BUDDHA A ND THE

GOSPEL OF BUDDHISM

ANANDA COOMARASWAMY D .Sc .

AUTHOR OF“ARTS AND CRAFTS OF I N D IA AND CEYLON " “

RAJPUTPA I NT I NG ”

AND E S SAYS I N NATIONAL IDEAL ISM "

J O I NT-AUTHOROF

“MYTHS OF THE H I NDUS AND BUDDH ISTS

WI TH I LL US TRA TI ON S I N COL OUR B Y

ABANINDRO NATH TAGORE C . I .E.

£5 NANDA LAL BOSE

AND TH I R T Y-TWO R E P R OD UC TI ONS I N

BLACK AND WH I TE FROM PHOTOGRAPHS

NEW YORK

G . P . PUTNAM ’S SONS1 9 1 6

TO

PR INTED AT

THE‘ BALLANTYNE PRESSLONDON, ENGLAND

PREFACE

HE a im of this book i s to set forth as s imply as

possible the Gospel of Buddhism according to the

Buddhist scriptures , and to cons ider the Buddhistsystems in re lation, on the one hand , to the Brahmani calsystems in which they originate

,and, on the o the r hand ,

to those systems of Christian mysticism which affo rd theneare st anal ogie s . At the same t ime the endeavour hasbeen made to i l lustrate the part whi ch Buddhist thoughthas played in the who le deve lopment ofAsiat i c culture , andto sugge st a part of the s ignificance i t may sti l l possessfor mode rn thinkers.

The way of the Buddha i s not, indeed , conce rned d irectlywi th the o rde r of the world , for i t cal l s on highe r men toleave the marke t-place . But the o rde r of the world can

only b e e stabl ished on a foundat i on of knowledge : everyevi l i s ultimate ly traceable to ignorance . I t i s ne cessary ,then, to re cogni ze the world forwhat i t truly is. Gautamateaches us that the marks of th is l i fe are imperfe ction,

transcience , and the absence of any change less individual i ty . He sets befo re us a summum éommz close ly akinto the Christ ian myst i c conception of ‘

se l f-naughting .

’

Here are defini te statements which must be e i the r true orfalse , and a cle arly defined goal which we must e i the raccept or re fuse . I f the statements b e false , and i f thegoal be wo rthle ss , i t i s of the highest importance that theformer should be refuted and the latter d i scredi ted . Buti f the d iagnos is be co rre ct and the a im worthy, i t i s at

least of equal importance that th is should be gene ral lyrecogni zed for we cannot wish to perpetuate as the basi sof our sociology a view of l i fe that is demonstrably falseor a purpose demonstrably contrary to our conception of

the good .

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of BuddhismThis book is designed , there fore , not as an add ition to

our al ready ove r burdened l ibrarie s of information,but

as a defini te contribution to the phi losophy of l i fe . Ourstudy of al ien mode s of thought and fee l ing, i f i t isto b e of any real use to us , must be inspired by othe rthan curious mo t ives or a desire to just i fy our own

system . For the common civi l i zation of the world weneed a common wi ll , a re cogni tion of common problems ,and to co-Operate in the ir so lution. At this moment,when the Western world is beginning to real ize that i thas fai led to attain the frui t of l i fe in a society basedon compe t ition and se l f-assertion, the ir l ie s a pro foundS ignificance in the discove ry of Asiat i c thought, whe rei t is affirmed with no uncerta in vo i ce that the frui t ofl i fe can only b e attained in a socie ty based on the con

ception of moral o rde r and mutual respons ibi l i ty. Le t

me i l lustrate by a S ingle quotat ion the marve l lous d ire ctness and s ince rity Of the social e th i c to which thepsycho logy of Buddhism affords i ts sanction : Vz

’

efory

éreea’s Iza z

‘

rea’, for Me conquered 2

'

s wMappy.

S tories are to ld of As iat i c rule rs paying the price of

kingdoms for a single word of profitable counse l . One

may we l l inqui re whe the r any conce ivable pri ce couldhave been too high for Europe to have pai d for a gene ralrecognition of th i s truth , ere now. There is, again, a

passage of the Ruru-dee r Jataka which is perhaps uniquein all l i te rature in i ts supreme tende rness and courtesyF or wee—the Bodhisattva asks—would wz

'

llz'

flgb/ use

fie ry/e speeM to Mose w/ea leave done a sz

’

nfi e! a’eea

’

,

skewing sale, as i t were, upon Me wowed of Meir

I t i s with gi fts such as this that Buddhism , and the

Hinduism from which i t issue s and into which i t hasV I

Prefac e

again merged , stand over aga inst the wo rld of Zaz'

ssez

faz'

re, demand ing of the ir fo l lowe rs only the abandonment of all resentment , coveting, and dulness , and Offeringin re turn a happiness and peace beyond our reasonableunderstanding . Can we deny that modes of thoughtwh ich find expre ss ion thus must for ever command our

deepest sympathy and most pro found cons ide ration ?I t i s not poss ible that l ibe rat ion from resentment,cove t ing, and dulness , should ever be i l l-t imed : and

i t is just this l iberation which consti tute s the e th icalfactor in Nibbana, where the psycho logi cal part is sel fforgetfulness .I t wi l l be pla inly seen to what extent I am indebted to thework of other scholars and students , and I wish to makea frank and grate ful acknowledgment to all those fromwhose work I have freely quoted , part i cularly Pro fessorand Mrs Rhys Davids and Pro fe ssor Oldenbe rg, as wellas to others to whom I am indebted for the use of photographs . The latte r, reproduced in monochrome , i l lustratethe h istory of Buddhist art : but bes ide th is , the work ofmodern Ind ian painte rs i l lustrating Buddhist thought andlegend i s reproduced in co lour.A few suggestions may b e use ful as a guide to pro

nunc iation. Vowels general ly are pronounced as i n

I tal ian : a as in Amerzea , a as in faMer, e as a in nave,

i as in i f,"

i as ee in g reet, o as in note, a as 00 in room,

22 as 00 in éoot az

'

has the sound of z'

in az'

le , an the soundof aw in row . Eve ry consonant is distinctly pronounced ,and aspi rates are d istinctly heard . C has the sound ofM in Mare/2, whi le 5 in some cases has the sound of Sn,eg . in S iva , I svara , S ankara , e tc . The accent fal ls onthe first syl lable or the th i rd , rarely or never on thesecond .

vi i

Buddha $39 the Gospe l of BuddhismCertain wo rds, such as namnza , Nz

'

ooana , Bod/tzlvatta , e tc . ,

are quoted in these Pal i fo rms whe re H i nayana Buddhismis in quest ion, and in the more famil iar Sanskri t formskarma , Nz

'

roa'

na , Bod/z z'

sattoa , where the re fe rence is toMahayana .

ANANDA COOMARASWAMY

LONDON,February 8, 1 9 1 6

vi i i

CONTENTS

PART I : THE L IFE OF THE BUDDHA

PART I I : THE GOSPEL OF EARLYBUDDH ISM

I DHAMMA

I I SAMSARA AND KAMMA (KARMA)I I I BUDDH I ST HEAVENS AND HOW TO REACH

THEM

IV N IBBANAV ETH ICS

VI CONSCIENCEVI I SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

VI I I CONSOLATIONIX THE ORDER

X TOLERANCEXI WOMENXI I EARLY BUDDH I SM AND NATURE

XI I I BUDDH IST PESSIM I SM

XIV A BUDDHI ST EMPEROR

PART I I I CONTEMPORARY SYSTEMS

I VEDANTA

I I SAMKHYA

I I I YOGA

PAGE

1 96

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhism

PART IV THE MAHAYANAPm

1 BEGINN INGS OF THE MAHAYANA11 SYSTEM OF THE MAHAYANAI I I CH ’

AN, OR Z EN BUDDH ISM

PART V BUDDH IST ART

I LITERATUREI I SCULPTURE AND PAINTING

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GLOSSARY

INDEX

LI ST OF PLATES

PLATEA THE FORTY-N I NE DAYS (CEYLON)

Facm

B THE FI RST SERMON (SARNATH )C THE FIRST SERMON (NEPAL)D THE BUDDHA TEACH I NG (JAPAN )E STAN D I NG IMAGE OF THE BUDD HA (MATHURA)F ROCK-CUT IMAGE OF THE BUDDHA (LONG-MEN, CH I NA)

G STAN D I NG I MAGE OF THE BU DDHA W ITH ATTENDANTS(CH I NESE)

THE Q UELLI NG OF MALAGI RI (AMARAVATI)THE DEATH OF THE BUDD HA (POLONNARUVA)THE BUDDHA I N SAMADH I (ANURAD HAPURA)BUD DH IST MON K (CH I NESE)

MONASTERY AND TEM PLE-COURT (CH I NESE)

BUD DH I ST TEMPLEs I N CEYLON

O SANCH I STUPA AND GATEWAY

P CAP ITAL OF ASOKA COLUM N (SARNATH)

Q LAY -WORSH IPPERS AT A BUD D HA SH RI NE (AMARAVATI)R AVALOKITESVARA (NEPAL)S MA ITREYA (CEYLON )T MARA

’

S BATTLE AND A BU DDH I ST LIBRARY (CEYLON)U THE BUD DHA TEACH I NG (LAOS) 2 74

Buddha 5639 the Gospe l of Buddhism

PLATEW YAKKHI AND NAGARAJA (BHARHUT)

YAKKHI (SANCH I )

Y STAN D I NG IMAGE OF THE BUD D HA (ANURAD HAPURA)Z IMAGES OF THE BUDD HA AND OF BOD H ISATTVAS (CEYLON

AND CH I NA)

THE FI RST SERMON (GAN DHARA)

BB THE BUDD HA (CAMBOD IA)

CC BODH I SATTVA,PERHAPS AVALOK ITESVARA (AJANTA)

DD MANJUS RI (JAVA)EE BODH ISATTVA (CH I NA)FF THE BU D D HA (CH I NA)

GG KWANY IN (JAPAN )HH KWANY IN (CH I NA)

LIST OF PLATES IN COLOUR

THE TEM PTAT IO N OF BU D DHA L5! Bore

THE DEPARTURE OF BU D DHA Nonda LZ/ Bore

SUJATA AND THE BOWL OF M ILK- R ICE Nonda L5! Bore

YASODHARA AND RAHULA Nonda L5! Bore

BUDDHA AND ANAN DA Nonda LEI Bore

THE FI NAL RELEASE 4 54mm Na‘

M

THE VICTORY OF BU D DHA Aoonindro NZM

BU DDHA As MEN D ICANT Abanindro NZM I SO

Q UOTAT IONSwi ll go down to self-anniki lation and eternal deaf/z ,

Lest Me Lostjudgment come andfind me unanni lzilate,And I be sei e

’

d andgi v’n i nto Me lzands of my own S elfkood.

