhi (Anuradhapura) 146 L Buddhist Monk (Chinese) 152 M Monastery and Temple-Court (Chinese) 154 N Buddhist Temples in Ceylon 156 O SsnchI StOpa and Gateway 1 84 P Capital of Asoka Column (Sarnath) 186 Q Lay-Worshippers at a Buddha Shrine (AmaravatI) 224 R Avalokitesvara (Nepal) 230 S Maitreva (Ceylon) 236 T Mara's Battle and a Buddhist Library (Ceylon) 262 U The Buddha Teaching (Laos) 274 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism Facing PLATE /"z^e W YakkhI and NagarSja (Bharhut) 322 X YakkhI (Sancht) 324 Y Standing Image of the Buddha (Anuradhapura) 326 Z Images of the Buddha and of Bodhisattvas (Ceylon and China) 3*8 AA Thk First Sermon (Gandhara) 33° BB The Buddha (Cambodia) 33^ CC Bodhisattva, perhaps Avalokitesvara (Ajanta) 334 DD ManjusrI (Java) 336 EE Bodhisattva (China) 338 FF The Buddha (China) 340 GG Kwanyin (Japan) 342 HH Kwanyin (China) 344 LIST OF PLATES IN COLOUR The Temptation of Buddha Nanda Lai Bose Frontispiece PAGE The Departure of Buddha Nanda Lai Bose 24 SujATA AND the Bowl OF MiLK-RiCE Natida Lai Bose 30 Yasodhara and Rahula Nanda Lai Bose 50 Buddha and Ananda Nanda Lai Bose 76 The Final Release Abanindro Nath Tagore 88 The Victory of Buddha Abanindro Nath Tagore 126 Buddha as Mendicant Abanindro Nath Tagore 150 1^ QUOTATIONS 1 7V ill go down to self-annihilation and eternal death, Lest the Last Judgment come and find me unannihilate. And I be seiz'd and giv'n into the hands of my own Selfhood. Blake, " Milton." Bj(t, alas, how hard it is for the Will to sink into nothing, to attract nothing, to imagine nothifig. Let it be granted that it is so. Is it not surely worth thy while, and all that thou canst ever do ? Behmen, ''• Dialogues T Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you. You must travel it for yourself . Walt Whitman. You cannot step twice into the same waters, for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you. Herakleitus. Vraiement comencent amours en ioye et fynissent en dolours. Merlin. By a man without passions I mean one who does not permit good and evil to disturb his internal economy, but rather falls in with whatever happens, as a ^natter of course, and does not add to the sum of his mortality. Chiang Tau. Profound, O Vaccha, is this doctrine, recondite, and difficult of compre- hension, good, excellent, and not to be reached by mere reasoning, subtile, and intelligible only to the wise ; and it is a hard doctrine for you to learn, xvho belong to another sect, to another faith, to another persuasion, to another discipline, and sit at the feet of another teacher. ' Maffhima Nikaya,' '' Sutta 72." PART I : THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA His Birth THE name Buddha, ' the Knower,' 'the Enlightened,' 'the Wake,' is the appellation by which the wandering preaching friar Gautama became best known to his disciples. Of this man we are able to say with some certainty that he was born in the year 563 B.C. and died in 483 B.C. He was the heir of a ruling house of the Sakyas, whose little kingdom, a rich irrigated plain between the Nepalese foot-hills and the river Rapti, lay to the north-east of the present province of Oudh. To the south-west lay the larger and more powerful kingdom of the Kosalas, to whom the Sakyas owed a nominal allegiance. The Buddha's personal name was Siddhattha, his family name Gautama, his father's name Suddhodana, his mother's Maya. It is only in later legend that Suddhodana is represented as a great king; most likely he was in fact a wealthy knight and land- owner. Siddhattha's mother died seven days after his birth, and her sister MahajapatI, another wife of Suddhodana, filled the place of mother to the young prince. He was brought up in Kapilavatthu, a busy provincial capital ; he was trained in martial exercises, riding, and outdoor life generally, and in all knightly accomplishments, but it is not indicated in the early books that he was accomplished in Brahmanical lore. In accordance with the custom of well- to-do youths, he occupied three different houses in winter, summer, and the rainy season, these houses being provided with beautiful pleasure gardens and a good deal of simple luxury. It is recorded that he was married, and had a son, by name Rahula, who afterwards became his disciple. Siddhattha experienced the intellectual and spiritual 9 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism unrest of his age, and felt a growing dissatisfaction with the world of pleasure in which he moved, a dissatisfaction rooted in the fact of its transience and uncertainty, and of man's subjection to all the ills of mortality. Suddhodana feared that these thoucjhts would lead to the loss of his son, who would become a hermit, as was the tendency of the thinkers of the time; and these fears were well founded, for in spite of every pleasure and luxury that could be devised to withhold him, Siddhattha ultimately left his home to adopt the ' homeless life ' of the 'Wanderer,' a seeker after truth that should avail to liberate all men from the bondage of mortality. Such enlightenment he found after years of search. Thereafter, during a long ministry as a wandering preacher, he taught the Four Ariyan Truths and the Eightfold Path ; attract- ing many disciples, he founded a monastic order as a refuge for higher men, the seekers for everlasting freedom and unshakable peace. He died at the age of eighty. After his death his disciples gathered together the "Words of the Enlightened One," and from this nucleus there grew up in the course of a few centuries the whole body of the Pali canon, and ultimately, under slightly different interpretation, the whole mass of the Mahayana Sutras. That so much of the story represents literal fact is not only very possible, but extremely probable ; for there is nothing here which is not in perfect accordance with the life of that age and the natural development of Indian thought. We know, for example, that many groups of wandering ascetics were engaged in the same quest, and that they were largely recruited from an intel- lectual and social aristocracy to whom the pretensions of Brahmanical priestcraft were no longer acceptable, and who were no less out of sympathy with the multitudinous cults lO The Legendary Buddha of popular animism. We know the name of at least one other princely ascetic, Vardhamana, a contemporary of the Buddha, and the founder of the monastic system of the Jainas. The Legendary Buddha But while it is easy to extract from the Buddhist books such a nucleus of fact as is outlined above, the materials for a more circumstantial biography of the Buddha, extensive as they are, cannot be regarded as historical in the scientific usage of the word. What is, however, far more important than the record of fact, is the expression of all that the facts, as understood, implied to those to whom they were a living inspiration ; and it is just this expression of what the life of Buddha meant to Buddhists, or Bauddhas, as the followers of Gautama are more properly called, that we find in the legendary lives, such as the Lalitavistara, which is familiar to Western readers in Sir Edwin Arnold's Light of Asia. Here, then, we shall relate the life of Buddha in some detail, from the various sources indicated,^ regardless of the fact that these presuppose a doctrinal development which can only have taken place after the Buddha's death ; for the miraculous and mythological elements are always very transparent and artistic. The history of the Buddha begins with the resolve of the individual Brahman Su^nedha, long ago, to become a Buddha in some future birth,that he might spread abroad saving truth for the help of suffering humanity. Countless ages ago this same Sumedha, retiring one day to the upper chamber of his house, seated himself and fell into thought : " Behold, I am subject to birth, to ^ Chiefly the Nidanakathd (introduction to the PaJi Jatakas), the Maha Parinibbana Suita, and the Lalitavistara. Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism decay, to disease, and to death ; it is right, then, that I should strive to win the irreat deathless Nibbana, which is tranquil, and free from birth and decay, sickness, and woe and weal. Surely there must be a road that leads to Nibbana and releases man from existence." Accordingly, he gave away all his wealth and adopted the life of a hermit in the forest. At that time Dipankara Buddha appeared in the world, and attained enlightenment. It happened one day that Dipankara Buddha was to pass that way, and men were preparing the road for him. Sumedha asked and received permission to join in the work, and not only did he do so, but when Dipankara came Sumedha laid himself down in the mud, so that the Buddha might walk upon his body without soiling his feet. Then Dipankara's attention was aroused and he became aware of Sumedha's intention to become a Buddha, and, looking countless ages into the future, he saw that he would become a Buddha of the name of Gautama, and he prophesied accordingly. Thereupon Sumedha rejoiced, and, rejecting the immediate prospect of becoming an Arahat, as the disciple of Dipankara, " Let me rather," he said, " like Dipankara, having risen to the supreme knowledge of the truth, enable all men to enter the ship of truth, and thus I may bear them over the Sea of Existence, and then only let me realize Nibbana myself." Incarnation of the Btiddha When Dipankara with all his followers had passed by Sumedha examined the Ten Perfections indispensable to Buddahood, and determined to practise them in his future births. So it came to pass, until in the last of these births the Bodhisatta was reborn as Prince Vessantara, who exhibited the Perfection of Supernatural Generosity, and 1^ Incarnation of the Buddha in due time passed away and dwelt in the Heaven of Delight. When the time had come for the Bodhisatta to return to earth for the last time, the deities of the ten thousand world-systems assembled together, and, approach- ing the Bodhisatta in the Heaven of Delight, said: " Now has the moment come, O Blessed One, for thy > Buddhahood ; now has the time, O Blessed One, arrived ! " Then the Bodhisatta considered the time, the continent, the district, the tribe, and the mother, and, having deter- mined these, he assented, saying: "The time has come, O Blessed Ones, for me to become a Buddha." And even as he was walking there in the Grove of Gladness he departed thence and was conceived in the womb of the lady Maha Maya. The manner of the conception is ex- plained as follows. At the time of the midsummer festival in Kapilavatthu, Maha Maya, the lady of Suddhodana, lay on her couch and dreamed a dream. She dreamt that the Four Guardians of the Quarters lifted her up and bore her away to the Himalayas, and there she was bathed in the Anotatta lake and lay down to rest on a heavenly couch within a golden mansion on Silver Hill. Then the Bodhisatta, who had become a beautiful white elephant, bearing in his trunk a white lotus flower, approached from the North, and seemed to touch her right side and to enter her womb. The next day when she awoke she related the dream to her lord, and it was interpreted by the Brahmans as follows : that the lady had conceived a man- child who, should he adopt the life of a householder, would become a Universal Monarch ; but if he adopted the religious life he would become a Buddha, removing from the world the veils of ignorance and sin. It should be told also that at the moment of ttie incarnation the heavens and the earth showed signs, the 13 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism dumb spake, the lame walked, all men began to speak kindly, musical instruments played of themselves, the earth was covered with lotus flowers, and lotuses descended from the sky, and every tree put forth its flowers. From the moment of the incarnation, moreover, four angels guarded the Bodhisatta and his mother, to shield them from all harm. The mother was not weary, and she could perceive the child in her womb as plainly as one may see the thread in a transparent gem. The Lady Maha Maya carried the Bodhisatta thus for ten lunar months ; at the end of that time she expressed a wish to visit her family in Devadaha ; and she set out on the journey. On the way from Kapilavatthu to Devadaha there is a pleasure-grove of Sal-trees belonging to the people of both cities, and at the time of the queen's journey it was filled with fruits and flowers. Here the queen desired to rest, and she was carried to the greatest of the Sal-trees and stood beneath it. As she raised her hand to take hold of one of its branches the pains came upon her, and so standing and holding the branch of the Sal-tree she was delivered. Four Brahma angels received the child in a golden net, and showed it to the mother, saying : " Rejoice, O Lady ! a great son is born to thee." The child stood upright, and took seven strides and cried : " I am supreme in the world. This is my last birth: henceforth there shall be no more birth for mel" At one and the same time there came into being the Seven Connatal Ones, viz., the mother of Rahula, Ananda the favourite disciple, Channa, the attendant, Kanthaka, the horse, Kaludayi, the minister, the great Bodhi tree, and the vases of Treasure. 14 Kala Devala Kala Devala When the Bodhisatta was born there was great rejoicing in the heaven of the Thirty-three Gods. At that time also a certain hermit by name Kala Devala, an adept, sat in trance, visiting the heaven of the Thirty-three, and seeing the rejoicing he learnt its cause. Immediately he returned to earth, and repaired to the palace, asking to see the new-born child. The prince was brought in to salute the great adept, but he rose from his seat and bowed to the child, saying : " I may not work my own destruction"; for assuredly if the child had been made to bow to his feet, the hermit's head would have split atwain, so much had it been against the order of nature. Now the adept cast backward and forward his vision over forty aeons, and perceived that the child would become a Buddha in his present birth : but he saw that he himself would die before the Great Enlightenment came to pass, and being reborn in the heaven of No-form, a hundred or even a thousand Buddhas might appear before he found the opportunity to become the disciple of any; and seeing this, he wept. He sent, however, for his nephew, then a householder, and advised him to become a hermit, for at the end of thirty-five years he would receive the teach- ing of the Buddha; and that same nephew, by name Nalaka, afterwards entered the order and became an Arahat. On the fifth day the name ceremonies were performed, and the child was call Siddhattha (Siddhartha). On this occasion eight soothsayers were present amongst the Brahmans, and of these seven foresaw that the child would become either a Universal Monarch or a Buddha, but the eighth, by name Kondanna, predicted that he would of a surety become a Buddha. This same 15 Buddha <^ the Gospel of Buddhism Kondaniia afterwards belonged to the five who became the Buddha's first disciples. Then the prince's father inquired: "What will my son see, that will be the occasion of his forsaking the house- hold life?" "The Four Signs," was the answer, "a man worn out by age, a sick man, a dead body, and a hermit." Then the king resolved that no such sights should ever be seen by his son, for he did not wish him to become a Buddha, but desired that he should rule the whole world ; and he appointed an innumerable and magnificent guard and retinue to protect his son from any such illumi- nating omens, and to occupy his mind with worldly pleasures. Seven days after the child's birth the Lady Maha Maya died, and was reborn in the heaven of the Thirty-three Gods, and Siddhattha was placed in the charge of his aunt and stepmother the Matron Gautami. And now came to pass another miracle, on the occasion of the Ploughing Festival. For while the king was inaugurating the ploughing with his own hands, and the nurses were preparing food, the Bodhisatta took his seat beneath a Jambu-tree, and, crossing his legs like a yogi, he exercised the first degree of contemplation ; and though time passed, the shadow of the tree did not move. When the king beheld that miracle he bowed to the child, and cried: "This, dear one, is the second homage paid to thee ! " As the Bodhisatta grew up his father built for him three palaces, respectively of nine, five, and seven stories, and here he dwelt according to the seasons. Here the Bodhi- satta was surrounded by every luxury, and thousands of dancing-girls were appointed for his service and enter- tainment. Taken to the teachers of writing and the other i6 The Prince Marries arts, he soon surpassed them all, and he excelled in all martial exercises. The Prince Marries At the age of sixteen, the king sought for a wife for his son; for by domestic ties he hoped to attach him still more to the worldly life. The prince had already experienced the desire to become a hermit. But in order, as the books say, to conform with the custom of former Bodhisattas, he consented to marry, if it were possible to find a girl of perfect manners, wholly truthful, modest, congenial to his temperament, and of pure and honour- able birth, young and fair, but not proud of her beauty, charitable, contented in self-denial, tender as a sister or a mother, not desiring music, scents, festivities or wine, pure in thought and word and deed, the last to sleep and the first to rise in the house where she should dwell. Brahmans were sent far and wide to seek for such a maiden amongst the Sakya families. At last the choice fell upon Siddhattha's cousin Yasodhara, the daughter of Suprabuddha of Kapilavatthu. And the king devised a plan to engage the young man's heart. He made ready a display of beautiful jewels which Siddhattha was to distribute amongst the Sakya maidens. So it came to pass : but when all the jewels had been bestowed, Yasodhara came late, and there was nothing left for her. Thinking that she was despised, she asked if there was no gift meant for her. Siddhattha said there was no such thought in his mind, and he sent for other rings and bracelets and gave them to her. She said: "Is it becoming for me to receive such gifts."*" and he answered : " They are mine to give." And so she went her way. Then Suddhodana's spies reported that B 17 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism Siddhattha had cast his eyes only upon Yasodhara, and had entered into conversation with her. A message was sent to Suprabuddha asking for his daughter. The answer came that daughters of the family were only given to those who excelled in the various arts and martial exercises, and "could this be the case with one whose whole life had been spent in the luxury of a palace ? " Suddhodana was grieved because his son was considered to be indolent and weak. The Bodhisatta perceived his mood, and asked its cause, and being informed, he reassured his father, and advised that a contest in martial exercises should be proclaimed, and all the Sakya youths invited. So it was done. Then the Bodhisatta proved himself the superior of all, first in the arts of literature and numbers, then in wrestling and archery, and each and all of the sixty-four arts and sciences. When Siddhattha had thus shown his prowess, Suprabuddha brought his daughter to be affianced to the prince, and the marriage was celebrated with all magnificence. Amongst the defeated Sakyas were two cousins of the Buddha, the one Ananda, who afterwards became the favourite disciple, the other Devadatta, whose growing envy and jealousy made him the life-long enemy of the victor. T/ie Four Signs The Bodhisatta is never entirely forgetful of his high calling. Yet it is needful that he should be reminded of the approaching hour ; and to this end the cosmic Buddhas made audible to Siddhattha, even as he sat and listened to the singing of the dancing-girls, the message — "Recollect thy vow, to save all living things : the time is at hand : this alone is the purpose of thy birth." And thus as the i8 The Four Signs Bodhisatta sat in his beautiful palaces day after day surrounded by all the physical and intellectual pleasures that could be devised by love or art, he felt an ever more insistent call to the fulfilment of his spiritual destiny. And now were to be revealed to him the Four Signs which were to be the immediate cause of the Great Renunciation. The Bodhisatta desired one day to visit the royal pleasure- gardens. His father appointed a day, and gave command that the city should be swept and garnished, and that every inauspicious sight should be removed, and none allowed to appear save those who were young and fair. The day came, and the prince drove forth with the charioteer Channa. But the Devas ^ are not to be diverted from their ends : and a certain one assumed the form of an old and decrepit man, and stood in the midst of the street. *' What kind of a man is this?" said the Prince, and Channa replied, " Sire, it is an aged man, bowed down by years." "Are all men then," said the prince, "or this man only, subject to age?" The charioteer could but answer that youth must yield to age in every living being. " Shame, then, on life 1 " said the prince, " since the decay of every living thing is notorious!" and he turned to his palace in sadness. When all that had taken place was reported to the king, he exclaimed: "This is my ruin!" and he devised more and more amusements, music and plays calculated to divert Siddhattha's mind from the thought of leaving the world. Again the prince drove out to visit the pleasure-gardens of Kapilavatthu : and on the way they met a sick man, thin and weak and scorched by fever. When the meaning of this spectacle was made clear by the charioteer, the ^ Devas, the Olympian deities, headed by Sakka, who dwell in the Heaven of the Thirty-three : spiritual powers generally, ' gods.' 19 Buddha ^ the Gospel of Buddhism Bodhisatta exclaimed again: "If health be frail as the substance of a dream, who then can take delight in joy and pleasure ? " And the car was turned, and he returned to the palace. A third time the prince went forth, and now they met a corpse followed by mourners weeping and tearing their hair. " Why does this man lie on a bier," said the prince, " and why do they weep and beat their breasts ? " " Sire," said the charioteer, "he is dead, and may never more see his father or mother, children or home : he has departed to another world." " Woe then to such youth as is destroyed by age," exclaimed the prince, "and woe to the health that is destroyed by innumerable maladies ! Woe to the life so soon ended ! Would that sickness, age, and death might be for ever bound ! Turn back again, that I may seek a way of deliverance." When the Bodhisatta drove forth for the last time, he met a hermit, a mendicant friar. This Bhikkhu was self- possessed, serene, dignified, self-controlled, with downcast eyes, dressed in the garb of a religious and carrying a beggar's bowl. " Who is this man of so calm a temper? " said the prince, "clothed in russet garments, and of such dignified demeanour?" "Sire," said the charioteer, " He is a Bhikkhu, a religious, who has abandoned all longings and leads a life of austerity, he lives without passion or envy, and begs his daily food." The Bodhisatta answered "That is well done, and makes me eager for the same course of life : to become religious has ever been praised by the wise, and this shall be my refuge and the refuge of others and shall yield the fruit of life, and immortality." Again the Bodhisatta returned to his palace. When all these things had been reported to Suddhodana, he surrounded the prince's pleasure-palace by triple walls 20 The Great Renunciation and redoubled the guards, and he commanded the women of the palace to exercise all their charms, to divert the prince's thoughts by music and pleasure : and it was done accordingly. And now Yasodhara was troubled by portentous dreams : she dreamed that the land was devastated by storms, she saw herself naked and mutilated, her beautiful jewels broken, the sun the moon and the stars fell from the sky and Mount Meru sank into the great deep. When she related these dreams to the Bodhisatta, he replied in gentle tones : " You need not fear. It is to the good and the worthy alone that such dreams come, never to the base. Rejoice ! for the purport of all these dreams is that the bond of mortality shall be loosed, the veils of ignorance shall be rent asunder, for I have completely fulfilled the way of wisdom, and every one that has faith in me shall be saved from the three evils, without exception." The Great Renunciation The Bodhisatta reflected that he ought not to go forth as a Wanderer without giving notice to his father; and there- fore he sought the king by night, and said: "Sire, the time is at hand for my going forth, do not hinder me, but permit me to depart." The king's eyes were charged with tears, and he answered : " What is there needful to change thy purpose ? Tell me whatever thou desirest and it shall be thine, be it myself, the palace, or the kingdom." The Bodhisatta replied, " Sire, I desire four things, pray thee grant them : the first, to remain for ever in possession of the fresh colour of youth ; the second, that sickness may never attack me ; the third, that my life may have no term ; the last, that I may not be subject to decay." When the king heard these words, he was overcome by grief, for 21 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism the prince desired what it was not possible for a man to bestow. Then the Bodhisatta continued: "If then I cannot avoid old age, sickness, death and decay, grant at least this one thing, that when I leave this world I may nevermore be subject to rebirth." And when the king could give no better answer, he granted his son's desire. But the next day he established an additional guard of five hundred young men of the Sakyas at each of the four gates of the palace, while the Matron GautamI established an amazon guard within ; for the king would not allow his son to depart with a free will. At the same time the captains of the Yakkhas^ assembled together, and they said "To-day, my friends, the Bodhisatta is to go forth ; hasten to do him service." The Four Great Kings^ commanded the Yakkhas to bear up the feet of the prince's horse. The Thirty-three Devas likewise assembled, and Sakka ordered their services, so that one should cast a heavy sleep on all the men and women and young men and maidens of Kapilavatthu, and another should silence the noise of the elephants, horses, camels, bulls and other beasts ; and others constituted themselves an escort, to cast down a rain of flowers and perfume the air. Sakka himself announced that he would open the gates and show the way. On the morning of the day of the going forth, when the Bodhisatta was being attired, a message was brought to him that Yasodhara had borne him a son. He did not rejoice, but he said: "A bond has come into being, a hindrance for me." And the child received the name of Rahula or 'Hindrance' accordingly. The same day the Bodhisatta drove again in the city, and a certain noble ^ Yakkhas, nature spirits. ^ The Four Kings, Guardians of the Four Quarters. 22 The Great Renunciation virgin, by name Kisa GotamI, stood on the roof of her palace and beheld the beauty and majesty of the future Buddha as he passed by, and she made a song : Blessed indeed is the mother^ blessed indeed the father^ Blessed indeed is the wi/e^ whose is a lord so glorious ! On hearing this the Bodhisatta thought: "She does but say that the heart of a mother, or a father, or a wife is gladdened by such a sight. But by what can every heart attain to lasting happiness and peace ? " The answer arose in his mind: "When the fire of lust is extinguished, then there is peace ; and when the fires of resentment and glamour are dead, then there is peace. Sweet is the lesson this singer has taught me, for it is the Nibbana of peace that I have sought. This day I shall relinquish the household life, nothing will I seek but Nibbana itself." And taking from his neck the string of pearls he sent it as a teacher's fee to Kisa GotamI. But she thought that the prince loved her, and sent her a gift because of his love. That night the singers and the dancing-girls exerted themselves to please the prince : fair as the nymphs of heaven, they danced and sang and played. But the Bodhisatta, his heart being estranged from sin, took no pleasure in the entertainment, and fell asleep. And the women seeing that he slept, laid aside their instruments and fell asleep likewise. And when the lamps that were fed with scented oil were on the point of dying, the Bodhisatta awoke, and he saw the girls that had seemed so fair, in all the disarray of slumber. And the king's son, seeing them thus dishevelled and disarrayed, breathing heavily, yawning and sprawling in unseemly attitudes, 23 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism was moved to scorn. " Such is the true nature of women," he thought, "but a man is deceived by dress and jewels and is dehided by a woman's beauties. If a man would but con- sider the natural state of women and the change that comes upon them in sleep, assuredly he would not cherish his folly ; but he is smitten from a right will, and so succumbs to passion." And therewith he resolved to accomplish the Great Renunciation that very night, and at that very time, for it seemed to him that every mode of existence on earth or in heaven most resembled a delay in a house already become the prey of devouring flames ; and his mind was irresistibly directed towards the state of those who have renounced the world. The Bodhisatta therefore rose from his couch and called for Channa; and the charioteer, who was sleeping with his head on the threshold, rose and said: "Sire, I am here." Then the Bodhisatta said : " I am resolved to accomplish the Great Renunciation to-day; saddle my horse." And Channa went out to the stable and saddled Kanthaka: and the horse knew what was the reason of his being saddled, and neighed for joy, so that the whole city would have been aroused, had it not been that the Devas subdued the sound, so that no one heard it. Now while Channa was away in the stable yard, the Bodhisatta thought: "I will take one look at my son," and he went to the door of Yasodhara's chamber. The Mother of Rahula was asleep on a bed strewn thick with jasmine flowers, and her hand was resting on her son's head. The Bodhisatta stopped with his foot upon the threshold, for he thought : " If I lift her hand to take up my son, she will awake, and my departure will be hindered. I will return and see him after I have attained enlightenment." Then he went forth, and seeing the horse ready saddled, 24 The Great Renunciation he said, "Good Kanthaka, do thou save me this night, to the end that I may become a Buddha by thy help and may save the worlds of men and gods." Kanthaka neighed again, but the sound of his voice was heard by none. So the Bodhisatta rode forth, followed by Channa: the Yakkhas bore up the feet of Kanthaka so that they made no sound, and when they came to the guarded gates the angel standing thereby caused them to open silently. At that moment Mara the Fiend appeared in the air, and tempted the Bodhisatta, exclaiming : " Go not forth, my lord! for within seven days from this the Wheel of Sovereignty will appear, and will make you ruler of the four continents and the myriad islands. Go not forth 1 " The Bodhisatta replied : " Mara ! well I know that this is sooth. But I do not seek the sovereignty of the world. I would become a Buddha, to make tens of thousands of worlds rejoice." And so the tempter left him, but resolved to follow him ever like a shadow, to lay hold of the occasion, if ever a thought of anger or desire should arise in the Bodhisatta's heart. It was on the full-moon day of Asadha when the prince departed from the city. His progress was accompanied by pomp and glory, for the gods and angels bore myriads of torches before and behind him, and a rain of beautiful flowers was cast down from the heaven of Indra, so that the very flanks of Kanthaka were covered. In this way the Bodhisatta advanced a great distance, until they reached and passed over the river Anoma. When they were come to the other side, the Bodhisatta alighted upon the sandy shore and said to Channa : '•'' Good Channa, the time has come when thou must return, and take with thee all my jewels together with Kanthaka, for I am about to become a 25 Buddha &P the Gospel of Buddhism hermit and a wanderer in these forests. Grieve not for me, but mourn for those who stay behind, bound by- longings of which the fruit is sorrow. It is my resolve to seek the highest good this very day, for what con- fidence have we in life when death is ever at hand ? And do you comfort the king, and so speak with him that he may not even remember me, for where affection is lost, there is no sorrow." But Channa protested, and prayed the Bodhisatta to take pity upon the king, and upon Yasodhara and on the city of Kapilavatthu. But again the Bodhisatta answered : " Even were I to return to my kin- dred by reason of affection, yet we should be divided in the end by death. The meeting and parting of living things is as when the clouds having come together drift apart again, or as when the leaves are parted from the trees. There is nothing we may call our own in a union that is nothing but a dream. Therefore, since it is so, go, and grieve not, and say to the people of Kapilavatthu : ' Either he will soon return, the conqueror of age and death, or he himself will fail and perish.' " Then Channa too would have become a hermit: but the Bodhisatta answered again : " If your love is so great, yet go, deliver the message, and return." Then the Bodhisatta took the sharp sword that Channa bore and severed with it his long locks and jewelled crest and cast them into the waters : and at the moment when he felt the need of a hermit's dress, there appeared an angel in the guise of a hunter clad in the russet robes of a forest-sage and he, receiving the white muslin garments of the prince, rendered to him the dark red robes in return, and so departed. Now Kanthaka attended to all that had been said, and he licked the Bodhisatta's feet; and the prince spoke to 26 The Search for the Way of Escape him as to a friend, and said : " Grieve not, O Kanthaka, for thy perfect equine nature has been proved — bear with it, and soon thy pain shall bear its fruit." But Kanthaka, thinking : " From this day forth I shall never see my master more," went out of their sight, and there died of a broken heart and was reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty- three. Then Channa's grief was doubled; and torn by the second sorrow of the death of Kanthaka, he returned to the city weeping and wailing, and the Bodhisatta was left alone. The Search for The Way of Escape The Bodhisatta remained for a week in the Mango-grove of Anupiya, and thereafter he proceeded to Rajagaha, the chief town of Magadha. He begged his food from door to door, and the beauty of his person cast the whole city into commotion. When this was made known to the king Bimbisara, he went to the place where the Bodhi- satta was sitting, and offered to bestow upon him the whole kingdom : but again the Bodhisatta refused the royal throne, for he had already abandoned all in the hope of attaining enlightenment, and did not desire a worldly empire. But he granted the king's request that when he had found the way, he would preach it first in that same kino-dom. It is said that when the Bodhisatta entered a hermitage for the first time (and this was before he proceeded to Rajagaha) he found the sages practising many and strange penances, and he inquired their meaning, and what was the purpose that each endeavoured to achieve and received the answer — " By such penances endured for a time, by the higher they attain heaven, and by the lower, favourable fruit in the world of men : by pain they come 27 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism at last to happiness, for pain, they say, is the root of merit." But to him it seemed that here there was no way of escape — here too, men endured misery for the sake of happiness, and that happiness itself, rightly understood, consisted in pain, for it must ever be subject to mortality and to rebirth. " It is not the effort itself which I blame," he said, " which casts aside the base and follows a higher path of its own : but the wise in sooth, by all this heavy toil, ought to attain to the state where nothing ever needs to be done again. And since it is the mind that controls the body, it is thought alone that should be restrained. Neither purity of food nor the waters of a sacred river can cleanse the heart : water is but water, but the true place of pilgrimage is the virtue of the virtuous man." And now, rejecting with courtesy the king's offers, the Bodhisatta made his way to the hermitage of the renowned sage Alara Kalama and became his disciple,_ learning the successive degrees of ecstatic meditation. Alara taught, it is clear, the doctrine of the Atman, saying that the sage who is versed in the Supreme Self, " having abolished himself by himself, sees that nought exists and is called a Nihilist : then, like a bird from its cage, the soul escaping from the body, is declared to be set free: this is that supreme Brahman, constant, eternal, and without distinctive signs, which the wise who know reality declare to be liberation." But Gautama (and it is by this name that the books now begin to speak of the Bodhisatta) ignores the phrase "without distinctive signs," and with verbal justification quarrels with the animistic and dualistic terminology of soul and body : a liberated soul, he argued, is still a soul, and whatever the condition it attains, must be subject to rebirth, "and since each successive re- nunciation is held to be still accompanied by qualities, I 28 The Search for the Way of Escape maintain that the absolute attainment of our end is only to be found in the abandonment of everything." ^ And now leaving the hermitages of Rajagaha the Bodhi- satta, seeking something beyond, repaired to a forest near to the village of Uruvela and there abode on the pure bank of the Nairanjana. There five wanderers, begging hermits, came to him, for they were persuaded that ere long he would attain enlightenment : and the leader of these was Kondaniia, the erstwhile Brahman soothsayer who had prophesied at the festival of the Bodhisatta's name day. And now thinking: "This may be the means to conquer birth and death," Gautama for six years practised there an austere rule of fasting and of mortification, so that his glorious body wasted away to skin and bone. He brought himself to feed on a single sesamum seed or a grain of rice, until one day, as he paced to and fro, he was overcome by a severe pain, and fainted and fell. Then certain of the Devas exclaimed " Gautama is dead ! " and some reported it to Suddhodana the king at Kapilavatthu. But he replied : " I may not believe it. Never would my son die without attaining enlightenment." For he did not forget the miracle at the foot of the Jambu-tree, nor the day when the great sage Kala Devala had been compelled to offer homage to the child. And the Bodhisatta recovered, and stood up ; and again the gods reported it to the king. Now the fame of the Bodhisatta's exceeding penances became spread abroad, as the sound of a great bell is ^ We recognize here the critical moment where Buddhist and Brahman thought part company on the question of the Atman. Whether Alara failed to emphasize the negative aspect of the doctrine of the Brahman, or Gautama (who is represented as so far entirely innocent of Brahmanical philosophy) failed to distinguish the neuter Brahman from the god Brahma, we cannot tell. The question is discussed at greater length in Part III, Chapter IV. (p. 198 f.) 29 Buddha <^ the Gospel of Buddhism heard in the sky. But he perceived that mortification was not the road to enHghtenment and to liberation — " that was the true way that I found beneath the Jambu- tree, and it cannot be attained by one who has lost his strength." And so again the Great Being resolved to beg his food in towns and villages, that his health and strength might be restored. This was in the thirtieth year of the life of Gautama. But the Five Disciples reflected that Gautama had not been able to attain en- lightenment even by six years of the most severe austerities, " and how can he do so now, when he goes and begs in the villages and eats of ordinary food?" — and they departed from him and went to the suburb of Benares called Isipatana. The Supreme Enlightenment Now durinof the time that Gautama had been dwelling in the forest near by Uruvela, the daughter of the village headman, by name Sujata, had been accustomed to make a daily offering of food to eight hundred Brahmans, making the prayer — " May the Bodhisatta at length, receive an offering of food from me, attain enlightenment, and become a Buddha ! " And now that the time had come when he desired to receive nourishing food, a Deva appeared in the night to Sujata and announced that the Bodhisatta had put aside his austerities and desired to partake of good and nourishing food, "and now shall your prayer be accomplished." Then Sujata with all speed arose early and went to her father's herd. Now for a long time she had been accustomed to take the milk of a thousand cows and to feed therewith five hundred, and again with their milk to feed two hundred and fifty, and so on until eight only were fed with the milk of the rest, and this she called 30 Ill SUJATA AND THE BOWL OF MILK-RICE Nanda Lal Bose Page 30 The Supreme Enlightenment "working the milk in and in." It was the full-moon day of the month of May when she received the message of the gods, and rose early, and milked the eight cows, and took the milk and boiled it in new pans, and prepared milk-rice. At the same time she sent her maid Punna to the foot of the great tree where she had been wont to lay her daily offerings. Now the Bodhisatta, knowing that he would that day attain Supreme Enlightenment, was sitting at the foot of the tree, awaiting the hour for going forth to beg his food; and such was his glory that all the region of the East was lit up. The girl thought that it was the spirit of the tree who would deign to receive the offering with his own hands. When she returned to Sujata and reported this, Sujata embraced her and bestowed on her the jewels of a daughter, and exclaimed, " Henceforth thou shalt be to me in the place of an elder daughter 1 " And sending for a goldfen vessel she put the well-cooked food therein, and covered it with a pure white cloth, and bore it with dignity to the foot of the great Nigrodha-tree; and there she too saw the Bodhisatta, and believed him to be the spirit of the tree. Sujata approached him, and placed the vessel in his hand, and she met his gaze and said : " My lord, accept what I have offered thee," and she added " May there arise to thee as much of joy as has come to me! " and so she departed. The Bodhisatta took the golden bowl, and went down to the bank of the river and bathed, and then dressing himself in the garb of an Arahat, he again took his seat, with his face towards the East. He divided the rice into forty- nine portions, and this food sufficed for his nourishment during the forty-nine days following the Enlightenment. When he had finished eating the milk rice, he took the golden vessel and cast it into the stream, saying *' If I am 31 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism able to attain Enlightenment to-day, let this pot go up stream, but if not, may it go down stream." And he threw it into the water, and it went swiftly up the river until it reached the whirlpool of the Black Snake King, and there it sank. The Bodhisatta spent the heat of the day in a grove of Sal-trees beside the stream. But in the evening he made his way to the foot of the tree of wisdom, and there, making the resolution : ''Though my skin, my nerves and my bones should waste away and my life-blood dry, I will not leave this seat until I have attained Supreme Enlighten- ment," he took his seat with his face towards the East. At this moment Mara the Fiend became aware that the Bodhisatta had taken his seat with a view to attaining Perfect Enlightenment; and thereupon, summoning the hosts of the demons, and mounting his elephant of war, he advanced towards the Tree of Wisdom. And there stood Maha Brahma holding above the Bodhisatta a white canopy of state, and Sakka, blowing the great trumpet, and with them were all the companies of gods and angels. But so terrible was the array of Mara that there was not one of all this host of the Devas that dared to remain to face him. The Great Being was left alone. First of all, however, Mara assumed the form of a messenger, with disordered garments, and panting in haste, bearing a letter from the Sakya princes. And in the letter it was written that Devadatta had usurped the kingdom of Kapilavatthu and entered the Bodhisatta's palace, taken his goods and his wife, and cast Suddhodana into prison and they prayed him to return to restore peace and order. But the Bodhisatta reflected lust it was that had caused Devadatta thus to misuse the women, malice had made him imprison Suddhodana, while the Sakyas neutralized 32 The Supreme Enlightenment by cowardice failed to defend their King: and so reflecting on the folly and weakness of the natural heart, his own resolve to attain a higher and better state was strengthened and confirmed.^ Failing in this device, Mara now advanced to the assault with all his hosts, striving to overcome the Bodhisatta first by a terrible whirlwind, then by a storm of rain, causing a mighty flood : but the hem of the Bodhisatta's robe was not stirred, nor did a single drop of water reach him. Then Mara cast down upon him showers of rocks, and a storm of deadly and poisoned weapons, burning ashes and coals, and a storm of scorching sand and flaming mud ; but all these missiles only fell at the Bodhisatta's feet as a rain of heavenly flowers, or hung in the air like a canopy above his head. Nor could he be moved by an onset of thick and fourfold darkness. Then findine all these means to fail, he addressed the Bodhisatta and said : " Arise, Siddhattha, from that seat, for it is not thine, but mine!" The Bodhisatta replied, "Mara! thou hast not accom- plished the Ten Perfections, nor even the minor virtues. Thou hast not sought for knowledge, nor for the salvation of the world. The seat is mine." Then Mara was enraofed, and cast at the Bodhisatta his Sceptre-javelin, which cleaves asunder a pillar of solid rock like a tender shoot of cane: and all the demon hosts hurled masses of rock. But the javelin hung in the air like a canopy, and the masses of rock fell down as garlands of flowers. Then the Great Being said to Mara : " Mara, who is the witness that thou hast given alms?" Mara stretched forth his hand, and a shout arose from the demon hosts, of a * Cf., " The sages of old first got Tao for themselves, and then got it for others. Before you possess this yourself, what leisure have you to attend to the doings of wicked men ? " — Chuang Tzu. See also p. 1 26. c 33 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism thousand voices crying: "I am his witness ! " Then the Fiend addressed the Bodhisatta, and enquired: "Sidd- hattha! who is the witness that thou has given alms?" and the Great Being answered : " Mara thou hast many and living witnesses that thou hast given alms, and no such witnesses have I. But apart from the alms I have given in other births, I call upon this solid earth to witness to my supernatural generosity when I was born as Vessantara." And drawingr his rigrht hand from his robe, he stretched it forth to touch the earth, and said : " Do you or do you not witness to my supernatural generosity when I was born as Vessantara?" And the great Earth replied with a voice of thunder: "I am witness of that." And thereat the great elephant of Mara bowed down in adoration, and the demon hosts fled far away in dread. Then Mara was abashed. But he did not withdraw, for he hoped to accomplish by another means what he could not effect by force: he summoned his three daughters, Tanha, Rati, and Raga, and they danced before the Bodhisatta like the swaying branches of a young leafy tree, using all the arts of seduction known to beautiful women. Again they offered him the lordship of the earth, and the companionship of beautiful girls : they appealed to him with songs of the season of spring, and exhibited their supernatural beauty and grace. But the Bodhi- satta's heart was not in the least moved, and he answered : Pleasure is brief as a fiash of lightning Or like an Anticvm sJiozuer^ only for a monienl. . . Why should I then covet the pleasures yon speak of? I see your bodies are fill of all impurity : Birth and deaths sickness and age are yours. I seek the highest prize, hard to attain by men — The true and constant wisdom of the wise. 34 The Supreme Enlightenment And when they could not shake the Bodhisatta's calm, they were filled with shame, and abashed : and they made a prayer to the Bodhisatta, wishing him the fruition of his labour: That which your heart desires, may you attain, A7id finding for yow'sclf deliverance, deliver all I ^ And now the hosts of heaven, seeing the army of Mara defeated, and the wiles of the daughters of Mara vain, assembled to honour the Conqueror, they came to the foot of the Tree of Wisdom and cried for joy : The Blessed Buddha — he hath prevailed I And the Tempter is ove^'thrown ! The victory was achieved while the sun was yet above the horizon. The Bodhisatta sank into ever deeper and deeper thought. In the first watch of the night he reached the Knowledge of Former States of being, in the middle watch he obtained the heavenly eye of Omniscient Vision, and in the third watch he grasped the perfect under- standing of the Chain of Causation which is the Origin of Evil, and thus at break of day he attained to Perfect Enlightenment. Therewith there broke from his lips the song of triumph : Th7'ough many divers births I passed Seeking in vain the builder of the house. "^ ^ According to other books the temptation by the daughters of Miira is subsequent to the Supreme Enlightenment. In Plate A the Temp- tation by the Daughters of Mara takes place in the fifth week of the Forty-nine Days. 2 The house is, of course, the house — or rather the prison — of indi- vidual existence : the builder of the house is desire (/a«/fa)— the will to enjoy and possess. See p. 97. 