(2-^c^^:/ci^ BL1451 .A43 1871 A^labaster, Henry, d. 1884 Wheel of the law. ^ '^^'f^-^^ ^HE WHEEL OF THE LAW. n PRINTED BY HALLANTYNE AND COMPANY EDINUURGH AND LONDON THE WHEEL OF THE LAW. BUDDHISM ILLUSTRATED FROM SIAMESE SOURCES THE MODERN BUDDHIST, A LIFE OF BUDDHA, AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE PHRABAT. HENRY ALABASTER, Esq., INTERPRETER OF IIER MAJESTY'S CONSULATE GENERAL IN 81AM, MEMBER OF THE ROYAL .\SIATIC SOCIETY. LONDON: TRijBNER & CO., GO PATERNOSTER ROW. 1871. \All riyhts reserved.'] TABLE OF CONTENTS. Preface — Object and nature of the work, .... On the tendency of the ideas of the " Modern Buddhist," . On other translations of the " Life of Buddha," On the interest of Sanscrit literature to students of Siamese, On the various distinct religious ideas found in the Siamese "Life of Buddha," .... On tree worship, ..... On Lidian jahilosophies akin to Buddhist metaphysics, The Asoka edicts, ..... General sketch of Buddhism, Metempsychosis and equality of beings, The misery of existence and absence of Providence, Nirwana and heaven, .... The non-existent soul, .... The road to happiness ; virtue, charity, and meditation, Monasticism, . , Prayer, ...... Reason for writing on the " Phrabat," List of the authors consulted for this work. On Barthelemy St Hilaire's condemnation of Buddhism, PAGE xiii XV xxiv xxviii xxviii XXX xxxii xxxiv XXXV XXXV xxxvi xxxvii xxxix xlii xliv xlv xlvii xlviii li PAKT I. THE "MODERN BUDDHIST," OR THE IDEAS OF A SIAMESE MINISTER OF STATE ON HIS OWN AND , OTHER RELIGIONS. PART IL A LIFE OF BUDDHA. Siamese Introduction. Summary of the " Life of Buddha," . 76 VI CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER I. The Glorious Marriage. The first coiuicil of Buddhism convened by King Adjata- sattrn— Ananda relates the " Life of Buddha "—The wheel of the law— King Singhanu— Pre-existences of Maia— Her beauty and virtue— Her interview with Brahmins sent to find a wife for Suddhodana, son of Singhami— Dream of King Singhanu— Preparations for the marriage— The marriage, . . . .77 CHAPTER II. The Descent from the Tushita Heavens. The pre-existences of the Being that would be Buddha— His charities — Five portents preceding advent of a Buddha — ^The angels invoke him to descend from heaven — Five signs of end of an angel's life — The nature of angels — The five considerations as to birth in the world— The gardens of the angels— The descent— Wonderful mani- festations throughout the world, ... 88 CHAPTER IIL The Birth in this World. The feast of the full moon of the eightli month— Conduct oi Queen Maia— Her dream— The conception — The inter- pretation of the dream — Her life and worship— Her journey towards Dewadaha — The birth in the forest — The child regards the world, and proclaims himself greatest of all beings — The thirty-two miraculous signs — Seven other things produced at same time — The re- turn to Kapila, ...... 97 CHAPTER IV. Predictions of Future Greatness. Rejoicings of the angels— Story of Kaladewila— Prophecy of -the Brahmins— The thirty-two signs of a Grand Being His feet — Prophecy of Kondanya that he would be Buddha, 107 CHAPTER V. The Four Visions. He is named Angkhirasa and Sidharta— Pachapati (on the death of Maia) becomes his foster-mother — Miracle at sowing festival— His lotus pool— His palace— Display of skill in the arts— He marries— He visits his garden, CONTENTS. Vll PAfiE and on four distinct occasions sees an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a devotee — The birth of his son — The incident of Kisagotami, , . . .117 CHA^TEK VI. The Commexcement op a Religious Career. His last night in his harem — Repulsive exliibition of woman- kind — He determines on adopting religious life — De- scription of liis horse — His look at his newly-born son — He leaves his palace — Mara tempts him to remain — His journey of two hundred miles in one night — He disrobes, and cuts off his hair — He receives the eight priestly requisites, . . . . . .125 CHAPTER VII. The Practice of Asceticism. He sends back his attendant — Deatli of the horse — After seven days' fast, he marches two hundred miles to Raja- griha — His inter\dew ■with King Bimblsara — He studies with masters of philosophy — He goes to the Uruwela solitude — Five ascetics come and attend on him — For six years he practises extreme mortification, even to ceasing to take food — Mara tempting him, is worsted — Accepting a suggestion of Indra, he again takes food, at which liis five companions are offended, lose their faith in him, and leave him, , . , .132 CHAPTER VIII. The Final Effort. The woman Suchada prepares an offering for the angel of the Banyan-tree — Five visions seen by the Great Being — Buddha receives Suchada's offering in a golden bowl — He goes to the river-side and casts the bowl into the stream — It sinks to the realms of the Nagas — He marches, attended by angels, towards the Bo-tree — A bundle of grass, given him by the way, placed iinder the Bo-tree, becomes a throne, . , . .143 CHAPTER IX, The Contest with the Evil Spirit. Mara's daughters tempts him — Mara and his host assail him — He relies on his virtue — The discussion, with Mara — He invokes the earth — The angel of the earth appears and discomfits the host of ]\Iara — The angels and Mara vmite in praising him, . . . - .149 Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. The Attainment op the Buddhahood. He attains supernatural knowledge — Discovers the law of the circle of existence — Realises that all existence is unstable, sorrowful, and illusive — He sees Nirwana, and enters the four paths— Passing through the paths, he attains the Buddhahood, .... Native Conclusion. The Buddha does honour to the Bo-tree— He silences the angels by a display of his power, Continuation (placed as Note 172). Buddha spends seven weeks by the Bo and other trees — He is sheltered by the King of Nagas — Two merchants are his first alnisgivers and converts — By entreaty of the angels, he consents to preach — He turns the wheel of the law at Benares — He makes niunerous converts diuing his first season — Proceeds to Raj agriha— Con- verts King Bimbisara, who gives him the Weluwana monastery — Visits his father — Founds an order of nuns — Has a public contest with the heretics — The fable of Kappaka's donkey — Visit to the heavens — Descent at Sangkaslii — Visits to Ceylon and Siam — Plots of his opponents — Ananda appointed his attendant — His recep- tion by the courtesan — His entertainment by the gold- smith — His last meal — His death. 15^ 161 228 NOTES TO THE LIFE OF BUDDHA. 1. On the words Buddha, Bodhi, Bodliisatva, and Phra, 2. Sidharta, ..... 3. Religious mendicants previous to Buddha, 4. Amrita, the draught of immortality, 5. Kusinagara, the city of, . 6. Nirwana, ..... 7. King Adjatasattru and the first Buddhist Council, 8. Wephara Hill, where the Council met, 9. The patriarch Kasyappa, 10. Bhawana meditation, 11. Ananda, ..... 12. The wheel of the law, 13. The monks screen Phatchani, 14. The four paths, or highest degrees of saintliness, 15. The archangel Indra, 163 164 164 164 165 165 166 167 167 168 168 169 170 170 171 CONTENTS. IX 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. .35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. Chotiban, a pre-existence of Buddha, The five elements of corporeal being (Skandhas), The Sakya race, Kapila, tlie city of, . Suddhodana, the father of Buddha, The beauties and perfections of woman, The five and eight observances or commandment; Bralimins and the Vedas, . Wipassi and other Buddhas preceding Gotama, The three worlds, .... The joyful heaven, Tushita, The confusion between Dewadaha and Dewalangk Yaks or Yakkhas, .... The four guardians of the world. The ten rules of kings, The royal insignia, .... The coronation ceremony, . Yasodhara or Sunantha, The Chakravartin, or Universal Emperor, . The seven great treasures of the Chakravartin, Explanation as to Kalpa and Asongkhai, periods of time, The Buddha Dipangkara and the story of Sumetta, Samabatti ecstacy, and mii-aculous powers (Aphinya yan), The thirty transcendent virtues (Barami), . The power of righteousness. Story of Prince Wessautara's charities. Angels of the tempest and god of the wind. Translation of the Siamese word Pram at, . Ten thousand worlds, . . Angels' attention excited by their becoming hot, The five considerations, Pawilokana, The duration of human life. The continent Jambu Dvipa, The central country, Pacheka Buddhas, .... The two principal disciples and the dignities of the rio-ht and left, ..... The eighty chief disciples, . The expression Maha Sal, . Caste, ..... The gardens where angels end tlieir existence. The demons Pret or Pretas, . Feast of the fifteenth day of the eighth month. The various meanings of Ubosot, Bot, and Uposatha, The Himalayan fairyland and Lake Anodat, 171 172 173 173 173 173 174 175 176 177 177 178 178 178 178 179 179 181 181 181 182 182 182 184 184 184 185 186 186 186 186 186 187 187 187 187 188 188 188 189 189 189 189 190 CONTENTS. 60. The ceremony of marching round, or Thaksina, 61. The sects Tajjasa and Parivrajaka, . 62. Remark on the story of Kaladewila, 63. The jewelled throne, .... 64. Yom, Yak, Asura, Gandharva, Suparna, and Garnda, 65. Dhyana meditation and the Brahma heavens, 66. The four means to obtain miraculous powers (Itthibat), 67. The seven Bodhyangas, .... 68. The five principles of emancipation (Wimuti), 69. Anawara yan, 70. Asamiman, .... 71. The four pre-eminent truths, 72. The four Satij)atthan, 73. The four Pati samphita yan, 74. The four Phrommawihan, . 75. The eleven fires, 76. The sixty-two false doctrines, 77. The Holy Triad, . 78. The eightfold path, . 79. Samanya Phon, 80. Seven things produced at Buddha's birth, 81. Buddha's visit to the heavens, 82. Bucha (Puja), or sacrifice, . 83. Respect shown by children to parents, 84. The want of merit of Kaladewila, . 85. The eight requisites of a monk, 86. The term Samana or Sramana, 87. The meditation called Kammathan, 88. Nalaka Patijiada, 89. The thirty-two signs of a Grand Being, 90. Remark on interruption in the story, 91. The name Tathagata, 92. Correction of text, . 93. Meta Bhawana, 94. Marks on the foot of Buddha, 95. Cause of softness of hands, . 96. Cause of fingers being close set (Sangkhriha watthu), 97. Suphasit or Confucian teachings, . 98. Explanatory of text, 99. Supplements the abridged translation, 100. On the golden tint, and Siamese idea of beauty of com- plexion, .... 101. The raised skull of Buddha, the glory, and crowns, 102. Angkhirasa, a name of Buddha, 103. Sidharta, .... PAGE 190 191 191 191 191 192 195 196 196 196 196 196 197 198 198 198 199 199 199 200 200 201 201 201 201 202 203 204 204 204 205 205 205 205 205 205 206 206 206 206 206 207 207 208 CONTENTS. XI PAGE 104. Pachapati, ....... 208 105. Qualities of nurses, . , . . . 208 106. The festival of sowing-time (Rek ua), 208 107. Explanatory of text, . . . . . 209 108. The three seasons, ...... 209 109. Maradop or shrine, . . . . . 209 110. The Silapasatr and kingly accomplishments, 210 111. Crown Prince, ...... 211 112. Yasodhara, ...... 211 113. Polygamy, ...... 211 114. The four visions, or Thewathut, . . . . 211 115. Rahula, ....... 211 116. Upathi kilet, ...... 212 117. Vahana or Phahana, .... 212 118. Angels of the gate, ..... 212 119. Mara, the devil, ..... 213 120. Festival of midday of sixth month, . . . 216 121. Lopho, Moho, Thoso, .... 213 122. Sawatthi (the city), .... 213 123. Wesali or Vaisoli, .... 214 124. Anoma, the river, ..... 214 125. Augury drawn from Anoma, . . 215 126. Samana and Samanen, .... 215 127. Touching the head, .... 215 128. The head of Buddha, .... 215 129. The tree that gratifies all desires, and cremation gifts. 216 130. Yellow dress of monks, .... 216 131. Manophanithan, ..... 216 132. Explanatory of omission, .... 217 133. Rajagriha, the city, .... 217 134. Rahu the cause of eclipses, 217 135. Nagas, or serpents of preternatural power, 218 136. Rule that monks should keep their eyes on the ground. 219 137. The Banthawa Hill, .... 219 138. Samathi, the position of contemplation, 219 139. Alara and Kuddhaka, .... 219 140. Dhyanas, 219 141. The Uruwela solitude, 220 142. Mahapathan, 220 143. The five Wakkhi, . 220 144. Sayamphu, . 220 145. The generals of Mara, 221 146. Angels of trees, 221 147. The story of Suchada, 221 148. Kala, the Naga king. 222 xn CONTENTS. 149. 150. 151. 152. 153. 154. 155. 156. 157. 158. 159. 160. 161. 162. 163. 164. 165. 166. 167. 168. 169. 170. 171. 172. 173. 174. Three former Buddhas, The white umbrella of kings, The three daughters of Mara, The King of Death, The thirty Barami, The Chakra, Spirit or understanding, meaning of Chitr, On pouring water on the earth, The angel of the earth, Satsada, .... Buppheniwasayan, . Thij)hachaksuyan, . Laws of cause and effect (Nidanas), Wipassana panya, Samathi, .... Sammapathan, Impermanence, sorrow, and instability, Anulom yan, Khotraphu yan. The four paths, Kilet, . . . . Samma samphothi yan, Chatu wesara khim. Sketch of the subsequent life of Buddha, Translation of part of chapter x., omitted in text, Note on the thirty-seven constituents of Buddha's wisdom PAGE 222 222 222 223 223 223 223 224 225 225 225 225 225 226 226 226 226 227 227 227 227 227 228 228 234 241 PAKT III. THE PHRABAT, OR HOLY FOOTPRINT. CHAPTER I. General account of the superstition, CHAPTER II. Visit to the Phrabat, ..... CHAPTER III. Account op figures on the Footprint, APPENDIX. ^The thirty-two characteristics of a great man, 245 263 286 311 INDEX. PREFACE. All Buddhists, throughout the wide range of countries where the doctrines of Buddha prevail, call their religion the doctrine of " The Wh eel of the Law." I have adopted the name for this book, because it is peculiarly appro- priate to a theory of Buddhism, which the book in some degree illustrates. I refer to the theory that all exist- ence of which we have any conception is but a part of an endless chain, or circle, of causes and effects ; that so long as we remain in that wheel there is no rest and no peace ; and that rest can only be obtained by escap- ing from that wheel into the incomprehensible Nirwana. Buddha taught a religion of which the wheel was the only proper symbol ; for his theory, professing to be complete, dealt with but a limited round of knowledge ; ignored the beginning, and was equally vague as to the end. He neither taught of a God, the Creator of ex- istence, nor of a heaven, the absorber of existence, but restrained his teaching within what he believed to be the limits of reason. The wheel of the law, or Buddhism, is in this volume illustrated by three distinct essays or parts, which XIV PREFACE. exemplify the sceptical phase, the traditionary phase, and the ultra-superstitious phase. The first part is a revised and enlarged edition of the " Modern Buddhist," the short essay in which I, last year, introduced to European readers a summary of the ideas of an eminent Siamese nobleman on his own and other religions. The Buddhism it teaches, though it has a strong party in favour of it, rejects many superstitions, and so dififers from the Buddhism of the generality of educated Siamese, which is illustrated by the second and third parts. The second part, which illustrates the traditionary phase, is a Buddhist Gospel, or "Life of Buddha," com- mencing with events previous to his last birth, and ending with his attainment of the Buddhahood. I have translated it from a popular Siamese work, " Pathomma Somphothiyan," the " Initiation, or First Festival of Perfect Wisdom." My translation is free or literal, according to my judgment. In many parts I have cut out tedious descriptive passages ; in one or two places, duly re- ferred to in the notes, I have corrected presumed errors in my Siamese manuscript ; and in chapter x. I have substituted a simple for a confused arrangement. In order that the story of the Life may convey a thorough idea of the doctrines of traditionary Buddhism, I have in the notes dilated on every point of Buddhist teach- ing referred to in the text ; and I believe that text and notes combined may be considered to give a fair idea of the Siamese view of the character of their great teacher, the principles of the law which he taught, and the observances becoming in his followers. The third part, which illustrates the ultra-supersti- PREFACE. XV tious phase of Buddhism, is an account of the " Phra- bat, or kSiamese Footprint of Buddha/' a curious and gross superstition, which offers a very thorough con- trast to the ideas of the " Modern Buddhist." In the description of my journey to visit it will be found some notices of the Siamese people, monks, and temples, as they are. When I introduced to the readers of Europe the speculations of a Siamese nobleman on his own and other religions, I looked forward, in the event of that essay being successful, to bringing out a new edition with the corrections and additions of the Siamese author, Chao Phya Thipakon, himself. His much-to- be-lamented death has prevented this, and I am left to re-edit it by myself. I venture to preface it with some remarks, con- ceived, so far as such is possible for me, in sympathy with, and as a development of, the ideas of the author, particularly intended to show that practical applica- tion of his principles which has a personal interest for Europeans. The " Modern Buddhist," in his endeavours to justify his religion in the eyes of Europeans, has" enunciated a form of Buddhism which must be of considerable in- terest to many who, in these days of criticism and doubt, have lost all the faith and hope that was in them, and search in vain for some foundation on which to rebuild their belief. The " Modern Buddhist " is scep- tical, but his scepticism is not of that demolishino- character, the evil nature — I may perhaps say, untruth — of which is shown by the misery it brings to those who are plunged in it. Happy are they that sleep ! and happy are they who. XVI PREFACE. with unshaken faith, follow the religion of their an- cestors, and console themselves for all the trials they experience in this life by the glad hope of a life im- mortal ! Evidently miserable are most of those whose hopes are bounded by the day they are ever approach- ing, who believe in no reward for virtue unless it be an immediate one, whose aspirations to do good for future times only call up the sad thought that it is useless, and who, panting for an immortality they cannot see the reason of, chill the promptings of their spirit by such words as those of the poet — "No man lives for ever, And dead men rise up never." The theories of the " Modern Buddhist " are better than such hopelessness. The " Modern Buddhist " assumes religion to be the science of man, and not the revelation of God. He does not think that the comprehension of the Deity, or the firm persuasion of the exact nature of heaven, is of so much consequence as that just idea of one's own self which he believes he finds in Buddhism purged of superstitions. He is a deeply religious man, but his ideas of reli- gion diS"er so much from English ideas, that it is difii- cult to state them without giving offence. Strange to us are his teachings on the subjects of God and eternity ; yet throughout his w^ork there is a spiritual tone which shows, that with him, as with us, religion is the link which connects man with the Infinite, and is that which gives a law of conduct depending on a basis more extensive than the mere immediate present. PREFACE. XVll The ordinary man, whatever his religion may be, whatever he believes in, whatever he doubts, acknow- ledges himself, and acknowledges infinity, and longs to connect the two.'^' In his endeavours, he either works from himself towards the Infinite, as does the Buddhist, or by a bold definition of the undefinable, he assumes the nature of the Deity, and by a declaration of the laws which ac- cord with that nature, he governs his religion. Such is the practice of the followers of the great religions of Christ, Mahomet, and Brahma. Man, who cannot conceive the Infinite in any one of its aspects — who grows appalled as he looks at the sky, and utterly, hopelessly fails to find a limit to his look and his thought, cannot, and does not, of himself pretend to have so fearful a knowledge. But man, listening to a craving that is in him, welcomes the heaven-promising teachings of those he believes to have been inspired, and so in many cases learns suffi- cient for his satisfaction. At the same time, there are many men who cannot believe that which they cannot comprehend ; and still more cannot accept as revealed truth those writings which appear to them to be the work of men very im- perfectly acquainted with the laws of nature, inclined to write history from a rather partial stand-point, and often teaching very bad morality. These sceptics must either cease to occupy their minds with religion, or must assume that it is the * I do not here refer to the teachings of philosophers, but to the ideas of those who have learnt no metaphysical subtleties. Some Buddhists, like followers of other philosophical schools, emphatically deny their own existence, professing to believe in the maxim, " Neither I am, nor is aught mine." XVlll PREFACE. subject of some law ; for if it is not governed by some law, any attempt to reason on it would be waste of time. If religion is the subject of law, it must be believed that the law which rules it is a law of perfect justice. Belief that we are ruled by an unjust law, or by an unjust God, capable of having ever reserved His special love for peculiar people, or of visiting on children the sins of their fathers, is too horrible. If there is a law of perfect justice, then the "Modern Buddhist" argues that, from the different conditions and fortunes of men, we must conclude that there have been previous states of existence, and will be future states, which, taken together, will balance the good and bad luck, the happiness and misery of all beings. He, with a mathematical mind, cannot by any process balance one finite existence againt infinity. He can- not believe that a bad life of, say fifty years, shall be punished eternally, or a good life of fifty years blessed eternally. Fifty years is nothing when compared with infinite time, and there is no justice in allowing so short a period to perceptibly affect one that is long beyond all comparison with it. It seems to him, as it will seem to many others, that proportion is insepar- able from justice ; that limited time cannot bear any proportion to infinity ; and that, in fact, infinity can only be affected by infinity. He can balance an in- finite past, spent in innumerable states of transmigra- tion, against an infinite future ; he can also believe that life is but a phenomenon of disturbance ; that the principle of equalisation existing in it will cause the rise and fall of the waves of disturbance to be propor- tionate to one another, acting and re-acting until the PREFACE. XIX disturbance disappears in perfect rest. But he can- not believe that the short span of one life shall, by itself, determine the nature of our eternity. Throuo-hout his main arfifuments there is at least an appearance of reason. As the mathematician begins from a conceivable definite unit, and works towards in- finity, rather than beginning with infinity in order thence to evolve his unit, so does the " Modern Bud- dhist " work from his apparently comprehensible unit man towards the incomprehensible eternity of existence, and does not begin by defining the eternity of existence, and other problems of infinity therewith connected, and thence argue as to the state of man. He observes that many men pass through a great deal of sorrow during their lives, whilst others are comparatively happy ; that evil men, owing to the favourable circumstances of their birth, are prosperous, while good men, born in a less fortunate grade of life, often struggle vainly against adverse fortune. He believes all this must be balanced and equalised, and he thinks it natural that the equalisation should be obtained by the man that has sufiered becoming, or having been, happier in another state of existence, and the man who has misused advantages afterwards suffering reverses. He sees in the diff'erent conditions of life a proof that there must be a transmigration of the spirit from existence to existence, that the beggar of yesterday may be the millionaire of to-day, and the prince of to-day the dog of the future. Supposing he is right — that the merit and demerit of man accounts for his present existence and will shape his future ; supposing that, whether or no we have a soul, there is a something we create, — our XX PREFACE. destiny — which will hereafter reap the benefit of our good actions and the punishment of our wickedness, then I think his teaching has at least one of the most valuable characteristics of religion, in that it afibrds a strong motive to be virtuous, and a very manifest reason to endeavour to benefit the world, whose plea- sures and sufi'erings we shall by our destiny continue to partake of. Many will object that the motive above stated is a selfish one, and therefore a bad one. We have, all of us, a prejudice against everything to which the word selfish can be applied ; we like the thoughtless, liberal prodigal, better than the careful man who takes care of his future, and whom we call selfish. I venture to think that selfishness is not objectionable in so far as it makes man act on the presumption that his first duty is to take care of himself. It becomes objection- able when, exceeding its proper bounds, it interferes with the due performance of mans second duty, which is his duty to promote the general happiness. The Buddhist principle would increase man's readiness to perform this second duty, by its recognition that it is indeed a part of his first duty ; that, in fact, his only way to act with a view to his own future benefit is to strive for the amelioration of the condition of all human beings. Selfishness producing unselfishness cannot be very seriously condemned. When we study the lives of Buddhists, we do not find that their re- ligion has made them objectionably selfish. Those I have lived amongst are kind, charitable, and hospitable, and the life of the founder of their religion, given in this volume, is a remarkable instance of self-abnegation. The theory that the various conditions of men and PREFACE. XXI animals is caused by good and bad acts and thoughts in previous generations, is orthodox Buddhism ; but the argument, as used by the " Modern Buddhist," seems to me to tend to a somewhat latitudinarian behef. If we are to dispense with "inner consciousness" and revelation, and belief in those venerable traditions which were introduced into our minds in our infancy, or before our minds were capable of fairly judging them ; if we are to ignore all this, and deduce our be- lief in future existence merely from the conditions of present existence, then it appears to me to follow naturally, that as from the conditions of visible exist- ence we have drawn a belief in future existence, and the advantage of a virtuous life, so also from the same conditions of visible existence we must ascertain what a virtuous life is — that is to say, what will conduce best to the happiness of all creatures, any one of which we may hereafter chance to be. True it is the "Modern Buddhist " does not go so far as to assert this, but declares that Buddha, the wise one, has already taught the nature of a virtuous life. Nevertheless he does not attempt to set up the wisdom of Buddha as a bar to further progress in the way of wisdom. He has a firm faith that whatever truths science may reveal, none will be found opposed to the vital points of Buddhism. He freely criticises his sacred books by such small lights of science as he pos- sessed. He states his opinion that Buddha, although he knew everything, was careful not to teach that which the people of his age were not ripe to under- stand, and therefore refrained from many topics he might have referred to had he lived in a more ad- vanced age. XXll PREFACE. It may be denied that such ideas are consistent with- orthodox Buddhism, but orthodox or unorthodox, they at least prove that Buddhism does not cramp the mind, as some of its antagonists have declared. They show that Buddhism does not hold men in such an iron grip that they dare not let their reason travel beyond its so-called canonical dogmas. They show that there is in that religion a suitability to the natures of many progressive men ; that it will lead them well so far as it goes, and will not offer to those whose intelli- gence, rightly or wrongly, perforce carries them for- wards — so terrible a ruin of all their previous ideas and aspirations, that they can lament that they are reason- ing beings. Chao Phya Thipakon was regarded as a very pious Buddhist by a nation of Buddhists, so it is scarcely for us to question his orthodoxy ; yet he teaches doctrines which go a long way towards the belief that the highest religious duty of man is the reverential study of social and political science. The teachings of Chao Phya Thipakon are at an end. In the text of the "Modern Buddhist/' I mention that he had been for some years blind. In hopes of recover- ing his sight, he underwent an operation for cataract. He never recovered his sight, and sank under his afflic- tions in the summer of last year, before he had had the opportunity of criticising my version of his book, or had even learnt the pleasure with which his vindi- cation of his religion was received by liberal-minded critics in Europe. I will tell one anecdote of my in- tercourse with him. Many years ago, when I first acquired some little facility in speaking Siamese, but had no real knowledge of Buddhism, I used sometimes PREFACE. XXUl to visit His Excellency of an evening, and converse on science and religion. One night I expounded to him part of the Sermon on the Mount, and he seemed so pleased with those beautiful maxims, that I thought him half a Christian, and hoped soon to convert him. Then it was that he told me of the beauty of Buddha's teachings, and showed me how hopeless was the task which the missionaries had undertaken in his country. The missionaries again and again feel hopeful that the day of conversion is at hand, yet are ever doomed to disappointment. I cannot but think that the money and energy expended on their work is in great measure lost, and that the labour of many of them would be better employed in their own country. It is a pity to see good men, who might be of use in their own country, doomed to a life of disappointment in an unhealthy and enervating climate. It is a pity to see good Buddhists turned into bad Christians ; and I am afraid that the Protestant missionaries could not produce one good Siamese Christian for each ten thou- sand pounds that has been devoted to their work. They may have a few sincere and intelligent Chinese and Burmese converts, but Siamese converts, if any, are very rare. I hope this will not be misunderstood to be an at- tack on the missionary body. They have not succeeded as missionaries, but they have done, and still do, much good in the country as physicians, teachers, and pio- neers. There are too many of them, and the work of most of them is wasted, but some of them are among the most useful members of the foreign community. To one of them (who supports himself without draw- ing a salary from any missionary body) the Siamese XXIV PREFACE. are indebted for many useful publications, including tlie Siamese laws, and several volumes of semi-his- torical works. From another who has exiled himself to the Laos country, we may expect valuable informa- tion concerning the Laos language and people. While speaking of their useful w^orks, I must mention the excellent schools of two of the lady members. In the first edition of the " Modern Buddhist " I omitted a few passages which were of some importance, but which referred to subtleties of Buddhism that would; in my opinion, have made the essay unsuitable to the class of readers I designed it for. As an un- known man, seeking a publisher, I had to endeavour to make my work easily appreciable. I was fortunate enough to find in Mr Triibner a publisher who took a personal interest in the literature of Oriental religions, and he at once took charge of my essay, and has since urged me to extend my selections from the writings of Chao Phya Thipakon. I have therefore in this edition given to my readers all that seems to me worth trans- lation in the book of Chao Phya Thipakon. I have not complied with the desire of some of my critics, that I should quash the " Modern Buddhist," and give a literal translation of the text of the Siamese author in its entirety, for I know that such a translation would scarcely find readers. I myself find literal translations of Oriental works intolerably tedious ; and I am not alone in my opinioD, for otherwise the original edition of the " Lotus de la Bonne Loi," the work of Burnouf, the most illustrious of European scholars of Buddhism, would not now be procurable uncut from its publishers. One more remark, and I shall end this preface to the " Modern Buddhist." Some men appear to believe PREFACE. XXV that, in publishing that book, I have perpetrated a literary hoax, and invented a Siamese author. I do not think that any careful reader of the book would do me this injustice, for it seems to me that there is a quaintness of thought and manner in the writing of Chao Phya Thipakon which I have in some measure happily rendered in the translations, while I have quite failed to imitate it in my remarks. In this edition I have been careful to mark all the translated passages by inverted commas, and my readers may rest assured that all passages so marked are purely Siamese. It is as a translator and exponent of the thoughts of the Siamese that I seek for credit, and I altogether decline the honour of being considered a clever forger. I will now make some prefatory remarks on the second part of this work, the " Life of Buddha." The "Life of Buddha" has been translated several times, from different sources; but I believe Bishop Bigandet's translation from the Burmese is the only "Life" now procurable in England. The most classical translations I have read are Tumour's and Foucaux's — the first from the Pali classics of Ceylon, the second from the Thibetan "Rgya Tcher Rol Pa," compared with the Sanscrit " Lalita Vistara." Tumour's translations, published in his "Pali Annals," are elegant and concise ; Foucaux's work, though valuable for reference, is the literal reproduc- tion of a long and tedious book, which not even the skill of M. Foucaux can render pleasant reading. Bishop Bigandet's compilation from Burmese sources is interesting, and in one sense complete ; for whereas my Siamese manuscript concludes with the attainment XXVI PREFACE. of omniscience, he had materials which enabled him to continue the story to the death or Nirwana. So far as we travel over the same ground, I prefer the Siamese version to the Burmese : it is not only more poetical, but in those points where there is a difference as to fact, it may be considered more accurate, inasmuch as when the same circumstance is mentioned in the Pali annals, it is generally in accordance with the Siamese version. Bishop Bigandet's work has very much assisted me in my labours, and should be read by all who take an interest in Buddhism. There is an ample " Life of Buddha/' compiled from Singhalese sources, in the Kev. Spence Hardy's " Man- ual of Buddhism," which, I believe, is out of print. I have not the good fortune to possess a copy, but when I read it, it appeared to me that, although the narra- tive of events was ample, it was deficient in those explanatory notes which Spence Hardy's great know- ledge of Buddhism would have rendered it easy for him to supply, and it seemed altogether to lack the poetical character which marks the "Life of Buddha" in the native texts. To translate agreeabty, one must to a certain extent sympathise with the feelings of the author one translates from, and not serve up our glow- ing Oriental feasts with a cold chill on them. I believe that Csoma de Koros and Hodgson, men eminent among Buddhist scholars, have also published abstracts of translations of the "Life of Buddha," but I have not seen that portion of their writings. I do not expect to supply fresh materials to scholars. I rather write in hopes of popularising the knowledge of Buddhism, and giving a fair idea of Siamese literary style. I have taken some pains to make my transla- PREFACE. XXVll tion readable, though I fear my success is but partial, and I have also endeavoured to elucidate every Bud- dhist expression by a note. Where there is no direct reference from the text, the index will generally direct the reader to an explanation. The index is not a verbal one, referring its consulter to every page of the book on which any word appears, but it is purposely limited to those references which are important to the understanding of the words entered in it. Many of the notes have been written especially for my readers in Siam, who will, I hope, find that my hints open out to them a new interest in their study of the Siamese language, their participation in Siamese ceremonies, and their visits to Siamese temples. They will see that miich that they may have hitherto regarded as meaningless formality, or fanciful painting, has a religious and historical significance that carries them back to the dawn of history. As instances, I may refer to the notes on the custom of giving money and lottery tickets in limes at cremations, the ceremony of pouring water on the earth, the ploughing ceremony, the gift of gold and silver flowers at coronations, &c. Some may perhaps be interested in the comparisons I have endeavoured to draw between Siamese -and Sans- crit words. I was moved to attempt the comparison of Siamese and Sanscrit words by the complaint of a critic, who blamed me for not having done it in the " Modern Buddhist." He rightly presumed that I was " no Sanscrit scholar." I had not even begun to study that language ; nevertheless, I did not discover in his criticism any Sanscrit words that were not known to me from miscellaneous reading ; and, indeed, the simple examples he gave suggested to me the thought XXVlll PREFACE. that scholarship was not required for such an under- taking. I therefore procured a Sanscrit dictionary, and by its aid I have been able to make numerous comparisons. I hope some day to return to the work with a better knowledge of Sanscrit to help me ; in the meantime, I must ask Sanscrit scholars to excuse such errors as they may detect. The labour has proved interesting, as it has enlightened me as to the original meaning of many Siamese words, and has shown how much the Siamese language has been enlarged from the Sanscrit. The Siamese seem to have derived their relio-ion, most of their state ceremonies, and (so far as I have yet examined) almost every word in their lan- guage which rises above mere savagery, from the ancient Aryans — " the respectable race " — of Central India. ■ The Siamese " Life of Buddha," as my translation shows it, contains a mixture of what seem to be several very distinct reverential (if not exactly religious) ideas. We find a primitive form of Buddhism, with its four great truths, conveying the simple idea that as all states of existence which we can conceive are states of vanity, sorrow, and change, the object of the wisely pious must be to escape from them, and that it is pos- sible to escape from them by eradicating all delight in worldly pleasure, and raising the mind to that intellec- tual state in which there is no longer any cleaving to existence, but a tranquil readiness to pass into the perfect rest of Nirwana. We find monastic Buddhism sharing the fate which must attend all religions which encourage a professional class of monks, or men who lead unnatural lives, that is cumbered with dogmas and absurdities, the result PREFACE. Xxix of warped, fantastic, and prurient minds. We do not find an Athanasian Creed ; for so far as this book en- lightens us, we find that the Buddhist speaks of heaven rather than of hell, and never thinks of such uncharity as to damn everlastingly those who differ with him. But nevertheless we find that the professional religious class, in the absence of useful occupation, has invented an intolerable terminology, has multiplied ridiculous distinctions, has twisted the elementary principles into all manner of shapes, and has invented a system of meditation which, in lieu of expanding the mind, tends to contract it almost to idiocy. We find Brahminical superstitions, a continual refer- ence to Brahmin soothsayers and the Vedas, and an adherence to Brahminical rites in all matters pertain- ing to royal ceremonials. Those who know that by the Brahmins the Buddhists were extirpated from Central India, the birthplace of their religion, must wonder to see Brahmins and Buddhists pictured side by side in harmony. Yet this story gives no undue idea of the position of the royal Brahmins in Siam. On every great occasion the Brahmin soothsayers are consulted, in every state ceremony they are prominent personages; yet they are genuine Brahmins, and not Buddhists, and worship in their own Brahman temple, full of grotesque and lascivious gods. We find Indra and Brahma, and other Hindu divinities, and indeed a cosmogony and mythology mainly drawn from the Hindus, and only altered in the divinity being denied. The gods are but mortal beings in a superior state of transmigration. We find mention of the Naga or snake, powerful as the gods ; we find a disc or wheel, Chakkra, rever- ed XXX PflEFACE. entially brouglit into prominence as a mystic symbol ; we find a Trinitarian idea represented as Buddha, the Law, and the Cliurch ; we find indications of relic wor- ship associated mth holy buildings, Topes,* or, as the Siamese call them, Phrachedis ; we find one reference to the Suphasit or Confucian doctrines of propriety ; and we find extraordinary importance attributed to the Sacred Feet. We find what we may suppose to be local supersti- tion in the mention of angels of gates and of trees ; not but what these latter are also mentioned in the Nepalese " Life of Buddha," " Lalita Vistara." And lastly, we find, what I have seen in no other " Life of Buddha," a very curious passage representing Buddha offerino- adoration to a tree. I refer to the concluding passage in my translation. Professor Fergusson's splendid work on " Tree and Serpent Worship" first drew my attention to the adora- tion of the tree at an early period of Buddhism ; and I was much struck when I reflected on this illustra- tive passage. I am not yet inclined to go as far as Professor Fergusson, and call every sign of respect to an emblem a distinct worship ; but I certainly believe the tree was an object of worship, and one of the very first objects of man's worship. Some think that this sculpture-depicted worship of the tree, shown equally in the bas-reliefs of Assyria and India, was no more than the adoration now paid by intelligent Buddhists to their images of Buddha ; the worship of an idea through an emblem, a vicarious worship ; and they may be right. Yet it seems to me * I mention Phrachedi (Chaitya) as the most common designation of a relic spire, but the word