B lake,M

'

lton .

But,alas

,bozo bard i t is for Me Wi ll to sink into noMing, to attract

not/Zing , to imagine noMing.

Let i t be granted Mat i t is so. !s i t not surely wort/z My Evlzile,and all

Ma tMou canst ever do 2

B elzmen,“D ialogues.

Not I,not any one else can travel Mat roadforyou. You must travel i t

foryourself.Walt Wki tman.

You cannot step twi ce into Me same waters, for freslz waters are ever

flowing in uponyou.

H eraklei tus.

Vraiement comencent amours en ioye etfynissent en dolours.

By a man wi t/zout passions I mean one wko does not permi t good and

evi l to disturb ti is internal economy,but rat/zerfalls in wi t/z wlzatever

lzappens, as a matter of course, and does not add to Me sum of lzis

Clzuang Tau.

P rofound, O Vacc/za , is Mis doctri ne, recondi te, and difficult of compre

lzension, good, excellent, and not to be reaclzed by mere reasoning, subtile,

and intelligible only to Me wi se and zt i s a lzard doctrineforyou to learn,wiza belong to anoMer sect

,to anoMer fa iM,

to anoMer persuasion, to

anoMer discipli ne, and si t at Mefeet of anoMer teaclzer.

‘Ma/jlzzma M kaya,’

Sutta 7 2 .

PART I THE LI FE OF THE BUDDHA

H i s B i rM

HE name Buddha, the Knowe r, ’ the Enl ightened ,’

‘ the Wake , ’ is the appellat ion by which the

wandering preaching friar Gautama became bestknown to h is d i sciple s . Of this man we are able to say

with some ce rtainty that he was born in the year 56 3 B .C.

and d ied in 483 B.C. He was the hei r of a rul inghouse of the Sakyas, whose l ittle kingdom , a ri ch i rrigatedplain between the Nepalese foot-hi l ls and the river Rapti ,lay to the north-east of the pre sent province of Oudh .

To the south-west lay the large r and more powe rfu lkingdom of the K osalas, to whom the Sakyas owed a

nominal al legiance . The Buddha’s pe rsonal name wasS iddhattha,

hi s family name Gautama, his fathe r ’ s nameSuddhodana, h is mother’s Maya. I t i s only in late rlegend that Suddhodana i s represented as a great king ;most l ikely he was in fact a weal thy knight and landowner . S iddhattha’smother d ied sevendays afte r hi s birth ,and her s i ste r Mahajapati , ano ther wi fe of Suddhodana,

fil led the place of mother to the young prince . He wasbrought up in K apilavatthu, a busy provincial capital ; hewas tra ined in martial exercises , rid ing, and outdoor l i fegene ral ly, and in all knightly accompl ishments, but i t i sno t ind icated in the early books that he was accompl ishedin Brahmani cal lo re . In accordance with the custom ofwe l lto-do youths , he occupied three d iffe rent houses in winter,summer, and the rainy season, the se house s be ing providedwith beauti ful pleasure gardens and a good deal of s impleluxury . I t is re corded that he was married , and had a

son, by name Rahula, who afterwards be came his d isciple .S iddhattha experienced the intel lectual and Spiri tual

9

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhismunrest of his age , and fe l t a growing di ssat i sfact ion withthe wo rld of pleasure inwhich he moved , a d issati sfactionroo ted in the fact of its transience and uncertainty, and of

man’s subjection to all the i l ls Of mo rtal i ty . Suddhodana

feared that the se thoughts would lead to the loss of h i sson, who would be come a he rmi t , as was the tendencyof the thinkers of the time ; and these fears we re we l lfounded , for in Spi te of every pleasure and luxury thatcould b e devised to withho ld him , S iddhattha ultimate lyleft his home to adopt the ‘ home less l i fe ’

of the‘Wandere r, ’ a seeke r afte r truth that should ava i l tol iberate all men from the bondage of mortal i ty . S uchenl ightenment he found after years of search . The reafte r,during a long mini stry as a wandering preacher, he taughtthe Four AriyanTruths and the Eightfo ld Path attracting many d isciples , he founded a monasti c order as a

re fuge for h ighe r men, the seeke rs for eve rlasting freedomand unshakable peace . He died at the age of e ighty .

A fter h is death h is d isciple s gathe re d toge ther the“Words of the Enl ightened One ,” and from th is nucleusthere grew up in the course of a few centuries the who lebody of the Pal i canon, and ultimate ly, unde r S l ightlyd iffe rent inte rpre tat ion, the who le mass of the MahayanaSutras . That so much of the story represents l i te ra l facti s not only very poss ible , but extremely probable ; forthere is no th ing he re which is no t in perfe ct accordancewith the l i fe of that age and the natural deve lopment ofIndian though t. We know, for example , that manygroups of wandering asce ti cs we re engaged in the samequest, and that they were large ly re cru ited from an inte lle c tual and soc ial aristocracy to whom the pre tensions of

Brahmani cal priestcraft were no longe racceptable , andwhowere no less out of sympathy with the mul ti tudinous cultsI O

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismdecay, to disease , and to death ; i t i s right, then, that I

should strive to win the great deathless Nibbana, whichis tranqui l , and free from birth and de cay, s ickness , andwoe and weal . S urely the re must b e a road that leads toN ibbana and re leases man from existence .

”Accord ingly,

he gave away all h is weal th and adopted the l i fe of a

he rmi t in the forest. At that t ime Di pankara Buddhaappeared in the world , and atta ined enl ightenment . I t

happened one day that Dipankara Buddha was to passthat way, and men we re preparing the road for him .

S umedha asked and re ce ived permission to jo in in the

work , and no t only d id he do so , but when Di pankaracame Sumedha la id h imse l f down in the mud , so that theBuddha might walk upon h is body without so i l ing h isfee t . Then Dipankara

’

s attent ion was aroused and he

be came aware of S umedha’s intent ion to become a Buddha,

and, looking countless ages into the future , he saw that hewould become a Buddha of the name Of Gautama, and heprophes ied accord ingly . Thereupon Sumedha rejo i ced ,and, reje cting the immediate prospect of becoming an

Arahat, as the disciple of Dipankara,Le t me rather, ”

he sa id , “ l ike Di pankara, having risen to the supremeknowledge of the truth , enable all men to ente r the Shipof truth , and thus I may bear them ove r the S ea of

Existence, and then only le t me real i ze N i bbana myse l f.”

I ncarnation of Me Buddka

When Dipankara wi th all hi s fol lowe rs had passed bySumedha examined the Ten Pe rfe ctions indispensable toBuddahood, and de termined to practise them in his futurebirths . SO i t came to pass, unt i l in the last Of these birthsthe Bodhisatta was reborn as Prince Vessantara, who

exh ibi ted the Perfe c tion of S upernatural Generos ity, andH2

Incarnation of the Buddha

in due time passed away and dwe lt in the Heaven of

Del ight . When the t ime had come for the Bodhisatta

to re turn to earth for the last t ime , the dei tie s of the tenthousand world-systems assembled toge the r, and, approaching the Bodhisatta in the Heaven of De l ight, sai d“ Now has the moment come , 0 Blessed One , for thy

Buddhahood now has the t ime , O Blessed One , arrived 1Then the Bodhisatta conside red the t ime , the continent,the distri ct, the tribe , and the mother, and,

having de termined these , he assented , saying : “ The time has come ,O Blessed Ones, forme to be come a Buddha .

”And even

as he was walking there in the Grove of Gladness hedeparted thence and was conce ived in the womb of the

lady Maha Maya. The manne r of the conception i s ex

plained as fo l lows. At the t ime of the midsumme r festivalin Kapi lavatthu, MahaMaya, the lady of Suddhodana,

lay

on her couch and dreamed a dream . She dreamt thatthe Four Guardians of the Quarters l i fted her up and boreher away to the H imalayas, and the re she was bathed inthe Anotatta lake and lay down to rest on a heavenlycouch within a go lden mans ion on S i lver Hill . Then theBodhisatta, who had be come a beauti ful white e lephant,bearing in his trunk a white lotus flower, approached fromthe North , and seemed to touch her right side and to enterher womb . The next day when She awoke she re latedthe dream to her lord , and i t was interpre ted by the

Brahmans as fo l lows : that the lady had conce ived a man

ch i ld who , should he adopt the l i fe of a householder,would be come a Unive rsal Monarch ; but i f he adoptedthe re l igious l i fe he would be come a Buddha, removing fromthe wo rld the ve i ls of ignorance and S in.