35 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism Bic^ O fi'Limcr of Jioiiscs, thou art found — Never again shall thou fashion a house formal Broken are all thy beams. The king-post shattered! My mind has passed into the stillness of Nibbdna The ending of desire has been attained at last ! Innumerable wonders were manifest at this supreme hour. The earth quaked six times, and the whole universe was illuminated by the supernatural splendour of the sixfold rays that proceeded from the body of the seated Buddha. Resentment faded from the hearts of all men, all lack was supplied, the sick were healed, the chains of hell were loosed, and every creature of whatsoever sort found peace and rest. The Forty-nine Days Gautama, who was now Buddha, the Enlightened, remained seated and motionless for seven days, realizing the bliss of Nibbana; and thereafter rising, he remained standing for seven days more, steadfastly regarding the spot where had been won the fruit of countless deeds of heroic virtue performed in past births: then for seven days more he paced to and fro along a cloistered path from West to East, extending from the throne beneath the Wisdom Tree to the place of the Steadfast Gazing; and again for seven days he remained seated in a god-wrought pavilion near to the same place, and there reviewed in detail, book by book, all that is taught in the AbhidJiamma Pitaka, as well as the whole doctrine of causality; then for seven days more he sat beneath the Nigrodha tree of Sujata's offering, meditating on the doctrine and the sweetness of Nibbana — and according to some books it was at this time the temptation by the daughters of Mara took place ; 36 Plate A THE FORTY-NINE DAYS From an illustrated manuscript, Sinhalese (i8th century) 36 The Forty-nine Days and then for seven days more while a terrible storm was raging, the snake king Mucalinda sheltered him with his sevenfold hood; and for seven days more he sat beneath a Rajayatana tree, still enjoying the sweetness of liberation. And so passed away seven weeks, during which the Buddha experienced no bodily wants, but fed on the joy of contemplation, the joy of the Eightfold Path, and the joy of its fruit, Nibbana. Only upon the last day of the seven weeks he desired to bathe and eat, and receiving water and a tooth-stick from the god Sakka, the Buddha bathed his face and seated himself at the foot of a tree. Now at that time two Brahman merchants were travelling with a caravan from Orissa to the middle country, and a Deva, who had been a blood relation of the merchants' in a former life, stopped the carts, and moved their hearts to make an offering of rice and honey cakes to the Lord. They went up to him accordingly, saying : " O Blessed One, have mercy upon us, and accept this food." Now the Buddha no longer possessed a bowl, and as the Buddhas never receive an offering in their hands, he reflected how he should take it. Immediately the Four Great Kings, the Regents of the Quarters appeared before him, each of them with a bowl; and in order that none of them should be disappointed, the Buddha received the four bowls, and placing them one above the other made them to be one, showing only the four lines round the mouth, and in this bowl the Blessed One received the food, and ate it, and gave thanks. The two merchants took refuge in the Buddha, the Norm, and the Order, and became professed disciples. Then the Buddha rose up and returned again to the tree of Sujata's offering and there took his seat. And there, reflecting Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism upon the depth of truth which he had found, a doubt arose in his mind whether it would be possible to make it known to others : and this doubt is experienced by every Buddha when he becomes aware of the Truth. But Maha Brahma exclaiming : " Alas ! the world will be altogether lost ! " came thither in haste, with all the Deva hosts, and besought the Master to proclaim the Truth; and he granted their prayer.^ T/ie First Turnhig of the Wheel of the Law Then he considered to whom he should first reveal the Truth, and he remembered Alara, his former teacher, and Uddaka, thinking that these great sages would quickly comprehend it; but upon close reflection he discovered that each of them had recently died. Then he thought of the Five Wanderers who had been his disciples, and upon reflection he saw that they were then residing in the Deer Park at Isipatana in Benares, and he resolved to go there. When the Five Wanderers, whose chief was Kondaniia, perceived the Buddha afar off, they said together: "My friends, here comes Gautama the Bhikkhu. We owe him no reverence, since he has returned to a free use of the necessaries of life, and has recovered his strength, and beauty. However, as he is well-born, let us prepare him a seat." But the Blessed One perceived their thought, ^ "Great truths do not take hold of the hearts of the masses. . . . And now, as all the world is in error, I, though I know the true path — how shall I, how shall I guide ? If I know that I cannot succeed and yet try to force success, this would be but another source of error. Better, then, to desist and strive no more. But if I strive not, who will ? " — Chuang Tzu. It is highly characteristic of the psychology of genius that when this doubt assails the Buddha he nevertheless immediately responds to a definite request for guidance ; the moment the pupil puts the right questions, the teacher's doubts are resolved. 38 II ■ "» f ». ( v.. 38 Plate B THE FIRST SERMON. " TURNING THE WHEEL OF THE LAW," AT BENARES Gupta period (5th century a.d.), Sarnath, Benares The First Turning of the Wheel of the Law and concentrating that love wherewith he was able to pervade the whole world, he directed it specially towards them. And this love being diffused in their hearts, as he approached, they could not adhere to their resolve, but rose from their seats and bowed before him in all reverence. But not knowing that he had attained enlightenment, they addressed him as ' Brother.' He, however, announced the Enlightenment, saying : " O Bhikkhus, do not address me as 'Brother,' for I have become a Buddha of clear vision even as those who came before." Now the Buddha took his seat that had been prepared for him by the Five Wanderers, and he taught them the first sermon, which is called Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law, or the Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness. "There are two extremes which he who has gone forth ought not to follow — habitual devotion on the one hand to the passions, to the pleasures of sensual things, a low and pagan way (of seeking satisfaction), ignoble, un- profitable, fit only for the worldly-minded ; and habitual devotion, on the other hand, to self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble, unprofitable. There is a Middle Path discovered by the Tathagata ^ — a path which opens the eyes, and bestows understanding, which leads to peace, to insight, to the higher wisdom, to Nii^dna. Verily! it is this Ariyan Eightfold Path ; that is to say Right Views, Right Aspirations, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right mode of livelihood. Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Rapture. "Now this is the Noble Truth as to suffering. Birth is ^ That is by the Arahat ; the title the Buddha always uses of him- self. He does not call himself the Buddha ; and his followers never address him as such. 39 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism attended with pain, decay is painful, disease is painful, death is painful. Union with the unpleasant is painful, painful is separation from the pleasant ; and any craving unsatisfied, that, too, is painful. In brief, the five aggregates of clinging (that is, the conditions of indi- viduality) are painful. " Now this is the Noble Truth as to the origin of suffering. Verily! it is the craving thirst that causes the renewal of becomings, that is accompanied by sensual delights, and seeks satisfaction, now here now there — that is to say, the craving for the gratification of the senses, or the craving for prosperity. "Now this is the Noble Truth as to the passing away of pain. Verily ! it is the passing away so that no passion remains, the giving up, the getting rid of, the emancipation from, the harbouring no longer of this craving thirst. " Now this is the Noble Truth as to the way that leads to the passing away of pain. Verily ! it is this Ariyan Eightfold Path, that is to say. Right Views, Right Aspirations, Right Speech, conduct, and mode of live- lihood. Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Rapture." ^ Now of the band of Bhikkhus to whom the first sermon was thus preached, Kondaiiiia immediately attained to the fruit of the First Path, and the four others attained to the same station in the course of the next four days. On the fifth day the Buddha summoned all five to his side, and delivered to them the second discourse called "On the Non-existence of Soul," of which the substance is related as follows : " The body, O Bhikkhus, cannot be the eternal soul, for it tends toward destruction. Nor do sensation, perception, ^ Rhys Davids, Early Buddhism, pp. 51, 52. 40 1 Plate C 4 n THE FIRST SERMON, " TURNING THE WHEEL OF THE LAW " Nepalese gilt copper, Sth-gth century a.d. A ulhor's Colled ion The First Turning of the Wheel of the Law the predispositions, and consciousness together constitute the eternal soul, for were it so, it would not be the case that the consciousness likewise tends towards destruction. Or how think you, whether is form permanent or transitory ? and whether are sensation, perception, and predispositions and consciousness permanent or transitory? 'They are transitory,' replied the Five. 'And that which is tran- sitor)% is it evil or good?' ' It is evil,' replied the Five. ' And that which is transitory, evil, and liable to change, can it be said that 'This is mine, this am I, this is my eternal soul?' ' Nay, verily, it cannot be so said,' replied the Five. 'Then, O Bhikkhus, it must be said of all physical form whatsoever, past or present or to be, sub- jective or objective, far or near, high or low, that "This is not mine, this am I not, this is not my eternal soul." ' And in like manner of all sensations, perceptions, predis- positions and consciousness, it must be said, 'These are not mine, these am I not, these are not my eternal soul.' And perceiving this, O Bhikkhus, the true disciple will conceive a disgust for physical form, and for sensation, perception, predispositions and consciousness, and so will be divested of desire ; and thereby he is freed, and becomes aware that he is freed; and he knows that becoming is exhausted, that he has lived the pure life, that he has done what it behoved him do, and that he has put off mortality for ever." And throucrh this discourse the minds of the Five were perfectly enlightened, and each of them attained to Nibbana, so that at this time there existed five Arahats in the world, with the Buddha himself the sixth. The next day a young man of the name of Yasa, together with fifty-four companions likewise attained illumination, and thus there were sixty persons beside the Master himself, 41 Buddha &P the Gospel of Buddhism who had attained to Arahatta. These sixty the Master sent forth in diverse directions, with the command : " Go forth, O Bhikkhus, preaching and teaching." But he himself proceeded to Uruvela, and upon the way he received into the Order thirty young noblemen, and these also he sent forth far and wide. At Uruvela the Master prevailed against three Brahmanical ascetics, fire-worship- pers, and received them into the Order with all their disciples, and established them in Arahatta. The chief of these was known as Uruvela Kassapa. And when they were seated on the Gaya Scarp, he preached the Third Sermon called the Discourse on Fire : "All things, O Bhikkhus are on fire. And what, O Bhikkhus, are all these things that are on fire ? The eye is on fire, forms are on fire, eye-consciousness is on fire, impressions received by the eye are on fire ; and whatever sensation — pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral — originates in the impressions received by the eye, is likewise on fire. "And with what are all these on fire? I say with the fire of lust of resentment, and the fire of glamour {rd^ay dosa, and moha) ; with birth, old age, death, lamentation, misery, grief and despair they are afire. " And so with the ear, with the nose, and with the tongue, and in the case of touch. The mind too, is on fire, thoughts are on fire ; and mind-consciousness, and the impressions received by the mind, and the sensations that arise from the impressions that the mind receives, these too are on fire. " And with what are they on fire ? I say with the fire of lust, with the fire of resentment, and the fire of glamour; with birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, and grief and despair, they are afire. " And seeing this, O Bhikkhus, the true disciple conceives 42 Plate D THE BUDDHA TEACHING Japanese lacquered wood image, 8th century. Kozan-ji Temple, Kyoto. From the Kokka 4* Conversion of Sariputta &^ Mogallana disg-ust for the eye, for forms, for eye-conscioivsncss, for impressions received by the eye, and for the sensations arising therein ; and for the ear, the nose, the tongue, and for the sense of touch, and for the mind, and for thoughts and mind-consciousness, impressions, and sensations. And so he is divested of desire, and thereby he is freed, and is aware that he is freed, and he knows that becoming is exhausted, that he has lived the pure life, that he has done what it behoved him to do, and that he has put off mortality for ever." ^ And in the course of the Sermon upon Fire, the minds of the thousand Bhikkhus assembled there were freed from attachment and delivered from the stains, and so attained to Arahatta and Nibbana. Conversion of Sariputta and Mogallana And now the Buddha, attended by the thousand Arahats of whom the chief was Uruvela Kassapa, repaired to the Palm Grove near by Rajagaha, to redeem the promise that was made to Bimbisara the king. When it was reported to the king: "The Master is come," he hastened to the grove, and fell at the Buddha's feet, and when he had thus offered homage he and all his retinue sat down. Now the king was not able to know whether the Buddha had become the disciple of Uruvela Kassapa, or Uruvela Kassapa of the Buddha, and to resolve the doubt Uruvela Kassapa bowed down to the Master's feet, saying: "The Blessed Lord is my master, and I am the disciple." All the people cried out at the great power of the Buddha, exclaiming: " Even Uruvela Kassapa has broken through the net of delusion and has yielded to the follower of the ^ Afahavagga, I. 21 (a summary of the version by Warren, Buddhism in Translations, p. 351). 43 Buddha <§f the Gospel of Buddhism Buddhas of the past!" To show that this was not the first time that Kassapa the Great had yielded to him the Blessed One recited the Mahd Ndrada Kassapa Jcltaka ; and he proclaimed the Four Noble Truths. The king of Magadha, with nearly all his retinue entered the First Path, and those who did not so, became lay disciples. The king gave a great endowment to the Order, with Buddha at their head, and confirmed it by the pouring out of water. And when the Master had thus received the Bambu-grove Monastery, he returned thanks, and rose from his seat, and repaired thither. Now at this time there dwelt two Brahmanical ascetics near to Rajagaha, by name Sariputta and Mogallana. Now Sariputta ob- served the venerable Arahat Assaji on his begging round, and remarked the dignity and grace of his demeanour; and when the Elder had obtained alms, and was departing from the city, Sariputta found occasion to speak with him, and enquired who was his teacher, and what the accepted doctrine. Assaji replied, "Brother, there is a great Sakya monk, to follow whom I left the world and this Blessed One is my teacher, and the doctrine I approve is his." Then Sariputta enquired : " What then, venerable sir, is your teacher's doctrine?" "Brother," replied Assaji, " I am a novice and a beginner, and it is not long that I have retired from the world to adopt the discipline and Doctrine. Therefore I may only set forth to you the doctrine in brief, and give the substance of it in a few words." Then the venerable Assaji repeated to Sariputta the Wanderer, the following verse: W/ia^ things soevej^ are produced f7vm cajises. Of these the Buddha hath revealed the cause, A nd likczuise how they cease to be : ' Tis this the great adept proclaims. 44 Return of the Buddha to Kapilavatthu And hearing this exposition of the Doctrine, Sariputta the Wanderer attained to a clear and distinct perception of the Truth that whatever is subject to origination is subject also to cessation.^ And thus Sariputta attained to the First Path. Then returning to Mogallana, he repeated to him the same verse, and he too attained to the First Path. And these two, leaving their former teacher, entered the order established by the Buddha, and within a short time both attained to Arahatta, and the Master made them his Chief Disciples. Return of the Buddha to Kapilavatthu In the meanwhile it was reported to Suddhodana that his son, who for six years had devoted himself to mortifica- tion, had attained to Perfect Enlightenment, had set rolling the Wheel of the Law, and was residing at the Bambu Grove near by Rajagaha. And he sent a mes- senger with a retinue of a thousand men with the message "Your father, king Suddhodana, desires to see you." They reached the monastery at the hour of instruction, and standing still to listen to the discourse, the messenger attained to Arahatta with all his retinue, and prayed to be admitted to the Order; and the Buddha received them. And being now indifferent to the things of the world, they did not deliver the king's message. In the ^ The most essential element of Buddhist doctrine, the full realisation of which constitutes the enlightenment of a Buddha, is here stated in the fewest possible words. The clear ejiunciation of the law of uni- versal causation — the eternal continuity of becoming — is the great contribution of the Buddha to Indian thought ; for it is only with com- parative difficulty that the Vedanta is able to free itself from the concept of a First Cause. Assaji's verse is often called the Buddhist Confession of Faith ; it is quoted in Buddhist inscriptions more fre- quently than any other text. 45 Buddha <^ the Gospel of Buddhism same way the king sent other messengers, each with a like retinue, and all of these, neglecting their business, stayed away there in silence. Then the king prevailed upon his minister Kaludayin to bear the message, and he consented to do so only upon condition of receiving per- mission to become a member of the Order himself. " My friend," the king said, "thou mayst become a hermit or not, as thou wilt, only bring it about that I may see my son before I die." Kaludayin repaired to Rajagaha, and standing beside the disciples at the hour of instruction, he attained to Arahatta, and was received into the Order. Now at this time eight months had passed since the Enlightenment, and of this time, the first Lent or Rainy Season was spent at the Deer Park in Benares, the next three months at Uruvela, and two months at Rajagaha. And now the cold season was over, the earth was decked with green grass, and the trees with scarlet flowers, and the roads were pleasant to to the traveller. And on the full-moon day in March, Kaludayin, a full week since his admission to the Order, spoke with the Buddha, and proposed to him that he should visit his father, who desired to see him. And the Master, foreseeing that salvation of many would result, assented, saying to Kaludayin: "Well said, Udayin, I shall go." For it was in accordance with the Rule that the Brethren should travel from place to place. Attended by twenty thousand well-born Arahats, and travelling each day a league, he reached Kapilavatthu in two months. But Kaludayin went instantly through the air, and informed the king that his son had taken the road, and by praising the virtues of the Buddha every day, he predisposed the Sakyas in his favour. The Sakyas considered what would be the most pleasant 46 Plate E STANDING IMAGE OF THE BUDDHA Gupta period (5th century a.d.), Matluii 46 ira Conversion of the Sakya Princes place for his residence, and they chose the Nigrodha- grove near by the city. With flowers in their hands, and accompanied by children of the place and the young men and maidens of the royal family, they went out to meet him, and led him to the grove. But regarding him as younger than themselves, as it were a younger brother, a nephew, or a grandson, they did not bow down. But the Buddha, understanding their thoughts, performed the miracle of taking his seat upon a jewelled platform in the air, and so preaching the law. And the king seeing this wonder said : " O Blessed One, when Kala Devala bowed down to your feet on the day of thy birth I did obeisance to thee for the first time. And when I saw that the shadow of the Jambu-tree remained motionless upon the occasion of the ploughing festival I did obeisance for the second time; and now, because of this great miracle, I bow again to thy feet." And there was not one of the Sakyas who did not bow to the Buddha's feet at the same time. Then the Blessed One descended from the air, and sat upon the throne that had been prepared for him, and there he delivered a discourse, to wit, the story of his former birth as Prince Vessantara. Conversion of the Sakya Princes The next day the master entered Kapilavatthu to beg his food, attended by the twenty thousand Arahats. When it was rumoured that the young prince Siddhattha was begging from door to door, the windows of the many storied houses were opened wide, and a multitude gazed forth in amazement. And amongst these was the mother of Rahula, and she said to herself : " Is it right that my lord, who was wont to go to and from in this town in a gilded palanquin, with every sign of pomp, should now be 47 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism begging his food from door to door, with shaven hair and beard, and clad in russet robes?" And she reported the matter to the king. He, instantly rising, went forth to remonstrate with his son, that thus he put the Sakya clan to shame. " Do you think it impossible," said he, "that we should provide meals for all your followers?" "It is our custom, O king!" was the reply. "Not so, Master," said the king; "not one of all our ancestors has ever begged his food." "O king," replied the Buddha, " thy descent is in the succession of kings, but mine in the succession of the Buddhas : and every one of these has begged his daily food, and lived upon alms." And standing in the middle of the street he uttered the verse : Arise and delay not, follow aftei' the pure life I Who follows virtue j-ests in bliss, alike in this world and the next. And when the verse was finished the king attained to the Fruit of the First Path. Then the Buddha continued : Follow after the pure life, folloiv not after sin I Who folloivs virtue rests in bliss alike in this world and the next. And the king attained to the Fruit of the Second Path. Then the Buddha recited the Dhammapdla Jdtaka, and the king attained to the Fruit of the Third Path. It was when he was dying that the king attained to Arahatta : he never practised the Great Effort in solitude. Now as soon as the king had experienced the Fruit of Conversion, he took the Buddha's bowl and led the Blessed One and all his followers to the palace, and served them with savoury food. 48 Conversion of the Sakya Princes And when the meal was over, the women of the house came and paid homage to the Blessed One, except only the Mother of Rahula; but she stayed alone, for she thought, " If I have the least value in the eyes of my lord he will come himself to me, and then I will do him homage." And the Buddha went accordingly to the chamber of the Mother of Rahula, and he was accom- panied by the two chief Disciples, and he sat down on the seat prepared for him. Then the Mother of Rahula came quickly and put her hands upon his ankles and laid her head upon his feet, and so did homage as she had purposed. Then the king said to the Blessed One, *'When my daughter heard that thou hadst put on the russet robes, from that day forth she also dressed only in russet garb ; and when she heard of thy one meal a day, she also took but a single meal; and when she heard that thou hadst forsaken the use of a high couch, she also slept upon a mat on the floor; and when her relatives would have received her and surrounded her with luxury, she did not hear them. Such is her good- ness. Blessed One." "'Tis no wonder," said the Blessed One, " that she exercises self-control now, when her wisdom is matured ; for she did no less when her wisdom was not yet matured." And he related the Canda-kin7iara Jdtaka. On the second day the son of Suddhodana and the Lady GautamI was to celebrate at the same time his inaugura- tion as crown prince and his marriage with Janapada Kalyani, the Beauty of the Land. But the Buddha went to his house, and there gave him his bowl to carry ; and with a view to his abandoning the world, he wished him true happiness ; and then rising from his seat he went his way. And the young man, not venturing to say to the Master, " Take back thy bowl," perforce followed D 49 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism him to the place of his retreat : and the Buddha received him all unwilling as he was, into the Order, and he was ordained. Upon the morrow the Mother of Rahula arrayed the child in all its best and sent him to the Blessed One, saying to him : " Look, my dear, at yonder Monk, attended by so many Brethren : he is your father, who was the possessor of a great treasure, which we have not seen since he left us. Go now and say, 'O Father, I am thy son, and I have need of the treasure — give me the treasure, for a son is heir to his father's property.' " And even so the child went up to the Blessed One and stood before him gladly and cheerfully. And when the Blessed One had finished his meal, he arose and went away, and the boy followed him, saying, as his mother had taught him, " O Monk ! give to me my inheritance." Then the Blessed One said to Sariputta, "Well, then, Sariputta, receive Rahula into our Order." But when the king learnt that his grandson had been ordained he was deeply grieved ; and he made known his grief to the Master, and won from him the promise that henceforth no son should be received into the Order without the leave of his father and mother. Now, after the King Suddhodana had attained the Fruit of the Third Path, the Blessed One, together with the company of Brethren, returned to Rajagaha, and took up his residence in the Sita Grove. But between Kapilavatthu and Rajagaha the Master halted for a short time at the Mango Grove of Anupiya. And while he was in that place a number of the Sakya princes determined to join his congregation, and to this end they followed him thither. The chief ofthese princes were Anuruddha, Bhaddiva, Kimbila, Ananda, the 50 Conversion of Anathapindika Buddha's cousin, who was afterwards appointed personal attendant, and Devadatta, the Buddha's cousin, who was ever his enemy. Conversion of Anathapindika Now in these days there was a very wealthy merchant, by name Anathapindika, and he was residing at the house of a friend at Rajagaha, and the news reached him that a Blessed Buddha had arisen. Very early in the morning he went to the Teacher, and heard the Law, and was con- verted ; and he gave a great donation to the Order, and received a promise from the Master that he would visit Savatthi, the merchant's home. Then all along the road for the whole distance of forty-five leagues he built a resting-place at every league. And he bought the great Jetavana Grove at Savatthi for the price of as many pieces of gold as would cover the whole ground. In the midst thereof he built a pleasant chamber for the Master, and separate cells for the eighty Elders round about it, and many other residences with long halls and open roofs, and terraces to walk by night and day, and reservoirs of water. Then did he send a message to the Master that all was prepared. And the Master departed from Rajagaha, and in due course reached Savatthi. And the wealthy merchant, together with his wife and his son and two daughters in festal attire, and accompanied by a mighty train of followers, went out to meet him; while the Blessed One on his part entered the new-built monastery with all the infinite grace and peerless majesty of a Buddha, making the grove to shine with the glory of his person, as though it had been sprinkled with dust of gold. Then Anathapindika said to the Master: "What should I do with this monastery?" and the Master answered: 51 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism " Bestow it upon the Order, whether now present or to come." And the great Merchant, pouring water from a golden vessel into the Master's hands, confirmed the gift in these terms. And the Master received it and gave thanks and praised the uses of monasteries and the gift of them. The dedication festival lasted nine months. In those days there also resided at Savatthi, the chief town of Kosala, the lady Visakha, the wife of the wealthy merchant Punnavaddhana. She made herself the patroness and supporter of the Order, and was also the means of con- verting her father-in-law, who was previously an adherent of the naked Jainas ; and for this reason she got the sur- name of the mother of Migara. Beyond this was her dedication to the Order of the monastery of Pubbarama, the value and splendour whereof were second only to those of the monastery erected by Anathapindika himself. Tke Buddha averts a War Now three rainy seasons were spent by the Lord in the Bambu Grove. It was in the fifth season, when he was residing in the Kutagara Hall of the Great Forest near to Vesali that there arose a dispute between the Sakyas and the Koliyas regarding the water of the river Rohini, which, because of a great drought, did not suffice that year to irrigate the fields on both banks. The quarrel rose high, and matters were come nearly to battle, when the Buddha pro- ceeded to the place, and took his seat on the river bank. He enquired for what reason the princes of the Sakyas and Koliyas were assembled, and when he was informed that they were met together for battle, he enquired what was the point in dispute. The princes said that they did not know of a surety, and they made enquiry of the commander- in-chief, but he in turn knew not, and sought information 52 The Admission of Women from the regent ; and so the enquiry went on until it reached the husbandmen, who related the whole affair. "What then is the value of water?" said the Buddha. "It is but little," said the princes. "And what of earth?" " That also is little," they said. " And what of princes ? " " It cannot be measured," they said. "Then would you," said the Buddha, " destroy that which is of the highest value for the sake of that which is little worth?" and he appeased the wrath of the combatants by the recital of sundry Jatakas. The princes now reflected that by the interposition of Buddha much bloodshed had been avoided, and that had it not been so, none might have been left to report the matter to their wives and children. And since, had he become, as he might if he had so pleased, a uni- versal monarch, they would have been his vassals, they chose two hundred and fifty of their number, from each party, to become his attendants, and join the Order. But these five hundred were ordained at the wish of their parents, and not by their own will, and their wives were filled with grief for their sake. The Admission of JVomen About this time Suddhodana fell ill with a mortal sick- ness, and as soon as this was reported to the Blessed One, he proceeded to Kapilavatthu and visited his father. And when he had come before him, he preached to him the instability of all things, so that Suddhodana attained to the Fruit of the Fourth Path ; to Arahatta, and Nibbana, and thereafter he died. After the death of her husband the widowed queen, the Matron Gautami, decided to adopt the life of the hermitage, cut off her hair, and proceeded to the place where the Buddha was residing. She was accompanied by the wives 53 Buddha ^ the Gospel of Buddhism of the five hundred princes who had been ordained on the occasion of the imminent battle at the Rohini river; for these considered that it was better for them to retire from the world, than to remain at home in widowhood. The Matron Gautami said to the Buddha that as Suddhodana was now dead, and Rahula and Nanda were both ordained Brethren, she had no wish to reside alone, and she asked that she might be admitted to the Order, together with the princesses who were with her. But this request the Buddha refused, a first, a second, and third time, for he reflected that if they were admitted, it would perplex the minds of many who had not yet entered the Paths, and would be the occasion of evil speaking against the Order. And when they were still refused, the women feared to ask a fourth time, and they returned to their homes. And the Buddha returned to the Kutagara hall, near Vesali. Then the Matron Gautami said to the other princesses : My children, the Buddha has thrice refused us admission to the Order, but now let us take it upon ourselves to go to him where he now is, and he will not be able to deny us." They all cut their hair, adopted the garb of religieuses, and taking earthen alms-bowls, set out for Vesali on foot ; for they considered that it was contrary to the discipline for a recluse to travel by car. Then they who in all their life had walked only on smooth pavements, and regarded it as a great matter to ascend or descend from one story of their palaces to another, trod the dusty roads, and it was not until evening that they reached the place where the Buddha was. They were received by Ananda. And when he saw them, their feet bleeding and covered with dust, as if half dead, his breast was filled with pity and his eyes with tears, and he 54 The Admission of Women enquired the meaning of their journey. When this was made known he informed the Master, describing all that he had seen. But the Buddha merely said: "Enough, Ananda, do not ask me that women retire from the house- hold life to the homeless life, under the Doctrine and Discipline of Him-who-has-thus-attained." And he said this three times. But Ananda besought the Blessed One in another way to receive the women into the homeless life. He asked the Blessed One : " Are women competent. Reverend Sire, if they retire from the household to the homeless life, to attain to the Fruits of the First, the Second, the Third, and the Fourth Paths, even to Arahatta? " The Buddha could not deny the competence of women. "Are Buddhas," he asked, "born into the world only for the benefit of men ? Assuredly it is for the benefit of women also." And the Blessed One consented that women should make profession and enter the Order, subject to the conditions of the Eight Duties of Subordination to the Brethren. " But," he added, " if women were not admitted to the Order, then would the Good Law endure for a thousand years, but now it will stand for five hundred years only. For just as when mildew falls upon a field of flourishing rice, that field of rice does not long endure, just so when women retire from the household to the homeless life under a Doctrine and Discipline, the norm will not long endure. And just as a large reservoir is strengthened by a strong dyke, so have I established a barrier of eight weighty regu- lations, not to be transgressed as long as life shall last." And in this way the Matron GautamI and the five hundred princesses were admitted to the order; and it was not long before Gautami attained to Arahatta, and the five hundred princesses attained the Fruit of the First Path. 55 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism And this took place in the sixth year of the Enlighten- ment. Tke Sixth to the Foiirteejtth Years The sixth rainy season was spent at Savatthi, and there- after the Blessed One repaired to Rajagaha. Now the name of king Bimbisara's wife was Khema,^ and such was her pride in her beauty that she had never deigned to visit the Master: but on a certain occasion the king brought about a meeting by means of a stratagem. Then the Buddha performed a miracle for her; he produced a likeness of one of the beautiful nymphs of Indra's heaven, and while she beheld it, he made it pass through all the stages of youth, middle age, old age, and death. And by this terrible sight the Queen was disposed to hear the Master's teaching, and she entered the First Path, and afterwards attained to Arahatta. During the Master's residence in Rajagaha a wealthy merchant of that place became possessed of a piece of sandal wood, and he had a bowl made of it. This bowl he fastened to the tip of a tall bamboo, and raising it up in this way, he announced : " If any Wanderer or Brahman be possessed of miraculous powers, let him take down the bowl." Then Mogallana and other of the Brethren egged each other to take it down, and that other by name Pindola-Bharadvaja, rose up into the sky and took the bowl, and moved three times round the city ere he descended, to the astonishment of all the citizens. When this was reported to the Buddha, he remarked : "This will not conduce to the conversion of the uncon- verted, nor to the advantage of the converted." And ^ For other mention of the Bhikkun! Khema, see p. 223. 56 The Sixth to the Fourteenth Years he prohibited the Brethren from making an exhibition of miraculous powers. The Buddha met with opposition to his teaching, par- ticularly from six heretical teachers, each of whom had a large train of adherents. Of these heretical teachers one was Sanjaya, the former master of Sariputta and Mogallana, and another was Nigantha Nataputta, who is better known as Vardhamana, the founder of the sect of the Jainas, whose history in many respects recalls that of Buddhism, while, unlike Buddhism, it still numbers many adherents in India proper. These various teachers failed to find any support in the realm of Bimbisara, and there- fore betook themselves to Savatthi, hoping to secure greater influence with King Prasenajit. Now Savatthi was the place were all former Buddhas have exhibited their greatest miracle, and remembering this the Buddha proceeded thither with the intention of confounding his opponents. He took up his residence in the Jetavana monastery. Very soon afterwards he exhibited to the people, the six teachers, and King Prasenajit, a series of great miracles, creating a great road across the sky from East to West, and walking thereon the while he preached the Good Law. By these means the heretical teachers were overcome. Following upon the Great Miracle, the Buddha departed to the Heaven of the Thirty-three, and there preached the Law to his mother, Maha Maya. The Buddha remained in the Heaven of the Thirty-three for three months, and during that time he created a likeness of himself, that continued the teaching of the Law on earth, and went every day upon his rounds begging food. When the Buddha was about to descend from heaven, Sakka commanded Vissakamma, the divine architect, to create a triple 57 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism ladder, the foot of which was set down near the town of Sankissa. And the Buddha descended at this place, attended by Brahma on the right and Sakka on the left. From Sankissa the Master returned to the Jetavana monastery near Savatthi. Here the heretical teachers induced a young woman of the name of Cinca so to act as to arouse the suspicion of the people regarding her relation to the Master. After many visits to the monastery, she contrived a means to assume the appear- ance of a woman far gone in pregnancy, and in the ninth month she brought an open accusation, and required that the Master should provide a place for her confinement. The Buddha answered with a great voice, " Sister, whether thy words be true or false, none knoweth save thou and I." At that very moment the strings gave way, wherewith the woman had bound upon herself the wooden globe by means of which she had assumed the appearance of pregnancy. Pursued by the indignant people, she dis- appeared in the midst of flames rising from the earth, and descended to the bottom of the lowest Purgatory. The ninth retreat was spent in the Ghositarama at Kausambi. Here there arose violent disagreements among the Brethren on matters of discipline, and the Buddha's wisdom and kindness availed not to restore peace. He therefore left the Brethren and proceeded to the village of Balajalonakara with the intention of residing alone as a hermit. He met on the way Anuruddha, Nandiya and Kimbila, who were living in perfect unity and content, and he rejoiced their hearts by a religious discourse. Then proceeding to the Rakkhita Grove at Parileyyaka, he dwelt alone. After residing for some time at Parileyyaka, the Lord proceeded to Savatthi. Now the contumacious Brethren 58 The Sixth to the Fourteenth Years of Kausambi had received such signal marks of disrespect from the laity of that city that they resolved to proceed to Savatthi and lay the matter in dispute before the Master, and they abode by his decision, and peace was restored. During the eleventh retreat the Master resided at Rajagaha. There he saw one day a Brahman, by name Bharadvaja, superintending the cultivation of his fields. The Brahman, seeing the Buddha subsisting upon the alms of others, said : " O Wanderer, I plough and sow, and so find my livelihood. Do thou also plough and sow to the same end?" But the Buddha replied: *' I, too, plough and sow, and it is thus that I find my food." The Brahman was surprised, and said : *' I do not see, O reverend Gautama, that you have a yoke, ploughshare, goad, or bullocks. How, then, say that thou too labourest?" Then the Lord said: "Faith is the seed I sow; devotion is the rain; modesty is the ploughshaft ; the mind is the tie of the yoke ; mindfulness is my plough- share and goad. Energy is my team and bullock, leading to safety, and proceeding without backsliding to the place where there is no sorrow." And Bharadvaja was so much affected by this parable that he was converted and made confession and was admitted to the Order. In the thirteenth year, during his stay at Kapilavatthu, the Buddha was subjected to violent insults on the part of his father-in-law, Suprabuddha, and he uttered the pre- diction that within a week Suprabuddha would be swallowed alive by the earth. And, notwithstanding Suprabuddha spent the whole week in the tower of his palace, the earth opened and he was swallowed up in accordance with the prophecy, and he sank into the lowest Purgatory. The Lord returned from Kapilavatthu to the Jetavana monastery at Savatthi and thence proceeded to Alavi, a 59 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism place that was haunted by a man-eating ogre who was accus- tomed to devour the children of the place day after day. When the Buddha appeared before him, he was received with threats, but the Master, by gentleness and patience, succeeded in softening his heart, and was able also to answer the questions propounded by the ogre, who became a believer and mended his life. The fierce robber Angu- limala, too, he won over to the Good Law, and notwith- standing his evil life he quickly attained to Arahatta. About this time the pious Anathapindika gave his daughter in marriage to the son of a friend residing in Anga, and as the Anga family were supporters of the heretical teacher Nigantha, he gave his daughter a train of maidservants to support her in the right faith. The young wife refused to do honour to the naked Jaina ascetics, and she awakened an eager desire in the heart of her mother-in-law to hear the preaching of the Master : and when he arrived the whole family together with many others were converted. Leaving the completion of the work of conversion to Anuruddha, the Buddha returned to Savatthi. T/ie Biiddhds Daily Life In this way there passed by year after year of the Buddha's wandering ministry, but the events of the middle years cannot be chronologically arranged with exactitude; it will suffice if we give a general description of the Master's daily life at this time.^ " From year to year the change from a period of wandering to a period of rest and retirement repeated itself for Buddha and his disciples. In the month of June when, after the ^ What follows is quoted from the admirable summary of Oldenberg. — Buddha, English translation by W. Hoey. ^ 60 The Buddha's Daily Life dry, scorching heat of the Indian summer, clouds come up in towering masses, and the rolHng thunders herald the approach of the rain-bearing monsoon, the Indian to-day, as in ages past, prepares himself and his home for the time during which all usual operations are interrupted by the rain: for whole weeks long in many places the pouring torrents confine the inhabitants to their huts, or at any rate, to their villages, while communication with neighbours is cut off by rapid, swollen streams, and by inundations. 'The birds,' says an ancient Buddhist work, 'build their nests on the tops of trees: and there they nestle and hide during the damp season.' And thus also, it was an established practice with the members of monastic orders, undoubtedly not first in Buddha's time, but since ever there was a system of religious itinerancy in India, to suspend itinerant operations during the three rainy months and to spend this time in quiet retirement in the neighbourhood of towns and villages, where sure support was to be found through the charity of believers. . . . Buddha also every year for three months ' kept vassa, rainy season,' surrounded by groups of his disciples, who flocked together to pass the rainy season near their teacher. Kings and wealthy men contended for the honour of entertaining him and his disciples, who were with him, as guests during this season in the hospices and gardens which they had provided for the community. The rains being over, the itinerating began : Buddha went from town to town and village to village, always attended by a great concourse of disciples: the texts are wont to speak in one place of three hundred, and in another of five hundred, who followed their master. In the main streets, through which the religious pilgrims, like travelling merchants, used to pass, the believers who 6i Buddha ^ the Gospel of Buddhism dwelt near had taken care to provide shelter, to which Buddha and his disciples might resort : or, where monks who professed the doctrine dwelt, there was sure to be found lodging for the night in their abodes, and even if no other cover was to be had, there was no want of mango or banyan trees, at the feet of which the band might halt for the night. . . . "The most important headquarters during these wan- derings, at the same time the approximately extreme points, to the north-west and south-east of the area, in which Buddha's pilgrim life was passed, are the capital cities of the kings of Kosala and Magadha, Savatthi, now Sahet Maheth on the Rapti, and Rajagaha, now Rajgir, south of Bihar. In the immediate neighbourhood of these towns the com- munity possessed numerous pleasant gardens, in which structures of various kinds were erected for the require- ments of the members. ' Not too far from, nor yet too near the town,' thus runs the standard description of such a park given in the sacred texts, 'well provided with entrances and exits, easily accessible to all people who enquire after it, with not too much of the bustle of life by day, quiet by night, far from commotion and the crowds of men, a place of retirement, a good place for solitary meditation.' Such a garden was the Veluvana, ' Bambu Grove,' once a pleasure-ground of King Bimbisara, and presented by him to Buddha and the Church : another was the still more renouned Jetavana at Savatthi, a gift made by Buddha's most liberal admirer, the great merchant Anathapindika. Not alone the sacred texts, but equally also the monumental records, the reliefs of the great Stupa of Bharhut, recently explored, show how highly celebrated this gift of Anathapindika's was from the earliest days in the Buddhist Church. . . . If it is possible to speak of a 62 The Buddha's Daily Life home in the homeless wandering life of Buddha and his disciples, places like the Veluvana and Jetavana may of all others be so called, near the great centres of Indian life and yet untouched by the turmoil of the capitals, once the quiet resting-places of rulers and nobles, before the yellow-robed mendicants appeared on the scene, and 'the Church in the four quarters, present and absent,' succeeded to the possession of the kingly inheritance. In these gardens were the residences of the brethren, houses, halls, cloisters, storerooms, surrounded by lotus-pools, fragrant mango trees, and slender fan-palms that lift their foliage high over all else, and by the deep green foliage of the Nyagrodha tree, whose roots dropping from the air to earth become new stems, and with their cool shady arcades and leafy walks seem to invite to peaceful meditation. "These were the surroundings in which Buddha passed a great part of his life, probably the portions of it richest in effective work. Here masses of the population, lay as well as monastic, flocked together to see him, and to hear him preach. Hither came pilgrim monks from far countries, who had heard the fame of Buddha's teaching, and, when the rainy season was past, undertook a pilgrim- age to see the Master face to face. . . . "The fame of Buddha's person also drew together from far and near crowds of such as stood without the narrower circles of the community. 'To the ascetic Gotama,' people remarked to one another, ' folks are coming, passing through kingdoms and countries, to converse with him.' Often, when he happened to halt near the residences of potentates, kings, princes, and dignitaries came on wagons or on elephants to put questions to him or to hear his doctrine. Such a scene is described to us in the opening of the ' Sutra on the fruit of asceticism,' and reappears in 63 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism pictorial representation among the reliefs at Bharhut. The Sutra relates how King Ajatasattu of Magadha in the ' Lotus-night ' — that is, in the full moon of October, the time when the lotus blooms — is sitting in the open air, surrounded by his nobles on the flat roof of his palace. *Then,' as it is recorded in that text, the king of Magadha, Ajatasattu, the son of the Vaidehi princes, uttered this exclamation, 'Fair in sooth is this moonlight night, lovely in sooth is this moonlight night, grand in sooth is this moonlight night, happy omens in sooth giveth this moonlight night. What Samana ^ or what Brahman shall I go to hear, that my soul may be cheered when I hear him?' " One counseller names this and another that teacher : but Jivaka, the king's physician, sits on in silence. Then the king of Magadha, Ajatasattu, the sun of Vedehi, spake to Jivaka Komarabhacca : " Why art thou silent, friend Jivaka?" — "Sire, in my mango grove he resteth, the exalted, holy, supreme Buddha, with a great band of disciples, with three hundred monks ; of him, the exalted Gotama, there spreadeth through the world lordly praise in these terms : He, the exalted one, is the holy, supreme Buddha, the wise, the learned, the blessed, who knoweth the universe, the highest, who tameth man like an ox, the teacher of gods and men, the exalted Buddha. Sire, go to hear him, the exalted one : perchance, if thou seest him, the exalted one, thy soul, O sire, may be refreshed " — and the king orders elephants to be prepared for himself and the queens, and the royal procession moves with burning torches on that moonlight night through the gate of Rajagaha to Jivaka's mango grove, where Buddha is said to have held with the king the famous discourse, 'On the fruits of asceticism,' at ^ A begging friar, Bhikkhu. 64 The Buddha's Daily Life the end of which the king joined the Church as a lay- member. . . . " A frequent end of these dialogues is, of course, that the vanquished opponents or the partisans of Buddha invite him and his disciples to dine on the following day. The Buddha Teaching in the House of a Layman (Ajanta Frescoes, after Griffiths) ' Sir, may it please the Exalted One and his disciples to dine with me to-morrow.' And Buddha permits his con- sent to be inferred from his silence. On the following day, about noon, when dinner is ready, the host sends word to Buddha: 'Sire, it is time, the dinner is ready'; and Buddha takes his cloak and alms-bowl and eoes E 65 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism with his disciples into the town or village to the residence of his host. After dinner ... at which the host himself and his family serve the guests, when the customary hand-washing is over, the host takes his place with his family at Buddha's side, and Buddha addresses to them a word of spiritual admonition and instruction. " If the day be not filled by an invitation, Buddha, accord- ing to monastic usages, undertakes his circuit of the village or town in quest of alms. He, as well as his disciples, rises early, when the light of dawn appears in the sky, and spends the early moments in spiritual exer- cises or in converse with his disciples, and then he proceeds with his companions towards the town. In the days when his reputation stood at its highest point and his name was named throughout India among the fore- most names, one might day by day see that man before whom kings bowed themselves, walking about, alms-bowl in hand, through streets and alleys, from house to house, and without uttering any request, with downcast look, stand silently waiting until a morsel of food was thrown into his bowl. " When he had returned from his begging excursion and had eaten his repast, there followed, as the Indian climate demanded, a time, if not of sleep, at any rate of peaceful retirement. Resting in a quiet chamber or, better still, in the cool shades of dense foliage, he passed the sultry close hours of the afternoon in solitary contemplation until the evening came on and drew him once more from holy silence to the bustling concourse of friend and foe." Tke Appohitnient of Ananda During the first twenty years of the Buddha's life, his personal attendants were not such permanently. The 66 Plate G STANDING IMAGE OF TIIi: BUDDHA ATTENDED BY Ananda and kassapa and two BODHISATTAS Chinese stele, Wei dynasty. 