Tope is better reproduced in the word Sathup. PREFACE. XXxi that before the mind of man was prepared for emble- matic subtleties, for Arkite symbolism and other idolatries, wliile it was simple, straightforward, and uneducated, it would have led man to adore the tree. The primeval savage, pursued by a beast of prey, over- taken by a pitiless storm, or sinking under the fierce heat of the sun, would have found in some large tree a refuge excelling all others. On its branches was a hiding-place where he could rest safe from his fierce enemies ; beneath its leafy canopy was shelter from the cutting hail or the intolerable heat. There was no dank smell, such as he found in his only other asylum, the caves, but a delicious fragrance ofi"ered itself for his enjoyment. Its ever-lovely foliage, lovely in the sun and lovely in the rain, inspired him with the senti- ment of beauty ; its size, its longevity, and its quiet majesty, inspired him with a sense of awe. It was beautiful, beneficent, and wonderful, and he venerated it. He picked up the fallen flowers that lay around, and placed them on a stone, so that they might not be trodden on. That act originated a worship, an altar, and a sacrifice. Such seems to me a probable origin of the worship of the tree. The Pipul, Bodhi, or Bo-tree, the chief sacred tree of the Buddhists, has certainly some of the attributes which would account for its being selected above other trees as the typical tree of this worship. It is noble in dimensions and appearance. Its seeds have extraordinary vitality ; and when a drop of mois- ture has caused them to shoot, even in a crack high in some lofty tower, they will not die, but forcing the thin air and the hard bricks to nourish them, they will send down their suckers to the earth ; and then XXXll PREFACE. these suckers, growing into huge roots, will crack and rend the building, shiver and destroy it, and only pre- serve its memory by the huge fragmentary masses which it will for centuries retain clasped in its embrace. Its Sanscrit name, " Bodhi-tree," may be translated " The Tree of Wisdom." The same word, Bodhi, is also applied to the penetrating wisdom of a Buddha, and is said to be derived from a word, Budh, meaning to penetrate. If it obtained this name, Bodhi, independ- ently, and not from connection with any religious myth, I suppose it may have originated in the above- described insinuating or "penetrating" character of its roots. Great as is the variety of these elements, the more important points of Buddhism are not lost among them, but stand out with marked distinctness. When I say more important points of Buddhism, I do not mean points peculiar to, and originating in. Buddhism, but I mean points the belief in which is essential to all who would be called Buddhists. It has been said that there is no special teaching in Buddhism, and that its tenets are the same as those of the Sankhya and other schools of Indian philoso- phers. Certainly, as we read portions of the Sankhya books, we recognise doctrines like those we meet in Buddhist books. In both we find that the great object of man is to destroy the misery inseparable from ordi- nary existence ; in both w^e read the words, " Neither I am, nor is aught mine." Both systems are apparently grounded on ideas such as transmigration, &c., gener- ally prevailing in India some two to three thousand years ago. Yet, as among other differences, we find PREFACE. XXXlll that the Sankhyas dwelt specially on the existence of a soul, while the Buddhists specially avoided all recog- nition of one, we cannot allow that the teacher or teachers of Buddhism felt bound by the principles of the early Sankhya philosophy ascribed to Kapila. Still less could the Buddhists have valued the Yoga or theistical development of the Sankhya system which asserted the existence of a God actively interested in the world, and making His law known by revelation, — beliefs incompatible with Buddhism. Similarly with the Nyaya and other Indian sects, the metaphysical theories are at times identical, but the practical differences are radical. The origin of these sects is, I believe, now considered to be posterior to the rise of Buddhism. The story of Buddha's life, however, assumes that there were philoso- phers before him, with whom he studied, and whose teachings were not opposed to his, but only failed in not going to the height of meditative science which he reached. In Buddhism there are eight degrees of the meditation called Dhy^na ; these philosophers, we are told, could only attain to the seventh. The Yoga Sankhyas have a system of Dhyana meditation akin to that of the Buddhists, and possibly both drew the idea from the same source. I believe that Dhyana was not a primitive institution of Buddhism ; for though it has been associated with it long enough to be referred to several times in the " Life," I think the story would be quite complete if all those references were omitted. Dhyana is not mentioned in the vital parts of the story. The metaphysical system of Buddhism is now an im- portant part of the religion ; but we are by no means XXXIV PREFACE. bound to believe that originally it was treated in any but a very broad way. A great many of the Buddhist classics — presumably the oldest — deal little in meta- physical niceties. Our oldest Buddhist records, that cannot have been corrupted, are the stone-cut edicts of King Asoka in the third century before Christ. Asoka, King of Magadha, desiring to extend the Bud- dhist religion, had edicts cut in stone in various parts of his dominions, of which several have been dis- covered, and deciphered by Prinsep and other scholars. Their teaching is marvellously simple. In one the King enjoins his subjects "not to slay animals ;" in another, "to plant trees and dig wells by the road-sides, for the comfort of men and animals ; " in another he desires "the appointment of teachers to superintend morals, and encourage the charitable, and those ad- dicted to virtue;" in another he orders his subjects " to hold quinquennial assemblies for the enforcement of moral obligations — duty to parents, friends, chil-' dren, relations, Brahmans and Sramanas (Buddhist monks)." "Liberality is good, non-injury of living creatures is good ; abstinence from prodigality and slander is good." In others, he proclaims, " The be- loved of the gods (himself) does not esteem glory and fame as of great value ; for it may be acquired by crafty and unworthy persons." " To me there is not satisfaction in the pursuit of worldly affairs ; the most worthy pursuit is the prosperity of the whole world. My whole endeavour is to be blameless towards all creatures, to make them happy here below, and to en- able them to attain Swarga (heaven)." Observe that it is not " Nirwana " which is to be sought, but heaven ! PREFACE. XXXV So free is the pious King from dogmatism, that though in one proclamation he declares that he has faith "in Buddha, the law, and the assembly/' so far, at least, as to " the words which have been spoken by- Buddha ; " he in another edict declares himself no sec- tarian in the words, "ascetics of the different sects all aim at moral restraint and purity of disposition ; but men have various opinions and various desires." Such is an abstract of the Asoka edicts, and the picture they present of Buddhism, when compared with the picture of the metaphysical Buddhism of the monks, seems to me as cool and refreshing as is the " Sermon on the Mount " of our religion, compared with the Thirty-nine Articles and Creeds of our Church. I will now give a sketch of the chief points of Bud- dhist belief and practice mentioned in the " Life.'' The first essential idea is that of transmigration — transmigration not only into other human states, but into all forms, active and passive. Gods and animals, men and brutes, have no intrinsic difference between them. They all change places ac- cording to their merits and demerits. They exist because of the disturbance caused by their demerits. How they began to exist is not even asked ; it is a question pertaining to the Infinite, of which no expla- nation is attempted. Even in dealing with the illus- trious being who afterwards became Buddha, no attempt is made to picture a beginning of his ex- istence, and we are only told of the beginning of his aspiration to become a Buddha, and the countless existences he subsequently passed through ere he achieved his object. XXXVl PREFACE. The teaching on this point may be said to recognise the equality of all beings, at the same time that it provides against the mischievous results European Socialists draw from that doctrine ; which it does, by declaring the compatibility of intrinsic equality of beino; with actual difference of condition and ad van- tages. It teaches that the relative positions of all beings are perfectly just, being self-caused by the good and evil destiny created by conduct in previous exist- ences. It teaches that if a good man is poor and wretched, he is so because he has lived evilly in pre- vious generations : if a bad man is prosperous, he is so because in previous generations he lived well. Having thus declared the fact of transmigration, and the principle which causes its various states. Bud- dhism teaches that there is no real or permanent satis- faction in any state of transmigration ; that neither the painless luxuries of the lower heavens, nor the tranquillity of the highest angels, can be considered as happiness, for they will have an end, followed by a re- currence of varied and frequently sorrowful existences. Here is one of the great distinctions, the irrecon- cilable differences, between Buddhism and Christianity. Christians, even priests, have been known to Write of the similarity between their religion and Buddhism. They saw corAipt Buddhists, dressed in gorgeous rai- ment, going through mummeries, and as they, too, prided themselves on the gorgeous vestments in which they concealed their spiritual humility, and as they, too, were addicted to mummeries, they did not see much difference between the religions. Possibly they had false ideas of Christianity, and equally false ideas of Buddhism. Passing from outside show to inner PREFACE. XXXVU belief, the distinction is radical. Take this one point alone : Christians profess that their existence is the effect of the benign providence of God, and that they have something to thank God for. The few who divide the hoarded wealth of former generations, people who are well off, have every reason to believe this ; and the many who are taxed to pay the debts of former generations, the people who are not well off, are taught to believe this without any special reference to their own circumstances. But Buddhists, rich or poor, acknowledge no providence, and see more reason to lament existence than to be grateful for it. Nirwana, the extinction of all this kind of existence, must therefore be the object of the truly wise man. What this extinction is may perhaps have never been defined. Certainly it has been the subject of endless contention by those who think themselves capable of dealing with the infinite, and analysing the beginning and the end. All I can see of it in this " Life " is that it is now considered to be peace, rest, and eternal happiness. The choicest and most glorious epithets are lavished on it by the Siamese (see Notes to "Life " — No. 6), but we are left as ignorant of it as we are of the heaven of Christians. We may call heaven an existence, but we are even less capable of realising that existence than we are of realising what Barthelemy St Hilaire calls, with professed horror, the annihilation or non-existence of Nirwana. I believe that most men recognise sleep as a real pleasure. Certain it is that after a hard day's toil, bodily or mental, man longs for sleep ; and if his overtasked body or too excited brain deprives him of it, he feels that the deprivation is pain. Yet, what is sleep 1 It XXXVlll PREFACE. is, to all intents and purposes, temporary non-existence, and during its existence we do not appreciate its tem- porariness. The existence during sleep, when sleep is perfect, appreciates no connection with the waking existence. When it is imperfect, it is vexed by dreams connected with waking existence, but that is not the sleep which men long for. The ordinary Siamese never troubles himself about Nirwana, he does not even mention it. He believes virtue will be rewarded by going to heaven (Sawan), and he talks of heaven, and not of Nirwana. Buddha, he will tell you, has entered Nirwana, but, for his part, he does not look beyond Sawan. A man of erudition would consider this Sawan to be the heaven (Dewa- loka) of Indra, a heaven that is not eternal. The ordinary Siamese does not consider whether or not it be eternal ; it is at least a happy state of transmigra- tion of vast duration, of which he does not recognise the drawbacks, and it is quite sufficient for his aspirations. This Sawan is the Siamese form of the Sanscrit word used for heaven in those primitive records, the edicts of Asoka, mentioned above. It is the Sanscrit Svarga. Whatever Nirwana may be, Siamese Buddhists assume it to be more desirable than anything they can define as existence, and the question they ask is not, " How shall it be defined 1 " but " How can it be attained V'' Before giving their answer to this question, I must * In Note 6, page 165, I have given an extract from Professor Max Miiller's remarks on Nirvana, in his introduction to " Rogers' Buddhag- hosha's Parables." I ouglit in the same place to have given Mr R. C. Childers' note on the subject, which appeared in Triibner's Literary Record, of June 25, 1870. Mr Childers writes as follows :— " I venture to propose a theory of Nirvana, which may, perhaps, aflford the true solution of that important problem. It is well known that in the PREFACE. XXXIX speak of the Buddhist idea as to what we call the soul. The Buddhist who differs from us in recoo-nisino; a law of nature, without seeking for a Maker of that law, also differs from us in assuming a continuation of existence, without defining a soul as that which is continued. For all practical purposes we may speak of a soul as that which passes from one state of exist- ence to another, but such is not the Buddhist idea, at least, not the idea of Buddhist metaphysicians. According to them, it is not the soul or self which is reborn, but the quality, the merit and demerit. Indi- vidual existence (Dj^ti) is but a part of general exist- Buddhist books there are two distinct sets of epithets applied to Nir- vana, the one implying a state of purity, tranquillity, and bliss, the other iniplying extinction or annihilation. This circumstance has given rise to endless discussions relative to the true nature of Nirvana, the result being that the most conflicting views have been held upon this question by European scholars. The theory I have to propose is one which, if true, will, I think, meet all dilficulties, and reconcile expressions in the Buddhist texts, even the most opposite and antago- nistic. It is, that the word Nirvana is applied to ttvo different things, namely — first, to the annihilation of existence, which is the ultimate goal of Buddhism ; and secondly, to the state of sanctification, or, as we should say, " conversion," which is the stepping-stone to annihila- tion, and without which annihilation cannot be obtained. According to this view, the term Amopadhigesha, " void of all trace of the body" (see Burnouf, Int. p. 589), is not merely an epithet of Nirvana generally, but a distinctive epithet, distinguishing that Nirvana which is the extinction of being from UpadJiigesliaiiirvdna, " Nirvana in which the body remains," that is to say, the blissful state of one who is walking in the Fourth Path. I advance this theory not without hesitation, for though I have collected a great deal of evidence in support of it, I feel that I have not as yet proved it to my satisfaction. I am, however, actively prosecuting my inquiries, and I hope some day to return to this important subject." The fourth path is that of Arhat, or perfect saint. Mr Childers has lately read an important paper on this subject before the Royal Asiatic Society, which will appear in their Journal. Vol. v., part ii. xl PREFACE. ence (Bhava) ; and general existence is but the result of the pre-existence of distinction caused by merit and demerit. Commonly, merit and demerit, in the active potential condition, must have an effect in pro- ducing the general existence suited to them. I will not now enlarge upon the doctrine of Karma, as it is discussed at some length in the " Modern Buddhist." In my explanation of Buddhist ideas, I at times use the word soul, because it facilitates the comprehension of the idea I want to convey, and because I have not been able to find any other way of conveying it. The Buddhist tells me there is no soul, but that there is continuation of individual existence without it. 1 can- not explain his statement, for I fail thoroughly to understand it, or to appreciate the subtlety of his theory. Perhaps it is to be understood by compari- son with the "line" of a mathematician. The line is length, without thickness or breadth ; but very few people can conceive it by such a definition. Again, the "line " is produced by the motion of a point ; but a point has no dimensions. So we see a "line'"' arising from that which has no dimensions. And indeed, all the definiteness which we thought we saw in our care- fully drawn geometrical problem passes into the difficult abstraction of relative motion and relative position. This mathematical abstraction is assuredly true, and it seems to me that by analogy we may consider the " line " or continued individual existence to be made up of the motion or succession of points, which are separate individual existences. The point is no- thing but an idea realising the rest or motion arising from any cause ; and the soul is also but an idea real- ising the disturbance caused by merit and demerit. PREFACE. xli The line is an infinite one ; it is greater than any which has dimensions, yet we cannot recognise the dimension which is its only material quality — we have left only the abstract idea of direction or tendency. Now for the answer to the above stated question, ** How. to obtain Nirwana 1 " The answer is, that, as all that we define as exist- ence is (within the limits of our thought) self-caused, is the result of a law that every act, word, or thought must be followed by its efi'ect, we can annihilate such existence, by removing all cause for future action ; and as this cause, that is to say, our every thought and word and act, is voluntary, or the result of desire, we must eradicate all desire, and shall then be free to enter Nirwana. Tracing backwards the chain of causation, we find that ignorance is the first cause of which desire or worldly cleaving is but an efi'ect. Ignorance is not really a first cause, for, as the modern Buddhist tells us, Buddha would not teach of the beginning, and Buddhism has nothing to do with first causes, which pertain to the infinite. But it is a first cause within the limits to which reason can penetrate ; inasmuch as, but for ignorance, all beings would infinitely, before this time, have perceived that Nirwana was the only object desirable, and would have destroyed all that pre- vented its attainment, that is, would have destroyed existence. The ignorance of those who lived before us, caused us to be born. Our own desire or afi'ection for worldly things, causes existence to be continued. We come then to the means of destroying desire or affection for the world. Xlii PREFACE. The four pre-eminent truths of Buddhism (see note 71 to Life), which declare the principles I have enlarged on in the preceding pages, do not help us much here. The fourth truth, instead of pointing out a means to attain a state of purity, simply asserts that purity is a consequence of entering into the paths of the saints, or the eightfold path of purity (notes to Life, Nos. 1 4 and 78). Extending our inquiry, we find that man by perseverance, continued through countless successive births, can of himself become a Buddha, a teacher of the paths, but that the majority of those who enter the paths are only led into them by the personal in- jBiuence of a Buddha ; and that when the earth is not enlio-htened by the teaching of a Buddha, the most remarkable religious attainments * will not lead men into the paths to Nirwana, but will only so far fit them for its reception, that after some further angelic and human experiences, they will, by the inherent power of their accumulated merit, be born to meet a Buddha, and by his teaching, be led into the paths of the saints. The object of man must therefore be, the accumula- tion of merit, and repression of demerit, so as to fit himself to benefit by the teachings and influence of the next Buddha. To this end, Buddhism inculcates a virtuous and self-denying life, the practice of charity, and the exercise of meditation. AVh ether we read the opinions of the Wesley an missionary, Spence Hardy, or the Roman Catholic Bishop, Bigandet, or the philosophic student of all religions, Max Muller, we find the highest praise * See story of Kaladewila, in chap, iv, of the Life of Buddha. PREFACE. xliii awarded to the moral teacliings of Buddhism. I believe this Buddhist gospel will confirm their views. The main rules of a virtuous life, that is, the five principal commandments, are — 1. Not to destroy life. 2. Not to obtain another's property by unjust means. 3. Not to indulge the passions, so as to invade the legal or natural rights of other men. 4. Not to tell lies. 5. Not to partake of anything intoxicating. Other commandments mentioned in the Life relate to the repression of personal vanity, greed, fondness for luxury, &c. ; and among evil tendencies, especially singled out for reprobation, we find covetousness, anger, folly, sensuality, arrogance, want of veneration, scepticism, and ingratitude. These bad qualities are personified as leaders of the army of Mara, the evil one, who, with a curious parallelism to our story of Satan, is made out to be an archangel of a heaven even higher than that of the beneficent Indra. Of the practice of charity, it is not requisite to say much here. The whole character of Buddha is full of charity, insomuch that, although his perfection was such that at almost an infinite period before he be- came Buddha, he might, during the teaching of an earlier Buddha, have escaped from the current of existence, which he regarded as misery, he remained in that current, and passed through countless painful transmigrations, in order that he might ultimately benefit, not himself, but all other beings, by becoming a Buddha, and helping all those whose ripe merits could only be perfected by the teaching of a Buddha. xliv PREFACE. Meditation is regarded by Buddhists as the highest means of self-improvement. It is referred to in the Life, under three classes, called Kammathan, Bhavana, and Dhyana, which are described in notes 87, 10, and 65. The Kammathan meditation on the nature of ele- mentary substances, leads to the thorough appreciation of their impermanence and unsatisfactoriness ; the Bhavana meditation on the characteristics of charity, pity, joy, sorrow, and equanimity, leads the mind to a pure state of intellectuality ; and the Dhyana medita- tion, each step of which is accompanied by a state of ecstacy or trance, is supposed, during its continuance, actually to remove him who is absorbed in it from subjection to the ordinary laws of nature ; indeed, it is supposed to be such a proof of power in him who can achieve it, that he will, at the same time, become a master of magical arts, such as flying, changing his form, &c., &c. It is, in fact, a kind of spiritualism. We find that the modern Buddhist speaks of these magic powers with great contempt. He laughs at books which contain such stories, saying they are un- profitable reading ; but perhaps his allusion is rather to secular than to religious novels. He, however, tells us that there are no saints now-a-days, and I think we may add, there are none who can achieve the state of Dhyana. With meditation is connected the system devised to facilitate its practice, monastic asceticism. The Life assumes that there w^ere religious bodies, devoted to asceticism, before Buddha began to teach ; it shows Buddha imitating them in the practice of extreme austerities, and after a long course of them, relaxing PREFACE. xlv the severity of his discipline, and declaring a middle course to be the best. In one passage, the self-inflicted torture of some classes of ascetics, is particularly re- probated. In Siam, the monastic vow is not binding for life, but can be, and is cancelled, by the authority of the superior of the monastery, whenever application is made to him. This rule leads to every Siamese man spending at least three months of his life in a monas- tery. While in the monastery, he is supported by the alms of the pious. With a few words on prayer, I shall conclude this sketch of Siamese Buddhism. Prayer is not a Buddhist practice, for the simple reason, that Buddhists have no divine being to pray to. What some writers designate as Buddhist prayers, are not prayers at all. Palligoix, in his " Grammatica Linguae Thai," gives the Pali and Siamese text of what he calls "tres preces vald^ in honore apud Siamenses," which, on examination, I find not to be prayers, but merely sentences for rej^etition. The first, is a simple list of the thirty-two elements, into which their philo- sophers resolve the body ; the repetition of which is supposed to assist meditation on the vanity and misery of existence. The second, is a list of the epithets of Buddha, designed to help meditation on the excellence of Buddha. The third, is the creed or profession of be- lief in Buddha, his law, and his church. It is the habit of both monks and laymen to recite formulas of this kind, but that habit cannot properly be called prayer. There is perhaps something of the nature of prayer in the request to a living Buddha, to reward an offer- ing by some particular re- birth, such as is illustrated e xTvl PREFACE. in our first chapter, by Maia's desire expressed to the former Buddha Wipassi — " May I be, in some after generation, the mother of a Buddha like thyself." I have also, in my translation, found it convenient to use the word prayer, for the practice of expressing a firm determination * or desire, addressed to no one in particular, but being an invocation of the power ex- isting in him who prays, and dependent for its success on the inherent force of his merits and demerits. As an example, take the incident of Buddha throwing into the air the long locks he had just cut off", and crying, " If, indeed, I am about to attain the Buddhahood, let these locks remain suspended in the air ; " and they remained suspended by virtue of his merits. The Life, however, illustrates a real form of prayer, resulting from superstitions grafted on to Buddhism ; we find it in the girl Suchada's prayer to the angels of the tree, to grant her a happy marriage and a male child ; and we find it in the prayer of Maia's mother, " Hear me, all ye angels ! In that I am old, and shall not live to see the child that this my daughter will bring forth to be the Holy Teacher, may I after death be re-born in the heavens of the Brahmas, and thence descend to listen to the teachino- of the Wheel of the Law, and so escape further evils in the circle of trans- migration." Prayer of this kind is not uncommon ; for the Siamese are angel worshippers as well as Buddhists, and many of them, ignorant of their own religion, Avithout doubt pray not only to angels, but to Buddha, and w^orship him with offerings. They are encouraged in angel worship by their popular novels, from one of which I extract the following example : — " Then the * In Siamese caller! Athithan. PREFACE. xl YU queen, raising her hands over her head, did homage to the angels of all places who had power, possessions, and dignity, and called on them to be benevolent to her child, to help, protect, and shield him." I have dilated somcAvhat on this subject of prayer, because I have been asked to explain it by men who, after a residence of some years in Siam, have failed to comprehend it. They have heard men fervently re- peating these formulas, and to all appearance praying. They have read of the Northern Buddhists turning the praying-wheel, a box full of texts, the turning of which is supposed to be as efficacious as the actual repetition of them ; and they naturally accept the dictionary translation of " suet mon " as to pray, rather than the, in my opinion, more correct interpre- tation " to recite mantras, i.e., verses, or formulas." My Essay on the Footprint of Buddha originated in this wise : — About two years ago I was in very bad health, and, seeking change of air and scene, made a journey to the Footprint. I had no intention of publishing anything on the subject. I did not impose upon myself the task of inquiring closely into what I saw ; and I did not make any notes. Some twelve months afterwards, Mr Triibner, seeing a drawing of the Footprint in my possession, con- sidered it of sufficient interest to warrant his pub- lishing' a photograph of it ; and asked me to prepare a memoir to accompany it, for gratuitous distribution. I promised to do so. The memoir proved longer than Mr Triibner had anticipated, and by his advice was reserved for this book. The Footprint superstition does not seem to me to xlviii PREFACE. be one of mucli importance, and I can scarcely expect that any but residents in Siam will take much interest in my attempt to show its present state and probable origin. The recollections of what I saw on my journey to Phra Bat (Holy Foot), which is the name both of the Footprint and the hill on which it is indented, will, I hope, be not altogether uninteresting to those who can care little about the Footprint itself. I should have much preferred withholding, not only the Essay on the Footprint, but the whole of this book for revision with native aid in Siam. My return to Siam is, however, indefinitely postponed, and I have, therefore, sent my work to the printer in what may be called a rough state. It is now my duty to mention some of those greater labourers in the field of Buddhism, whose works have been most useful to me, and are essential to the European student of that religion. The most important of all are E. Burnouf s *' Intro- duction a r Histoire du Buddhisme Indien," Paris, 1844; and his "Lotus de la Bonne Loi," Paris, 1852; to which latter are attached twenty-one very important essays on various points of Buddhist scholarship. M. E. Burnouf was not only an extraordinary scholar, but also a beautiful writer, and it is remarkable that the original edition of his works should be still pro- curable uncut. His labours were mainly founded on the study of the Sanscrit classics, forwarded by Mr Brian H. Hodgson from Nepal; but he was also acquainted with some of the Pali classics of the Ceylonese or Southern Buddhists, and he was assisted by the preceding labours of Mr Hodgson, Csoma de PREFACE. xlix Koros, and the Hon. G. Tumour. Csoma de Koros was one of the most remarkable travellers that ever lived. Without any resources but his ability, he made his way overland from Hungary to Thibet, searchino- for the orimn of the Hungarian race. In Thibet he devoted himself to the study of Buddhism, and finally made his way to Calcutta, where he was welcomed and enabled to make his knowledge known to the world. The Hon. G. Tumour's principal contributions to Buddhism were translations from the Ceylonese Pali classics, with valuable essays accompanying them, published as " The Mahawanso," and " Pali Annals." I found the " Pali Annals," which contain a classicpJ Life of Buddha, extremely useful when translating the Life from the Siamese. I was also indebted to Ph. E. Foucaux's French translation of the Thibetan Egya Tcher Eol Pa, a version of the Sanscrit classic Lalita Vistara. The work is tedious, for it is a close trans- lation of a most tedious book. It is very agreeable to turn from it to M. Foucaux's charming Essay on Nirwana, a critique on the controversy between M Barthelemy St Hilaire, the attacker of Buddhism, and M. Obry, its learned defender. I now come to the writer whose works are best known among those whose knowledge of Buddhism is gained from English sources, the Eev. E. Spence Hardy, a Wesleyan missionary, long resident in Ceylon, to whom all honour is due for his candour in dealing with that which he desired to destroy, and whose " Manual of Buddhism," and Eastern Mona- chism " are mines of information. These works are, if I am not misinformed, both out of print, and if &o, the owner of the copyright might do well either to 1 PREFACE. reprint tliem or to Lave a digest of the two works prepared for publication. The Eoman Catholic Bishop, Bigandet, who has studied Buddhism in Burmah, has published a very complete biography of Buddha, in his " Life or Legend of Gaudama, the Buddha of the Burmese," to which are added some interesting appendices.* The bishop is not merely tolerant, but generous, in his endeavours to do justice to Buddhism. I do not, however, always agree with Ms statements, as will be found by readers of this work. I cannot attempt to give a complete biography of Buddhism; those who desire a convenient list of books and papers relating to this religion will find one in Otto Kistner's cheap little pamphlet, entitled, " Buddha and his Doctrines." t I think it a pity that such a title was given to the essay, which is only valuable for the list of books, papers, etc., it contains ; and which has in it very little about Buddha and his doctrines, and that little very unsatisfactory. I should have liked the title for this book of mine. Among the books which have been especially consulted by me whilst writing these pages, I must also men- tion Max Miiller's translation of the "Dhammapada," from the Pali, with which is published Capt. Eogers' translation from the Burmese of " Buddhaghosha's Parables." J The Eev. S. Beal's " Travels of Buddhist --'- The Life or Legend of Gaudama, the Buddha of the Burmese, with Annotations, the Ways to Neibban, and Notice on the Phongyies or Burmese Monks. By the Right Reverend P. Bigandet, Bishop of Ramatha, Vicar. Ajiostolic of Ava and Pegu. 8vo. Triibner & Co. t Buddha and his Doctrines, A BibliograiAical Essay. By Otto Kistner. 4to, sewed, 2s. 6d. Triibner & Co. J Buddhaghosha's Parables, translated from the Burmese. By Captain H. T. Rogers, R.E. With an Introduction, containing Buddha's Dhammapada, or Path of Virtue, translated from Pali. By E. Max Miiller. 8vo, cloth. 1870. Triibner & Co. PHEFACE. li Pilgrims," being the narrative (translated from Chinese) of the travels of enthusiastic Chinese Buddhists, in the fifth and sixth centuries, to increase their religious knowledge, and obtain books, in Central India, the Holy Land of Buddhism/'' Professor Fergusson's " Tree and Serj)ent Worship." General Cunningham's " Bhilsa Topes," and " Geography of Ancient India." Mr E. C. Childers' translation from the Pali of the Khuddaka Patha, or lesser readings, a small but valuable pamphlet contributed to the Journal of the Poyal Asiatic Society. I have also used, and referred to in my notes to the Life, Pallegoix's " Grammatica Linguae Thai," Bradley's "Bangkok Calendars," Skeen's *' Adam's Peak," Colebrooke's " Essays on the Philosophy of the Hindoos," Low's " Essays on the Phra Bat, etc.," pub- lished in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, and Bastian's " Reisen in Siam." The most readable popular w^ork on Buddhism that I have yet met with, is M. Barthelemy St Hilaire's " Bouddha et sa Religion." It is a beautifully written book, the production of a master of language, a most learned man, a member of the Institute of France. Mainly a compilation from the works of Burnouf, Foucaux, Stanislas Julien, and Spence Hardy, it contains much accurate information on Buddhism ; but most unfortunately the learned writer, leaving the safe guidance of the eminent authorities above mentioned, has included in his book a critique on Buddhism and the civilisation of Buddhist nations, founded on apparent misinformation. * Travels of Fall Hian and Sung Yun, Buddhist Pilgrims from China to India. Translated from the Chinese. By S. Beal, a Chaplain in H.M. Fleet, &c. Crown 8vo. lii PREFACE. M. Barthelemy St Hilaire, who has perhaps never seen living; Buddhists, has conceived a violent horror for what he describes as Atheism and Annihilation, and it has led him to attack Buddhism with a vigour of persecuting assertion, which must be wondered at by those who have read the tolerant writings of men who have lived among Buddhists for long periods — Bishop Bigandet, for example. Whether Buddhism is truly a religion of Atheism and Annihilation is, to a certain degree, a moot point, for indeed it is doubtful what those words mean. The terms Theism and Atheism, Immortality and Annihilation, involve infinite considerations, which, in my humble opinion, we are so little capable of thoroughly comprehending, that I, though a Theist, am unwilling to apply to a Buddhist a term which is held in reproach. The word Atheist is among us a word of reproach, and I do not like to apply it to those who, so far as I see, do not deny the existence of a God, but only reverentially abstain from defining that which it is impossible to comprehend. Nevertheless, as Buddhism (at least the Southern Buddhism) recognises no eternal, personal God, actively interested in the world, it is what most people would call Atheistic, and I shall not dispute the correctness of the epithet. Also as Buddhism, according to my appreciation of it, regards the highest aim of man to be the peace resulting from the utter absence of all that we under- stand to be connected with existence, I cannot decline to allow the term Nihilistic to be applied to it. I must accept it as being Atheism and Annihilation, only hoping that men will not too rashly believe that they thoroughly understand these terms, and hoping PREFACE. liii that they will, if interested in Euddhism, read the arguments of Obry, Foucaux, Max Miiller, and Childers on these points. While I accept so far M. Barthelemy St Hilaire's definitions of Buddhism, I cannot but lament that he should have been misled as to the practical effect of those beliefs on Buddhist nations, causing him to attribute to religious belief differences in civilisation which perhaps are due to other causes. M. Barthelemy St Hilaire candidly acknowledges that he is a partizan writer. He commences his work . with the acknowledgment that he is not attempting to do justice to a religion which it is difficult for Europeans to view without prejudice, but has one sole object, that is, to strengthen that prejudice. His opening words are — "En publiant ce livre sur le Bouddhisme, je n'ai qu'une intention : c'estde rehausser par une comparaison frappante la grandeur et la v^rite bienfaisante de nos croyances spiritualistes." To obtain the striking comparison, he simply mis- represents the civilisation of between three and four hundred millions of men, and coupling this misrepre- sentation with an ever-recurring appeal to prejudice, in the form of skilfully introduced " deplorable abysses of Atheism and Annihilation," he produces in some degree the desired contrast. On page 180 of the edition of 1866, in a passage, apparently referring to all Buddhists, but especially mentioning the Chinese, Tartars, Mongols, and Thibetans, he actually tells us that "These people have no books but those of their religion ; they have not let their imagination, ill-regulated as it is, wander to other subjects ; and the most part of Buddhist nations has no literature but that of the Church (Sutras). liv PREFACE. Of Tartars, Mongols, and Thibetans, I am unable to speak, having no knowledge of their literature ; but of Chinese and some other Buddhist nations I am able to assert (and to prove my words by catalogues, etc., existing in Europe), that they have a large secular literature. They have an extensive imaginative literature, including many novels of no small interest ; they have histories, law-books, and treatises on medical and other arts ; even the luxuries of literature, ela- borately illustrated works on artistic design, are to be found in China ; and not only do these things exist, but the arts of printing and woodcutting have, in China and Japan, made books very cheap, and given the poor great facilities for study. Not satisfied with this misrepresentation as to the literary state of Buddhist nations, M. St Hilaire adds to it the charge that Buddhism has been unable to or- ganise equitable and intelligent societies. I will not say that Buddhism has organised such societies, for it has not that meddling j)ropensity which marks' some other religions, and it does not set itself up as the organiser of society ; but it is clear enough that M. St Hilaire means, by his assertion, that the natives, where Buddhism is professed, have not been able to oro;anise such societies. The societies or systems of government now existing in China or Siam have fairly flourished for long pe- riods, despite all their deficiencies. The people have not found it necessary to change their form of govern- ment once in every decate, nor even once a century. The Siamese Government manages to rule a country as large as England wdth a fair amount of comfort to its people, and little annoyance to its neighbours. Unwieldy China is ruled in a manner that certainly PREFACE. Iv shows a great deal of intelligence. I grant that these governments cannot claim to be perfect models of equity and intelligence, but indeed, if a Siamese asked me to point out a perfect government in Europe, I should be unable to do so. An Asiatic reader of M. St Hilaire's book would probably be interested to know what M. St Hilaire considers to be an intelligent and equitable govern- ment, for with the vagueness which not uncommonly characterises those who talk about " grandeur," he does not define what he means by his words. To which of the many governments that have during the last cen- tury ruled his spiritualistic country, does he prefer to ascribe that character '? Eminent philosophers have denied that the superior civilisation of Europe is attributable to the prevailing relimon : and when we see the head of the Catholic Church fulmiuatins: orders in council ao;ainst the exercise of men's intellects, we recognise a great testi- mony to the truth of these philosophers' views. The modern Buddhist, in reply to a missionary who boasted of European civilisation with its railways and tele- graphs, acknowledged the advantage of those things, but pertinently asked, "Are Christians happier than other menl" The terrible war that has lately raged, and a new outbreak of which can only be prevented by force, and not by civilisation, affords a very sad answer to the Asiatic philosopher's question. I am afraid that our religious education is not entirely blameless for these wars. We have given up that proud feeling of being the special children of God, as distinguished from other men, which characterised the old Jews ; yet our earliest ideas are formed from the history of that nationally Ivi PREFACE. selfish race, and