I t should be to ld a lso that at the moment of th e

incarnat ion the heavens and the earth showed signs , the1 3

Buddha B99 the Gospe l of Buddhismdumb spake , the lame walked , all men began to speakkindly, musical instruments played of themselves , theearthwas cove red wi th lotus flowers, and lotuses descendedfrom the Sky, and every tree put forth i ts flowers . Fromthe moment of the incarnat ion, moreove r, four ange l sguarded the Bodh isatta and his mother, to shie ld themfrom all harm . The mothe r was not weary, and she

could perce ive the chi ld in her womb as pla inly as one

may see the thread in a transparent gem . The LadyMaha Maya carried the Bodh isatta thus for ten lunarmonths ; at the end of that t ime she expressed a wishto vis it her family in Devadaha ; and she se t out on the

journey . On the way from K apilav atthu to Devadaha

there i s a pleasure-grove of Sal- trees belonging to thepeople of both ci tie s , and at the t ime of the queen’sjourney i t was fi l led with fruits and flowers . He re the

queen de s i red to rest, and she was carried to the greate stof the Sal-trees and stood beneath i t . As she ra i sed herhand to take ho ld of one of i ts branches the pains cameupon her, and so standing and ho ld ing the branch of the

Sal-tree She was de l ive red . Four Brahma ange ls re ce ivedthe chi ld in a golden ne t, and showed i t to the mo ther

,

saying : “ Rejo i ce , O Lady ! a great son i s born to thee .

”

The ch i ld stood upright, and took seven strides and

cried : “ I am supreme in the world . This i s my lastb i rth : henceforth the re shal l b e no more bi rth for

me l”

At one and the same t ime there came into be ing the

S even Connatal Ones , viz . , the mother of Rahula, Anandathe favourite disciple , Channa, the attendant, Kanthaka,

the horse , Kaludayi , the minister, the great Bodhi tree ,and the vases of Treasure .

1 4

K ala Devala

K ala Devala

When the Bodhisatta was born there was great rejo i c ingin the heaven of the Thirty-three Gods . At that t imealso a ce rtain hermit by name Kala Devala, an adept, satin trance, vis it ing the heaven of the Thirty-three, and

seeing the rejo i cing he learnt i ts cause . Immediatelyhe re turned to earth , and repai red to the palace , askingto see the new-born chi ld

,The prince was brought in

to salute the great adept, but he rose from his seat andbowed to the ch i ld , saying : “ I may not work my own

destruct ion for assuredly i f the chi ld had been madeto b ow to his fee t , the hermit’s head would have Spl i tatwain, so much had i t been against the o rder of nature .Now the adept cast backward and forward his vis ion overforty ae ons , and perceived that the chi ld would becomea Buddha in his present birth : but he saw that he h imselfwould d ie before the Great Enl ightenment came to pass ,and being reborn in the heaven ofNo—form , a hundred or

even a thousand Buddhas might appear be fore he foundthe Opportuni ty to become the d isc iple of any; and seeingthis , he wept . He sent , howeve r, for his nephew,

then a

househo lder, and advi sed h im to be come a he rmi t, for at

the end of th i rty-fiv e years he would re ce ive the teaching of the Buddha ; and that same nephew,

by nameNalaka, afte rwards ente red the orde r and be came an

Arabat .

On the fifth day the name ceremonies we re pe rfo rmed ,and the chi ld was cal l S iddhattha (S iddhartha) . On th i soccasi on e ight soothsaye rs we re present amongst theBrahmans , and of these seven fo re saw that the ch i ldwould become ei ther a Universal Monarch or a Buddha,but the e ighth , by name K ondaflfia, predicted that hewould of a surety become a Buddha . This same

I S

Buddha the Gospe l Of BuddhismK ondafifia afte rwards be l onged to the five who be camethe Buddha’s first disciples.

Then the prince ’s father inquired : “What wi l l my son

see , that wi l l be the occasion of h is forsaking the househo ld l i fe ? ” The Four S igns , ” was the answe r

,

“a man

worn out by age , a S i ck man, a dead body, and a hermit .

”

Then the king reso lved that no such S ights should ever b eseen by h is son, for he did not wish h im to be come a

Buddha,but desired that he should rule the who le world

and he appo inted an innume rable and magnificent guardand re tinue to pro te ct h is son from any such i llum i

nating omens , and to occupy his mind with wo rldlypleasures.

S even days afte r the ch i ld ’s birth the Lady Maha Mayadied , and was reborn in the heaven of the Thirty-threeGods, and S iddhattha was placed in the charge of his

aunt and stepmothe r the Matron Cantami . And now cameto pass another mirac le , on the occas ion of the PloughingFestival . For whi le the king was inaugurat ing the

ploughing with h is own hands , and the nurses werepreparing food , the Bodhisatta took h is seat beneatha Jambu- tree , and, crossing his legs l ike a yogi , heexe rc ised the first degree of contemplat ion ; and thoughtime passed , the shadow of the tree did not move . Whenthe king behe ld that miracle he bowed to the chi ld ,and cried : “ This, dear one , i s the se cond homage pa i dto thee !AS the Bodhisatta grew up h is fathe r bu i lt for him threepalace s, respect ive ly of nine , fiv e , and seven stories, andhere he dwe lt according to the seasons . Here the Bodhisatta was surrounded by eve ry luxury , and thousands of

danc ing-girls we re appo inted for his service and ente rtainment . Taken to the teache rs ofwriting and the othe r1 6

The Princ e Marrie s

arts , he soon surpassed them all, and he excelled in all

martial exercises .

Tb e P rince Marries

At the age of s ixteen, the king sought for a wife forh is son ; for by domesti c t ies he hoped to attach h imsti l l more to the world ly l i fe . The prince had al readyexpe rienced the desi re to become a hermi t . But in order,as the books say, to conform wi th the custom of formerBodhisattas, he consented to marry, i f i t were poss ibleto find a girl of perfect manners , whol ly truthful , modest,congenial to h is temperament, and of pure and honourable bi rth , young and fai r, but not proud of her beauty,chari table , contented in sel f-denial , tender as a s isteror a mother, not desi ring musi c , scents , festivi ties orwine , pure in thought and word and deed , the last tosleep and the first to ri se in the house where she shoulddwell . Brahmans were sent far and wide to seek forsuch a maiden amongst the Sakya famil ies . At last thechoice fel l upon S iddhattha

’s cous in Yasodhara, the

daughter of Suprabuddha of Kapi lavatthu. And theking devised a plan to engage the young man’s heart .He made ready a display of beauti ful jewels whichS iddhattha was to d istribute amongst the Sakya maidens .So i t came to pass : but when all the jewels had beenbe stowed , Yasodhara came late , and therewas noth ing leftfor her. Thinking that She was despised , she asked i fthere was no gift meant for her. S iddhattha sai d therewas no such thought in his mind , and he sent for otherrings and bracelets and gave them to her. She saidIS i t becoming for me to receive such gi fts ? ” and he

answered : “ They are mine to give .” And so shewent her way. Then Suddhodana ’

s spies reported thatB 1 7

Buddha $ 9 the Gospel of BuddhismS iddhattha had cast h is eye s only upon Yasodhara, and

had entered into conversat ion with her. A message wassent to Suprabuddha asking for his daughte r. The

answer came that daughters of the family we re onlygiven to those who excel led in the various arts and

martial exerc ises , and “ could this b e the case wi th one

whose whole l i fe had been spent in the luxury of a

palace ? ” Suddhodana was grieved because his son wascons idered to be indolent and weak . The Bodhisatta

perceived his mood , and asked i ts cause, and be inginformed , he reassured h is father, and advised that acontest in martial exe rcises should be proclaimed , and all

the Sakya youths invited . S o i t was done . Then theBodhisatta proved himse l f the superior of all, first inthe arts of l i terature and numbers , then in wrestl ingand archery, and each and all of the s ixty-four artsand sciences . When S iddhattha had thus shown h isprowess , Suprabuddha brought his daughter to be

affianced to the prince, and the marriage was celebratedwith all magnificence . Amongst the defeated Sakyaswere two cousins of the Buddha, the one Ananda,who afterwards became the favouri te d isc iple , the

other Devadatta, whose growing envy and jealousymade him the l i fe- long enemy of the victor.

Tb e F our S ignsThe Bodhisatta i s never enti rely forgetful of h is highcal l ing. Ye t i t i s needful that he should be reminded ofthe approaching hour ; and to th is end the cosmic Buddhasmade aud ible to S iddhattha, even as he sat and l istened tothe S inging of the dancing-girls

,the message Re co l lect

thy vow, to save all l iving things the t ime i s at hand thisalone i s the purpose of thy bi rth .

”And thus as the

1 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 899 the Gospel of BuddhismBodhisatta exclaimed again : “ I f heal th be frai l as thesubstance ofa dream ,

who then can take del ight injoy and

pleasure ? ” And the carwas turned , and he returned tothe palace .A th i rd time the prince went forth , and now they met acorpse fo l lowed by mourners weeping and tearing thei rhai r. Why does thi s man lie on a bier,” said the prince,and why do they weep and beat the i r breasts ? S i re ,”

said the chariotee r, “ he i s dead , and maynever more seehis fathe r or mother, ch i ldren or home : he has departed toanother world .