6th century a.d. Co lection of Mr Vic'or Golonbew 66. The Appointment of Ananda Brethren took it by turns to carry the Master's bowl and cloak, and he did not favour one more than another. But one day he addressed the Brethren and said : " O Bhikkhus, I am now advanced in years : ^ and some Bhikkhus, when they have been told * Let us go this way,' take another way, and some drop my bowl and cloak on the ground. Do ye know of a Bhikkhu to be my permanent body- servant ? " Then the venerable Sariputta arose and said : "I Lord, will wait upon thee." Him the Exalted One rejected, and Mogallana the Great, also. Then all of the foremost disciples said: "We will wait upon thee." Only Ananda remained silent : for he thought " The Master himself will say of whom he approves." Then the Exalted One said : *' O Bhikkhus, Ananda is not to be urged by others : if he knows it of himself, he will wait upon me." Then Ananda stood up and said : " If, Lord, thou wilt refuse me four things, and grant me four things, then I will wait on thee." Now the four things that Ananda wished to be denied were special favours, for he did not wish it to be said that his service was undertaken for the sake of clothes, or good fare, or lodging, or that he might be included in invitations. And the four boons that he desired were that the Buddha would accept any invitation received through Ananda, that he would be easy of access to such as Ananda should bring to speak with him and to Ananda himself, and that he would repeat to Ananda such doctrines as he desired to hear again : for Ananda did not wish it to be thought that the Buddha made no account of him, nor that men should say that the Buddha's im- mediate attendant was not well versed in the doctrine. All these boons were granted by the Blesssed One, and thence- forward until the day of his death, Ananda remained the ^ The Buddha was at this time fifty-six years of age. 67 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism permanent attendant of the Buddha.^ It was not, however, until after the Buddha's death that Ananda attained to Arahatta. Tke Enmity of Devadatta In the picture of Buddha's daily life described a few pages previously, mention is made of Ajatasattu, King of Magadha. This Ajatasattu was the son of Bimbisara, the chief of the Buddha's royal supporters. When Ajatasattu was conceived, it was indicated by an omen and a prophecy that he would be the slayer of his father. And this came to pass at the instigation of Devadatta. One day when the Buddha was teaching in the Bambu Grove, Devadatta proposed that because of the Master's advanced age, the leadership of the Congregation should be vested in himself. From the time when this suggestion was plainly refused, Devadatta's enmity and ill-will greatly increased. Because of what had taken place the Buddha issued a decree against Devadatta as a renegade whose words were not to be recognized as proceeding from the Buddha, the Law, or the Community. The angry Devadatta now betook himself to Ajatasattu, King Bimbisara's son and heir, and persuaded him to murder his father and usurp the throne, while Devadatta should kill the Master and become Buddha. Bimbisara however discovered his son's intention, and so far from punishing him in any way, abdicated the throne and gave over the kingdom to his son. Nevertheless, upon Devadatta's representing that Bimbisara might desire to recover the throne, Ajatasattu brought about his death by starvation. ^ Personal service on the Buddha impHed to bring his water and tooth- brush, wash his feet, accompany him abroad, bear his bowl and cloak, sweep his cell, and act as chamberlain. 68 Plate H Tin- QUELLING OF MAlAGIRI Amaravatl, 2nd ccntiirv a.d. 68 The Enmity of Devadatta Then Devadatta secured the new king's consent to the murder of the Buddha, and he hired thirty-one men to carry out his purpose. All these men, however, not- withstanding they were notorious criminals, were so affected by the majesty and loving kindness of the Master, that they could not raise hand against him, but on the con- trary, experienced conversion, and joined the Community. Devadatta was now convinced that the Buddha could not be slain by any human being, and determined to let loose upon him the fierce elephant Malagiri. This beast was accustomed to drink eight measures of spirituous liquor every day, but Devadatta commanded the keeper to give it sixteen measures the next day, and to let it loose against the Buddha as he proceeded through the streets. The Buddha was informed of what was to be done, but he refused to change his usual procedure, and he entered the city at the usual hour, accompanied by a company of Bhikkhus. Soon afterwards the elephant was let loose upon him, and at once it raged through the streets, working havoc. The Bhikkhus entreated the Master to escape, but as he would not, they sought to walk before him, in order that he might not be the first to meet the savage beast, but this the Buddha forbade, albeit in the case of Ananda, his doing so was only prevented by the exercise of miraculous power. At this moment the elephant was about to destroy the mother of a child who had run into the street in ignorance of the danofcr : but the Buddha called to it : "It was not intended that you should destroy any other being than myself: here am I : waste not your strength on any less noble object." On hearing the voice of Buddha, the elephant looked towards him; and immediately the effects of the liquor passed away, and the elephant approached him in 69 Buddha ^ the Gospel of Buddhism the gentlest fashion and kneeled before him. The Master charged him to take no life in future, but to be kind to all people: and the elephant repeated the five pre- cepts before the assembled crowds. Thus the rage of Malagiri was subdued, and had he not been a quadruped, he mieht have entered the First Path.^ As Buddha had thus performed a miracle, he reflected that it would not be becoming to seek alms in the same place, and he therefore returned to the Jetavana monastery, without proceeding on his usual course. Following upon this, Devadatta attempted to create a schism in the Order. Together with certain other Bhikkhus he requested the Buddha to establish a more severely ascetic rule for the Brethren, as that they should clothe themselves only in cast-off rags, that they should dwell as forest-hermits, accept no invitations, and abstain from fish and meat. The Master refused to concede these demands, declaring that those who wished might adopt this more severe rule, but that he would not make it binding upon all. Devadatta, who expected this refusal, made it the occasion of division within the Order. Together with a party of five hundred recently ordained Brethren, he made his way to Gaya Scarp. But as he was preaching there, he happened to see Sariputta and Mogallana in the audience, and thinking them to be of his party, he requested Sariputta to preach, while he himself slept. Sariputta and Mogallana now addressed the assembly and persuaded the five hundred schismatics to return to the Master. When Devadatta awoke and learnt what had taken place, the hot blood broke from his mouth in anger. Devadatta lay sick for nine months : and at the end of this time he determined * Animals may keep the precepts, gods may enter the Paths, but only human beings can attain to Arahatta and Nibbana. 70 Destruction of the Sakyas to seek the Buddha's forgiveness, for he knew that the Master felt no ill-will toward him. His disciples en- deavoured to dissuade him, knowing that the Buddha would not see him: but he had himself conveyed in a palanquin to the Jetavana monastery. The Bhikkhus informed Buddha of his approach, but the Master answered: " He will not see the Buddha : for his crimes are so great that ten, or a hundred, or even a thousand Buddhas could not help him." When they reached the monastery, the disciples of Devadatta laid down the palanquin : and then, despite his weakness, Devadatta rose and stood. But no sooner did his feet touch the ground, than flames arose from the lowest hell, and wrapped him in their folds, at first his feet, then his middle, and then his shoulders. Then in terror he cried aloud : "Save me, my children, I am the cousin of the Buddha. O Buddha, though I have done so much against thee, for the sake of our kinship save me ! " And he repeated the formula of taking refuge in the Buddha, the norm, and the order. By this he received the help of the Three Gems at last, and in a future birth he will become the Private Buddha Sattisara, notwithstanding he now went to hell and received a body of fire. Now King Ajatasattu, who had murdered his father, felt the pangs of conscience. He found no comfort in the doctrines of the six heretical teachers who were the Lord's opponents. And then, on the advice of his physician Jivaka — as related previously — he sought the Buddha himself, and heard his teaching and became a convert to the true faith. Destruction of the Sakyas Not long after this, in the seventh year of Ajatasattu's reign, the son of the king of Kosala dethroned his father 71 Buddha &" the Gospel of Buddhism and, to revenge himself for a slight received, he marched on Kapilavatthu. Almost the whole of the Sakya clan was destroyed in the ensuing war, while the party of the Kosalas perished in a great flood. When the Lord had reached his seventy-ninth year — being the forty-fifth year following the Enlightenment — Ajatasattu undertook an unsuccessful war upon the Vajjians of Vesali. The Buddha was consulted upon the likelihood of victory, and in this connection we are in- formed what is the Master's view of polity, for he declares that he himself has taught the Vajjians the conditions of true welfare, and as he is informed that the Vajjians are continuing to observe these institutions, he foretells that they will not suffer defeat. And these con- ditions are stated in the following terms : " So long, Ananda, as the Vajjians meet together in concord, and rise in concord, and carry out their undertakings in con- cord — so long as they enact nothing already established, abrogate nothing that has been already enacted, and act in accordance with the ancient institutions of the Vajjians, as established in former days — so long as they honour and esteem and revere the Vajjian elders, and hold it a point of duty to hearken to their words — so long as no women or girls belonging to their clans are detained among them by force or abduction — so long as they honour and esteem and revere and support the Vajjian shrines in town or country, and allow not the proper offerings and rites, as formerly given and performed, to fall into desuetude — so long as the rightful protection, defence, and support shall be fully provided for the Arahats amongst them, so that Arahats from a distance may enter the realm, and the Arahats therein may live at ease — so long may the Vajjians be expected not to decline, but to prosper." 72 Destruction of the Sakyas Following upon this pronouncement the Master in like manner assembled the Brethren, and set forth forty-one con- ditions of welfare of a religious Order, of which conditions several relating to concord and to the observance and main- tenance of existing regulations and obedience and respect to elders are identical with those which are oriven for the secular society. Amongst others we may note the following : " So long, O Bhikkhus ... as the Brethren delight in a life of solitude . . . shall not engage in, be fond of, or be connected with business . . . shall not stop on their way to Nibbana because they have attained to any lesser thing . . . shall exercise themselves in mental activity, search after truth, energy, joy, peace, earnest contemplation, and equanimity of mind . . . shall exercise themselves in the realization of the ideas of the impermanency of all phenomena, bodily or mental, the absence of every soul . . . shall live among the Arahats in the practice, both in public and in private, of those virtues which are pro- ductive of freedom and praised by the wise, and are untarnished by desire of a future life or the faith in the efficacy of outward acts . . . shall live among the Arahats, cherishing, both in public and private, that noble and saving insight which leads to the complete destruction of the sorrow of him who acts according to it — so long may the Brethren be expected not to decline, but to prosper." And at Rajagaha, on the Vulture's Peak, the Master taught the Brethren, and again at Nalanda in the same manner. " Such and such is upright conduct ; such and such is earnest contemplation ; such and such is intelli- gence.^ Great becomes the fruit, great the advantage of ^ Slla, samddhi, and pafind, something like the ' works,' ' faith,' and ' reason ' of Christianity. The formula above quoted appears repeatedly as a familiar summary of the Buddha's discourse. 7Z Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism earnest contemplation, when it is set round with upright conduct. Great becomes the fruit, great the advantage of intellect, when it is set round with earnest contempla- tion. The mind, set round with intelligence, is set quite free from the Intoxications, that is to say, from the In- toxication of Sensuality, from the Intoxication of Becoming, from the Intoxication of Delusion, from the Intoxication of Ignorance." T/ie gift of a garden by Ambapdll Then the Master proceeded to Vesall. At this time, also, there was dwelling in the town of Vesali a beautiful and wealthy courtesan whose name was Ambapali, the Mango- girl. It was reported to her that the Blessed One had come to Vesali and was halting at her Mango Grove. Immediately she ordered her carriages and set out for the grove, attended by all her train; and as soon as she reached the place where the Blessed One was, she went up toward him on foot, and stood respectfully aside; and the Blessed One instructed and gladdened her with religious discourse. And she, being thus instructed and gladdened, addressed the Blessed One and said : " May the Master do me the honour to take his meal with all the Brethren at my house to-morrow." And the Blessed One gave consent by silence. Ambapali bowed down before him and went her way.^ Now the Licchavi princes of Vesali also came to know that the Blessed One had come to the town, and they too proceeded to the Mango Grove where he was halting. ^ The picture of the wealthy and truly pious courtesan, ' gladdened by religious discourse,' remains true to Indian life in old-fashioned cities even at the present day. The whole episode exhibits a beautiful tolerance, recalling the like stories of the Christian Magdalene- For Ambapali's ' Psalm,' see p. 285 seq. 74 The last Retreat And as they went they met with Ambapali returning, and she drove up against them axle to axle, and wheel to wheel, so that they all exclaimed: "How comes it, Ambapali, that thou drivest up against us thus?" "My Lords," she made answer, " I have just invited the Blessed One and his Brethren for their to-morrow's meal." Then the princes replied : " O, Ambapali, give up this meal to us for the sum of a hundred thousand." " My Lords," she said, "if you were to offer to me all Vesali with its subject territory, I would not give up so honour- able a feast." Then the Licchavis cast up their hands and exclaimed: "We are outdone by the Mango-girl! " and they went on their way to the Mango Grove. And when they, too, had greeted the Blessed One and had hearkened to his instruction, they addressed the Master and said: "May the Blessed One do us the honour to take his meal, with all the Brethren, at our house to-morrow." But the Buddha replied: "O, Licchavis, I have promised to dine to-morrow with Ambapali the courtesan." And again the princes exclaimed : " We are outdone by the Mango-girl ! " The next day Ambapali served the Lord and all the Brethren with her own hands, and when they would eat no more she called for a low stool and sat down beside the Master and said: "Lord, I make a gift of this mansion to the Order of which thou art the chief." And the Blessed One accepted the gift ; and after instructing and gladdening Ambapali with religious discourse, he rose from his seat and went his way. The last Retreat From Vesali the Master went to the neighbouring village of Beluva, where he spent the last Retreat. There a severe 75 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism sickness came upon him. But the Exalted One, considering that his time was not yet come, and that it was not right that he should pass away without taking leave of the Order, "by a great effort of the will bent that sickness down again, and kept his hold on life till the time he fixed upon should come : and the sickness abated upon him." Now when he had quite recovered, he came out from his lodging, and sat down upon a seat, and there Ananda came to him and saluted him and said : " I have beheld. Lord, how the Exalted One was in health, and I have beheld how the Exalted One had to suffer. And though at the sight of the sickness of the Exalted One my body became weak as a creeper, and the horizon became dim to me, and my faculties were no longer clear, yet notwith- standing I took some little comfort from the thought that the Exalted One would not pass away until at least he had left instructions as touching the Order," "What then, Ananda," said the Buddha, "does the Order expect that of me? I have preached the truth without making any distinction between exoteric and esoteric doctrine; for in respect of the truths, Ananda, He-who- has-thus-attained has no such thing as the closed fist of a teacher, who keeps some things back. Surely, Ananda, should there be anyone who harbours the thought, ' It is I who will lead the brotherhood,' or 'the Order is depen- dent upon me,' it is he who should lay down instructions in any matter concerning the Order. Now He-who-has- thus-attained, Ananda, thinks not that it is he who should lead the brotherhood, or that the Order is dependent upon him. Why then should he leave instructions in any matter concerning the Order? I too, O Ananda, am now grown old, and full of years, my journey is drawing to its close, I have reached my sum of days, I am turning eighty 76 The last Retre t years of age; and just as a worn-out cart, Ananda, can be kept going only with the help of thongs, so, methinks, the body of Him-who-has-thus-attained can only be kept going by bandaging it up. It is only, Ananda, when the Tathagata, by ceasing to attend to any outward thing, becomes plunged by the cessation of any separate sensation in that concentration of heart which is concerned with no material object — it is only then that the body of Him-who- has-thus-attained is at ease. " Therefore, O Ananda, be ye lamps unto yourselves. Be ye a refuge to yourselves. Betake yourselves to no external refuge. Hold fast to the Truth as a lamp. Hold fast as a refuge to the Truth. Look not for refuge to anyone besides yourselves. . . . And whosoever, Ananda, either now or after I am dead, shall be a lamp unto themselves, shall betake themselves to no external refuge, but holding fast to the Truth as their lamp, and holding fast as their refuge to the Truth, shall look not for refuge to any- one besides themselves — it is they, Ananda, among my Bhikkhus who shall reach the very topmost Height! — but they must be anxious to learn." ^ Upon another occasion the Master walked with Ananda to the Capala shrine: and he began to speak of his coming death. And when Ananda was grieved, and would have besought him to remain on earth, he said : "But now, Ananda, have I not formerly declared to you that it is in the very nature of all things, near and dear unto us, that we must divide ourselves from them, leave them, sever ourselves from them? How, then, Ananda, can this be possible — whereas anything whatever born. 1 <■ This noble passage — I quote the translation of Professor Rhys Davids — expresses with admirable literary art the pure individualism of Buddhist thought, here so nearly akin to that of Whitman and Nietzsche. 11 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism brought into being, and organized, contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution — how then can this be possible that such a being should not be dissolved ? No such condition can exist ! And, Ananda, that which has been relinquished, cast away, renounced, rejected, and abandoned by the Tathagata — the remaining sum of life surrendered by him — verily with regard to that, the word has gone forth from the Tathagata, saying : ' The passing away of Him-who-has-thus-attained shall take place before long. At the end of three months from this time the Tathagata will die ! ' That the Tathagata for the sake of living should repent him again of that saying — this can no wise be ! " Thereafter the Buddha set out with Ananda to go to the Kutagara Hall in the Great Forest. And being arrived there, the Brethren were assembled, and the Buddha exhorted them, and made public announcement of his coming death. " Behold, now, O Brethren, I exhort you, saying : ' All component things must grow old. Work out your salvation with diligence. The final extinction of the Tathagata will take place before long. At the end of three months from this time the Tathagata will die!"* T/ie Last Meal Thereafter the Buddha proceeded to Para, and he halted at the Mango Grove of Cunda, an hereditary smith. And when this was reported to Cunda he hastened to the grove; there the Buddha instructed and gladdened him with religious discourse. And he invited the Master and the Brethren to dine at his house on the morrow. Early in the morning Cunda the smith prepared sweet 78 Conversion of Pukkusa rice and cake and a dish of pork : ^ and he announced the hour to the Exalted One. And he, taking his bowl, proceeded to the house of Cunda the smith, and partook of the meal prepared, and afterward he instructed and gladdened Cunda the smith with religious discourse. But when the Exalted One had partaken of the meal prepared by Cunda the smith, there fell upon him a dire sickness, the disease of dysentery and sharp pain came upon him, even unto death. But the Exalted One, mind- ful and self-possessed, bore it without complaint, and when he was a little relieved he said to Ananda: " Come, Ananda, let us go on to Kusinara." "Even so, lord," said the venerable Ananda. Now the Exalted One turned aside from the path to the foot of a certain tree, and said to Ananda, " Fold, I pray you, Ananda, the robe in four, and spread it out for me. I am weary, Ananda, and must rest awhile." " Even so, lord," said the venerable Ananda. And when he was seated he asked for water, and Ananda brought it, from a neighbouring stream — and he found the water of the stream was running clear, notwithstanding that a caravan of five hundred carts had just passed the ford. Conversion of Pukkusa Immediately after this there passed by a young man, by name Pukkusa, a disciple of Alara Kalama. And he related to the Buddha how upon a certain occasion this Alara Kalama had been sitting beside the road, and was so absorbed in meditation that five hundred carts passed him by, so nearly that even his robe was sprinkled with the dust: and a certain man was so much impressed by ^ Or perhaps truffles. But there is nothing contrary to Buddhist practice in eating flesh prepared and offered by others. 79 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism this profound abstraction that he became Alara's disciple. Upon hearing this story the Buddha replied by relating an occasion of even greater abstraction, on his own part, when, as he was walking to and fro upon a certain threshing-floor at Atuma, the rain fell and lightning flashed, and two peasants and four men were killed by a thunderbolt — and yet though conscious and awake, he neither saw nor heard the storm : and upon that occasion in like manner a certain man was so much impressed by the Master's abstraction that he became a disciple. Upon hearing this relation, Pukkusa's faith in Alara Kalama faded away, and he resorted to the Exalted One, and to the Law and to the Brotherhood as his refuge, and requested the Exalted One to accept him as a lay disciple. And he sent for two robes of cloth of gold and presented them to the Master, and so went his way. But when Ananda folded the robes and the Master wore them, the golden cloth seemed to have lost its brightness — and this was because whenever One-who-has-thus attained attains to Perfect Enlightenment, as also on the day when he passes away, the colour of his skin becomes exceeding bright. " And now," said the Master, "the utter passing away of Him-who-has-thus-attained, will take place at the third watch of this night in the Sala-grove of the Mallians. Come, Ananda, let us go on to the river Kakuttha." " Even so, lord ! " said the venerable Ananda. The Exalted One went down into the water of the river Kakuttha, and bathed and drank; and then, taking his seat upon the bank, he spoke with Ananda concerning Cunda the smith, that none should impute the least blame to him because the Master died after receiving the last meal at his hands. On the contrary, he said, there 80 The Master's Death are two offerings of food which are supremely precious — that which is given immediately before One-who-has-thus- come attains to Perfect Insight, and the other before his utter passing away: and "there has been laid up to Cunda the smith a kamma redounding to length of life, good birth, good fortune and good fame, and to the inheritance of heaven and of sovereign power; and there- fore let not Cunda the smith feel any remorse." The Master s Death Then the Exalted One said to Ananda : " Come, Ananda, let us go on to the Sala-grove of the Mallas, on the further side of the river Hiranyavatl." And when they were come there, he said: "Spread over for me, I pray you, Ananda, the couch with its head to the north, between the Twin Sala trees. I am weary, Ananda, and would lie down." " Even so, lord ! " said the venerable Ananda. And the Exalted One laid himself down on his rieht side, with one leg resting on the other; and he was mindful and self-possessed. And now there came to pass certain marvels, and the Master spoke of these to Ananda, and said : " The twin Sala trees are all one mass of bloom with flowers out of season ; all over the body of Him-who-has-thus-attained, these drop and sprinkle and scatter themselves, out of reverence for the successors of the Buddhas of old. And heavenly music sounds in the sky, out of reverence for the successors of the Buddhas of old. But it is not thus, Ananda, that He-who-has-thus-attained is rightly honoured, and reverenced. But the brother or the sister, the devout man or woman who continually fulfils all the greater and lesser duties, who is correct in life, walking according to the precepts — it is he who rightly honours F 8i Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism and reverences the Tathagata. And therefore, Ananda, be ye constant in the fulfilment of the greater and the lesser duties, and be ye correct in life, walking according to the precepts; and thus, Ananda, should it be taught." Then the Buddha addressed Ananda, and said to him that he saw a great host of the gods assembled together to behold the Tathagata upon the night of his final passing away : and a host of spirits of the air and of the earth, " of worldly mind, who dishevel their hair and weep, who stretch forth their arms and weep, who fall prostrate on the ground, and roll to and fro in anguish at the thought 'Too soon will the Exalted One pass away ! Too soon will the Exalted One die ! Too soon will the Eye in the world pass away ! ' " " But," the Master continued, "the spirits who are free from passion bear it calm and self-possessed, mindful of the saying — ' Impermanent, indeed, are all component things.' " And the Master made mention of four places that should be visited by the clansmen with feelings of reverence — the place where the Tathagata was born, the place where he attained Supreme Enlightenment, the place where the kingdom of righteousness was established, and the place where the Tathagata utterly] passed away : " and they, Ananda, who shall die while they, with believing heart, arejourneying on such a pilgrimage, shall be reborn after death, when the body shall dissolve, in the happy realms of heaven." When Ananda enquired what should be done with the remains of the Tathagata, he answered : " Hinder not yourselves, Ananda, by honouring the remains of Him- who-has-thus-attained. Be zealous, I beseech you, Ananda, on your own behalf 1 Devote yourselves to your own good ! 82 The Master's Death There are lay disciples who will do due honour to the remains of the Tathagata." Now Ananda had not yet attained to Arahatta, he was still a student, and he went away to the monastery, and stood leaning against the lintel of the door, weeping at the thought ' Alas ! I remain still but a learner, one who has yet to work out his own perfection. And the Master is about to pass away — he who is so kind ! ' Then the Exalted One summoned the Brethren and said, " Where now, brethren, is Ananda?" and they answered: "The venerable Ananda, lord, has gone into the monastery, and is leaning against the lintel of the door, and weeping at the thought ' Alas ! I remain still but a learner, one who has yet to work out his own perfection. And the Master is about to pass away — he who is so kind ! ' " Then the Exalted One called a certain Brother and sent him to Ananda with the message : " Brother Ananda, the Master calls for thee." And Ananda came accordingly, and bowed before the Exalted One and took his seat respect- fully. Then the Exalted One said : " Enough, Ananda ! do not let yourself be troubled ; do not weep ! Have I not already, on former occasions, told you that it is in the very nature of all things most near and dear unto us that we must divide ourselves from them, leave them, sever ourselves from them. How, then, Ananda, can this be possible — whereas anything whatever born, brought into being, and organized, contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution — how, then, can this be possible, that such a being should not be dissolved? No such condition can exist. For a long time, Ananda, you have been very near to me by acts of love, kind and good, that never varies, and is beyond all measure. You have done well, Ananda ! Be earnest in effort, and you too shall be 83 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism free from the Intoxications of Sensuality, of Individuality, Delusion and Ignorance." And he praised the able service of Ananda before the whole assembly. Then the Master said to Ananda: "Go now into the village of Kusinara, and inform the Mallas that the Tathagata is about to pass away, to the end that they may not afterwards reproach themselves by saying : ' In our own village the Tathagata died, and we took not the occasion to visit the Tathagata in his last hours.' " And the Mallas of Kusinara, with their young men and maidens and wives were grieved and saddened, and betook them- selves to the Sala Grove where the Buddha was lying. And Ananda presented them to the Master, family by family, in the first watch of the night. Now there was at this time a wanderer of the name of Subhadda, to whom the Buddha's approaching death was made known: and he desired to speak with the Master, for the dissipation of his doubt. To this end he approached Ananda : but he refused access to the Master, saying, " The Exalted One is weary, do not trouble him ! " But the Exalted One overheard what was said, and desired that Subhadda should be given access : for he knew that the questions to be asked were sincere, and that Subhadda would understand the answers. And this was what Sub- hadda sought to know — whether the leaders of other schools of thought, the masters of other congregations, such as Nigantha Nataputta, or Sanjaya the former teacher of Sariputta and Mogallana, esteemed as good men by many, had, as they claimed, attained a true under- standing of things, or had some of them so attained, and not others? And the Exalted One declared : " In whatso- ever doctrine and discipline, Subhadda, the Ariyan Eight- fold Path is not found, there is not found any man of true 84 The Master's Death sainthood, either of the first, the second, the third, or the fourth degree. But in that Doctrine and Discipline in which is found the Ariyan Eightfold Path, there are men of true sainthood, of all the four degrees. Void are the systems of other teachers — void of true saints. But in this one, Subhadda, may the Brethren live the Perfect Life, that the world be not bereft of Arahats." And Subhadda's doubt being thus resolved, he resorted to the Exalted One, to the Law, and to the Congregation as his refuge, and he was received into the Order : and "ere long he attained to that supreme goal of the higher life (Nibbana), for the sake of which the clansmen go out from all and every household gain and comfort, to become houseless wanderers — yea, that supreme goal did he, by himself, and while yet in this visible world, bring himself to the knowledge of, and continue to realize, and to see face to face I And he became conscious that birth was at an end, that the higher life had been fulfilled, that all that should be done had been accomplished, and that after this present life there would be no beyond." Thus it was that the venerable Subhadda became yet another among the Arahats ; and he was the last disciple whom the Exalted One himself converted. Now the Exalted One addressed the Brethren and said thrice, " It may be, Brethren, that there may be doubt or misgiving in the mind of some Brother as to the Buddha, or the doctrine, or the path, or the method. Inquire, Brethren, freely. Do not have to reproach yourselves afterwards with the thought : ' our teacher was face to face with us, and we could not bring ourselves to inquire of the Exalted One when we were face to face with him.' " But none had any doubt or misgiving. And the vener- able Ananda said to the Exalted One : " How wonderful 85 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism a thing is it, lord, and how marvellous ! Verily I believe that in this whole assembly of the Brethren there is not one Brother who has any doubt or misgiving as to the Buddha, or the doctrine, or the path or the method ! " And the Buddha answered : " It is out of the fullness of faith that thou hast spoken, Ananda ! But, Ananda, the Tathagata knows for certain that in his whole assembly of the Brethren there is not one Brother who has any doubt or misgiving as to the Buddha, or the doctrine, or the path, or the method ! For even the most backward, ^ Ananda, of all these five hundred brethren has become converted, is no longer liable to be borne in a state of suffering, and is assured hereafter of attaining the Enlightenment of Arahatta." Then again, the Exalted One addressed the Brethren and said : " Decay is inherent in all component things ! Work out your salvation with diligence ! " This was the last word of Him-who-has-thus-attained. . Then the Exalted One entered the first stage of Rapture, and the second, third, and fourth: and rising from the fourth stage, he entered into the station of the infinity of space: thence again into the station of the infinity of thought : thence again into the station of emptiness : then into the station between consciousness and unconsciousness : and then into the station where the consciousness both of sensations and ideas has wholly passed away. And now it seemed to Ananda that the Master had passed away : but he entered again into every station in reverse order until he reached the second stage of Rapture, and thence he passed into the third and fourth stages of Rapture. And passing out of the last stage of Rapture he immediately expired. ^ According to Buddhaghosha this refers to Ananda himself, and was said for his encouragement. 86 The Funeral Rites The Distress of the Brethren When the Exalted One died, of those of the Brethren who were not yet free from the passions, some stretched out their arms and wept, and some fell headlong on the ground, rolling to and fro in anguish at the thought: "Too soon has the Exalted One died ! Too soon has the Happy- One passed away ! Too soon has the Eye in the world passed away." But those of the Brethren who were free from the passions, to wit, the Arahats, bore their grief collected and composed in the thought : " Impermanent are all component things ! How is it possible that they should not be dissolved? " And the Venerable Anuruddha exhorted the Brethren, and said : " Enough, my Brethren ! Weep not, nor lament ! Has not the Exalted One formerly declared this to us, that it is in the very nature of all things near and dear unto us, that we must divide ourselves from them, leave them, sever ourselves from them ? How then. Brethren, can this be possible — that when dead anything whatever born, brought into being, and organized, contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution — how then can this be possible that such a being should not be dissolved ? No such condition can exist ! " The Fitneral Rites On the next day Ananda informed the Mallas of Kusinara that the Exalted One had passed away ; and they too stretched forth their arms and wept, or fell prostrate on the ground, or reeled to and fro in anguish at the thought: "Too soon has the Exalted One died!" And they took perfumes and garlands, and all the music in Kusinara, and proceeded to the Sala Grove, where the 87 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism body of the Exalted One was lying. And they spent there six days paying honour and homage to the remains of the Exalted One, with dancing and hymns and music, and with garlands and perfumes. On the seventh day they bore the body of the Exalted One through the city and out by the Eastern gate to the shrine of the Mallas, there to be burnt upon the pyre. They wrapped the body in layers of carded cotton wool and woven cloth, and placed it in a vessel of iron, and that again in another; and building a funeral pyre of perfumed woods, they laid the body of the Exalted One upon it. Then four chief- tains of the Mallas bathed their heads and clad themselves in new garments with the intention of setting on fire the funeral pyre. But lo, they were not able to set it burning. Now the reason of this was that the venerable Maha Kassapa was then journeying from Pava to Kusinara with a company of five hundred Brethren : and it was willed by the gods that the pyre should not take fire until the venerable Maha Kassapa together with these Brethren had saluted the feet of the Master. And when Maha Kassapa came to the place of the funeral pyre, then he walked thrice round about it and bowed in reverence to the feet of the Exalted One, and so did the five hundred Brethren. And when this was ended, the funeral pyre caught fire of itself. And what was burnt was the flesh and the fluids of the body, and all the wrappings, and only the bones were left behind ; and when the body was thus burnt, streams of water fell from the sky and rose up from the ground and extinguished the flames, and the Mallas also extinguished the fire with vessels of scented water. They laid the bones in state in the Council Hall of the Mallas, set round with a lattice-work of spears and a rampart of bows, and 88 The Funeral Rites there for seven days they paid honour and reverence to them with dancing and music and garlands and perfumes. Now these matters were reported to Ajatasattu, and to the Licchavis of Vesali, and to the Sakyas of Kapi- lavatthu, and the Bulis of Alakappa, and the Koliyas of Ramagama, and to the Brahman of Vethadipa ; and all these, with the Mallas of Kusinara, laid claim to the remains of the Exalted One, and wished to erect a mound above them, and to celebrate a feast of honour. The Mallas, however, saying that the Exalted One had died in their village, refused to part with the remains. Then a certain Brahman of the name of Dona reminded the assembled chieftains that the Buddha was wont to teach forbearance, and he recommended that the remains should be divided into eight portions, and that a monument should be erected by each of those who laid claim, in their several territories ; and this was done accordingly. Dona himself erected a monument over the vessel in which the remains had been guarded, and the Moriyas of Pippalivana, who made claim to a share when the dis- tribution had already been made, erected a mound above the ashes of the fire. And thus there were eight monu- ments for the remains of the Exalted One, and one other for the vessel, and another for the ashes. 89 PART II : THE GOSPEL OF EARLY BUDDHISM /. DHAMMA, THE DOCTRINE AND DISCIPLINE Just, O Brethren, as the wide sea has but one taste, the taste of salt, so also. Brethren, have this Doctrine and Discipline one only taste, the taste of Salvation. — Cullavagga ix. TH E whole of the doctrine {d/mmma, Sanskrit dharma) of Gautama is simply and briefly capitulated in the Four AriyanT ruths {A rzyasaccdnz) or axioms: That there is suffering {Dukklia)^ that it has a cause {Samtidaya)^ that it can be suppressed (Nirodkd), and that there is a way to accomplish this {Magga), the * Path.' This represents the application of current medical science to the healing of the spiritually sick. The good physician, seeing Every- man in pain, proceeds to diagnosis : he reflects upon the cure, and commends the necessary regime to the patient — this is the history of the life of Gautama. The sick soul knows its sickness only by its pain; it seeks the cause of its suffering, and the assurance of a remedy, and asks what shall it do to be saved — this is the history of those who take refuge in the Law of the Buddha. Let us repeat here the essential part of Gautama's first sermon : ^ " This, O monks, is the Ariyan Truth of Suffering : Birth is suffering, old age is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, to be united with the unloved is suffer- ing, to be separated from the loved is suffering, not to obtain what one desires is suffering ; in short, the fivefold clinging to the earth is suffering. ^ Here after Oldenberg, Buddha^ 2nd English ed., p. 206, with a few verbal alterations. 90 Dukkha " This, O monks, is the Ariyan Truth of the Origin of Suffering : It is the will to life which leads from birth to birth, together with lust and desire, which finds gratification here and there; the thirst for pleasures, the thirst for being, the thirst for power. " This, O monks, is the Ariyan Truth of the Extinction of Suffering : The extinction of this thirst by complete annihilation of desire, letting it go, expelling it, separating oneself from it, giving it no room. " This, O monks, is the Ariyan Truth of the Path which leads to the Extinction of Suffering: It is this sacred Eightfold Path, to-wit: Right Belief, Right Aspiration, Right Speech, Right Living, Right Effort, Right Recol- lectedness. Right Rapture." It is the first division of the Eightfold Path, Right Belief, Views, or Faith, which constitute the Gospel of Buddha, the Doctrine of Buddhism, which we shall now set forth systematically. This teaching consists in a knowledge of the world and of man " as they really are." This right knowledge is most tersely summarized in the triple formula of Diikkha, Anicca, Anattd — Suffering, Imper- manence, Non-egoity. The knowledge of these principles is a knowledge of The Truth.^ Let us consider them in order and detail. Ditkkha The existence of Suffering, or Evil, is the very raison- cCetre of Buddhism : " If these things were not in the world, my disciples, the Perfect One, the holy Supreme Buddha, would not appear in the world ; the law and the doctrine which the Perfect One propounded would not shine in the ^ Majjhima NikCiya^ i, 140. 91 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism world. What three things are they? Birth, old age, and death. " Both then and now, says the Buddha again, just this do I reveal : Suffering and the Extinction of Suffering." Diikkha is to be understood both as symptom and as disease. In the first sense it includes all possible physical and mental loss, "all the meanness and agony without end," suffering and imperfection of whatever sort to which humanity and all living beings (gods not excepted) are subject. In the second sense it is the liability to ex- perience these evils, which is inseparable from individual existence. So far Gautama has put forward nothing which is not obviously a statement of fact. It might, indeed, appear that in our life pain is compensated for by pleasure, and the balance must indeed be exact here, as between all pairs of opposites. But as soon as we reflect, we shall see that pleasure itself is the root of pain, for " Sorrow springs from the flood of sensual pleasure as soon as the object of sensual desire is removed." ^ In the words that are quoted on our title-page : Vraiement comencent amours en ioye et fytiissent en dolours ; in the words of Nietzsche, " Said ye ever Yea to one joy ? O my friends, then said ye Yea also unto all Woe." According to the Dhammapada : " From merriment cometh sorrow ; from merriment Cometh fear. Whosoever is free from merriment, for him there is no sorrow : whence should fear come to him ? From love cometh sorrow ; from love cometh fear. Whosoever is free from love, for him there is no sorrow : whence should come fear to him ?" But not only is pleasure the prelude to pain, pleasure is ^ Visuddhi Magga, xvii. 92 Anicca pain itself ; again in the words of Nietzsche, " Pleasure is a form of pain." For there is for ever a skeleton at the feast : happiness in the positive sense, joy that depends on contact with the source of pleasure external to oneself, cannot be grasped, it cannot endure from one moment to another. It is the vanity of vanities to cling to that which never is, but is for ever changing; and those who realize that all this world of our experience is a Becoming, and never attains to Being, will not cling to that which cannot be grasped, and is entirely void. Accordingly, the whole of Buddhist psychology is directed to an analysis of consciousness, directed to reveal its ever- changing and composite character. Anicca Impermanence is the inexorable, fundamental and pitiless law of all existence. " There are five things which no Samana, and no Brahman, and no god, neither Mara, nor Brahma, nor any being in the universe, can bring about. What five things are those ? That what is subject to old age should not grow old, that what is subject to sickness should not be sick, that what is subject to death should not die, that what is subject to decay should not decay, that what is liable to pass away should not pass away. This no Samana can bring about, nor any god, neither Mara, nor Brahma, nor any being in the universe." Just as Brahmanical thought accepts the temporal eter- nity of the Samsara, an eternal succession and coincidence of evolution and involution, and an eternal succession of Brahmas, past and future : so also Gautama lays emphasis 93 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism — and more special emphasis, perhaps — upon the eternal succession of Becoming. The following stanza has indeed been called the Buddhist confession of faith, and it appears more frequently than any other text in Indian Buddhist inscriptions : Of those conditions which spring from a cause The cause has been told by Tathdgata : And the manner of their suppression The great Samand has likewise taught. How essential in Buddhism is the doctrine of the eternal succession of causes appears from the fact that it is often spoken of as the gospel : " I will teach you the Dhamma," says Gautama, " That being present, this becomes; from the arising of that, this arises. That being absent, this does not become ; from the cessation of that, this ceases." ^ We read again that " Dhamma-analysis is knowledge concerning conditions." ^ What he taught was designed to avoid the two extreme doctrines of realism and nihilism, the belief in pheno- menal being and the belief that there is no phenomenal process at all. " Everything is : this, O Kaccana, is one extreme view. Everything is not : this is the second extreme view. Avoiding both these extremes, the Tathagata teaches the Norm by the Mean." This doctrine of the Mean asserts that everything is a Becoming, a flux without beginning (first cause) or end ; there exists no static moment when this becoming attains to beinghood — no sooner can we conceive it by 1 Majjhima Nikdya, ii, 32. * Vibhanga, 94 Anicca the attributes of name and form, than it has trans- migrated or changed to something else. In place of an individual, there exists a succession of instants of consciousness. "Strictly speaking, the duration of the life of a living being is exceedingly brief, lasting only while a thought lasts. Just as a chariot wheel in rolling rolls only at one point of the tire, and in resting rests only at one point; in exactly the same way, the life of a living being lasts only for the period of one thought. As soon as that thought has ceased, the living being is said to have ceased. *' As it has been said : "The being of a past moment of thought has lived, but does not live, nor will it live. " The being of a future moment of thought will live, but has not lived, nor does it live. " The being of the present moment of thought does live, but has not lived, nor will it live." ^ We are deceived if we allow ourselves to believe that there is ever a pause in the flow of becoming, a restino-, place where positive existence is attained for even the briefest duration of time. It is only by shutting our eyes to the succession of events that we come to speak of things rather than of processes. The quickness or slowness of the process does not affect the generalization. Consider a child, a boy, a youth, a man, and an old man ; when did any of these exist ? there was an organism, which had been a babe, and was coming to be a child ; had been a child, and was coming to be a boy; and so on. The seed becomes seedling, and seedling a tree, and the tree lets fall its seeds. It is only by continuity, by watching the process of Becoming that we can identify the old man 1 Fisudd/ii Ma^ga, Ch. Yin. 95 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism with the babe, the tree with the seed ; but the old man is not (identical with) the babe, nor the tree (with) the seed. The substance of our bodies, and no less the constitution of our souls, changes from moment to moment. That we give to such individuals a name and form is a pragmatic convention, and not the evidence of any inner reality. Every existence is organic, and the substance of its existence is a continuity of changes, each of which is absolutely determined by pre-existing conditions. Why is this law of causality of such great importance for Gautama, whose doctrine is not a mental gymnastic, but "just this: Evil and the Cessation of Evil"? Because this doctrine is precisely the physician's diagnosis of the disease of Diikkha. As a constitutional disease, it is set forth in the well-known series of the Twelve Niddnas^ the interconnection of which is spoken of as the Law of Dependent Origination {Paticca-sannipdcla). The Twelve Nidanas, afterwards called the wheel of causation, are repeated in no less than ninety-six Suttas; and the im- portance of the series arises from the fact that it is at once a general explanation of phenomena, and an explanation of the special phenomenon of Evil in which the Buddhist were most interested. The effect of the series is to show that vimidjia^ the consciousness of I, does not reside in an eternal soul, but is a contingent phenomenon arising by way of cause and effect. It should be noted, as Professor Rhys Davids has pointed out, that the value of the series does not lie in the fact that it explains Evil, but in the fact that the right understanding of Causal Origination con- stitutes that very insight by which the source of Evil — consciousness of I and the desires of the I — is destroyed. The ' Wheel of Causation ' turns as follows : ^ ^ Majjhima Nikaya, i, 140, 96 Other lives (past) This present life and Other lives (future) Anicca Ignorance {avijja) Misperceptions {sankhdra) or vain imagin- ing, will {cetana) Consciousness (of I, etc.) {mhhdna) Name and Form, i.e. Mind and Body, {iid7na-7'upa) Sense organs {sadayatand) Contact {spassd) Emotion {vedana) Craving {tanha) Attachment {updddnd) Coming-to-be {bhavd) Rebirth {jdii) Old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, evil, grief, despair (y^^mw^rrt;;/^;;/, etc.) This list, wherever it occurs, ends with the formula 'Such is the uprising of this entire body of Evil.' It should be noted that the whole series of terms is not always repeated, and not always in the same order; these are rather the spokes of a wheel than its circumference. If we now ask what is the effect and what cause, it is clear that Ignorance lies at the root of all. From Ignor- ance arises the thought of entity, whereas there exists but a becoming; from the thought of self as entity, and from the desires of Me, arises life; life is inseparable from Evil. The diagnosis implies the cure; it is the removal of the conditions which maintain the pathological state. These conditions which maintain Ignorance, are primarily Craving, and the thought of I and Mine, with all its G 97 Buddha & the Gospel of Buddhism implications of selfishness and superstition. The means to accomplish the cure are set forth in the mental and moral discipline of the Buddhist ' Wanderers.' Anattd Practically inseparable from the doctrine of Anicca is that of Anattd^ that there exists no changeless entity in any thing, and above all, no 'eternal soul' in man. Ananda inquires of the Buddha : " What is meant, lord, by the phrase, The world is empty? " The Buddha replies: "That it is empty, Ananda, of a self, or of anything of the nature of a self. And what is it that is thus empty ? The five seats of the five senses, and the mind, and the feeling that is related to mind : all these are void of a self or of anything that is self-like." ^ Mental states are phenomena like other phenomena, and nothing substantial such as a soul or ego lies behind them ; just as the names of things are concepts. The favourite similes are drawn from natural phenomena and from things constructed, such as a river, or a chariot. If you except the water, the sand, the hither bank and the further bank, where can you find the Ganges ? If you divide the chariot into its component parts, such as the wheels, the poles, the axle, the body, the seat, and so forth, what remains of the chariot but a name?