we are full of what seem to me to be very objectionable notions of patriotism. We en- courao-e, rather than discourage, differences of race, language, and territory, and so organise nations that the wonder is, not that we fight so often, but that we do not fight oftener. On such grounds, I think that we must not be too jubilant on the success of our civilisation as between nation and nation, nor too rashly adduce it as a proof of the " verite bienfaisante" of spiritual ideas. AVhen I turn to our domestic condition, I still fail to find any very sufficient proof of M. Barthelemy St Hilaire's theory, and I fail also to find a satisfactory answer to the Buddhist's question. Much as my coun- trymen excel the Siamese in arts and sciences, which ouD'ht to promote the general happiness of all ranks, I cannot but feel that vast numbers of us, the poor, may well envy the corresponding class in Siam. It may be answered that the difference in physical comfort is mainly due to climate, and I am ready to agree to the truth of this if I may, at the same time, ascribe to the same cause our greater physical strength and practical intellectual power. Fairly to judge of the difference due to religious ideas, I believe one must judge of them as seen side by side. It would not be fair to make the comparison be- tween Buddhism and Christianity as seen in Siam, for, as I have before said, Christianity does not flourish there. It is, however, sufticient for my purpose to compare the Siamese Buddhists with their neighbours, the Malays, who, being Mahometans, ought, according to M. Barthelemy St Hilaire's theory, to have shown the superior civilisation due to spiritualistic belief. PREFACE. Ivil While Siam has made remarkable progress, produced men like the late king, the modern Buddhist, and the present regent (under whose auspices his country is rapidly progressing), ^Yhat progress has been made by the Malays, and what eminent men have they produced 1 So far as I have seen, they have not produced one eminent man, and have not progressed one step be- yond what has been forced on them by the Siamese Regent on the one side, and the British Government of Singapore on the other. The Siamese Buddhist materialist goes ahead, while the Malay Mahometan spiritualist, with all his grandeur of idea, drops behind in the race of civilisation. The Siamese materialists, modifying their laws as they find expedient, year by year strengthen their position. The Malay spiritualists — unable, apparently, to organise societies — are broken up into a number of small factious states mainly de- pendent on their better organised neighbours, the English, Dutch, and Siamese. It is not fair to ascribe these diflferences to religion, for religion is but one of many causes. Race, climate, nature of the country, etc., have each of 'them had as much, if not more, effect than religion. Religions may differ widely in their solutions of the greatest of mys- teries, but happily they differ less in their definitions of what is good and evil conduct. The more elastic a religion is, the more modifications it admits of, by so much the more likely is it to harmonise with the ever- changing necessities of civilisation. Buddhism does not seem to be inelastic or unsuitable to civilisation, and judged on the charges laid against it by M. Bar- thelemy St Hilaire, it appears to me to stand at least as well as its numerically greatest spiritualistic rival, Roman Catholicism. Iviii PREFACE. Had M. Bartlielemy St Hilaire personally studied Buddhism in Buddhist countries, had he lived some years in Siam or Ceylon, he would surely have had a different opinion, both of the present condition and the future capabilities of the followers of that wide- spread religion. I have lived long among Buddhists, and have expe- rienced much kindness among them. Above all things, I' have found them exceedingly tolerant. In recognition of their hospitality, tolerance, and other good qualities, I have attempted this defence of them and their opinions. This book of mine is but the superficial work of a man who is no scholar, who has not learned the clas- sical languages of Buddhism, Sanscrit, and Pali, and unfortunately whilst in Siam was unaware how ac- ceptable the labours of local students would be to Europeans. Should the chances of life take me back to the coun- try where I shall be most usefully employed, though perhaps not for my own advantage, for its climate plays havoc w^ith my health, I shall hope a few years hence to rewrite this book in a much more complete manner. The Pali Dictionary of Mr Childers, now being printed, will immensely decrease the labour of students of Southern Buddhism, and whether from myself or from another, will, I hope, in a few years, elicit a more thorough book on Buddhism than any that has yet appeared. PART I. THE MODERN BUDDHIST; THE VIEWS OF A SIAMESE MINISTER OF STATE ON HIS OWN AND OTHER RELIGIONS. THE MODERN BUDDHIST. Of the tliree hundred and sixty-five millions of men, the third of the human race who, according to a com- mon estimate, profess in some form the religion of Buddha, the four million inhabitants of Siam are ex- celled by none in the sincerity of their belief and the liberality with which they support their religion. No other Buddhist country, of similar extent, can show so many splendid temples and monasteries. In Bangkok alone there are more than a hundred monasteries, and, it is said, ten thousand monks and novices. More than this, every male Siamese, some time during his life, and generally in the prime of it, takes orders as a monk, and retires for some months or years to practise abstinence and meditation in a monastery. The principal \vorks on Buddhism in our language are uninviting to the general reader. The most able translators have not been able to render the Buddhist classics anything but tedious to read, and it is seldom that the great authorities go beyond the classics. Such pleasing and instructive discourses as Max Mllller's late lecture on Buddhistic Nihilism are rare indeed, and the most familiar accounts of Buddhism depict it surrounded by, and almost buried in, the mass A 2 THE MODERN BUDDHIST.' of superstitions wliicli have been from time to time connected with it. Such treatment is no more fair than it would be fair to describe Christianity as inseparable from every monkish fable which has from time to time found credence. Indeed, it is still less fair, for Christianity has always had some check kept on alterations of its teachings, by the fact that some of its earliest apostles committed their views to writing, but Buddhism hav- ing, for upwards of four hundred years,^^ from the days when Samana Khodom, Gotama, or Buddha first taught it, been transmitted by oral tradition alone, must, in the very nature of things, have been overwhelmed with ideas which were not those of its founder. Our object is to show something of the religion of Buddha apart from its grosser superstitious surround- ings, not by our own analysis, but by extracts from the writings of a thoughtful Siamese Buddhist on his own and other religions. Somdet Phra Paramendr Maha Mongkut, the late King of Siam, has been called the founder of a new school of Buddhist thought, having, while himself a monk, eminent amoug monks for his knowledge of the Buddhist Scriptures, boldly preached against the can- onicity of those of them whose relations were opposed to his reason, and his knowledge of modern science. His Majesty was a man of remarkable genius and ac- quirements. His powers as a linguist were consider- able, and enabled him to use an English library with facility. Had he been able to publish his ideas at *Buddliists themselves say four liundred and fifty years, but this is improbable. Some modern scholars are inclined to believe that the period was much less. THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 3 a late period of his life, we might have had still more enlightenment shown, than appears in the book we are about to present to our readers ; but his position as king was a bar to his doing such a thing ; he could do no more than in some measure inspire his minister, whose ideas were less advanced. Chao Phya Thipakon, better known to foreigners as Chao Phya Phraklang, successfully conducted the foreign affairs of Siam from 1856, when Sir John Bo wr- ing's Treaty opened the country to foreign trade, until two years ago, when he retired into private life stricken with blindness. The minister was greatly esteemed by those his duties brought him in contact with ; he was always open to argument, and never let anything disturb the courteous urbanity of his demeanour. It was his wont, when with those who could converse freely in Siamese, to end every official interview with a private discussion on some theoretical or transcen- dental subject, therein differing from all the other lead- ing men in his country, whose thoughts and inquiries were always about material, mechanical, and practical subjects. Por instance, if gunpowder was alluded to, he would expatiate on the advantage civilised nations derived from it, or would speculate on its combustion changing a solid into gas, while any other nobleman would have discussed either the best proportion of its ingredients, or the best place to buy it, and the right price to pay for it. By many years of verbal inquiry, and by reading the elementary tracts published by missionaries in Siam, he acquired such knowledge as he has of European science and of foreign religions. The results of his speculations he published two THE MODERN BUDDHIST. years ago in the " Kitchauukit : " " a book explaining many things," which, independently of its internal qualities, is curious, as being the first book printed and published by a Siamese without foreign assistance. He thus states his reason for becoming an author : — " I propose to write a book for the instruction of the young, being of opinion that the course of teaching at present followed in the temples is unprofitable. That course consists of the spelling-book, religious formulae, and tales. What knowledge can any one gain from such nonsense as ' Chan, my little man, please bring rice and curry nice ; and a ring, a copper thing round my little brother's arm to cling' "? jingling sound without sense, — a fair example of a large class of reading exercise. I shall endeavour to write fruitfully on various subjects, material knowledge and religion, discussing the evidence of the truth and falsity of things. The young will gain more by studying this than by reading religious formulae and novels, for they will learn to answer questions that may be put to them. My book will be one of questions and answers, and I shall call it * a book explaining many things.' " We can, from our own experience, confirm the character thus given to the education of children in monasteries, which are the only extensive educational establishments in Siam. The pupils who remain long enough in them, learn to read and to write their own language, and also, if clever, the Pali language in the Kawm, or old Cambodian character ; but when the language is mastered, the literature it opens to them is for the most part silly and unprofitable. To quote again from our author : — " Our Siamese literature is not only scanty but THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 5 nonsensical, full of stories of genii stealing women, and men fighting with genii, and extraordinary persons who could fly through the air, and bring dead people to life. And even those works which profess to teach anything, generally teach it wrong, so that there is not the least profit, though one studies them from morning to night." The work, though mainly devoted to the comparison of Buddhism with other religions, commences with an account of native and foreign methods of reckoning time, the construction of calendars, the author's views on astronomy, the nature of air and water, &c., prefaced by the modest remark — " Though I may be wrong, still, what I write will serve to stimulate men's thoughts, and lead to their finding out the truth." It seems to us that much of this is inserted for the purposes of showing that the absurd cosmogony of the " Traiphoom," '"' a work which the old school of Bud- . dhists regard as sacred, is not wholly an essential part of the Buddhist religion ; but that Samana Khodom or Buddha, even if he did not teach the truths of modern science, taught nothing opposed to them. It is also written, to keep in some degree the promise of the first page, that it shall be a book of education for the young, a book about many things. It is not until the author has warmed to his work that the religious and controversial element takes the place of every other. It is not our purpose to refer much to this first * The " Traiphoom " is the standard Siamese work on Buddhist cos- mogony, &c. It was compiled from presumed classical sources in a.d. 1776, by order of the Siamese King, Phya Tak. 6 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. part of the book. There is a great deal of useful information in it, strangely mixed up with nonsense. The author has been at times deliberately deceived by his informants, and gravely quotes some very foolish stories which there is no use in repeating. We prefer to give, as an example of his style, a part of his discourse on rain. "Now as to the cause of the dry and wet seasons, I will first give the explanation as it stands in the * Traiphoom.' When the sun goes south near the heavenly abode of the Dewa Wasawalahok, the Lord of Eain, the Dewa finds it too hot to move out of his palace, and so it is dry season. But when the sun is in the north, out he goes, and sets the rain falling. " Another statement is that in the Himaphan forest there is a great lake, named Anodat, and that a cer- tain kind of wind sucks up its waters, and scatters them about. Another statement is, that the Naga King,* when playing, blow^s Avater high up into the air, where it is caught by the wind, and falls as rain. There is no proof of these stories, and I have no faith in them, for I cannot see wdiere Wasawalahok lives, and I don't know whether he can make rain fall or not. As for the w^'nd sucking up the water in the Himaphan t forest, that forest lying to the north, all clouds must needs form in the north, but as in fact they form at all points of the compass, how can we say they come from Himaphan ? As for the Naga playing with Avater, no one has seen him, so there is no proof of it. The Chinese say rain falls because the * The King of the Nagas — hooded serpents of immense size and power. For an account of them see the Essay on the Phra Bat. f Or Himalayan forest. The Buddhist fairyland. THE MODERN BUDDHIST. Dewas"' will it, or because the Dragon shows his might by suckicg up the sea water, which by his power be- comes fresh. They having seen that in the open ocean a wind sometimes sucks up the water transparently into the sky, and that thence arise clouds, believe that the Dragon does it. There is no proof of this. The Brahmins and other believers in God the Creator, believe that He makes the rain to fall, that men may cultivate their fields and live. I cannot say whether God does this or not, for it seems to me that if so, He would of His great love and mercy make it fall equally all over the earth, so that all men might live and eat in security. But this is not the case. Indeed, in some places no rain falls for years together, the people have to drink brackish water, and cannot cultivate their lands, or have to trust but to the dew to moisten them ; besides, a very great deal of the rain falls on the seas, the mountains, and the jungles, and does no good to man at all. Sometimes too much falls, flood- ing the towns and villages, and drowning numbers of men and animals ; sometimes too little falls in the plains for rice to be grown, while on the mountain tops rain falls perpetually through seasons wet and dry. How can it be said that God, the Creator of the world, causes rain, when its fall is so irregular '? We now come to the idea of philosophers, who have some proof of their theory. They say rain falls somewhere every day without fail ; for the earth, the sky, and the sea are like a still, and it is a property of salt water to yield fresh by distillation. The heat of the sun draws up steam from the sea, and wherever there is moisture. Do not pools dry up 1 This steam is not lost, it flies * Angels of eartb, trees, and the lower heavens. 8 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. to cool places above, and collecting in the cold skies, becomes solid like ice, then, when the hot season arrives, this ice melts, and forms into clouds, floating accord- ino; to the wind, and when a wind forces a cloud near the earth, the hills and earth act on it like a magnet, draw it down, and there is rain. Hence it arises that rain water is cooler than other water, for it is formed by melting ice, and wherever the sun goes, there it is rainy season." We also give his remarks on epidemic diseases, which, like the preceding passage, illustrate his idea of the perfect equality that should result from divine justice. "How is it that in some years fevers prevail, in others not ; in some, ophthalmia, small-pox, etc., arise as epidemics ; and in some, animals are attacked by epidemics *? " Those who believe in devils say they cause them. Those who believe in God the Creator say He inflicts them as a punishment. The Mahometans say that there are trees in heaven, on each of whose leaves is the name of a human being, and whenever one of these leaves withers and falls, the man whose name it bears dies with it. Old Siamese sages held that some King of Nagas mixed poison with the air.*- Those who do not believe in devils ascribe epidemic diseases to the change of seasons, the change from heat to cold, and cold to heat, disturbing the body, which is healthy enough when the season is well set in, and become thoroughly hot, or cold, or rainy, as is the case. They further say, the evil element in the atmosphere is a * Among the supernatural powers attributed to Nagas is that of poisoning by their breath. THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 9 poisonous gas, affecting all those whose bodily state cannot resist its entry. Epidemics among animals can be accounted for by the poisonous gas finding an afiinity for the elements of the animals. I find corro- boration in the fact that exposure to bad air brings on sicknesses which those who remain sheltered do not sufi'er from. Moreover, the sea water, which is a coarse atmosphere, when it is discoloured and stinking kills the fish which are in it, but those which are strong enough to swim out of the foul part escape. The same is seen wdth fish in a basin, w^hich die if fresh water is not given to them. So we find many people live to old age without having the small-pox, by always running away from any place where it has broken out. In the same way outbreaks of fever are local, and danger is escaped by moving to another locality where there is none. Now, if it was a visita- tion of God, there would be no running away from it. I leave you to form your own opinion whether it is the work of devils, or the visitation of God, or the result of the fall of the leaves in heaven, or of a Naga King's poison, or of a bad atmosphere." The tides he explains by " lunar attraction, wdiich can be demonstrated by mathematics, and is a more reasonable idea than that of the Brahmins, some of whom believe that they are caused by winds blowing back the water in estuaries, and others that they are caused by flames rising from time to time up a chimney in the middle of the ocean, and forcing the water back towards the coast and rivers." We shall now compare our author's view of the probable manner of formation of mountains and islands, with the account given in the " Traiphoom " 10 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. of the coming into being of a new group of worlds. First our author's view. " It is said in our old books that the world arose from ^rain-water, which, drying up, left the earth floating about over it like a lotus-leaf, and the hills were caused by the water boiling up. The earth was left heaped irregularly, like rice at the bottom of a boilino' rice-pot, and in time the higher parts became rock. Some think that the world was created by Allah for the use and advantage of mankind, but I cannot believe it, when I think of the terrible rocks on which ships are wrecked, and of fiery mountains, which are certainly not an advantage to man. How, then, can we ascribe it to a Creator? Those who say the higher parts became rock, do not say how they became so. Philosophers think that when the earth was first formed there was fire beneath the sur- face, and that hills are due to that cause. And it is observed in other countries, as well as our own, that mountains and islands generally lie either in groups or in lines. " And there is an inference of fire to be drawn from the fact that we can melt earth with fire, and it will become like rock or glass. I mention this only as a suso-estion, for if the fire existed when the earth was formed, it should exist now ; but no one has seen any hills arise in this way, and no one saw the world come into existence, so we cannot say anything for certain." The " Traiphoom " view is, that the whole of space has been for ever occupied by an infinite number ot Chakrawans, or groups of worlds, all exactly similar, and each embracing a world of men, with a series of heavens and hells, &c. From time to time a l)illion of THE MODEEN BUDDHIST. 1 1 these groups are annihilated by fire, water, or wind and a void remains, until the necessity of giving scope to merit and demerit '" causes the void to be aa'ain filled. First there appears an impalpable mist, gradually changing to an immense rainfall, con- tinuing until a great part of the void is filled sxith. water. Then arises a whirlwind, Avhich shapes the system, and dries up part of the water, causing the mountains and plains to appear in slow succession. During this time the only inhabitants of the system are the Brahmas, the hio;hest order of ano;els, o-lorious beings, whose own radiance illuminates the system, who need no food, and have no sensual feelings. These Brahmas have, in the course of thousands of previous transmigrations in pre-existing worlds, gradu- ally improved, until reachiug that angelic state which is next to perfection. They have then degenerated, and some will continue to degenerate until they reach the most unhappy forms of life. This degeneracy commenced by one of them craving for food, and being so pleased on tasting it, that he could not refrain from continually eating thenceforth. Others followed his example. Their glory and luminosity left them, and, by degrees, gluttony being follov/ed by other desires, the distinction of sex arose, their forms decreased in beauty, and they became human, then brutal, and, lastly, devilish. We revert to our modern Buddhist. Eclipses, comets, meteors, and will-o'-the-wisps are in turn treated of mainly according to European ideas, and the common Siamese idea of the intervention of spirits * The subject of " merit " and " demerit " is treated of later in the book. See p. 47, seq. 12 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. is ridiculed ; but he claims tliat the theory of eclipses being caused by the dragon Phra Kahu swallowing the sun or moon, may be regarded as a parable veiling the truth ; and he makes the somewhat bold state- ment that the great noise made in his country when- ever there is an eclipse, the frantic beating of gongs and firing of guns, is not an effort on his countrymen's part to frighten the dragon, and make him drop the sun from his jaws, but is a sign of the joy of all men that their mathematicians are able to predict the time of such extraordinary events. This ingenious ex- planation seems more like a saying of the late king than that of the author of this book, and was probably the plea by which His Majesty justified himself for allowing his cannons to be fired on these occasions. He fully adopts the general views of astronomy he has learned from Europeans, even to the theory of the plurality of solar systems, and then imagines the question put, '' Is not this contrary to the teaching of Buddha *? " His argument in reply is lengthy, com- prising, firstly, an abstract of the " Traiphoom " cosmo- graphy ; secondly, an account of the chief religions of the world, which, he argues, were all as opposed to true astronomical teaching as Buddhism is supposed to be ; and thirdly, an exposition of what he considers to be Buddha's teaching on the subject, from which he deduces that Buddha knew the truth, and that the " Traiphoom " and other books of the class are uncano- nical. His abstract of the " Traiphoom " cosmography, being intended for those who have already read that book, is not very definite ; we shall therefore give our own in its place. The universe consists of an infinite number of solar THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 13 systems (Cliakrawan), eacli depending on a central mountain named Phra Men, or Meru. Around this central mountain are eight circular belts of ocean, divided from each other by seven annular mountains (Satta Boriphan). Outside of all is an eighth rino- of mountains, called the Crystal Walls of the World. On the ocean between the seventh mountain-chain and the walls of the world, which is called the Great Ocean, are four groups of islands, each consisting of a principal island and 500 satellites. The group to the south, called Jambudvipa (Siamese, Chomphu Thawip), is that inhabited by man ; the groups to the north, the east, and the west, are inhabited by beings akin to man, but differing in appearance. On the annular mountains, and on and above Meru, are the six lower heavens, inhabited by Dewas, or ordinary angels, whose pleasures are of a sensual nature, and who are blessed with an immense number of wives. Above them are nine tiers of heavens, which are subdivided into sixteen heavens, wherein dwell the Brahma angels (Siamese, Phrom), superior angels, whose pleasures are simply intellectual or meditative, but who are yet mundane, in that they have bodies or forms. Above them are the four highest heavens of the spiritual, or formless Brahma angels. The Dewa heavens are attainable by virtue and charity, but the Brahma heavens are entered only by those who have devoted themselves to the abstract meditation called by Bud- dhists Dhyana (Siamese, Chan). The sun and moon are Dewa angels living in gold and silver palaces, who travel round and round on the plane of the summit of the mountain range next to Meru, which is named Yukunthon. Beneath the earth, at a distance of 100 1 4 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. miles, is tlie nearest of eight places of misery, or hells. The whole system is held up by an ocean, in which are vast fish, whose movements cause earthquakes. The ocean is supported in space by wind. About one-third of the region of men, Jambudvipa, is taken up by the Himaphan forest — tlie Buddhist fairyland. In the " Traiphoom " this system is elaborated in a most tedious manner, and the strictest measurements are given of every thing and place referred to. It will be convenient for a while to omit our author's account of the great religions of the world, excepting so far as bears on the point of astronomy. He first gives the Brahminical cosmography, which closely re- sembles that in the " Traiphoom," differing only in that it names a creating God as the cause. He then traces from Brahminism the religions of Abraham, Christ, and Mahomet, asking Avhere any of these teachers taught astronomy correctly, and sums up in the fol- lowing words : — " When philosophers found out the truth, the dis- ciples of Mahomet put them in prison because they taught that which was opposed to the teaching of ' the Exact One,' which made out the world to be a plain, with the sun and moon revolving about it, much as our ' Traiphoom ' does. But after a while, there being too many witnesses of the truth of what the philo- sophers asserted, they then adopted their ideas, and incorporated them into their religion. The ancients, whether Brahmins or Arabs, or Jews or Chinese, or Europeans, had much the same idea of cosmography, and their present ideas on the subject are the work of scientific men in modern times." THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 15 We now come to the third point, what was Buddha's teaching on astronomy. " When the Lord Buddha was born in the Land of the Brahmins, he knew all that was just, and how to deliver the body from all ills. This he knew per- fectly. And he journeyed and taught in Brahmin countries, the sixteen great cities,'"'" for forty-five years, desiring only that men should do right, and live suit- ably, so that they might escape sorrow, and not be subject to further changes of existence. Those who have studied Pali know that the Lord taught concern- ing the nature of life, and the characteristics of good and evil, but never discoursed about cosmography. It is probable that he knew the truth, but his knowledge being opposed to the ideas of the * Traiphoom,' which every one then believed in, he said nothing about it. For if he had tauo-ht that the world was a revolvins: globe, contrary to the traditions of the people, who believed it to be flat, they would not have believed him, and might have pressed him with ques- tions about things of which there was no proof, except his allegations ; and they, disagreeing with him, mio;ht have used towards him evil lano;uao;e, and incurred sin. Besides, if he had attacked their old traditions, he would have stirred up enmity, and lost the time he had for teachins; all livins; beino;s. There- fore he said nothing about cosmography. When a certain man asked him about it, he forbade him to inquire; he would not teach it himself, and forbade his disciples to speak of it. This can be seen in * Centi'al India, the neighbourhood of Benares. This statement gives up the popular idea of the Siamese that Buddha visited their country. 16 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. various Sutras ; and where there are references to heaven and earth and hell in the sacred books, I pre- sume they have found their way in as illustrations, etc. Yet there is an expression in those old books pointing out the truth for future men as to the revolution of the earth. The Pali expression is Wattakoloko, which, translated, is 'revolving world;' and those who did not know this translation, explained it as referring to the sun and moon turning round the world, because they did not fully comprehend it. After the religion of Buddha had spread abroad, a certain king, desiring to know the truth as to cosmogony, inquired of the monks, and they, knowing the omniscience of Buddha, and yet fearing that if they said Buddha never taught this, people would say 'your Lord is ignorant, and admired without reason,' took the ancient Vedas, and various expressions in the Sutras and parables, and fables, and proverbs, and connecting them together into abook, the 'Traiphoom,' produced it as the teaching of Buddha. The people of those days were uneducated and foolish, and believed that Buddha had really taught it ; and if any doubted, they kept their doubts to themselves, because they could not prove anything. " Had the Lord Buddha taught cosmography as it is in the ' Traiphoom,' he would not have been omni- scient, but by refraining, from a subject which men of science were certain eventually to ascertain the truth of, he showed his omniscience." Our author, nevertheless, will not give up the tradi- tion that Buddha visited the heaven called Dava- dungsa, and there taught the angels. He believes that omnipotence may be gained by perfect virtue, absti- nence, and thought, and does not think it impossible THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 17 that it should enable a man to visit the starry heavens. " It cannot 1)e asserted that the Lord did not preach in Davadimgsa, any more than the real existence of Mount Meru can be asserted. I have explained about this matter of Meru, and the other mountains, as an old tradition. But with respect to the Lord preaching on Davadungsa as an act of grace to his mother, I believe it to be true, and that one of the many stars or planets is the Davadungsa world. The Lord Buddha disappeared for a period of three months, and then returned. Had he been hiding, that he might pretend he had been preaching to the angels in heaven, he would have been seen by somebody, and could not have kept quite concealed. The disciples, who must have brought him food, would surely not have kept the secret. It would have become matter of conversation and rumour. In truth, nothing was said against it, but in consequence of it great respect was shown, and the religion spread far and wide. It cannot be authoritatively denied that many saints have visited the abodes of the angels, for the worlds of heaven are beyond the knowledge of ordinary men." Henceforward the book deals with none but religious subjects. The first selections we shall give are from his criticism of missionary tracts, and his conversations with their writers. Many readers will be shocked at his apparent irreverence. We beg to remind such persons that he, from education, sees these matters in an utterly different light to what it is seen by believers in a God actively interested in the world, and also that he naturally feels justified in treating with ridicule the ideas of those foreigners who send to his country a B 18 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. body of missionaries, who spare little sarcasm or insult in their never-ceasinor endeavours to brinoj his relio;ion into contempt. He, as a Buddhist, might believe in the existence of a God sublimed above all human qua- lities and attributes, a perfect God, above love and hatred and jealousy, calmly resting in a quiet happi- ness that nothino; could disturb, and of such a God he CD ' would speak no disparagement ; not from desire to please him, or fear to offend him, but from natural veneration. But he cannot understand a God with the attributes and qualities of men, a God who loves and hates and shows anger, a Deity who, whether de- scribed to him by Christian Missionaries, or by Maho- metans or Brahmins or Jews, falls below his standard of even an ordinary good man. " I have studied the Roman Catholic book, ' Maha Kangwon' — the Great Care — and it seems to me that the priests' great cares are their own interests. I see no attempt to explain any difhcult and doubtful mat- ters. If, as they say, God, when He created man, knew what every man would be, why did He create thieves 1 This is not explained. The book tells us that all those virtuous men who have taught religions differing from the Roman Catholic, have been enemies of God, but it does not explain why God has allowed so many differ- ent relio;ions to arise and exist. How much do this and all other religions differ on this point from the re- ligion of Buddha, which allows that there are eight kinds of holiness leading to ultimate happiness ! (i.e., does not insist on Buddhism being necessary to salvation).""' " The American missionary, Dr Jones, wrote a book * This strange passage does not at all accord with the general teach- ing of Buddhists as to the " eight paths," which I explain in my notes to the Life of Buddha. THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 19 called the * Golden Balance for weighing Buddhism and Christianity/ but I think any one who reads it will see that his balance is very one-sided ; indeed, he who would weio;h thino;s ou2;ht to be able to look im- partially at the scales. " Dr Caswell remarked to me that if the religion of Buddha prevailed throughout the world, there would be an end of mankind, as all men would become monks, and there would be no children. This, he urged, showed that it was unsuited to be the universal reli- gion, and therefore could not be the true religion. I replied that the Lord Buddha never professed that his religion would be universal He was but as a transient gleam of light, indicating the path of truth. His religion was but as a stone thrown into a pool covered with floating weeds ; it cleared an opening through which the pure water was seen, but the effect soon died away, and the weeds closed up as before. The Lord Buddha saw the bright, the exact, the ab- struse, the diflicult course, and but for the persuasion of angels would not have attempted to teach that which he considered too difficult for men to follow. The re- mark of the doctor really does not bear on the question (i.e., on the truth of the religion)." This answer is less to the point than most of the arguments of the Modern Buddhist. Had I been in our author's place, answering from a Buddhist point of view, I should have said that as Buddha recognised that all existence in this world was unsatisfactory and miserable, the suggested cessation of the renewal of the species was not a matter to be at all deplored. "Dr Gutzlaff" declared that 'Samana Khodom only taught people to reverence himself and his disciples, 20 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. saying that by such means merit and heaven could be attained, teaching them to respect the temples, and Bo-trees,"^'" and everything in the temple grounds, lest by injuring them they should go to hell, a teaching designed only for the protection of himself and his disciples, and of no advantage to any others/ I replied, ' In Christianity there is a command to wor- ship God alone, and no other ; Mahomet also taught the worship of one only, and promised that he would take into heaven every one who joined his religion, even the murderer of his parents, while those who would not join his religion, however virtuous their lives, should surely go to hell ; also he taught that all other religions were the enemies of his religion, and that heaven could be attained by injuring the temples, idols, and anything held sacred by another religion. Is such teaching as that fit for belief ^ Buddha did not teach that he alone should be venerated, nor did he, the just one, ever teach that it was right to perse- cute other religions. As for adoration, so far as I know% men of every religion adore the holy one of their religion. It is incorrect of the doctor , to say that Buddha taught men to adore him alone. He neither taught that such was necessary, nor offered the alter- native of hell as all other religions do.' "The doctor told me that 'Jehovah, our Creator, although jealously desirous that men should not hold false religions, permits them to hold any religion they please, because in His divine compassion, doing that which is best for them, He will not force man's con- * This Bo, or Bodlii tree, is the tree under the shade of which Buddha attained to omniscience. It is to be found in most, if not all, Siamese monasteries. '- THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 21 version by the exercise of His power, but will leave it to their own free will/ I answered, 'Why did the Creator of all things create the holy chiefs (teachers) of the religions of the Siamese, Brahmins, Mahome- tans, and others 1 Why did He permit the teaching of false relio;ions which would lead men to neglect His religion, and to suffer the punishment of hell "? Would it not have been better to have made all men follow the one religion which would lead them to heaven ? Mahometans hold that Allah sent prophet after prophet to teach the truth, but that evil spirits corrupted their teaching, and made it necessary for him to send an emanation from himself in human form (Mahomet) to teach the truth as they now have it. Brahmins hold that God the Father, ordering the descent of Siva in various avatars, as Krishna, and others, has so given rise to various sects ; but that, whichever of these sects a man belongs to, he will, on death, pass to heaven, if only he has done righteously according to his belief. The missionaries hold that God Jehovah made all men to worship in one way, but that the devil has caused false teachers to arise and teach doctrines opposed to God. Such are the various stories told by Mahometans, Brahmins, and missionaries. My readers must form their own opinion about them.' " I said to the missionary, ' How about the Devvas the Chinese believe in — are there any 1 ' He said, * No ; no one has seen them ; they do not exist ; there are only the angels, the servants of God, and the evil spirits whom God drove out to be devils, and deceive men.' I said, 'Is there a God Jehovah T He answered, * Certainly, one God ! ' I rejoined, ' You said 22 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. there were no Dewas because no one had seen them ; why then do you assert the existence of a God, for neither can we see Him V The missionary answered, ' Truly, we see Him not, but all the works of creation must have a master ; they could not have originated of themselves/ I said, ' There is no evidence of the crea- tion ; it is only a tradition. Why not account for it by the self-producing power of nature 1 ' The mis- sionary replied, ' That he had no doubt but that God created everything, and that not even a hair, or a grain of sand, existed of itself, for the things on the earth may be likened to dishes of food arranged on a table, and though no owner should be seen, none would doubt but that there was one ; no one would think that the things came into the dishes of themselves.' I said, ' Then you consider that even a stone in the bladder is created by God !' He replied, * Yes. Everything. God creates everything!' 