” Woe then to such youth as i s destroyedby age ,

” exclaimed the prince, “ and woe to the heal ththat i s de stroyed by innumerable maladies ! Woe to thel i fe so soon ended ! Would that S i ckness , age , and deathmight be for eve r bound Turn back again, that I may

seek a way of del iverance .When the Bodhisatta drove forth for the last t ime, hemet a hermit, a mendicant friar. This Bhikkhu was sel fpossessed , serene , dignified , sel f-control led , with downcasteyes , dressed in the garb of a rel igious and carrying a

beggar’s bowl . Who is th i s man of so calm a tempe r ?said the prince, “ clo thed in russet garments , and of suchd ignified demeanour “ S i re,” said the charioteer, Heis a Bhikkhu, a rel igious , who has abandoned all longingsand leads a l i fe of austeri ty, he l ives wi thout pass ion orenvy, and begs h is da i ly food . The Bodhisatta answered“ That i s we l l done, and makes me eager for the samecourse of l i fe : to become rel igious has ever been prai sed bythe wise , and th i s shal l be my refuge and the re fuge of

others and shal l yield the frui t of l i fe, and immortal i ty.

”

Again the Bodhisatta returned to his palace .When all the se th ings had been reported to Suddhodana,he surrounded the prince ’s pleasure -palace by triple wal ls2 0

The Great Renunc iation

and redoubled the guards , and he commanded the womenOf the palace to exercise all the i r charms , to d ivert theprince’s thoughts by musi c and pleasure : and i t was doneaccordingly . And now Yasodhara was troubled byportentous dreams : she dreamed that the land wasdevastated by storms , she sawherself naked andmuti lated ,her beauti ful jewels broken, the sun the moon and the starsfel l from the sky andMount Meru sank into the greatdeep . When she related these dreams to the Bodh isatta,he repl ied in gentle tones : You need not fear. I t i s to thegood and the worthy alone that such dreams come, neverto the base . Rejoice ! for the purport of all these dreamsis that the bond of mortal i ty shal l be loosed , the vei ls ofignorance shal l be rent asunder, for I have completelyfulfil led the way of wisdom , and every one that has fai thin me Shal l be saved from the three evi ls , withoutexception.

”

Tb e Great RenunciationThe Bodhisatta reflected that he ought not to go forth asa Wanderer wi thout giving noti ce to h is father ; and therefore he sought the king by night, and said : “ S i re

,the

time i s at hand for my going forth , do not h inder me , butpermit me to depart.” The king’s eyes were charged withtears , and he answered : What i s there needful to changethy purpose ? Tel l me whatever thou desi rest and i t shal lbe thine , be i t mysel f, the palace , or the kingdom .

” TheBodh isatta repl ied , S i re , I desi re four th ings , pray theegrant them : the first, to remain for ever in possess ion ofthe fresh colour of youth ; the second , that s i ckness maynever attack me ; the th i rd , that my l i fe may have noterm ; the last , that I maynot be subject to decay .

” Whenthe king heard these words , he was overcome by grief, for

2 1

Buddha S?” the Gospe l of Buddhismthe prince desired what i t was not poss ible for a man tobestow . Then the Bodh isatta cont inued : “ I f then I canno tavoid Oldage , sickness , death and decay, grant at least thi sone th ing, that when I leave th is world I may.

nevermore be

subject to rebi rth .

”And when the king could give no

bette r answer, he granted his son’s des i re . But the nextday he establ ished an addi tional guard of five hundredyoung men of the Sakyas at each of the four gate s of thepalace , whi le the Matron Cantam'

i establ ished an amazonguard Wi thin ; for the king would not al low his son todepart with a free wi l l .At the same time the captains of the Yakkhas1 assembledtogether, and they said “To-day, my friends , theBodh isatta i s to go forth hasten to do him se rvi ce .”

The Four Great K ingsSB commanded the Yakkhas to bearup the feet of the prince ’s horse . The Thi rty-three Devasl ikewise assembled, and Sakka ordered thei r servi ces , sothat one Should cast a heavy sleep on all the men and

women and young men and maidens of Kapilavatthu, and

another should si lence the no i se of the e lephants , horses ,camels , bul ls and o ther beasts ; and othe rs consti tutedthemselve s an escort, to cast down a rain of flowers and

perfume the air. Sakka h imse l f announced that he wouldopen the gates and show the way.

On the morning of the day of the go ing forth , when the

Bodhisatta was be ing atti red , a message was brought tohim that Yasodhara had borne him a son. He d id not

rejo i ce , but he said : “A bond has come into being, a

h indrance for me .” And the ch i ld rece ived the name of

Rahula or ‘ Hindrance ’accord ingly . The same day the

Bodhisatta drove again in the city, and a ce rtain noble1 Yakkhas, nature Sp irits.

2 The Four K ings, Guard ians of the FourQuarters.

2 2

The Great Renunc iation

vi rgin, by name Kisa Gotami , stood on the roo f of herpalace and beheld the beauty and majesty of the futureBuddha as he passed by, and she made a song

B lessed indeed is Me mot/zer, blessed indeedMe

Blessed indeed is Me wife, wkose is a lord so

g lorious

On hearing this the Bodhisatta thought : “ She does butsay that the heart of a mother, or a father, or a wife i sgladdened by such a s ight . But by what can every heartattain to lasting happiness and peace ? ” The answer arosein h i s mind : “When the fire of lust i s extinguished , thenthere i s peace ; and when the fires of resentment and

glamour are dead , then the re i s peace . Sweet i s the lessonthis s inger has taught me , for i t i s the N ibbana of peacethat I have sought . This day I shal l rel inquish thehousehold l i fe , no thing wil l I seek but N ibbana i tself.”

And taking from his neck the string of pearls he sent i t asa teacher’s fee to Kisa Gotami . But she thought that theprince loved her, and sent her a gift because of h i s love .That night the singers and the dancing-girls exertedthemselves to please the prince : fai r as the nymphs ofheaven, they danced and sang and played . But theBodhisatta, h is heart being estranged from sin, took no

pleasure in the entertainment, and fel l asleep. And thewomen seeing that he slept, laid as ide the i r instrumentsand fel l asleep l ikewise . And when the lamps that werefed with scented o i l were on the po int of dying, theBodhisatta awoke, and he saw the gi rls that had seemedso fai r, in all the d isarray of slumber. And the king’sson, seeing them thus d ishevelled and d isarrayed , breath ingheavi ly, yawning and sprawling in unseemly atti tudes ,

2 3

Buddha 8639 the Go spel of Buddhismwas moved to scorn.

“ S uch is the true nature of women,

he thought, “ but a man i s dece ived by d ress andjewe l s andi s deluded by a woman’s beauties . I f amanwould but cons ider the natural state ofwomen and the change that come supon them in sleep, assuredly he would not che rish h is fo l ly ;but he is smitten from a right wi l l , and so succumbs topassion .

”And therewi th he resolved to accompl ish the

Great Renunciat ion that very night, and at that very t ime ,for i t seemed to h im that every mode of existence on earthor in heaven most resembled a de lay in a house al readybecome the prey of devouring flames ; and his mind wasi rresistibly d i rected towards the state of those who haverenounced the world .

The Bodhisatta there fore rose from hi s couch and cal ledfor Channa ; and the chariotee r, who was sleeping withhis head on the threshold , rose and sai d “ S i re , I am

here .

” Then the Bodhisatta said : “ I am resolved to

accompl ish the Great Renunciation to-day; saddle myhorse .

”And Channa went out to the stable and saddled

K anthaka : and the horse knew what was the reason ofh is be ing saddled , and neighed forjoy, so that the who leci ty would have been aroused , had i t not been that theDevas subdued the sound , so that no one heard i t . NowWhi le Channa was away in the stable yard , the Bodhisattathought : “ I wi l l take one look at my son, and he wentto the door of Yasodhara

’s chamber . The Mothe r Of

Rahula was asleep on a bed strewn th i ck with jasmineflowe rs , and her hand was resting on her son’s head . TheBodh isatta stopped with his foot upon the thresho ld , forhe thought : “ I f I l i ft her hand to take up my son, She

wi l l awake , and my departure wi l l be h indered . I wi l lreturn and see him afte r I have attained enl ightenment .

Then he went forth , and see ing the horse ready saddled,

2 4

I I

THE DEPARTURE OF BUDDHANANDA LAL BOS E

Page 2 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

The Great Renunc iation

he sa id , “ Good Kanthaka, do thou save me this night,to the end that I maybecome a Buddha by thy help and

may save the worlds of men and gods .” Kanthaka

neighed again, but the sound of h is voi ce was heard bynone .

So the Bodhisatta rode forth , fol lowed by Channathe Yakkhas bore up the feet of Kanthaka so that theymade no sound , and when they came to the guarded gatesthe angel standing thereby caused them to open si lently.

At that moment Mara the Fiend appeared in the air, and

tempted the Bodh isatta, exclaiming : Go not forth , mylord ! for with in seven days from th is the Wheel ofS overe ignty wi l l appear, and wi l l make you ruler of thefour continents and the myriad islands . GO not forth !”

The Bodhisatta repl ied : “Mara ! we l l I know that thisi s sooth . But I do not seek the sovereignty of the world .

I would become a Buddha, to make tens Of thousands ofworlds rejoice .

”And so the tempter left h im , but

resolved to follow him ever l ike a shadow, to lay ho ld of

the occas ion, i f ever a thought of anger or des i re shouldari se in the Bodhisatta’s heart. I t was on the full-moonday of Asadha when the prince departed from the ci ty .