^ In the same way it will be found that when the component parts of con- sciousness are analyzed, there is no residue; the individual maintains a seeming identity from moment to moment, but this identity merely consists in a continuity of moments of consciousness, it is not the absence of change. " Like a river," says a modern Buddhist, " which still main- tains one constant form, one seeming identity, though not a ^ Satnyutta Nikaya, iv, 54. ^ See below, p. 296. 98 Anatta single drop remains to-day of all the volume that composed the river yesterday." ^ It is of the utmost importance to realize this truth, because for the individual possessed with the notion " I am form ; form belongs to the I," " through the changing and altera- tion of form arise sorrow, misery, grief, and despair." The simile of the river emphasizes the continuity of an ever-changing identity. Another simile, drawn from sleep and dream, emphasizes the intermittent nature of consciousness ; the ordinary course of organic existence, called bhavanga-gati^ is compared to the flow of dream- less sleep; consciousness is only awakened when some external stimulus causes a vibration in the normal flow. The complex elements of conscious existence are spoken of by the Buddhists in two ways — in the first place as Ndma-rupa^ literally name and form, that is to say, 'man's nature and fleshly substance'; and in the second place, as the Five aggregates {kkandka, skandkd). These two or five embrace the whole of conscious experience without leaving over any activity to be explained by a *soul.' The relation of the two schemes will appear from the following table : Mental factor Physical factor 1 . Ndina- (synonyms : viTmdna^ citta^ rupa 7)iajio, i.e. consciousness, heart, mind). 2. Vcdand, sahndy sankJidra^ viiuidna^ {i.e. feeling, perception, will, etc., inpa and awareness). In both cases nlpa is the physical organism (not ' form ' ^ Anuruddha, Compendium of Philosophy. Introd. Essay by S. Z. Aung, p. 9. 99 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism in a philosophic or aesthetic sense), the fleshly nature ; Ndma is name or mind ; ndma and 7upa^ name (mere words) and body, are just those things by which a ' person,' in fact complex and variable, appears to be a unity. In the second group, which is not, like the first, borrowed directly from the Upanishads, greater stress is laid on the several elements of the mental factor, with the practical object of shutting out any possible loophole for the intro- duction of the idea of a mind of soul as an unchanging unity. Vedand is 'feeling,', with the hedonistic significance of pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral, resulting from contact with the objects of sense, and itself producing tanhd^ craving or desire. It is emphasized that ' there is no distinct entity that feels,' ' it is only feeling that feels or enjoys,' and this 'because of some object which is in causal relation to pleasant or other feeling ' (Buddha- ghosha). Buddhist thought knows no subject, and concentrates its attention upon the object. Sannd is perception of all kinds, sensuous or mental, that is to say, 'awareness with recognition, this being expressed by naming' (Rhys Davids). The Sankhdras form a complex group, including cetand, or will (volition),^ and a series of fifty-one coefficients of any conscious state. ViTindna is ' any awareness of mind, no matter how general or how abstract the content.' It is to be noted that the terms rilpa and vinndna are used in a more restricted sense in the fivefold classification than when used to embrace the whole of conscious exist- ence. The rather cumbrous system of the khandhas was ^ " I say that cetand is action ; thinking, one acts by deed, word, or thought." — Anguitara Nikdya, iii, 415. 100 The Four Paths later on replaced by a division into citta, mind, and cctasikd, mental properties. All Indian thinkers are, of course, in agreement as to the material, organic nature of mind. For the serious study of Buddhist psychology the reader must consult either of Mrs Rhys Davids, two works on this subject. All that need be emphasized here is the practical purpose of the Buddhists in making use of these classifications. " Why," says Buddhaghosha, " did the Exalted One say there were five Aggregates, no less and no more ? Because these not only sum up all classes of conditioned things, but they afford no foothold for soul and the animistic; moreover, they include all other classi- fications." The Buddhists thus appear to admit that their psychology is expressly invented to prove their case. The Buddhists were, of course, very right in laying emphasis on the complex structure of the ego — a fact which modern pathological and psychical research increas- ingly brings home to us — but this complexity of the ego does not touch the question of the Brahmanical Atman, which is, 'not so, not so.' ^ So much, then, for the fundamental statement of ' Right Views/ The Four Paths Frequent mention has been made of the Four Paths. This is a fourfold division of the last of the Four Ariyan Truths. The Four Paths, or rather four stages of the one Path, are as follows : 1st. Conversion, entering upon the stream, which follows from companionship with the good, hearing the Law, enlightened reflection, or the practice of virtue. This * For this question see below, p. 1 98 seq. lOI Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism depends upon a recognition of the F'our Ariyan Truths, and is subsequent to the earliest step of merely taking refuge in the Buddha, the Law, and the Order, a formula which is repeated by every professing Buddhist, including the many who have not yet entered the Paths. The First Path leads to freedom from the delusion of Egoity, from doubt regarding the Buddha or his doctrines, and from belief in the efficacy of rites and ceremonies. 2nd. The Second Path is that of those who will only once more return to the world, and in that next birth will attain Final Release. In this Path the converted individual, already free from doubt and from the delusions of self and of ritualism, is able to reduce to a minimum the car- dinal errors of lust, resentment, and glamour. 3rd. The Third Path is that of those who will never return to this world, but will attain Release in the present life. Here the last remnants of lust and of resentment are destroyed. 4th. The Fourth Path is that of the Arahats, the adepts ; here the saint is freed from all desire for re-birth, whether in worlds of form or no-form, and from pride, self-righteous- ness, and ignorance. The state of the Arahat is thus described : " As a mother, even at the risk of her own life, protects her son, her only son, so let there be goodwill without measure among all beings. Let goodwill without measure prevail in the whole world, above, below, around, un- stinted, unmixed with any feeling of differing or opposing interests. If a man remain steadfastly in this state of mind all the while he is awake, whether he be standing walking, sitting, or lying down, then is come to pass the saying, ' Even in this world holiness has been found.' " ^ ^ Me/fa Sutia, 102 The Four Paths The following are the Ten Fetters, evil states of mind, or sins from which the aspirant is freed as he treads the Four Paths : Sakkdya-ditthi^ the delusion of self or soul; Vicikicchd, doubt; Sllabbata pdraftidsa, dependence upon rites; Kdma, sensuality, physical desire; Patigha, hatred, resent- ment ; Rfipardga, desire for life in worlds of matter ; Aru- pardga, desire for life in spiritual worlds; Mdno, pride; Uddhacca, self-righteousness; and Avijjd, ignorance. The aspirant becomes an Arahat when the first five of these are wholly overcome. Freedom from the other five is the ' Fruit of the Fourth Path.' "They, having obtained the Fruit of the Fourth Path, and immersed themselves in that living water, have received without price, and are in the enjoyment of Nibbana" {Rata7ia Suttd). It will be noticed that a clear distinction is here drawn between the attainment of Arahatta and the realization of Nibbana, while in other places the two states are treated as identical. It is clear, however, that if Nibbana is the F7'uit of the Fourth Path, those who have merely entered that Path, and are thus Arahats, have not yet attained the last freedom; they have, indeed, still fetters to break. There is another grouping of the sins from which the Saint is released, known as the Three, or Four Floods, or Intoxications or Taints. The three are: (i) Kama dsava, sensuality; (2) Bhava dsava, desire for re-birth; (3) Avijjd dsava, ignorance of the Four Ariyan Truths; while the fourth is DittJii, ' views,' or metaphysical speculation. He who is freed from these three, or four. Deadly Taints of Lusts, Will to Life, Ignorance, and Views, has likewise attained release, and for him there is no return. 103 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism //. SAMSARA AND KAMMA (KARMA) We are now in a better position to understand the theory of soul-wandering in Early Buddhism. I say particularly Early Buddhism, because in the greater part of pre-Buddhist thought, and in all popular thought, .^ whether Brahmanical or Buddhist, the doctrine of metem- psychosis, the passing of life from one form .to another ^- ..r at death, is conceiyed aqimistically as the transmigration of an individual soul. Take for example, such a text as Bhagcivad Gitjiju, 22 : " As a man lays aside outworn garments and takes others that are new, so the Body-Dweller puts away outworn bodies and goes to others that are new." Here the language is plainly animistic. One reader will understand that a soul, an ethereal mannikin, removes from one abode to another; a second reader, observing that This (Body- Dweller) is no other than That which is ' not so, not so,' perceives that empirically speaking nothing — nothing that we can call anything — transmigrates. There is here an ambiguity which is inseparable in the case of all concep- tions which are sublimated from experiences originally animistic or sensuous.^ Brahmanical thought does not seek to evade this ambiguity of expression, which is, moreover, of historical significance; and this continuity of develop- ment has the advantage that no impassable gulf is fixed between the animist and the philosopher. This advantage is emphasized by Sankara in his distinc- tion of esoteric and exoteric knowledge, parct and apard * As, for example, in the analogous case of rasa, which meant taste or flavour in the sense of savour, and has come to mean in a technical sense, aesthetic emotion. So with dnanda, originally physical pleasure, afterwards also spiritual bliss. 104 Samscira and Kamma vidyd: to That which is 'not so, not so,' attributes are ascribed for purposes of worship or by way of accommoda- tion to finite thought. This ascription of attributes, on the part of laymen, is regarded by the philosopher with lenience : for he understands that the Unshown Way, the desire for That-which-is-not, is exceeding hard. Those who have not yet won their way to idealism, may not and cannot altogether dispense with idols. ^ Brahmanism, regarded as a Church, is distinguished from the Buddhism of Gautama — not yet the Buddhism of the Buddhist Church — by this tenderness to its spiritual children : — " Let not him that knoweth much awaken doubt in slower men of lesser wit." ^ Gautama, on the other hand, is an uncompromising iconoclast. He preaches only to higher men, such as will accept the hard sayings of Diikkha^ Anicca, and Anattd in all their nakedness. This position enabled him to maintain one single argu- ment with entire consistence ; he needed not to acknow- ledge even the relative value of other forms or degrees of truth ; he wished to break entirely with current absolutist and animistic thoueht. This position emphasized for him the difficulty of express- ing what he wished to teach, through the popular and animistic language of the day ; and yet he could not avoid the use of this language, except at the cost of making himself unintelligible. This difficulty may well have ^ Those spiritual purists who insist that absolute truths, such as anatta (non-egoity), and fieti, neti (not so, not so) ought alone to be taught, and who despise all theological and esthetic interpretation of these realities as false, should consider the saying of Master Kassapa : " Moral and virtuous Wanderers and Brahmans do not force maturity on that which is unripe; they, being wise, wait for that maturity." — Fayasi Sutta, Dialo}:;ues of the Buddha^ ii, 332. ^ Bhagavad Giid, iii, 29. Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism contributed to the hesitation which he felt in regard to the preaching of the gospel. The method he was forced to adopt, was to make use of the current phraseology, expanding and emphasizing in his own way, and employing well-known words in new uses. We have therefore to guard ourselves, as Buddhaghosha says, from supposing that the manner of stating the case exactly expresses the fact. The term Samsara is a case in point ; for this ' Wandering ' is not for Gautama the wandering of any thijig. Buddhism nowhere teaches the transmigration of souls, but only the transmigration of character, of personality without a person. Many are the similes employed by Gautama to show that no thing transmigrates from one life to another. The ending of one life and the beginning of another, indeed, hardly differ in kind from the change that takes place when a boy becomes a man — that also is a transmigration, a wandering, a new becoming. Among the similes most often used we find that of flame especially convenient. Life is a flame, and transmigration, new becoming, rebirth, is the transmitting of the flame from one combustible aggregate to another; just that, and nothing more. If we light one candle from another, the communicated flame is one and the same, in the sense of an observed continuity, but the candle is not the same. Or, again, we could not offer a better illustration, if a modern instance be permitted, than that of a series of billiard balls in close contact : if another ball is rolled against the last stationary ball, the moving ball will stop dead, and the foremost stationary ball will move on. Here precisely is Buddhist transmigration : the first moving ball does not pass over, it remains behind, it dies ; but it is undeniably the movement of that ball, its momentum, 1 06 Samsara and Kamma its kamma, and not any newly created movement, which is reborn in the foremost ball. Buddhist reincarnation is the endless transmission of such an impulse through an endless series of forms ; Buddhist salvation is the coming to understand that the forms, the billiard balls, are compound structures subject to decay, and that nothing is transmitted but an impulse, a vis a tergo, dependent on the heaping up of the past. It is a man's character, and not himself, that goes on. It is not difficult to see why Gautama adopted the current doctrine of kamma (action, by thought, word, or deed). In its simplest form, this doctrine merely asserts that actions are inevitably followed by their consequences, ' as a cart a horse.' So far as the experience of one life goes, it is simply the law of cause and effect, with this addition, that these causes are heaped up in character^ whereby the future behaviour of the individual is very largely determined. Kamma must not be confused with mechanical pre- destination. It does not eliminate responsibility nor invalidate effort : it merely asserts that the order of nature is not interrupted by miracles. It is evident that I must lie on the bed I have made. I cannot effect a miracle, and abolish the bed at one blow ; I must reap as ' I ' have sown, and the recognition of this fact I call kamma. It is equally certain that my own present efforts repeated and well directed will in course of time bring into existence another kind of bed, and the recognition of this fact I also call kamma. So far, then, from inhibiting effort, the doctrine of kamma teaches that no result can be attained without * striving hard.' There is indeed nothing more essential to the Buddhist discipline than ' Right Effort.' 107 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism If we combine the doctrine of kamma with that of samsara, 'deeds' with 'wandering,' kamma represents a familiar truth — the truth that the history of the individual does not begin at birth. " Man is born like a garden ready planted and sown." Be/ore I was born out of my mother generations o^iiided me. . . . Now on this spot I stand. This heredity is thinkable in two ways. The first way, the truth of which is undeniable, represents the action of past lives on present ones ; ^ the second, which may or may not be true, represents the action of a single con- tinuous series of past lives on a single present life. The Buddhist theory of kamma plus samsara does not differ from its Brahmanical prototype in adopting the second view. This may have been because of its pragmatic advantage in the explanation of apparent natural in- justice ; for it affords a reasonable answer to the question, " Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born ^ That the human individual is polypsychic, that an indefinite number of streams of consciousness coexist in each of us which can be variously and in varying degrees associated or dissociated is now a doctrine widely accepted even by "orthodox psychology." G. W. Balfour, Hibbert Joicrnal^ No. 43. The same thought is expressed more Buddhistically by Lafcadio Hearn : " For what is our individuality ? Most certainly it is not individuality at all ; it is multiplicity incalculable. What is the human body ? A form built up out of billions of living entities, an impermanent agglomeration of individuals called cells. And the human soul? A composite of quintillions of souls. We are, each and all, infinite compounds of fragments of anterior lives." In the Psalm of Ananda : "a congeries diseased, teeming with many purposes and places, and yet in whom there is no power to persist." 108 Samsara and Kamma blind?" The Indian theory replies without hesitation, this ma7i. Buddhism, however, does not explain in what way a continuity of cause and effect is maintained as between one life a and a subsequent life b, which are separated by the fact of physical death; the thing is taken for granted.^ Brahmanical schools avoid this difficulty by postulating an astral or subtle body (the linga-saj^ra), a material complex, not the Atman, serving as the vehicle of mind and character, and not disintegrated with the death of the physical body. In other words, we have a group, of body, soul, and spirit; where the two first are material, complex and phenomenal, while the third is ' not so, not so.' That which transmigrates, and carries over kamma from one life a to another life b, is the soul or subtle body (which the Vedanta entirely agrees with Gautama in defining as non-Atman). It is this subtle body which forms the basis of a new physical body, which it moulds upon itself, effecting as it were a spiritualistic 'mate- rialization ' which is maintained throughout life. The principle is the same wherever the individual is reborn, in heaven or purgatory or on earth. In this view, though it is not mentioned by Buddhists,^ there is nothing contrary to Buddhist theory. The validity of the dogma of non-eternal-soul remains un- challenged by the death survival of personality; for that survival could not prove that the personality constitutes 1 Vide T. W. Rhys Davids, Early Buddhism, p. 7S. 2 Vide T. W. Rhys Davids, Ibid. p. 78. That the theory of the subtle body is not mentioned accords with Gautama's general objection to the discussion of eschatology. It is, however, a tribute to the value of Buddhist thought, that even the proof of the survival of the person would not affect the central doctrine of the soul's complexity and phenomenal character. 109 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism an eternal unity, nor can it prove that anything at all survived the attainment of Nibbana. We may indeed say that Buddhism, notably in the Jatakas, takes the survival of personality (up to the time of attaining Nibbana) for granted ; and were it otherwise, there would be little reason for the strong Buddhist objection to suicide, which is based on the very proper ground that it needs something more powerful than a dose of poison to destroy the illusion of I and Mine. To accomplish that requires the untiring effort of a strong will. III. BUDDHIST HEAVENS AND HOW TO REACH THEM Gautama has not denied the existence of gods or of future states of existence in heavens or hells. Buddhism is atheistic only in the sense that it denies the existence of a First Cause, and emphasizes the conception of the mortality of all divine beings, however long-lived they may be supposed to be. Apart from this, Gautama is represented as not merely acquiescing in popular beliefs, but as speaking of his own intercourse with the gods and visits to their heavens; and, still more important, all those spiritual exercises which do not lead directly to Nibbana are specially commended as securing the lesser, but still very desirable, fruits of re-birth, in the lower heavens, or in the Brahma-worlds of Form or No- form. In all this, moreover, there is nothing illogical to the spirit of the Dhamma, which insists on the law of Becoming, but does not necessarily exclude the possibility of other modes of Becoming than those familiar in our order of experience. Spiritualism, in other words, while quite unessential to early Buddhism, does not in any way contradict the Dhamma. IIQ Buddhist Heavens and How to Reach Them The four highest heavens, free from sensuous desire and not conditioned by form. These heavens are attained by practice of the Four Aiupa yiidnas. Rupa-lokas, or /"The sixteen heavens free from CO e A 7'7ipa-lokas^ov Planes of No- form. Planes Form. of / Kdma-lokas, or Planes of Sen- suous Desire (these are also R up a-lo has but are not Brahmalokas) The six Kmnd- vacdra deva- lokas. These heavens attained by the merit of good works. sen- suous desire but conditioned by form. These heavens are attained by practice of the Fo2ir JJidnas. ' Paj^animitta-vasavatti gods. Nimmana rati gods. Tusita heaven (where Gautama Buddha re- sided previous to his last birth and where Metteya now awaits are| his last birth). Yama gods. Tdvatimsa heaven (where reside the Thirty-three godsand their chief Sakka).^ The Four Great Kings (Guardians of the Four Quarters, N., S., E., and W.). The five worlds of men, demons, ghosts, animals, and purgatory. ^ A hundred of our years make one day and night of the Gods of the Suite of the Tliirty-three ; thirty such days and nights their month ; and twelve such months their year. And the length of their lives is a thousand such celestial years, or in human reckoning, thirty-six million years. — Pdyasi Sutta. Ml \ Buddha &" the Gospel of Buddhism The chief of the gods who are commonly spoken of in the Suttas, are Sakka and Brahma.^ Sakka, as it were, is king of the Olympians, * the Jupiter of the multitude,' and is more or less to be identified with the Indra of popular Brahmanism. Greater than Sakka and more spiritually conceived, is Brahma, the supreme overlord of orthodox Brahman theology in the days of the Buddha. Both of these divinities are represented in the Suttas as converts to the Dhamma of the Buddha, who is the ' teacher of gods and men.' A whole group of Suttas has to do with the conversion and exhortation of these gods, and these Suttas are evidently designed to make it appear that the Brahman gods are really on the side of Gautama, and to this end they are made to speak as enlightened and devout Buddhists. The Buddhist cosmogony though related to the Brah- manical, is nevertheless peculiar to itself in detail, and deserves some attention. It will be better understood from the table on page 1 1 1 than by a lengthy description. The most essential and the truest part of this cosmogony however (and the only part which is dwelt upon in the more profound passages of early Buddhist scripture), is the three-fold division into the Planes of Desire, the Brahma Planes conditioned by Form, and the Brahma Planes unconditioned by Form. There is a profound truth concealed even in the mythological idea of the possibility of visiting the Brahma worlds while yet living on earth. Does not he rise above the Plane of Desire who in aesthetic contemplation is ''aus sick selbst entriicJct ? '"^ does not the geometrician also know the Brahma Planes of Form ? There are phases of experience that can carry us further. * The impersonal Brahman is unknown to Buddhist dialectic. 2 Goethe, Faust^ ii, p. 258. 112 Buddhist Heavens &^ How to Reach Them M. Poincar^ writes of the mathematician Hermite: " yamais il iC^voqiiait une image sensible^ et poicrlant vous V071S apei'ceviez bieyitot q^ie les entitds les plus abstraites ^taicfit pour lui comjue des Hres vivants. II ne les voyait pas^ mais il sentait qu^elles ne sont pas tin assemblage ai'tificiel^ et qu^elles ont je 7ie sais quel principe cVunitd ititei'ney ^ Does not Keats, moreover, refer to the . Brahma Plane unconditioned by Form, when he writes in one of his letters : " There will be no space, and conse- quently the only commerce between spirits will be by their intelligence of each other — when they will completely understand each other, while we, in this world, merely comprehend each other in different degrees " ? If it be true that he who does not attain to Nibbana here and now is reborn in some other world — and this is taken for granted in early Buddhism — then what is more reasonable than to suppose that those who cultivate here on earth those states of mind which we have indicated, viz. the states of self-absorption in the contemplation of beauty or of ideal form, or in the most abstract thought, are reborn in those worlds which they have so often visited ? This consideration is maintained as follows in the Tevijja Sulla : ^ La Valeur de la Science. Mrs Rhys Davids notices the apparent absence of music in the higher Buddhist heavens {Buddhist Psychology^ p. xlv) ; but where form must be replaced by ' high fetches of abstract thought,' there also music may be silent, and may not need those articulated instruments which are used in the lower heavens of sense. "Pythagoras . . . did not say that the movements of the heavenly bodies made an audible music, but that it was itself a music . . . supra- sensible" — (Schelling) ; "There the whole sky is filled witJi sound, and there that music is made without fingers and without strings" — (Kablr), There also, and in the same way, exists eternally the Veda or Dhamma which is only ' heard ' in lower worlds. H 113 Buddha ^ the Gospel of Buddhism Having described the Four Sublime Moods, Gautama asks : " Now what think you, Vasettha, will the Bhikkhu who thus lives be in possession of women and of wealth, or will he not?" «' He will not, Gautama ! " " Will he be full of anger, or free from anger ? " " He will be free from anger, Gautama ! " " Will his mind be full of malice, or free from malice? " " Free from malice, Gautama ! " " Will his mind be tarnished, or pure ? " It will be pure, Gautama 1 " Will he have self-mastery, or will he not ? " Surely he will, Gautama! " " Then you say, Vasettha, that the Bhikkhu is free from household and worldly cares, and that Brahma is free from household and worldly cares. Is there then agree- ment and likeness between the Bhikkhu and Brahma ? " "There is, Gautama!" "Very good, Vasettha. Then in sooth, Vasettha, that the Bhikkhu who is free from household cares should after death, when the body is dissolved, become united with Brahma, who is the same — such a condition of things is every way possible ! " ^ ) We must not, however, suppose that the cultivation of the 1 Four Sublime Moods by an ascetic, and according to the strict Buddhist formula, is the only means of attaining to union with Brahma. Buddhist scripture recognizes beside these ethical exercises other special conditions of intellect and emotion which are attained in the 'Four Jhanas,' and these practices, like those of the Four Sublime Moods, may be followed by householders as well as by ascetics. ^ T. W. Rhys Davids, Dialogues of the Buddha.^ i, p. 318. 114 Nibbana If it should be proved, or come to be generally believed in the modern world that personality survives death — and is it reasonable to suppose that the accident of death should suffice to overcome the individual Will to Life ? — then some such classification of the heavens as is indi- cated in early Buddhist eschatology may well be used ; alternatively, we might speak of the three heavens of the Monist — Beauty, Love, and Truth. And we may well believe with the early Buddhists that those who shall reach these heavens are precisely those who have already experienced similar states of consciousness : the various ranks of artists, lovers, and philosophers. The self- devotion and self-forgetfulness of these must lead as surely as the Buddhist trances to the Brahma-worlds, on the principle that like to like attains. Equally with the Buddhist trances also, must the concentra- tion of the artist, lover and philosopher tend to final emancipation. IV. NIBBANA "The story admits of being told thus far, but what follows is hidden, and cannot be told in y<'Oxds."—/allaluddin Rwni. Nibbana is one of the many names for the goal and S2im- mum 6omc7n to which all other purposes of Buddhist thought converge. What are Moksha to the Brahman, the Tao to the Chinese mystic, Fa7id to the Sufi Eternal Life to the followers of Jesus, that is Nibbana to the Buddhist. To attain to this Nibbana, beyond the reach of Evil, is the single thought that moves the Budd- hist aspirant to enter on the Paths. Whoever would understand Buddhism, then, must seek to understand Nibbana : not, that is to say, to interpret it metaphysi- cally — for speculation is one of the Deadly Taints — but 115 Buddha ^ the Gospel of Buddhism to understand its implications to an orthodox Buddhist and its meaning on the lips of Gautama. Unfortunately, the term Nibbana (in its Sanskrit form Nirvana) became familiar to European students long before the Buddhist scriptures had been made accessible; and the early western writers on Buddhism " interpreted Buddhism in terms of their own belief, as a state to be reached after death. As such they supposed the ' dying out ' must mean the dying out of ' a soul ' ; and endless were the discussions whether this meant eternal trance, or absolute annihilation of a soul." ^ How irrelevant was this discussion will be seen when we realize that Nibbana is a state to be realized here and now, and is recorded to have been attained by the Buddha at the beginning of his ministry, as well as by innumerable Arahats, his disciples; and when we remember that Buddhism denies the existence of a soul, at any time, whether before or after death. In the MilindaPanha, Nibbana is compared to a "glorious city, stainless and undefiled, pure and white, ageless, deathless, secure, calm and happy " ; and yet this city is very far from being a heaven to which good men attain after death : "There is no spot, O king. East, South, West or North, above, below or beyond, where Nibbana is situate, and yet Nibbana is; and he who orders his life aright, grounded in virtue, and with rational attention, may realize it, whether he live in Greece, China, Alexandria, or in Kosala." 1 But the Milinda Panha also speaks (erroneously) of an Arahat as * entering into ' Nibbana, saying that the layman who attains to Arahatta must either enter the Order or pass into Nibbana, the latter alternative here implying physical death (as in the case of Suddhodana, the father of Buddha, p. 48). 116 Nibbana He enters into this city who ' emancipates his mind in Arahatta.' The literal meaning of the word Nibbana is: 'dying out,' or 'extinction,' as of a fire.^ To understand its technical import we must call to mind the simile of flame so con- stantly employed in Buddhist thought: "The whole world is in flames," says Gautama. " By what fire is it kindled? By the fire of lust (raga), of resentment (dosa), of glamour (moha) ; by the fire of birth, old age, death, pain, lamentation, sorrow, grief and despair it is kindled." The process of transmigration, the natural order of Be- coming, is the communication of this flame from one ^gg^^gate of combustible material to another. The salvation of the Arahat, the saint, then, is the dying down — Nibbana — of the flames of lust, hate, and glamour, and of the will to life. Nibbana is just this, and no more and no less. Nibbana (nirvana) is the only Buddhist term for salvation familiar to western readers, but it is only one of many that occur in the orthodox Buddhist scriptures. Perhaps the broadest term is Vimokhd, or Viimitti, 'salvation' or ^ Other etymologies are possible : thus " It is called Nibbana, in that it is a ' de-parture ' from that craving which is called vCina, lusting " — (Anuruddha, Compendium of Philosophy, iv, 14), It is important to remember that the term Nirvana is older than Buddhism, and is one of the many words used by Gautama in a special sense. In the Upanishads it does not mean the dying out of anything, but rather perfect self-realization ; to those in whom the darkness of ignorance has been dispersed by perfect knowledge, 'as the highest goal there opens before them the eternal, perfect, Nirvanam '— (C//«//^^iy(Z Upanishad, 8, 15, i). Buddhist usage emphasizes the strict etymological significance of 'dying out;' but even so, it is not the dying out of a soul or an indi- viduality, for no such thing exists, and therefore no such thing can die out ; it is only the passions (craving, resentment and delusion) that can die out. As to what remains, if anything, early Buddhism is silent. 117 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism 'deliverance,' and those who have attained this salvation are called Arahats, adept, whilst the state of adeptship is called Amhatta. Other terms and definitions include the 'end of suffering,' the 'medicine for all evil,' 'living water,' the 'imperishable,' the 'abiding,' the 'ineffable,' the 'detachment,' the 'endless security.' The Nibbana of which we have so far spoken, it will be seen, is essentially ethical ; but this Nibbana involves, and is often used as a synonym for, 'the cessation of becoming ' ; ^ and this, of course, is the great desideratum, of which the ethical ' extinction ' is merely the means and the outward sign. Salvation {vimutti) has thus also a psychological aspect, of which the most essential element is the release from individuality. Thus we find defined the following Eight Stations of Deliverance : (i) Having oneself external form, one sees forms ; (2) unaware of one's own external form, one sees forms external to oneself; (3) sesthetic hypnosis ; (4) abiding in the sphere of space regarded as infinite ; (5) abiding in the sphere of cognition regarded as infinite ; (6) abiding in the sphere of nothing- ness; (7) abiding in the sphere of neither ideation nor non-ideation; and (8) abiding in the state where both sensations and ideas have ceased to be.^ Another way to realize the practical connotation of the Buddhist Nibbana, is to consider the witness of those Arahats who, beside Gautama, have attained thereto. Two of Gautama's disciples are said to have testified as follows: "Lord, he who is Arahant, who . . . has won his own salvation, has utterly destroyed the fetters of ^ Samyutia Nikdya, ii, 115. 2 Maha Nidana Sutta, 35 ; Mahdparinibhdtia Si/tta, 33. The 4th- 7 th stations are identical with the Four Arupa Jhanas by which the Formless heavens are attained — see pp. 1 1 1, 147. 118 Nibbana becoming, who is by perfect wisdom emancipate, to him there does not occur the thought that any are better than /, or equal to me^ or less than /." " Even so," answered Gautama, " do men of the true stamp declare the gnosis they have attained ; they tell what they have gained {atthci)^ but do not speak of I {atta).^^ ^ The emancipation con- templated in early Buddhism is from mdna, the conceit of self-reference, the Samkhyan ahamkd7n. Of him that has attained we can truly say that nothing of himself is left in him. Thus we find a dialogue of two disciples ; one has a serene and radiant expression, and the other asks, "Where have you been this day, O Sariputta?" " I have been alone, in first Jhana (contemplation), brother," is the triumphant answer, "and to me there never came the thought: '/ am attaining it; / have emerged with it 1 '" " For the effect on life of the experience of Nibbana, we have the witness of the Brethren and Sisters whose ' Psalms ' are recorded in the Therd-theri-gdthd.^ To take the Brethren first : " Illusion utterly has passed from me," says one, " cool am I now; gone out all fire within." Another describes the easy movement of the life of the free: E^en as the high-bred steer with crested back lightly the plotigh adozun the furrow turns. So lightly glide for me the nights and days, now that this pure untainted bliss is zuonP ^ Anguitara Nikdya, iii, 359. 2 Samyutta Nikdya, iii, 235. Cf. the Sufi conception of Fami al-fand, 'the passing away of passing away,' when even the consciousness of having attained /a«« disappears. ^ Written down 80 B.C., and available to English readers in the careful and sympathetic versions of C. A. F. Rhys Davids, Psalms of the Sis/irs, 1 9 1 o, and Psalms of the Brethren, ^ 9 t 3. / 119 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism Perhaps the prevailing thought is a more or less rapturous delight in the escape from evil and from craving (dukkha and tanha), from lust, hate, and infatuation, and from the prospect of re-birth — of continued Becoming in any other conditioned life. From the standpoint of will, again, there is emphasis upon the achievement of freedom, self-mastery, and so forth. And the attainment is also expressed poetically — just as the Brahman in Brahmanical scripture is symbolized as 'bliss,' 'intelligence,' etc. — as light, truth, knowledge, happiness, calm, peace; but the similes are always cool, never suggesting any violent rapture or overmastering emotion. But while we recog- nize an unmistakable note of exultation in the conquest achieved here and now, we must also clearly recognize that orthodox Buddhist teaching is characterized by "the absence of all joy in the forward view; " ^ and, indeed, no mystic can look forward to greater bliss than has already been experienced : ^ to what more, indeed, can one who has already attained the siimmum bonum look forward, or what can the physical accident of death achieve for him who has already by his own effort reached the goal ? Gautama expressly refuses to answer any question relative to life after death, and he condemns all speculation as unedifying : " I have not," he says, addressing the venerable Malunkyaputta, who desired information on these points, " revealed that the Arahat exists after death, 1 have not revealed that he does not exist; I have not revealed that he at once exists and does not exist after death, nor that he neither exists nor does not exist after ^ C. A. F. Rhys Davids, Psabns of the Brethren, iQiSi P- xlviii. 2 For : " Paradise is still upon earth — " (Behmen) : " When I go hence, may my last words be, that what I have seen is unsurpassable " (Tagore). There is nothing more to be desired. I 20 Nibbana death. And why, Mahinkyaputta, have I not revealed these things? Because, O Malunkyaputta, this is not edifying, nor connected with the essence of the norm, nor tend to turning of the will, to the absence of passion, to cessation, rest, to the higher faculties, to supreme wisdom, nor to Nibbana; therefore have I not revealed it."^ The early Arahats, refraining loyally from speculation, might have concurred with Emerson in saying : " Of immortality the soul, when well employed, is incurious. It is so well that it is sure it will be well." It is most explicitly indicated that the state of Nibbana cannot be discussed : As a flame blown to and fro by the wind, says the Buddha, goes out and cannot be registered, even so a Sage, set free from name and form, has disappeared, and cannot be registered. The disciple inquires : Has he then merely disappeared, or does he indeed no longer exist ? For him who has disappeared, says the Buddha, there is no form ; that by which they say ' He is ' exists for him no more ; when all conditions are cut off, all matter for discussion is also cut off.^ Or again : As the fiery sparks from a forge are one by one extinguished^ And no one knows where they have gone, . . . So it is with those who have attainted to com- plete emancipation. Who have crossed the flood of desire. Who have entered upon the calm delight. Of these no trace remains. ^ Majjhima Nikdya, Sutta 63. ^ Sutla-uipCita, 1073-5. 121 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism On this account they are sometimes compared to the birds of the air, whose path is hard to follow, because they leave no trace. ^ Let us return to the meaning of Nibbana or Vimutti as it applies to the still living Arahat. The Arahat and the Buddha have alike attained Nibbana or Vimutti, and are Vimutto ; are we to understand that this state is continuously maintained from the moment of enlighten- ment to the moment of death ? If so, what is it that maintains life in the delivered being? This question arises equally in the Vedanta. The usual answer is that the momentum of antecedent kamnia suffices to carry on the individual life even after the ' Will to Life ' has ceased, and this is expressed in the brilliant simile of the potter's wheel, which continues to turn for some time after the hand of the potter is removed. In any case it is evident that the freedom of the Arahat or Jivan-mukta does not involve an immediate and permanent eman- cipation from mortality : the Buddha, for example, though he had long since attained Perfect Enlightenment, is recorded to have suffered from severe illness, and to have been aware of it. It is, no doubt, considerations of this sort which determined the distinction which was some- times drawn between Nibbana, or * Dying Out,' and Parinibbana, ' Complete or Final Dying Out,' coincident with physical death. The Arahat has, indeed, passed through an experience which illumines all his remaininof life : he knows thingrs as they really are, and is saved from fear and grief : he has realized, if but for an instant, the Abyss, wherein all Becoming is not. He is satisfied of the authenticity of the experience by the very fact that the thought ' I am ^ Dhammapada^ v. 92. 122 Nibbana experiencing, I have experienced ' was not present. But the mere fact that he knows that he has had this ex- perience, and may have it again — may even command it at will — proves that he does not continuously realize it. It is contrary, moreover, to all spiritual experience — and we must protest strongly against the Buddhist claim that the Buddhist experience of salvation is unique — that the highest rapture should be regarded as consciously coexistent with the ordinary activity of the empirical consciousness, even where the daily routine of life is so simple as that of the Buddhist Brother. And in Buddhist scriptures it is frequently indicated that both the Buddha and the Brethren pass into and out from the highest rapture. At other times the empirical consciousness must be awake — and, indeed, this consciousness, being component and mutable, cannot, as such, be * set free.' Experience therefore suggests that while Nibbana is most assuredly accessible here and now — as the mystics of all ages have emphatically testified — a continuous realization of salva- tion is only thinkable after death. And, as the Buddha says, what that realization involves is not thinkable. Later Buddhism affords another explanation of the fact that we cannot regard Nibbana or Vimutti in this life as an uninterrupted experience. This explanation, which is akin to the Docetic heresy of Christianity, logically well founded, asserts that the emancipated individual — the case of the Buddha is particularly considered in a system which regards Buddhahood rather than Arahatta as the goal — is once and for all freed : and what remains, the living and speaking man on earth, is merely a mirage, existent in the consciousness of others, but not maintained by any inherent Will to Life — it is once more, the potter's wheel, from which the hand of the potter has been lifted. 123 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism There is a certain amount of evidence tending to show that the Nibbana or Vimutti state affords the franchise of both worlds, the Byss as well as the Abyss. We read, for example, that when a Brother has mastered the Eight Stations of Deliverance " so that he is able to lose himself in, as well as to emerge from, any one of them, whenever he chooses, wherever he chooses, and for as long as he chooses — when too by rooting out the Taints, he enters into and abides in that emancipation of heart, that emancipation of the intellect which he by himself, here in this present world, has come to know and realize — then such a Brother, Ananda, is called ' Free-in-both-ways.'" 1 Unfortunately we cannot here take " Free-in-both-ways " to mean " free of both worlds " — the conditioned and the unconditioned — for the phrase clearly refers to the dual character of Deliverance as at once psychological and ethical. But it is, nevertheless, indicated that the adept Brother is free to pass from one world to the other, from the Byss to the Abyss, and the Abyss to the Byss at will : and we can hardly suppose that physical death involves the loss of this power : or if we do so, we have immediately drawn a distinction between Nibbana of the living individual, and Nibbana of the dead — and the latter becomes the more limited, the less free. And that the Vimutta consciousness after the death of the individual — or rather, altogether apart from the birth or death of the individual — really touches both the Byss and the Abyss, as Brahmanical mysticism plainly asserts, is at any rate not denied by the Buddha. We even find it laid down that "To say of a Brother thus set free by insight — ' He knows not, he sees not ' — that were absurd 1 " ^ In other words, it is clear, the ^ Maha-Niddna Sutta, 36. ^ Ibid. 32. 124 Nibbana emancipated ' individual,' after death, does not cease ' to know things as they really are ' : the doors of perception being cleansed, he must continue to see all things as they are, infinite — or to revert to Buddhist phraseology, as void. There is however no individual who ' sees,' for the erstwhile individual is likewise infinite or void : subject and object are unified in the Abyss. Thus once again, we cannot set up a final distinction between the positive and negative phraseology of mysticism. What is in any case certain is that the Buddhist (and Brah- manical) use of negatives does not imply that the state of freedom involves a loss for those who find it. For Western readers the language of Western mystics should be a sufficient indication of what is meant : Nibbana is assuredly ' that noble Pearl, which to the World appears Nothing, but to the Children of Wisdom is All Things.^ Precisely what Nibbana signifies in early Buddhism, and Nirvana in the Mahayana, could not" be more exactly explained than in the first and second of the following paragraphs of Behmen's Dialogues : " Lastly, whereas I said. Whosoever finds it finds Nothing and all Things ; that is also certain and true. But how finds he Nothing"^ Why, I will tell thee how He that findeth it findeth a supernatural, supersensual Abyss, which hath no ground or Byss to stand on, and where there is no place to dwell in ; and he findeth also nothing is like unto it and therefore it may fitly be compared to A^othing, for it is deeper than any Thing, and it is as Nothing with respect to All Things, forasmuch as it is not comprehensible by any of them. And because it is Nothing respectively, it is therefore free from All Things, and is that only Good, which a man cannot express or 125 Buddha (Sf the Gospel of Buddhism utter what it is, there being Nothing to which it may be compared, to express it by. " But in that I lastly said : Whosoever finds it finds All Things \ there is nothing can be more true than this assertion. It hath been the Beginning of All Things ; and it ruleth All Things. It is also the End of All Things ; and will thence comprehend All Things within its circle. All Things are from it, and in it, and by it. If thou findest it thou comest into that ground from whence All Things are proceeded, and wherein they subsist; and thou art in it a King over all the works of God." V. ETHICS " Let not a brother occupy himself with busy works." Theragdthd^ 1072. In considering the subject of Buddhist morality, we can- not, in the first place, too strongly emphasize the fact that it was no more the purpose of Gautama than of Jesus to establish order in the world. ^ Nothing could have been further from his thoughts than the redress of social in- justice, nor could any more inappropriate title be devised for Him-who-has-thus-attained, than that of democrat or social reformer. A wise man, says the Dhavimapada^ should leave the dark state of life in the world and follow the bright state of life as a monk.^ 1 Dhammapada, v, 412. The Buddhist, like the Tolstoyan Christian, has no faith in government. We read of spiritual lessons for princes, but the ' road of political wisdom ' is called ' an unclean path of false- ness ' {/atakamald, xix, 2 7). The point is further illustrated in Gautama's refusal to intervene when the message is brought that Devadatta has usurped the throne of Kapilavatthu {supra, p. 32). 2 Ibid. 87, 88. 