'Then,' answered I, 'if that is so, God creates in man that which will cause his death, and you medical missionaries remove it and restore his health ! Are you not opposing God in so doing 1 Are you not offending Him in curing those whom He would kill V When I had said this the missionary became angry, and saying I was hard to teach, left me. "Dr Gutzlaff once said to me, *Phra Samana Khodom, having entered Niruana, is entirely lost and non-existent, who, then, will give any return for reci- tations in his praise, benedictions, reverences, observ- ances, and merit-making 1 It is as a country without a king, where merit is unrewarded, because there is no one to reward it ; but the religion of Jesus Christ has the Lord Jehovah and Christ to reward merit, and receive prayers and praises, and give a recompense/ I THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 23 replied, 'It is true that, according to the Buddhist religion, the Lord Buddha does not give the reward of merit ; but if any do as he has taught, they will find their recompense in the act. Even when Buddha lived on earth, he had no power to lead to heaven those who prayed for his assistance, but did not honour and follow the just way. The holy religion of Buddha is perfect justice springing from a man's own meritorious disposition. It is that disposition which rewards the good and punishes the evil. The recita- tions are the teachings of the Lord Buddha, which are found in various Sutras, set forms given by Buddha to holy hermits, and some of them are descriptions of that which is suitable and becoming in conduct. Even though the Lord has entered Niruana, his grace and benevolence are not exhausted. You missionaries praise the grace of Jehovah and Christ, and say that the Lord waits to hear and grant the prayers of those that call to Him. But are those prayers granted 1 So far as I see, they get no more than people who do not believe in prayer. They die the same, and they are equally liable to age, and disease, and sorrow. How, then, can you say that your religion is better than any other 'i In the Bible we find that God created Adam and Eve, and desired that they should have no sick- ness nor sorrow, nor know death ; but because they, the progenitors of mankind, ate of a forbidden fruit, God became angry, and ordained that thenceforth they should endure toil and weariness and trouble and sickness, and, from that time, fatigue and sorrow and sickness and death fell upon mankind. It was said that by baptism men should be free from the curse of Adam, but I do not see that any one who is baptized 24 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. now-a-days is free from the curse of Adam, or escapes toil and grief and sickness and death, any more than those who are not baptized.' The missionary answered, * Baptism for the remission of sin is only effectual in gaining heaven after death, for those who die unbap- tized will certainly go to hell.' But the missionary did not explain the declaration that by baptism men should be free from pains and troubles in their present state. He further said, * It does at times please God to accede to the requests of those that pray to Him, a remarkable instance of which is, that Europeans and Americans have more excellent arts than any other people. Have they not steamboats and railways, and telegraphs and manufactures, and guns and weapons of war superior to any others in the world 1 Are not the nations which do not worship Christ comparatively ignorant ? ' I asked the doctor about sorrow and sickness, things which prevail throughout the world, things in which Christians have no advantage over other men, but he would not reply on that point, and spoke only of matters of knowledge. Where is the witness who can say that this knowledge was the gift of God ? There are many in Europe who do not believe in God, but are indifferent, yet have subtle and expanded intellects, and are great philosophers and politicians. How is it that God grants to these men, who do not believe in Him, the same intelligence He grants to those who do ? Again, how is it that the Siamese, Burmese, Cochin Chinese, and other Eoman Catholic converts, whom we see more attentive to their religion than the Europeans who reside among us, do not receive some reward for their merit, and have superior advantages and intelligence to those who are THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 25 not converted ? So far as I can see, the reverse is the case : the unconverted flourish, but the converted are continually in debt and bondage. There are many converts in Siam, but I see none of them rise to wealth, so as to become talked about. They continually pray to God, but, it seems, nothing happens according to their prayer.' The missionary replied, * They are Roman Catholics, and hold an untrue religion, there- fore God is not pleased with them.' I said to the missionary, * You say that God sometimes grants the prayers of those who pray to Him ; now, the Chinese, who pray to spirits and devils, sometimes obtain what they have prayed for ; do you not, therefore, allow that these spirits can benefit man 1 ' The missionary answered, ' The devil receives bribes.' I inquired, ' Among the men and animals God creates, some die in the womb, and many at or immediately after birth and before reaching maturity, and many are deaf, dumb, and crippled : why are such created 1 Is it not a waste of labour 1 Again, God creates men, and does not set their hearts to hold to His religion, but sets them free to take false religions, so that they are all damned, while those who worship Him go to heaven : is not this inconsistent with His goodness and mercy 1 If He, indeed, created all men, would He not have shown equal compassion and goodness to all, and not allowed inequalities ■? Then I should have believed in a creating God. But, as it is, it seems nothing but a game at dolls.'* The missionary re- plied, ' With regard to long and short lives, the good may live but a short time, God being pleased to call them to heaven, and sometimes He permits the wicked * Or, " a mere mauufacture of dolls to play with." 26 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. to live to a full age, tbat they may repent of their sins. And the death of innocent children is the mercy of God calling them to heaven.' I rejoined, ' How should God take a special liking to unloveable, shape- less, unborn children ? ' The missionary replied, ' He who would learn to swim must practise in shallow places first, or he will be drowned. If any spoke like this in European countries, he would be put in prison.' I invite particular attention to this statement. "Another time I said to the missionary GutzlafF, * It is said in the Bible that God is the Creator of all men and animals. AVhy should He not create them spontaneously, as worms and vermin arise from filth, and fish are formed in new pools by the emanations of air and water ? Why must there be procreation, and agony and often death to mothers "? Is not this labour lost 1 I can see no good in it.' He replied, * God instituted procreation so that meii might know their fathers and mothers and relatives, and the pains of childbirth are a consequence of the curse of Eve, for whose sin all her descendants sufier.' I said, * If procreation was designed that men should know their relatives, why are animals which do not know their relatives, produced in the same manner 1 And why do they, not being descendants of Eve, sufier pain in labour for her sin of eating a little forbidden fruit 1 Besides, the Bible says, by belief in Christ man shall escape the consequences of Eve's sin, yet I cannot see that men do so escape in any degree, but suffer just as others do.' The missionary answered, ' It is waste of time to converse with evil men who will not be taught,' and so left me." " Missionaries profess that Christianity teaches the THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 27 true nature of the beginning of man, his creation by- God. The Lord Buddha did not know the orioin of o livino; beincrs, and taught about that which was already in existence, saying that it would continue to exist in various states of transmigration until the richness and perfection of its merits should cause it to be born in the world during the teaching of a Buddha, by whom it would be saved from farther sorrows." " The Lord Buddha declined to discourse on the creation ; he said that there was no beginning, and that the subject was unprofitable, as such knowledge was no help towards diminishing misery. I doubt not that he knew the truth, and would not tell it, because it would have shocked the prejudices of his hearers. Brahmins, who believed that various classes of men had sprung from different parts of the Creator's body, and who had instituted caste according to the more or less honourable part of the body from which they thought that certain classes had sprung. Those who believe in God the Creator tell us that the creation occupied six days, the sun, moon, and stars being created on the fourth. Now the number of stars is infinite, and each star or'sun is greater than the earth by as much as a fortress is greater than a pea. How can we believe that God. made this inconceivable in- finity of immense things in one day, and yet required five days to make this little world, this mere drop in the great ocean 1 " " Again the missionaries tell us that God brought all animals to Adam, that he might name them. How can we believe this when we find that in every lan- guage the names differ V 28 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. " I asked a missionary, * How it is that man, wlio was created after everything else, is able to give an account of that which was created before him 1 ' He replied, ' Man knows, because God has revealed it to him.' I rejoined, ' If this is the revelation of God, why does your (scriptural) account of the creation differ from the teaching of philosophers, who show that the world is a revolving globe 'i Were not the first philosophers who held these views punished for them ? And were not their views opposed until the number of their followers rendered further opposition vainT The missionary answered, ' The knowledge of the revolution of the world was obtained by wdsdom and intelligence given by God, which is the same as if God had revealed it directly. God did not reveal it before, because He considered men were too stupid.' Let those who are intelligent say whether such an explanation can be accepted!" " I asked the Mussulmans and missionaries, ' If God created all things, and is Euler of the world, and has spirit, and knowledge, and judgment to reward the good and punish the wicked, what merit did He make in former times that He should become the Great God of heaven V They answered, ' Not by acquired merit, but by Himself did God exist. As in numbers you have two, and three, and four, upwards, but they all depend on the first, or one, and none can say whence comes one.' I asked, * The elements of the world are endless, space is infinite, men and animals infinite, the worlds in space uncountable ; if the Spirit of God is single, how can it fill them all and search out every- thing in the disposition of men, and watch the good and evil in every heart ? Surely this idea is rather THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 29 that there is an infinity of gods, than that there is but one God !' They replied, ' Tlie power of God is great, wherever there is «pace God is.' I invite a comparison between this idea of a Divinity going about in all directions, and the (Buddhist) idea that the all-know- ing Divine Bestower of rewards and punishments is Merit and Demerit, or Kam itself." Nearly fifty pages of the " Kitchanukit " are taken up by the sketch of the religions of the world. There are philosophers who say that all known sects may be classed under two religions only, the Brah- manyang and the Samanyang. All those who pray for assistance to Brahma, Indra, God the Creator, Angels, Devils, Parents, or other intercessors or pos- sible benefactors — all who believe in the existence of any being who can help them, and in the efficacy of prayer, are Brahmanyang ; while all who believe that they must depend solely on the inevitable results of their own acts, that good and evil are consequences of preceding causes, and that merit and demerit are the regulators of existence, and who therefore do not pray to any to help them, and all those who profess to know nothing of what will happen after death, and all those who disbelieve in a future existence, are Samanyang. " Brahminism is," he writes, " the most ancient known religion, held by numbers of men to this day, though with many varieties of belief. Its funda- mental doctrine was that the world was created by Thao Maha Phrom (Brahma), who divided his nature into two parts, Isuen (Vishnu), Lord of the Earth, and re warder of the good, and Narai (Siva), Lord of the Ocean, and punisher of the wicked. The Brahmins believed in blood sacrifices, which they offered before 30 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. idols with three faces and six hands, representing three gods in one. Sometimes they made separate images of the three, and called them the father, the son, and the spirit, all three being one, and the son being that part of the deity which at various times is born in the earth as a man, the Avatar of God." After Brahminism he treats of Judaism. " About 3000 years ago a Khek,^' named Abraham, who lived in Khoran (1 Chaldaea), the son of a Brah- min priest, dreamt that the Lord Allah came and told him that it was not right to worship images, and that he must destroy his idols, and flee from that country, and establish a new religion, permitting no kneeling or sacrifice except to God alone. Animal sacrifice was to be retained, and the followers of his religion were to be circumcised instead of being baptized. For without circumcision none is a follower of Islam." He continues with the story of Abraham and his trial, as told in the Bible, ending with the remark, " Thus the religion of Islam branched off from Brah- minism.^^ Next follows a short account of the separa- tion of Christianity from Judaism, and the introduc- tion of the rite of baptism, of which he observes : — " Baptism was a religious rite from very ancient times, the Brahmins holding that if any one who had sinned went to the bank of the Ganges, and saying, 'I will not sin again,' plunged into the stream, he would rise to the surface free of sin, all his sins float- ing away with the water. Hence it was called baptism, or the rite of washing off" offences, so that they floated away. Sometimes when any one was sick unto death, * This word is applied to Jews and Mahometans, whatever country they are natives of. THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 31 his relatives would place him by the river, and give him water to drink, and pour water over him till he died, believing that he would thus die holy, and go to heaven. This was the old belief, the rite of circum- cision being introduced by the prophet Abraham, and it is to be supposed that the holy man John (the Baptist) thought that the ancient rite was the proper one, and so restored it." Next follows an account of the second great off- spring of the religion of Abraham, Mahometanism, the rise of which, and its division into two sects, Soonnees and Mahons (Sheres), are treated of at some length. " This religion," he observes, " was not spread by the arguments of preachers, but by men who held the Koran with one hand, and the sword with the other." "We will not occupy our readers' time by quoting the history of Mahometanism, which they can read else- where, but they may be amused by the account of the reason that pork is forbidden food. " They say that when men first filled the world, Allah forbade them to eat any animals but such as died a natural death ; and as the animals would not die as quickly as they wished, they accelerated their deaths by striking them, and throwing things at them. The animals complained to Allah of this treatment, and He sent His angel Gabriel to order all men and animals to assemble together, that He might decide the case. But the pigs were disobedient, and did not come. Then Allah said, ' The pigs, the lowest of ani- mals, are disobedient, let no one eat them or touch them.' " His remarks on other religions, we quote in his own words : — 32 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. " Another relioioii is what the Siamese call that of o the Lord Phoot (Phra Phutthi Chao), and Europeans call that of Samana Khodom or Gotama, or Buddha. Its followers, some of them, walk reverently according to the rules, called Winya, others follow a relaxed code. In some countries Buddhist monks are treated as kings. The teaching of Buddha does not go back to the origin of life, but treats of that which already exists, showing that ignorance of the four truths is the cause of continued existence (in transmigration). These four truths are — 1st, The perception of sorrow ; 2d, The perception that sorrow is a consequence of desire ; 3d, The perception of nirot, which is the extinction of sorrow, so that it has no further birth ; 4th, Walking in the eight paths of holiness, which purify the disposition, and lead to a happiness beyond all sorrow. Such was the teaching of Buddha." " Christianity is also a great religion. Christians were originally all Eoman Catholics. The Eoman Catholics believed in Jehovah and Christ, and Mary the mother, and in saints, and in the Pope, the great bishop of Kome, who they say is the substitute for Christ on earth, with power to absolve from sin, and to order doctrines. The priests of that religion, whom we call Bat Hluang, dress in black, and have no wives. After many centuries certain Germans considered that the Pom an Catholic tenets were contrary to the Bible, so they formed a new sect, believing in God and Christ only. Their teachers are called missionaries, and dress like ordinary people, and have Avives, and if their wives die, can marry again, though some hold that they should not do so. They do not worship Mary the mother, nor the saints ; many left the old relio-ion THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 33 to join this sect. Another sect are the Mormons ; they say that their rehgion arose from certain men dreaming that God in heaven took a golden plate, whereon was written the holy doctrine, and buried it in the earth. And those who dreamt thus dug, and found a scripture engraven on a plate of gold, accord- ing to their dream. Then they believed in God in heaven, and Christ, and polygamy, and doing as they pleased ; the rules of their religion being much more lax than those of Roman Catholics or Christians (Pro- testants). And they believed that if they turned their thoughts to Christ when at the point of death, Christ would take their souls to heaven. All these three sects worship the same God and Christ, why ' then should they blame each other, and charge each other with believing wrongly, and say to each other, ' you are wrong, and will go to hell, we are right, and shall go to heaven V It is one religion, yet how can we join it when each party threatens us with hell if we agree with the other, and there is none to decide between them. I beg comparison of this with the teaching of the Lord Buddha, that whoever endea- vours to keep the Commandments,* and is charitable, and walks virtuously, must attain heaven." A few remarks on the worship of Vishnu (Juggernauth), fire- worship, Confucianism, spirit-worship, and unbelief, and a sketch of the principal localities of each reli- gion, conclude this subject. The next question is. Out of so many religions, how shall a man select that which he can trust to for his future happiness "? " He must reflect, and apply his mind to ascertain * For an account of the Five Commandments, see page 57. C 34 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. wliich is most true. This is a subject of constant dis- pute, every one upholding his own religion. Even the lowest of mankind, devil worshippers, have faith in their own belief, and will not hear those who would teach them differently. It is very hard for men to relinquish their first ideas and habits. Those who do change their religions are either poor people who do it out of respect to those who have helped them when in difficulties, or those who have been persecuted and forced to change, or those who are induced, by observ- ing the superior skill and knowledge of the followers of any religion, to believe that their religion must be the true one ; or those who change their religion for that of some one whom they respect as much wiser and better than themselves, and sure to be right in every- thing, or those who do it to get help when they have lawsuits,^'' and to obtain protectors against oppression. Also there are those who, having listened to teaching, are enlightened, and see clearly that form and name are not realities, and must be considered as sorrows, and that there is no help to be had from any one, but that good and evil are the result of merit and demerit. Some there are who have become Buddhists on these considerations." On this subject he quotes one of the Sutras, sup- posed to be a sermon of Buddha : — " There is a Buddhist Sutra which pleased me much when I read it, and I have remembered it, and will repeat it here, begging to be excused for variations, omissions, and additions, as it is intended for those * This refers to Catholic priests, supported by French Consuls, interfering with the ordinary course of Siamese law when Christians arc concerned. THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 35 wh.0 are not learned, in the holy religion of Buddha. It is as follows : — On a certain occasion the Lord Buddha led a number of his disciples to a village of the Kalamachon, where his wisdom and merit and holiness were known. And the Kalamachon assembled, and did homage to him and said, ' Many priests and Brahmins have at different times visited us, and ex- plained their religious tenets, declaring them to be excellent, but each abused the tenets of every one else, whereupon we are in doubt as to whose religion is right and whose wrong ; but we have heard that the Lord Buddha teaches an excellent religion, and we beg that we may be freed from doubt, and learn the truth.' " And the Lord Buddha answered, * You were right to doubt, for it was a doubtful matter. I say unto all of you, Do not believe in what ye have heard ; that is, when you have heard any one say this is especially good or extremely bad ; do not reason with yourselves that if it had not been true, it would not have been asserted, and so believe in its truth. Neither have faith in traditions, because they have been handed down for many generations and in many places. " ' Do not believe in anything because it is rumoured and spoken of by many ; do not think that it is a proof of its truth. " ' Do not believe merely because the written state- ment of some old sage is produced ; do not be sure that the writing has ever been revised by the said sage, or can be relied on. Do not believe in what you have fancied, thinking that because an idea is extraordinary it must have been implanted by a Dewa, or some wonderful being. " ' Do not believe in guesses, that is, assuming some- 36 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. thing at hap-hazard as a starting point draw your conclusions from it ; reckoning your two and your three and your four before you have fixed your number one. -" ' Do not believe because you think there is analogy, that is a suitability in things and occurrences, such as believing that there must be walls of the world, because you see water in a basin, or that Mount Meru must exist, because you have seen the reflection of trees ; or that there must be a creating God, because houses and towns have builders. " ' Do not believe in the truth of that to which you have become attached by habit, as every nation be- lieves in the superiority of its own dress and ornaments and language. " ' Do not believe because your informant appears to be a credible person, as, for instance, when you see any one having a very sharp appearance, conclude that he must be clever and trustworthy ; or when you see any one who has powers and abilities beyond what men gene- rally possess, believe in what he tells. Or think that a great nobleman is to be believed, as he would not be raised by the king to high station unless he were a good man. " ' Do not believe merely on the authority of your teachers and masters, or believe and practise merely because they believe and practise. " ' I tell you all, you must of your own selves know that " this is evil, this is punishable, this is censured by wise men, belief in this will bring no advantage to one, but will cause sorrow." And when you know this, then eschew it. " • I say to all of you dwellers in this village, answer THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 37 me this. Lopho, that is covetousness, Thoso, that is anger and savageness, and Moho, that is ignorance and folly, — when any or all of these arise in the hearts of men, is the result beneficial or the reverse ? ' " And they answered, ' It is not beneficial, Lord.' " Then the Lord continued, ' Covetous, passionate, and ignorant men destroy life and steal, and commit adultery and tell lies, and incite others to follow their example, is it not so "? ' " And they answered, ' It is as the Lord says.' "And he continued, 'Covetousness, passion, ignor- ance, the destruction of life, theft, adultery, and lying, are these good or bad, right or wrong 1 do wise men praise or blame them "? Are they not unprofitable, and causes of sorrow 1 ' " And they replied, ' It is as the Lord has spoken.' " And the Lord said, ' For this I said to you, do not believe merely because you have heard, but when of your own consciousness you know a thing to be evil, abstain from it.' " And then the Lord taught of that which is good, saying, * If any of you know of yourselves that any- thing is good and not evil, praised by wise men, ad- vantageous, and productive of happiness, then act abundantly according to your belief. Now I ask you, Alopho, absence of covetousness, Athoso, absence of passion. Am oho, absence of folly, are these profitable or not 1 ' " And they answered, ' Profitable.' " The Lord continued, ' Men who are not covetous, or passionate, or foolish, will not destroy life, nor steal, nor commit adultery, nor tell lies, is it not so ? ' " And they answered, ' It is as the Lord says." 38 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. " Then the Lord asked, ' Is freedom from covetous- ness, passion, and folly, from destruction of life, theft, adultery, and lying, good or bad, right or wrong, praised or blamed by wise men, profitable and tending to happiness or not V " And they replied, * It is good, right, praised by the wise, profitable, and tending to happiness.' " And the Lord said, * For this I taught you not to believe m.erely because you have heard, but when you believed of your own consciousness, then to act accord- ingly and abundantly.' " And the Lord continued, * The holy man must not be covetous, or revengeful, or foolish, and he must be versed in the four virtuous inclinations (Phrommawi- han), which are, Meta, desiring for all living things the same happiness which one seeks for one's self; Karuna, training the mind in compassion towards all living things, desiring that they may escape all sor- rows either in hell or in other existences, just as a man who sees his friend ill, desires nothing so much as his recovery ; Muthita, taking pleasure in all living things, just as playmates are glad when they see one another; and Ubekkha, keeping the mind balanced and impartial, with no afiection for one more than another.' " From another Sutra is extracted the following pas- sage : — " Consider ! Can you respect or believe in religions which recommend actions that bring happiness to one's self by causing sorrow to others, or happiness to others by sorrow to one's self, or sorrow to both one's self and others '? " Is not that a better religion which promotes the THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 39 happiness of others simultaneously with the happiness of one's self, and tolerates no oppression 1 ' " This better religion, exercising an excellent influence on the natures of those who walk according to it, has produced holy men of the eight grades of sanctity, called the four ways and four fruits. These holy men have taught the importance of the four Satipatthan, or applications of reflective power ; of the four Sam- mappathan, or reasonable objects of continued exer- tion ; of the four Itthibat, or effectual causes ; of the five Intri, or great virtues (moral powers) ; the five Phala, or forces ; and the seven Photchangkas, or principles of all knowledge, which are the illuminators of the mind. They have also taught that those per- sons who, on due consideration of form, sensation, perception, idea, and intelligence (which are the five elements of existence), conclude that they are unreal, full of sorrow, and perishable, may be called * flourish- ing in intelligence ; ' that those who have no longer any desire for worldly pleasures, or evil feelings towards others, may be called ' firm in intelligence ; ' and those who have entirely freed themselves from desire, anger, folly, revenge, ingratitude, giving blow for blow (1), envy, avarice, deceit, resistance C?), desire to excel others, pride, intoxication, and heedlessness, all which are vices, are said to have a ' crushing intelligence.' This is the state of mind which sets the spirit and body free from all entanglement, which makes the nature of man bright and pure, and leads to calm and happiness. Is not this teaching good 1 " In the above passage, full of monastic technicalities, the most noticeable feature, in my opinion, is that these dogmatisms are not attributed to Buddha, who, 40 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. in a previous passage, is said to have simply taught the four truths, but are attributed to the saints. By this neat distinction our author avoids the appearance of heresy. The twenty-nine qualities mentioned in the text, with the eight ways and fruits, constitute what Buddhists call the thirty-seven constituents of Buddha's wisdom. Those who wish to investigate more thoroughly the tedious and, to many of us, stupid subject, must consult note 174, at the end of the notes to the Life. The next subject we deal with is the future state : — " Some men believe that merit and demerit cause successive re -births of the soul until it becomes perfect, when it is not born again. Others believe that after death the soul is next born in heaven or hell, and has no further change. Others believe that man is re-born as man, and every animal born again in its kind for ever. Others believe that there is no resurrection of the dead. I have pondered much on this subject, and cannot absolutely decide it. If we were to believe that death is annihilation, we should be at a loss to account for the existence of mankind. " If we were to hold with those who believe in God the Creator, it should follow that (the impartial justice of God) would make all men and animals equal in life and similar in nature, which is not the case. We observe that some die young, others live to old age ; some are born great, others not ; some rich, others poor ; some beautiful, others ugly ; some never suffer illness, others are continually ill, or blind, or deaf, or deformed, or mad. If we say that God made these, we must regard Him as unjust, partial, and ever changing ; making those suffer who have never done THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 41 anything to deserve suffering, and not giving to men in general that average of good and bad fortune which attends even the speculations of the gambler. But if we believe in the interchange and succession of life throughout all beings {i.e., the transmigration of souls), and that good and evil arise from ourselves, and are the effects of merit and demerit, we have some grounds for belief. The differences of men and animals afford a very striking proof, clear to our eyes." The argument here is, that as some men and animals have a superior lot to others, there must needs follow other successive states to compensate those whose present condition is inferior, unless we suppose the difference of present condition to be caused by the merits and demerits of a previous existence. Either supposition, he considers, affords proof of his proposi- tion, and requires only one presumption, viz., that the law of the world is perfect justice : — " Those who believe that after death the soul passes to hell or heaven for ever, have no proof that there is no return thence. Certainly, it would be a most ex- cellent thing to go direct to heaven after death, without further change, but I am afraid that it is not the case. For the believers in it, who have not perfectly purified their hearts and prepared themselves for that most excellent place, where there is no being born, growing old, and dying, will still have their souls contaminated with uneradicated evil, the fruit of evil deeds, for where else can that evil go to ? " That there is a place of perfect happiness, where there is no being born or growing old, or dying, w^as known only to Him who attained the perfection of holiness. He said that there is really such a place, but 42 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. none of us have seen it, and we know not tlie condition of his soul. We can only judge of it by analogy. " The worker in gold cannot make anything of his gold until he has refined it from all impurities. Sub- sequent meltings will not then affect it, because it is pure. In like manner the Lord, before he ceased to breathe, had repressed and cleared away all evil from his soul,'"' so that it could not return, and there re- mained nothing but good. Being pure, we can con- ceive that, like the pure gold, it might pass to where it would be affected by no further change. How is it possible that those who have not cleared away the evil disposition from their soul should attain the most ex- cellent heaven, and live eternally with God the Creator *? and of those who are to remain in hell for ever, many have made merit, and done much good. Shall that be altogether lost ? " The Lord Buddha taught, saying, * All you who are in doubt as to whether or not there is a future life, had better believe that there is one ; that there is another existence, in which happiness and misery can be felt. It is better to believe this than otherw^ise, for if the heart believes in a future life it will abandon sin and act virtuously ; and even if there is no resurrection, such a life will bring a good name, and the regard of men. But those who believe in extinction at death will not fail to commit any sin that they may choose because of their disbelief in a future; and if there should happen to be a future after all, they will be at a disadvantage — they will be like travellers without provisions/ * Possibly I have erred in using the term soul in this passage. The Siamese terms are chitr and chitr-borisut — i.e., perfectly pure chitr. For the usual meaning of chitr see note 155, THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 43 " Buddha, seeing the doubt in some men's minds as to birth and extinction, was pleased to preach thus." This argument is followed by stories from the sacred books illustrating transmigration, and by several anec- dotes of the present time of children who, as soon as they could speak, have asserted and given proofs of their having previously existed as men or animals. "In the sacred books we read of a certain rich Brahmin of Sawatthi named Tothai, who was not a Buddhist, and whose death-bed thoughts were only about his money. The result of his merit and demerit caused him to be born as a pnppy in the very house that had belonged to him when a man, and of which his son was now master. One day, as Buddha passed the house collecting alms, the puppy ran to the gate and barked, and the Lord called to it, ' Tothai ! Tothai ! ' and it ran and lay down at his feet. Then was the son very angry at the insult he considered to have been cast against his father, by using his name to a dog ; and he remonstrated with Buddha. Buddha asked him, 'Have you yet found the money your father buried during his life V He answered, *Only a part of it.' * Then, if you would indeed know whether or not this puppy is Tothai the Brahmin, treat him with great respect for several days, and then ask him where the treasure is, and he will show you.' And the young man did so, and the dog indicated the place where the treasure was hid. And from thenceforth the son of Tothai followed the teachings of the Lord Buddha." This story is an old one, handed down from the days of Buddha, and people must attach just so much credit to it as they think due. " Another instance is that of the child of a Peguan, 44 THE MODEEN BUDDHIST. at Paklat (a town near Bangkok), who, as soon as he learned to speak, told his parents that he was formerly named Makran, and had been killed by a fall from a cocoa-nut tree, and that as he fell his hatchet fell from his hand and dropped into a ditch. And they, seeing that his story coincided with something that had happened within their knowledge, tried the child by making him point out the tree, and he pointed out the tree, and his story was confirmed by their digging up the hatchet from the ditch." The next question is, What is it that is re-born ? " It is difficult to explain whether it is the same or another life which is born again in a future state. It may be compared to the seeds of plants which sprout and grow, and produce more seed ; can the succeeding tree and seed be said to be the same as the orio-inal tree and seed 1 So it is in this case. To dwell on the subject would be tedious. Again, is the echo the same sound as that to which it answers, or another sound ? The condition in which the new birth will take place must be dependent on the necessity which the being has itself caused by the state of its disposition, for merit and demerit are the orderers of the manner of the new birth, and the preparers of increasing happi- ness or misery. We are next told that all entry into a new state is effected in one of four ways — i.e., by production in the egg, by ordinary birth, by life resulting from emana- tions of earth and water, and change of leaves, &c., as vermin results from filth, fish from emanations in new pools, insects from fruits, and snakes from a certain vine ; and fourthly, by spontaneous appearance with- out birth, as angels and devils originate. THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 45 The subject of a future life will be again reverted to after our readers have had set before them the nature of the directing influence of merit and demerit, of that law of nature or guiding power with which Buddhists supply the place of God. The Siamese call this Kam,* and it is sometimes translated as fate or consequence. We shall use the word Kam in pre- ference to any translation. We may aid our readers to comprehend this Kam, by giving a short account of its action before proceed- ing further with quotations. Buddhists believe that every act, word, or thought has its consequence, which will appear sooner or later in the present or in some future state. Evil acts will produce evil consequences — that is, may cause a man misfortune in this world, or an evil birth in hell, or as an animal in some future existence. Good acts, etc., will produce good consequences ; prosperity in this world, or birth in heaven, or in a high position in the world in some future state. When we say every act, etc., has its effect, we must make the exception that where several acts, etc., are of such a nature that their result will be the same in kind, and due at the same time, then only one of the said acts, etc., will produce an effect, and the others will be neutralised, or become " Ahosikam." Sometimes even single acts may become effectless, or " Ahosikam,'' as will be explained further on. There is no God who judges of these acts, etc., and awards recompense or punishment ; but the reward or * Kam is the same as the Sanscrit word Karman (action). The Siamese, while they pronounce it Kam, spell it as if it should be pro- nounced Karma. 46 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. punishment is simply the inevitable effect of Kam which works out its own results. Our author first draws a distinction between the causation called Kam and that called Nisai.