His progress was accompanied by pomp and glory, forthe gods and angels bore myriads of torches before and

behind him , and a rain of beauti ful flowers was cast downfrom the heaven of Indra, so that the ve ry flanks ofK anthaka were cove red . In th i s way the Bodhisattaadvanced a great d istance , unt i l they reached and passedover the rive r Anoma. When they were come to the

other s ide , the Bodhisatta al ighted upon the sandy shoreand sai d to Channa : “ Good Channa, the t ime has comewhen thou must return, and take with thee all my jewelstogether with Kanthaka, for I am about to become a

2 5

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismhermit and a wanderer in these forests . Grieve not forme , but mourn for those who stay behind , bound bylongings of which the fru i t i s sorrow . I t i s my resolveto seek the highest good th is very day, for what confidence have we in l i fe when death i s ever at hand ? Anddo you comfort the king, and so speak with h im that hemay not even remember me , for whe re affection i s lost,there i s no sorrow.

” But Channa pro tested , and prayedthe Bodhisatta to take pity upon the king, and uponYasodharaand on the ci ty of Kapilavatthu. But again theBodhisatta answered : Even were I to return to my kindred by reason of affection , yet we should be d ivided in theendby death . The meeting and parting of l iving things i sas when the clouds having come together dri ft apart again,or as when the leave s are parted from the trees . Therei s no thing we may cal l our own in a union that is nothingbut a dream . Therefo re , s ince i t i s so , go , and grievenot, and say to the people of Kapi lavatthu :

‘ Either hewi l l soon re turn, the conqueror of age and death , or hehimsel f wi l l fai l and Then Channa too wouldhave become a hermi t : but the Bodhisatta answe redagain : “ I f your love i s so great

,yet go , de l iver the

message , and return .

”

Then the Bodhisatta took the sharp sword that Channabore and severed with i t h is long locks and jewe l led cre stand cast them into the waters : and at the moment whenhe fel t the need of a hermit’s dress , the re appeared an

angel in the guise of a hunter clad in the russe t robes ofa forest-sage and he, receiving the whi te musl in garmentsof the prince , rendered to him the dark red robes in return,

and so departed .

Now K anthaka attended to all that had been said , and hel i cked the Bodhisatta’s feet ; and the prince spoke to2 6

The Search for the Way of Escape

him as to a friend , and said : “ Grieve not, O K anthaka,

for thy perfect equine nature has been proved—bear wi thi t, and soon thy pain shal l bear its fruit .” But Kanthaka,

thinking : “ From this day forth I shal l neve r see mymaster more, went out of thei r s ight, and there d ied of abroken heart andwas reborn in the Heaven of the Thi rtythree. Then Channa’s grief was doubled ; and torn bythe se cond sorrow of the death of Kanthaka, he returnedto the c ity weeping and wai l ing, and the Bodhisatta wasleft alone .

Tb e S earckfor Tb e Way of E scapeThe Bodh isatta remained for a week in the Mango-groveof Anupiya, and the reafter he proceeded to Rajagaha, thechie f town Of Magadha . He begged his food from doo rto door, and the beauty of his person cast the whole ci tyinto commot ion. When th i s was made known to theking Bimbisara, he went to the place where the Bodhisatta was s i tt ing, and offe red to bestow upon him the

whole kingdom : but again the Bodhisatta re fused the

royal throne, for he had al ready abandoned all in the hopeof attaining enl ightenment , and d id not des i re a world lyempire . But he granted the king’s request that when hehad found the way, he would preach i t first in that samekingdom .

I t i s said that when the Bodhisatta entered a hermitagefor the fi rst time (and th is was be fore he proceeded toRajagaha) he found the sages practis ing many and strangepenances , and he inquired thei r meaning, andwhat was thepurpose that each endeavoured to ach ieve and receivedthe answer By such penance s endured for a t ime ,by the higher they atta in heaven, and by the lowe r,favourable fru i t in the world of men : by pain they come

2 7

Buddha 8699 the Go spe l of Buddhismat last to happiness , for pain, they say, i s the root of

meri t . But to him i t seemed that here there was no wayof e scape—here too , men endured misery for the sake ofhappiness , and that happiness i tsel f, rightly understood ,cons isted in pain, for i t must eve r be subject to mortal i tyand to rebi rth .

“ I t i s not the effort i tsel f which I blame ,he said , “ which casts as ide the base and fo l lows a higherpath of i ts own : but the wise in sooth , by all th is heavyto i l , ought to attain to the state where noth ing ever needsto be done again. And s ince i t i s the mind that contro l sthe body, i t i s thought alone that Should be restrained .

Ne i the r puri ty of food nor the waters of a sacred river cancleanse the heart : water is but wate r, but the true place ofpi lgrimage i s the virtue Of the vi rtuous man.

And now, rejecting with courtesy the king ’s offers , theBodhisatta made h is wayto the he rmi tage of the renownedsage A lara Kalama and became his d isciple , learning thesuccess ive degrees of e cstati c medi tat ion. Alara taught,i t i s clear, the doctrine of the A tman, saying that the sagewho i s ve rsed in the Supreme S el f, “ having abo l ishedh imself by him self, sees that nought exists and i s cal leda Nihi l ist : then, l ike a bi rd from its cage , the soul escapingfrom the body, is declared to be set free : th is i s thatsupreme Brahman, constant, e ternal, andwithout d istinctivesigns , which the wise who know real i ty declare to be

l iberat ion .

” But Gautama (and i t i s by this name thatthe books now begin to speak of the Bodhisatta) ignore sthe phrase “ without distinctive s igns ,” and with ve rbalj ustificat ion quarre ls wi th the animisti c and dual isti cterminology of soul and body : a l ibe rated soul , he argued ,i s sti l l a soul , and whateve r the condi tion i t attains , mustbe subject to rebirth , “

and s ince e ach success ive re

nunc iation i s he ld to be sti l l accompanied by qual i ties , I2 8

The Search for the Way of Escape

maintai n that the absolute attainment of our end i s onlyto be found in the abandonment of everyth ing .

” 1

And now leaving the hermitages of Rajagaha the Bodhisatta, seeking something beyond , repai red to a forest nearto the vi l lage of Uruvelaand there abode on the pure bankof the Nairanjana. There five wanderers , begging hermits ,came to him , for they were pe rsuaded that ere long he wouldattainenl ightenment : and the leade r of thesewasK ondafifia

,

the erstwhi le Brahman soothsayer who had prophesied at

the festival of the Bodhisatta’s name day. And now

th inking : “This may be the means to conquer bi rth anddeath ,” Gautama for s ix years practised there an austererule of fasting and of mortification, so that h i s gloriousbody wasted away to skin and bone . He brought h imsel fto feed on a s ingle sesamum seed or a grain of ri ce ,unti l one day, as he paced to and fro , he was overcome bya severe pain, and fainted and fel l . Then certain of theDevas excla imed Gautama i s dead and some reportedi t to Suddhodana the king at Kapilavatthu. But herepl ied : I maynot bel ieve i t . Never would my son diewi thout attaining enl ightenment . For he d id not forgetthe mi racle at the foot of the Jambu-tree, nor the daywhenthe great sage Kala Devala had been compel led to Offerhomage to the ch i ld . And the Bodhisatta recovered ,and stood up ; and again the gods reported i t to the king .

Now the fame of the Bodhisatta’s exceeding penancesbecame spread abroad , as the sound of a great bel l i s1 We recogniz e here the critical moment where

_Buddhist and Brahman

thought part company on the question of the Atman. WhetherAlarafai led to emphas i z e the negative aspect of the doctrine ofthe Brahman, or

Gautama (who is represented as so farentirely innocent Of Brahmanicalph i losophy) fai led to d istinguish the neuter Brahman from the god

Brahma,we cannot te l l . The question is d iscussed at greater length

in Part I I I , Chapter IV. (p . 1 98 f. )2 9

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismheard in the sky . But he pe rce ived that mortification

was not the road to enl ightenment and to l iberationthat was the true way that I found beneath the Jambutree

, and i t cannot be attained by one who has lost h isstrength . And so again the Great Being resolved to

b eg his food in towns and vi l lages, that h is heal th and

strength might be restored . This was in the thi rtie thyear of the l i fe of Gautama . But the Five Di sciple srefle cted that Gautama had not been able to attain em

lightenment even by s ix years of the most severe austeri t ies ,“andhow can he do so now, when he goe s and begs in thevil lages and eats of ord inary food ? ” —and they departedfrom him and went to the suburb of Benares cal ledIsipatana.

Tb e S upreme E nligktenment

Now during the t ime that Gautama had been dwel l ing inthe fo rest near by Uruvela, the daughte r of the vi l lageheadman, by name Sujata, had been accustomed to make ada i ly offe ring of food to e ight hundred Brahmans , makingthe praye r—“May the Bodhisatta at length , receive anOffe ring of foOd from me, attain enl ightenment, and becomea Buddha !” And now that the time had come when hedesi red to rece ive nourish ing food , a Deva appeared inthe night to S ujata and announced that the Bodhisattahad put as ide h is austeri t ies and des ired to partake ofgood and nourish ing food , “

and now shal l your prayer beaccompl ished .

” Then Sujata with all speed arose earlyandwent to her father’s herd . Now for a long time shehad been accustomed to take the mi lk of a thousand cowsand to feed the rewith five hundred , and again with the i rmi lk to feed two hundred and fifty, and so on unt i l eightonly we re fed wi th the milk of the rest, and th is she cal led30

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

The Supreme Enl ightenment

“ working the milk in and in. I t was the ful l-moon dayof the month ofMaywhen she received the message of thegods

, and rose early, and milked the e ight cows , and tookthe mi lk and boi led i t in new pans , and prepared mi lk-ri ce .