126 Ethics Gautama's message is addressed to those in whom he perceived the potentiality of final insight already upon the point of ripening : for these he speaks the word of release from which arises the irresistible call to leave the world and to follow — Nibbana. " To the wise belongeth this Law, and not to the foolish : " for children and those who are like children (as Professor Oldenberg remarks) the arms of Buddha are not opened. It is not even just to Gautama to contrast his Dhamma — the Buddhist Norm — with the Dharmas which are assigned to men of diverse social status in the Brahmanical social order. In order to view his doctrine without prejudice we must concentrate our attention upon the Sangha, the Order, which he founded : we must compare his system, not with other religions, but with other monastic systems, and consider whether or no its mental and moral discipline is calculated to bestow on those who follow it, the salvation which they desired. For Gautama certainly did not believe that salvation could be attained in any other way, nor by Brethren of any other Order : for such as these and for the vast mass of laymen there could be only a question of rebirth in favourable or unfavourable conditions according to the moral value of their deeds. ^ The early Buddhist ideal is not only far removed from what is immoral, but also, and not less far, from what is moral : it goes beyond these conceptions of good and * Buddhism has much to say of the future state of those who die unsaved, not having cut off the conditions which determine rebirth. As it is expressed by Mrs Rhys Davids, "The mass of good average folk, going, with the patience and courage of all sane mortals, through stage after stage of green immaturity, through the joys and sorrows that have recurred and will recur so infinitely often, heaven and purgatory and earth itself await their future." 127 Buddha (§f the Gospel of Buddhism evil, for even good deeds, after the judgment of the world, determine rebirth : verily, they have their reward. " And ye. Brethren," says Gautama, " learn by the parable of the raft that ye must put away good conditions, not to speak of bad." The good is but the raft that carries us across the dangerous sea; he that would land upon the farther shore must leave the raft when it touches the strand. To realize this truth however detracts in no way from a realization of the present value of the raft. This is a 'Religion of Eternity' — the Brahmanical ni- vritti mdrga — and as such could be legitimately spoken of as anti-social, if it were in the least degree likely or had it been contemplated that it should or could be adopted in its entirety by all. Such religions, while they embody the highest truth to which mankind has attained, are only to be criticized as puritanical in so far as their followers seek to impose an ascetic regime (rather than one of temperance) on all alike ; in so far as their view of art is exclusively hedonistic; and their view of worship and ritual wholly unsympathetic. There is much to be said for the Brahmanical doctrine of the social debt, and for the view that a man should retire from the world only late in life, and only after taking due part in the life of the world. Nevertheless we must affirm the conviction that the renunciation of the world, at any moment, by those who experience the vocation to asceticism, is entirely justifiable, if the vocation be real. It is, further, a posi- tive social and moral advantage to the community that a certain number of its finest minds, leading a life that may be called sheltered, should remain unattached to social activities and unbound by social ties. Too much stress X23 Ethics is laid upon ' utility ' in communities where neither ;r//- gieux nor women are ' protected.' And notwithstanding that it is not the purpose of the hermit to establish order in the world, let us remember that the onlooker sees most of the game ; it is not without reason that it has become an established tradition of the East that the ruler should be guided by the sage. The example of asceticism, moreover, where this asceticism is natural and effortless, provides a useful corrective to luxury; where voluntary poverty is highly respected, some part of the suffering involved in ordinary poverty is taken away. To this day, the Indian Brahman ideal of plain living and social discipline strongly influences the manners and customs of all other castes; and the same result is attained by Buddhist monasticism in Burma, where it is customary, not merely for life ascetics, for all men of whatever calling, to spend a shorter or longer time within the fold of the Order. Most likely the root of the objection which many feel for monastic ideals of the Buddhist type is to be found in the * selfishness' of their aim, or to put the matter in another way, in the laying of stress on Knowledge, rather than Love. But let us remember that most and maybe all of our ' unselfishness ' is a delusion. No one can grow for another — not one. The gift is to the givei'^ aiid comes back most to him — it caufiot fail. And no man tuiderstands any greatness or goodness but his owji, or the indication of his own. Let us also remember that pity no more coidd be, if all were as Jiappy as ye-, and just this happiness is promised to all who are prepared to relinquish desire, resentment, I 129 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism and sentimentality. We must not forget that it was a recognized duty of the Brethren, and sometimes of the Sisters, to preach the Dhamma ; and who will put forward the assertion that man shall live by bread alone ? Accord- ing to the Edict of Asoka, "There is no such almsgiving as is the almsgiving of the Dhamma." This was equally theviewof so practical aWestern mind as Cromwell's, whose first extant letter (as Mr Vincent Smith has pointed out) supplies a near parallel to the saying of Asoka just quoted : " Building of hospitals," he writes, "provides for men's bodies ; to material temples is judged a work of piety ; but they that procure spiritual food, they that build up spiritual temples, they are the men truly charitable, truly pious." It is most likely that the earliest Buddhism had no other moral code than that of the mental and moral discipline appointed for those who renounced the world and entered the Paths. The following Ten Commandments are those which are binding upon the Brethren : j To avoid (i) the destruction of life, (2) theft, (3) un- ' chastity, (4) lying, (5) the use of intoxicating liquors, I (6) eating between meals, (7) attending secular entertain- j ments, (8) use of unguents and jewellery, (9) the use of high or luxurious beds, and (10) the handling of money. Those who attached themselves to the teaching of the Brethren, but remained laymen, were required to obey the first five of these injunctions — all of which, it will be noticed, are of a negative character; but in the case of laymen, the third commandment is taken to mean only the avoidance of adultery. Practically all these rules are taken over from Brahmanic sources. This is more particularly evident in other passages of the canonical books where lay morality is expounded in greater detail. When matters are referred 130 Ethics to Gautama for his decision, or to the Brethren, the deci- sion given evidently accords with current public opinion ; marriage and family life are not directly attacked, it is merely pointed out that the secular life does not lead to emancipation from rebirth and suffering.^ We have indeed in some books a detailed exposition of the mutual duties of children and parents, man and wife, master and servant. These injunctions lay down just those duties which are acknowledged in the Brahmanical works, and indicate a blameless mode of life, where special stress is laid on not injuring others, support of parents, and the giving of alms to the Brethren. This is the next best condition to that of the Wanderer, who is a member of the Order, and ' homeless.' The duties of laymen are set forth in the Sigdlavada Sutta under six heads : parents should restrain their children from vice, train them in virtue, have them taught arts and sciences, provide them with suitable wives or husbands, and give them their inheritance : children should support those who have supported them, perform family duties, guard their parents' property, make themselves worthy to be their heirs, and finally honour their memory. Pupils should honour their teachers by rising in their presence, by ministering to them, by obeying them, by supplying their wants, and by attention to instruction ; the teacher should show affection * But the superiority of the homeless life is again and again emphasized, e.g. "Full of hindrances is the household life, a path defiled by passion : free as air is the path of him who has renounced all worldly things. How difficult it is for the man who dwells at home to live the higher Hfe in all its fulness, in all its purity, in all its bright perfection ! Let me then cut off my hair and beard, let me clothe myself in the orange-coloured robes, and let me go forth from a household life into the homeless state." — Tevijja Sutta. " It is easy to obtain righteous- ness in the forest, but not so for a householder."— ya/a/v-awa/d of Arya Silra, xxxii. 131 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism for his pupils by training them in all that is good, teaching them to hold knowledge fast, instructing them in science and lore, speaking well of them, and by guarding them from danger. The husband should treat his wife with respect and kindness, be faithful to her, cause her to be honoured by others, and give her suitable clothes and jewels : she should order the household duly, be hospitable to kinsmen and friends, be chaste and thrifty, and in all matters exhibit skill and diligence. A man should minister to his friends by presents, courteous speech, promote their interests, treat them as equals, and share with them his prosperity; they should watch over him when he is off his guard, protect his property when he is careless, offer him a refuge in danger, adhere to him in misfortune, and show kindness to his family. The master should care for his dependents by apportioning their work according to their strength, giving suitable food and wages, tending them in sickness, sharing with them unusual delicacies, and giving them occasional holidays; they should rise before him, retire later to rest, be content with what is given them, work cheerfully and well, and speak well of him. A layman should minister to Bhikkhus and to Brahmans by affection in thought, word, and deed, by giving them a ready welcome, and by supplying their temporal needs; and they should dissuade him from vice, exhort him to virtue, feel kindly to him, instruct him in religion, clear up his doubts, and point the way to heaven. ' ' And by thus acting the six airts (N.,S.,E.,W., Zenith, and Nadir) are preserved in peace and free from danger." We may also remark of the Brethren and Sisters, that though the practice of good works is by no means enjoined, they were constantly engaged with what we should now call moral education, and to a considerable 132 Ethics extent, and more so in later times, with education and learning in general. On the whole, it can hardly be controverted that Buddhist monasticism has been a true benefit to every country where it has been introduced, and that in India also Buddhism as a whole contributed valuable and specific elements to the permanent improve- ment of current standards of social ethics. It will be a useful commentary on the present section to append the following quotation descriptive of popular morality in Buddhist Ceylon, where the social influence of early Buddhism may fairly be credited with a con- siderable part of popular culture : "There is annually a gathering from all parts of the Island at Anuradhapura to visit what are called sacred places. I suppose about 20,000 people come here, remain for a few days, and then leave. There are no houses for their reception, but under the grand umbrage of trees of our park-like environs they erect their little booths and picnic in the open air. As the height of the festival approaches, the place becomes instinct with life ; and when there is no room left to camp in, the later comers unceremoniously take possession of the verandas of the public buildings. So orderly is their conduct, however, that no one thinks of disturbing them. The old Kacceri (Government Office) stands, a detached building not far from the bazaar, and about one-eighth of a mile from the Assistant-Agent's house. Till lately the treasure used to be lodged in a little iron box that a few men could easily run away with, guarded by three native treasury watchers. There lay this sum of money, year after year, at the mercy of any six men who chose to run with it into the neighbouring jungle — once in detection was almost impossible — and yet no one ever 133 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism supposed the attempt would be made. These 20,000 men from all parts of the country come and go annually without a single policeman being here; and, as the Magistrate of the district, I can only say that any to surpass their decorum and sobriety of conduct it is impossible to conceive. Such a thing as a row is unheard of." — Report of the Government Agent, Anuradhapura, Ceylon, 1870. To this we may add the testimony of Knox, who was a prisoner in the interior of Ceylon late in the seventeenth century. He says that the proverb. Take a ploughman fro7n the plough^ andzvash off his dirt^ and he is fit to mle a kingdom^ " was spoken of the people of Cande Uda . . . because of the civility, understanding, and gravity of the poorest among them." Their ordinary ploughmen, he adds, and husbandmen, " do speak elegantly, and are full of complement. And there is no difference between the ability and speech of a Countryman and a Courtier." But perhaps the best idea of the ethical consequences of Buddhist modes of thought will be gathered from the following Japanese criticism of Western Industrialism, originally published in the Japan Daily Mail (1890) by Viscount Torio, who was deeply versed in Buddhist philosophy, and also held high rank in the Japanese army : "Order or disorder in a nation does not depend upon something that falls from the sky or rises from the earth. It is determined by the disposition of the people. The pivot on which the public disposition turns is the point where public and private motives separate. If the people be influenced chiefly by public considerations, order is assured ; if by private, disorder is inevitable. Public considerations are those that prompt the proper observ- ance of duties. . . . Private considerations are those 134 Ethics suggested by selfish motives. ... To regard our family affairs with all the interest due to our family and our national affairs with all the interest due to the nation, this is to fitly discharge our duty, and to be guided by public considerations. . . . Selfishness is born in every man; to indulge it freely is to become a beast. Therefore it is that Sages preach the principles of duty and propriety, justice and morality, providing restraints for private aims and encouragement for public spirit. . . . What we know of Western civilization is that it struggles on through long centuries in a confused condition, and finally attained a state of some order; but that even this order, not being based upon such principles as those of the natural and immutable relations between sovereign and subject, parent and child, with all their correspond- ing rights and duties, is liable to constant change, according to the growth of human ambitions and human aims. Admirably suited to persons whose actions are controlled by selfish ambition, the adoption of this system in Japan is naturally sought by a certain class of politicians. From a superficial point of view, the Occidental form of society is very attractive, inasmuch as being the outcome of a free development of human desires from ancient times, it represents the very extreme of luxury and extravagance. Briefly speaking, the state of things obtaining in the West is based upon the free play of human selfishness, and can only be reached by giving full sway to that quality. Social disturbances are little heeded in the Occident; yet they are at once the evidences and the factors of the present evil state of affairs. ... In the Orient, from ancient times, national government has been based on benevolence, and directed to securing the welfare and happiness of the people. No 135 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism political creed has ever held that intellectual strength should be cultivated for the purpose of exploiting inferiority and ignorance. . . . Now, to satisfy the needs of one luxurious man, the toil of a thousand is needed. Surely it is monstrous that those who owe to labour the pleasures suggested by their civilization should forget what they owe to the labourer, and treat him as if he were not a fellow being. But civilization, according to the Occident, serves only to satisfy men of large desires. It is of no benefit to the masses, but is simply a system under which ambitions compete to establish their aims. . . . That the Occidental system is gravely disturbing to the order and peace of a country is seen by men who have eyes, and heard by men who have ears. The future of Japan under such a system fills us with anxiety. A system based on the principle that ethics and religion are made to serve human ambition naturally accords with the wishes of selfish individuals; and such theories as those embodied in the modern formula of liberty and equality annihilate the established relations of society, and outrage decorum and propriety. . . . Absolute equality and absolute liberty being un- attainable, the limits prescribed by right and duty are supposed to be set. But as each person seeks to have as much right and to be burdened with as little duty as possible, the results are endless disputes and legal con- tentions. ... It is plain that if the mutual rights of men and their status are made to depend on degrees of wealth, the majority of the people, being without wealth, must fail to establish their rights ; whereas the minority who are wealthy will assert their rights, and, under society's sanction, will exact oppressive duties from the poor, neglecting the dictates of humanity and 136 Conscience benevolence. The adoption of these principles of liberty and equality in Japan would vitiate the good and peaceful customs of our country, render the general disposition of the people harsh and unfeeling, and prove finally a source of calamity to the masses. . . . Though at first sight Occi- dental civilization presents an attractive appearance, adapted as it is to the gratification of selfish desires, yet, since its basis is the hypothesis that men's wishes con- stitute natural laws, it must ultimately end in disappoint- ment and demoralization. . . . Occidental nations have become what they are after passing through conflicts and vicissitudes of the most serious kind. . . . Perpetual disturbance is their doom. Peaceful equality can never be attained until built up among the ruins of annihilated Western States and the ashes of extinct Western peoples."^ VI. CONSCIENCE It has often been objected as against Buddhism that while its moral code is admirable, it provides no sanction, or no sufficient sanctions, for morality. And we may say at once, that since the ' individual ' does not exist, there can be no question of reward or punishment for the individual, and therefore there is no sanction for morality based on reward or punishment affecting the individual in the future. Neither does Buddhism name any God from whom have proceeded Tables of the Law invested with supernatural authority. The true Buddhist, how- ever, does not need to be coerced by hopes of heaven or fears of hell ; nor can he imagine a higher sanction than that of reason (Truth). ^ * Lafcadio Hearn, y the Gospel of Buddhism And with this contrasts the futile longing of man for an eternity of happiness : Vou do obey your months and timeSy but I Would have it ever Spring : My fate would knozv no Winter ^ never die, Nor think of such a thing. O that I could my bed of earth but view And smile, and look as cheerfully as you I And so it is that the Sermon of the Woods should teach us spontaneity of action, to fall in with the natural order of the world, neither apathetic nor rebellious, but possess- ing our souls in patience. 258 PART V : BUDDHIST ART /. BUDDHIST LITERA TURE Language and Writing WE may safely assume that Gautama's teaching was communicated to his disciples in MagadhI, the spoken dialect of his native country. The oldest contemporary documents of Buddhist literature, the Edicts of Asoka, are written in a later form of the sister dialect of Kosala.^ The Hinayana Buddhist scrip- tures, the Theravada Canon or old Buddhist Bible, are preserved to us only in the literary dialect known as Pali ; while the later Mahayana texts of the Mahayana are com- piled to us in Sanskrit, and preserved in that form, or in the early Chinese translations. Pali and Sanskrit in Buddhist circles play the part which was taken by Latin in the Christian Church of the Middle Ages. Pali is a literary form based on MagadhI, gradually developed, and perhaps only definitely fixed when the scriptures were first written down in Ceylon about 80 B.C. How can we speak of authentic scriptures which were not put into writing until four centuries after the death of the teacher whose words are recorded ? That is possible in India, though not in Europe. In the time of Gautama, a very long period of literary activity was already past, and the same activity still continued. Vedic literature, in particular, with the exception of the later Upanishads, was already ancient, while the work of the great compilers of epic poetry, and of the grammarians and lawmen, is only ^ The Edicts 0/ Asoka, though veritable Buddhist literature, are not included in the scriptural canon, and are here referred to in a separate chapter, p. 180 seq. 259 Buddha &P the Gospel of Buddhism a little later, and this literature has been faithfully trans- mitted to the present day. There existed also a great mass of contemporary popular poetry in the form of ballads and romances, tales and proverbs, part of which is preserved and embedded in Buddhist and Sanskrit literature, such as the Pali Jatakas and the Brahmanical epics. And yet it is unlikely that any written books existed much before the time of Asoka. Writing was first introduced to India about the eighth century b.c, probably by merchants trading with the cities of the Euphrates valley, but for a long time the idea of the written word was regarded in literary circles with much disfavour. One curious illustration of this appears in the fact that books are not included in the list of personal property allowed to be possessed by the Brethren. The Indians had long since elaborated a system of remembered literature, which, given the certainty of a regular succession of teachers and disciples, secured the transmission of texts as well, and perhaps better than the written page. Because of this mnemonic system, the lack of external means of record had not been felt. Study consisted, therefore in hearing, and in repeating to one- self, not in the reading of books. This tradition has survived in considerable vigour to the present day ; it is no uncommon thing to meet with Pandits who can repeat from memory a body of sacred literature of almost incred- ible extent, and it is still believed that "oral instruction is far superior to book-learning in maturing the mind and developing its powers." It hardly needs to be pointed out that many great thinkers, both ancient and modern, have shared this view. Plato suggests that the invention of letters "will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn it, through neglect of memory, for that, 260 Language and Writing through trusting to writing, they will remember outwardly by means of foreign marks, and not inwardly by means of their own faculties;" while Nietzsche exclaims that " He that writeth in blood and proverbs, doth not want to be read, but to be learnt by heart," In point of fact the principal literary form of the age of Gautama is that of the Sutra or Siitta, a ' string ' of logia to be learnt by heart; and almost all early Indian literature, even the literature of law and grammar, is compiled in verse. Another reason for regarding writing with disfavour was that the written text becomes accessible to all, while the Brahmans at any rate wished to withhold the esoteric doctrine from those not qualified to understand or to make good use of it, and other matter from those who would perhaps encroach on their professional rights. The system of mnemonic education and pupillary succession was also so well organized that there was no fear that the well-trained 'rememberer' would ever forget what he knew ; the only recognized dangers were that certain texts might fall out of favour and so be finally lost, as has inevitably happened with a great part of early Indian literature, or that some accident might interfere with the pupillary or ' apostolic ' succession. Moreover, the means of making durable books had not yet been devised in the time of Gautama. On the other hand it is clear from the mode of publication of Asoka's edicts that a fairly general knowledge of writing, a literacy perhaps about the same as that of modern India, had been attained by the third century B.C. The Buddhist canon was first written down in Pali about 80 B.C., in the reign of King Vattagamani, in Ceylon. It is worth while to quote the words of the Sinhalese chronicle on this important event : 261 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism "The text of the Three Pitakas and the commentary thereon did the most wise Bhikkhus hand down in former times orally, but since they saw that the people were falling away (from the orthodox teaching), the bhikkhus met together, and in order that the true doctrines might endure, they wrote them down in books." ^ These texts have been faithfully transmitted to modern times by successive copyists. On the other hand it is quite certain that a considerable part already existed in the same form in the time of Asoka, for some of the texts are referred to by name, and with quotation, in the Edicts. Without entering upon a long discussion, it will suffice to say that some parts of the texts almost as certainly go back to an earlier period, and record the sayings and doctrine of Gautama as remembered by his immediate disciples. The orthodox Hinayanists, however, are not justified in asserting that the Pali canon was actually fixed, still less that it was written down, at the 'First Council' imme- diately following the death of Gautama; the Buddhist Bible, like the Christian, consists of books composed at different ages, and many or most of the books are compila- tions of materials by many hands and of various periods. Tke Pali Canon The Pali canon consists of ' Three Pitakas,' or ' Baskets.' The Vinaya Pitaka is concerned with the rules of the Order of Brethren. It is subdivided as follows : Khandaka jMahavagga [Cullavagga Parivara ^ Mahdvamsa^ ch. xxxiii. 262 A. CALLING THE EARTH TO WITNESS (THE ASSAULT OF MARA) Cave painting at Dambulla, Ceylon (i8th century') ^^^^^^^^^E-^— 3~j]^Hpj|p^ ^HH |H^^HB ^^^^^^^^^B 4-'.'>^' -'^-^y' >. - ^ -g^^^^B^^B T^T^ b:-^i^:^" S -^1 JJJJ^l^^ Plat* T B. BUDDHIST LIBRARY. KANDY, CEYLON .62 The Pali Canon We need not repeat here what has been said elsewhere regarding the organization of the Order of bhikkhus. But it is of interest to note that the first chapter of the Mahavagga contains some of the oldest parts of the Buddha legend, relating in dignified archaic language how Gautama attained enlightenment, determined to preach the Law, and gained his first disciples. Here also the First Sermon of the Buddha, at Benares, and the well-known Fire Sermon are given, and the ordination of Rahula is also related. In the Cullavagga are found the stories of the merchant Anathapindika who dedicated a park to the Order ; of Devadatta, Gautama's cousin and enemy, the first schismatic; the establishment of the order of Sisters ; and a number of edifying anecdotes, all connected with the history or constitution of the Order. We have already quoted the First Sermon of Gautama, in which are set forth the essentials of the Dhamma, the Four Ariyan Truths and the Eightfold Path. Here we transcribe, with some abbreviation, the almost equally famous sermon in which the transient life of the individual, subject to grief and tormented by desires is likened to existence in the midst of a fire. "Then said the Exalted One to his disciples: 'Every- thing, O disciples, is in flames. And what Everything, O disciples, is in flames? The eye, O disciples, is in flames, the visible is in flames, the knowledge of the visible is in flames, the contact with the visible is in flames, the feeling which arises from contact with the visible is in flames, be it pleasure, be it pain, be it neither pleasure nor pain, this also is in flames. By what fire is it kindled ? By the fire of desire, by the fire of hate, by the fire of fascination, it is kindled ; by birth, old age, death, pain, lamentation, sorrow, grief, despair, it is 26^ Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism kindled : thus I say. The ear is in flames, the audible is in flames, the knowledge of the audible is in flames, the contact with the audible is in flames, the feeling which arises from contact with the audible is in flames, be it pleasure, be it pain, be it neither pleasure nor pain, this also is in flames. By what fire is it kindled? By the fire of desire, by the fire of hate, by the fire of fascination, it is kindled ; by birth, old age, death, pain, lamentation, sorrow, grief, despair, it is kindled; thus I say. The sense of smell is in flames' — and then follows for the third time the same series of propositions; — ' the tongue is in flames ; the body is in flames ; the mind is in flames ' ; — each time the same detail follows unabridged. Then the address goes on : " ' Knowing this, O disciples, a wise, noble, hearer of the word becomes wearied of the eye, he becomes wearied of the visible, he becomes wearied of the knowledge of the visible, he becomes wearied of contact with the visible, he becomes wearied of the feeling which arises from contact with the visible, be it pleasure, be it pain, be it neither pleasure nor pain. He becomes wearied of the ear' — and then follows one after the other the whole series of ideas as above. The address concludes : " * While he becomes wearied thereof, he becomes free from desire ; free from desire, he becomes delivered ; in the delivered arises the knowledge: I am delivered; rebirth is at an end, perfected is holiness, duty done; there is no more returning to this world ; he knows this." * It should be noted that this address is delivered by Gautama to an assembly of Brethren already initiated and ordained, already familiar with the thought of origin- ation and decease. A somewhat different method is ^ Condensed from Oldenberg. Another version above, p. 42. 264 The Pali Canon employed in addresses to uninitiated laymen, such as the 80,000 village elders sent by King Bimbisara to the Buddha for instruction. There is in a much more popular style — milk for babes. When in another place the Buddha is accused of favouritism, inasmuch as he teaches the more profound doctrine to his disciples and more simple matters to the public, he draws an analogy from the operations of a farmer, who devotes the most care to his most productive fields (the Brethren), somewhat less attention to the less fertile fields (the Buddhist laity), and less still to the barren soil (those who do not accept the Good Law). While Discipline is dealt with in the Vinaya Pitaka, the S^itta Pitaka, the ' Basket of Suttas ' is our chief source for the Buddha's Gospel as expounded in argument and dialogues. Here also are included the " Psalms of the Brethren and Sisters," the most important literary pro- duction of early Buddhism, and the Jdtakas, which embody the largest and oldest collection of folklore extant. The Siitta Pitaka is divided as follows : 1. Digha Nikdya\ 2. Majjhima Nikdya\ 3. Samyittta Nikdya\ 4. Anguttara Nikdya\ and 5. KImddaka Nikdya. The last, again, includes, i. Kh7iddakapdtha\ 2. Dha7nmapada ; 3. Uddna ; 4. Ithmttaka ; 5. Siitta- nipdta\ 6. Viindnavatthu\ 7. Petavatthu\ 8. Thcra- gdthd\ 9. Thcr~igdthd\ \o. Jdtaka\ 11. Nidd€sa\ 12. Patisainbhiddmagga\ 13. Apaddna\ 14. Buddhavanisa\ and 15. Cariydpitaka. The first of the Digha Nikdya Suttas is called the Perfect Net. In this net are supposed to be caught and exposed each and all of sixty-two different philosophies which proceed from the ancient animistic conception of soul as a subtle, permanent entity within the body, and 265 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism independent of the life of the body. These various eel-wrigglers, as Gautama calls them, he says are all of them trapped in the net of the sixty-two modes : "this way and that they plunge about, but they are in it; this way and that they may flounder, but they are included in it, caught in it. Just, brethren, as when a skilful fisherman or fisher-lad should drag a tiny pool of water with a fine-meshed net he might fairly think : 'Whatever fish of size may be in this pond, every one will be in this net; flounder about as they may, they will be included in it, and caught ' ; just so is it with these speculators about the past and future, in this net, flounder as they may, they are included and caught." It is unfortunate that in all these cases we hear only one side of the argument, which always appears to leave no way of escape for the 'skilled absolutist.' If ever Gautama met his match we should like to hear what passed on such an occasion. Of more enduring interest is the Sutta upon the Fniits of the Life of a Wanderer. Here, moreover, we do not get a purely Buddhist, but rather an Indian point of view. The whole Sutta constitutes a reply to the question, what advantage is the life of a recluse? King Ajata- sattu of Magadha points out the gain that men derive from their worldly occupations, and wishes to know what corre- sponding fruit, visible here and now, the members of a religious Order obtain. Gautama replies that the fruit of the life of the member of an Order may be seen in : I . The honour and respect shown to such men by others in the world; even the king, for example, would show respect to a man who had formerly been a slave or a servant, if he adopted the homeless life. 2. The train- ing in mere morality, as kindness, honesty, chastity, etc. 266 The Pali Canon 3. Confidence, freedom from fear, etc., born of conscious rectitude. 4 and 5. RecoUectedness and self-possession. 6. Contentment with little. 7. Emancipation from the Five Hindrances: Covetousness, ill-temper, laziness, anxiety and perplexity. 8. The consequent joy and peace. 9. Practice of the Four Jhanas. 10. Insight arising from knowledge. 11. The power of projecting mental images. 12. Five modes of mediumship and clairvoyance (thought-reading, audition, etc.) ;i and finally 13 (which alone is distinctively Buddhist), realization of the Four Truths, destruction of the Flood of Passion, attainment of Arahatta. The argument concludes : " Thus with the pure Heavenly Eye, surpassing that of men, he sees beings as they pass away from one state of existence, and take form in another; he recognizes the mean and the noble, the well-favoured and the ill-favoured, the happy and the wretched, passing away according to their deeds." ^ And the recluse perceives the Four Arlyan Truths, " and he knows Rebirth has been destroyed. The higher ^ These are practices generally, but by no means always, condemned in early Buddhist scriptures. 2 I quote this passage on the Heavenly Eye {Dibba-cakkhu)—onm\sdcr).\. vision of all that comes to pass in the Kamaloka and Rupaloka— because the same idea in a less mythical form frequently recurs in Indian writings, with reference to the intuition of men of genius generally ; it can be paralleled elsewhere, e.g. Chuang Tzu : " The mind of the sage being in repose becomes the mirror of the Universe, the speculum of all creation," and William Morris : " It seems to me that no hour of the day passes that the whole world does not show itself to me." Buddhists also recognize the Dhamma-cakkhii (Eye for the Truth) and Panna-cakkhu (Eye of Wisdom). In Hindu mythology these three modes of ' vision ' are symbolized by the third eye which opens on the brow of Siva. 267 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism life has been fulfilled. What had to be done has been accom- plished. After this present life there will be no beyond ! "Just, O king, as if in a mountain fastness there were a pool of water, clear, translucent, and serene ; and a man, standing on the bank, and with eyes to see, should perceive the shellfish, the gravel and the pebbles and the shoals of fish, as they move about or lie within it : he would know : ' This pool is clear, transparent and serene, and there within it are the shellfish, and the sand and gravel, and that the shoals of fish are moving about or lying still.' "This, O king, is an immediate fruit of the life of a recluse, visible in this world, and higher and sweeter than the last. And there is no fruit of the life of a recluse, visible in this world, that is higher and sweeter than this." The Tevijja Sutta, one of the very few which emphasize the advantage of rebirth in the Brahma heavens, while leaving out of account the fundamental idea of Ara- hatta, is remarkable for the beautiful description of the Four Sublime Moods which, if they are not the end of Buddhist culture, are at any rate its initiation : " And he lets his mind pervade one quarter of the world with thoughts of Love, and so the second, and so the third, and so the fourth. And thus the whole world, above, below, around, and everywhere, does he continue to pervade with heart of Love, far-reaching, grown great, and beyond measure. "Just, Vasettha, as a mighty trumpeter makes himself heard — and that without difficulty — in all the four directions ; even so of all things that have shape or life, there is not one that he passes by or leaves aside, but regards them all with mind set free, and deep-felt love. 268 The Pali Canon "Verily this, Vasettha, is the way to a state of union with Brahma." Exactly the same formula is repeated in the case of the three other moods, Compassion, Sympathy, and Im- partiality. The Sigdlavdda Siitta consists of a discourse in which the Buddha lays down for a young layman the duties of those who live in the world, in general accord with the injunctions of Brahmanical scriptures. A Sutta of greater importance is the Mahdparinibbdna, the Great Sutta of the Full Release, in which the last days and last words of the Teacher are recorded. Some parts of this date back almost certainly to the memory of the Buddha's immediate disciples. Undoubtedly old, for example, is the famous saying : "Therefore, O Ananda, be ye lamps unto yourselves. Be ye your own refuge. Hold fast to the Norm as your Light, fast to the Norm as your Refuge." So too the description of Ananda's overwhelming grief, leaning against a door-post and weeping, until the Master sends for and speaks to him words of consolation. Many of the verses scattered through the prose, and marking moments of heightened emotion, must be ancient. In all these more ancient passages the Buddha speaks entirely as a man to man ; but elsewhere in the same work super- natural powers and portents are freely introduced. A number of quotations from this Sutta have already been given in earlier chapters. The Pdydsi SiUta maintains an argument in favour of the existence of a soul quite contrary to the real genius of early Buddhist thought. It is true the upholder of the Buddhist position is the venerable Kumara Kassapa, and not Gautama himself ; still it is taken to be the Buddhist 269 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism position, and it is very curious to see the sceptical Payasi inquiring : " But who lets Master Kassapa know all these things : that there are Three-and-Thirty Gods, or that the Three-and-Thirty Gods live so many years ? We do not believe him when he says these things." This is evidence that some of the early Buddhists, at least, took very seriously their pantheon of minor divinities. The Majjhima Nikaya contains a number — 152 — of sermons and dialogues which are shorter than those of the Digha Nikaya. The Samyutta Nikaya contains fifty-six groups of Suttas dealing with connected subjects or persons. The Main- samyutta^ and the Bhikkwiisamyutta for example, num- bers four and five in the series, contain a group of legends in which Mara the Tempter appears to the Buddha, to his disciples, or to one or other of the Sisters, and endeavours to shake their faith. These Suttas are cast in the old form of conte fable, an alternation of prose and verse, the Indian name of which is dkhydna. Amongst these ballads are some of the most beautiful of old Indian poems ; we recognize in them also many of the elements of a primitive drama, the material from which drama may have developed, but we cannot speak of them as early Buddhist dramas in them- selves, for they are neither sufficiently elaborated, nor was any such worldly activity as the drama tolerated in the rule of the Brethren. Only at a considerably later date (Asvaghosha) do we find Buddhist poets creating admit- tedly dramatic works. Of the spiritual ballads now under consideration, the following of GotamI the Slender — the story of whose conversion has already been given (p. 148 f.) — will serve as a good example : " Thus have I heard. The Master was once staying at 270 The Pali Canon Savatthi, in the Jetta grove, the park of Anathapindika. Sister Kisa GotamI dressed herself early, and taking the alms-bowl beneath her robe, went to Savatthi to beg her food. And when she had gone about Savatthi and returned with what she had collected, and had duly eaten, she entered the Dark Wood, and sat her down at the foot of a tree thinking to pass the day there. " Then the evil Mara, desiring to arouse fear, wavering, and dread in her, desiring to make her to desist from her concentred thought, went up to her. And he addressed Kisa GotamI in the verse that follows : ' How comes it thou dost sit with tear-stained face Like to some mother that has lost her child? Here dwelling all alone within the forest depths Is it, perhaps, a man thou lookest for ? ' " Then GotamI the Slender reflected : Who is this, whether human or not-human, who has spoken such a verse? And it came into her mind : It is the evil Mara, who seeks to arouse in me fear, wavering, and dread, and would make me to desist from my concentred thought ; he has spoken the verse. And when the Sister Kisa GotamI knew that it was Mara, she replied to him in the verse that follows : Tis sooth indeed that I am she whose child is lost for ever: ^ While as for men^ they are not hard to find t I do not weep 7ior wail, nor have I any fear of thee, my friend: Love of the world is utterly destroyed^ the glooJii is rent in twain y And I have overcome the hosts of Death And here I dwell, fro77i all the Deadly Floods emancipate.^ ^ The words 'for ever' convey the thought that while GotamI had lost her child, yet, being an Arahat, never again would she suffer the like loss. 271 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism '* Then Mara vanished thence, sorry and dejected, think- ing : Sister GotamI knoweth me." The Anguttara Nikdya is a very extensive work, contain- ing at least 2308 Suttas. These are classified in sections, numbered one to eleven, the Suttas in each section dealing with such things of which there are as many as the num- ber of the Sutta itself. Thus in the Second Section the Suttas speak of the two things which a man should avoid, the two kinds of Buddhas, the two virtues of the forest-life ; in the Third Section the Suttas speak of the trinity of Thought, Word, and Deed, and the three sorts of monks ; in the Fourth Section, the four things which lead to a cessation of Becoming, the four that lead to Purga- tory, the four that lead to Paradise, and so forth ; in the Eighth Section, the eight ways in which man and woman mutually hinder each other, and the eight causes of an earthquake; in the Tenth Section, the ten powers of a Buddha. Needless to point out, the arrangement is formal and pedantic, and the general tone is also somewhat dry. One of the best passages, however, is that which speaks of the Three Messengers of the Gods — Old Age, Illness, and Death — of whom King Yama asks the misdoers who fall into Purgatory, thus : " ' O man, did you not see the first of Death's messengers visibly appear among men ? ' " He replies : * Lord, I did not.' "Then, O Brethren, King Yama says to him: 'O man, did you not see among men a woman or a man, eighty or ninety or hundred years of age, decrepit, crooked as the curved rafter of a gable roof, bowed down, leaning on a staff, trembling as he walked, miserable, with youth long fled, broken-toothed, grey-haired and nearly bald, totter- ing, with wrinkled brow, and blotched with freckles ? ' 272 The Pali Canon " He replied, ' Lord, I did.' "Then, O Brethren, King Yama says to him : ' O man, did it not occur to you, being a person of mature intelligence and years : " I am also subject to old age, and in no way exempt. Come now, I will act nobly, in deed, word, and thought?'" " He replies : ' Lord, I could not. Lord, I did not think.' "Then, O Brethren, King Yama says to him: 'O man, through thoughtlessness you failed to act nobly in deed, word, and thought. Verily it shall be done unto you, O man, in accordance with your thoughtlessness. ... It was you yourself who did this wickedness, and you alone shall feel its consequences 1 " From the literary point of view we may remark three characteristics of the Suttas so far considered. First of all, the repetitiofiSy of which an example will be found in the Fire Sermon quoted above. It is almost impossible to put such texts before a modern reader without con- densation, and without the use of the conjunction 'and,' and without, pronouns, as they are in the original, to say nothing of the tedious reiteration of every phrase and every shade of thought. " The periods of these addresses," says Professor Olden- berg, " in their motionless and rigid uniformity, on which no lights and shadows fall, are an accurate picture of the world as it represented itself to the eye of that monastic fraternity, the grim world of origination and decease, , which goes on like clockwork in an ever uniform course, and behind which rests the still deep of the Nirvana. In the words of this ministry, there is heard no sound of working within ... no impassional entreating of men to come to the faith, no bitterness for the unbelieving who remain afar off. In these addresses, one word, one s 273 Buddha i^ the Gospel of Buddhism sentence, lies beside another in stony stillness, whether it expresses the most trivial thing or the most important. As worlds of gods and men are, for the Buddhist con- sciousness, ruled by everlasting necessity, so also are the worlds of ideas and of verities: for these, too, there is one, and only one, necessary form of knowledge and expression, and the thinker does not make this form but he adopts what is ready to hand . . . and thus those endless repetitions accumulate which Buddha's disciples were never tired of listening to anew, and always honour- ing afresh as the necessary garb of holy thought." The Buddhist authors were perhaps so much impressed by and so pleased with the excellent doctrine, that they did not feel the repetitions wearisome, they could not hear too often the hard-won truths that had set them free. We have a glimpse of this point of view in one of Asoka's Edicts, where the Emperor says : " Certain phrases have been uttered again and again by reason of the honeyed sweetness of such and such a topic, in the hope that the people may act up to them." The early Buddhists had no wish to make their scriptures interesting, and it is very true that they 'have but one taste.' At the same time it is most likely that this extremely serious and indeed heavy style, made eloquent only by its very seriousness — it is not to be denied that the method of line upon line has a certain cumulative impressiveness, a kind of noble austerity and patience, a ' sublime monotony ' — really reflects the manner of speech of the Buddha himself. For Gautama is not — like Jesus — a poet and a mystic, but a psychologist : ^ he does not ^ If Gautama was indeed a mystic, as the MaJiayanists claim, it is then to Buddhaghosha and other of the PaH authors whom we must regard as chiefly responsible for ' Pali Buddhism.' 274 Plate U a74 THE BUDDHA TEACHING Gilt bronze, Laos, in Gupta style, but probably mediaeval Collection of Mr Victor Golonbew The Pali Canon speak to uneducated fishermen, but to practised meta- physicians, and in an atmosphere of controversy: he makes no personal appeal, he speaks with well-considered purpose rather than enthusiasm or fervour, and he is concerned to leave no loophole for possible or deliberate misunderstandings. He feels, indeed, some apprehension lest in future the most profound sermons should be neglected in favour of more artistic and attractive com- positions : "Some there are," he says, '* who hearken willingly to the works of followers of mine who are poets, poetasters, litt67'ateurs, or mystics . . . and who allow the sermons of the Tathagata, of profound import, transcendent, and devoted to the doctrine of the Void, to be forgotten." We may thus believe that the more poetical and literary books were only little by little and with some difficulty admitted to the canon ; and this is probably the explana- tion of the fact that they are for the most part gathered together in one Nikaya, the KJmddaka, which was most likely included in the authoritative scripture at a com- paratively late date, though of course it contains abund- ance of ancient matter side by side with the younger. The second characteristic which we remark in the Suttas so far discussed is the dialectic method of the Buddha's argument. The manner of his speech is always courteous and friendly: '* The method followed is always the same. Gautama puts himself as far as possible in the mental position of the questioner. He attacks none of his cherished convictions. He accepts as the starting-point of his own exposition the desirability of the act or condition prized by his opponent. ... He even adopts the very phraseology of the ques- tioner. And then, partly by putting a new and (from the 275 Buddha &f^ the Gospel of Buddhism Buddhist point of view) a higher meaning into the words ; partly by an appeal to such ethical conceptions as are common ground between them ; he gradually leads his opponent up to his conclusion. This is, of course, always Arahatship." ^ This is the method of the Socratic dialogue ; and we may also take it that in the Dialogues extant we have at least as much of the actual teaching of Gautama preserved, as Plato gives of the teaching of Socrates. The method, however, presupposes an acquaintance with the point of view of the Buddha's opponents, since, as Professor Rhys Davids justly remarks, the argtwientuin ad ho7ninem can never be quite the same as a general statement made without reference to the opposite view. There is also the disadvantage that the argument is made to lead to a fore- gone conclusion, and though the logical sequence may be indisputable, the twisting of words in a new sense some- times ' corners ' the opponent without meeting his real position. We do not really hear both sides of the case. As Professor Oldenberg truly comments : " Those who converse with Buddha are good for nothing else but simply to say /Yes,' and to be eventually converted, if they have not yet been converted." Subject to this limitation, and apart from the wearisome repetitions, we can nevertheless recognize that the Dialogues are skil- fully constructed and couched in language of restraint and dignity. A third special characteristic of the Suttas is the constant use of simile and parable. A simile, indeed, is not an argument; but it often serves better to convince the listener than any sequence of close reasoning. Many of the similes are well-found, and additional to their value ^ Rhys Davids, Dialogues of the Buddha, i, p. 206. 