* *' Nisai causation is that which can be calculated or foreseen, and results from intention, such as where a speculation is entered into, because one knows that it will be profitable, or work is done for the king, because one knows that it will be rewarded. These two in- stances are nisai causation of a meritorious kind. The demeritorious kind is illustrated by a wilful breach of the law leading to the punishment known to be due to it. These are instances of Nisai, and are not called Kam." "Kam causation gives rise to that which is not foreseen. It is illustrated by the story of Phra Maha Chanok, who, escaping from a wrecked ship, fell asleep in the woods, and on waking was received in a royal chariot and made king of the country. This happen- ing without any plan or foreknowledge on his part, was Kam causation of the meritorious kind. The de- meritorious kind is illustrated when an innocent man is punished for another's crime. And we have instances of both kinds of Kam in the cases where, when two men were bathing together, a crocodile devoured the one and left the other ; and when two men were equally liable to execution, the judges condemned the one and set free the other." Our author next quotes from the ancient canonical commentaries, "Attha Katha;" adds some passages from the "Attanomati" (a worki am unacquainted with, ♦ Nisai is, I presume, the Sanscrit Nigchaya, meaning ascei-- tainment, certainty, design . THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 47 but which is probably a Siamese commentary on part of the " Attha Katha"), and interposes with much defer- ence a few explanations of his own : — "The meritorious and demeritorious Kam, which living beings have caused to exist by their own acts, words, or thoughts, are, whether their fruits be joy or sorrow, to be classed under three heads. " The first is Thittham Wethaniya Kam, that is the Kam of which creatures will have the fruits at once, in their present state of existence. "The second is Upacha Wethaniya Kam, that is the Kam of which creatures will have the fruits in the next state of existence. " The third is Aprapara Wethaniya Kam, that is the Kam of which creatures will have the fruits in future states of existence from the third onward. " Merit or demerit will cause a tendency of the soul in one direction sometimes to as many as seven births and deaths, which will be followed by a relapse in the opposite direction for six, five, or less times ; such is the way of the soul. " The merit of a single act of charity, or the demerit of the slaughter of a single ant, will be certainly fol- lowed by one of these three Kams. Then follow anecdotes of Thittham Wethaniya Kam, telling how men have been rewarded for a distin- guished act of goodness by a sudden change from poverty to wealth ; and how for an act of cruelty horrible sufierings have been almost instantaneously experienced. "Merit or demerit of this class must have their fruit in the present existence. If they do not, they will become ' Ahosikam,' lost altogether. They will 48 THE MODEitlN BUDDHIST. be like a bowshot which misses the animal it is aimed at, or like fruit which a man has gathered and forgotten to eat until it has turned rotten. "Meritorious Upacha Wethaniya Kam, of which the fruits appear in the next existence (that following the one in which the works which caused it were done), is produced by the eight states of pious meditation (Samabatti)/" and will assuredly cause re-birth in the superior heavens ; but as any one of the eight would of itself be followed by this Kam, and cause the same heavenly birth, and as the effect is one which can hap- pen in the second and in no other existence, it follows that he who has attained all the eight Samabatti will but receive the result of one, and the other seven will be lost or Ahosikam. " Demeritorious Upacha Wethaniya Kam is caused by parricide, matricide, killing saints, defiling Buddha with blood,f and dispersing monks. Any one of these will cause re-birth in hell, and the commission of more than one of these sins will make no difference. The others will be lost or Ahosikam, for they have no power in any other existence. " Aprapara Wethaniya Kam difi'ers from the pre- ceding, in that it can never be lost or Ahosikam, Every act of which the Kam is of this class, whether meritorious or demeritorious, will certainly have its fruits in some generation, from the third onward, whenever the suitable time may come. " The ' Attanomati ' states, ' This present existence, * See Notes 38 and 65. t Our author remarks that as Buddha has passed to Nirwana, and there are now no saints, it is no longer possible to commit these two sins. THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 49 from the time that Kam is incuiTecl until death, is the domain of Thittham AYethaniya Kam ; when it has power, it produces its effects within this limit ; when it has not enough power to produce its effects within this limit, its domain is ended by death, and it becomes Ahosikam. The whole of the second existence is the domain of Upacha Wethaniya Kam ; when it has power enough, it gives its fruits within that time, but when it has not power enough to do so, it becomes Ahosikam. From the time of entering on the third existence and onwards, is the domain of Apr^para Wethaniya Kam, which ends only with the attainment of Nirwana, the cessation from further change/" Kam is ao;ain divided under four heads — Khru, Pahula, Asanna, and Kotta, — according to the time when its effects will appear, which depends on compa- rative importance. The more important the act, the sooner will the effect come. First of Khru Kam : — "The most powerful of all demeritorious Kam is the result of the five before-mentioned sins (parricide, &c.) ; when any one of these has been committed, not even a hundred years of merit-making will secure happiness, or prevent the soul going to hell at death. The most powerful meritorious Kam results from the eight states of Samabatti (pious meditation)." We omit, as of less interest, the remarks on Pahula and Asanna Kam ; the first, meaning Kam which is important from its nature, the second, Kam which is rendered important by the circumstances of the action giving rise to it, as a good or bad act done at the point of death ; and we quote the account of Kotta Kam, the lio;htest Kam : — " Kotta Kam is light, small, not made at the point D 50 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. of death, aud made in ignorance of its being merito- rious or demeritorious. As, for instance, wlien men not knowing tliat they are doing a meritorious act, remove a stake or thorn, or tile from the road, lest it may hurt any one passing along, or, seeing any kind of filth lying in a public place, remove it, and cleanse the place ; or when a child, seeing its parents make offer- ino^s and bow to a Phrachedi,'"' imitates them, this is meritorious Kotta Kam. "Demeritorious Kotta Kam arises when men, not knowing that they are doing wrong, kill or strike small animals, regarding them as vegetables ; and when children playfully do mischievous tricks, and when any wrong is committed in ignorance. In the absence of other Kam, this Kam will operate at some stage of existence, causing happiness or sorrow accord- ing as it is meritorious or demeritorious." The aforementioned divisions of Kam, under three heads and four heads, refer to time and gravity ; it is also divided into four classes according to the nature of its action. They are Chanaka Kam, Uphatamphaka Kam, Upa-pilaka Kam, and Upakhathaka Kam. The first is the Kam which causes birth or existence in any particular state of happiness or sorrow ; the second modifies that state by causing its premature cessation or prolongation ; the third modifies it by reducing the amount of happiness or misery ; and the last violently opposes itself to any existing Kam, so as to destroy its effects. This last Kam is illustrated by the story of " Angknlimau." * Phrachedi are spires in temples, generally covering a relic, or image of Buddha, and supposed to lead the thoughts to the teachings of the Great Teacher. THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 51 " Angkuliman, whilst yet a layman, committed nine liundred and ninety-nine murders, but afterwards, by attaining to saintly perfection, lie obtained an Upa- kbathaka Kam, which cut otf the Kam of the murders he had committed. He acquired meritorious Upacha AVethaniya Kam, of which he would enjoy the fruits in his next generation, and meritorious Aprapara Wetha- niya Kam, of which he would enjoy the fruits in the third and subsequent generations. There Avas left only Thittham Wethaniya Kam, by which his murders could have any eflfect ; and it did have effect, causing him, after he had attained his saintly condition, to be accidentally pelted with sticks and lumps of earth." Such are the eleven Kam of the Attha Katha Chari, the last eight being only the same as the first three, but differently described. Next follows a passage comparing the idea of Kam with that of a divine judge. "These Kam w^e have discoursed about have no substance, and we cannot see where they exist ; nor when they are about to have effect do they come crying, ' I am the Kam, named So-and-so, come to give fruits to such-a-one.' This I have only adverted to for comj)arison with the belief of some that there is a creating God who causes existences. Those who so believe cannot see the Creator better than others see tlie Kam. It is a matter for the consideration of the wise, whether we should say there is a creating God, the Lord and Master of the world, or should say that it is Kam which fashions and causes existences. Neither has a visible form. If we believe that Kam is the cause, the creator, the arranger, we can get hold of 52 THE MODEPvN BUDDHIST. tlie end of the thread, and understand that the happi- ness and misery of living beings is all caused by natural sequence. But if we assert that a creating God is the dispenser of happiness and misery, we must believe that He is everywhere, and at all times watching and trying, and deciding what punishments are due to the countless multitude of men. Is this credible 1 Moreover, we are told that the Creator made animals to be food for man ; these animals enjoy happiness and suffer misery, like as human beings do. How can we, then, say that the Creator does not grant them justice, and give them also a future state of reward and punishment 1 From this disquisition on Kam, we pass to the duties of a good Buddhist. The question is put, " If a man believes in a future existence governed by Kam, how shall he make merit to save himself from future misery "? " The answer to this is, of course, " By fol- lowing the teachings of Buddha, the holy and omni- scient ; the teaching which praises kindness, and com- passion, and pleasure in the general happiness of all beino-s, and freedom from love or dislike to individuals, and which forbids hatred and jealousy, and envy and revenge ; the religion which teaches Than, or alms- giving, Sin, or rules of morality, and Bhawana, or simple meditation ; which, with fidelity and other virtues, are the merits of an ordinary class ; and the firm observance of the rules of the priesthood, which is merit of the highest class." Than, or almsgiving, is explained as follows : — • " Than is the voluntary gift of anything not injuri- ous. If there is no intention to give, or the gift is harmful (as poison or spirits), it is not Than. Fur- THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 53 tliermore, there must be either the desire to assist, or the desire to show gratitude. " The desire to assist is manifested when a layman gives food to monks, reflecting that monks must starve unless laymen feed them ; also when a man, from compassionate motives, gives anything to a beggar ; and also, in a lower degree, when a man gives food to animals merely from the knowledge that without his assistance they would die. " The desire to show gratitude is manifested in gifts to parents, and others entitled to respectful regard, especially to holy and distinguished men. "It is not Than when gifts are given from other considerations, as when animals are fed that they may be used, or presents are given by lovers to bind affec- tion, or given to slaves to stimulate labour. " Sages and relio;ious men have observed that Than is an universal merit, existing at all times and in all countries. It was a practice of old, it is a practice now, and it -will be a practice in future in all coun- tries and among all people, sometimes more, some- times less, sometimes having much fruit, and some- times not being genuine and having but little fruit. I now beg to speak of it as practised at the present day, and to point out what is praiseworthy, and what censurable, according to my own observation. The following descriptions of almsgiving are very merito- rious : — " Firstly, When a man, reflecting that his present wealth is but the result of causation in previous exist- ences, and that it is his duty to make merit for future existences, and not hoard up that which is unstable ; and that so long as there are wearers of the yellow 54 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. robe, the religion will exist, hut that if none assist them the monks must die out — eagerly clevises means to promote the religion of Buddha, and ensure its per- manence, and with that view erects temples, monas- teries, spires, and preaching-houses, where religious exercises may be practised, and the monks may cherish their religion in peace, and be a leaven for the future. This is most excellent almsgiving. " Another kind is when a man seeks the happiness and pleasure of all men — those he loves and those he hates, those he has a cause of revenge against, and those against whom he has none — and with that view digs canals and pools, and makes roads and bridges and salas, and plants large trees to give shade. This generally dififiised charity is most excellent alms- giving. "Another is when any show kindness to their elder relatives, parents, etc., seeking their happiness during their lives, and showing respect by merit-mak- ing and almso-ivino; after their deaths. This, too, is very meritorious. "Another is when, from com.passion to the poor and miserable who have none to help them, and suffer extreme misery, a man erects rest-houses and drink- ing-fountains, and gives them food and clothes, and necessaries and medicine for their ailments, without selecting one more than another. This is true charity, and has much fruit. " There are four classes who make merit by alms- giving without pure compassion and piety. One class does it for show, another from greediness, another from jealousy, and another from envy. " Those ^Yho do it for show are such as, without THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 55 any real desire to aid religion, or genuine feeling of compassion, make merit as they see others do, from a desire to display their wealth, not for future ad- vantage. Sometimes they do not even own the gifts they pretend to bestow, and hire them for half-a- crown from some priest who owns them, and give him another half-crown to carry them away, ostentatiously piled up on a stand. "Those who do it from greediness are such as, having much wealth, distribute it before their death, partly to prevent their heir getting it, and partly in hopes that they will be rewarded by going to heaven,and havinoj tens of thousands of houris to minister to them. " Another class makes merit from jealousy ; as when some person of property dies, and the administrator of his estate, in order to prevent some person receiv- ing a share, distributes the whole in alms and merit making.''^ " Another class gives alms from envy, that is, when they see an enemy make merit in any way, they go and make more merit, not from piety, but from a desire to be born in their next existence in a superior condition to that their enemy will have. " Let no one who makes merit by giving alms have such a disposition as any of these." Ostentatious merit-making is common among all the Siamese. The kings annually, in person or by de- puty, make offerings at the principal temples through- out the country, accompanied by procession of some- times more than a hundred state barges, bands of * It does sometimes happen that all the estate of the deceased is expended in a great entertainment and feast given at the cremation of the body. 56 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. music, and every material of display. Those who can afford it combine in similar processions on a smaller scale ; even poor people will, from time to time, invite two or three monks to receive some trumpery presents at their houses, and will proclaim the fact by beating a drum for several hours. The Siamese certainly sup- port their priests well, not only by occasional gifts of clothing, etc., but by daily gifts of food. Much money is also spent in the other ways desig- nated by our author, the construction of temples especially. He himself is now, and has been for years, superintending the building of one called Pratom Prachidee, near Bangkok, which will, when finished, be one of the finest and largest Buddhist temples in the world. It is built principally with funds supplied by the late king, who also built many other temples. It is unfortunate that the desire is always to build new temples rather than to repair old ones, so that there are but too many temples in a ruinous con- dition. Charity of the kind which is best known in Eng- land is scarcely ever called for in Siam, where it is easy to live with but little labour, and where the respect shown to family ties and the prevalence of a mild system of slavery enable almost every one to support himself, or get supported without recourse to beggary. It is only just to the Siamese to add, that though fond of ostentatious almsgiving, as above said, they are also privately charitable, and kind and hospitable to strano;ers. From " Than " we pass to " Sin," which is defined as meaning " abstinence " from tlie offences specified THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 57 in the Five Commandments. In common parlance, the Five Sin are the Five Commandments, which are all of a negative character, that is, are orders to abstain. The Five Commandments are : — 1st, Thou shalt abstain from destroying or causino- the destruction of any living thing. 2d, Thou shalt abstain from acquiring or keeping, by fraud or violence, the property of another. 3d, Thou shalt abstain from those who are not proper objects for thy lust. 4th, Thou shalt abstain from deceiving others either by word or deed. 5th, Thou shalt abstain from intoxication. The offence of breaking these Commandments may be greater or less according to the quality of the person injured by the act, the amount of premeditation lead- ing to the act, the desire or passion which causes the act, and lastly, the object of the act, i.e., the value of the thing stolen, the damage done by a lie, etc. AVe give one example of the way in which these Command- ments are analysed. " There are five essentials of Athinnathan (the 2d Commandment). 1st, Property which another sets store by. 2d, Knowledge that it is so. 3d, Inten- tion to get possession of it. 4th, Means taken to do so personally or by agent. 5th, Obtaining said pro- perty against the owner's will." In the same manner, for a breach of the other Com- mandments, there must be not only a completed act, but also intention. Having thus defined the Commandments, our author remarks that the mere fact of not committinor the offences therein named, cannot be called the practice 58 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. of Sin, altliougli it is good in that it prevents the rise of demerit. " When the abstention arises from the impulse of the moment, without any predetermination to observe the Commandments, it cannot be called ' keeping the Commandments' (Sin); but when the abstention is caused by the reflection that these offences will be punished in future generations, and the consequent determination to guard against committing them ; or when it results from the unerring purity of mind of those who have entered on the Paths of the Saints, then it is called observance of the Commandments, or Sin." Excellent as these Commandments are, few men keep them all. " At the present time very few men, even Buddhists, perfectly observe these Five Commandments. Some can abstain from all but lying. Others take care not to destroy large animals, but cannot restrain them- selves from killing gad-flies and mosquitoes. Some can keep from actual theft, but not from getting other people's property by oppression and fraud. Some can refrain from other men's wdves, but not from their daughters. Some can keep from great lies, such as bearing false witness, but will tell other lies, such as saying they have not seen or heard, when they have seen or heard, regarding these as trifling offences. As for drunkenness, some abstain from all intoxicating things, even in medicine, others take them in mode- ration. " He who cannot abstain from these five offences is guilty — not because the religion of Buddha is cruel, and forbids that which men best like and cannot THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 59 abstain from, or because the rules are cruel and will cause misfortune to those who believe in them — but because of his own passions. "The observance of these Five Commandments is good at all times, and in all places. There has never been, and there never will be, a wise man who would not praise them." Comparing these Commandments with the laws of other religions, he observes that theft, adultery, lying, and the destruction of human life (with exceptions), are regarded as sins by all people ; that intoxication is only forbidden by Buddhists, Brahmins, and Maho- metans, and that the destruction of life, other than human, is regarded as sin by none but Buddhists and Brahmins, believers in the Buddh Avatar. The sanctity of animal life and the use of animal food first claim attention : — "It is to be observed that animals are agitated, tremble, feel sorrow, show jealousy and envy, and fear death, much as men do. Their existence cannot be compared with that of plants or trees. We know not whether they will after death have another existence or not. But those persons who do believe in other births in varied conditions, who believe in transmig- ration, must believe that it is sinful to kill any animal ; whilst those who believe in a single resurrection only, or none at all — who do not believe in the theory of Kam — will not hold it as sinful. He w^ho is merciful and compassionate, and believes in the certainty of future existences, will not venture to kill or shorten the life of any being, from compassion and fear of the consequences. " Question. — If, then, he who has compassion will 60 THE MODERN BUDDHTST. not injure their lives, why does he support his life on their flesh ? were there no eaters, there would be no killers. Is not the eating of flesh sin 1 " Answer. — There is a Buddhist ordinance which declares that there is no sin in eating proper meat, althouo;h it is a sin to cause the death of animals. With respect to this argument, we observe that those who hold the slaughter of animals to be sinful, are few compared with those who believe that there is no harm in it. Supposing that those who are compas- sionate were to refuse to eat meat, others would kill and trade in it, and the animals would die. The Mahometans do not eat pork, so pigs ought to abound in their countries, but in fact there are none at all. Animals must die by the law of nature, nor will the absence of auy one to eat them prevent their death. The religion of Buddha does not compel any to act against their own dispositions, it only indicates good and evil." " If any one who is perfectly indifferent to the nature of the food he receives, accepts killed meat given to him, or buys it in the market, or takes for food an animal which has died a natural death, there is no offence, for there is not the intention which is essential to any breach of the commandments ; but when, on a present of meat being made, the receiver expresses his great pleasure, says that he has been longing for that kind of meat, and orders it to be cooked at once, and makes it clear to the giver that he wishes for more, and so incites him to go and kill more, this is unrighteous. Again, when one insists on one's servants getting some kind of meat which one knows they will not find ready kiljed in the market. THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 61 and so forces tliem to have some specially killed, this is uucompassionate and wicked. If a monk knows in any way that animals are killed merely to supply him with flesh, he should abstain from that flesh ; it is impure, and the laws of the priesthood forbid him to eat it." " The Lord Buddha was asked to forbid animal food, but he would not. There are those who hold his religion, but will not accept the First Commandment, like the Chinese, who believe in transmigration as Buddhists, but assert that there is no sin in executing criminals, or in killing animals for food." Next, as to the vice of intoxication. "As to the sin of drinking intoxicating things, consider ! It is a cause of the heart becomino- excited and overcome. By nature there is already an intoxi- cation in man caused by desire, anger, and folly ; he is already inclined to excess, and not thoughtful of the impermanence, misery, and vanity of all things. If we stimulate this natural intoxication by drinking, it will become more daring ; and if the natural inclina- tion is to anger, anger will become excessive, and acts of violence and murder will result. Similarly with the other inclinations. The drunken man neither thinks of future retribution nor present punish- ment." "Again, spirituous liquors cause disease, liver dis- ease, and short life ; and the use of them, when it has become a habit, cannot be dispensed with without dis- comfort, so that men spend all their money unprofitably in purchasing them, and when their money is spent become thieves and dacoits. The evil is both future and immediate." 62 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. " As for tlie argument urged by some people, that it is customary to make offerings of spirituous liquors to the Dewa angels, and that that practice tells in favour of spirit-drinking, I can only answer that we have no proof that the angels consume these offerings ; and the only foundation for such a supposition is the state- ment of some ancient sages that the Asura angels of Indra's heavens got drunk, which, after all, only amounts to the assertion that the Dewa (or sensual) angels resemble men in their taste for liquor." He refers to the Total Abstinence Movement and the Mahometan law thus : — " In the present age, many Americans have declared spirit-drinking to be an evil, a cause of much imme- diate mischief, and of no future good. The Jews used not to consider spirit-drinking a sin, but Mahomet declared that Allah had ordered him to forbid its use, on the ground that spirit-drinkers, if they went to heaven, would smell so offensively that the angels could not endure their vicinity.'' On the subject of the Third Commandment, we are told that women who are the objects of another's jealous care — that is, wives and unmarried women, who are cared for or supported by their husbands or rela- tives, and women who are betrothed, are all improper objects of desire ; but as this is " the undisputed opinion of all except those bad men who think there is no harm in adultery unless it is discovered," the main point considered is, why, under this Command- ment, men and women are put on a different footing — that is, why polygamy is allowed ? " If we say the Commandment is different for men and women, we make two commands of it ; but it is THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 63 not so ; it is only one — an order that sensual inter- course should be suitably regulated." "Women are not allowed to have more than one husband, because they are under the rule of man, and not superior to man. If women might have many husbands, they would not know who was the father of their children, and these children might injure their father, and even commit parricide, without knowing it. And, moreover, the dispositions of men and women differ ; men, however many wives they have, and whatever their liking or dislike to any of them, have no desire to kill them ; but if women had more husbands than one, they would wish to kill all but the one they liked best, for such is their nature. There are many stories in point, one of which I will relate concisely. " There was once on a time a priest who daily blessed a great king, saying, * May your Majesty have the firm- ness of a crow, the audacity of a woman, the endurance of a vulture, and the strength of an ant.' And the King, doubting his meaning, said, 'What do you mean by the endurance of a vulture 1 ' and he replied, ' If a vulture and all kinds of other animals are caged up without food, the vulture will outlive them all.' And the king tried, and it was so. And the priest said, ' I spoke of the strength of the ant, for an ant is stronger than a man, or anything that lives. No other animal can lift a lump of iron or copper as large as itself, but an ant will carry off its own bulk of either metal, if it be only smeared with sugar. And I said ' the firmness of the crow,' for none can subdue the boldness and energy of the crow ; however long you cage it, you will never tame it. And if the kino; would see the 64 THE MODERN BUDDHTST. audacity of a woman, I beg him to send for a couple who have been married only one or two months, who are yet deeply in love with one another, and first call the husband and say, ' Go and cat off your wife's head, and bring it to me, and I will give you half my king- dom, and make you my viceroy.' And if he will not do it, then send for the woman, and say, ' Kill your husband, and bring me his head, and I will make you my chief queen, ruler of all the ladies in the palace.' And the king did so. He found a newly-married couple who had never quarrelled, and were deeply enamoured of one another, and sending for the hus- band, he spoke to him as the priest had suggested. And the man took the knife, and hid it in his dress, and that same night rose when his wife slept, thinking to kill her, but he could not, because he was kind- hearted, and reflected that she had done no wrong. And the next day he returned the knife to the king, saying that he could not use it against his wife. Then the king sent messengers to the wife secretly, and they brought her to him, and he flattered and enticed her with promises, as the priest had told him, and she took the knife, and as soon as her husband slept, stabbed him, and cut off his head, and took it to the king. This story shows not only that woman is more audacious than man, but also that if any one entices and pleases them, they will plot their husband's death, which is a good reason for not letting them have more than one husband." " At the time Jesus Christ lived, and still later in Mahomet's time, there was no law of monogamy. Mahomet limited the number of wives to four, and after a time Europeans instituted monogamy by THE MODEHN BUDDHIST. 65 law, not from religious motives, but from conviction of its expediency, considering tliat plurality of wives was unfair to women, and gave rise to jealousy and murder, and constant trouble." "The religion of Buddha highly commends a life of chastity^ Buddha stated that when a man could not remain as a celibate, if he took but one wife it was yet a kind of chastity, a commendable life. Buddha also censured polygamy, as involving ignorance and lust, but he did not absolutely forbid it, because he could not say there was any actual wrong in a man having a number of wives properly acquired." Polygamy is extensively practised in Siam, the kings setting the example. The late king's life affords an instance of both celibacy and polygamy. At the age of twenty, his Majesty, who had been already married for some years, entered the priesthood and remained a monk for twenty-seven years ; he then came to the throne, and accepting the custom of poly- gamy as suitable for his new position, he was, within the next sixteen years, blessed with a family of seventy- nine children. The number of his wives we could not ascertain. Many noblemen have thirty or forty, or more wives. So far as our own observation goes, this polygamy, accompanied by a facility for divorce- ment, is not attended by very evil results. There is a great deal of domestic happiness in Siam, and suicides and husband and wife murders, so common in monogamic Europe, are rare there. Nevertheless, many of the best men we have known there were theoretical admirers of monogamy, and one practised it. The commandments against theft and lying are not 66 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. dilated on, as " they are regarded in the same light by all people throughout the world." Having thus treated of morality and charity, we might expect our author to discourse on the nature of meditation, which is the great Buddhistic means of self-improvement. We presume that he omits it because it is only practised by monks, whilst his book is intended for laymen. In the absence of any remarks from him, we will only observe that by medi- tation and self-abstraction from all human concerns and passions, Buddhists believe man can purify him- self, and can attain supernatural knowledge and power, and ultimately perfection. We now revert to the nature of future existence. Firstly, we have a sketch of the ideas of Christians, Mahometans, and Brahmins, as to a future life, heaven and hell, which we need not quote, but pass to his exposition of the Buddhist views. " In the religion of Phra Samana Khodom we also find mention of heaven and hell, and we are taught that those who have kept the Commandments, given alms, and lived righteously, will after death go to hea- venly palaces furnished with houris, more or less numerous, according to the amount of merit they have acquired. And those who have no merit, but have only acquired demeritorious Kam, will on death go to hell, and remain there until their Kam is exhausted, when they will be born again as animals or men ; or if there is any merit still belonging to them, they may even go to heaven. Those whose merit has caused them to be born as angels in heaven will, when the power of their merit is exhausted, be extinguished in heaven, and reappear as men or animals, or sometimes, THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 67 when a demeritorious Kam still attaches to them, they will fall to hell. There is no fixity, but continual cir- culation and alternation, until such time as the spirit has become perfect in ' the four ways and the four fruits,'^^ which extinguish all further sorrow, stay all further change, and cause eternal rest in a state of perfect happiness where there is no further birth, nor old ao;e, nor death. Even those who do not believe in the religion of Buddha, by good actions acquire merit, and will on their death attain heaven, and by evil actions acquire demerit, and on death will pass to hell. Buddhism does not teach the necessary dam- nation of those who do not believe in Buddha, and in this respect I think it is more excellent than all the other religions which teach that all but their own followers will surely go to hell." After remarking that women as well as men can enjoy the highest pleasures of heaven, and that there may be a change of sex with a change of state, he gives his own views of the common sensual idea of heaven. "The fact of the matter is this. The Hindoos who live in countries adjoining the Mahometan countries believe that in heaven every male has tens and hun- dreds of thousands of female attendants, according to what their teachers of old taught them concerning the riches of heaven, and their idea is akin to that of the Mahometans. The Mahometans had held out great inducements representing the pleasures that would result from their religion ; and the Hindoo teachers * These are tlie four highest grades of sanctity. He who attains the first will reach Nirwana within seven existences ; the fourth leads to Nirwana direct, without any existence intervening. See also Note 14. 68 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. fearing that their people might be excited by this most promising new doctrine, themselves intro- duced it into their own teaching. At least, this is my impression on the subject. But if we must speak out the truth as to these matters, we must say that the world of heaven is but similar to the world of man, only differing in the greater amount of happiness there enjoyed. Angels there are in high places with all the apparel and train of their dignity, and others of lower station with less surroundings. All take up that posi- tion which is due to their previous merits and demerits. Buddha censured concupiscence ; Buddha never spoke in praise of heaven ; he taught but one thing as worthy of praise, ' the extinction of sorrow.' All this inco- herent account of heaven is but the teaching of later writers, who have preached the luxuries and rich pleasures of heaven in hopes thereby to attract men into the paths of holiness, and the attainment of sanctity. We cannot say where heaven and hell are. All religions hold that heaven is above the world and hell below it, and every one of them uses heaven to work on men's desires, and hell to frighten them with. Some hold forth more horrors than others, according to the craft of those who have designed them to con- strain men by acting on their fears, and making them quake and tremble. We cannot deny the existence of heaven and hell, for as some men in this world cer- tainly live well and others live ill, to deny the existence of heaven and hell would be to deprive men's works of their result, to make all their good deeds utterly lost to them. We must observe, that after happiness follows sorrow, after heat follows cold ; they are things by nature coupled. If after death THE MODEEN BUDDHIST. 69 there is a succession of existence, there must be states of happiness and of sorrow, for they are necessarily coupled in the way I have explained. As for heaven being above the earth and hell below it, I leave intelli- gent people to come to their own conclusion ; but as to future states of happiness and sorrow, I feel no doubt whatever." He next remarks, "That both in ancient and modern times there have been instances of persons who, on recovering from a state of trance, have declared that they have visited other worlds during their trance." As an ancient instance he gives this story : — " An old story of this class is that a certain Chinese Emperor — named Hli Si Bin, on recovering from a three days' trance, told his courtiers that he had visited hell and imdergone fearful sufferings, and had clearly seen there many whom he knew ; and that when he asked the officials of hell how these men might be rescued from their misery, he was told to follow the teaching of the Holy Buddha, and make merit on their behalf; by which means they would escape. Then the Emperor sent Som Chang to seek out and learn the religion of Buddha, and he intro- duced it into China from Sai Thi, a city of the Brahmins, or, as some say, Ceylon." This story seems to refer to the dream of the Emperor Ming Ti (a.d. 62), mentioned in the Rev. S. Beal's Buddhist Pilgrims, which dream is supposed to have led to the introduction of Buddhism into China. We next quote one of his modern instances of visions seen during a state of trance. " A young Cambodian, aged eighteen, living at the hamlet of Phrakanong, in Siam, being sick of fever, 70 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. swooned for a day, and then recovered animation. On recovery he said that he had been bound and taken to a place where there were a number of seething frying- pans containing oil or water, he was not sure which, and crowds of men and women were being unceasingly hurried along and thrown into the frying-pans, but they rejected him, saying that he had been brought there by mistake, and they drove him back to his own place." Lest the preceding remarks should mislead any readers into the " heretical opinion that any part of the actual life existing in one state, is carried on to another, or that the actual idea which constitutes the dream is that which is born again," our author care- fully reminds us that " it is only the fruit of merit and demerit, the Kam which has been created by a being, that constitutes that being in the next state of exist- ence." He does not, however, dwell on this metaphysical subtlety of Buddhism, but passes on to the question of eternal damnation, which he combats on the ground that " there is no being who has not done something good, and that to recognise the liability of any one to suffer eternally in hell, would be to deny to good works the same power of producing fruit that is ascribed to evil works." Some observations on the disposal of the bodies of the dead appropriately follow. " This," he writes, "is not a religious question, though Christians, in preferring burial, do look to rising in their own bodies at the sound of the trumpet when God shall come to judge them ; but it is a matter of custom and conve- nience." The Siamese practise " cremation, a rite de- rived by the Buddhists from the Brahmins," and he THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 7l approves it, as causing less pollution of air and water than burial does. He considers, however, that cremation in air-tight iron cases would be preferable, on sanitary grounds, to the open cremation now practised. He next refers to the Buddhist belief, that there have been successive Buddhas who have enlightened the world at various times, between which times all knowledge of true doctrine has been lost, and he asks, " What is the fate of all those who have lived in the dark ages of the world, and of those others who, living on remote islands or in uncivilised countries, have had no opportunity of learning the religion of Buddha 1 " He answers that " all men have ideas of right and wrong, and according to their virtues and vices, they will accumulate merit and demerit to shape their next existence." Taking this in connection with other passages, we may say that his idea of the diflference between the virtuous man who follows the teaching of Buddha, and the virtuous man who does not, is that the one is in a safe road which will prevent the recur- rence of all sorrowful existence ; the other, though he will also be rewarded for his virtue, is liable again to pass through a course of painful existences, for he is not in the path to Nirwana. In the latter pages of the " Kitchanukit," there are many repetitions of ideas that have been already dilated on. There are, however, two passages of much significance, which I must quote : "What is this un- seen God, personified by the Theists (Keks) as God the Creator, the Divine Spirit, and the Divine Intelli- gence'? It seems to me that this Divine Spirit (Phra Chitr) is but the actual spirit (chitr) of man, the disposition, be it good or evil. And I think that 72 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. the Divine Intelligence (Phra Winyan) which is said to exist in the lio;ht and in the darkness, in all times and in all places, is the Intelligence (Winyan) which flies forth from the six gates of the body, that is, the faculties of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and knowledge, whose Intelligence exists in all places and at all times, and knows the good and evil which man does. And God the Creator (Phra phu sang) is the Holy Merit and Demerit (Phra kusala, a-kusala), the cause and shaper of all existence. Those who have not duly pondered on these matters may say that there is a God who exists in all places, waiting to give men the reward or punishment due to their good or evil deeds, or they may say that prosperity and adversity are the work of angels or devils ; but to me it seems that aU happiness and misery are the natural result of causa- tion (Kam) which influences the present existence, and will determine the nature of the next existence." " How can we assent to the doctrine of those who believe in but one resurrection — who believe in a man being received into heaven while his nature is still full of impurity, by virtue of sprinkling his head with water, or cutting off by circumcision a small piece of his skin 1 Will such a man be purified by the merit of the Lord Allah, or of the Great Brahma 1 We know not where they are. We have never seen them. But we do know, and can prove, that men can purify their own natures, and we know the laws by which that purification can be efi'ected. Is it not better to be- lieve in this which we can see and know, than in that which has no reality to our perceptions 1 " Such are the ideas and arguments of an honest and earnest Buddhist of the present day, defending his THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 73 religion against the assaults of the numerous body of missionaries, who live in comfort, and teach without molestation among liis countrymen. He is indebted to them for much information, and willingly accepts it. He listens to and admires the morality of the Christian religion, until they believe him almost a Chris- tian, and then he tells them that Buddha too taught a morality as beautiful as theirs, and a charity that ex- tends to everything that has breath. And when they speak of faith, he answers that by the light of the knowledge they have helped him to, he can weed out his old superstitions, but that he will accept no new ones. Their cause is, as the late king said, hopeless : — " You must not think that any of my party will ever become Christians. We will not embrace what we think is a foolish religion." The religion of Buddha meddled not with the Beginning, which it could not fathom ; avoided the action of a Deity it could not perceive ; and left open to endless discussion that problem which it could not solve, the ultimate reward of the perfect. It dealt with life as it found it ; it declared all good which led to its sole object, the diminution of the misery of all sentient beings ; it laid doAvn rules of conduct which have never been surpassed, and held out reason- able hopes of a future of the most perfect happiness. Its proofs rest on the assumptions that the reason of man is his surest guide, and that the law of nature is perfect justice. To the disproof of these assump- tions we recommend the attention of those missionaries who wish to convert Buddhists. PART II. A LIFE OF BUDDHA, TRANSLATED FROM THE SIAMESE PATHOMMA SOMPHOTHIYAN OR FIRST (FESTIVAL OF) OMNISCIENCE. IN TEN CHAPTERS. NATIVE INTEODUCTION. The Great, the Holy Lord, the Being who was about to become a Buddha/ passed the first twenty-nine years of his life as a layman by the name of Prince Sidharta.^ He then became a religious mendicant,^ and for six years subjected himself to self-denials of a nature that other men could not endure. Thereafter he became the Lord Buddha, and gave to men and angels the draught of Immortality,^ which is the savour of the True Law. Forty-five years after this the Lord, the Teacher, entered the Holy Nirwana,^ passing thereto as he lay between two lofty trees in the State Gardens of the Malla Princes, near the Royal City of Kusinagara.