At the same time she sent her maid Punna to the foot ofthe great tree where she had been wont to lay her da i lyoffe rings . NOW the Bodh isatta, knowing that he wouldthat dayattain Supreme Enl ightenment, was s i tting at the

foot of the tree , awai ting the hour for going forth to beghis food ; and such was his glory that all the region of theEast was l i t up . The girl thought that i t was the spiri tof the tree who would deign to receive the offering withh is own hands . When she returned to S ujataand reportedth is , S ujata embraced her and bestowed on her the jewelsof a daughter, and exclaimed , Henceforth thou shal t beto me i n the place of an elder daughter l ” And sendingfor a golden vessel she put the wel l-cooked food the rein,

and covered i t with a pure whi te cloth , and bore i t wi thd igni ty to the foot of the great N igrodha-tree ; and the reshe too saw the Bodhisatta, and bel ieved him to be theSpiri t of the tree . S ujata approached him ,

and placed thevessel in his hand , and she met his gaze and sa i d Mylord , accept what I have offered thee ,” and she added“May there ari se to thee as much of joy as has come tome ! and so she departed .

The Bodhisatta took the golden bowl, and went down to

the bank of the river and bathed , and then dress ing h imsel fin the garb of an A rabat, he again took his seat, with hisface towards the East . He d ivided the rice into fortynine portions, and th is food sufficed for his nourishmentduring the forty-nine days following the Enl ightenment .When he had fini shed eating the milk ri ce , he took thegolden vessel and cast i t into the stream ,

saying I f I am3 1

Buddha E's)” the Gospe l of Buddhismable to attain Enl ightenment to-day, le t th i s pot go upstream , but i f not, may i t go down stream .

”And he threw

i t into the water, and i t went swi ftly up the river unt i l i treached the whirlpool of the Black Snake K ing, and therei t sank .

The Bodh isatta Spent the heat of the day in a grove ofSal-trees bes ide the stream . But in the evening he madehis way to the foot of the tree of wisdom , and there,making the reso lution : “ Though my skin, my ne rves andmy bones Should waste away and my l i fe-blood dry , I wi l lnot leave this seat unt i l I have attained S upreme Enl ightenment,” he took his seat wi th hi s face towards the East .At th is moment Mara the Fiend became aware that theBodhisatta had taken h is seat with a view to attain ingPerfect Enl ightenment ; and thereupon , summoning thehosts of the demons

,and mount ing h i s elephant of war,

he advanced towards the Tree of Wisdom . And therestood Maha Brahma holding above the Bodhisatta a

white canopy of state, and Sakka, blowing the greattrumpet, and with them were all the companies of godsand angels . But so terrible was the array of Mara thatthere was not one of all th is host of the Devas that daredto remain to face him . The Great Being was left alone .Fi rst of all, however, Mara assumed the form of a

messenger, with disordered garments, and panting inhaste,bearing a letter from the Sakya princes . And in the letteri t was wri tten that Devadatta had usurped the kingdomof Kapilavatthu and entered the Bodhisatta’s palace , takenhis goods and h is wi fe , and cast Suddhodana into prisonand they prayed him to return to restore peace and o rde r.But the Bodhisatta reflected lust i t was that had causedDevadatta thus to misuse the women, mal i ce had madehim imprison Suddhodana, while the Sakyas neutral ized3 2

The Supreme Enlightenment

by coward ice fai led to de fend thei r King : and so reflectingon the fo l ly and weakness of the natural heart, his own

re so lve to attain a h igher and better state was strengthenedand confirmed.

1

Fai l ing in th is device , Mara now advanced to the assaultwi th all his hosts, striving to overcome the Bodhisattafirst by a terrible whirlwind , thenby a storm Of rain, causinga mighty flood : but the hem of the Bodhisatta’s robe wasnot sti rred , nor d id a s ingle drop of water reach h im . ThenMara cast down upon h im showers of rocks , and a stormof deadly and po i soned weapons, burning ashes and coals ,and a sto rm of scorching sand and flaming mud ; but allthese missi le s only fe l l at the Bodh isatta’s fee t as a rainof heavenly flowers , or hung in the air l ike a canopy abovehis head . Nor could he be moved by an onse t of th ickand fourfold darkness . Then finding all the se means tofai l , he addre ssed the Bodh isatta and sai d : “ A rise ,S iddhattha, from that seat, for i t i s not th ine , but mine !”

The Bodhisatta repl ied , “Mara ! thou hast no t accom

plished the Ten Perfect ions , nor even the minor vi rtues .Thou hast not sought for knowledge , nor for the salvationof the world . The seat i s m ine .

” ThenMara was enraged ,and cast at the Bodhisatta h is S ceptre-javel in, whichcleaves asunde r a pi l lar of so l i d rock l ike a tender shoo tof cane : and all the demon hosts hurled masses of rock .

But the jave l in hung in the air l ike a canopy , and the

masses of rock fe l l down as garlands of flowers .

Then the Great Being said to Mara : Mara, who i s thewitness that thou hast given alms Mara stretched forthh is hand , and a shout arose from the demon hosts , of a1 Cf ,

The sages of Old first go t Tao forthemse lves, and thengot i t forothers. Before you possess th is yourse lf, what le isure have you to

attend to the do ings of w icked men ?” —Chuang Tz u. See also p . 1 2 6 .

C 3 3

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismthousand voices crying : “ I am his witness !” Then theFiend addressed the Bodh isatta, and enqui red : “ S iddhattha ! who i s the witness that thou has given alms ? ”

and the Great Being answered : “Mara thou hast manyand l iving witnesses that thou hast given alms , and no

such witnesse s have I . But apart from the alms I havegiven in other births, I cal l upon this so l id earth to

witness to my supernatural generos ity when I was bornas Vessantara.

”And drawing his right hand from his

robe, he stretched i t forth to touch the earth , and said : Do

you or do you not wi tness to my supernatural generos i tywhen I was born as Vessantara ?

”And the great Earth

repl ied wi th a voice of thunder : “ I am witness of that .”

And thereat the great elephant of Mara bowed down inadorat ion, and the demon hosts fled far away in dread .

Then Mara was abashed . But he d id not withdraw, for

he hoped to accomplish ‘

by another means what he couldnot effe ct by fo rce : he summoned his three daughters ,Tanha, Rati , and Raga, and they danced be fore theBodhisatta l ike the swaying branches of a young leafytree , using all the arts of seduction known to beautifulwomen. Agai n they offered him the lordsh ip of the earth ,and the companionship of beauti ful gi rls : they appealedto him with songs of the season of spring

, and exhibi tedthei r supernatural beauty and grace . But the Bodhisatta

’

s heart was not in the least moved , and he answeredP leasure is bri ef as aflask of lzg/i tningOr like an A utumn Mower, onlyfor a moment.

k s/i ould 1 Men covet Mepleasuresyou speak of 7

I seeyour bodies arefull of all impuri tyB irM and deaM, sickness and age areyours.

I seekMe kigkest pri z e, bard to atta in by men

Tb e true and constant wisdom of Me wise .

34

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l Of BuddhismBut Oframer of kouses, Mou artfoundNever aga in skalt Moufaskion a kousefor me !B roken are allMy beams,Tke king -post skattered!

My mindkaspassed into Me sti llness of N ibbanaTke ending of desire kas been atta ined at last !

Innumerable wonders were mani fest at th is supreme hour.The earth quaked s ix times , and the who le unive rse wasi l luminated by the supernatural splendour of the s ixfo ldrays that proceeded from the body of the seated Buddha .

Resentment faded from the hearts of all men, all lack wassuppl ied , the s ick were healed , the chains of he l l we reloosed , and every creature of whatsoeve r sort found peaceand rest .

Tb e F orty- nine Days

Gautama, who was now Buddha, the Enl ightened , remainedseated and mot ionless for seven days , real i z ing the bl iss ofN ibbana ; and thereafter rising, he remained standing forseven days more , steadfastly regard ing the spot whe rehad been won the frui t of countle ss deeds of he roi c vi rtuepe rformed in past b irths : then for seven days more hepaced to and fro along a clo i ste red path from We st toEast, extending from the throne beneath the Wisdom Treeto the place of the S teadfast Gaz ing ; and again forseven days he remained seated in a god-wrought pavi l ionnear to the same place , and there reviewed in de ta i l , bookby book , all that i s taught in the A bkidli amma P itaka , as

wel l as the who le doctrine of causal i ty ; then for sevendays more he sat beneath the Nigrodha tree of Sujata

’

s

offe ring, meditating on the doctrine and the swee tness ofNibbana—and acco rd ing to some books i t was at th ist ime the temptation by the daughte rs of Mara took place ;36

PLATE ATHE FORTY -NINE DAYS

From an I llustra ted manuscri pt , S i nhalese ( 1 8th c entury)

The Forty—nine Days

and then for seven days more whi le a terrible storm was

raging, the snake king Mucalinda she l te red him wi thh i s sevenfo ld hood ; and for seven days more he sat

beneath a Rajayatana tree , st i l l enjoying the sweetness ofl iberat ion.

And so passed away seven weeks , during which theBuddha experienced no bodily wants , but fed on the joyof contemplat ion, the joy of the Eightfo ld Path , and thejoy of i ts fru i t, N ibbana.