276 The Pali Canon for edification, they throw a strong light on the every- day life of ancient India, very welcome to the historian of manners. Those which refer to the crafts are of special interest : we read, for example : "Just, O king, as a clever potter or his apprentice could make, could succeed in getting out of properly prepared clay any shape of vessel he wanted to have, or an ivory carver out of ivory, or a goldsmith out of gold : such, O king, is the Skill which is an immediate fruit of the life of a recluse." — Samatma-phala Stitta. And with reference to the practice of breathing exercises, and mindfulness : " Even as a skilful turner, or turner's apprentice, drawing his string at length, or drawing it out short, is conscious that he is doing one or the other, so let a Brother practise inhaling and exhaling." — Mahd Satthipatthd7ia Sutta. A favourite simile is that of the oil-lamp : "Just, O Brethren, as an oil-lamp burns oil and wick, and a man from time to time adds more oil and renews the wick, this oil-lamp thus fed with fuel burns for a much longer time — so. Brethren, waxes Craving in the man who finds his pleasure in things of the world, that in sooth are nought but bonds." — Samyutta Nikdya. Another favourite simile is that of the lotus, for "'Just as the lotus born of watery mud, grows in the water, rises above the water, and is not defiled by it : so have I arisen in the world, and passed beyond the world, and am not defiled by the world,' says Gautama." — Samyutta Nikdya. The lotus has thus become a symbol of purity ; and in iconography, when an apparitional character had been given to the figure of the Buddha, and in the case of other superhuman beings, the lotus pedestal or seat is a 277 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism mark of other-worldly and divine origin or nature. Need- less to say the lotus, in literature, is the source of many other similes and metaphors, for the most part not specifically Buddhist. In general also, the lotus stands for anything that is excellent and well-liked : "The boy Vipassi, Brethren, became the darling and beloved of the people, even as a blue or rose or white lotus is dear to and beloved of all, so that he was literally carried about from lap to lap." — Mahdpadana Sutta. In another place the true spiritual life is compared to a lute, of which the strings must be neither too loosely nor too tightly stretched ; by this is indicated the internal balance and harmony of the ideal character. The teaching of salvation, again, is compared to the healing work of the physician, who removes from a wound the poisoned arrow, and applies the curing herbs. Sometimes the similes are humorous, as when it is pointed out that if a man should milk a cow by the horns, he would get no milk; or if one should fill a vessel with sand and water, and churn it ever so much, sesamum oil would never be produced ; just so a monk will never reach his goal unless he goes the right way about it. In other cases the parable is not merely valueless as argument, but absolutely futile. When, for example, it is desired to expose the social and spiritual pretensions of the Brahmans, Gautama inquires if a fire should be lighted by a Brahman, a Kshattriya, a Vaishya and a Sudra : would the fires lit by Brahmans and Kshattriyas alone give light and heat, or would the fires lit by out- casts, hunters and sweepers, not also yield their light and heat? The king with whom Gautama speaks can naturally only answer that the fires will not differ in their 278 The Pali Canon properties. But what has this to do with a discussion for or aeainst the Brahmanical scheme of social differentiation ? That all men have many things in common does not prove that all men are alike in every particular, nor does it disprove the advantage of hereditary culture: the whole discussion, like so many others which turn upon analogy, is neither here nor there. The contents of the Khuddaka Nikdya are very varied. Most of the works in this collection of aphorisms, songs, poems, and fables have some artistic and literary as well as an edifiying character, and thus it has the greatest importance in the literary history of India. Here also greater relative stress is laid on ethics, and the more profound doctrine occupies less space. The Mangala Sntta, for example, mentions the honouring of parents and the cherishing of wife and children as amongst the most auspicious actions. It is, however, the Dhammapada in which the ethical aphorisms are chiefly assembled. This book is better known in Europe than any other Buddhist scripture, and has been often translated. It is, indeed, worthy of the notice it has attracted, and of the eulogy of Oldenberg : " For the elucidation of Buddhism nothing better could happen than that, at the very outset of Buddhist studies, there should be presented to the student by an auspicious hand the Dhammapada, that most beautiful and richest collection of proverbs, to which anyone who is determined to know Buddhism must over and over again return." This proverbial wisdom gives a true picture of Buddhist thought and feeling, but expressed in terms of emotion and poetry which lend to the themes of transcicnce and to the formulae of the psychologist a tragic poignancy that is often lacking in the set dialogues, 279 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism " How can ye be merry, how can ye indulge desire ? Evermore the flames burn. Darkness surrounds you : will ye not seek the light ? " Man gathers flowers ; his heart is set on pleasure. Death comes upon him, like the floods of water on a village, and sweeps him away. '* Man gathers flowers ; his heart is set on pleasure. The Destroyer brings the man of insatiable desire within his clutch. '' Neither in the region of the air, nor in the depths of the sea, nor if thou piercest into the clefts of the mountains, wilt thou find any place on this earth where the hand of death will not reach thee. " From merriment cometh sorrow : from merriment cometh fear. Whosoever is free from merriment, for him there is no sorrow : whence should fear reach him ? " From love cometh sorrow ^ : from love cometh fear : whosoever is free from love for him there is no sorrow : whence should fear reach him ? " Whoso looketh down upon the world, as though he gazed on a mere bubble or a dream, him the ruler Death beholdeth not. " Whosoever hath traversed the evil, trackless path of the Samsara, who hath pushed on to the end, hath reached the shore, rich in meditation, free from desire, free from hesitancy, who, freed from being, hath found rest, him I call a true Brahman." ^ This truth, which has so deeply penetrated Indian thought, is balanced by a recognition of the impossibility that the majority of men should for fear of sorrow refrain from love, and expressed with tragic beauty in a well-known Indian refrain, which may be translated — Belovid^ had I knozvn that love brings pain, I must have proclaimed, with beat of drum, that ?ione should love. 280 The Pilli Canon The thought of transcience constantly overshadows every other : "Those bleached bones, which are thrown out yonder, like gourds in the autumn, seeing those, how may any man be merry ? " Esteeming this body like a bubble, regarding it as a mirage, breaking the tempter's flower-shafts, press on to the bourne where the monarch Death shall never see thee more." Those who have thus attained exclaim : " In perfect joy we live, without enemy in this world of enmity ; among men filled with enmity we dwell without enmity. " In perfect joy we live, hale among the sick ; among sick men we dwell without sickness." We read also : " All men tremble at punishment, all men love life ; remember that thou art like unto them, and do not slay nor cause to slay. "Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered is unhappy. He who has given up both victory and defeat, he the contented, is happy. " ' He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me,' in those who do not harbour such thoughts hatred will cease. " For hatred does not cease by hatred at anytime : hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule." It should be noticed that the Dhaniuiapada is an antho- logy, rather than a single work ; many of the sayings can be closely paralleled in other Indian books such as the Mahdbhdrata or Hitopadesa, and not more than half can be regarded as distinctively Buddhist. The Uddna and the ItiviUtaka consist of prose and 281 Buddha (Sf the Gospel of Buddhism verse, and contain a collection of sayings of the Buddha. The simple ethical aspect of the Dhamma, for example, is given as follows : " To speak no ill, to injure not, To be restrained according to the precepts, To be temperate in food. To sleep alone, To dwell on lofty thoughts, This is the Law of the Buddha." The StUta-nipdta is a collection of five Suttas wholly in verse. The Vasettha Sulta, for example, returns to the old question of what constitutes a Brahman, whether birth or character. In connexion with this discussion, there is a remarkable passage affirming the unity of the human species, a view in accord with most (though not all) of modern authorities. The passage runs, after mentioning the marks of distinction between quadrupeds, serpents, birds, etc. : " As in these species the marks that constitute species are abundant, so in men the marks that constitute species are not abundant. " Not as regards their hair, head, ears, eyes, mouth, nose, lips or brows, . . . nor as regards their hands, feet, palms, nails, calves, thighs, colour, or voice are there marks that constitute species as in other species. " Difference there is in beings endowed with bodies, but amongst men this is not the case ; the difference amongst men is only nominal." And, therefore — " Not by birth is one a Brahman, nor is one by birth no Brahman . . . but by effort, by religious living, by self- restraint and by temperance, by this one is a Brahman." Amongst all works of the KJmddaka Nikdyay however, the 282 The Pali Canon *' Psalms of the Brethren and Sisters " {Thci'd-thci'i-gdtha) stand foremost in literary and human interest. In skilful craftsmanship and beauty these songs are worthy to be set beside the hymns of the Rig Veda, and the lyrical poems of Kalidasa and Jayadeva. Each of the songs is ascribed by name to some member of the Sangha who attained to Arahatta in the lifetime of Gautama, and the later com- mentary often adds a few words by way of a biography of the author. But we cannot place very much reliance on the names, although their citation does not mislead us in presupposing a great variety of authors in this collec- tion. It is interesting to note that analysis reveals certain psychological differentiation as between the songs of the Brethren and those of the Sisters : in the latter there is a more personal note, and more of anecdote; in the former more of the inner life, and more descriptions of natural beauty. The burden of all the songs is the calm delight, the peace beyond words to which they have attained, who have left the world and are free from desires and from resentment ; each Psalm, as it were, is a little song of triumph — like the Buddha's song of the builder of the house, which is here ascribed to the Arahat Sivaka — pertinent to the individual experience of the one that speaks. These songs are a personal expression of all those ideals and aims which are spoken of in the more ' profound * texts. On the part of the Brethren, very often the theme is one of extreme misogyny : the true hero is he who bars his heart from ' all that emanates from woman.' More than one picture of a woman's corpse in the charnel field is presented with unpleasant detail ; and there at least a woman becomes of some use, for her decaying body teaches the lesson of disgust; nowhere else can she be 283 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism aught but a fetter and a hindrance to those who would set themselves to righteous duties. It would perhaps be unfair to contrast this point of view with the Brahmanical ideal of marriage as undertaken by man and woman pre- cisely for the joint performance of social and religious duties ; for we are here concerned with monasticism, and Brahmanical ascetic literature can provide its own mis- ogynistic texts to compare with those of Buddhism. The following may serve as an example of the Thera's songs : * Of Candana it is said that when a child was born to him, he left his home for the Order, and dwelt in the forest. One day, hearing that he was engaged in meditation in the charnel field, his wife endeavoured to win him back to the household life. It was in vain; and this was the Arahat's ' witness ' : In golden gear bedecked, a troop of maids Attending in her train, bearing the babe Upon her hip, my wife drew near to me. I marked her coming, mother of my child. In brave array, like snare of Mara laid. Thereat arose in me the deeper thought : Attention to the fact and to the cause. The m,isery of it all was manifest ; Distaste., indifference., the mind possessed ; And so my heart was set at liberty. O see the seemly order of the Norm ! The Threefold Wisdom have I made my oivn. And all the Buddha bids me do is do7ie. 1 The translations are quoted from the admirable versions of Mrs Rhys Davids {Psalms of the Brethren, 1913). The much more interesting Nature poems of the Brethren are quoted above, p. 166 seq. 284 The Pali Canon The following is an extract from the " Psalm of Revata": Since 1 weyit forth from home to homeless life, Neer have I harboured conscious ivish or plan Un- Ariy an or linked with enrnity. . . . With thought of death I dally not, 7ior yet Delight in living. I aivait the hour Like any hireling who hath done his task. With thought of death I dally not, 7ior yet Delight in living. I await the hour With mind discerning and with heedfulness. The Master hath 7ny fealty and love, Aiid all the Buddha s bidding hath been done. Low have I laid the heavy load I bore, Cause for rebirth is fotnid in me no more. The Good for which I bade the world farewell. And left the home to lead the homeless life. That highest Good have I accomplished, And every bond and fetter is destroyed. Far more poetic than the verses inspired by the Brethrens' fear of woman as the subtlest form of worldly snare, are those of the Sisters themselves, reflecting on the passing away of their own youth and beauty, and pointing for themselves the lesson of transcience ; and amongst these none is more interesting than that of the courtesan Ambapall, whose generosity to the Order we have already noticed ; she was converted by the preaching of her own son, and studying the law of impcrmanence as illustrated in her own ageing body, she uttered the following verses (nineteen in all, of which I quote five) : 285 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism Glossy and black as the doivn of the bee my curls once clustered. They with the waste of the yea^-s are liker to hempen or bark cloth. Such and not othei'imse runneth the rune, the zvord of the Soothsayer. Dense as a grove well planted, and comely with comb, pin and parting. All zvith the waste of the years dishevelled the fair plaits and fallen Such and not otherwise runneth the rune, the zvord of the Soothsayer. Lovely the lines of my cars as the delicate worlc of the goldsmith. They ivith the ivaste of years are seamed with zvr inkles and pendent. Such and not otherwise runnctli the rune, the zvoi^d of the Soothsayer. Full and lovely in contour rose of yore the small bi-easts of me. They with the waste of the years droop shrunken as skins without water. So and not otherwise runneth the rune, the word of the Soothsayer. Such hath this body been. Now age-weary and weak and tcnsightly, Home of manifold ills ; old hotise zohence the mortar is dropping. So and not otherwise runneth the rune, the word of the Soothsayer. 286 The Pali Canon *' And inasmuch as the Therl, by the visible signs of im- permanence in her own person, discerned impermancnce in all phenomena of the three planes, and bearing that in mind, brought into relief the signs of 111 (dukkha) and of No-soul (anatta), she, making clear her insight in her Path- progress, attained Arahantship." ^ The words of Sundarl-Nanda, another of the Sisters, resume the same train of thought : Now for the body care I never more, and all my conscious- ness is passion- free. Keen with tmfettered zeal, detached, calm and serene I taste Nibbands peace. Another composite work, and one of the greatest signifi- cance for literary and social history, is the book oijdtakas, or histories of the previous births of Gautama. Originally consisting only of verses, to which the reciter must have added a verbal explanation, they are now preserved in the form of the Pali Jdtakavannana, where the verses are enshrined in a formal framework of which the chief parts are the introductory episode and the concluding identifica- tion of the characters ; within these is the story proper, consisting of prose and verse. Each of these four elements, as Professor Rhys Davids points out, has had a separate history ; the old Jataka book contained the verses only; the necessary oral commentary which accompanied the quotation of the verses was subsequently written down and forms the prose story, which is summed up, as it were, and clinched by the old verses, and finally the ^ Mrs Rhys Davids comments : " It is interesting to find these two ancient institutions, the hetaira of the community and the Wise Woman, with her monopoly of seeing things as they have been, are, or will be, combined in one and the^ame poem." 287 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism scholastic framework was completed. The Jatakas in this final form were not completed before the fifth century a.d. However, the stories so preserved, we have every reason to believe, closely follow an old tradition handed down from at least the third century B.C. ; for a considerable number of these stories are illustrated in the well-known Bharhut sculptures, and are there labelled with their names, and in one case a half verse is also quoted. We learn from these sculptures that folk-tales and secular fables were adapted to an edifying purpose quite early in the history of Buddhism precisely as popular and secular art is adapted to Buddhist purposes in the sculpture them- selves. Beside this, we have to observe that although the stories are now converted to the purposes of Buddhist edification, they belong rather to Indian than to specifically Buddhist literature, and very few have a purely Buddhist origin. In point of fact the rule of the Order forbids the Brethren to listen to stories of kings and queens, wars, women, gods and fairies, and so forth, and some little time must have elapsed before the Buddhists could have come to believe that the Jatakas were really related by the Buddha himself. Then again, in the very fact of the stress that is laid upon the doctrine of the Bodhisattva, and in the emphasis laid upon the old ' resolve ' of the Brahman Sumedha (in the Jataka), as well as in the introductory and other references to the twenty-four ' previous Buddhas,' the Jataka book shows a considerable development of Buddhist scholas- ticism and theology, and might very well be described as a Mahayanist scripture, notwithstanding it is included in the Pali canon. Many of the stories are older than Buddhism, and notwithstanding that in their Buddhist garb they do not date from the time of Gautama, they 288 The Pali Canon give us a true picture of old Indian life of about the fifth century B.C. Apart from their literary value, this fact alone makes the Jataka collection of great interest ; beside which, this is the " most reliable, the most complete, and the most ancient collection of folk-lore now extant in any literature in the world." The Jatakas vary greatly both in subject and in literary merit, and also in length ; some are dry and witless, others point a merely common-sense moral, others elaborate the systematic doctrine of the previous Buddhas and the character of the Bodhisattva as exemplifying the ten great virtues {Pdra7iiitds\ while yet others are works of the finest art, setting forth with poignant intensity the drama of human emotion : some are fragments of epics, with the flavour of aristocracy, others are the work of unimagina- tive misogynists, others are popular ballads, and many are little more than nursery tales. All this is easily explained by the composite authorship of the collection, and the variety of class and occupation of those from whom the Order of the Buddhist Wanderers was recruited. Amongst the simplest stories there are many fables of world-wide distribution, like the story of the ass in the lion's skin, stories of grateful beasts and thankless men; here also are tales of demons and fairies, cannibal kings and masters of magic, to delight the hearts of any child or childlike people. On the other hand are the formal epics, amongst which is the recension of some old Rama ballad, such as constituted the basis of the RdmCiyana. But here we shall quote only one Jataka at some length, the CJiadda7itii Jataka, which is perhaps the most beautiful, and add also a short summary of another which is a great favourite, the Vcssantara Jataka, which sets forth the T 289 Buddha &P the Gospel of Buddhism ' supernatural generosity ' of the Bodhisattva in his last incarnation before the attainment of Buddhahood. Chaddanta Jdtaka Introductory episode: A well-born girl of Savatthi, recognizing the misery of the worldly life, had adopted the homeless state, and was one day seated with others of the Sisters, hearing the Master's teaching; and the thought came into heart, ' Was I in some former life an attendant of his wives ? ' Then she remembered that in the time of the elephant Chaddanta, she herself had been his wife, and her heart was filled with joy. But ' Was I well or ill-disposed to him ? ' she thought, ' for the greater part of women are ill-disposed to their lords.' Then she remembered that she had borne a grudge against Chaddanta, and had sent a hunter with a poisoned arrow to take his tusks. Then her grief awoke, and her heart burned, and she burst into sobs and wept aloud. On seeing that, the Master smiled, and being asked by the company of the Brethren, 'What, Sir, was the cause of your smiling,' he said, ' Brethren, this young Sister wept for an injury she did me long ago.' And so saying he told a story of the past. Once on a time the Bodhisatta was born as the son of the chief of a herd of elephants in the Himalayas. He was pure white, with red feet and face; when he grew up he became the chief of a great herd, and he worshipped private Buddhas. His two chief queens were CuUasubhadda and Mahasubhadda. One year it was reported, ' The great sal-grove is in flower ' ; and with all his herd he went to take his pleasure there. As he went along he struck a sal tree with his forehead, and because CuUasubhadda was standing to windward, twigs 290 Chaddanta Jataka and dry leaves and red ants fell on her, while Maha- subhadda stood to leeward, so that flowers and pollen and green leaves fell on her. Cullasubhadda thought, "He let the flowers and pollen fall on his favourite wife, and the twigs and red ants on me,' and she bore him a grudge. Upon another occasion, when a lotus with seven shoots had been offered to him, he presented it to Mahasub- hadda. Then Cullasubhadda was still more estranged, and she went to a shrine of private Buddhas and made offerings of wild fruits, and prayed: 'Hereafter, when I pass away, I would be reborn as the daughter of a king, that I may become the queen of the King of Benares. Then shall I be dear to him, and may work my will, and I will have him to send a hunter with a poisoned arrow to kill this elephant and bring me his sixfold tusks.' And in time to come she becomes the chief queen of the King of Benares. She remembers her former life, and thinks : ' My prayer has been fulfilled.' She feigns sickness, and persuades the king to grant her a boon, which alone will restore her health and spirits; what the boon is she will tell when all the king's huntsmen are assembled. It is that some one of them should brino^ her the tusks of Chaddanta. She opens a window and points to the Himalayas in the North and says: There dwells invincible in inicht. This elephant, six-tusked and white. Lord of a herd eight thousand strong Whose tusks are like to chariot poles^ And wind-swift they to giiard or strike / If they should see a child of ma7t Their aftger should destroy him utterly, 291 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism and she beheld in her heart the very spot where he was taking his pleasure, how Fresh from his bath and lotits-wreathed. He ?navcs along the homeward track. Vast is his brake and lily white, And the7'e before him, walks a dear-loved qtieen. Of all the huntsmen, one by name Sonuttara, who was a hideous lout and big and strong, undertook the task, and being furnished with all needful implements, he set forth on his way. It needed seven years of weary going to reach Chaddanta's haunts ; but no sooner come there, than Sonuttara dug a pit and covered it with logs and grass, and donning the yellow robes of a man of religion, and taking his bow and poisoned arrow, he hid himself and lay in wait. Presently Chaddanta passed by, and Sonuttara wounded him with the poisoned arrow. But the elephant subduing his feelings of resentment, asked the hunter, ' Why have you wounded me ? is it for your own ends or to satisfy the will of another? ' The hunter answered that Subhadda, the consort of the King of Benares, had sent him to secure the tusks. Chaddanta reflected, ' It is not that she wishes for the tusks, but she desires my death ; ' and he said : Co77te now, thou hunter, and before I die Saw through my ivory tusks ; And bid the jealous queen rejoice '■Here ai'e the tusks^ the elephant is dead' So Chaddanta bowed his head, and Sonuttara began to saw the tusks ; and when he could not cut them, the great elephant took the saw in his trunk and moved it to and fro till the tusks were severed. Then he gave up 292 Chaddanta Jataka the tusks and said, ' I do not give you these tusks, my friend, because I think them of little value, nor to win the status of a god, but because the tusks of omniscience are a thousand times dearer to me than these ; and may this worthy gift be the cause of my attaining Omniscience.' Then the hunter departed with the tusks ; and before the other elephants reached Chaddanta he had died. The hunter came then before the queen and said : Here are his tusks, the beast is dead. ' Do you tell me that he is dead ? ' she cried ; and he answered, ' Rest assured that he is dead, here are the tusks.' Then she received the six-rayed tusks, and laying them across her lap, and thinking, ' These are the tusks of him who was once my lord,' she was filled with sorrow so great that she could not bear it, but there and then her heart broke and she died the same day. To make the story clear, the Master said : She whom you used to see, A Sister in the yellow robe. Was once a queen, and I The king of elephants, who died. But he that took the shining tusks Matchless on earth, of pui'e ivhite. And brought them to Benares toivft, Has now the name of Devadatta. "This story of the past the Master told out of his own knowledge, but for all its sorrow, yet he himself was free from pain and grief. " And on hearing this discourse a multitude entered the First Path, and the Sister novice not long afterwards attained to Arahatta." 293 Buddha &* the Gospel of Buddhism Summary of the Vessantara Jdtaka A son was born to Phusati, the Queen-consort of the King of Sivi ; he was named Vessantara, and the fortune- tellers predicted that he would be devoted to almsgiving, never satisfied with giving. He was married to his cousin Maddl, and they had a son and a daughter. Vessantara possessed also a magical white elephant, that brought rain wherever he went. At that time there was a drought and famine in Kalinga, and the men of that country, knowing of the elephant, and of Vessantara's generosity, sent an embassy of Brahmans to ask for the elephant, As the Prince was riding through the city on the elephant, to visit one of his alms-halls, the Brahmans met him by the way and craved a boon, nor would he refuse the elephant himself. He descended from his back, and bestowed him on the Brahmans, together with all his priceless jewels and hundreds of attendants. Then was a ^nighty tei'ror felt, then bristling of the hair When the gf^eat elephant was given, the earth did quake for fear ^ and the people of the city reproached the Bodhisattva for his too great generosity. In order to avoid their anger, he was banished. Vessantara spent a day in bestowing gifts of elephants, horses, women, jewels, and food ; then he went forth into exile, accompanied by Maddi and both the children, setting out in a gorgeous carriage drawn by four horses. On the way he gives the horses and chariot in alms ; finally they reach a beautiful forest retreat, and there take up their abode in a hermitage. While there a Brahman visits Vessantara, and begs for 294 Other Books of the Canon the children to be his servants, and they are freely given ; they are subsequently brought by the same Brahman to the city from which Vessantara had been exiled, and they are there ransomed by his parents. Next, Sakka appears to Vessantara in the shape of another Brahman, and asks for his wife. The Bodhisattva bestows his wife upon the seeming Brahman, saying : Weary am /, nor hide I that : yet in my own despite, I give, and shrink not : for in gifts my heart doth take delight . . . Both Jail and Kanhdjind I let another take^ And Maddi ?ity devoted luife, and all for wisdonis sake. Not hateful is my faithful luife, nor yet my children are, But perfect knowledge, to my mind, is something dearer far. Sakka then reveals himself, and restores Maddi, and bestows ten boons ; as the result of which Vessantara and Maddi are brought back to their paternal city, restored to favour, and reunited with their children, and finally Vessantara receives the assurance that he shall be born only once again. Other Books of the Canon The Buddhavamsa is a somewhat jejune recital of the histories of the twenty-four previous Buddhas, and the life of Gautama, represented to have been related by himself. The last book of the Khuddaka Nikdya is the Cariydpitaka, a collection of thirty-five Jatakas. The third division of the Pali canon, the Abhidhamma Pitaka, need not be considered here at any length, for it 295 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism differs from the Sutta literature already discussed only in being more dry, more involved, and more scholastic ; originality and depth are comparatively lacking, and our knowledge of Buddhist philosophy would be little less if the Abhidamma Pitaka were altogether ignored. Uncanonical Pali Literature If we proceed now to speak of the uncanonical Pali Buddhist literature, we meet in the first place the well- known book of the Questions of King Milinda, which might very well indeed have been included in the canon, and is so included in Siam. The most often quoted, and very characteristic passage of the Milinda Panha is the ' chariot ' discourse on anatta : Nagasena enquires of the king: "Pray, did you come afoot, or riding?" and there ensues the following dialogue : " Bhante, I do not go afoot : I came in a chariot." "Your majesty, if you came in a chariot, declare to me the chariot. Pray, your majesty, is the pole the chariot? " " Nay verily, Bhante." " Is the axle the chariot?" " Nay verily, Bhante." And so for the heels, the body, the banner-staff, the yoke, the reins, and the goad : the king admits that none of these, nor altogether constitute a chariot, nor is there any other thing beside these which constitutes a chariot. Then Nagasena continues : "Your majesty, though I question you very closely, I fail to discover any chariot. Verily now, your majesty, the word chariot is a mere empty sound. What chariot is there here ? " And the king is convinced that the word * chariot ' " is but a 296 Uncanonical Pali Literature way of counting, term, appellation, convenient designation, and name for pole, axle, wheels, chariot-body, and banner- staff." Nagasena draws the parallel : " In exactly the same way, your majesty, (my name of) Nagasena is but a way of counting, term, appellation, con- venient designation, mere name" for the several parts of the mind and body collectively regarded, while "in the absolute sense no Ego is here to be found." The whole of the canonical Pali Buddhist literature, together with the Questions of Milinda, are of Indian origin, notwithstanding they are preserved only in the Pali texts of Ceylon and Burma and Siam. The re- mainder of the uncanonical Pali literature, on the other hand, is almost entirely the work of the Sinhalese Brethren, or of Indian authors like Buddhaghosha who took up their residence in Ceylon. This learned monk came from a Brahman family of Bodh Gaya, and being converted by the monk Revata to Buddhism, he came to Ceylon to study the Buddhist commentaries. There he resided at the Great Monastery at Anuradhapura, and as the first fruit of his studies composed the Visuddhi Magga or ' Way of Purity,' a lengthy compendium of Buddhist lore. For the most part Buddhaghosha adheres to the setting forth of the old Arahat ideal, as, for example, when he tells of a monk who is so far removed from the world that he takes his daily meals for three months at the house of his mother without once saying ' I am thy son, thou art my mother'; notwithstanding she desired news of her lost son very greatly. So good a laywoman was she, however, that when another of the Brethren informed her that he had thus visited the house unknown, she speaks of her son's behaviour as altogether praise- worthy. For the most part there is no important con- 297 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism tribution to Buddhist doctrine, but on the other hand many legends and tales of wonder are preserved here and nowhere else ; there is considerable stress laid on miracles performed by the saints. Buddhaghosha also compiled a commentary on the whole of the canonical literature; though it is doubtful if the Jataka and Dhammapada commentaries are really his work. In any case, Buddha- ghosha is ^/ie Buddhist commentator, before all others ; his method is clear and penetrating, and the illustrative leorends serve to bVhten the more tedious summaries. Two Buddhist Pali works of very great importance, the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa, are verse chronicles of Ceylon history. Notwithstanding that no distinction is here made between saga, legend, and de facto history, a considerable part, and especially the later part of these works, has a great historical value. We find, for example, a striking confirmation of the general accuracy of the tradition, in the fact that the chronicles mention amongst the names of Asoka's missionaries those of Kassapa-gotta and Majjhima as having been sent with three others to the Himalayas, while archaeological exploration has unearthed from a stupa near SanchI a funeral urn bearing the inscription in script of the third century b.c. : ' Of the good man Kassapa-gotta, teacher of all the Himalaya region,' while the inside of the urn is inscribed ' Of the good man, Majjhima.' Indian practice, however, deals with history as art rather than science ; and perhaps the chief interest of the Ceylon chronicles appears in their epic character. The Dipavamsa^ probably of the fourth century a.d. — just before Buddha- ghosha — is composed in very poor Pali, and is altogether an inartistic production ; it has only been preserved in Burma, while in Ceylon its place has been taken by the 298 Uncanonical Pali Literature much finer book of the A fa /uwavisa, composed byMahanama toward the end of the fifth century. *'We are here able," says Professor Geiger, "in a way that elsewhere is not easy, to follow the development of the epic in its literary evolution. We are able to picture to ourselves the contents and form of the chronicle which forms the basis of the epic song, and of the various elements of which it is composed. . . . The Dlpavarnsa represents the first unaided struggle to create an epic out of the already existing material. It is a document that fixes our attention just because of the imcompleteness of the com- position and its want of style. . . . The Mahdvamsa is already worthy of the name of a true epic. It is the recognized work of a poet. And we are able to watch this poet in a certain measure at his work in his workshop. Although he is quite dependent on his materials, which he is bound to follow as closely as possible, he deals with them critically, perceives their shortcomings and irregu- larities, and seeks to improve and to eliminate." * The hero of this epic is Dutthagamani, a national hero king of the second century b.c, whose renown in Southern Buddhist annals is second only to that of Asoka himself. The king's victory over the Tamil leader is related as follows : " King Dutthagamani proclaimed with beat of drum : ' None but myself shall slay Elara.' When he himself, armed, had mounted the armed elephant Kandula, he pursued Elara and came to the south gate (of Anurad- hapura). Near the south gate of the city the two kings fought : Elara hurled his dart, Gamani evaded it ; he made his own elephant pierce (Elara's) elephant with his tusks, and he hurled his dart at Elara; and the latter ^ Geiger, Dipavamsa und Mahdvamsa (1905), introduction. 299 Buddha ^ the Gospel of Buddhism fell there with his elephant. . . . On the spot where his (Elara's) body had fallen he burned it with the catafalque, and there did he build a monument and ordain worship. And even to this day the princes of Lanka, when they draw near to this place, are wont to silence their music because of this worship." With true Buddhist feeling the king is represented to have felt no joy in his great victory and the slaughter of the invader's hosts : " Looking back upon his glorious victory, great though it was, he knew no joy, remembering that thereby was wrought the destruction of millions of beings." On this the chronicle comments : " Should a man think on the hosts of human beings mur- dered for greed in countless myriads, and should he care- fully keep in mind the (consequent) evil, and should he also very carefully keep in mind that mortality is the (real) murderer of all of them — then will he, in this way, speedily win to freedom from sorrow and to a happy state." One of his warriors took the robes of a monk, and the name of Theraputtabhaya, saying : " I will do battle with the rebel passions, where victory is hard to win ; what other war remains where all the realm is united?" The death-bed scenes are related with deep feeling : the king has his couch brought where he can gaze upon his two great buildings, the ' Brazen Palace ' monastery, and the Great Thupa, the latter not yet complete. He is surrounded by thousands of the Brethren, but looking about, he does not see Theraputtabhaya, his old com- panion-in-arms, and he thinks : "The Theraputtabhaya comes not now to aid me, now 300 The Sanskrit Texts that the death-struggle is begun, for methinks he foresees my defeat." But Theraputtabhaya appears, and the king is gladdened by his words : " O great king and ruler of men, fear not. Save sin be conquered, death is unconquerable. All that has come to be must also pass away, and all that is is perishable ; thus the Master taught. Even the Buddhas, never touched by shame or fear, are subject to mortality : therefore bethink thee, all that is is perishable, full of sorrow, and unreal. . . . O thou that art rich in merit, think upon all those works of merit done by thee up to this very day, and straightway shall all be well with thee ! " The book of meritorious deeds is accordingly read aloud and we are given the long list of the king's good works : amongst others, he has maintained eighteen hospitals for the sick. " But all this giving while that I reigned, rejoices not my heart ; only the two gifts that I gave, without care for my life, the while I was in adversity, these gladden my heart. . . . Twenty-four years have I been a patron of the Brethren, and my body shall also be a patron of the Brethren. In a place where the great Thupa may be seen ... do ye burn the body of me, the servant of the Brethren." Continuators of the Mahdvamsa have brought the chronicles up to modern times, the whole work consti- tuting a remarkable history of Buddhist culture in Ceylon. The Sanskrit Texts The remaining books of Pali Buddhist literature we shall not discuss, but turn to consider the Sanskrit books of the Mahayana. 301 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism A considerable part of these corresponds to the books of the Pali canon already described ; but they are not trans- lations from Pali, but rather parallel texts derived from the same Indian sources, the lost Magadhi canon on which the Pali books are based. On this account, although few of the Mahayana texts can be shown to be older in recen- sion than the third or fourth century a.d., we can under- stand that they embody older materials, together with the new additions. The Mahdvastu, indeed (' The Book of Great Events '), is still nominally a Hinayana work, though it belongs to the heretical sect of the Lokottaravadins who regard the Buddha as a supernatural being; the biography is a history of miracles. It is a compilation without any attempt at system. It contains also much that is properly Mahayanist, such as an enumeration of the Ten Stations of a Bodhisattva, Hymns to Buddha, the doctrine that worship of Buddha suffices to achieve Nirvana, and so forth ; but there is no characteristically Mahayana mythology. A more famous and a more important work is the Lalitavistara^ ' The History of the Play (of the Buddha) ' — a title suggestive of the Hindu conception of Lila or Play, the ' Wonderful Works of the Lord.' This is a Buddha biography with elaborate mythology, and stress is laid on faith as an essential element of religion. The general trend of the Lalitavistara is well known to Western readers, for it has formed the basis of Sir Edwin Arnold's beautiful poem, The Light of Asia. Its contents have also been closely followed in the famous sculptures of Borobodur ; and from the subject matter of Gandhara art we can infer with certainty that the Lalitavistara or some very similar 302 Asvaghosha text must have already been known in the first and second century a.d. In itself, however, the work is not yet a true Buddha-epic, but contains the germ of an epic. Asvaghosha It is from such ballads and anecdotes as are preserved in the Lalitavistara that Asvaghosha, the greatest Buddhist poet, has composed his masterly Biiddha-carita, the ' Course of the Buddha.' Asvaghosha is indeed not merely a Buddhist poet, but one of the greatest of Sanskrit poets, and the chief forerunner of Kalidasa. We have no certain knowledge of his date, but it is most probable that he flourished during the first century a.d., and in any case he must be regarded as a Father of the Mahayana. He must have been brought up as a Brahman before becoming a Buddhist. The Tibetan biography informs us that " there was no problem he could not solve, no argument he could not refute ; he overcame his adversary as easily as the storm wind breaks a rotten tree." The same authority tells us that he was a great musician, who himself composed and went about the villages with a troupe of singers and songstresses. The songs he sang spoke of the emptiness of phenomena, and the crowds who heard his beautiful music stood and listened in rapt silence. The Chinese pilgrim I-tsing, who visited India in the seventh century, speaks of his literary style as follows : " He is read far and wide throughout the five Indies and the lands of the southern seas. He clothes in but a few words many and many thoughts and ideas, which so rejoice the reader's heart that he never wearies of reading the poem. Very profitable also it is to read this poem, 303 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism for here the noble doctrines are set forth with convenient brevity." The work as we have it is but a fragment, completed by other hands ; yet it is a true Buddha-epic and the work of a true poet, who has created a work of art, informed with his own deep love of the Buddha and belief in the doctrine ; it is a court epic in the technical sense, in a style somewhat more elaborate than that of the Mahdvamsa^ but not yet at all immoderately artificial. The Biiddha-carita is not only an important monument of specifically Buddhist literature, but exercised an unmistakable influence on the development of Brahmanical classic Sanskrit. When the divine child is born it is prophesied. " The child is now born who knows that mystery hard to attain, the means of destroying birth. Forsaking his kingdom, indifferent to all worldly objects, and attaining the highest truth by strenuous efforts, he will shine forth as a sun of knowledge to destroy the darkness of illusion in the world. . . . He will proclaim the way of deliverance to those afflicted with sorrow, entangled in objects of sense, and lost in the forest-paths of worldly existence, as to travellers who have lost their way. . . . He will break open for the escape of living beings that door whose bolt is desire, and whose two leaves are ignorance and delusion, with that excellent blow of the good Law that is so hard to find. . . . And since I have not heard his Law, but my time has come to depart" (says the prophet) "my life is only a failure, I count even dwelling in the highest heaven a misfortune." The young prince, as he grew up, was surrounded by every pleasure, whereby to hinder him from seeking the Wanderers' life; his father "arranged for his son all kinds of worldly enjoyments, praying * Would that he 304 Asvaghosha may not be able to forsake us, even though he be hindered by mere unrest of the senses.'" The prince is tempted by beautiful women, skilled in the arts of seduction : " Come and listen to the notes of this intoxicated cuckoo as he sings, while another cuckoo sings as if consenting, wholly without care. Would that thine was the intoxi- cation of the birds which the spring produces, rather than the dreams of a man of thought, ever pondering how wise he is!" So they sing, voicing the spring-songs of the folk, and the resentment of women against a man's abstraction; but the Bodhisattva remains unmoved, preoccupied with the thought that death is the ultimate fate of all. " ' What is it that these women lack,' he asks, ' that they perceive not that youth is fickle? for this old age will destroy whatever has beauty. . . . Evidently they know nothing of death which carries all away, they are joyous in a world which is all pain, and so at ease and without distress they can sport and laugh. What rational being, who knows of old age, death and sickness, could stand or sit at his ease, or sleep, far less laugh? ... If desire arises in the heart of the man, who knows that death is certain, I think that his soul must be made of iron, who restrains it in this great terror, and does not weep.' " The following is from Yasodhara's lament when it is discovered that Prince Siddhartha has become a Wanderer : " If he wishes to abandon his lawful wife as a widow, and to become a religious, then where is his religion, wishing to practise a rule without his lawful wife to share it 1 It must be that he has never heard of the monarchs of old, his own forefathers, Mahasudarsa and others, how they went with their wives into the forest, since he thus wishes u 305 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism to adopt the religious life apart from me ! He does not see that husband and wife are alike consecrated by sacrifices, purified by the performance of Vedic rites, and destined to enjoy the same fruits hereafter. ... I have no such longing for the joys of heaven, nor are these hard for common folk to attain, if they be resolute ; but my one desire is that my darling may never leave me either in this world or the next." It is interesting to note the arguments adduced by the king's Brahman family priest, and by a trusted counsellor, who are sent to persuade the Bodhisattva to return, offering him the kingdom itself in his father's place. The former points out : "Religion is not wrought out only in the forests; the salvation of ascetics can be accomplished even in a city ; thought and effort are the true means ; the forest and the badge are only a coward's signs." and he cites the case of Janaka and others ; at the same time he appeals to the prince to take pity on his unhappy parents. The counsellor, with more worldly wisdom, argues that if there be a future life, it will be time enough to consider it when we come to it, and if not, then there is liberation attained without any effort at all ; and more- over, the nature of the world cannot be altered, it is S2iz generis subject to mortality, and it therefore cannot be overcome by extinguishing desire : *' ' Who causes the sharpness of the thorn ? ' he asks, ' or the various natures of beasts and birds ? All this has arisen spontaneously ; there is no acting from desire, how then can there be such a thing as will ? ' " At the same time he reminds the prince of his social duties, his debt to the ancestors, to be repaid only by begetting children, by study, and by sacrifice to the Gods, 306 Asvaghosha and sug-gests that he should fulfil these social duties before retiring to the forest. To these subtle advisers the prince replies by offering the usual ' consolation ' to sorrowing parents : " Since parting is inevitably fixed in the course of time for all beings, just as for travellers who have joined company on a road, what wise man would cherish sorrow, when he loses his kindred, even though he loves them ? " He adds that his departure to the forest cannot be considered 'ill-timed,' for liberation can never be ill- timed. That the king should wish to surrender to him the kingdom, he says, is a noble thought, but " How can it be right for the wise man to enter royalty, the home of illusion, where are found anxiety, passion, and weariness, and the violation of all right through another's service (exploitation) ? " To the metaphysical objections he replies: "This doubt whether anything exists or not, is not to be solved for me by another's words ; having determined the truth by discipline or by Yoga, I will grasp for myself whatever is known of it . . . what wise man would go by another's belief? Mankind are like the blind directed in the darkness by the blind. . . . Even the sun, therefore, may fall to the earth, even the mount Himalaya may lose its firmness; but I will never return to my home as a worldling, lacking the knowledge of the truth, and with sense only alert for external objects : I would enter the blazing fire, but not my house with my purpose unful- filled." In such a fashion Asvaghosha represents those stations in the life of every Saviour, which are familiar to Christians in the reply of Christ to his parents : Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? and in his refusal of 307 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism an earthly kingdom and the status of a Dharmaraja, when these are laid before him by the Devil. The passages so far quoted are primarily edifying: and notwithstanding the skill with which Buddhist thought is there expressed, there are others that will better exemplify Asvaghosha's epic diction and personal intensity of imagi- nation. Of the two following extracts, the first describes an early meditation of the Bodhisattva, beneath a rose-apple tree ; and the second, the gift of food which he accepts, when after five years of mortification of the flesh, he finds that mortification of the flesh will not lead him to his goal, and reverts to that first process of insight which came to him as he sat beneath the rose-apple. Here Asvaghosha proves himself a true poet ; he has a saga-teller's power of calling up a vivid picture in a few words, he understands the heavy toil of the peasant and of the beasts of burden, and he represents the pure dignity of unsophisticated girlhood, in the person of the herdsman's daughter, with the same simplicity that Homer uses when he speaks of Nausicaa. The prince went forth one day with a party of his friends, " with a desire to see the glades of the forest, and longing for peace : " " Lured by love of the woods and longing for the beauties of the earth, he repaired to a place near at hand on the outskirts of a forest; and there he saw a piece of land being ploughed, with the path of the plough broken like waves on the water. . . . And regarding the men as they ploughed, their faces soiled by the dust, scorched by the sun and chafed by the wind, and their cattle bewildered by the burden of drawing, the all-noble