^ Note. — The numbers refer to the Notes printed at the end of Part II. A LIFE OF BUDDHA. CHAPTER I. THE GLORIOUS MARRIAGE. But a short time after the death of Buddha, Adjata- satrii J king of Magadha, convened an assembly of the monks of the highest order of sanctity, at a monastery built by him on the Wephara^ Hill ; and having done homage to them, requested the patriarch^ Kasyappa to teach him the doctrine which the great Buddha had preached. Then Kasyappa answered that he was an authority only in meditative science''' (Bhawana), and that his knowledge of the words and acts of the great master was not equal to that of Ananda," who had lived with him, and attended on him. He suggested, therefore, that Ananda should be called upon to speak. Now Ananda was not then present in the Assembly, but was meditating in a solitary place, yet by his knowledge of the thoughts of others, he became aware that Kasyappa desired his presence, and arranging his garments suitably, he entered the assembly. And all the men and angels who saw (his miracu- lous approach) were astonished. 78 PART 11. Having done reverence to tlie patriarch, he inquired what was desired of him, and being informed that the king desired to hear the doctrine of the Wheel of the Law ^^ as Buddha had taught it, he arranged his robes so as to leave one shoulder exposed, and holding his screen^^ before him, took his place in the pulpit, and spoke as follows : — " The Holy Wheel which the Lord taught is plen- teous in twelve ways, just as water poured on a flat stone slab streams in all directions. The Holy Wheel utterly exterminates the evil dispositions of all beings, and establishes them in the four highest degrees of saintliness.^* " Again, this Holy Wheel may be likened to the Chakkra of Indra,^^ king of the angels, which exter- minates those against whom it is hurled, and leaves no angel remaining in the heavens it is thrown to ; for even so does the Holy Wheel of the Lord Buddha extirpate evil from the dispositions of men, and bring them to holy Nirwana. "I, Ananda, have learned but one of its twelve ways. I can only speak of what I have seen and heard in the company of our Lord the Teacher. " When the Lord fixed his desire on becomino- a Buddha, he was a man named Chotiban.^^ He bore his mother on his shoulders to her house, and dili- gently ministered to her ; and then it was that the desire arose in him to arrive at perfect wisdom. "After he had destroyed the five elements^^ of cor- poreal being, he was reborn in the Brahma heavens. " The grandfather of our Lord Buddha was King Singhanu, of the noble race of Sakyas,^^ who ruled the kingdom of Kapila.^^ He had three sons, and when the LIFE OF BUDDHA. 79 eldest, named Suddhodana/" reached sixteen years of age, he resigned his sovereignty to him, and sought as his queen a princess of the most kingly descent, en- dowed with the sixty-four marks of perfection,^^ and the five great beauties, perfect in manners, and steadfast in observing the Five Commandments^^ and the Eight Commandments. To this end he selected eight Brah- mins^^ skilled in the three Vedas, learned in all arts, able to interpret the signs of the qualities of men and women ; and bestowing on them a large sum of money, he ordered them to seek a princess such as he desired. "Now in the time of the Buddha Wipassi,^* the Princess Maia was daughter of the King of Panthuma- wadi, and she having offered to that Buddha a stick of precious sandal wood, had placed the remainder in a holy building, and had made a prayer. " Lord, who excellest in the three ^^ worlds, let the reward of my offering be that in an after generation I may be the mother of a Buddha like thyself ! " And the Buddha Wipassi assented to her prayer. From thence- forth she devoted herself to works of piety, and passed through many transmigrations, until the time of the Buddha Kasyappa, when she was born as the daughter of King Kingkisa, and was called Sutharama. And then hearing the teaching of that Buddha, her heart took delight in his religion, and she gave immense alms to its followers, and its Lord ; and thereafter she was born in the Dewa heavens, and when she left them, was re-born in the world as daughter of the King of Mathura by name Phusadi, and she married the Prince Saiyachai. When she had extinguished the five at- tributes of corporeal being, she was again born in the 80 PART II. Dewa heaven, named Tushita,^^ and thereafter was again born as daughter of Ankana,^^ King of Dewadaha. She was exquisitely lovely, her form a perfect picture, her complexion golden, her hair of surpassing fine- ness, and glossy as the wings of the beetle; eminent in the five beauties, and possessing all the sixty -four signs of superiority in women. And she was named Maia. And she grew in beauty and in virtue. One day when distributing rice to the poor, her bowl supplied the wants of a vast number of people, and yet remained full ; again all sick persons who touched her hand were cured of their diseases. " Nor was this all — the Chiefs of the Genii (Yak) ^^ guarded her on all sides with their royal swords ; and the four^^ guardians of the world unceasingly watched and protected her. And whenever she saw poor men or hermits, her desire was to help them, and the gifts she desired to present to them came miraculously to her hands. Having grown to maidenhood, she one day, attended by her train of guardians and com- panions, a crowd of lovely women, visited her garden, and after bathing in a shady pool, collected flowers, and weaving them into garlands, made an oS"ering of them to the Buddhas of former times, her mind at the time being full of the desire to become the mother of a Buddha. " At this very time, the eight Brahmins who had been sent forth by King Singhanu entered the garden where Maia was walking with her maidens. They had travelled through many countries, vainly seeking for a princess having the sixty-four signs of perfection ; they had indeed found some few endowed with eighteen signs, but none with sixty-four. Hearing the sound of LIFE OF BUDDHA. 81 many pleasant voices, they entered the garden, and their venerable appearance having attracted the attention of the princess, she ordered them to be provided with seats that they might converse with her. " After offering to supply whatever they required, she inquired the object of their visit, and they told her ; and then she asked who Singhanu was. 'He,' they answered, ' is a glorious monarch, steadfast in the Five Commandments, firm in the Ten Kules of Kings, ^^ and his eldest son, Prince Suddhodana, is graced with every art and accomplishment. He is of middle height ; no woman sees him without loving him ; his age is sixteen years, and his father desires to resign his sovereignty to him, and has sent us to discover a princess possessed of the five beauties, and the sixty-four signs of per- fection, to be his queen. Hitherto we have searched in vain, but now in you we see one who would be an equal match for our prince. " And the princess, hearing their words, was pleased and felt a passion for the Prince Suddhodana, but she concealed it as a light in a dark lantern, saying, ' Brahmins, this is no matter for my ears — go tell it my father.' " Havino; been introduced to the kino;, that monarch strictly examined them as to the position and qualities of Prince Suddhodana, and being perfectly satisfied, and with the approval of his counsellors, he consented to the marriage ; and loading the messengers with presents for themselves, and royal presents for their king, he sent them away to announce their success. " In the middle watch of the night King Singhanu, calmly sleeping on his royal couch, dreamt a dream. A magnificent jewelled palace sprang ujd from the F 82 PART II. earth — its base rested on the world of men, its roof reached to the Brahma heavens, and it embraced all the ten thousand worlds within its walls. Its first story was in the lowest angelic world (Chatii Maharachika), its second in the next higher angelic world (Dawadungsa) ; in each of the six Dewa heavens was one story, and its stories extended throughout the sixteen heavens of the Great Brahmas, and the (still higher) heavens of the formless. Its dazzhng radiance shone throughout all worlds. And in its midst there was a jewelled throne two hundred and fifty miles in height and fifty miles in width. And on it sat a mighty lion-like man, beside a beautiful lady. Then there arose a great cloud, and rain fell in gentle showers over the whole world. Then all formed beings fell before the feet of the mighty man, and he made them learn the rules of virtue, and bestowed ex- ceeding happiness upon them. And on the east of the palace there was a vast lake, so wide that none could see across it ; and the mighty man made a ship, so that all who desired might be able to cross it. "Next morning the king summoned his Brahmin soothsayers, and he declared the dream to mean that his messengers had been successful, that they had found a princess whose child would be a Buddha, and that they were about to return with the news. And as the Brahmin spoke, the eight messengers entered the palace, and laid their presents before the king. Having fully reported their acts, the king sent them to conduct his ambassador, Suthathiya, and three Sakya princes, as an embassy, to demand Maia in marriage for his son ; and the King of Dewadaha graciously received the em- bassy, and assented to the marriage. LIFE OF BUDDHA. 83 " Then King Singlianu assembled the Sakyas (the princes of his family), and made a broad road from his own country to Dewadaha. Beside it were planted sugar canes and bananas, and it was adorned with royal standards and other insignia. In the adjoining fields were halls for music, and all kinds of festivities. Over the road was spread an awning of white cloth, hung with bunches of flowers, filling the air in all directions with their rich frao;rance. And all beino- prepared. King Singhanu, and the Prince Suddhodana, mounted on royal elephants, with gorgeous trappings, and surrounded by a large escort, with ten thousand horsemen, and a great train of chieftains and ladies, marched towards Dewadaha. " When King Ankana learnt of their approach, he summoned his courtiers around him, and, arrivino- at the gardens where they were resting, he descended from his litter, and entering on foot, ofi'ered homage to King Singhanu, and then sat down on a suitable seat on one side. King Singhanu clasped his hand, and invited him to come close to him, and they conversed pleasantly together. The King of Dewadaha would then have escorted his guest into the city, but he de- clined, on the ground that his followers were better away from the city, where, perchance, they might make broils. And it was agreed between them that he should reside in the garden. "Great preparations were then made for the marriage. Three palaces and a temple were erected, and in the temple was placed a lofty jewelled throne. " And on the first day of the fourth month, the King of Dewadaha caused his royal daughter to be bathed with sixteen bowls of scented waters, and to adorn 84 PAllT II. herself with rich garments, like an angel of the Tushita heavens. And Kins; Sino-hanu caused his son to bathe, so that not a spot of impurity might remain on his body, then to anoint himself with scented waters, and put on the vestments of a king, with the five insignia ^^ requisite at the coronations of sovereigns. " And when the moment of good omen arrived, the Kino; of Dewadaha brouo;ht forth his daughter in a magnificent chariot, and at that moment, Indra, king of the angels, perceiving that she who would be the mother of a Buddha was on the 23oint of her espousals, attended by a vast number of angels and houris, de- scended to Dewadaha, and there, with the angels of the earth, the angels of the trees, and the angels of the air, united in singing praises, loud sounding praises, audible even in the worlds of the highest Brahma. And Suth- awat, the great Brahma, brought his great royal parasol and extended it ; and Sahabodi, the great Brahma, brought in his right hand a crystal jar full of scented water, and in his left a crystal cup, and, attended by the host of Brahmas, appeared before the king ; and the king joyfully exclaimed, ' Wonderful is the merit of my daughter, and worthy of all praise ; the very skies are radiant with the glory of the heavenly host which comes to praise her.' " At the moment she mounted her car, the Angel Queen Suchada anointed her head with heavenly fluid. " Thus attended by angels and men, the Princess Mai a was escorted to the temple. " On his part, the King of Kapila escorted his son with equal pomp ; and he, too, was attended by a host of angels. " And they all entered the temple. LIFE OF BUDDHA. 85 "And when the moment of good omen arrived, the Brahmin Chipho took the wrists of Prince Suddhodana and placed him on a jewelled throne, and the noblest lady of the harem led the Princess Maia by her wrist and placed her on the same seat. Then they made them clasp each other's hands, entwining their fingers. And the angels filled the air with music. Indra blew his loud cornch. Suthawat, the great Brahma, repeated a blessing, and poured scented water on both their heads, ^^ the ceremony of assumption of royal dignity. " Then the earth quaked ; the sea heaved in great waves, and was covered with foam, and all the angels of all the infinite worlds made ofFerino;s of flowers, and gave praises with one voice. " And all beholders were astonished, their hair stood on end, and they shouted the praises of the royal pair, saying, ' Surely this miracle betokens the vastness of their merit.' " And their royal parents were equally astonished, and the Queen Sunantha,^^ mother of the Princess Maia, made an offering to the angels — candles, incense sticks, dried rice, and flowers, and all kinds of scents, and prayed thus : ' Hear me, all ye angels ! In that I am old, and shall not live to see the child that this my daughter will bring forth to be the holy Teacher, may I after death be reborn in the heavens of the Brahmas, and thence come to listen to the Wheel of the Law, that I may escape further evils in the circle of existence.' Having made this prayer, she returned to her palace. " The two kings and their attendant princes raised their hands in adoration to the angels, and pronounced blessings on the royal couple ; and the angels offered 86 PART II. sacrifice to them ; and the eight kings of the Yak- khas offered sacrifice of the most precious sandal- wood ; and a great king of angels, the Wetsuwan, brought an off'ering of angelic raiment, and two great kings of angels off"ered the most exquisite fruits of the earth ; and all the angels invoked on them four bless- ings — * May you both live to a full age ! May your glory increase, and become more lustrous than that of any of the beings on this earth ! May you live in perfect happiness ; and may the powers of your minds and bodies be beyond all comparison ! ' And having thus blessed them, the angels departed to their own places. " Immediately after the ceremony, the King of Ka- pila despatched ofiicers to build three palaces — one of seven stories, constructed entirely of sandal-wood ; a second of nine stories, constructed entirely of eagle- wood ; and a third of gold and jewels. " And when news was brought of their completion, they took leave of the King of Dewadaha, and ascended a glorious chariot prepared for them by Indra, king of the angels, in order that they might return to Kapila, and they took their way escorted by the King Singhanu, and the royal tribe of Sakyas, and the four divisions of the army, and Indra and a host of angels, and King Ankana, and the four divisions of his army. " And King Ankana sent vast presents after them to follow them to Kapila. *' Now, the road from Kapila to Dewadaha was about twenty miles ; and in general when people travelled to and fro by it the dust rose in clouds, darkening the air ; yet as this great procession marched along it, LIFE OF BUDDHA. 87 there was not one handful of dust, it was like one smooth slab the whole way. " On arrival, the coronation ceremony was repeated by the Sakyas, and Prince Suddhodana governed the kingdom in place of his father. And when the King Singhanu died, Suddhodana ruled over the realm of Kapila." END OF THE GLORIOUS MARRIAGE, PAET II. CHAPTER IT. THE DESCENT FROM THE TUSHITA HEAVENS. The most illustrious king, the Grand Being who was born the exalted crown of the world, the anointed head of the world, was moved by his vast compassion to endeavour to redeem all teachable beings sunk in the great ocean of ever-circling existence, and lead them to the jewelled realm of happiness, the immortal Nirwana. For this object he gave up the glories of universal ^* dominion, the pomp of state, and the possession of the seven great treasures,^^ which he was within seven days of attaining ; he gave them up, regarding them as no more than a drop of spittle, or the dust upon his feet, and entered the great order of mendicants, in order that he might obtain the fruit, which is Omniscience, in the tree of perfect virtue and charity. This had the Lord steadfastly desired for an almost infinite period of years,^^ from the time when the holy Buddha Dipangkara ^'^ was the Teacher of the world. He was then a hermit, named Sumetta, pro- ficient in meditative science,^^ and perceived with his angelic sight that misery is the lot of all beings ; yet did he not seek to escape from transmigrating exist- ence, because of his vast compassion. Even though by lying down in a pool and making a bridge of his body for the great Teacher to pass over, he perfected LIFE OF BUDDHA. 89 liis merits, and might have at once obtained the fruits of the highest sanctity and escaped the sorrows of life, he declined the fruit of his merits because of the charity he felt towards all beings, and the desire he had to become their future Buddha. For this he persisted in enduring toil, trouble, and pain ; for this he bore the miseries of life and the pangs of death throuo;h an uncountable number of transmigrations : and no sufferino; ever turned his thouo;hts from his one great object — the Buddhahood. He cut off por- tions of his flesh and gave them in alms so vast a number of times, that, if collected, the mass would be greater than this world. He poured out his blood in alms, more than there is water in the great ocean. He gave his head so many times, that the heap would be hio;her than the mightiest of mountains, Meru. He gave his eyes, more than there are stars in the sky. Throughout the immense period that passed from the times of the Buddha Dipangkara, to the present Buddha age, he steadily practised the thirty virtu es,^^ and the five great charities, and perfected himself in the power of righteousness.^*^ AVhen he appeared in the world as the Prince Wes- santara,^^ continuing his practice of the highest virtues, he caused the earth to quake seven times in acknowledgment of his seven most eminent acts of charity ; and on ending that existence, he was born in the Tushita heavens, there to reign throughout five thousand angelic years, which are five hundred and eighty-six millions of the years of men. Such has ever been the custom of Grand Beings, whose virtues are perfect ; but if their virtue is not yet perfected, they do not complete their whole period 90 PART II. of existence in the heavens, but, closing their eyes, they pray : " Now let me fulfil my time," and they immediately descend and are reborn among men according to their desire, that they may perfect their power of righteousness ; and when they have per- fected it, they are reborn as angels to dwell their full age in the Tushita heavens, preparatory to reappear- ino- in their last transmigratory existence as Buddha. When our Grand Being had ruled in the Tushita heavens to within one hundred thousand years of the end of his time, there was a portent followed in due course by four others, for such has ever been the case with Buddhas. The first portent is, when the angels of the tempest,^^ clothed in red garments and with streaming hair, travel among the abodes of mankind crying : " Attend all ye who are near to death ; repent and be not heed- less ! ^^ The end of the world approaches ; but one hundred thousand years more, and it will be destroyed. Exert yourselves then, exert yourselves to acquire merit. Above all things be charitable ; abstain from doing evil ; meditate with love towards all beings, and listen to the teachings of holiness. For we are all in the mouth of the King of death. Strive then earnestly for meritorious fruits, and seek that which is good." And the second portent is, when the great Brahma proclaims : " Oh let us all seek to do good, and give alms, that we may profit by it ; that we may meet him whose merits are perfect. The time is near, but one hundred years distant, that the Lord of the uni- verse will be born in this world, to teach us all, and lead us all to the glorious possession of men, the glorious possession of heaven. Be not heedless ! " LIFE OF BUDDHA. 91 And the third portent is, when the great Brahma Suthawat comes and cries in the worlds of men : " Be not intent on that which is around yon. But twelve years hence, and the Lord, the Jewel, Buddha, will teach his glorious secrets, will teach that which is glorious for all beings, that they may arrive at the perfection of their desires! Be not heedless, but endeavour to acquire merit ! " And the fourth portent is, when the Dewa angels proclaim in similar manner his advent in seven years. And the fifth portent is, when the great Brahma, in the gorgeous attire of his order, travels through the ten thousand worlds proclaiming : " Attend all ye who are in the jaws of death ! one hundred thousand j'ears hence, the omniscient Lord, the venerable Teacher of the three worlds, shall be born in this earth. If ye would meet him, ye must abstain from the five great offences, — the destruction of life, fraud, adultery, lying, and intoxication ; ye must give alms, observe the rules of religion, practise thoughtful love, and seek to do meri- torious acts, and be not niggardly in doing them." Such are the five portents which invariably precede the birth of a Buddha. The time having arrived, the Brahma and Dewa angels of the ten thousand worlds,^^ the four guar- dians of each world, in all forty thousand, and all the Dewas of might and influence assembled together, proceeded to the abode of the Grand Being, and having done homage, addressed him thus : — " Lord, perfect in merits, whose time is at hand ; thou that hast coveted no earthly honour, no heavenly glory, no sovereignty of Brahmas or Dewas ; that hast steadfastly set thy will on arriving at the Holy 92 PART IT. Buddhaliood, desiring to rescue all beings from the ocean of circling existence, and lead tliem to the Immortal Nirwana ; now has the time arrived that thou shalt descend into the womb ! Lord Buddha, the creatures of the worlds have no protector. They are sunk in the vast and terrible ocean of exist- ence, and there is none to help them. There is but thou alone to show compassion towards them. Accept, we pray thee, our supplication, and be born into the world of men. Thou art he that will become the omniscient Buddha. Enter the lustrous vessel of the true law ! Incite, lead and redeem all beings from the four seas of existence ; that by the power of thy mighty merits, we may all escape from misery ! " And as they spoke, there appeared to the Grand Being five signs. First, — The flowers with which he was adorned withered. Second, — His splendid robes appeared discoloured and soiled. Third, — Sweat streamed from the pores of his body. Fourth, — His beautiful golden skin became dark and discoloured. Fifth, — He could not rest at ease on his heavenly couch.*^ Yet, indeed, the flowers of heaven remain ever fresh throughout the life of the angel whom they adorn, and wither not until the day is near that their possessor will descend from his angelic existence. Neither until that time is at hand do the royal robes of angels lose their spotless beauty. Nor until then does sweat ever appear on their bodies, for they feel neither heat nor cold ; nor are their bodies subject to any imper- LIFE OF BUDDHA. 93 fection. Male angels ever appear in the full beauty of early manhood, and female angels with all the perfection of fair sixteen ; and they are subject to no change until they are about to enter on another life, Avhen deformity comes upon them, and their lives, which till then have known no sorrow, are clouded with sadness. And simultaneously with these signs of an angel's approaching end, there are other portents ; not for all angels, but for those only whose merit is of the highest degree ; portents such as earthquakes, eclipses, and meteors, of like nature to those which are the precursors of the death of the great among men, signs full of meaning to those who have knowledge of astro- logy, and who alone can predict these great events. Now while the host of angels yet invoked the Grand Being, as has been already set forth ; ere he vouchsafed to accord their prayer, he reflected on the five condi- tions of the appearance of a Buddha in the world. These five conditions are,^^ the duration of human life, the continent wherein he will appear, the country where he will be born, the caste to which he will belong, the age of her who will be his mother. He considered the duration^ ''^ of human life, knowiuo- that no Buddha ever appears when the duration of life is more than a hundred thousand years, or less than one hundred years, because in either case his teaching would be lost ; inasmuch as when the lives of men extend to so long a period they are unlikely to believe in the unchangeable teachings of Buddha on the three subjects — Impermanence, Misery, and Unreality ; and he will be unable to rescue them from ever circling existence : and when their lives are less than one hundred years, they will be so 94 PAET II. full of ignorance and wickedness, that even tliougli they listen for a while to the teachings, they will re- lapse into wickedness as soon as their teacher has left them. The effect of the teaching will entirely disap- pear, just as a mark drawn on water, which is visible but for a moment and then vanishes for ever. And the Lord saw that the age of beings was now a full hundred years, and that the time was therefore suitable for his birth. Next he considered the continent, and reflecting that all preceding Buddhas had been born in the continent of men like ourselves, Jambu Dvipa, he also selected that continent.^^ Then reflecting on the country, he perceived that the central country^^ (Mid India) had been the birth- place of all Buddhas, of Pacheka^^ Buddhas, of the two principal disciples,^^ and the eighty^^ great disciples of Buddhas, of universal Emperors, of the most emincnt^^ of the warrior caste, of the men of property, and of Brahmins, of all who have surpassing merit. On these considerations he also selected the central country as his birthplace. Having duly considered the coun- tries, he next considered of caste^^ or family, and he perceived that all Buddhas have been born either in the Eoyal caste or the caste of Brahmins, whichever of the two was at the time held in most esteem by men, but never had they been born as merchants, or farmers, or in other castes. He perceived that at this time the race of kings was esteemed above all others, and therefore he decided that he would be born of the Royal race of Kapila, and that the King Suddhodana should be his father. Finally, he reflected on her who should be his mother. LIFE OF BUDDHA. 95 According to the custom of Buddlias, lie could not be 'born of any ill-conducted, immoral person, but of one who had passed stainlessly through countless genera- tions, and had never offended against the Five great Commandments ; and he saw that she who would be his royal mother, the Queen Maia, would continue to live but ten months and eight days from that time, and that it was now right that he should descend into the world of men. Then the Grand Being assented to the prayer of the host of angels, saying : " Take heed, all ye that are in the jaws of death. The time has arrived that I should descend, and be born on earth as the Holy Jewel Buddha. Depart to your abodes ! " And when the host of angels had left him according to his command, surrounded by his own train of Tushita angels, he entered the Nanthawan^^ Gardens. Beautiful are the Nanthawan Gardens ! They abound in trees, covered with angelic flowers and fruits of exquisite loveliness, amid whose branches innumerable birds of the most gorgeous plumage make the air resound with their harmonious songs. Mid masses of ever-blooming flowers, there are lotus lakes wherein grow scented lilies of the choicest kinds, and shoals of fishes, large and small, disport themselves. And there are stairs leading down to the water, overlaid with gold and jewels. Thither the Grand Being went, surrounded by his train, and seeing the suitable moment, he descended from the abodes of angels. Then was seen a prodigy. The earth trembled — the worlds throuo-hout the universe trembled and o quaked. A brilliant light shone among all worlds. 96 PART 11. The blind who desired to see, saw. The deaf who desired to hear, heard. The dumb recovered their speech. The cripples became straight. The prisoners were set free. The flames of hell were extinguished. The insatiable hunger and thirst of the Pretas^^ was appeased. All pain ceased. Detraction was at an end. All beings spoke kindly to one another. The elephants trumpeted their joy. The horses neighed with delight. Every instrument of music gave forth sweet sounds of itself without being touched. Even the very jewels people wore clanged together in sweet harmony. The air was filled with flowers. The winds blew mild, cool, and refreshing. The rain fell in soft showers. The birds ceased to fly through the air. The rivers stayed their current. The waters of the sea became sweet. The whole sky was dotted with the five kinds of lotuses. All flowers burst into bloom and distilled the most delicious fragrance. Lotuses sprang from every tree, and branch, and shrub, and herb, even from the very stones. On every lotus stem were seven flowers. Garlands hung suspended in the skies, and flowers rained down on all sides. And there was a mighty sound of music, spontaneously rising from the instruments of music of the angels. Such were the prodigies which appeared when the King, the Descendant of Mighty Conquerors, the Holy Grand Man, the Highest Crown, the Perfection of Power, the Infinitely Meritorious, the Lord excelling all, descended from the Tushita heavens, and was con- ceived in the world of men. CHAPTER III. THE BIRTH IN THIS WORLD. In the city of Kapila, on the fifteenth ^'^ day of the eighth month, Siiddhodana the liing commanded his people to celebrate the festival of the constellation Asanha. And they had great rejoicings, feasting and music, and sports of all kinds, and gave themselves up to pleasure without restraint. For seven days before the festival, the Queen Maia, clad in her sumptuous royal robes, and perfumed with precious ointments, appeared in all the glory and pomp of her high dignity. On the morning of the seventh day, rising from her couch, she had sixteen jars of scented water poured over her, and then distributed four hundred thousand pieces of money among the sick, the crippled, and the destitute. Then she put on the robes and insignia of a queen of the highest rank, and entering her breakfast chamber, partook of the most delicious food, and then diligently performed the religious observances proper to the holy day.^^ Having finished her duties, she entered her beautiful sleeping chamber, and falling asleep on her couch, she saw a vision. The four kings of the world bore her away on her couch, and placed her on the top of an immense rock in the Himalayan forest. They then retired ; and their queens advancing, led her to bathe in the G 98 PART II. Anodat^^ Lake, and having caused her to wash oflf all human impurities, they anointed her with heavenly scents, robed her in heavenly raiment, and adorned her with heavenly flowers. Then they led her to a golden palace, standing on a silver mountain, and prayed her to rest on a couch with her face turned to the west. Thence she saw a golden mountain, whereon the Koyal Being that should be Buddha marched in the form of a white elephant. The most admirable of w^hite elephants leaving the mountain of gold, came to the foot of the mountain of silver, and passed round to its northern side. In his beautiful trunk he held a newly- expanded white lotus flower. He ascended the moun- tain, and having trumpeted loudly, entered the golden palace. Thrice he marched around ^^ the couch, and at the end of the third circuit, he appeared to enter her right side and pass into her w^omb. And at the very time that the Queen Maia had this vision, the Grand Being descended from the Tushita heavens, and was conceived in her womb. Next morning, the Queen Maia related her vision to the king, and the king summoned sixty- four Brah- mins, learned in the three Vedas, that they might show its interpretation, and tell him whether it was of good or evil import. And when they had heard it, they answered, " Be not grieved, king ! for this is a most auspicious vision. Thy queen shall bear a son, a Grand Being, of excelling glory and power, of infi- nite merits, and wisdom beyond estimation. If he devote himself to a worldly life, he will be a Chak- kravartin Emperor, possessor of the seven treasures, and ruling over all the world. If he devote himself to religion, then will he become a Buddha." LIFE OF BUDDHA. 99 Then the king rejoiced exceedingly, and gave orders that all care might be taken of his queen during her pregnancy ; that wherever she might be, sleeping or waking, she might be surrounded by that which was pure, melodious, harmonious, refined, elegant, and simple. And the forty thousand guardian angels of the ten thousand worlds watched around her, with perfect delicacy. Never were they seen when she desired privacy, but at all other times she saw them guarding her by day and by night, and she saw them without fear. From this time no sensual desire ever disturbed her thoughts. She steadfastly obeyed, as she had done from her youth up, the Five great Commandments, and abstained from all impurity, as the mothers of Buddhas ever have done. In those days, when the teachings of a Buddha were unknown, men raising their hands with rever- ence, held as their creed the commandments taught by the followers of the Tapas and Parivrajaka.^^ And the Queen Maia herself had been wont to follow the rules of the ascetic Kaladewila,^^ but, from the time of her conception, she would no longer sit at the feet of others, but worshipped according to her own thoughts. And the great kings of the earth vied with each other in bringing gifts to the great King Suddhodana, impelled thereto by the influence of the merits of the Grand Being who was in the womb of Maia. And the Grand Being dwelt in his mother's womb, not in pain and discomfort, as is the lot of other beings, but in comfort and happiness, sitting erect like to one of those beautiful images ^^ which men 100 PART II. erect on jewelled thrones, or like to the Great Brahma sitting in a glorious palace of the heavens, plunged in deep meditation. Beautiful in form, free from all contact with im- purity, he sat in the womb enjoying the full use of his reason, and fully aware of the three circumstances of his existence, namely, his conception, his gestation, and his birth, unlike all other beings, which have no know- ledo;e of these thino-s. And Maia felt no pain, nor had she the troubles of other women in her condition, nor was the elegant contour of her figure enlarged or changed. Her body became clear and brilliant, so that she and her child could see each other through it, even as the red thread can be seen through the bright pearls threaded on it. Such were the effects of the infinite merits of the Grand Being. When Maia had completed a period of ten months, she obtained the king's permission to visit her parents at Dewadaha. The king had the road cleared and levelled, and made gay with flags and flowers, and jars of water were placed at intervals along it. A golden litter was provided for the queen, and an escort of a thousand noble ladies attended her. Between the cities of Kapila and Dewadaha, there was in those days a forest of the most splendid trees, named Sim wall wana. It was a lovely spot. Interlac- ing branches, richly covered with foliage, sheltered the traveller as if he were covered with a canopy. The sun's scorching rays could not penetrate to the deli- cious shade. All over the trees, from their trunks to their very tops, bunches of flowers budded, bloomed, LIFE OF BUDDHA. 101 and shed their fragrant leaves, and unceasingly budded and bloomed again. Attracted by their sweet pollen, flights of shining beetles buzzed around them, filling the air with a melodious humming like to the music of the heavens. There were pools full of lotuses of all colours, whose sweet scent was wafted around by gentle breezes, and whose fruit floated on the waters in all stages of ripeness. AVhen the Queen Maia entered this forest, the trees, the inanimate trees, bowed down their heads before her, as if they would say, " Enjoy yourself, queen ! among us, ere you proceed on your journey." And the queen, looking on the great trees, and the forest lovely as the gardens of the angels, ordered her litter to be stayed, that she might descend and walk. Then, standing under one of the majestic trees, she desired to pluck a sprig from the branches, and the branches bent themselves down that she might reach the sprig that she desired ; and at that moment, while she yet held the branch, her labour came upon her. Her attendants held curtains around her ; the angels brought her garments of the most exquisite softness ; and standing there, holding the branch, with her face turned to the east, she brought forth her son, without pain or any of the circumstances which attend that event with women in general. Thus w^as he bom, on Friday, the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the year of the dog, under the astronomical sio;n Wisakha. The Great Brahma Sutthawat receiving the child in a golden net, held him before his mother's face, cry- ing, " Happy art thou, queen, whose son hath merit beyond all comparison." And at that moment there 102 PART II. poured from heaven two streams of water, one on the queen and one upon the Grand Being. From the hands of the Great Brahma, he was received by the four guardians of the world, from them by the archangel Indra, and from him by the host of Brah- mas, and, leaving their hands, he stood erect upon the earth on his own holy feet. The Great Brahma held over him the white parasol of kings, the Dewa Suyama brought a royal fan, and other angels bore the royal sabre, gleaming with jewels, the royal golden slippers, and the jewelled crown, the five great insignia of royalty. These things were seen, but the angels who bore them were invisible. The Holy King, the Grand Being, turning his eyes towards the east, regarded the vast host of angels, Brahmas, and Dewas, Yom ^-^ and Yakhas, Asuras, Gandharvas, Suparnas, Garudas, and men ; and they rained flowers and off'erings upon him, and bowed in adoration, praising him, and crying, " Behold the ex- cellent Lord, to whom none can be compared, to whom there is none superior." Then, in order, he turned to the other points of the compass, and from each received the same adoration. And having thus regarded the whole circle of the heavens, he turned to the north, and, gravely marching seven paces, his voice burst forth in the glorious words, " I am the greatest being in the world, excelling in the world ; there is none equal to me, there is none superior to me. This is my last generation. For me there will be no future birth into the world ! " Then the ten thousand worlds quaked. The universe was illumined with an exceeding bright light. The moon shone with heavenly radiance. The sun's heat LIFE OF BUDDHA. 103 ceased its violence, and gave out but an agreeable warmth. A refreshing shower fell upon the four con- tinents, and all musical instruments gave out harmo- nious sounds of themselves ; and in all places there appeared the thirty-two miraculous signs which had attended his conception in the womb. These are the signs, and the interpretation which the learned give of them : — The ten thousand worlds quaked ; signifying that he would be omniscient. The angels assembled ; signifying that the angelic ruler would teach them the true law. The Brahma angels first received him ; signifying that he would attain the meditative science ^^ of the formless Brahmas. Men received him from the angels; signifying that he would attain the meditative science of the formed Brahmas.^^ He at once stood firmly on his feet ; signifying that he would have the four miraculous powers.^^ He turned to the north ; signifying that he would rescue all beings from false doctrines. He took seven steps ; signifying that he would have the seven constituents^^ of the highest wisdom. The Great Brahma held over him the white parasol of kings ; signifying that he would arrive at the per- fection of saintly fruits of emancipation. The angels bore after him the five insignia of royalty ; signifying that he would be master of the five great principles of emancipation.^^ He looked upon all points of the compass ; signify- ing that he would attain the science which makes all things perfectly manifest. ^^ ("?) 104 PART II. He declared that he was the most exalted of beings ; signifying that he would teach the law of the revolv- ing wheel. All jewels in the world shone with unwonted lustre ; signifying that the earth would be enlightened by the holy jewel of the true law. The guitars sounded of themselves ; signifying that he would enjoy the meditative tranquillity of perfect freedom. C?) The drums gave out their notes ; signifying that he would possess the drum of victory, which is the true law. All who were in torment and fetters were set free ; signifying that he would cause all pain to cease. "^^ The sick were healed ; signifying that he would attain the knowledge of the four pre-eminent truths. "^^ The mad became sane; signifying that he would attain the four applications of reflective power. "^^ The vessel crossed the seas and returned to its port ; signifying that he would attain the four classes of dis- tinctive knowledge. 73 Those who had been enemies, became friends ; signi- fying that he would attain the four virtuous inclina- tions. '^^ The fires of hell were extinguished ; signifying that he would extinguish the eleven fires, of which lust is the fiercest. '^^ The blind saw ; signifying that he would be all- seeing. The deaf heard ; for that he would be all-hearing. The lame walked ; signifying that he would lead his disciples to the attainment of miraculous powers. Light shone through the darkest hells; signifying LIFE OF BUDDHA. 