Only upon the last day of the seven weeks he desi red tobathe and eat, and re ceiving water and a tooth-sti ck fromthe god Sakka, the Buddha bathed his face and seatedhimse l f at the foot of a tree . Now at that t ime two

Brahman merchants we re travel l ing with a caravan fromOrissa to the middle country, and a Deva, who had beena blood relat ion of the merchants ’ in a former l i fe, stoppedthe carts , and moved the i r hearts to make an offe ring ofrice and honey cake s to the Lord . They went up to h imaccordingly, saying : “ 0 Blessed One , have mercy uponus, and accept thi s food . Now the Buddha no longerpossessed a bowl , and as the Buddhas never re ceive an

Offe ring in thei r hands , he reflected how he Should take i t .Immediate ly the Four Great K ings , the Regents of theQuarters appeared before him , each of them wi th a bowl ;and in order that none of them should be d isappointed ,the Buddha re ceived the four bowls , and placing them one

above the othe r made them to be one , showing only thefour l ine s round the mouth , and in th is bowl the BlessedOne re ce ived the food , and ate i t , and gave thanks . The

two merchants took refuge in the Buddha, the Norm , and

the Order, and became professed d isciples . Then theBuddha rose up and returned again to the tree of Sujata

’

s

offering and there took h is seat. And there, reflecting3 7

Buddha 89° the Gospe l of Buddhismupon the depth of truth which he had found , a doubt arosein h is mind whether i t would be possible to make i t knownto others : and th is doubt i s experienced by every Buddhawhen he become s aware of the Truth . But Maha Brahmaexclaiming : “ A las ! the world wi l l be al toge the r lost !”

came thi the r in haste , with allthe Deva hosts , andbesoughtthe Master to proclaim the Truth ; and he granted thei rprayer. 1

Tb e F irst Turning of Me Wkeel of Me Law

Thenhe considered to whom he Should first reveal the Truth ,and he remembered A lara, h is fo rmer teache r, andUddaka,th inking that these great sages would quickly comprehendi t ; but upon close reflection he discovered that each ofthem had recently d ied . Then he thought of the FiveWande re rs who had been his disciples , and upon reflectionhe saw that they were then res id ing in the Dee r Park at

Isipatana in Benares , and he resolved to go there . Whenthe Five Wande rers , whose chief was Kondafifia, perceivedthe Buddha afar off, they said together : “My friends ,here comes Gautama the Bhikkhu. We owe him no

reverence , s ince he has returned to a free use of thenecessaries of l i fe, and has recovered h is strength , and

beauty . However, as he is well-born, let us prepare hima seat .” But the Blessed One perceived thei r thought

,

1 “Great truths do not take hold of the hearts of the masses. And

now,as all the world is in error, I , though I know the true path—how

shal l I , how sha l l I guide ? I f I know that I cannot succeed and ye t

try to force success, this would b e but another source of error. Better,

then, to desist and strive no more . But if I strive not,who wi l l ? ”

Chuang Tz u. I t is h ighly characteristic of the psycho logy of geniusthat when this doubt assai ls the Buddha he neverthe less immediate lyresponds to a definite request for guidance the moment the pupi l putsthe right questions, the teacher’s doubts are reso lved.38

3 8

THE FIRST SERMON, TURNING THE WHEELOF THE LAW

, AT BENARESGupta peri od (5th century A D sarnath , Benares

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8C?” the Go spe l of Buddhismattended with pain, decay i s painful , di sease i s painful ,death i s painful . Union with the unpleasant i s painful ,painful i s separat ion from the pleasant ; and any cravingunsati sfied , that, too , i s painful . In brief, the fiveaggregates of cl inging (that i s , the conditi ons Of indiv iduali ty) are painful .“ Now th is i s the Noble Truth as to the origin of suffe ring .

Ve ri ly ! i t i s the craving th irst that causes the renewalo f becomings , that i s accompanied by sensual del ights ,and seeks sat i sfaction, now here now there—that i s tosay, the craving for the gratificat ion of the senses , or thecraving for prosperi ty .

“NOW thi s i s the Noble Truth as to the passing awayof pain. Veri ly ! i t i s the passing away so that no pass ionremains , the giving up, the getting rid of, the emancipat ionfrom , the harbouring no longe r of th i s craving thi rst .“Now th is i s the Noble Truth as to the way that leadsto the passing away of pain. Veri ly ! i t is th i s AriyanEightfold Path , that i s to say, R ight Views , R ightAspi rat ions , R ight Speech , conduct, and mode of l ivelihood, R ight Effort, R ight Mindfulness, and R ightRapture .” 1

Now of the band of Bhikkhus to whom the first sermonwas thus preached , K ondafifia immediately attained to

the fruit of the Fi rst Path , and the four o thers attainedto the same station in the course of the next four days .On the fifth day the Buddha summoned all five to hiss ide, and de l ivered to them the second d iscourse cal led“ On the Nou-existence of S oul ,” of which the substancei s re lated as fo l lowsThe body, O Bhikkhus, cannot be the e ternal soul , for i ttends toward destruction. Nor do sensation, perception,

1 Rhys Davids, E arly Budd/zism,pp . 51 , 52 .

40

PLATE CTHE FIRST SERMON, TURNING THE WHEEL OF

THE LAWNepalese gi lt copp er, 8th

—oth century A D .

Author'

s Collecti on

The First Turning of the Wheel of the Lawthe predisposi ti ons, and consciousness together consti tutethe e ternal soul , for were i t so, i t would not be the casethat the consciousness l ikewise tends towards destruction.

Or how thinkyou, whether i s form permanent or transi tory ?and whether are sensat ion, perception, and pred isposit ionsand consc iousness permanent or trans itory ? ‘They are

transi tory , ’ repl ied the Five ‘And that which i s transitory, i s i t evil or good ?

’ ‘ I t i s evi l , ’ repl ied the Five .And that which i s trans i tory, evi l , and l iable to change ,can i t be sa id that ‘ This i s mine, th i s am I , th i s i s myeternal soul ? ’ Nay, veri ly, i t cannot be so said ,

’ repl iedthe Five . ‘Then, O Bhikkhus, i t must be sai d o f all

physical form whatsoever, past or present or to be , subjective or Objective , far or near, high or low, that “Thisi s not mine , th is am I not, th i s i s not my eternal soul .”

And in l ike manner of all sensat i ons , perceptions , pred ispos i tions and consciousness, i t must be said , ‘These are

not mine , these am I not, these are not my e ternal soul . ’

And perceiving this , O Bhikkhus, the true d isciple wi l lconceive a disgust for phys i cal form , and for sensation,

perception, predispos i ti ons and consciousness , and so wil lbe d ivested of des ire ; and thereby he i s freed , and

becomes aware that he i s freed ; and he knows thatbecoming is exhausted , that he has l ived the pure l i fe ,that he has done what i t behoved him do , and that hehas put offmortal i ty for ever.”

And through this d iscourse the minds of the Five wereperfectly enl ightened , and each of them attained toNibbana, so that at th i s time there existed five Arahats

in the world , with the Buddha himse l f the s ixth . Thenext day a young man of the name of Yasa, together wi thfifty-four companions l ikewise attained i l lumination, and

thus there were sixty persons beside the Master h imsel f,4 1

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismwho had attained to Arahatta. These s ixty the Mastersent forth in diverse di rections , with the command : Go

forth , O Bhikkhus, preaching and teach ing .

” But heh imse l f proceeded to Uruvela, and upon the way herece ived into the Order thi rty young noblemen, and thesealso he sent forth far and wide . At Uruvela the Masterprevai led against three Brahmani cal ascetics , fire -worshippers , and received them into the Orde r with all the i rd isciples, and establ ished them in Arahatta. The chiefof these was known as Uruvela Kassapa. Andwhen theywere seated on the Gaya S carp, he preached the ThirdS e rmon cal led the Di scourse on Fi reAll th ings , 0 Bhikkhus are on fi re . And what, 0Bhikkhus, are all these th ings that are on fi re ? The eyei s on fire , forms are on fi re , eye-consc iousness i s on fire,impress ions received by the eye are on fire ; and whateve rsensation—pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral—originates inthe impre ss ions received by the eye, i s l ikewise on fire .

“ And with what are all these on fire ? I saywith the

fire of lust of resentment, and the fire of glamour (raga ,

dosa , andmoka) ; with birth , old age , death , lamentat ion,mise ry, grief and despa i r they are afire .

And so wi th the ear, with the nose , andwith the tongue ,and in the case of touch . The mind too, i s on fire ,thoughts are on fi re ; and mind-consc iousne ss , and the

impre ss ions rece ived by the mind , and the sensat ions thatari se from the impress ions that the mind receives , thesetoo are on fire .

And with what are they on fire ? I saywith the fi re oflust, wi th the fire of resentment, and the fire of glamour ;with bi rth , old age , death , sorrow, lamentation, misery,and grie f and despai r, they are afire .

And seeing th is, 0 Bhikkhus, the true di sciple conce ives4 2

THE BUDDHA TEACH INGJ apanese lacquered wood Image , 8th century

F rom the K okka

Ko z an-ji Temple ,Kyoto .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha $ 9 the Gospel of Buddhism

Buddhas of the past !” To show that th is was not thefi rst t ime that Kassapa the Great had yie lded to h im the

Blessed One recited the MakaNarada K assapa f atakaand he proclaimed the Four Noble Truths . The king of

Magadha, with nearly all h is retinue entered the FirstPath , and those who d id not so, became lay d isciple s .The king gave a great endowment to the Order, withBuddha at the i r head , and confirmed i t by the pouringout of wate r. And when the Master had thus received theBambu-grove Monastery , he retu rned thanks , and rosefrom his seat, and repai red th ither. Now at th is timethere dwelt two Brahmanical asce t ics near to Rajagaha ,

by name Sariputta and Mogallana. Now Sariputta ob

served the venerable Arabat Assaji on his begging round ,and remarked the d igni ty and grace of h is demeanour ;and when the Elder had obtained alms , andwas departingfrom the ci ty, Sariputta found occas ion to speak with him

,

and enqu ired who was his teacher, and what the accepteddoctrine . Assaji repl ied ,

“ Bro the r, there is a greatSakya monk , to follow whom I le ft the world and th isBlessed One i s my teacher, and the doctrine I approve i sh is.