one felt the utter- most compassion; and alighting from the back of his horse, he passed slowly over the earth, overcome with 308 Asvaghosha sorrow — pondering the birth and the destruction pro- ceeding in the world, he grieved, and he exclaimed, ' This is pitiful indeed!' Then because he would be lonely in his thoughts, he hindered those friends who were follow- ing him, and went to the root of a rose-apple tree in a solitary place, of which the leaves were all a-tremble. There he sat upon the leafy ground, and the emerald grass; and meditating on the origin and destruction of the world, he laid hold upon the path that leads to constancy of mind." Long years after, having vainly mortified the flesh, the Bodhisattva reflected : " This is not the road that leads to passionlessness, or to liberation ; that was verily the true path which I found be- neath the rose-apple tree. But that is not to be achieved by one who has lost his strength . . . and making up his mind, 'This means involves the taking of food.' . . . Then, at that very time, Nandabala, the daughter of the chief of the herdsmen, impelled by the gods {i.e. following a spon- taneous and inexplicable impulse) and with a sudden joy uprising in her heart, came nigh ; her arm was decked with a white shell bracelet, and she wore a dark blue woollen cloth, like the river Jamuna, with its dark blue water and its wreath of foam ; and with joy increased by faith, and widely opened lotus-eyes, she bowed before the seer, and persuaded him to take some milk." Asvaghosha's other works include the Saundardnanda Kdvya, which also deals with the life of Buddha, and ex- hibits some Mahayana tendencies which are not apparent in the Ihiddha-carita. The Siiti'dlamkdra is a collection of pious legends in prose and verse, in the manner of the Jatakas and Avadanas. An Alamkara sastra is also ascribed to him. More doubtful is the authorship of the 309 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism Vajrasuci^ or Diamond-needle, a polemic against the Brahmanical caste system, supported mainly by citations from Brahmanical sources, such as the Vedas, the Maha- bharata, and the Laws of Manu. Finally there remains to be named the very important Mahay ana-s7'addha-utpada^ or ' Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana,' a philosophical and mystical work dealing with the doctrines of the Tathagata-garbha and Alaya-vijiiana after the manner of the Yogavaracaras and Asanga ; but there are good reasons to think that this text may be of considerably later date ; it was first translated into Chinese only in the sixth century, and is not known in the Sanskrit original. Aryasura A poet of Asvaghosha's school is Aryasura, the author of a famous Jatakamala or ' Garland of Jatakas,' to be assigned, most probably, to the fourth century a.d. Jatakamalas of this type are selections of the old stories retold as homilies in artistic prose and verse, for the use of monkish teachers trained in the tradition of Sanskrit court prose and poetry. Of Aryasura's work it has been well said : " It is perhaps the most perfect writing of its kind. It is distinguished no less by the superiority of its style than by the loftiness of its thoughts. Its verses and artful prose are written in the purest Sanskrit, and charm the reader by the elegance of their form and the skill displayed in the handling of a great variety of metres. . . . Above all, I admire his moderation. Unlike so many other Indian masters in the art of literary composition, he does not allow himself the use of embellishing apparel and the whole luxuriant mise eit scene of Sanskrit alamkara beyond what is necessary for his subject " (Speyer). I-tsing praises X^Cie. Jatakamala as among the works specially 310 Aryasura admired in his time. But more important is the fact that it is these versions of the Jatakas which are illustrated in the wall-paintings of Ajanta, and indeed, in some cases the pictures are inscribed with verse from Aryasiira's work ; the painting and the literary work are in close harmony of sentiment. The first story relates the Bodhisattva's gift of his own body for the nourishment of a hungry tigress, that she might not eat her own young, and it begins as follows : " Even in former births the Lord showed his innate, disin- terested, and immense love toward all creatures, and identified himself with all beings. For this reason we ought to have the utmost faith in Buddha, the Lord. This will be shown in the following great deed of the Lord in a former birth." Following each story is an injunction pointing out the moral. Many of the stories inculcate the duty of gentleness and mercy, by means of the relation of some anecdote regarding some helpful animal and an ungrateful man. The Ruru-deer, for example : " ' With his large blue eyes of incomparable mildness and brightness, with his horns and hoofs endowed with a gentle radiance, as if they were made of precious stones, that ruru-deer of surpassing beauty seemed a moving treasury of gems. Then, knowing his body to be a very desirable thing, and aware of the pitiless hearts of men, he would frequent such forest ways as were free from human company, and because of his keen intelligence he was careful to avoid such places as were made unsafe by devices of huntsmen ... he warned also the animals who followed after him to avoid them. He exercised his rule over them like a teacher, like a father.'" One day, however, he heard the cries of a drowning man, 311 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism and entering the stream he saved his life and brought him to the shore. At the same time the ruru-deer prayed the man to say nothing of his adventure, for he feared the cruelty of men. The queen of that country, however, happened at that time to dream of just such a deer; and the king offered a reward for the capture of such a creature. The man whose life had been saved, being poor, was tempted by the offer of a fertile village and ten beautiful women, and revealed to the king the secret of the beautiful deer. The king is about to let fly his arrow, when the deer asks him to stay his hand, and to tell who has revealed the secret of his forest home. When the wretched man is pointed out, the deer exclaims : ' Fie upon him 1 It is verily a true word, that ' better it is to take a log from the water than to save an ungrateful man from drowning.' Thus it is that he requites the exertions undertaken on his behalf ! " The king inquires why the deer speaks so bitterly, and the Bodhisattva (for such, of course, is the deer) replies : " No desire to pass censure moved me to these words, O king, but knowing his blameworthy deed, I spoke sharp words to hinder him from doing such a deed again. For who would willingly use harsh speech to those who have done a sinful deed, strewing salt, as it were, upon the wound of their fault ? But even to his beloved son a physician must apply such medicine as his sickness requires. He who has put me in this danger, O best of men, it is whom I rescued from the current, being moved by pity. Verily, intercourse with evil company does not lead to happiness." Then the king would have slain the man ; but the Bodhi- sattva pleads for his life, and that he may receive the promised reward. Then the Bodhisattva preaches the 312 Aryasura doctrine to the king and his wives and the officers of the court as follows : "Of the Law with the manifold duties dependent on it and its divisions : to abstain from injuring others, from theft, and the like, of this, I hold the shortest summary is ' Mercy toward every creature.' For consider, thou illustrious prince : If mercy to every creature should lead men to look on these as like to themselves or to the members of their own family, whose heart would ever cherish the baleful wish for wickedness? . . . For this reason the wise firmly believe that in Mercy the whole of Righteousness is comprised. What virtue, indeed, cherished by the pious is not the consequence of Mercy ? Having this in mind, be intent ever to fortify thy mercy to all people, holding them as like thy son or like thyself; and winning by thy pious deeds thy people's hearts, mayst thou glorify thy royalty ! " " Then the king praised the words of the ruru-deer, and with his landholders and burghers he became intent on following the Law of Righteousness. And he granted security to all fourfooted creatures and to birds. . . . ("This story is also to be told when discoursing on compassion, and may be adduced when treating of the high-mindedness of the virtuous, and also when censuring the mischievous.") Many of the Buddhist stories are thus in perfect accord with the words of the Western poet who says : He praycih best who love I h best All things both i^reat and small. and indeed, the A ?tc2e?il Mai'iiier is just such a tale as the Buddhist Brethren of literary tastes would have made into a Jataka. Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism Scarcely distinguishable from the Jatakas are the various Avadanas, which consist in general of Bodhisattva legends. Amongst these there should be noticed the Asoka cycle which forms a part of the Divydvaddna or ' Heavenly Avadanas.' The finest of these legends is the pathetic story of Kunala, the son of Asoka, whose eyes are put out by his wicked stepmother, without awakening in his heart any feelings of anger or hatred. I quote the summary of this story from the work of Oldenberg : " Kunala — this name was given to him on account of his wonderfully beautiful eyes, which are as beautiful as the eyes of the bird Kunala — lives far from the bustle of the court, devoted to meditation on impermanence. One of the queens is burning with love for the beautiful youth, but her solicitation and the menaces of disdained beauty are alike in vain. Thirsting for revenge, she contrives to have him sent to a distant province, and then issues an order to that quarter, sealed with the slyly stolen ivory seal of the king, for the prince's eyes to be torn out. When the order arrives, no one can be prevailed upon to lay hands on the noble eyes of the prince. The prince himself offers rewards to any one who should be prepared to execute the king's order. At last a man appears, repulsive to look on, who undertakes the performance. When, amid the cries of the weeping multitude, the first eye is torn out, Kunala takes it in his hand and says : ' Why seest thou no longer those forms on which thou wast just now looking, thou coarse ball of flesh ? How they deceive themselves, how blamable are those fools, who cling to thee and say, "This is I." ' And when his second eye is torn out, he says : ' The eye of flesh, which is hard to get, has been torn from me, but I have won the perfect faultless eye of wisdom. The king has 314 Aryasura forsaken me, but I am the son ot the highly exalted king of truth : whose child I am called.' He is informed that it is the queen, by whom the command concerning him was issued. Then he says : ' Long may she enjoy happi- ness, life, and power, who has brought me so much welfare.' And he goes forth a beggar with his wife ; and when he comes to his father's city, he sings to the lute before the palace. The king hears Kunala's voice; he has him called in to him, but when he sees the blind man before him, he cannot recognize his son. At last the truth comes to light. The king in the excess of rage and grief is about to torture and kill the guilty queen. But Kunala says : ' It would not become thee to kill her. Do as honour demands, and do not kill a woman. There is no higher reward than that for benevolence : patience, sire, has been commanded by the Perfect One.' And he falls at the king's feet, saying : ' O king, I feel no pain, notwithstanding the inhumanity which has been practised on me, I do not feel the fire of anger. My heart has none but a kindly feeling for my mother, who has given the order to have my eyes torn out. As sure as these words are true, may my eyes again become as they were;' and his eyes shone in their old splendour as before. " Buddhist poetry has nowhere glorified in more beautiful fashion, forgiveness, and the love of enemies than in the narrative of Kunala. But even here we feel that cool air which floats round all pictures of Buddhist morality. The wise man stands upon a height to which no act of man can approach. He resents no wrong which sinful passion may work him, but he even feels no pain under this wrong. The body, over which his enemies have power, is not himself. Ungrieved by the actions of other men, he permits his benevolence to flow over all, over the Buddha & the Gospel of Buddhism evil as well as the good. 'Those who cause me pain and those who cause me joy, to all I am alike ; affection and hatred I know not. In joy and sorrow I remain unmoved, in honour and dishonour; throughout I am alike. That is the perfection of my equanimity.'" The whole of the Buddhist Sanskrit works so far described stand in a half-way position between the Hinayana and Mahayana, the Awakening of Faith ascribed to Asva- ghosha, of course, excepted, though leaning more and more to the Mahayana side, a tendency which finds expression in an increasing emphasis on devotion to the Buddha upon the Bodhisattva ideal. Mahdymia-sutras With the Mahayana-sutras we reach a series of works that are entirely and wholly Mahayanist. There is of course no Mahayana canon, but at the same time there are nine books which are still highly honoured by all sects of the Mahayana alike. Amongst these are the Lalitavistara already mentioned, the Ashtasahasrika-pi^ajndpdramitd^ and the Saddhai'mapundarika. The last mentioned, the 'Lotus of the Good Law,' is perhaps the most important of these, and certainly of the chief literary interest. It may be dated about the end of the second century a.d. Here nothing remains of the human Buddha: the Buddha is a God above all other gods, an everlasting being, who ever was and for ever shall be ; the Buddhist religion is here completely freed from a dependence upon history. The Lotus of the Good Law is rather a drama than a narrative; it is " An undeveloped mystery play, in which the chief inter- locutor, not the only one, is Sakyamuni, the Lord. It consists of a series of dialogues, brightened by the magic ^16 Mahayana sutras effects of a would-be supernatural scenery. The phantas- magorical arts of the whole are as clearly intended to im- press us with the idea of the might and glory of the Buddha, as his speeches are to set forth his all-surpassing wisdom." Of literary interest are the numerous dramatic parables, such as that in which the Buddha is likened to a physician, whose many sons are struck down by an epidemic. He prepares for them a medicine, which some take, and are cured ; the remainder are perverse, and place no faith in the preparation. Then the father departs to a far country — the individual Buddha, that is, passes away — and then it is that the forsaken and still ailing sons turn to the remedy that has been left for them, knowing that they have no other resource. The narrator understands very well that trait of human nature whereby the man of genius is seldom appreciated until after his death ! The KaraTidavyjika, which was translated into Chinese already in the third century a.d. is concerned with the praise of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. The Snkkd- vativyuha praises the Buddha Amitabha, and the Blessed Land or Western Paradise. A more philosophical siitra, and one widely read in Japan at the present day, is the Vajracckedika, or Diamond-cutter, and this text will be familiar at least by name to many readers of the works of Lafcadio Hearn. The following passage will illustrate its metaphysical character, and reminds one of the saying of Behmen, in answer to the disciple's inquiry, Whither goeth the Soul when the Body dieth? — "There is no necessity for it to go anywhither." "And again ? O Subhuti, if anybody were to say that the Tathagata ^ goes, or comes, or stands, or sits, or lies down, * In this book generally translated ' He-who-has-thus-attained.' 2>^7 Buddha &P the Gospel of Buddhism he, O Subhuti, does not understand the meaning of my preaching. And why ? Because the word Tathagata means one who does not go to anywhere, and does not come from anywhere; and therefore he is called the Tathagata (truly come), holy and fully enlightened." The very much more extended works known as the Prajnctpm'amitds are filled with similar texts upon the Emptiness {^Stuiyata) of things. Works of this class are known, having in various recensions 100,000, 25,000, 8000, and some smaller numbers of couplets ; ih^Pinjudparaviild of 8000 couplets is the most commonly met with. They deal in part with the Six Perfections of a Bodhisattva (Paramitas), and especially with the highest of these, Prajna, Transcendent Wisdom. This wisdom consists in perfect realization of the Void, the No-thing, the Sunyata ; all is mere name. In these works the repetitions and the long lists of particular illustrations of the general truths are carried to incredible lengths, far beyond anything to be found in the Hinayana Suttas. But let us remember that the single truth of the Emptiness of things, thus inculcated by repetition — a repetition similar to that of the endless series of painted and sculptured figures of the excavated churches and temple walls — is no easy thing to be realized ; and the pious authors of these works were not concerned for an artistic sense of proportion, but with the dissemination of the saving truth. They did not believe that this truth could be too often repeated ; and if, for example, as they claim in the Vajracchedika, it was known even to children and ignorant persons that matter itself could be neither a thing nor nothing, perhaps even the modern world might do well to consider the value of repetition as an educational prin- ciple. F'or in Europe it is not always remembered, 318 Nagiirjuna and Others even in scientific circles, that Matter exists only as a concept, Ndgdrjiina mtd Others We have already mentioned the great Mahayana master Nagarjuna, who flourished in the latter part of the second century, a little after Asvaghosha. Like the latter he was first a Brahman, and Brahmanical philosophy is evident in his work. If not the founder of the Mahayana, he is the moulder of one of its chief developments, the Mad- hyamika school, of which the chief scriptures are his own Mddhyamika sfitra. In these he is chiefly concerned to demonstrate the indefinability of the Suchness (Bhuta- thuta), and he expresses this very plainly in several vpassages of these sutras, as follows : After his passing, deem not thus : ' The Buddha stillis here' lie is above all contrasts, To be aftd not to be. While liviftg, deem not thus : ' ilie Buddha is noiv here.' He is above all contrasts. To be and not to be. and To think ' // is ' is cternalisfu, To think, ' It is not,' is nihilism : Being and non-being. The ivise cling not to either. The work of Kumarajiva consists in his biographies of Asvaghosha and Nagarjuna, and a certain legendary Deva or Aryadeva ; these biographies were translated into Chinese early in the fifth century a.d. 319 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism The works of Asanga, the great master of the Yogacara sect, were translated into Chinese in the sixth century. Shdnti Deva Most eminent amongst the later Mahayana poets is the sainted Shanti Deva, who is probably to be assigned to the seventh century. His Shikshdsanmccaya, or 'Student's Compendium' is a work of infinite learning, each verse being provided with an extensive commentary and exegesis : the work itself neither is, nor is meant to be, original or personal. The two first of its twenty-seven verses run as follows : Since to my neighbours as to myself Are fear and sorrow hateftil each, What then distinguishes my self. That I should cherish it above another's ? Wouldst thou to Evil put an end, And reach the Blessed Goal, Then let your Faith be rooted deep, And all your thought upon Enlightenment. Far more poetical, and in Buddhist literature very noticeable for its burden of personal emotion, is the Bodhicaryavatdra, or 'Way of Enlightenment,' where the loftiest note of religious art is again and again touched. This is perhaps the most beautiful of all poetic expressions of the Bodhisattva ideal, of self-dedication to the work of salvation, and the eternal activity of love.^ "Nothing new will be told here," says Shanti Deva, "nor have I skill in the writing of books; therefore I have ^ This work has been compared to the Imitation of Christ of Thomas a Kempis \ both are works of true devotion and true art, but the Way of Enlightenment is not an ' Imitation ' of Buddha, but teaches how a man may become a Buddha. 3: ''.20 Shanti Deva done this work to hallow my own thoughts, not designing it for the welfare of others. By it the holy impulse within me to frame righteousness is strengthened ; but if a fellow creature should see it, my book will fulfil another end likewise." The following is a part of Shanti Deva's self-dedication (Pranidhana) to the work of salvation : " I rejoice exceedingly in all creatures' good works that end the sorrows of their evil lot ; may the sorrowful find happiness ! ... In reward for this righteousness that I have won by my works I would fain become a soother of all the sorrows of all creatures. . . . The Stillness (Nirvana) lies in surrender of all things, and my spirit is fain for the Stillness ; if I must surrender all, it is best to give it for fellow-creatures. I yield myself to all living creatures to deal with me as they list ; they may smite or revile me for ever, bestrew me with dust, play with my body, laugh and wanton ; I have given them my body, why shall I care? Let them make me do whatever works bring them pleasure ; but may mishap never befall any of them by reason of me. . . . May all who slander me, or do me hurt, or jeer at me, gain a share in Enlightenment. I would be a protector of the unprotected, a guide of way- farers, a ship, a dyke, and a bridge for them who seek the further Shore ; a lamp for them who need a lamp, a bed for them who need a bed, a slave for all beings who need a slave. ... I summon to-day the world to the estate of Enlightenment, and meanwhile to happiness; may gods, demons, and other beings rejoice in the presence of all the Saviours 1 " It is true that the old Buddhist love of loneliness and scorn of the flesh find expression again in Shanti Deva ; but there is a sensitive intimacy in his gentle words that X 321 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism overcomes the coldness of the early Buddhist asceticism, and engages our sympathy without provoking disgust : " Trees are not disdainful, and ask for no toilsome wooing ; fain would I consort with those sweet companions ! Fain would I dwell in some deserted sanctuary, beneath a tree or in caves, that I might walk without heed, looking never behind ! Fain would I abide in nature's own spacious and lordless lands, a homeless wanderer, free of will, my sole wealth a clay bowl, my cloak profitless to robbers, fearless and careless of my body. Fain would I go to my home the graveyard, and compare with other skeletons my own frail body 1 for this my body will become so foul that the very jackals will not approach it because of its stench. The bony members born with this corporeal frame will fall asunder from it, much more so my friends. Alone man is born, alone he dies ; no other has a share in his sorrows. What avail friends, but to bar his way? As a wayfarer takes a brief lodging, so he that is travelling through the way of existence finds in each birth but a passing rest. . . . *' Enough then of worldly ways ! I follow in the path of the wise, remembering the Discourse upon Heedfulness, and putting away sloth. To overcome the power of dark- ness I concentre my thought, drawing the spirit away from vain paths and fixing it straightly upon its stay. . . . " We deem that there are two verities, the Veiled Truth and the Transcendent reality. The Reality is beyond the range of the understanding ; the understanding is called Veiled Truth. ^ . . . Thus there is never either cessation ^ Veiled Truth, t'.e. savwritti-satya, the saguna or apara vidya of the Vedanta, and the Reality, i.e. faramdriha-satya, the nirguna or para vidya of the Vedanta, the former a ' distinction of manifold things,' the latter truth ' which is in the unity ' (Tauler). 322 Plate W FIGURES OF A YAKKHl OR DRYAD, AND OF A^" nAgarAja or serpent king Guardian spirits of the Great Thupa at Bharhut (3rd-2nd century b.c.) Sculpture and Painting or existence ; the universe neither comes to be nor halts in being.i Life's courses, if thou regardest them, are like dreams and as the plantain's branches ; in reality there is no distinction between those that are at rest and those that are not at rest. Since then the forms of being are empty, what can be gained, and what lost ? Who can be honoured or despised, and by whom ? - Whence should come joy or sorrow? What is sweet, what bitter? What is desire, and where shall this desire in verity be sought? If thou considerest the world of living things, who shall die therein ? who shall be born, who is born ? who is a kins- man and who a friend, and to whom ? Would that my fellow-creatures should understand that all is as the void ! . . . righteousness is gathered by looking beyond the Veiled Truth." //. SCULPTURE AND PAINTING As little as Early Buddhism dreamed of an expression of its characteristic ideas through poetry, drama, or music, so little was it imagined that the arts of sculpture and painting could be anything other than worldly in their purpose and effect. The hedonistic prepossessions are too strong — and this is also true of other contemporary Indian thought — for any but a puritanical attitude toward the arts to have been possible to the philosopher. The arts were regarded as a sort of luxury. Thus we find such texts as the following : ^ How like Bergson the thcjught that the universe never halts in being ! - " He who deems This to be a slayer, and he who thinks This to be slain, are alike without discernment ; This slays not, neither is it slain." — Bha^avad Gitd, ii, 19. Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism " Beauty is nothing to me, neither the beauty of the body, nor that that comes of dress. ^ " If a Brother or Sister sees various colours, such as wreaths, dressed images, dolls, clothes, woodwork, plaster- ing, paintings, jewellery, ivory-work, strings, leaf-cutting, they should not, for the sake of pleasing the eye, go where they will see these colours and forms." ^ Sisters were forbidden to look on ' conversation pictures ' or love scenes ; while the Brethren were only permitted to have painted on the monastery walls or the walls of their cave retreats the representation of wreaths and creepers, never of men and women. The hedonistic foundation of these injunctions is very clearly revealed in a passage of the later Visuddhi Magga — for the Hinayana maintains the puritanical tradition to the end, with only slight concession in admitting the figure of the Buddha himself — in a passage where ' painters and musicians ' are classed with ' perfumers, cooks, elixir-producing physicians and other like persons who furnish us with objects of sense.' ' Early Buddhist ' Art It is only in the third and second centuries B.C. that we find the Buddhists patronizing craftsmen and employing art for edifying ends. From what has already been said, however, it will be well understood that there had not yet come into being any truly Buddhist or idealistic Brahmanical religious art, and thus it is that Early Buddhist art is really the popular Indian art of the time ^ Infinitely remote from a modern view, which was also current in Mediaeval India, that ' the secret of all art . . . lies in the faculty of Self-oblivion.' — Riciotto Canudo, Music as a Religioji of the Future. ^ Dasa Dhammika Si/tta. Plate X FIGURE OF YAKKHl, A DRYAD From decorated gateway of the Sanchi Stupa (2nd century B.C.) 324 Early Buddhist Art adapted to Buddhist ends, while one special phase of art, represented by the capitals of the Asoka columns (Plate P) and other architectural motifs is actually of extra-Indian origin. Such non-Buddhist art as we have evidence of in the time of Asoka is concerned with the cults of the Nature spirits — the Earth Goddess, the Nagas or Serpent Kings of the Waters, and the Yakkha kings who rule the Four Quarters. The Early Buddhist art of Bharhut and Sanchi, which is Asokan or a little later than Asokan, reflects the predominance of these cults in the low-relief figures of the Yakkha Guardians of the Quarters which the entrance gateways (Plate O) of the ambulatory are protected. The victory of Buddhism over the animistic cults — of course, only a partial victory, for these cults flourish even to-day — is suggested by the presence of these Nature spirits (Plate W) acting as the guardians of Buddhist shrines, just as in the story of Buddha's life, by the episode of the Naga Mucalinda who becomes the Buddha's protector and shelter during the week of storms (Plate A6). The Nature spirits seem to be also repre- sented with a purely decorative, or perhaps reverential intention, in the case of the dryad figures (Plate X) asso- ciated with trees on the upper part of the Sanchi gates. These beautiful and sensuous figures are of high aesthetic rank, powerful and expressive : but in their vivid pagan utterance of the love of life, how little can we call them Early Buddhist art ! Apart from the figures of Nature spirits and the repre- sentations of animals, decorative or protective, the art of the Sanchi gateways is devoted to the illustration of edifying legends, the stories of the Buddha's former lives (Jatakas) and of the last incarnation. In these delicately 325 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism executed sculptures in low-relief we have a remarkable record of Indian life with its characteristic environment, manner, and cults, set out with convincing realism and a wealth of circumstantial detail. But though they tell us in what manner the holy legend was visualized within a few centuries of the Buddha's death, they are fundamentally illustrations of edifying episodes, and only to a very limited extent — far less, for example, than at Borobodur — can be said to express directly the Buddhist conceptions of life and death. There is, however, one respect in which that view is perfectly reflected, and this is in the fact — strange as it may at first appear — that the figure of the Master himself is nowhere represented. Even in the scene which illus- trates Siddhattha's departure from his home,^ Kanthaka's back is bare, and we see only the horse, with the figures of Channa, and of the attendant Devas who lift up his feet so that the sound of his tread may not be heard, and who bear the parasol of dominion at his side. The Buddha, however, may be symbolized in various ways, as by the Wisdom Tree, the Umbrella of Dominion, or, most typically, by conventionally represented Footprints. It will be seen that the absence of the Buddha figure from the world of living men — where yet remain the traces of his ministry — is a true artistic rendering of the Master's guarded silence respecting the after-death state of those who have attained Nibbana — " the Perfect One is released from this, that his being should be gauged by the measure of the corporeal world," he is released from " name and form." In the omission of the Buddha figure, then, this Early Buddhist art is truly Buddhist, but in nearly all ^ Depicted on the central horixontal beam of the east Sanchi gate (Plate O). 326 STANDING IMAGE OF THE BUDDHA Anuradhapura (2nd-3rd century a.d.) The Buddhist Primitives else it is an art about Buddhism, rather than Buddhist art. The Buddhist Primitives Wc have explained above under the heading * Beginnings of the Mahayana,' in what manner the Buddha came to be regarded as a personal god, and how the Early- Buddhist intellectual discipline is gradually modified by the growth of a spirit of devotion which finds expression in worship and the creation of a cult. This may to a large extent reflect the growing influence of the lay com- munity, and it is paralleled by similar tendencies in the development of other contemporary phases of belief. With what passionate abandon even the symbols of the * Feet of the Lord ' were adored will appear in the illustration (Plate Q) from the sculptures of AmaravatI, a Buddhist shrine in southern India, lavishly decorated with carvings in low relief, mostly of the second century A.D. Feeling such as this could not but demand an object of worship more personal and more accessible than the abstract conception of one whose being lay beyond the grasp of thought, for "exceeding hard" in the words of the Dhagavad Gitd, " is the unshown way." Thus the Buddha, and together with him first one and then another of the Bodhisattva saviours, originally idealizations of particular virtues, came to be regarded as personal gods responsive to the prayers of their worshippers, and extending the vessel of their divine benevolence and infinite compassion to all who seek their aid. This was the human need which alike in Buddhist and Hindu churches determined the development of iconography. The form of the Buddha image — the figure of the seated 327 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism yogi — was determined in another way. We have already under the headings of ' Yoga ' and ' Spiritual Exercise,' explained the large part that is played, even in Early Buddhism, by the practice of contemplation. At a very early date, probably already, in fact, in the time of Buddha, the seated yogi, practising a mental discipline or attaining the highest station of Samadhi, must have represented to the Indian mind the ultimate achievement of spiritual effort, and the attainment of the Great Quest. And so, when it was desired to represent by a visible icon the figure of Him-who-had-thus-attained, the appropriate form was ready to hand. It is most likely that images of the seated Buddha were already in local and private use as cult objects, but it is not until the beginning of the Christian era that they begin to play a recognized part in official Buddhist art,^ and the Buddha figure is introduced in narrative sculpture. It is very probable that examples of these earliest Buddhist primitives are no longer extant, but even if that be so, the splendid and monumental figures of Anuradhapura and Amaravati of perhaps the second century a.d., still reflect almost the full force of primitive inspiration. Of these figures there is none finer — and perhaps nothing finer in the whole range of Buddhist art — than the colossal figure at Anuradhapura illus- trated in Plate K. With this figure are to be associated a standing image of Buddha (Plate E) and one of a Bodhisattva, and these again are closely related to ^ As pointed out by M. Foucher, the image on the Kanishka reliquary ' indicates an already stereotyped arfr . . . and this votive document suffices to throw back by at least a century the creation of the plastic type of the Blessed One, and thus to take us back to the first century before our era.' — L'Origine grecque de f Image du Bouddha^ Paris, 19 13, p. 31. 328 Graeco-Buddhist Sculpture the standing Buddha figures of Amaravatl. In these austere images the moral grandeur of the Nibbana ideal finds its own direct expression in monumental forms, free of all irrelevant statement or striving for effect, and these are prototypes that are repeated in all subsequent hieratic Buddhist art. Grccco-Buddliist Sculpture From these works we must return to a consideration of the slightly earlier, better known and far more abundant art of Gandhara, generally called ' Graico-Buddhist.' This art is so called because, apart from the seated Buddha form, which must of course be wholly Indian, the leading types of the Buddhist pantheon — viz. the standing Buddha figure, the reclining type, the figures of Bodhisattvas and of other Buddhist divinities, as well as the types of com- position of some of the scenes of the Buddha's life, and likewise certain details of architectural ornament, are either directly based upon or strongly influenced by Greeco-Roman prototypes. Gandhara art is in fact a phase of provincial Roman art, mixed with Indian elements, and adapted to the illustration of Buddhist legends. The influence of the western forms on all later Indian and Chinese Buddhist art is clearly traceable: but the actual art of Gandhara gives the impression of profound insincerity, for the com- placent expression and somewhat foppish costume of the Bodhisattvas, and the efleminate and listless gesture of the Buddha figures (Plate AA) but faintly express the spiritual energy of Buddhist thought. From the western point of view also the art must be regarded as even more decadent than that of Roman art within the Roman Empire : for truly, " in the long sands and flats of Roman realism the stream of Greek inspiration was lost for ever," and 329 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism there is no better evidence of this than the art of Gandhara. It is of interest to observe also the manner in which certain Indian symbols are awkwardly and imperfectly interpreted, for this affords proof, if that were needed, that the types in question are of older, and Indian origin. A clear case is that of the lotus seat which is the symbol of the Buddha's spiritual purity or divinity. The seated Buddha of Gand- hara is insecurely and uncomfortably balanced on the prickly petals of a disproportionately small lotus, and this defect at once destroys the sense of repose which is above all essential to the figure of the yogi — who is likened in Indian books to the flame in a windless spot that does not flicker — and in immediate conflict with the Yoga texts which declare that the seat of meditation must be firm and easy {sthira-sukha). We see before us the work of foreign craftsmen imitating Indian formulae which they did not understand. We cannot think of this as an original and autochthonous art, despite its historical interest, and it is certainly not primitive in the sense in which this word is used by artists.* Iconography We may digress here to describe the chief types of Buddha imao-e. The seated figure has three main forms, the first representing pure Samadhi, the highest station of ecstasy — here the hands are crossed in the lap in what is known as dhydna mudrd, the * seal of meditation ' (Plate K) ; the second, in which the right hand is moved forward across the rio-ht knee to touch the earth, in what is known as the bhumisparsa mudrd, the ' seal of calling the earth to witness ' (Plates Ta, Zb) ; the third with the hands ^ "In primitive art you will find . . . absence of representation, absence of technical swagger, sublimely impressive form."— Clive Bell, Art, p. 22. ^1^ 7 ** ' ^ t 330 Plate A A THE FIRST SERMUX (TURNING THE WHEEL OF THE LAW) Gandhara, ist-2nd century a.d. British Museum Iconography raised before the chest in the position known as dharma- cah-a 7nudm, the 'seal of turning the wheel of the law' (Plates B, C, AA). In a fourth type the right hand is raised and the palm turned outward, making the gesture known as abJiaya micdrd, the 'seal ofi dis- pelling fear.' The last pose is characteristic for standing figures, where the left hand grasps the end of the robe (Plates E, Y). In Bodhisattva figures the right hand is very often extended in the va?^ vmdrd or 'seal of charity' (Plate R), while the' left hand holds an attribute, such as the lotus of Avalokitesvara (Plates R, Za). But the variety of Bodhisattvas is great. Another characteristic pose is known as vitarka mudrdy the ' seal of argument,' indicating the act of teaching (Plate Zc). Other forms are generally self- explanatory, like the sword of wisdom which is held aloft by ManjusrI (Plate DD) to cleave the darkness of ignorance. It will also be noticed that the Buddha images have certain physical peculiarities, of which the most conspicuous is the nskiitsha or protuberance on the top of the skull. Technically this appears to be derived from a western form of headdress, but in significance it is to be classed with the physical characters attributed by Indian physiognomists to the Superman, the Maha- purusha. This icsknlska serves to distinguish the Buddha figure from that of a mere Brother, for the heads of the Bhikkhu (Plate L) is always shaved bare and without the Buddha's bump of wisdom. The Buddha type [e.g. Plate E) is distinguished, on the other hand from that of the Bodhisattva, in whom the ushnisha isalso evident, by the difference of costume: that of the Buddha is monastic, while that of the Bodhisattva is the full and jewelled garb of a king or god. In all three cases the 331 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism ears are pierced and elongated, but the Bodhisattva alone wears earrings. The monastic costume of the Buddha and the Brethren consists of three strips of cloth, forming an undergarment {antaravdsaka) worn about the loins like a skirt, and fastened by a girdle, an upper garment {lUtarasan^a) covering the breast and shoulders and falling below the knees and a cloak {sanghati) worn over the two other garments. It is this outer cloak which is naturally- most conspicuous in the sculptured images. In standing figures the drapery is treated with elaboration, and the more so the stronger the western influence — being based on the drapery of the well-known Lateran Sophocles, and amounting to absolute identity of design between the Graeco-Christian Christ and the Graeco-Buddhist Buddha : but in a majority of typically Indian figure the drapery is almost transparent, and indicated by a mere line. In Gupta images especially the whole figure is plainly revealed (Plates B, E). The upper robes are worn in two different ways, in the one case covering both shoulders, in the other leaving the right shoulder bare. Another conspicuous feature of Buddha images is the nimbus or glory, which assumes various forms, the early types being plain, those of the Gupta period elaborately decorated ; this again appears to be a motif that is technically western, at the same time that it reflects the traditions regarding the ' Buddha rays ' and the transfiguration, and from a visionary standpoint may be called realistic. Classic Buddhist Art The various types of Buddhist art to which we have so far referred, from this time onward draw closer and closer together, to constitute one national art and style 332 L Plate B B THE BUDDHA Cambodia, I3lh-i4th century Collection of Mr Victor Golonbew 33a Classic Buddhist Art which extend throughout Indian in the Gupta period, and form the main foundation of the colonial and missionary- phases of Buddhist art in Siam and Cambodia, Burma, Java, China, and Japan. One of the most marked characters of Gupta art is the fullness and suavity of all its forms, well exemplified in the two figures illustrated on Plates B, E ; the latter of these is a standing figure from Mathura, the other a seated image from the site of the old monastery of the Deer Park at Benares, where the first sermon was preached. It will be seen that by this time the foreign elements introduced by way of Gandhara are completely absorbed and Indianized, and in the words of Professor Oscar Miinsterberg, " developed under national and Buddhist inspiration into a new and genuine art." From Indian Gupta art there is an imperceptible transi- tion to Indian classic, which is more niouveinentie and distinguished by more slender forms and greater delicacy and mastery of technique. It is in the late Gupta and Early Classic painting of Ajanta that Indian Buddhist art which began with the creation of the seated figure, attains its final perfection and completes its cycle. These paintings, like the low reliefs of Sanchi and Bharhut, chiefly illustrate the stories of the Buddha's former birth and last incarnation. There is indicated, however, a long development in doctrine and in technique. The Buddha figure is freely represented, but the hieratic type is generally subordinate to that of the Bodhisattva as the living and moving hero in the stories of human and animal life, where he exhibits every possible perfection of character. What is even more noteworthy is the fact that Ajanta painting does not echo the disparagement of life which is so conspicuous in the Pali Suttas — where the world of living beings is so bitterly denounced as 'unclean ' 333 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism — but represents this life with passionate sympathy for all its sensuous perfection. Praise of the beauty of women could not be more plainly spoken, and the sound of music is everywhere : no reference is made to age, and there is no insistence upon death or suffering, for human and animal life alike are always represented at the highest levels of experience. It is in quite another way that Buddhist ideals are here expressed — by the ever present sense of tragedy : for the very emphasis on youth and beauty is the revelation of their transcience. The life of the world is depicted with such transparency — " as if in a mountain fastness there were a pool of water, clear, translucent, and serene" — that it appears like the substance of a dream, too frail to grasp, however heaven-like its forms. And there moves through these enchanted scenes the figure of one whose heart is set on a more distant goal, and feels an infinite compassion for all born beings whose sweet delights are subject to mortality (Plate CC). It is just because the mediaeval Buddhist consciousness has learnt so well to understand the value of the world that the fieure of One who seeks to save all creatures from this radiant phenomenal life appears so tragic. " ' It is not that I do not value these my tusks,' says the Bodhisattva elephant in the Chaddanta Jdtaka, ' nor that I desire the status of a god, but because the tusks of Infinite Wisdom are dearer to me a thousand times than these, that I yield you these, good hunter.' " It is to be observed, too, that the spiritual Superman is never poor and despised, but always freely endowed with the lordship and the wealth of the world, he does not scorn the company of beautiful women. Dha7'ma, artha, and kimza, social virtue, wealth, and the pleasures of the senses are his, and yet the Bodhisattva's thoughts are 334 Plate C C BODHISATTVA, PERHAPS AVALOKITESVARA Ajanta fresco (6th-7th century a.d.) 334 Classic Buddhist Art not diverted from the fourdi 'human end' of viokska, salvation. So far from the rich man representing the type of him who cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, riches and power are represented as the natural evidence of goodness; and without such riches and such power how could the Bodhisattva's supernatural generosity be sufficiently displayed ? Up to this point, of course, we have spoken rather of ethics than of art. It is not, however, the literally Buddhist subject-matter of Ajanta art that makes it so profoundly moving — we do not need to know what the paintings were about before we are able to feel their significance. Artists painted thus, not because they were Buddhists, but because they were artists. The intellectual and logical content, the narrative element is so entirely subordinate to direct emotion that it is sometimes difficult to realize that the subject of all the Ajanta paintings is really Buddhist. It is always easy for the artisan to illustrate a creed or a legend, but only when he is an artist is he able at the same time to express the deeper and fundamental reality upon which all creed and ritual are based. Certainly the Early Buddhists, who hated 'conversation pictures,' that is to say, love scenes such as we often see at Ajanta, and all who adhere to hedonistic views of art, might utterly condemn the whole work as worldly, or even fleshly. We have already seen, however, that dogmatic content has no necessary connexion with the spiritual significance of a work of art, for nothing could well be less spiritual than the conspicuously ' Buddhist ' art of Gandhara. After the seventh century Buddhism declined in India proper, and continued to flourish only in Bengal, Nepal and Ceylon, and in the eastern colonies. The widely distributed and splendid monuments of Indian classic 335 Buddha (§f the Gospel of Buddhism sculpture are thus — as at Elephanta, Ellora, and Mamal- lapuram — almost entirely Hindu in subject. It is only here and there that there survive a few precious relics of purely Indian Buddhist sculpture of the classic age. Probably the best of these is the little Sinhalese bronze of Avalokitesvara reproduced on Plate Zc, while the rather less impressive, but very gracious Sinhalese figure of Maitreya reproduced on Plate S may be a little later. The Nepalese figures of Buddha and Avalokitesvara, illustrated on Plates C, R, are closely related to Ajanta types, and range from the eighth to the eleventh century, and from the eleventh to the thirteenth century there are preserved several examples of beautifully illustrated Buddhist palm-leaf manuscripts in the same style. Sub- sequent to this the Buddhist art of Nepal is modified by Tibetan, Chinese, and perhaps also Persian influences. Buddhist art persisted in Magadha and Bengal only until the final victories of Islam involved the destruction of the monasteries in the twelfth century. Colonial hidian Art India has been the source of a colonial art of great im- portance, developed from the sixth century onward in Burma, Siam, Cambodia, Laos, and particularly in Java : and the great part of this colonial art is Buddhist. The most important school is the Javanese. Java was colonized by Brahmanical Hindus in the early centuries of the Chris- tian era and largely converted to Buddhism a little later; the two forms of belief existed side by side until the Muham- madan conquests of the fifteenth century. The largest and finest Buddhist monument is the stupa of Borobodur; here the procession galleries are adorned by a series of some 2000 bas-reliefs illustrating the life of the Buddha Plate O O MANJUSRi BODHISATTVA Java (14th century a.u.) Berlin 336 Colonial Indian Art according to the Lalitvaistara^ as well as various legends from the Divydvaddna and the Jdtakas. The reliefs are so extensive that if laid end to end they would cover a space of more than two miles. We have here a third great illustrated Bible, similar in range, but more ex- tensive than the reliefs of Sanchi and the paintings of Ajanta. This is a ' supremely devout and spontaneous art,' naturally lacking the austerity and the abstraction of the early Buddhist primitives, but marvellously gracious, decorative, and sincere. The episodes represented are by no means so exclusively courtly as is the case at Ajanta, but cover the whole circle of Indian life alike in city and village. The narrative element is more con- spicuous than at Ajanta, the craftsmen adhering closely to the book. But " every group and every figure are abso- lutely true and sincere in expression of face, gesture, and pose of body; and the actions which link the various groups and single features together are strongly and simply told, without effort or striving for effect — it was so, because so it could only be " I ^ Buddhist art in Java continued to flourish for many centuries, and many works of great beauty are still preserved, both stone reliefs and sculptures in the round, and smaller and very delicate bronzes. Amongst the later works none are more im- pressive than the ManjusrI — the Bodhisattva who holds aloft the sword of wisdom — reproduced here on Plate DD, but I cannot agree that the well-known Prajna- paramita, though still beautiful, is ' one of the most spiritual creations of any art,' but much rather, as another critic has suggested, think of this comfortable and bejewelled gracious figure as ' all too human.' ^ Havell, Indian Sculpture and Paintin^^ p. ii8. Many good repro- ductions will be found in the same volume. Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism Tke Far East The Buddhist art of China is on another footing, for not- withstanding it repeats the forms of Indian art, China had already an old, and, from a technical standpoint, exceed- ingly accomplished art, and a profound philosophy of her own, before the Buddhist pilgrims and missionaries carried across the wastes of Central Asia the impulse to a new development of thought and of plastic art; thus, although there were at one time many thousands of Indians in China, and some of these were Buddhist artists, yet Chinese Buddhist art is not, like Javanese, entirely Indian, but essentially a new thing, almost as much Chinese as Indian. The first introduction of Buddhism took place in the first century a.d. In the second century a golden statue, perhaps of the Buddha, was brought into China from the west ; in the same century a Buddhist mission reached China from Parthia. Buddhism did not however immediately obtain a firm hold, and the Chinese were then as now partly Confu- cianist, partly Taoist and partly Buddhist. Naturally as the early Buddhist influences came through western Asia, early Chinese Buddhist art exhibits some relation to the Graeco- Buddhist art of Gandhara ; but few traces of any work older than the fifth century now remain, and by that time the Graeco-Roman elements were almost negligible, or traceable only in minor details of ornament and technique. Under the Northern Wei dynasty of the early fifth cen- tury, however, there is an immense artistic activity, and the mountains and caves of Tatong are carved with countless images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of all sizes, from miniature to colossal, and these works are the typical Chinese Buddhist primitives. One colossal figure 338 Plate E E BODIIISATTVA Chinese, school of Long-men (Sth century) Cologne 338 The Far East is some ninety feet in height and here the form is full and round, but some of the smaller figures are very delicate and slender. One of the features of immediate Indian origin is to be recognized in the gigantic figures of door- guardians represented as muscular giants protecting the entrances to the Buddhist caves. While in these figures the muscles are conspicuously developed and the body bare, the Buddha and Bodhisattva figures are always clothed and the details of the anatomy suppressed and generalized. Similar decorated caves are found at Long- men near the town of Honan, a later North Wei capital ; these excavations and sculptures belong to the sixth century. The inscriptions recording the various donations show that these works were commissioned by the king, the queen, the nobles, and even by individuals of the lower classes. A great development of Buddhist sculpture also took place in Korea. These figures like those already described are hewn out of the living rock, in an environ- ment of great natural beauty, far from the haunts of men. Buddhist art in India, as at Ajanta, and still more in the Far East, is constantly thus associated with naturally im- pressive scenes : and were it not for this love of Nature and for the institution of pilgrimage to sacred and far away sites, it would be difficult to account for the great part which is played in Chinese and Japanese art by land- scape painting somewhat later. It is from Korea that Buddhist thouofht and art were introduced to Japan in the sixth century. The new faith met with considerable opposition. The hero of the period of the first introduction of Buddhism to Japan is the renowned Prince Wumayado, who prepared the seventeen articles of the Japanese constitution, and wrote some remarkable commentaries on the Buddhist Sutras, setting 339 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism forth the teachings of Nagarjuna : he is still worshipped by craftsmen and artisans as Patron of the Arts. The only remains of this period, however, are the colossal bronze Buddha of Ankoin, which has suffered many vicissitudes and is too much restored to afford a very definite idea of the earliest Japanese Buddhist art : and the famous temple of Horiuji near Nara, which is rich alike in contemporary sculpture and paintings. "We find in these works," says Okakura, "a spirit of intense refinement and purity, such as only great religious feeling could have produced. For divinity, in this early phase of national realization, seemed like an abstract ideal, unapproachable and mysterious, and even its distance from the naturalesque gives to art an awful charm." We are reminded here that all the early Buddhist art of the Far East is more purely hieratic and abstract than is the case, for example, at Ajanta, to which the painting at Horiuji is otherwise so closely related ; and the explana- tion is not far to seek. For when the artists of the Far East, together with the new religion, " adopted the Indian formulas and symbols, they kept these separate from the ordinary practice of their art, and so developed a special- ized hieratic quality, the rarest and most remote perhaps the art of the painter has ever expressed." Whereas, "to the Indian mind Buddha and his disciples were more actual figures, with positive relations to their own social world. The places where they lived and taught were to them definite places, to which they themselves could at any moment make pilgrimages," ^ and thus there was not in India that "separation of social and religious tradi- tions " which is apparent in Chinese art, as it is likewise evident in European religious sculpture and painting. Of ^ W. Rothenstein, in AJanfa Frescoes (India Society), London, 1915. 340 340 I'LAih 1 i- THE BUDDHA Central figure of a triptych in the Tofukuji temple, Kj^oto, Japan, ascribed to \Vu Tao-tzu (Chinese, 8th century') From Tajuna, Selected Relics of Japanese Art, Vol I The Far East two early Japanese paintings of Samantabhadra and of Manjusri, Mr Binyon remarks : "The fluid lines of form and drapery are of an indescrib- able sweetness and harmony, as if sensitive themselves with life; the colour also discloses itself as part of the calmly glowing life within, veined with fine lines of gold, not as something applied from without. Such images, as these, of which this early Buddhist art has created not a few, images of the infinite of wisdom and of tenderness, not only express the serenity of the spirit, but have in a degree unreached in any other art the power of including the spectator in their spiritual spell : to contemplate them is to be strangely moved, yet strangely tranquillized." ^ We must however return for a time to China, to consider the classic art of the T'ang epoch (a.d. 618-905), for this is the great creative age of the Far East, by which the whole future development both of Chinese and Japanese art is mainly determined : the part that Greece has played for Europe was played for Japan by China. "The T'ang era stands in history for the period of China's greatest external power — the period of her greatest poetry and of her grandest and most vigorous, if not, perhaps, her most perfect, art. Buddhism now took hold on the nation as it never did before, and its ideals pervaded the imagination of the time. China was never in such close contact with India; numbers of Indians, including three hundred Buddhist monks, actively preaching the faith, were to be found in the T'ang capital of Loyang. And Buddhist ideas permeate T'ang painting." - The T'ang sculpture is best displayed in the sculptured caves of Longmen, near Honan, similar in method to the ^ Binyon, Painting iri the Far East ^ ed. 2, p. 105. 2 Ibid. 341 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism earlier excavations at Tatong; from these we reproducehere the central figure of a colossal Buddha (Plate F), and of the same school but unknown provenance the gracious and almost coquettish figure of a Bodhisattva (Plate EE), now in the museum at Cologne. Many other detached examples of T'ang Buddhist sculpture may be seen in the European and American museums. Intermediate in date between the Wei and T'ang periods is the monumental stele in black marble, in the collection of M. Goloubew, reproduced on Plate G. What little we know of the painting of the T'ang period is dominated by the great name of Wu Tao-tzu, of whom a few more or less authentic works are preserved in Japan. One of these, which if not actually the work of Wu Tao-tzu, is at any rate a masterwork of T'ang, is the beautiful Buddha figure of the Tofukuji temple in Kyoto, reproduced on Plate D. Another painting by a somewhat later artist, but thought to be after Wu Tao-tzu, is the Bodhisattva Kwanyin, the Indian Avalokitesvara, reproduced on Plate HH. At an early date the male Avalokitesvara was interpreted in China as a feminine divinity and saviouress, and there is a long and charming Chinese legend which recounts her life as an earthly princess. Since Kwanyin is a gracious saviouress who hears all cries and answers all prayers, it will readily be understood that she became one of the most popular of all Chinese and Japanese Budd- hist divinities, and the subject of innumerable paintings. It will be noticed in our example (from the collection of Mr C. L. Freer, and reproduced by his kindness) that the goddess holds a basket with a fish in her outstretched hand, whereas in a majority of representations she carries a willow spray or a phial of the water of life.^ A more ^ The cult of Kwanyin and the significance of the fish are discussed by R. F. Johnston, Buddhist China, ch. xi. Plate G G KWANYIN Gilt bronze, mediaeval Japanese Collection of Mr H. Gitly The Far East famous work by Wu Tao-tzu was the ' Death of Buddha,' painted in a.d. 742, of which "We know at least the com- position, for Wu Tao-tzu's design was repeated by more than one early master of Japan, and the original is described in Chinese books. In the British Museum is a large painting of this subject, by the hand of a great artist entirely modelled on the art of T'ang. Magnificent indeed is the conception. The whole of creation is wailing and lamenting around the body of the Buddha, who lies peace- ful in the midst, having entered into Nirvana, under a great tree, the leaves of which are withered where they do not cover him. Saints and disciples, kings, queens, priests and warriors, weep and beat their breasts; angels are grieving in the air ; even the beasts of the field and the forest, the tiger, the panther, the horse, the elephant, show sorrow in all their limbs, rolling with moans upon the ground ; and the birds cry. An ecstasy of lamentation impassions the whole work. What must have been the effect of the original ? " ^ Three hundred other painters' names of the T'ang period are known, but not their works. The greatest of these is Wang Wei, who is a painter of landscape, and probably supreme in China, as the Chinese are supreme in this art in the world. It should be remarked that the Chinese landscape painter's interests are far from topographical ; he uses the familiar scenes or lonely mountains and forests to interpret and communicate a mood, or express a philo- sophic concept. It is in this way that landscape art, though it is not specifically Buddhist, lends itself to religious sentiment. There is a Sung painting of the thirteenth century called the Evening Chime of the Distant Temple. "A range of mountains lifts its rugged outline in the * Binyon, Painting in the Far East. 343 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism twilight, the summits accentuated and distinct against the pale sky, the lower parts lost in mist, among which woods emerge or melt along the uneven slopes. Some- where among those woods, on high ground, the curved roof of a temple is visible. It is just that silent hour when travellers say to themselves, ' The day is done,' and to their ears come from the distance the expected sound of the evening bell. The subject is essentially the same as that which the poetic genius of Jean Fran9ois Millet conceived in the twilight of Barbizon, at the hour when the Angelus sounds over the plain from the distant church of Chailly." But as another critic has remarked on this : " What a difference in the treatment ! Millet places Man in the foreground, explaining the content of the picture by human action, but the Chinese artist needs no figure, nothing but a hint ; the spectator must complete the thought himself." The world of Nature at this time had come to mean for the Chinese artist something other than we are accustomed to think of in connexion with European landscape. In one way he uses Nature's forms as the phrases of a philo- sophical language, likening mountain and mist, dragon and tiger, to the Great Extremes : so that while the modern critic can perhaps appreciate much of their purely aesthetic quality, it is only by an effort that he realizes the depth of suggestion and mystical significance which these monochrome brush drawings have for the Chinese student steeped in Buddhist nature lore and Taoist philo- sophy. Very often also even this underlying philosophical significance is, so to say, unexpressed. In any case, "The life of nature and of all non-human things is re- garded in itself; its character contemplated and its 344 PLATr ir H KWANYIN Chinese painting, ioth-i2th century, after W'u Tao-tzu Collection of Mr C. L. Freer 344 The Far East beauty cherished for its own sake, not for its use and service in the life of man. There is no infusion of human sentiment into the pictures of birds and beasts, of the tiger roaring in the solitudes, of the hawk and eagle on the rocky crag ; rarely is there any touch of the sports- man's interest which has inspired most European pictures of this kind." ^ Even the smallest flower, the most trivial insect can thus be represented with such intensity of vision as to seem a world in itself: and this world is a part of humanity, as man is a part of the world by nature. The world of nature is not merely an object of interest, but a per- petual expression of the one life. Those strange lines of Blake The caterpillar on the leaf Reminds me of my mother s grief would have been immediately intelligible to every cultivated reader of mediaeval Chinese and Japanese epigrams, and would have inspired, most likely, innumerable paintings, in which the caterpillar should be so represented as to set forth to the eye and still more to the heart of the spectator the essential unity of all existences. This is the ' Sermon of the Wild ' ; and to be sensitive to these prophecies and intimations is characteristic alike of poetry and painting in the later developments of the Mahayana. Thus in China as in India, but in a different fashion, thought expressed in art developed from an early hieratic formulation to a representation of the pure transparency of life. ^ Binyon, loc. at. 345 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS CONSULTED BY THE AUTHOR Arnold, Sir Edwin : The Light of Asia, Barnett, Prof. L. D. : The Path of Light {BodhicaryCwataraoj Santi- Deva)y London, 1909. Beal, S. : The Romantic History of Buddha. London, 1875. Beal, S. A. : Catena of Buddhist Scriptures. London, 1871, BiNYON, L. : Fainting in the Far East. (2nd ed.) London, 191 3. Burgess, J. : Amardvat'i and Jaggayyapeta. London, 1887. Chavannes, E. : Mission Archccologique dans la Chitie septentrionak. 1909. CoOMARASWAMY, A. : Arts and Crafts of India and Ceylon. London, 1913- Bronzes fro7n Ceylon, chiefly in the Colombo Museum, Colombo, 1914. Buddhist Frimitives, "Burlington Magazine/' Jan., March, 19 16. Mahaydna Buddhist Images from. Ceylon and Java. " Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society." 1909. Media:val Sinhalese Art. Campden, 1908. Cowell, Max Muller, and Takakakuso, : Buddhist Mahayana Sutras {Buddhacarita of Asvaghosha, etc.). Oxford (S.B.E.) 1894. Cunningham, A.: Mahabodhi. London, 1892. Stupa of Bharhut. London, 1879. FoucAUX, E. : Rgya TcKer Rol Fa {Lalita-vistara), Paris, 1848. Foucher, a. : Atude sur I'iconographie bouddhique de I'Inde, Paris, 1900, 1905. L Art grcco-bouddhique du Gandhara. Paris, 1905. La Forte Orientate du StUpa de Sdftchi. Paris 1910. Le ' Grand Miracle ' du Buddha ct Srdvasti, " Journal Asiaticiue," 1909. Vorigine grecque de P Image du Bouddha, Paris, 1913. Garije, R. : Sa?nkhya and Yoga (" Grundriss der Indo-arischen Philo- logie"). Strassburg, 1896. Geiger, W, : The Mahdvamsa. London, 191 2. Gemmel, W, : The Diamond Sutra. London, 191 2. Getty, A. : The Gods of Northern Buddhism. Oxford, 19 14. GoLOUiiEW, V. : Feintures Bouddhiques aux Indcs. " Annales du Musce Guiraet, Bibliothcque de Vulgarisation," Tome 40, Paris, 19 14. 347 Bibliography Gray. J. : Buddhaghosupatti. London, 1892. Griffiths : The Paintings of the Buddhist Cave-temples of Ajanta. London, 1896. Hackmann, H. : Buddhism as a Religion. London, 19 10. Hall, Fielding : The Soul of a People. Hardy, S. : A Manual of Buddhism. London, i860. Hare, W. L. : Buddhist Religion. Havell, E. B. : Indian Sculpture and Painting. L HuBER, E. : Sutra lam kdra of Asvaghosha. Paris, 1908. India Society : AJajtta Frescoes. Oxford, 191 5. Johnston, R. F. : Buddhist China. London, 191 3. Kern, H. : Afamial of Indiati Buddhisjn (" Grundriss der Indo-arischen Philologie "). Strassburg, 1896. Saddharma Pundarika {The Lotus of the Good Law). Oxford (S.B.E.), 1909. Le Coq, a. von : Chotscho. Berlin, 1913. Maisey, F. C.: Sd?ichl and its Remaifis. London, 1892. Max Muller and Fausboll : Dhammapada and Sutta Nipdta. Oxford (S.B.E.) 1881. MCnsterberg, O. : Chinesische Kunst. Erlangen, 19 10. Narasu, p. L. : The Essence of Buddhism. Madras, 1907. Nukariya, K. : The Religion of the Samurai. London, 1913. Okakura Kakuzo : Ideals of the East. (2nd ed.) London, 1904. Oldenberg, H. : Buddha; his Life, his Doctritie, his Order (English version by W. Hoey). London, 1882. PoussiN, L. DE LA Vallee : Bouddhis7tie. Paris, 1909. The Three Bodies of a Buddha. "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society." 1906. Rhys Davids, C. A. F. : The Love of Nature in Buddhist Poems. "Quest," April 19 10. Buddhism. (Home University Library.) Buddhist Psychology. London, 1910, 19 14. Compendium of Philosophy (Anuruddha). London, 1910 (with S. Z. Aung). Psalms of the Early Buddhists. London, 1909, 1913. Rhys Davids, T. VV. : Buddhism, its History and Literature. London and New York, 1907. Buddhism. S.P.C.K. London (many editions). Indian Buddhism. (Hibbert Lectures, 188 1.) London, 1897. 348 Bibliography Rhys Davids, W. T. : Buddhist Birth Stories (Jatakas). London, 1880. Buddhist India. London, 1903. Dialogues of the Buddha. London, 1899, 1910. Early Buddhism. London, 1908. The Questio/is 0/ A7ng Mi/inda (S.B.E.), 1890, 1894. Smith, V. A. : A History oj Fine Art in India and Ceylon. Oxford. 1911. Asoka. (2nd ed.) Oxford, 1909. Speyer, J. S. : The Jdtaka Mala of Aryasura. London, 1S95. Stein, Sir A. : Ancient Khotan. Oxford, 1907. Ruins of Desert Cathay. London, 191 2. Strong, Major D. M. : The Udana, London, 1902, SUBASINHA, D. J. : Buddhist Rules for the Laity i^Sigdlawdda and Vyaggapajja Suttas). Madras, 1908. Suzuki, D. T. : Asvaghosha's Awakening of Faith in the Mahdydna. Chicago, 1900. Outlines of Mahdydna Buddhism. London, 1907. Waddell, a. : Evolution of the Buddhist Cult. " Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review," 191 2. Tlie India?i Buddhist Cult of Avalokita and . . . Tdrd . . . "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society." 1894. Warren, H. C. : Buddhism in Translations. Cambridge (U.S.A.) 1906 Woodward, F. L. : Pictures of Buddhist Ceylon. Adyar, 19 14. Worsley, a. : Concepts of Monism. London. 349 GLOSSARY Where a word is given in two forms, the first is PaH, the second, within brackets, is Sanskrit. Elsewhere the distinction is indicated by the letters P and S. The Pali and Sanskrit terms are, of course, cognate throughout. Ahamkara, S : the conceit of individuality, empirical egoism. Akhydna, S : an old literary form, viz. conte fable. Alamkdra, S : rhetoric, poetic ornament. Alaya-vijndna, S : Cosmic Mind or Reason, realm of the Platonic Ideas. An-atid, P : the doctrine that there are no egos, or souls. Anicca (aniiya) : impermanence, transcience. Antahkarana, S : inner actor, the inner man, the 'soul.' Apard vidyd, S : relative truth, esoteric truth. Arahat, P : one who has attained to Arahatta. Arahatta, P : the state of saving truth, the state of one who has attained Nibbana, or walks in the Fourth Path of which the fruit is Nibbana. Ariya {dryd) : noble, gentle, honourable, Ariyasaccdni {dryasatydni) : the Four Noble Truths emunciated in Buddha's first sermon. ArFtpa-Iokas, S : the Four Highest Heavens, transcending form. Asubha-Jhdna, P : meditation on the essential uncleanness of things. Atman,S): (i) taken by Buddhists in the sense of ego, or soul; (2) in Brahmanism, the Absolute, unconditioned, spirit, Brahman; also the reflection of the Absolute in the individual. Atia (artha) : aim, gain, advantage, profit. Attd (diman), P : self, soul, person, ego ; a permanent unity in the sense of an 'eternal soul,' the existence of which is denied in the proposition ' an-atta.' Attd etymologically = atman, but does not connote the unconditioned Atman of the Brahman absolutists. Avidyd, S : ignorance, the contraction of Suchness into variety. The basis of Tan/id, and thus of the whole Samsdra. Ignorance is the true ' First Cause ' of Indian philosophy : but this 'First Cause' is 'first' only as 'fundamental,' not as temporal. Ignorance can be overcome by the individual consciousness, which is then ' set free," vimutto. Bhakti, S : loving devotion. 35^ Glossary Bhakti mdrga, S : the way of love, the means of salvation by devotion. Bhavanga-gafi, P, S : the ordinary unconscious life of the body, etc. Bhikkhu, P : mendicant friar, ' Buddhist priest.' Bkikkhu?n, P : feminine of Bhikkhu. Bodhi, P : wisdom, Suchness, intuition, illumination, inner light. Cf. Persian ^Ishq. Bodhi-citta, P : heart-of-wisdom, inward light, grace, ' shoot of ever- lastingnesse,' the divine spark of the Buddha-nature in the heart. Bodhisatta {Bodhisatlva) : Wisdom-being, (i) Gautama before attain- ing enlightenment; (2) any individual self-dedicate to the salvation of others and destined to the attainment of Buddha- hood. Brahma, S : the supreme personal god so called. Brahmdcdrya, S : chaste life, especially of a Brahmanical student. Brahman, S : a man of the Brdhmana varna, a Brahman by birth, a philosopher, priest. Ethically, one who fulfils the ideal of a true Brahman. Brahman, Brahma, S : the Absolute, the Unconditioned, which is ' Not so, not so,' the Ground, the Undivided Self, the World of Imagination. Buddha, P, S : Enlightened, (i) Siddhattha Gautama, after attaining enlightenment ; (2) other individuals who have similarly attained Nibbana ; (3) any such individual considered as a supreme God, whose attainment of Buddhahood is timeless. Buddhi, P, S : enlightenment, intelligence. Cakka (cakra): 'wheel.' Symbol of sovereignty, hence the Wheel of the Good Law, of the Gospel. Cariya, P : ' course,' the succession of lives of a Bodhisattva. Cetand, P : will. Citta, P : heart, Suchness. Deva, P, S : any personal god, angel, e.g. Brahma, Sakka. Dhamjna (dharma) : Norm, gospel, law, righteousness, morality, religion ; condition. Dhamma-cakkhu, S : Eye for the truth. Dhar77iakdya, S : law body. Logos, the supreme state of a Buddha ; Absolute Being, the Ground ; absolute knowledge. Dibba-cakkhi, P : heavenly eye, omniscient vision of the Universe of Form (Rupaloka and Kamaloka). Dosa, P : hatred, resentment, revenge, anger. Glossary Dukkha, P : evil, suffering, sin, imperfection. One of the Three Signs of Existence and one of the Four Ariyan Truths. Hlnaydna : the ' Little Vessel,' a term applied by the Mahilyanists to the doctrines of early Buddhism. The Hinaydna is set forth in the Pali Thcravdda. Sometimes, but not accurately, called Southern Buddhism. Isvara, S : Overlord, a Supreme Personal God. God in the general Christian sense. Jaina, P, S : a follower of Mahavira, the Jina or Conqueror. Tdtaka, P, S : a birth-story, the history of some episode in the former life of the Buddha. Thdna (dhydna) : meditation, the mental exercise so called, in particular the Four Ecstasies. T'lva^Jivdtmart, S : the Supreme Atman as particularized in the individual. Jfidtia^ S : wisdom, the intellectual. ffidna mdrga, S : the intellectual way, means of salvation by knowledge. Kdma, P, S : love, lust. Kdtna-Ioka, P, S : the Six Heavens of the Lesser Gods, and the Five Lower \Vorlds. Kajnma {karma) : deeds, character, causality. Karma mdrga^ S : the way of deeds, the means of salvation by dis- interested activity. Karund {karma) : compassion, the bestowing virtue — the leading passion in a Bodhisattva. Khandha (skafidha) : ' aggregate,' the compound factors of con- sciousness. Klesa, S : sin, prejudice. Llld^ S : ' play,' the * wonderful works of the Lord,' manifestation. Mddhyamika, S, : a division of the Mahayana, mainly dependent on Nagarjuna. Magga (mdrga) : way, path. Mahdydna, S : the ' Great Vessel,' the doctrines of the Mahayanists, so- called by themselves. The Mahdydna is set forth in the Sanskrit Buddhist texts. Sometimes referred to, but not accurately, as Northern Buddhism. Mdna, P, S : pride, conceit, any intrusion of i the ego. Manas, P, S : mind, soul ; ego. Mdyd, S : illusion, the power of creation or manifestation. Mdtd (maitri) : friendliness, goodwill, lovrng-kindness. z 353 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism Mb/ia, P : infatuation, delusion, prejudice, folly, sentimentality. Muditd, P : sympathy, one of the Four Sublime Moods. Mudra, S : seal. Position of the fingers, hieratic gesture. JVd^a, P, S : a being having the dual character of man and serpent. Also an elephant, a wise man. Ndginl, P, S : feminine of Nagt. Ndma-rupa^ P, S : lit. name and form, which alone constitute an aggre- gate into a seeming personality or unit. Psychologically, 'an embodiment ' without the idea of anything embodied : mind and body, or mind and matter. For riipa in other senses, s.v. Nibbdna (nirvdna) : ethically, the dying out of lust, resentment, and j illusion : psychologically, release from individuality. The Recog- nition of Truth. A state of salvation to be realized here and now ; those who attain, are released from becoming, and after death return no more. Nibbdna does not imply the ' annihilation of the soul,' for Buddhism teaches that no such entity as a soul has ever existed. Nibbdna is one of many names for the summum bomim ; it may be best translated as Abyss, Stillness, Void, or Nothing (not-thing-ness). Nirguna, S : unconditioned, unqualified, in no wise. Nirmdnakdya, S : magical body, apparition, body of transformation, the earthly aspect of a Buddha. Nishkdma, S : disinterested. Nivritti mdrga, S : the Path of Return. Pacceka Buddha, P : one who attains enlightenment, but does not teach ; a ' private Buddha.' Pafifia, P : wisdom, reason, insight. Panfia-cakkhu, P : Eye of insight or wisdom. Pard vidyd, S : absolute truth, esoteric truth. Paramdrtha satya, S : absolute truth. Pdramitd, S : transcendental perfection, especially the perfected virtue of a Bodhisattva. Paribdjaka, P : a ' Wanderer,' a peripatetic hermit. Parinibbdna (parinirvdna) : 'full Nibbana,' (i) identical with Nibbdna, Arahatta, Vimutii, Afiild, etc., (2) death of a human being who has previously realized Nibbdna, death of an Arahat: also simply ' dissolution.' Paticca-samupdda, P : dependent origination, causality. Prajnd, S : reason, understanding. 354 Glossary Frajfia-farami/d, S : supreme reason. Also personified as the ' Mother of the Buddhas,' Tathdgaia-^^arbha. Cf. Persian 'Aql. Regarded as the way out, she is the principle of analysis; as the way in, the principle of synthesis. Prakriii, S : Nature, the corporeal world. Pranidhc'ifia, S : vow, self-dedication, firm persuasion, of a Bodhisattva. Pravriiti 7?idrga, S : the Path of Pursuit. Pi/nna (punya) : merit, good character. Pumsha, S : ' Male,' a personification of the Brahman or Atman (Vedanta) : an individual soul (Samkhya). Antithetic to Prakriti, 'spirit' as opposed to 'matter,' Pdga, P, S : lust, passion, desire. Pdkshasa, S : a man devouring demon. Rupa^ P, S : form, shape. In a categorical sense, quality. See also Ndtnarupa. Rupa-lokas, P, S : the Sixteen Heavens conditioned by form, next the below Arupa-lokas. Sagutia, S : conditioned, qualified. Samddhi, P, S : tranquillity, self-concentration, calm, rapture. A state attained in Jhana, and then equivalent to the transcending of empirical consciousness : also the state of calm which is always characteristic of the Arahrat. Samana, P : wandering friar. The Buddha is often referred to as ' The Great Samana.' Sa?nl>hogakdya, S : ' Enjoyment-body,' the heavenly aspect of a Buddha. Samkhya, S : * School of the Count,' a prcrBuddhist philosophy, so-called as ' reckoning-up ' the twenty-five categories. Samsdra, V, S : Becoming, conditioned existence, birth-and-death, eternal recurrence, mortality, corporeal existence, the vegetative world. Samvritti satya, S : relative truth. Sangha, P, S : the Order, the company or congregation of monks and nuns. {Sankhdra) Samskdra : ' conformation,' impression of previous deeds, constituents of character. Sanfia, P : perception. Sarraguna, S : in all wise, having all possible qualities. Sati, P : rccollectedncss, conscience. Sila, P : conduct, morality. 355 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism Siljl : a Persian mystic. Suk/ta, P, S : good, pleasure, happiness, weal. Sukhavati: the Western Paradise of Amitabha, the highest heaven, the ' Buddha field ' where souls are ripened for Nirvana. Sutta (sutra): 'thread.' A literary form, in Buddhist scriptures, words of the Buddha ' strung together ' as a sermon or dialogue ; in Hindu scriptures, a connected series of aphorisms. Svabhava, S : ' own-nature.' The self-existent, the source of spontaneity ; a term analogous to ' I am that I am,' applied to the Supreme Buddha (Adi-Buddha of the later Mahayana). Sva-dharma, S : ' own norm,' peculiar duty of the individual or social group. Ta7ihd (trishna) : desire, coveting, craving, an eager wish to obtain or enjoy, interested motive. In this sense Buddhism teaches the extinction of desire (in Hinduism, 'renunciation of the fruits of works '), but Tajiha does not cover aspiration or good intention, which are included in the ' Right Desire ' of the Eightfold Path. Tao : the absolutist philosophy of the Chinese philosopher Laotse. The term Tao has a connotation similar to that of Nirvana and Brahman. TaJ>as, S : burning, glow, toil, torture. Tdra : the feminine counterpart of a Bodhisattva, a saviouress. TatMgata, S : Thus-gone or Thus-come, He-who-has-thus-attained, a term used by the Buddha in speaking of himself. Tathdgata-garbha, S: 'Womb-of-Those-who-have-thus-come.' The Dharma-kdya, or Suchness, as viewed from the standpoint of the relative and regarded as the origin of all things ; mother of the Buddhas and all sentient beings; Nature as potential matter, Maya, Prakriti ; Prajnaparamita. Tattva, bhutatathatd, S : Suchness, Ground, Substrate, the inevitability and universality of things, the source of spontaneity. The quality of infinity in every particular, of the whole in the part. Tdvathnsa-. Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods, one of the Six Lower Heavens. Thera, P : an elder ; amongst the Brethren, an Arahat. Theravdda, P : ' word of the elders.' By this term the early Buddhists distinguish their belief from that of the Mahayanists. The Theravdda texts constitute the Pali canon. Theri^ P : feminine of Thera. Glossary Thupa (stupa) : a memorial mound, generally enshrining relics. Tri-kaya, S : the Three Bodies, or modes, of a Buddha (Mahayana), viz. Dharinakaya, Satnbhogakaya, and Nirmiinakaya, q.v. Tri-ratna, S, the 'Three Jewels.' In the Hinayd?ia, the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha ; in the Mahayana, the Buddhas, the Sons of the Buddhas, and the Dharmakaya. Tusita, S : Heaven of Pleasure, one of the Six Lower Heavens. Upadhi {upadhi) : attributes, superimposed by the mind upon the un- conditioned : individualizing determinations. Upanis/iad, S : books of the later Veda, partly pre-Buddbist, where are found the leading texts of the Vedanta or Brahmanical absolutist philosophy to which Buddhism is nominally opposed. Updya, P : means, accommodation. Upekha, P : impartiality, same-sightedness, one of the Four Sublime Moods. Vdnaprasiha, S : a forest-dwelling hermit. Varna, S : ' colour,' complexion. Combined with hereditary occupation, and the recognition of special social forms, ' colour ' becomes caste, which was in process of development in the time of Gautama. Vedand, P : feeling. Vinfidna {vijfiana) : consciousness, mental activity. Vhnutti, Vimokha (moksha) : salvation, release, the summum bonuni, Vimuito : saved, released. Vtnaya, P : Rules of the Buddhist Order. \akkha {yaksha) : a nature spirit. Yogdcara, S : a division of the Mahayana, mainly dependent on Asanga. 357 INDEX A Kempis, Thomas, 320 Abhidhamma Pitaka, 36, 295, 296 Achelas, 152 Adibuddha, 239, 249 Afghanistan, 185 Ahamkdra, 195 Ajanta. 311, 333, 335, 2>l6, 337, 339 A junta Frescoes, 340 Ajatasattu, 64, 68, 71, 72, 89, 266 Ajivikas, 152, 156, 158, 186 Akshobya, 249 Al-Hujwlri, 244 Alakappa, 89 Alanrikara, 309 Alara Kalama, 28, 29, 38, 79, 80, 198. 199 Alavi, 59 Alaya-vijiiana, 252, 310 Amaravati, 224, 327-329 Amida, 247 Amidism, 247 Amitabha, 247-249, 253, 317 Ampabali, 74, 75, 164, 285 Ampabali's ' Psalm,' 74 Amoghasiddha, 249 Ananda, 14, 18, 50, 54, 55, 67-69, 72, 76-87. 98, 104, 108. 124, _i5o, 160-162, 269 Ananda, 104 Ananda, Psalm of, 108 AnSthapindika, 51, 5a, 60, 62, 263, 271 Anatta. 91, 98, 105, 140, 173, 174, 188, 198, 199, 205, 217, 219, 287, 296 Ancient Mariner, The, 313 Anpa, 60 Angulimala, 60 Anguttara Nikdya, 100, 119, 158, 212, 265, 272 Anicca, 91, 93-98, 105, 173, 175 Ankoin, 340 Anoma, 25 Anotatta lake, 1 3 Antahkarana, 189, 195 Anula, Princess, 185 Anupiya, 27, 50 Anuradhapura, 133, 134, 185, 297, 299, 328 Anuruddha, 50, 58, 60, 87, 99, 117, 151 Apaddna, 265 Arahat, 12, 15, 31, 39, 41, 72, jz, 85, 87, 102, 103, 116-118, 120- 122, 140, 178, 212, 227-230 Arahatta, 42, 43, 45, 48, 53, 55, 56, 60, 68, St,, 86, 116-118, 123, 151, 153, 161, 165, 205, 223, 229 Ariyas, 165, 168 Ariyasaccdni, see Four Ariyan Truths Arnold, Sir Edwin, 11, 302 Art, 140 Art of the Theatre, The, 177 A riipa Jhdnas, 1 1 1 ArUpa-loka, in, 147 ArUparaga, 103 Aryadeva, 319 Aryasura, 310-316 Asanga, 251, 252, 310, 320 Ashtasahasrika - prajndpdramitd, 316 Asadha, 25 Asia, 184 Asoka Maurya, 154, 156, 157, 182-186, 216, 220, 222, 260, 262, 298. 299, 314, 325 Asoka, Edicts of, 130, 138, 153, 156, 158, 259, 261, 262, 274 Assaji, 44, 45 Asvaghosha, 146, 243, 245, 270, 303-310, 316, 319 359 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism Asuhha-hhavana, 144, 171 Atman, the, 28, 29, 187-189, 192, 194, 198-203, 205, 206, 209, 215, 217-219 Aita, 199 Atuma, 80 Aung, S. Z., 99, 140 Avadanas, 309, 314 Avalokitesvara, 247-249, 253, 317, 32>^, 3Z^> 342 Avatamsaka Sutra, 229, 246 Avidya, 210 Avijjd, 97, 103 Avijjd dsava, 103 Avydkala Samyutta, 223 Awakening of Faith, The, 245 B Balajalonakara, 58 Balfour, G. W., 108 Bambu-grove Monastery, 44, 62, 68 ; see also Veluvana Barnett, L. D., 236 Beal, 156, 181 Becoming, Law of, no, 117, 120, 208, 209, 211, 222, 226 Behnaen, 120, 125, 146, 226, 241, 246, 248, 317 Bell, Clive, 140, 330 Beluva, 75 Benares, 30, 38, 46, 186, 263, 333 Bengal, 335, 336 Beyond Good and Evil, 174 Bhaddiva, 50 Bhadda, 163 Bhagavad Gttd, 104, 105, 143, 149, 204, 212, 218, 224, 251, 323, 327 Bhakta-kalpadruma, 157 Bhakti Yoga, 212 Bharadvaja, 59 Bharhut, 62, 325, 333 Bhava, 97 360 Bhava dsava, 103 B hi kkuni samyutta, 270 Bhikkhus, 69, 152, 154, 155, 331 Bihar, 62 Bimbisara, 27, 43, 56, 57, 62, 68, 265 Binyon, 341, 343 Black Snake King, whirlpool of the, 32 Blake, Wm., 235, 245, 255, 345 Bodhi, 239 Bodhicarydvatara, 236, 320 Bodhi-citta, 141 Bodhidharma, 253 Bodhisatta (Bodhisattva), 225, 227, 229-231, 233-235, 237 Bodhi tree, 14, 180, 185 Bohd Gaya, 297 Borobodur, 302, 326, 336 Bo-tree, 185 Brahma, 29, 58, 93, 112, 114, 151, 199, 205, 237, 241 Brahma-lokas, in Brahman, 28, 29, 187, 187-194, 199-202, 209, 210, 252, 254 Brahman, 89, 199, 214, 278 Brahmanism, 112, 198-221 Brahma Sittra, 209 ' Brazen Palace ' monastery, 300 Brihaddranyaka Upanishad, 160, 187, 188, 190, 200, 201, 203, 209, 210, 213, 216, 218 Buddha, 60, 90, 212 Buddha-carita, 146, 303, 304, 309 Buddhaghosha, 86, 100, loi, 106, 152, 204, 274, 297, 298 Buddhavamsa, 265, 295 Buddhism, 198-221 Buddhism, 199, 204, 237 Buddhism in Translations, 43, 163, 172 Buddhist China, 158, 237, 254, 25s. 342 Buddhist Psychology, 113, 203 Buddhist Review, 140 Index Bulis, 89 Burma, 129, 153, 154. 222, 297, 298, 333. 336 Cambodia, s33. 33^ Cambridge Magazine, 182 Canda-kinnara Jatdka, 49 Candana, 284 Cande Uda, 134 Canudo, Riciotto, 324 Capala, yy Cariydpitaka, 265, 295 Cetand, 97, 100 Ceylon, 133, 134, 153, 154, 184, 185, 222, 259, 261, 297, 298, 3or, 335 Chaddanta, 290-293, 334 Chaddanta Jdtaka, 289-293, 334 Ch'an, 252-258 Chdndogya Upanishad, 117, idij , 200, 201, 209 Channa, 14, 19, 24-27, 326 Chidambara Swami, 241 China, 166, 222, 253, 254, ^t,i, 338, 341-343. 345 Christianity, Docetic heresy of, 123 Chuang Tzu, 7,3- 38, 178, 267 Cinca, 58 Citta Gutta, 170 Cologne, 342 Commandments, Ten, 130, 153 Commentary on the Bhdgavata Pttrdna, 230 Compendium of Philosophy, 99, 1 1 7 Concepts of Monism, 199 Confucius, 159 Constantine, 185 Contemplation upon Flowers, 257 Convenient means, Doctrine of, 159, 250-252 Craig, Gordon, 177 Cromwell, Oliver, 130, 185 CuUasubhadda, 290, 291 Cullavagga, 90, 262, 263 Cunda, 78-81 Cyrene, 184 Dasa Dhammika Sutta, 324 Davids, C. A. F. Rhys, loi, 113, 119, 120, 127, 138, 149, 165, 167, 170, 199, 203-205, 227, 284. 287 Davids, T. W. Rhys, 40, yj, 96, 100, 109, 114, 152, 167, 199- 201, 204, 205, 227, 237, 276, 287 Dependent Origination, Law of, 96 Deussen, 179, 201, 204 Devadaha, 14 Devadatta, 18, 32, 51, 68-71, 126, 152, 180, 263 Devi, 240, 241 Dhamma, 90, 94, no, 127, 130, 158, 179, 181-184, 206, 223, 224 Dhamma-cakkhu, 267 Dhammadinna, 163 Dhammapada, 92, 122, 126, 178, 182, 265, 279, 281 Dhammapdla Jataka, 48 Dhamma-Sanganl, 148 Dharana, 196 Dharmakdya, 159, 237-240, 246 Dharmaraja, 308 Dhibba-cakkhu, 267 Dhydna, 196 Dialogues of the Buddha, 114, 152, 199, 204, 205, 227, 276 Digha Nikaya, 265, 270 Dipankara Buddha, 12 Dtpavamsa, 298, 299 Ditthi, 103 Divydvaddna, 314, ^^y Docetic heresy, 123, 250 Dona, 89 361 Buddha &f the Gospel of Buddhism Dukkha, 90-92, 96, 105, 120, 177, 178, 182, 211, 287 Duns Scotus, 240 Dutthagamani, 150, 299 Dying Out, 122, 181 Early Buddhism, 40, 109, 200, 201 Egypt, 184 Eight Stations of Deliverance, 118, 124 Eightfold Path, the Ariyan, 10, 37. 39. 40, 84, 85, 91, 263 Elara, 299, 300 Elephanta, 336 Ellora, 336 Emerson, R. W., 121 Epirus, 184 Eternal Life, 1 1 5 ' Eternity, Religion of,' 128 Ethics, 126-137 Euphrates, 260 Evening Chime of the Distant Temple, 343 M F ' $ Fa Hien, 1 86 Fana, 115, 119 Fand-al-fand, 119 Faust, III Feltham, 141 First Cause, 1 10 First Path, the, 40, 44, 45, 48, 55, 56, 70, loi, 102, 149, 293 Five Aggregates, 99, loi Five Wanderers [or Disciples), 30, 38, 39- 41 Forty Questions, The, 246 Foucher, M., 328 Foul Things, Meditation on, 144, 172, 234 362 Four Arupa Jhcinas, 112, 118 Four Ariyan Truths, or Four Noble Truths, 10, 44, 90, 10 1, 102, 177, 263 Four Cardinal Sins, 153 Four Floods, 103 Four Great Kings, 22, 37, in Four Guardians of the Quarters, 1 3, 22 ; see also Four Great Kings Four Jhanas, 112, 114 Four Meditations, 144 Four Paths, 10 1 Four Signs, 16, 19 Four Sublime Moods, 114, 142, 143, 145, 268 Four Varnas, 217 Fourth Path, the, 53, 55, 102, 103 Francis of Assisi, 1 59 ' Free-in-both-ways,' 124 Freer, C. L., 342 Gamani, 299 Gandhara, 329, 330, 333, 335, 338 Gargi, 213 Gaudapada, 192 Gautama, 249 Gautami, the Matron, 16, 22, 49, 53-55 Gay a Scarp, 42, 70 Geiger, Professor, 299 GhositSrama, 58 Goethe, 1 1 1 Goloubew, M,, 342 Gopika, 164 Gotamakas, 152 Gotami, the Slender, 148, 251, 270 ; see also Kisa Gotami Great Renunciation, 19, 24, 216 ' Great Thupa,' 300 Greece, 341 Grove of Gladness, the, 13 Gupta period, 332, z^d Ind ex H Haeckel, 220 Hall, Fielding, 153, 154 Hanuman, 201 Havell, 337 Hearn, Lafcadio, 108, 137, 249, 317 Heaven of Delight, 1 3 Heaven of Ideal Form, 147 Heaven of No-form, 147 Heavens, Brahma, 145, 147 Heavens, Buddhist, 110-115, 118, 147 Hermite, 113 Hibhert Journal, 108 Himalayas, 13, 290, 291 Hinayana Buddhism, 151, 185, 222, 226-228, 232, 236, 237, 259. 316, 318, 324 Hinduism, 175, 226 Hiouen Tsang, 1 56 Hiranyavati, R., 81 Hitopadesa, 281 Hoey, W., 60 Homer, 308 Honan, 339, 341 Horiuji, 340 Hiien Sha, 255 ' Islam,' 140 Isvara, 196, 197, 238, 247 Itivuitaka, 265, 281 I-tsing, 303, 310 Imitation of Christ, 320 India, 157, 174, 184, 185, 259, 339. 345 Indian Sculpture and Painting, 337 Indra, 112, 201 Indra, heaven of, 25 Indriyas, 189 Intoxications, the, 74 Isa Upanishad, 209 Isipatana, 30, 38 Jainas, the, II, 52, 57, 156, 236 Jail. 295 Jambu-tree, miracle of the, 16, 29, 30, 47 Jamuna, R., 309 Janaka, 198, 212 Janapada Kalyani, 49 Japan, 135-137, 166, 253, 333, 341. 343 Japan, 12>7 Japan Daily Mail, 134 Jardmaranam, 97 Jdtaka, 265 Jdtakamdld, 126, 131, 310 Jatakas, the, 159, 225, 287-289, 314. 337 Jdtakavannana, 287 Jdti, 97 Java, 333, z^e, Z37 Jayadeva, 283 Jesus, 115, 126, 138, 159, 181, 215, 238, 251, 274 ; also Christ, 214, 243, 250, 253, 332 Jetavana Grove or Monastery, 51, 58. 59. 63, 70 Jhanas, the, 112, 114, 146, 147 Jivaka, 64, 71 J hand Mdrga, 211 Jhdnd Yoga, 212 Johnston, R. F., 158, 237, 254, 255. 342 K Kabir, 113, 245, 254 Kaivalya Upanishad, 190 363 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism Kakusandha, 249 Kakuttha, R., 80 Kala Devala, 15, 29, 47 Kali, 241 Kalidasa, 283, 303 Kalika, 241 Kalinga, 182, 183, 294 Kaludayi, 14 Kaludayin, 46 Kama, 103 Kama dsava, 103 Kdma-lokas, iii, 267 Kdmd-vacdra deva-lokas , iii Kamma, 107, 108, 122 Kandula, 299 Kanhajina, 295 Kanishka, 328 Kanthaka, 14, 24-27, 326 Kapila, 194 Kapilavatthu, 9, 13, 14, 17, 19, 22, 26, 29. 32, 46, 47, 50, 53, 59, 72, 89, 126, 180, 194 Karandavyuha, 317 Karma, see Kamma Karma Yoga, 212 Karund, 142, 143 Kashf al-Mahjub, 244 Kassapa, 42-44, 88, 105, 249, 269, 270 Kassapa-gotta, 298 Kathaka Upanishad, 203 Kausambi, 58, 59 Keats, John, 113 Khaggavisdna Sutta, 171 Khandaka, 262 Khandhas, 100 Khema, 56, 163, 223 Khuddaka Nikdya, 265, 275, 279, 282, 295 Khuddakapatha, 158, 265 Kimbila, 50, 58 King, Henry, 257 Kinso, 256 Kisa Gotami, 23, 163, 271, 272 ; see also Gotami the Slender Knox, 134 Koliyas, 52, 89 Konagammana, 249 Kondaniia, 15, 16, 29, 38, 40 Korea, 339 Kosala, 52, 62, 71, 163, 223, 259 Kosalas, 9, 72 Krishna, 236 Krishna Lila, 236 Krishna, Sri, 149 Kshattriyas, 199, 214, 217, 278 Kuldvaka Jdtaka, 162 Kumarajiva, 319 Kunala, 314, 315 Kuroda, S., 233 Kurral, 254 Kusinara, 79, 84, 87-89 Kutagara Hall, 52, 54, 78 Kwannon, see Kwanyin Kwanyin (Kwannon), 249, 342 Kyoto, 342 364 Lalitavistara, 11, 302, 303, 316, 337 Lanka, 300 Laos, 336 Laotze, 159 Licchavis, 74, 75, 89, 164 Light of Asia, The, 11, 302 Linga-sartra, 109 Lokottaravadins, 302 Longmen, 339, 341 L'Origine grecque de I'Image du Bouddha, 328 Loyang, 254, 341 M Macedonia, 184 Maddi, 294 Mddhyamika sHiras, 243, 319 Index Mddhyamika Sastra, 245 Madhyamikas, 252, 319 Magadha, 27, 44, 62, 64, 68, 182, 217, 266, 336 MagadhI, 259 Magadhi canon, 302 Magdalene, the, 74 Magga, 90 Magha, 162 Maha Brahma, 32, 38 Maha Maya, 9, 13, 14, 16, 57, 241 Maha Ndrada Kassapa Jdtaka, 44 Maha Niddna Sutta, 118, 124 Mahd Parinibhdna Suita, 11, 118, 269, 277 Mahd Saithipatthdna Sutta, 277 Mahdbhdrata, 281, 310 MahajapatI, 9 Mahanama, 299 Mahdpaddna Sutta, 225, 278 Mahasubhaddha, 290, 291 Mahasudarsa, 305 Mahdvagga, 43, 156, 262, 263 Mahdvamsa, 150, 262, 298, 299, 301. 304 Mahdvastu, 302 Mahayana, 10, 125, 159, 175, 215, 220, 222-241, 244, 245, 247- 249, 251-253, 259, 301-303, 310, 316, 319, 345 Mahdydna-sraddha-utpada, 310 Mahavira, 152, 156, 217, 236 Mahendra, 185 Mahesvara, 241 Maitreya, 336 Majjhima, 298 Majjhima Nikdya. 91, 94, 96, 121, 166, 224, 265, 270 Malagiri, 69, 70 Mallas, 81, 84, 87-89 Mallians, 80 Malunkyaputta, 120, 121 Mamallapuram, 336 Manas, 189 Mdnava Dharma-sdstra, 214 Mangala Sutta, 279 Manjusri, 249, 331, ZZ7. 34 ^ Mdno, 103 Manu, 216, 218, 310 Mara, daughters of, 34-36 Mara the Fiend, 25, 32-35, 93, 270-272 Mdrasamyutta, 270 Mdrkandcya Purdna, 218 Matsunaga Teitoku, 256, 257 Mathura, 333 Maya, see Maha Maya Mdyd, Doctrine of, 208-210 Mean, Doctrine of, 94, 209, 210 Meru, Mount, 21 Metta, 142, 143 Metta Sutta, 102 Metteya, 112, 225, 249 Migara, mother of, 52 ' Middle Path of Eight Noes,' 242 Miiinda Panha, 116, 225, 296 Millet, Jean Francois, 344 Mogallana, 43-45. 57. 67, 70, 84 Mohammad, 157, 159 Moksha, 1 1 5 Moore, G. E., 140 Moriyas, 89 Morris, Wm., 267 Mucalinda, ly , 325 Muditd, 142, 143, 173 Munsterberg, Prof. O., 2,22) Music as a Religion of the Future, 324 N Nagarjuna, 242, 243-245, 250- 252. 319. 340 Nagasena, 296, 297 Nagita, Brother, 158 Nairanjana, 29 365 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism Nalaka, 15 Nalanda, ;^2 Nama-rupa, 97, 99, 100 Nanda, 54 Nandabala, 309 Nandiya, 58 Nara, 340 Nausicaa, 308 Nepal, 222, 335, 336 Nibbdna, 12, 23, 36, Z7> 4i, 43- 53. 73. 85, 103, no, 113, 115- 125, 127, 140, 145, 147, 180, 208, 222, 223 Niddnakathd, 1 1 Niddesa, 265 Nietzsche, 77, 92, 93, 144, 174, 176, 177, 179, 221, 229, 261 Nigantha Nataputta, 57, 84 Niganthas, 152, 156 Nigrodha-tree, 31 Nikayas, 199 Nimmana-vati, in Nirmdnakaya, 238, 246, 249, 2 50 Nirodha, 90 Nirvana, 39, 125, 161, 209, 210, 239, 241, 244, 248, 321 ; see also Nibbdna Nirvana T antra, 241 No-form, heaven of, 15, 147 Norm, the Buddhist, ^7, 71, 94, 127, 269 O Okakura, 340 Oldenberg, 60, 90, 127, 160, 163, 211, 264, 273, 276, 279, 314 Orissa, 37, 182 Oudh, 9 Outlines of Mahdydna Buddhism, 159 Outlines of the Mahdydna Philo- sophy, 233 366 Pacceka-Buddhas, 230 Pacittiya, 262 Padmapani, 249 Painting in the Far East, 341 Pali canon, the, 10, 158, 262-289, 302 Pali, 222, 223, 259, 261 Pali Jatakas, 1 1 , 260 Pali Suttas, ^2>Z Para, 78 Parajika, 262 Paramdrtha, 246, 252 Pardmitds, 289 Paranimitta-vasavatti , in Par at antra satya, 252 Paribbdfakas, 151, 152 ; see also Wanderers Parikalpita satya, 252 Parileyyaka, 58 Parinibbana, 122 Parispanna satya, 252 Parivara, 262 Parthia, 338 Parvati, 241 Pasenadi, 223 Patacara, 149, 163 Pataliputra, 186 Paticca-samupdda, 96 Patigha, 103 Patisambhiddmagga, 265 Patna, 186 Pava, 88 Pdyasi Sutta, 105, in Perfect Enlightenment, 35, 122 Petavatthu, 265 Petrucci, R., 257 Philosophical Letters upon Dog- matism and Criticism, 197 Philosophie de la Nature dans I' Art d' Extreme Orient, La, 257 Philosophy of the Upanishads, The, 179, 204 Index Phusati, 294 Pindola-Bharadvaja, 56 Pippalivana, 89 Pitakas, 204, 262 Planes of Desire, in, 112 Planes of Form, in, 112 Planes of No-form, in, 112, 113 Planes of Sensuous Desire, 1 1 1 Plato, 260 Poincarc, M., 113 Potthapada, 152 Prajiia, 239, 240 Prajilaparamita, 239, 240, 249. 337 Prajndpuramiids, 242, 318 Prakriti, 194, 240, 241 Pranidhana, 321 Prasenajit, 57 Pratapa Simha, 157 Principia Ethica, 140 Psalms of the Brethren, 119, 120, 158, 167, 168, 172, 176, 228, 283, 284 Psalms of the Sisters, 119, 138, 149, 165, 176, 283, 284 Pubbarama, 52 Pukkusa, 79, 80 Punna, 31 Punnavaddhana, 52 Puranas, 218 Purusha, 194-196, 231 Puto, 255 Q Queen Mallika's Park, 152 Questions of King Milinda, 296, 297 ' Raft, the Great,' 222, 226 • Raft, the Little,' 222 Raga, 34 Rahula, 9, 14, 22, 24, 50, 54, 263 Rahula, the mother of, see Yasod- har5, Rajagaha, 27, 29, 43-46, 50, 51, 56, 59, 62, 64, 7i Rajgir, 62 Rakkhita, Grove, 58 Rama, 167, 216 Ramagama, 89 Rdmdniija, 187, 206, 209 Rdmdyana, 167, 289 Rapti, R., 9, 62 Rapture, stages of, 86 Ratana Sutta, 103 Rati, 34 Ratnapani, 249 Ratnasambhava, 249 Resolves, 141 Revata, 297 Rig Veda, 209, 283 Rohini, R., 52 Romantic History of Buddha, 181 Rothenstein, W., 340 Ricpa-loka, in, 147, 267 RUpardga, 103 Ruru-deer, 311-313 Ruysbroeck, 235 Sadayatana, 97 Saddharmapundarika, 159, 231, 316 Sagund, 252 Sahet Maheth, 62 Saivas, 251 Sakka, 22, 32, 2,7 > 57. 58, m, 112, 151, 162, 164, 237, 295 Sakkdya-ditthi, 103 Sakti, 240, 241 Sakyamuni, 316 Sakyas, 9, 17, 18, 22, 32, 46, 47, SO, 52, 72, 89, 180, 181 367 Buddha &^ the Gospel of Buddhism Sakyasinha, 236 Samadhi, 147, 148, 196, 330 Samddhikdya, 239 Samahha-phala Sutta, 218, 277 Samantabhadra, 249, 341 Sambhogakdya, 238, 246, 249, 252 Samkhya system, 119, 187, 194- 196, 231, 232 Samsara, 93, 106, 148, 196, 209, 244, 254 Samudaya, 90 Samvritti, 246, 252 Samyutta Nikdya, 98, 118, 119, 148, 208, 265, 270, 277 Sanchi, 224, 325, 326, ^^2' 337 Sangha, 127, 141, 151, 158, 224, 283 Sanghamitta, 185 Sanjaya, 57, 84 Sankara, 104, 201, 206, 207, 211 Sankaracarya, 187, 243 Sankhdra, gj, 99, 100 Sankissa, 58 Sahhd, 99, 100 Sanskrit, 259, 301-303, 310 Sariputta, 44, 45, 50, 57, 67, 70, 84, 119, 227 Sarnath, 186 Saundardnanda Kdvya, 309 Savatthi, 51, 52, 56-60, 62, 163, 271, 290 Schelling, 113, 197 Schopenhauer, 157, 165 Sea of Existence, 12 Second Path, 48, 55, 102 ' Sermon of the Inanimate,' 255 Service Tenures Commission Re- port, 154 Seven Connatal Ones, 14 Sex and Character, 166 Shanti Deva, 140, 236, 320-323 Shao Lin monastery, 254 Shikshasamuccaya, 140, 320 Siam, 297, ZZ^ Sigdlavddd Sutta, 131, 269 368 Siha, 156 Silahbata pdramdsa, 103 Silver Hill, 13 Sinha, P. N., 230 Sinhalese, 185 Siva, 247, 251, 267 Sivaka, 283 Sivi, 294 Six Perfections, 242, 318 Smith, Vincent, 130 Socrates, 159, 172 Sonuttara, 292 Sophocles, 332 Soul of a People, The, 154 Spassa, 97 Speyer, 310 Sravakas, 230 Stupa of Bharhut, the, 62 Subhadda, 84, 85 Subhadda (wife of K. of Benaresl, 292 Subhuti, 242, 317, 318 Suddhodana, 9, 10, 13, 17, 18, 20, 29, 32, 45, 49, 50, 53, 54, 116. 212 Sijdra, 214, 218, 278 Sufi, 115, 119, 140 Sujata, 30, 31, 36, Z7 Sukha, 178 Sukhavati, 247 Sukhdvativyuha, 317 Sumedha, 11, 12, 225, 288 Sundari-Nanda, 287 Sunya, 239 Sunyata, 318 Supersensual Life, The, 246 Suprabuddha, 17, 18, 59 Sutra, 64 Sutrdlamkdya, 309 Sutta-nipdta, 121, 265, 282 Suttavibhanga, 262 Sutta Pitaka, 265 Suttas, the, iii, 273 Suzuki, T., 159, 24s Svabhdvakdya, 239 Index Svetasvatara U panishad, 208 Syria, 184 System of the Veddnta, 201 Tagore, 120 Taittinya U panishad, 200 Tamils. 185 T'ang epoch, 341-343 Tanha, 34 Tanhd, 97, 100, 120 T antra Tattva, 241 Tao, 1 1 5 Tathagata, 39, yj, 78, 82-84, 86, 94, 159, 161, 162, 242, 250, 275, 317. 318 Tathdgata-garbha, 239, 240, 310 Tatong, 338, 342 Tattva, 239 Tauler, 322 Tdvatimsa, 1 1 1 Tayamanavar, 241 Ten Commandments or Prohibi- tions, 130, 153 Ten Fetters, 103 Ten Perfections, The, 12, 33 Teu Tse, 255 Tevijja Sutta, 113, 131, 205, 268 Theragdthd, 265 Theraputtabhaya, 300, 301 Thcrd-thcrt-gdthd, 119, 283, 284 Theravada Dhamma, 175, 221, 259 Thcrigdthd, 265 Third Path, the, 48, 50, 55, 102 Thirty-three Devas, 22 Thirty-three Gods, heaven of the, 15, 16, 27, 57. Ill Three Moods, 103 Three Gems or Three Jewels, 71, 224 Three Pitakas. 262 Three Refuges, 257; sec also Three Gems Ti-tsang, 249 Tofukuji, 342 Torio, Viscount, 134 Tree of Wisdom, the, 32, 35, 36 Trikaya, 238 Tiisita, 1 1 1 Twelve Nidanas, 96 ; see Wheel of Causation U Uddna, 223, 265, 281 Uddaka, 38 Uddhacca, 103 Uma, 241 Updddna, 97 Upddhis, 189 Upanishads, 100, 117, 187-190, 193. 194. 199. 202, 204-207, 209, 218, 243, 259 Upekkha, 142, 143 Uppalavanna, 163 Uruvela, 29, 30, 42, 46 Ushnlsha, 331 Vaidehi princes, 64 Vairocana, 239, 249 Vaisali, 155 Vaishya, 214, 278 Vajjians, 72 Vajracchedika Sutra, 242, 317, 318 Vajrapani, 249 Vajrasuci, 310 Valeur de la Science, La, 113 Valmiki, 216 Vanaprasthas, 151 Vardhamana, 1 1 , 57 Vasetta, i \j\, 268, 269 Vasettha Sutta, 282 2 A 369 Buddha &' the Gospel of Buddhism Vasubandhu, 251 Vatsya, 158 Vattagamani, 261 Vedand, 97, 99, 100 Vedanta Sutras, 187 Vedanta, 45, 109, 122, 180, 187- 194, 196, 200, 202, 203, 209, 238, 241, 322 Vedas, 187, 191, 218, 226, 310 Veluvana, 62, 63 Vesali, 52, 54, 72. 74, 75, 89 Vessantara, Prince, 12, 34, 47, 294, 295 Vessantara Jdtaka, 230, 289, 294, 295 Vethadipa, 89 Vibhanga, 94 Vicikicchd, 103 Vijaya, Sister, 172 Vijfiana Bhikshu, 219 Vijnanavadins, 252 Vimokhd, iiy Vimala-knti Sutra, 244 Vimdnavatthu, 265 Vimutii, 117, 118, 122-124, 148 Vinaya Pitaka, 262, 265 Vinndna, 96, 97, 99, 100 Vipassi, 278 Visakha, 52, 163, 164 Vishnu, 241, 247 Vissakamma, 57 Visuddhi Magga, 92, 95, 159, 170, 172, 297, 324 Visvapani, 249 Vulture's Peak, jt, Vyasa, 216 W Wanderers, The, 151, 152 Wang Wei, 343 Warren, 163, 172 Way of Enlightenment, 320 Wei period, 342 Weininger, 165, 166 Wheel of Causation, 96 Wheel of the Law, the, 39, 45, 186 Whitman, Walt, yj 142, 157, 167, 177, 246 Worsley, A., 199 Wumaj'^ado, Prince, 339 Wu Tao-tzu, 342, 343 Yajnavalkhya, 198, 213 Yakkhas, 22, 25, 325 Yama, 272, 273 Yasa, 41 Yasodhara, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24, 26, 47, 49. 50. 305 Yoga, 146, 196. 197, 328 Yogacara, 251, 252, 320 Yogavaracaras, 310 Zen Buddhism, 252-258 171, 172, 175, Date Due ■»v iiiii^^ BL1451.C77 _ ^„ ^^^. Buddha and the gospel of Buddhism, Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 00031 2993 I!;: ti I.