105 tliat he would repress ignorance, and make manifest understandino-. The water of the ocean became sweet and pleasant to drink ; signifying that he would enjoy the most excellent flavour of Nirwana. The violent winds ceased their fury ; signifying that he would make an end of the sixty-two false doctrines. ''^ The birds no longer flew hither and thither through the air, but remained still on their trees ; signifying that all beings would take their stand in the Holy Triad "*^ of the excellent religion of Buddha. The moon's rays became supernaturally brilliant ; for men and angels would love the Lord : and the sun's rays fell with unusual mildness ; for that the Lord would bestow happiness of body and spirit on all teachable beings. The angels stood and clapped their hands at their palace gates ; signifying that he would display the divine authority of a Buddha. The ever ravenous Pretas ceased to crave for food ; signifying that he would bestow the happiness of emancipation on all his disciples. Doors opened of themselves ; signifying that he w^ould open the royal gates, the eight-fold paths ^^ of the saints, to all teachable beings. All trees and plants burst into bloom ; signifying that he would cause all who acted according to his teaching to receive the reward of their works. ''^ Lotus flowers appeared in every place ; signifying that he would constrain the paths and fruits to appear for the advantage of all teachable beings. And lastly, the appearance of flowers and flags of 106 PART n. victory throughout the ten thousand worlds, signified that he would bestow the monk's robe, which is the flag of victory of the saints, on all teachable beings who desired to receive ordination. Now, when the Grand Being marched those seven paces, and the universe was filled with the portents that have been related, he, though naked, appeared to be clad in rich vestments ; though but a small babe, he appeared like a youth of sixteen ; though walking on the ground, he seemed to tread upon the air. The sases tell us that at the same time that the Grand Being was born into the world, seven other things came into the world — namely, the Princess Phimpha, Ananda, Phra Luthayi (Kaludari), Channa, the horse Kanthaka, the great Bodhi or sacred Po tree, and the four great gold mines. ^*^ Then all the royal Sakyas of the cities Dewadaha and Kapila made glad and rejoiced, and brought ofi"er- ings to the Grand Being and his mother, sacrificial off"erings of the most glorious kind ; and they escorted them back to the royal city of Kapila, amid songs and rejoicing. CHAPTER IV. PREDICTIONS OF FUTURE GREATNESS, On that day, the angels of tlie Davadungsa heavens, led by the archangel Indra, vied in joyful cries^ say- ing — " To Suddhodana, king of Kapila, and Maia his queen, there is now a son born, who, in days to come, when he attains the full age of manhood, shall sit on the jewelled throne beneath the holy tree, and shall there arrive at the Buddhahood, and shall make mani- fest the law of the revolving v>dieel to all teachable beings who are now enveloped in ignorance. We, too, shall see the glory, and praise the beauty of the Lord Buddha, and shall hear his teachings ^^ of the true law." They shouted forth their praises, and wor- shipped him with offerings ; ^^ they waved cloths and flags ; male and female, they gave expression to their joy by the grandest of festive ceremonies. In those times lived a holy man named Kaladewila, who was a member of a religious body whose doctrines differed from those of Buddha ; and he was the teacher of the King Suddhodana. He was master of the Ave supernatural arts, and of the eight perfections of medi- tative abstraction, and had the power of flying through the air, etc., etc. This day he had transported himself to the Davadungsa heavens, and, sitting there, heard the rejoicings of the angels, and was told by them of the birth of Kinor Suddhodana's son, a beino; who 108 THE MODERN BUDDHIST. had more accumulated merit than any other in the world. Immediately he returned to earth, and entering the palace, seated himself before the king. The king ordered the ladies in attendance to adorn the child, and bring him to do reverence to the holy man ; but instead of doing reverence, he rose into the air, and placed his beautiful feet on the head of the holy man. Nor, indeed, would it have been right that the inci- pient Buddha, who had arrived at his last generation, and had perfected the powers of righteousness, should have shown signs of respect to any being. Had any constrained him to bow his head to the feet of Kala- dewila, doubtless, at that moment, the head of Kala- dewila would have split into seven pieces. And Kaladewila was filled with astonishment, and, respectfidly leaving the seat (of honour), he bowed down and did homage to him, raising his hands, and reverentially embracing the feet of the being who would be Buddha. And the King Suddhodana, amazed at what he saw, did homage to his son for the first time. ^^ Then Kaladewila, whose supernatural powers enabled him to tell all that had happened during forty past creations of the world, and to foresee all that would happen for forty generations to come, perceiving that the body of the Grand Being was marked with all the signs of eminence, recognised that he would certainly become Buddha, and his countenance beamed with joy ; but immediately reflecting as to whether he himself would live to see the day, he divined that he would not ; but, dying before that time, would be reborn in the worlds of the formless Brahmas, an impassible, in- THE MODERN BUDDHIST. 109 sensible, immovable spirit, which not all the powers of a thousand Buddhas could move to a knowledge of the ways and fruits. Overcome by the thought of his misfortune and want of merit,^* he could not restrain his tears, but sat and wept. And the wondering courtiers inquired the cause of his joy and sorrow so quickly succeeding one another, and when they had heard it they told the king. But Kaladewila, as he thought sadly of these things, seeinor that he himself would not hear the teachino- of O a the Buddha, cast about to see which of his relations would be more fortunate, and he saw tbat his nephew Nalaka would certainly behold the Great Teacher. Quickly rising, he sought his nephew, and said to him, " Take heed, Nalaka, the son of King Suddhodana is endowed with the thirty-two signs of a Grand Being ; he is an incipient Buddha, who has perfected the powers of virtue. Arriving at manhood, he will be crowned king, and afterwards, retiring from lay life, and receiving holy orders, he will obtain the Buddha- hood ! " Then Nalaka, who was a good man, and had ac- cumulated merit during a hundred thousand creations, and was now born in a noble and wealthy family, reflected on his uncle's words, which he knew were ever spoken for his advantage, (and acting on them), he forthwith purchased in the market place the requisites for those who take holy orders,^^ an earthen pot, and some yellow cloth ; and shaving oif his beard and hair, became a member of an association of holy men ; and having turned towards the holy being who would be Buddha, he offered adoration : and then slinsino- over his right shoulder the bag containing his pot, he proceeded to the Himalayan forest, and practised 110 THE MODEEN BUDDHIST. asceticism ^^ and meditation,^'' until the time that the Grand Being attained the Buddhahood. Then he sought his presence, and from him received the instructions named Nalaka-patipada,^^ and when he had studied them, he took leave of the Lord and returned to the hills and forests of Himalaya, that he might practise meditation without interruption. In due course, he became the first to attain the highest degree of sanctity by means of the Nalaka instructions, and within seven months of that time, placing himself on a hill top, lie entered Nirwana, at that very place. On the fifth day after the birth, King Suddhodana held a great festival for the naming of his child. The palace was gaily decorated, the princes and chieftains assembled, and one hundred and eight Brahmins, all skilled in the Three Vedas and the Shastras, were requested to predict the prince's fortune. Of the one hundred and eight Brahmins, there were eight more learned than their fellows ; by name Rama, Lakkhana, Yaiya, Tucha, Bhocha, Sudhatta, Suyama, and Konthanya (or Kondanya). These eight Brahmins gladly responded to the king's desire, saying — " Angelic king, thy son has the soles of his feet full fleshed and perfectly flat, like unto golden sandals. They move, not alternately, like the feet of ordinary men, but they both touch, the ground at the same time, and leave it at the same time. Nor does one end of the foot touch the ground before the other, but the whole sole touches the ground at the same moment. This is a very great sign of a Grand Being." ^^ Then was the question asked, ^^ " How came it that he who should be Buddha had this remarkable pecu- liaritv 1 Was it on account of merit amassed in his LIFE OF BUDDHA. Ill previous existence *? " And tlie master, who knew tlie truth of these matters, answered, "Tlie Grand Being was distinguished by the thirty-two principal charac- teristic marks of a Grand Being, and the eighty minor ones by virtue of the infinite amount of merit he had accumulated by the practise of duty and charity. He himself taught, saying. The Tathagata ^^ had these distinctions, because, throughout an infinite number of creations of worlds, he had steadfastly and without wavering practised all kinds of meritorious works ; Jiad followed the law of truth in act, speech, and thought ; had constantly made merit by the most bountiful charities ; had ever taken delight in observ- ing the abnegations ordered by the Five Commandments and the Eight Commandments ; ^^ had continually exercised himself in charitable meditations ;^^ had ever shewn respect to the aged of his own rank ; and had always acted for the benefit of his parents. Such were the merits to which those signs were due, and even had he been born in the heavens instead of on the earth, he must necessarily, as the result of those merits, have had ten advantasies over other ano-els. He must have excelled them in certainty of life, in beauty, in advantages of comfort and possessions, in power, in form, in voice, in odour, in taste, in sensi- bility (touch), and in strength of body and mind. Being born on earth, by virtue of these merits, he could not fail to be either an universal Emperor or an omniscient Buddha." The Brahmins continued their discourse on the signs, as follows : — On each of his feet ^^ is a fig-ure of the beautiful o wheel Chakkra, with its thousand rays or spokes, all 112 PART il. richly adorned as if it were a wheel of emeralds. Its outline is shewn by elegantly drawn circles, and its centre is filled with exquisite devices, which gleam in beauty like the jewelled chakkra of the angels. Around the chakkra are one hundred and eight other figures, namely, the crystal spear, a female figure with orna- ments, the flower Phutson, a chain and neck jewel, a baisi standard, a wicker seat, two fishes, a palace, the royal elephant goad, a stand for torches or candles, a royal sword, a palm leaf fan, a peacock's tail fan, a royal white parasol, a crown, a monk's food pan, a bunch of Mali flowers, the green Q blue) Utpala lotus, the white Utpala lotus, a chakkra, a royal chowrie (fly flap), the royal lotus (nymphoea), a full water jar, a tray full of water, the great ocean, the mountains which form the walls of the world, the Himalayan forest. Mount Meru, the moon, the sun, the constel- lations, the four great continents, the two thousand lesser continents, a figure of the Lord of the Chakkra (Vishnu 1), a chank shell, with reversed spiral ; the seven great rivers or seas, the seven chains of mountains that encircle those seas, the seven great lakes, the elephant Chatthan, a crocodile, the flags Chai and Patat, the monks fan (chani), Mount Krailasa, the king of lions, the king of royal tigers, the king of yellow tigers ; Walahaka, the king of horses ; the elephant Uposatha, the kings of Garudas, Nagas, Bur- mese geese, and jungle fowl ; the ox Usupharat, the elephant Erawan, the dragon Mangkara, a golden beetle, a crystal throne, a golden tortoise, a golden ship, a cow and calf, a kinnara, a kinnari ; the birds karawek, peacock, karien, chakphrak, and krachip ; an angel, the angels in the six Dewa heavens, and the Brahmas of LIFE OF BUDDHA. 113 the sixteen Brahma heavens of the formed. Such are the hundred and eight subordinate figures which appear as a guard of honour around that most excellent sign, the holy and glorious Chakkra/' The Lord, after He became Buddha, taught that He bore this most excellent sign, because, throughout innumerable previous existences. He had ever sought the welfare of all other beings with the same zeal with which He had souo;ht His own. The Brahmins continued : " The heel of the Prince is not like that of other men, but long (and projecting). The sole of his foot is divided into four parts — the heel, the neck, and the two fore-portions. His heel is smooth and round as a ball of thread, and excels in beauty the heel of any other being. His toes are all of equal length, perfectly straight, long, and tapering." This peculiarity was due to the Lord having ever abstained from causing death. The Brahmins continued : "This extraordinary length of heel is one of the signs of a Grand Being. The length and beauty of his fingers and toes is another sign of a grand being. The palms of his hands and the soles of his feet are softer than floss cotton ^^ carded one hundred times ; they are exquisitely marked, and the fingers are set so close ^^ that no drop of water can pass between them. His feet are high, shapely, and not fiat and spreading like the feet of ordinary persons. They are not jointed to the ankle in the usual manner, but the ankle rises from the centre of the foot, and is so formed that, without the trouble of moving his feet, he can turn his whole body ^"^ in any direction he pleases. His knees are round, ^^ full, and fleshy, with the bone in the centre. His arms are H 114 PART IT. SO long that, without stooping, he can touch his knees with his hands. That which should be secret is con- cealed.^^ His skin is of the tint of the purest gold, ^*"' or gold rubbed with vermilion. His skin is perfect, pure, delicate, without spot, and of such a nature that no impurity can adhere to it. His glossy blue-black hairs grow one by one, regular, and curling upwards, as if they were each endeavouring to look upon his face. His body is without deformity, straight and beautiful as that of the great Brahma, or the golden candlestick of the Davadungsa heavens. His voice is endowed with the eight qualities, it is melodious, soft, resonant, and full of modulation, it is indeed sweeter and more agreeable than the voice of Brahma : this is one of the most eminent of the marks of a Grand Being. His body is rounded and full in the seven places ; his hands and feet are round as the back of the great golden tortoise ; between his shoulders there is no de- pression, and his arms are as round, smooth, and free from irregularities or veins, as a well made candle or a golden image. He has the bold front of the king of lions ; and the front of the lion is perfect in its outline and proportions, each part being long or short, or full or scant, as best suits its place ; the hind part of the lion cannot be said to be so admirably shaped. His back is full and fleshy, it has no channel or depression down its centre, but is flat as a golden plank. His body is like the banyan-tree, a perfect circle of beauty, (i.e., perfectly proportioned). His neck is not long and curved like that of a peacock or a stork, but is like a well-made golden tube. He has about seven thousand nerves of taste converging at the entrance of his^ throat, by means of which, the moment that food has passed LIFE OF BUDDHA. 115 the end of his tongue, he has the sensation of taste all over his body. His jaw is like that of a lion. He has forty teeth, closely set together, without any space between them ; forty below, forty above, even and perfect as a row of polished gems set in a golden plate. He has four canine teeth (or tusks), white and gleam- ing like planets. His tongue is soft and flexible, and long enough to reach to his forehead. His eyes flash forth rays of every colour, and are beautiful as the gems of heaven. His eyelashes and eyes are perfect orbs, round and beautiful as a precious pearl. On his forehead, between his eyebrows, is clearly to be seen a spiral tuft of long, soft, brilliant white hairs turning to the right. On his head there is a sirorot"^ (or glory), like to a glorious angelic crown, in imitation of which all the kings of the world have made crowns a sign of royal dignity. Such are the thirty-two signs of a Grand Beino-." Now, if it be asked, How did the Brahmins know of these signs 1 the reply is, that the great Brahma Suthawat, knowing the approaching advent of a Buddha, and desiring that men should know the means of identifying him, came upon earth in the form of a superior Brahmin, and taught the three Vedas and the Shastras. After the Lord entered Nirwana, the original treatises of the science of the Shastras were lost, and now no one truly knows them. Of the eight superior Brahmins who recited the above-stated signs, there was one more learned than all the others, and he was the youngest, by name Kondanya. He remained silent whilst the seven prophesied thus : " This prince, endowed with the thirty-two signs of a Grand Being, has two careers 116 PART II. before him ; either he will remain a layman, and will become an emperor of the world, possessor of the seven jewels, ruling over the four continents, and their two thousand dependencies, father of a thou- sand mighty sons who will overcome all his foes ; or he will relinquish lay occupations, will become an ordained religious mendicant, and will attain omniscience, and become the Lord Buddha." So spake the seven ; but Kondanya, the youngest and most learned of all, the first of all Buddhists who arrived at the highest degree of sanctity, reflecting on the marks on the feet, was assured that they denoted a being no longer subject to circling existence. He therefore did not hold up two fingers as did the other Brahmins, but he held up one finger only ; and when they had ceased, he added : " king ! thy son will not take delight in the pleasures of the world, or remain a layman to become an universal emperor, but after twenty-nine years, he will enter holy orders, and will become an omniscient Buddha of the world." CHAPTER V. THE FOUR VISIONS. The King, Suddhodana, inquired of the Brahmins who had interpreted the signs : " By what vision will my son be induced to adopt a religious life ? " And they answered : " He will see four visions — an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a man in holy orders ; these will cause him to adopt a religious life." Then the King, desiring that his son might become the emperor of the world, determined to prevent his seeing those signs which might lead him to adopt a religious life ; and to that end, stationed officers all round the city, to watch that none of those four objects should come under the Prince's notice. And the Brahmins named the Prince, Angkhirasa,^^^ because of the brilliant rays which streamed from his royal head, and they also named him Sidharta,^*^^ because of the perfection of his prosperity. And each of his relatives brought one son to follow him through life whichever of the two careers he might adopt. On the seventh day after the birth of the Being that should be Buddha, his mother, the Queen Maia, died and was re-born in the Tushita heavens ; and her younger sister, Pachapati,^""* giving her own son, Nanda, to be reared by wet-nurses, became the prince's foster-mother. And the King appointed sixty hiofh officers to suard the Prince, and numerous 1 1 8 PART II. nurses, free from all bodily defects/"^ to be his con- stant attendants. When the time came for the festival "^ of the com- mencement of sowing-time, the city of Kapila was gaily adorned ; and the King, and Brahmins, and noblemen marched out to the appointed place for sowing the first seeds, and commenced to break the earth with seven hundred and ninety-nine ploughs, richly gilt and decked with flowers. The young Prince was carried thither, and laid asleep on a couch, surrounded with curtains, and shaded by a tree whose thick foliage let no ray of sunshine pass through it. His nurses, seeing that he slept, left him one by one that they might watch the ceremonies, and he was left alone. After a while he w^oke, and leaving the curtains, gazed for a time at the splendid festivities. Then he re-entered his curtains, and, sitting in a cross-legged position, became absorbed in spiritual meditation. And as he so sat, the hours passed away, the sun passed across the skies, and the shadow of the trees all around fell on another side of them to that it had fallen on duriuo- the earlier part of the day. But, wonderful to relate, the shadow of the tree beneath which he sat did not change its position in the least ; and when his nurses and attendants returned to him, they found him still perfectly shaded from the sun's rays, even as they had left him ; and they told the King, and the King having seen the miracle with his own eyes, ao-ain for the second time did homage to his son. When the Grand Being reached his seventh year, the King ordered a lotus-pool to be dug for his amusement. At that moment, Indra, kino- of the LIFE OF BUDDHA. 119 angels, felt uncomfortable ^'^'^ on his coucli ; and per- ceiving the cause, the thousand-eyed one summoned the ansel AVetsukam, and commanded him without delay to make, by his miraculous powers, and present to the Prince, a pool such as the King desired for him. Immediately the angel descended from the heavens and did his bidding. He made a pool with a hundred sloping banks, a hundred pleasant shallows ; its bed shone with the seven kinds of precious stones, and its sides were lined with brick, and ornamented with crystal and jewels. Growing amid its clear cool waters were abundance of lotuses of the five kinds ; and floating about on them were a hundred golden bowls filled with ever-blooming blue lotuses ; and there were boats of gold, and silver, and crystal, and one with a beautiful throne, and golden and jewelled parasols. This pool, which the angel Wetsukam made for the Grand Being, was beautiful as the lotus-lake of heaven, which is called Nantabokkharani. Having completed his task,' the angel returned to the heavens ; and next morning, when the ]ieople assembled to dig the pool, lo ! it was there. And the young Prince took pleasure in His lotus- garden, and walked there attended by a crowd of children, numerous as the retinue of a king of angels. And when he reached his sixteenth year, his father ordered his skilled workmen to build him a palace with three residences, one for each season.^"® For the cold season the palace was nine stories high, with close-fit- tino; doors and windows, so that no drauo;ht could enter. For the hot season the building was in five stories, and with doors and windows admitting the breeze. And for the wet season, the building was in seven stories, 120 PART II. with close-fitting doors and windows. When the builders had finished their work, the artists decorated them with beautiful paintings, and they were fitted with the most costly hangings and furniture. Then they raised four Maradops/"^ one on each side of the seven-storied building ; one of these was named Chanthalokaya, referring to its being a place where- from (or wherein) the Prince might take delight in the perfection of the moon and the planets. High above it were raised columns firuily bound together, to which were hung bells which gave out sweet music whenever there was motion in the air. And round about the buildings were lotus-pools, and on a lofty flagstaff, a flag towered over everything else. And round about the palace were seven walls. And when the palace was finished, the King an- nounced his intention of raising his son to the sove- reignty, and called upon the Sakya Princes to oSer their daughters as his wives. But they answered, " King ! thy son is of proper birth, and his appear- ance is admirable ; but so far as we know he has never learned anything, and has no knowledge or accomplishments. Therefore we hesitate to ofier our daughters to him ! " Then the King told his son what the Princes had said, and he answered, " My father, I have all these accomplishments without having studied them. Pro- claim, then, throughout the kingdom, an assembly of all the people, and on the day appointed, I will show my skill." On the day appointed, in the midst of the Brahmins and the Princes and the people, he showed his skill in the twelve arts ;"° he strung the bow which required LIFE OF BUDDHA. 121 a thousaud ordinary men to string it, and firing an arrow from it, pierced a liair, hung so far from him that no other man's eye could see it at that distance. Then the Sakya Princes acknowledged his wondrous skill, and presented their daughters to be his wives, and he was invested with the royal dignity/^^ and the beautiful Yasodara"^ became his Queen. He passed his days in honour, luxury, and comfort ; no cares assailed him, and his beautiful Queen, and the lovely daughters"^ of the Sakyas, unceasingly strove to promote his happiness. One day the Grand Being felt a desire to visit his flower-garden^ and ordered his chariot to be made ready. They brought him the royal chariot, inlaid with the seven kinds of precious stones, and carpeted with lion and tiger skins, furnished with all kinds of military weapons, and drawn by magnificent horses, of the colour of the red lotus, like to the glorious car of the conquering Indra. Mounting his chariot, he rode towards the garden, and on his way he saw the first of the four visions. He saw an old man, blear-eyed, toothless, deaf, hollow-cheeked, bald, bent, and with shrivelled skin hanging loosely on his bones, endeavouring to support his tottering trembling body with a crutch. And he was deeply moved at the sad sight. Again, another day, riding towards his garden, he saw the second vision. Rolling in agony on the ground, weeping and groan- ing without ceasing, was a wretched sick man, his whole body foul with humours oozing from his sores, and incessantly tormented by swarms of flies. And his heart grew more and more sorrowful. 122 PART II. Again, a third time, riding towards his garden, he saw a corpse. A horrible smell rose from it, swarms of maggots crept in and out of the nine portals, and crows, and vultures, and dogs, feasted upon its entrails. His heart fell within him. What is this 1 he asked of his charioteer ; and the charioteer answered, " This is a dead man, a body from which the breath has passed ; this is the certain lot of every man, whoever he be." Then the Prince was overcome by sadness, and no longer taking any pleasure in his garden, he returned to his palace. And his father, the King Suddhodana, heard of his seeing these three visions, and increased the strictness of his watch that the Prince might not see the fourth. Nevertheless when the Prince again rode towards his garden, a messenger from the heavens,^" assuming the form and dress of one who had taken holy orders, appeared before him. The Prince saw the stranger, charming in manner and appearance, and inquired of his charioteer, " Who is this man, who dresses so differently to all other men 1 " And the angel inspiring the charioteer, he answered, " Most excellent Lord, this is a man in holy orders, a man of the highest merit," Then the Grand Being, reflecting on what he saw and heard, said to himself, " No being that is born can escape age, sickness, and death ; happiest by far is the lot of a monk, who lives free from all entanglements or concern with wives or children." Eejoicing in such thoughts, he passed on to his garden, and wandered happily amid the lovely flowers, and the harmonious birds. He bathed in the delicious LIFE OF BUDDHA. 123 lotus-pool, and then sitting on a marble throne, he conceived a desire to put on his state robes ; but as his attendants bore them to him on golden trays the archangel Indra felt a sensation of warmth, and knowing the cause, sent one of his angels in the form of a barber to adorn him with the glorious robes of a king of angels. So he sat until the setting sun showed the approach of night, and then remounting his chariot, he rode homewards. On his way he met a messenger from his father, bringing the news that his wife, the royal Yasodara, had brought forth a son, and at first he showed every sign of delight, but immediately after he sadly ex- claimed, " This child is a snare and a fetter to hold and bind me to a life of transmigrations." And thenceforth the child was called Eahula.^^^ As the Prince, the Grand Being that should be Buddha, re-entered his palace, the beautiful lady Kisagotami looked out on him from one of the upper stories, and sang his praises, saying, " Happy the parents of the Prince Sidharta, for he will keep all sorrow from them. Happy the wife of the Prince Sidharta, for he will make her heart glad, and keep all sorrow from her ! " And the Grand Being heard her song, and thought, " How shall I extinguish the sorrows of my parents and my wife 1 What is the means by which sorrow can be destroyed 1 If I could destroy concupiscence, or pleasure in love, anger, or the desire to injure others, and folly which causes men to err — if I could destroy the sources of evil, such as arrogance and falsehood, then I might be called the extinguisher of the misery 124 PART II. of m}^ parents, and of all living beings. For this end must I now seek the way of Mrwana, that misery may be destroyed. I must relinquish this royal pomp, and devote myself to religion." Having thus thought, he sent to the lady Kisago- tami a string of pearls of immense value ; and she received it with delight, regarding it as a token of love. Thus had the Grand Being lived as a layman for twenty-nine years, when his Queen, Yasodara, bore him a son. CHAPTER VI. THE COMMENCEMENT OP A RELIGIOUS CAREER. The Grand Being entered his magnificent palace, redo- lent with fragrant perfumes, brilliantly illuminated with innumerable candles, and gay with wreaths of flowers — a palace splendid as the abode of Indra — and sat down upon his royal couch. A bevy of the most lovely and fascinating girls surrounded him, striving by dancing, music, and songs to attract his thoughts to pleasure ; but all their enticements were vain. He no longer found any satisfaction in such things, and, heeding them not, he fell asleep. When they saw that their lord slept, they, retiring to a short distance, lay down on the floor, and also fell asleep. Then a lord of the angels, exerting miraculous powers, caused those ladies to sleep in a most unseemly manner, quite different to that usual with ladies of high birth and good education. Some of them snored loudly or painfully, others lay with their mouths wide open, others gnashed their teeth, others rolled about in ungraceful attitudes, and let their clothes fall off their bodies. And when the Grand Being awoke from his sleep, and looked around, his heart sank within him. He conceived a disgust for a worldly life, and regarded his royal palace, full of lovely women, as if it were but a cemetery full of horrid corpses. The more he 126 PART II. looked, the more sorrowful he became — the more his heart quaked for the miseries of circling existence. " Take heed, Sidharta," he said to himself, " be not vain ! Transmigratory existence must be attended by destruction. Ignorance leads all beings astray, and makes them think that to be good which is really evil ; it hinders them apjDreciating the truth that life is an evil, and it prevents their becoming disgusted, and relinquishing their cleaving to circling existence." Moved by such sights and thoughts, he determined to adopt a religious life without delay. That very day he would become a mendicant. Eising from his throne, he inquired who was on guard at the door. It was Channa. To him the Grand Being gave orders immediately to prepare his horse. His horse was the splendid Kanthaka, thirty feet in length — his coat white and lustrous as a well-polished conch-shell, his head black as the black sapphire, his mane soft and delicate, his power enormous — a horse fit to be the bearer ^" of a sovereign of the world. And Kanthaka knew wherefore he was required, and neighed loudly with delight ; yet was not his neighing heard, for an angel prevented the noise spreading (lest it might awaken the guards, and so prevent the Prince leaving). And while Channa was preparing the horse, the Prince, reflecting on the uncertainty of his return, de- termined to have one look at his son before settino; out. He stood at the door of the Queen's chamber, and lovingly gazed at her sleeping, with her child in her arms. He, too, longed to embrace his son, yet re- frained, from the fear that the mother might wake, and prevent him carrying out his purpose of stealing away LIFE OF BUDDHA. 127 from the palace. He stood at the door, and longingly, lovingly continued to look at his child, until his thoughts showed him his error. " How can I continue to live thus," he reflected ; " how can I live, loving my wife and child, and at the same time escape the evils of circling existence ? It is impossible ! If I remain with them I shall never attain omniscience. I will away at once ; and when I have attained all knowledge I can return to visit my relations." And, so thinking, he turned away. Then he addressed his horse, "Help me, Kan- thaka ! to enter the class of mendicants this very nio;ht ! " and the horse was delio-hted. He mounted the horse, Channa held on to its tail, and the four guardians of the world held lotus flowers, one under each of the horse's feet. Now the King, thinking to prevent his son's flight, had caused the gates of the palace to be covered with iron-plates, studded with mushroom-headed nails, and they were of immense weight, so that they could only be opened by the united efl'orts of many men. Yet these heavy gates would not have stayed him. Had it been necessary he would have jumped over them ; but it was not necessary, for the guardian angels of the gate^^^ opened it. Then the King of the Maras,"' the Evil One, trembled as he thought of the Prince passing those gates, for he knew that if he entered the religious pro- fession, he would rise beyond his power, and he deter- mined to prevent him. Descending, therefore, from his abode in the highest of the Dewa heavens, and floating in the air, he cried — " Lord, that art capable of such vast endurance, go not 128 PART II. forth to adopt a religious life, but return to thy king- dom, and in seven days thou shalt become an emperor of the world, ruling over the four great continents." He that should become Buddha heard the voice. " Who art thou 1 " he cried ; and the voice answered, " I am Wasawadi, the King of the Maras.'' " Take heed, Mara ! " replied the Grand Being ; " I also know that in seven days I might gain uni- versal empire, but I have no desire for such posses- sions. I know that the pursuit of religion is better than the empire of the world. See how the world is moved, and quakes with praise of this my entry on a religious life ! I shall attain the glorious omniscience, and shall teach the wheel of the law, that all teach- able beings may free themselves from transmigratory existence. You, thinking only of the lusts of the flesh, would force me to leave all beings to wander without guide into your power. Avaunt ! Get thee away far from me." Deeply vexed was the King of the Maras as he listened to these words. "Vain will be my efforts," he reflected, " if Sidharta perseveres. Yet, perchance, he will not be able to free himself from the lusts of the flesh — hatred and envy — and then my opportunity will come ! " So he withdrew to a short distance, and watched without ceasing, that he might seize the first occasion that presented itself. The Grand Being left his palace on the middle day of the sixth month. ^^'^ The lovely full moon shone without a speck ; and the earth, flooded with its rays, appeared like a sea of gleaming white milk. The angels of the ten thousand worlds illuminated the spheres with the bright lights of heaven. LIFE OF BUDDHA. 129 As he rode along, he thought of the city he had left, and desired once more to see it. Then the earth, which has neither life nor intelligence, appeared en- dowed with both ; and turning round, as does a potter's wheel, it brought the city directly in front of him. Gazing on the city of Kapila, he invoked its guardian angels, saying : "Angels of yon glorious city, listen to my vow ! Never will I return hither while I have not achieved omniscience, and my heart is yet subject to lust, passion, and folly.^^^ But when I have attained the mastery of the most excellent law — when I am surrounded by the crowd of saints, then will I return ! " The place where this occurred became famous, and a spire was erected there by the name of Kanthaka niwatana Chedi. The Lord rode onwards, intent on his purpose of entering the noble body of mendicants, and no regret assailed him for the glory, the power, and the family that he had left behind. A vast train of angels attended him ; the skies rained flowers, and delicious odours pervaded the air. In this splendid state he, in one night, passed through the three kingdoms — Kapila, Sawatthi,^"^ and Wesali,^^^ and reached the river Anoma,^'"* a distance of thirty yojana (about two hundred miles). Just before daybreak he arrived at the river Anoma, and the great train of angels, having done obeisance, returned to their heavenly abodes. " Excellent is the augury to be drawn from the name of this river," exclaimed the Lord, "for it refers to the success of my entry into holy orders." ■^^'' He crossed the river, dismounted from his horse, I 130 PART II. and, standing on the sandy bank, took off his royal ornaments, and, having made a parcel of them, handed them to Channa, that he might take them back to Kapila. Next, he reflected that his long hair did not be- come the character of a poor ascetic,^ ^^ and he deter- mined to have it cut ofi"; but as no one was worthy to touch his head, he cut it off with his own sword, praying : " May my hair, thus cut, be neat and even ! " and by the force of his prayer, the hair parted evenly, leaving each hair about an inch and a half in length, and they curled in right-handed spirals, and never grew more to the last day of his life. ^^^ Then, desiring to know if he would truly become the Buddha, he prayed again : " If I shall indeed attain to holy omniscience, may this roll of long hair, which I shall now throw upwards, remain suspended in the sky ; but if not, let it straightway fall to the ground ; " and by the force of his prayer it remained suspended ten miles above the earth, until the angels carried it to the Davadungsa heavens, where it is adored to this day. Next, he desired to change his dress for the garb suitable to an ascetic, and at that moment the great Brahma angel Kbatikara, who had been an intimate friend of the Grand Being when they were both living on earth in the time of the Buddha Kasyappa, and had since passed his time in the Brahma heavens, knowing his desire, brought him the eight articles requisite for a monk — the food-pan, the three robes, the razor, the needle-case, the girdle, and the filtering-cloth, which grow on the tree called Karaphrtik. And the Lord received them from the hands of the Great Brahma,^^** LIFE OF BUDDHA. 131 and putting on tlie yellow dress, which is the flag of victory of the saints, he appeared as a well-con- ditioned professor of religion. Then again praying, as he had done when he cut off his long hair, he threw upwards the royal vest- ments he had taken off, and they were taken by the great Brahma Khatikara, and placed in a great relic temple in the Brahma heavens as an object of adora- tion for all the Brahma angels. CHAPTER VII. THE PRACTICE OF ASCETICISM. Then the most excellent Grand Being, turning to Channa, said : " Channa, that hast been my friend, helping me to enter the noble order of mendicants, now take these my ornaments to my royal parents, and tell them from me, that they should not grieve nor feel anxiety on my account. Tel] them that I have entered the order of mendicants, not from want of gratitude towards them, nor from any feeling of spite or annoyance, nor because any desire of mine has not been gratified ; but because I have pondered on the miseries which are caused by transmigrating life, on age, sickness, and death. Tell them that I have embraced a religious life from the earnest desire to redeem and save all beings who are now whirled vaguely and helplessly in the continuous channel of the sea of transmigrating existence — from the desire to conduct them across that sea to the farther bank, which is the holy immortal Nirwana. It will be no lono; time ere I attain the meditative knowledo;e of all things — the realisation of my desire for the Buddha- hood.^^^ Then will I return to my father, and will wipe away the tears of my family with the most excellent of kerchiefs — the teaching of the true law. Go then, quickly go, and deliver this message to my father!" LIFE OF BUDDHA. 1 33 When Channa heard these words, he fell at his master's feet and implored him to let him also enter into the religious order, that he might stay with him and serve him, and not leave him alone in those desolate jungles ; but the Lord would not, but an- swered him, saying : " If Channa remained here, my father, my aunt, and wife, and my sister, would re- main in painful doubt, and would give way to unen- durable grief; their hearts would break, and their years be diminished. If they Avere gone, who would take care of my son, Rahula 1 who would preserve him 1 Go, then, and watch over the well-being of those my relatives, and you will do that which is most profitable." Channa, fearing to displease his master, urged his wish no more. Respectfully taking leave of him, he withdrew to a short distance from where he sat, and, holding; his hands before him in an attitude of adora- tion, he walked thrice round him from left to risht, thinking of the journey he was about to make. Now, when the horse Kanthaka heard the conver- sation between his master and Channa, he reflected : "Why should my master send me backl What is the use of my going 1 Channa alone can carry back the ornaments, and he can tell the King of what has occurred ; but I am a mere animal, I can tell nothing; it would be better that I should remain here." Tears streamed from his eyes and fell on the holy foot of the Grand Being. Then the Lord laid his hand on the back of his charger, and spoke to him, saying : " Kanthaka, you have done me good service, you have been my bearer to the noble order of mendi- cants ; be not sad and sorrowful, but return joyfully." 134 PART II. Then Channa led the horse away ; and when they had gone a short distance, Kanthaka turned to look again at his master ; but his heart could no longer contain itself; he staggered along the road overcome with grief, until he lost sight of his master, then he shuddered and fell dead ; and by virtue of his fidelity to his master, he was immediately re-born in the Davadungsa heavens as the angel Kanthaka, to live in a golden palace with a thousand lovely houris to attend on him. Channa fell weeping on the horse, and presently recovering himself, he took off his trappings, and, gathering some flowers in the woods, made of them an offering to the remains of the horse. This done, he pursued his journey to Kapila, and in due course 'arriving there, went straighway into the palace, re- fusing to give any information to the towns-people, who pressed him with their inquiries. He laid the ornaments and the trappings of the horse before the King ; but before he could utter a word, the Princess Yasodara, and the aunt and half-sister of the missing Prince, rushed into the audience-chamber w^ith loud lamentations, bewailing ^^^ the fate they supposed to have befallen their beloved. After some time, they listened to Channa's story; and the King recalling the prediction of Kaladewila and the Brahmin Kon- danya, their grief abated. The Grand Being, when Channa had left him, re- mained alone, full of compassionate thoughts for all beings subject to circling existence — to an existence inseparable from liability to death and incessant change. He reflected — " When I left the royal city of Kapila, a vast host of angels, with one accord. LIFE OF BUDDHA. 135 escorted me to the bank of tins river Anoma. Then they left me, with Channa and my horse Kanthaka. Channa and Kanthaka left me, and now I am alone, alone without a companion. How chano-eable, how sad, is the law of this existence ! " In that region there was a forest of mango-trees called Annpia. There the Grand Being remained seven days, without ever taking food, satiated with the joy which he felt in his religious profession. On the eighth day, alone and on foot — walking on those beautiful feet adorned with the Chakkra, emi- nently distinguished by the thirty-two signs of a Grand Being, and by the eighty minor signs, radiant with a moon-like glory — alone, like the solitary lion of the Himalayas — without a companion, yet attracting the loving; admiration of all the beasts of the forest — in one day he marched two hundred miles, and cross- ing a river near the city of Rajagriha,^^^ he entered the city, and visited each house he came to, that he might receive alms. Astounded at his beauty, the people crowded round him, wondering who it might be. Some said, " Surely it is the moon fleeing from the ravenous Asura Rahu,^^^ how else can we account for his radiant glory 1" Others made other guesses, and they could come to no con- clusion. So they went and told the King — Bimbisara, King of Rajagriha — that there was a being in the city whose beauty made them doubt whether he were not an angel. Then the King, looking from a window of the palace, saw him, and, filled with astonishment, gave orders to ascertain who he might be, saying, " Follow him ! If he is not a human being, when he leaves the city he will disappear ; if he is an angel, he 136 PART IL ■will fly through the air ; if a snake-king, ^^^ he will sink into the earth ; but if a man, he will remain and eat his food." The Grand Being, that was approaching the Buddha- ship, calmly continued his walk, regarding but the small span of earth close ^^^ around him ; and having collected sufficient food, he left the city by the same gate he had entered it. He passed on to the Banthawa Hills, ^^'^ and sitting down on the summit of a lofty rock, he looked at the food collected in his pan. He — who had ever been accustomed to the most dainty meats, the most refined delicacies — looked at the mixed mess in his pot, and loathed it ; he could scarcely swallow it. Yet even this caused no wish to return to his city and his palace. He reflected on the foulness of his own body, and ate without further aversion. He finished his meal, rinsed his mouth, washed his pan, and replaced it in his wallet, and seated himself in a position of contemplation ^^^ on the rocky cliff". Then the officers who had been set to watch him returned, and told King Bimbisara that he was cer- tainly a man ; and the King, desiring to converse with him, called for his royal palankeen, and attended by a great train of noblemen and soldiers, went forth to seek him at the Banthawa Hills. Sitting on a rocky slab, the King gazed with delight at the Grand Being, and observed the grace of his manner, and thus addressed him : " Man of beauty, whence comest thou 1 " " Most excellent lord, I come from the country of the Sakyas." LIFE OF BUDDHA. 137 " From what Sakya country l " " From the royal city Kapila." The King continued to question him as to his caste, family, and name, and was informed, in answer, that he was of the royal race (caste) of the Sakyas, the son of King Suddhodana, and named Sidharta. Now Kino; Bimbisara and the Prince Sidharta were on most friendly terms. Though they had never met, and did not know each other by sight, they were in the constant habit of exchanging presents as tokens of good-will ; and when the Grand Being announced his name, the King was assured beyond all doubt, by his admirable manners and language, that it was none other than his friend. He reflected that perhaps the Prince had fled from his country on account of some family quarrel, and, under that impression, he invited him to share his power — to rule over half the great country of Maga- dha. Then the Grand Being told him the reasons, the object for which he had resigned the empire of the world. He told him of the four sights which had in- fluenced his thoughts, and of his determination to achieve the omniscient Buddhahood. And the King, having obtained from him a promise that after the attainment of omniscience he would first teach in Eajagriha, did homage, and returned to his city. Travelling on through the country, collecting alms, the Grand Being came to the dwellings of the hermits Alara and Kuddhaka, ^^^ and staying with them, learned the whole course of their instructions — the end of their knowledge. By their aid he acquired the science of Dhyana meditation ^^*^ from its first degree (in which the mind, in an ecstatic state, fixes itself on one 138 PART II. object, and perfectly comprehends it) to the seventh degree (wherein the mind, attaining the idea of nothing- ness, is in the tranquil state of an ethereal, formless Brahma of the heaven next to the highest). But when he asked them to instruct him in the eighth Dhyana, the perfect quietude of the highest Brahmas, they could not do it. The Lord, seeing that those seven Dhyana did not constitute Nirwana, and that the teaching of those hermits was unsatisfactory, left them and proceeded to the country of Uruwela. ^*^ In the Uruwela forest there was a quiet spot suit- able as an abode for those who desired to lead an ascetic life. Kich verdure, noble trees, and lovely Howers were suggestive of enlightened thoughts. There was abundance of cool water in pools close at hand, and not far off was the river Nairanjana, in whose clear waters thousands of fish and tortoises might be seen disporting. The advantages of the situation were com- pleted by its being sufficiently near to a village for convenience in seeking alms, and yet not so near as to be disturbed by its proximity. This place he selected to practise a course of the severest asceticism ^^2 or mortification; and thither came to him Kondanya the Brahmin who had prophesied at his birth, and four others, who were the sons of all the Brahmins who had taken part in that prediction. These five had adopted the religious profession, wait- ing for the Grand Being, and from that were called the five Wakkhi.^^* They wandered from place to place seeking for the Lord, and having found him, remained with him to minister to his wants. The Grand Being applied himself to practise asceti- LIFE OF BUDDHA. 139 cism of the extremest nature. To this end he de- voted himself incessantly to the meditation called Bhawana, and in order that his meditation might not be interrupted, he gradually reduced his daily allow- ance of food until a grain of sesame sufficed for his nourishment. Still he considered that the duty of seeking food occupied too much time ; time he required for his religious observances, and thenceforth he ceased to seek alms. He sat under a tree and ate the fruits that fell within his reach, but never rose to seek any. Even this he regarded as an interruption, and thence- forth ceased to eat. Then the angels, observing it, pre- served his life, by insinuating food through the pores of his skin ; nevertheless his body became extremely attenuated, his blood and his flesh dried up, his ribs protruded, and he had nought left of him but skin and bones. The thirty-two marks of a Grand Being, and the eighty minor signs, entirely disappeared, and his body became like a withered leaf. For six years he endured this extremity of mortifi- cation without ever wishing to discontinue it ; and never did it occur to him to say, " Long as I have practised asceticism, I have not arrived at the Buddha- hood. It is useless to continue. I will, therefore, return to my father." Such a thought never entered his mind ; but stead- fastly pursuing the self-achieved ^^^ omniscience of a Buddha, he never wavered in the object of his desires. At last, one day, when attempting to move, his whole body was racked with the most violent pain, and he fainted senseless on the ground. A certain lady of heaven, seeing him lying sense- less and motionless, hastened to the King Suddho- 140 PART 11. dana, and told him that his son was dead ; but the monarch would not believe, saying, " My son cannot die ere he has become Buddha." When the Grand Being recovered consciousness, he changed his seat, and a few days afterwards, dissatis- fied with the result of his previous mortifications, he reflected that the asceticism which did not remove the necessity of respiration was but a coarse unrefined method, and he therefore determined to restrain his breath, as the most exquisite of all acts of endurance. He held his breath, and the air, unable to pass through his nostrils, turned upwards into his head, and made it suffer exceeding pain : and then, unable to escape through the head, it again passed down, and entering his belly, caused intense agonies. Yet with all this suff'ering, he was perfectly firm and constant, and never thought of relinquishing this extremity of mortification. Then it was that the royal Mara sought occasion to induce the Grand Being to cease his exercises. Craftily pretending to be influenced by motives of compassion, he offered his advice, saying, " Beware, Grand Being 1 Your state is pitiable to look on ; you are attenuated beyond measure, and your skin, that was of the colour of gold, is dark and discoloured. You are practising this mortification in vain. I can see that you w^ill not live through it. You, who are a Grand Being, had better give up this course, for, be assured, you will derive much more advantage from sacrifices of fire and flowers," Him the Grand Being indignantly answered : " Hearken, thou vile and wicked Mara ! thy words suit not the time. Think not to deceive me, for I heed LIFE OF BUDDHA. 141 thee not. Thou mayest mislead those who have no understanding, but I, who have virtue, endurance, and intelligence, who know what is good, and what is evil, cannot be so misled. Thou, Mara ! hast eight generals.^^^ Thy first is delight in the five lusts of the flesh, which are the pleasures of appearance, sound, scent, flavour, and touch. Thy second general is wrath, who takes the form of vexation, indignation, and desire to injure. Thy third is concupiscence. Thy fourth is desire. Thy fifth is impudence. Thy sixth is arrogance. Thy seventh is doubt. And thine eighth is ingratitude. These are thy generals, who cannot be escaped by those whose hearts are set on honour and wealth. But I know that he who can contend wdth these thy generals shall escape beyond all sorrow, and enjoy the most glorious happiness. Therefore I have not ceased to practise mortification [i.e., the sub- jugation of these generals of Mara), knowing that even were I to die whilst thus engaged, it would be a most excellent thing." Then Mara, unable to answer his severe reproach, fled in confusion. After he had departed, the Grand Being reflected as to why even this extreme course of mortification failed to bring him into the path leading to the om- niscience of the Bo-tree. Then the archangel Indra brought a three-stringed guitar, and sounded it at a short distance. One string, too tightly strained, gave a harsh and unpleasant sound ; the second, not strained enough, had no resonance ; the third, moderately stretched, gave forth the sweetest music. Having thus done, the thousand- eyed angel returned to his abode, and the Grand Being, having pondered on the 142 PART II. meaning of the vision, determined to draw a lesson from the string moderately stretched, and in future to practise asceticism with moderation. He resolved to resume his former practice of sitting contemplatively under a tree, thereby hoping to attain the Buddha- hood. In order that he might have sufticient bodily strength to effect his purpose, he again collected alms and ate sufficient for his absolute needs, and thus after a few days he regained his pristine strength, his flesh, his blood, his beauty, and his significant marks. And when the five Brahmins who had till that time attended him saw this, they were ofi'ended, saying to one another : " How shall he who has ceased to prac- tise mortification attain to the Buddhaship 1 " And they left him and went to a distance of one hundred and twenty miles, to the Isipatana deer-forest (near Benares). CHAPTER VIIL THE FINAL EFFORT. In the village Sanekka of Umwela, there lived a maiden named Sucliada, the daughter of a rich man. She had made a vow to the angel established in a great banyan-tree, that if she married a worthy hus- band, and if her first-born proved to be a son, she would yearly make an immense offering in honour of the angel of the tvee}^^ The objects of her vow having been accomplished, she prepared her offering for the fifteenth day of the sixth month. She selected a thousand cows, fed in the richest pastures ; with their milk she fed five hundred others; with theirs, two hundred and fifty ; and so on until the number was reduced to eight cows, from whose udders the most luscious milk flowed without pressure into the vessels placed to receive it. With this rich milk she prepared her offering, and lo ! when the vessel was set on the fire, bubbles rose from it in waves curling to the right, yet not one single drop was spilt, neither did any smoke rise from the fire, for these things were controlled by the power of the merits of the Grand Being, now about to become Buddha. The angels also brought ambrosial flavours, and placed them in the savoury rice. And Suchada wondered at these miracles, exclaim- 144 PART II. ing, " Often as I have made offerings, the angels have never before shown their satisfaction as they have this day ; " and she sent her servant Bun without delay to sweep the ground around the banyan-tree, that it might be perfectly clean and neat. Now in the last watch of the preceding night, the Grand Being, sleeping soundly, saw five visions. Firstly, He dreamt that the world was his couch, the Himalaya mountains his cushion, and his outstretched hands reached to the eastern and western oceans. Secondly, He dreamt that a shoot of the grass named Kha sprouted from his navel, and growing, growing, growing, reached the skies, more than ten thousand miles above him. Thirdly, He dreamt that all kinds of birds, of the most varied plumage, flew towards him from all direc- tions, and falling at his feet, became perfectly white. Fourthly, He dreamt that four kinds of grubs, with white bodies and black heads, crawled from his toes to his knees, quite covering his feet. Fifthly, He dreamt that he walked on a heap of filth twenty miles in height, yet not the least particle soiled his feet, which remained clean as though he had been walking on a stone slab. When he awoke, he pondered on these visions, making the reflection, " Had I still been in my former royal state, I should have sent for the soothsayers to expound these dreams ; but as it is, I must use my own meditative science to explain them." And by his meditative science he perceived clearly that the first dream meant that he would become the lord of all law and of all knowledge. The second dream meant that he would relinquish desire, wrath, and LIFE OF BUDDHA. 145 folly, and would bestow (the knowledge of) the eight paths to salvation on all angels and men. The third dream signified that beings would flock in from all quarters to hear his teaching, and would alter their nature, till then given up to desire, wrath, and folly. The fourth dream showed that he would bestow the rite of monasticism and the adoration of the Triad upon all men. The fifth dream was a sure token that abounding in (a knowledge of) the four causes of misery, he would (no longer) be detained by them. When he had interpreted the visions, he washed his face and hands, took his food-pan, and went and sat under the shade of the great banyan-tree (where Bun, the slave of Suchada, had just finished sweepino-), and she saw him radiant with a glory, and ran and told her mistress. Great was the joy of Suchada. "You are no longer my slave, but my daughter," she exclaimed ; and she gave her suitable attire and ornaments. Then elegantly dressed, followed by her attendant, she went to the tree, bearing on her head her savory rice, in a golden bowl which had cost a hun- dred thousand pieces of silver, covered with a second golden bowl, and with a clean white cloth over all. As she entered beneath the spreading branches of the great banyan-tree, she saw the Grand Beino-, and filled with angelic happiness, she respectfully ap- proached him, and placing her bowl on the ground, took from her attendant a golden scent-vase, and ofi'ered it to the Lord. Now, at this very moment, the bowl which the great Brahma Khathikara had presented to him, dis- appeared, and the Grand Being stretched forth his right hand to receive the bowl of Suchada. K 146 PART TI. Suchada first poured perfume on his hand, and then offered her golden bowl, offered it joyfully and freely, gave it as if she prized it no more than an old cracked clay pot. And the Lord accepted it, saying, "Your desire shall be accomplished." And she offered homage, and went away joyfully, singing, "My desire will be accomplished." She thought she had seen the angel (of the tree). Then, following the precedent of all the Buddhas, the Grand Being rose, and carried the bowl thrice round the banyan-tree, and then proceeding to the Nairanjana river, placed his golden bowl on the spot where previous Buddhas had placed their bowls, bathed, resumed the monk's dress, sat for a time meditatins:, with his face turned towards the east, and ate forty-nine portions of his savory rice, each portion the size of an egg. Having finished his meal, he cried, " If I shall in- deed become a Buddha, let this golden bowl float upwards against the stream ; " and setting his bowl adrift upon the river, it became, as it were, endowed with life and intelligence, and floated against the stream, swift as a racehorse. It travelled about eighty cubits, and then, sinking into the realms of Kala, the Naga King,^*^ it clashed loudly against the three bowls which had been similarly set afloat by former^** Buddhas, and placed itself beneath them. Kala, the King of Nagas, was awoke by the loud resounding clash, and, starting from his resting- place, exclaimed, " It was but yesterday that a royal Buddha assumed his dignity ; to-day there is another. I never have time for a comfortable sleep." Then he LIFE OF BUDDHA. 147 went forth and offered sacrifice, and sang a vast num- ber of songs of praise. The Grand Being that should be Buddha saw the miracle (of the bowl), and was filled with joy ; for he knew that he should now certainly attain the Bud- dhahood. He sat all day by the river side, in a spot perfumed with the fragrant flowers of the forest-trees ; and in the evenino-, when the flowers were fallino; from the trees, he marched thence to a copse of the flower- abounding forest. Eoyally he marched, with the bold bearing of the king of lions of the Himalayan forests, his thoughts intent on a single object, the Buddha- hood. In the direction to which he turned, there was a grand Bo-tree, perfect in the beauty of its trunk and branches and brilliant dark-green foliage. To it the angels made a road, five hundred cubits wide, for him to pass by. Then the whole host of Indra angels of the thousand worlds approached with sacrificial offerings. The great Brahma, Sahabodi, held over him the white umbrella ^^° of royalty. The angels of the Tushita and Yama heavens brought a chowrie, six thousand fathoms in length, and waved it, fanning the Grand Being. The thousand-eyed Indra marched before him, blowing his great conch-shell, two thousand fathoms long. Thus the Grand Being pursued his way, escorted by the angelic host. And he met a certain Brahmin, named Sotiya, and from him accepted eight handfuls of long grass. Arriving at the tree, he placed the grass on the south side. Then the very earth itself, as if it knew, showed that that was not the proper 148 PAKT 11. place for tlie jewelled throne ; and the Lord, reflect- ing on it, took up the grass, and proceeding to the east side, spread it there, exclaiming, " If I shall in- deed be master of the omniscience of the tree, may these eight bundles of grass become a jewelled throne for me to sit on." And it became a beautiful jewelled throne, fourteen cubits in height. The Lord took his seat on the throne, and with upright figure and well-steadied mind, he plunged his whole thought, in perfect purity, to attain the omni- science of the Buddhahood, by virtue of his charity and avoidance of sin throughout a countless number of existences of the world. "Never will I rise from this seat," he exclaimed, " until I have attained the Buddhahood." Thus the royal Holy Being of the order of Buddhas, now in his last state of transmigrating existence, seeking to insure the happiness of men and angels, unequalled in intelligence, in patient endurance, and in bodily strength, sat on the jewelled throne, and exerted that persistence by which the Buddhahood was to be attained. And the host of angels of the ten thousand worlds gathered round him with ofi'erings of precious per- fumes, and raised a heavenly concert, the strains of which resounded even in the most distant universe. CHAPTER IX. THE CONTEST WITH THE EVIL SPIRIT. The great King Mara, who ruled over all the Mara angels, he whose nature is sinful and filthy, had throughout these six years been vainly seeking an occasion against the Grand Being. He heard the rejoic- ings of the angels, and knew their cause, and determined that he must at once destroy the man who was about to pass beyond his power. For this purpose he sent his three daughters, Raka, Aradi, and Tanha.^^^ Beautifully bedecked, and escorted by five hundred maidens, they approached the throne of the Grand Being, and Eaka first addressed him, " Lord ! fearest thou not death r'''' Having inquired her name, he further demanded the object of her visit ; and being answered that she came because it was her wont to chain all beino-s in the fetters of concupiscence, he drove her away, with the words, " All this course of mortification have I endured, that I might purge myself of concupiscence." With similar words he drove away Aradi, whose wont it was to bind all beings in the fetters of angry temper, and Tanha, whose fetters were those of desire or delight in voluptuous sensations. The Grand Beino; drove them from him in confu- sion, for the daughters of Mara could suggest no plea- 150 PART II. sure to him, and had no charm of sufficient power to entice him. Then the royal Mara, in fury, assembled his generals, saying, " Listen, ye Maras, that know not sorrow ! Now shall I make war on the Prince Sidharta, that man without an equal. I dare not attack him in face, but I will circumvent him by approaching on the north side. Assume, then, all manner of shapes, and use your mightiest powers, that he may flee in terror." And they, obedient to their King, assumed the most horrible and fearful forms, and raised an awful sound, as of a hundred thousand thunders. King Mara himself, assuming an immense size, and with a thousand arms brandishing all kinds of martial weapons, riding on his elephant Girimaga, a thousand miles in height, led on his army. The van stretched two hundred and fifty miles before him, and the rear- guard extended to the very walls of the world. "Advance, my soldiers !" he shouted; "seize and bind the Prince Sidharta, and bring him to me, that I may cut ofi" his feet and cast them across the great ocean." Terrible in appearance, they advanced. Yet did none of them dare enter beneath the shade of the great Bo-tree. Vainly their King shouted to them to enter and seize him, for none could pass the precincts of the tree. Nevertheless, the angels who, till then, had watched around him, when they heard the tumult, and saw the horrible army coming from the north, fled in terror. They fled and left him — left him alone, sitting on his glorious throne, like the Great Brahma in his heavenly palace. LIFE OF BUDDHA. 151 The Grand Being, deserted by the angels, looked towards the north, and saw the army of Mara advanc- ing, as if by the feet alone of its innumerable hosts it would trample the great Bo-tree into impalpable dust. Then he reflected : "Long have I now devoted myself to a life of mortification, and now I am alone, without a friend to aid me in this contest. Yet may I escape the Maras, for the virtue of my transcendent merits will be my army ! " " Help me," he cried, " ye thirty Barami ! ^^^ ye powers of accumulated merit, ye powers of Almsgiving, Morality, Relinquishment, Wisdom, Fortitude, Patience, Truth, Determination, Charity, and Equanimity, help me in my fight with Mara !" Yet the approach of Mara's army caused in him no fear, nor did he move in the least from his perfectly calm position of meditation on the jewelled throne. Loudly King Mara shouted to his army to advance and seize him, to slay him, and cut out his heart. Vainly King Mara, his eyes darting flames, urged on his army to the attack ; vainly they brandished their weapons and assumed the most hideous forms. As elephants, horses, and stags, lions, tigers, and panthers, they crowded round about him ; with long wild hair they floated around and above him, shaking their spears, and trying to strike terror with huge pestles and mortars ; but they could neither hurt him nor inspire him with fear. Then King Mara caused a rain of all kinds of mis- siles to pour from the skies. He made his own form huger and huger every moment ; he became five miles in height — ten miles — twenty — and even thirty. He caused a violent gale to blow from the east, of exceed- ing force, such that the mountain peaks fell before it, 152 PART 11. and the earth shook and cracked beneath its rao;e. He caused a rain of burning ashes to fall, so that the Grand Being might be destroyed ; yet, by the virtue of his merits, the burning ashes were changed into wreaths of flowers — into an offering of sweet-scented flowers. " Come down from my throne/' shouted the evil- formed one ; " come down, or I will cut thine heart into atoms ! " Then the Grand Being spoke : "This jewelled throne was created by the power of my merits, for I am he who will teach all men the remedy for death, who will be Buddha, and will redeem all beings, and set them free from the sorrows of circling existence." Fierce was the rage of Mara when he heard these words. He dismounted from his elephant, and armed with the most exquisite of weapons, the splendid Chakkra,^^* he approached the Grand Being and again addressed him : " Why, Sidharta ! wilt thou not rise and leave that throne, which should be mine alone, for thou becomest it not 1 My intelligence is higher than thine, my power greater than thine ; and it was by the virtue of my merits that this throne was created." And the Lord answered, " Are these words true 1 " And Mara asserting that they were indeed true, the Grand Being again declared, " This throne, Mara ! has been created by the virtue of merits accumulated by me in previous existences." Still did Mara shout to him to leave the throne, and assert that it had been created by his merits, for he trusted to the numbers of his host, that they would LIFE OF BUDDHA. 153 offer themselves as witnesses of all that lie asserted. Then tlie Lord, putting forth the majesty of his power, spoke : " Mara ! thou knowest not the force of my Chakkra, or the might of my army. Thou knowest not that my intellect is a piercing weapon against which no enemy can contend." And Mara, hearing these words, reflected : " Indeed (it seems that) this Prince Sidharta has no equal among men or angels in keeping to the truth, and every word he speaks is spoken with due care. But I must fur- ther inquire into this matter." So he asked : " Now I know, Prince Sidharta ! that thou art a liar ; sitting alone, thou yet declarest that thou hast a large army. If it exists, why cannot we see it 1 " " Mara ! I cannot lie. Through a countless number of successive existences, I have persistently accumu- lated the Barami, the virtue of transcendent merit, of thirty kinds. They are my forces. They will accom- plish my desires." " What," demanded Mara, " are these forces thou hast so long maintained 1 " " Hearken, Mara ! I have given my wealth, my garments, my children in charity. I have given my wife in charity. I have given my flesh, my blood, my head, my heart in charity. Such are my forces. By the thirty virtues of transcendent merits, and the five great alms, I have obtained this throne. Thou, in saying that this throne was created by thy merits, tellest an untruth, for indeed this is no throne for a sinful, horrible being such as thou art." Angered beyond endurance. King Mara now put forth his highest powers. He hurled the awful Chakkra, and it clove the mountains in its course, but it could 154 PART IT. not toucli the Grand Being, nor pass the miraculous canopy of flowers outspread to protect his head. Vainly did Mara seize the rocks and mountains, and hurl them forth to crush him ; for by the virtue of the Grand Being they were changed into fragrant flowers, and fell as offerings at his feet. And the angels, who had fled to the walls of the world, and thence watched the combat, saw him, sit- ting like a noble lion surrounded by deer, calm and unmoved by the army of Mara. Then the Grand Being called to King Mara, and said, " Where are the witnesses of those acts of merit by the performance of which thou say est thou hast caused the creation of this throne '? " And King Mara, pointing to his generals, answered, " Behold my witnesses ! " and with one accord they shouted that they could bear him witness. " Tell me now," he con- tinued, " where is the man that can bear witness for thee 1 " The Grand Being reflected. " Truly here is no man to bear me witness ; but I will call on the earth itself, though it has neither spirit ^^^ nor understanding, and it shall be my witness. Stretching forth his hand, he thus invoked the earth : " holy earth ! I who have attained the thirty powers of virtue, and per- formed the five great alms, each time that I have performed a great act have not failed to pour ^^^ water upon thee. Now that I have no other witness, I call upon thee to give thy testimony. If this throne was created by my merits, let the earth quake and show it ; and if not, let the earth be still ! " And the angel of the earth, unable to resist his invocation, sprang from the earth in the shape of a LIFE OF BUDDHA. 155 lovely woman with long flowing hair, and standing before him, answered : " Being more excellent than angels or men ! it is true that when you performed your great works you ever poured water on my hair." And with these words she wrung her long hair, and a stream, a flood of waters gushed forth from it. Onwards against the host of Mara the mighty torrent rushed. His generals were overturned, his elephant swept away by the waters, his royal in- signia destroyed, and his whole army fled in utter confusion, amid the roarings of a terrific earthquake, and peals of thunder crashing through the skies. Thus the Grand Being conquered King Mara and his army ; and forthwith the whole world was filled with the sound of the rejoicings of the angels, singing songs of praise. And King Mara and his generals feared and trem- bled, and a strong feeling of compassionate sorrow aff'ected them, and they cried, "Oh! truly is made manifest the reward of acts of charity which will fulfil the desire of Prince Sidharta." Then joy filled the heart of the King of the Maras ; and throwing away his weapons, he raised his thousand arms above his head, and did reverence, saying, " Homage to the Lord who has subdued his body, even as a charioteer breaks his horses to his use ! Homage to the Lord, more excellent than men, or angels, or Brahmas. The Lord will become the omniscient Buddha, the Teacher of angels and Brahmas, Yakkhas, and men. He will confound all the Maras, and will rescue men from the whirl of transmigration ! " 156 PART II. Thus did King Mara praise the Lord ere he returned to his abode. Then the host of angels shouted praises, saying, " Worthy is he of the offerings of men and angels, for there is none that can overcome or equal him ! " CHAPTER X. THE ATTAINMENT OF THE BUDBHAHOOD. The Lord, the Teacher, ^^' not having yet attained omni- science, continued to sit on his throne shaded by the holy jewel the Bo-tree, where he had routed King Mara and all his host. His victory had been completed in the evening near about nio-htfall. And in the first watch of the night, the Lord entered into that state of meditation which gave him the powder of remembering ^^^ his former existences to a number beyond count. He remembered the time and place and nature of each existence, his form, his colour, his good and evil fortune, and the condition to which he trans- migrated on death. All this the Lord saw clearly, as if it had been a world illumined by a hundred or a thousand suns of exceeding; brightness. And on entering the middle watch, the Lord entered into that state of meditation which confers angelic sight and hearing,^®'' the power of seeing and hearing what is desired, irrespective of distance, or of inter- vening obstacles. And at the beginning of the third watch of the night, the Lord applied himself to the consideration of the Laws of Cause and Effect, the sequence of exis- tence.^^^ Then he saw that life, or the state of transmigrating 158 PART II. existence, was but one condition of a series of twelve, of whicli the first was ignorance, and the last sorrow, decrepitude, and death ; a series of which each con- dition was an effect of that which preceded it, and a cause of that which followed it. He saw that the first condition was Ignorance, which, during some preceding state of existence, had prevented the recognition of the vanity of all things, and had led to acts of merit and demerit, instead of to perfect rest. It might therefore be justly regarded as the cause of merit and demerit, which, in the form of Predisposition, or active tendency to arrangement, was the second condition. This predisposition was the disposer of the fruits of merit and demerit ; indeed, was that which caused the fruits to be just and consistent with their origin. In order that effect might be given to the predispo- sition, there was need of an appreciating power (of which it might be regarded as the cause,) and that power was Intelligence, the third condition. This intelligence at once led to a fourth condition that of Distinction, and the Expression of distinction, or form and name, that is, the elements of objects and their qualities. From the existence of these naturally arose that which was necessary for their manifestation, that is to say, the fifth condition, the six Seats of the Senses. And in order that they might develop themselves, they caused a sixth condition to arise, and unite them with the feelings it was their object to express ; this condition was Contact, uniting ideas with their sensa- tions. The seventh condition, which followed on con- LIFE OF BUDDHA. 159 tact, and was caused by it, was tlae Sensation itself, agreeable or disag-reeable, as it mio-ht be. And this sensation was naturally followed by the eighth condition, that of Desire for, pleasure in, or inclination towards something which would promote its continuance. Desire gave rise to a ninth condition, that of firm Attachment to the object of desire, a cleaving and adherence to it. This cleaving to its object gave rise to a tenth con- dition, that of Existence in general, the state of devil, man, and angel, or, in fine, the worlds. The eleventh condition, dependent on general exis- tence, was the existence of a being in the conditions of transmigration, or the Life of the individual. The twelfth and last condition, the invariable sequence of life, was Decrepitude and Death. Such were the twelve conditions of the sequence of existence which the Lord considered of as He sat on the jewelled throne shaded by the great tree of wisdom. And he saw clearly their perfect connection, un- broken as a stream of water. He saw that decrepitude^ death, and sorrow were but the consequences of indi- vidual life ; that individual life depended on general existence ; that general existence sprang from attach- ment to that which was desired, and that from desire. He saw that desire could not arise without sensation ; that sensation could not arise without contact ; and that contact was impossible without the six seats of the senses. He saw that the seats of the senses were a result of the pre-existence of distinction and its ex- pression, and that these existed because an intelligent influence gave rise to them ; that that intelligence was 160 PART TI. caused by a predisposition to action, and the predis- position by ignorance of the four great truths. And he saw that by extinguishing ignorance, pre- disposition to action would be extinguished also ; and that by the extinction of predisposition, each of the other conditions would in turn be done away with, and sorrow would be destroyed. The Grand Being sat on the jewelled throne raised above the plain of virtue, holding in the hand of truth the sword of thorough investigation,^*^^ sharpened on the whetstone of contemplation,-^^ with which to cut off the circulation of transmio-ratino; existence. With patient perseverance in good deeds^^*^^ for his strength, he wielded the sword of thorough investiga- tion. Then did he see that all the twelve conditions were but unstable, painful, and illusive.^^^ Earnestly persisting in his meditation, he progressed to a knowledge of the paths which lead to salvation. Meditation on all things in due sequence,^*^^ and that meditation which reveals Nirwana to the mind,^^^ were the steps that brought him to the first path.^*'^ Reaching the first path, he destroyed belief in the existence of self and of possession. He destroyed doubt, and destroyed false doctrine. Earnestly persisting in meditation, he arrived at the second path, and annihilated the coarser evils, lust, avarice, and anger. Still persisting in meditation, the Lord arrived at the third path, and annihilated the more refined pas- sions still remaining in him. And further persisting in meditation with yet in- creased force, the Lord arrived at the fourth path, and LIFE OF BUDDHA. 161 utterly annihilated all contamination, ^'^^ all evil that remained in him. Thus did the Lord arrive at the Samma-samphotthi- yan/'*' the omniscient Buddhahood, perfected by self- confidence"^ in his knowledge, his goodness, his just appreciation of difficulties, and the completeness of the law he would teach. Thus did the Lord become the Buddha worthy of the adoration of all beino;s — Ano;els and Asuras, Gand- harvas, Suparnas, and Nagas. Then there were signs and portents and earthquakes throughout all the ten thousand worlds, the same great wonders as had attended his birth. SIAMESE CONCLUSION. The Lord Buddha having obtained omniscience, yet remained seated on the jewelled throne beneath the great holy Bo-tree for a space of seven days, full of satisfaction and happiness, arising from the fruition of his holiness. And at the end of seven days, rising from his throne, and proceeding to a short distance from it, he stood on its east and on its north in due order, and thus reflected — " Vast has been the kindness and the service which this great holy Bo-tree has rendered to me. Trusting to its protecting shade have I attained to omniscience. Yet have I nothing here by which to express my gratitude. I have but my eyes with which to make my offering, in place of flowers, or lights, or incense." Thus thinking, the holy Lord of compassion stood with unclosed eyes for seven days, as an off'ering to L 162 PART II. the holy Bo-tree. He kept open the azure lotuses, Lis eyes, and offered them instead of scents and flowers. And that place became famous by the name of the Anila Chaitya. Then many of the angels wondered and doubted, saying : " Is this all that happens on the attainment of the Buddhahood ? Does the Buddha merely vene- rate the great Bo-tree with unclosed eyes 1 or will he perform some other work 1 " And the Lord, the conqueror, knowing their thoughts, relieved them by a great miracle, causing the miracu- lous appearance of a crystal portico for himself to walk in, a crystal portico with ten thousand golden columns. Note. — The story of Buddha's Life is continued in Note 173. NOTES TO THE LIFE OF BUDDHA. 1. In this note I will endeavour to explain tlie words Buddha, Bodhi, Bodhisatva, and Phra. Buddha, in Siamese, Fkut and Phutha, ' The Wise,' is the principal title of every Buddha, of whom it is supposed there have been infinite numbers, who have enlightened the world successively at distant intervals. The word comes from the Sanscrit " Budha/' which is derived from " budh " — to fathom, penetrate, understand. Bodhi, a Sanscrit word, in Siamese, Phothi, has in both languages the same meanings — (1.) wisdom ; (2.) the sacred fig-tree, pipul, ficus religiosa, or Bo-tree — the tree under which Buddha sat during the meditation which raised him to omni- science, and which is to be found in the grounds of almost every temple in Siam. M. Burnouf remarked of the word Bodhi, that he preferred not to translate it, as although it could be translated as " intel- ligence," its meaning would be incompletely conveyed by that word, and it in fact implied the " condition of a Buddha." In Siamese it is most commonly found in compound words, such as — Phothisat (Sanscrit, Bodhisatva), a being who is passing through transmigrations on the way to become a Buddha. At the beginning of the Siamese story of Buddha are men- tioned some of these pre-existences of the Phothisat, the term applied to him up to the very time he achieves the Buddha- hood. 164 NOTES TO THE Pliothiyan is another compound of frequent occurrence. It is a contraction for Sompliothiyan (Sanscrit, sam, bodhi, jnana), the omniscience of a Buddlia. Phra is a Siamese word applied to all that is worthy of the highest respect, that is, everything connected with re- ligion and royalty. It may be translated as " holy." The Siamese letters p-h-r commonly represent the Sanscrit v-r. I therefore presume this word to be derived from the Sanscrit " vri — to choose or be chosen," and " vara — better, best, ex- cellent," the root of dpLaTo