” Then Sariputta enquired :“What then, venerable

s i r, i s your teache r’s doctrine ? ” “ Bro ther,” repl ied

Assaji ,“ I am a novice and a beginner, and i t i s not long

that I have re t i red from the world to adopt the d isc ipl ineand Doctrine . The re fore I may only set forth to you thedoctrine in brie f, and give the substance of i t in a fewwords .” Then the venerable Assaji repeated to Sariputtathe Wande re r, the fo l lowing verse

Wbat Ming s soever are producedfrom causes,

Of Mese Me Buddka kaM revealedMe cause,

A nd likewise now Mey cease to be

Tis Mis Me great adept procla ims.

Return of the Buddha to Kapilavatthu

And hearing this expos ition of the Doctrine , Sariputta theWanderer attained to a clear and d ist inct perception ofthe Truth that whatever is subje ct to o riginat ion i s subjectal so to cessat ion.

1 And thus Sariputta attained to theFi rst Path . Then returning to Mogallana, he repeated toh im the same verse , and he _

too attained to the Fi rst Path .

And the se two , leaving thei r former teacher, entered theorder establ ished by the Buddha, and with in a short t imeboth attained to Arahatta, and the Master made them hisChief Disciples .

Return of Me Buddka to K api lavatMu

In the meanwhi le i t was reported to Suddhodana that h i sson, who for s ix years had devoted himself to mortifica

t ion, had attained to Perfect Enl ightenment, had se t

ro l l ing the Wheel of the Law, and was res id ing at theBambu Grove near by Rajagaha. And he sent a messenge r with a retinue of a thousand men with the message“ Your father, king Suddhodana, des i res to see you.

”

They reached the monastery at the hour of instruct ion,and stand ing sti l l to l isten to the discourse , the messengerattained to Arahatta with all hi s ret inue

,and prayed

to be admitted to the Order ; and the Buddha receivedthem . And being now indifferent to the th ings Of theworld , they d id not del iver the king ’s message . In the

1 The most essential e lement of Buddh ist doctrine, the ful l real isationof which constitutes the enl ightenment of a Buddha, is here stated inthe fewest possible words. The c lear enunciation of the law Of uni

versal causation—the e ternal continuity Of becoming—is the greatcontribution of the Buddha to Ind ian thought for it is only w ith comparative d ifficulty that the Vedanta is able to free itse l f from the

concept of a F i rst Cause . Assaji’

s verse is Often cal led the BuddhistConfession of Faith ; it is quoted in Buddh ist inscriptions more frequently than anyother text.

45

Buddha 89° the Gospe l of Buddhismsame way the king sent o ther messengers , each with a

l ike retinue , and all of these , negle cting the i r business ,stayed away there in s i lence . Then the king prevai ledupon his ministe r Kaludayin to bear the message , and heconsented to do so only upon condi t ion of receiving permiss ion to become a membe r of the Order h imse l f. Myfriend ,” the king said , “ thou mayst become a hermi t ornot, as thou wi lt, only bring i t about that I may see myson before I die .

”

Kaludayin repai red to Rajagaha, and standing bes ide thed isciple s at the hour of ins truction, he at tained toArahatta,

and was rece ived into the Order. Now at th i s t ime eightmonths had passed s ince the Enl ightenment, and of th i st ime, the first Lent or Rainy Season was spent at theDeer Park in Benare s , the next three months at Uruvela,and two months at Rajagaha. And now the cold seasonwas ove r, the earth was decked with green grass , and thetrees with scarlet flowers , and the roads were pleasant toto the trave l ler. And on the ful l-moon day in March ,Kaludayin, a ful l week S ince h is admiss ion to the Order,spoke W i th the Buddha, and proposed to h im that heshould visi t h i s father, who des i red to see h im . And theMaster, foresee ing that salvat ion of many would resul t,assented , saying to Kaludayin :

“We l l said , Udayin, Ishal l go .

”For i t was in accordance wi th the Rule that

the Bre thren should travel from place to place . Attendedby twenty thousand we l l-born Arahats, and travell ingeach day a league , he reached Kapilavatthu in two

months . But Kaludayin went instantly through the air,

and informed the king that h i s son had taken the road ,and by praising the vi rtue s of the Buddha every day, hepred ispo sed the Sakyas in his favour.The Sakyas consi de red what would be the most pleasant46

PLATE ESTAND ING IMAGE OF THE BUDDHA

Conversion of the sakya Princ esplace for his res idence, and they chose the Nigrodhagrove near by the c i ty . With flowers in the i r hands ,and accompanied by ch i ldren of the place and the youngmen and maidens of the royal fami ly, they went out tomeet him

, and led h im to the grove . But regarding himas younger than themselves , as i t were a younger bro the r,a nephew, or a grandson , they d id not bow down. Butthe Buddha, understanding thei r thoughts , performed themiracle of taking his seat upon a jewelled platform in theair, and so preach ing the law. And the king see ing th iswonder said : O Blessed One, when Kala Devala boweddown to your feet on the day of thy bi rth I d id obeisanceto thee for the first time . And when I saw that theshadow of the Jambu- tree remained motionless upon theoccas ion of the plough ing fest ival I d id obeisance for thesecond time ; and now, because of th i s great mi racle , Ibow again to thy feet .” And there was not one of theSakyas who did not how to the Buddha

’s feet at the sametime . Then the Blessed One descended from the air, andsat upon the throne that had been prepared for h im , and

there he del ivered a d iscourse,to wi t

,the s tory of hi s

former birth as Prince Vessantara.

Conversion of Me S akya P rinces

The next day the maste r entered Kapilavatthu to beg hisfood , attended by the twenty thousand Arahats. Wheni t was rumoured that the young prince S iddhattha wasbegging from doo r to door, the windows of the manystoried houses were Opened W ide, and a multi tude gazedforth in amazement . And amongst these was the mothe rof Rahula, and she said to herself : I s i t right that mylord , who was wont to go to and from in th i s town in a

gilded palanquin, with every sign of pomp, should now b e4 7

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismbegging h is food from door to door, with shaven hai r andbeard , and clad in russe t robes ? ” And she reported thematter to the king . He , instantly r is ing, went forth toremonstrate wi th h is son, that thus he put the Sakya clanto shame . DO you th ink it imposs ible ,” said he , “ thatwe should provide meal s for all your fo l lowers ? ” I ti s our custom , O king !” was the reply. Not so ,

Maste r,” said the king ; “ not one of all our ancestors hasever begged h is food .

” “ 0 king, repl ied the Buddha,“ thy descent i s in the success ion of kings , but mine inthe success ion of the Buddhas : and every one of thesehas begged h is dai ly food , and l ived upon alms .And stand ing in the middle of the street he uttered theve rse

A rise and delay not, follow after Mepure life !W/ZOfollows virtue rests in bliss, alike in Mis

world andMe next.

And when the verse was finished the king attained toFrui t of the Fi rst Path . Then the Buddha continued

F ollow after Mepure life, follow not after sin

Wko follows virtue rests in bliss alike in Misworld andMe next.

And the king attained to the Frui t of the Second Path .

Then the Buddha reci ted the Dkammapala f ataka , and

the king attained to the Frui t of the Thi rd Path . I t waswhen he was dying that the king attained to Arahatta

he never pract ised the Great Effo rt in sol i tude .

Now as soon as the king had experienced the Frui t ofConve rs ion,

he took the Buddha’s bowl and led the BlessedOne and all his fo l lowers to the palace , and served themwith savoury food .

48

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismhim to the place of hi s retreat : and the Buddha rece ivedhim all unwi l l ing as he was, into the Orde r, and he wasordained .

Upon the morrow the Mother of Rahula arrayed the chi ldin all i ts best and sent h im to the Blessed One , saying toh im :

“ Look , my dear, at yonder Monk,attended by so

many Brethren : he is your father, who was the possessorof a great treasure, which we have not seen s ince he leftus . GO now and say,

‘0 Father, I am thy son, and Ihave need of the treasure—give me the treasure , for a

son i s hei r to h is father’s prope rty .

’And even so the

ch i ld went up to the Blessed One and stood before himgladly and cheerful ly . And when the Ble ssed One hadfinished hi s meal , he arose and went away, and the boyfo l lowed him , saying, as his mother had taught h im , OMonk ! give to me my inheri tance . Then the BlessedOne sai d to Sariputta, “ Well , then, Sariputta, receiveRahula into our Order.”

But when the king learnt that h is grandson had beeno rdained he was deeply grieved ; and he made known hisgrief to the Master, and won from him the promise thathenceforth no son should be re ce ived into the Orderwi thout the leave of h is father and mother.Now, after the K ing Suddhodana had attained the Frui tof the Thi rd Path , the Blessed One , toge ther wi th thecompany of Brethren, returned to Rajagaha, and took uphis res idence in the S i taGrove.But between Kapi lavatthu andRajagaha the Master hal tedfor a short t ime at the Mango Grove of Anupiya. And

whi le he was in that place a numbe r of the Sakyaprince s de termined to jo in his congregat ion, and to th i send they fo l lowed h im thi ther. The ch ie f of these prince swere Anuruddha, Bhaddiva, Kimbi la, Ananda, the50

Iv

YASODHARAAND RAHULANANDA LAI . BOS E

Pag e 50

Conversion of Anathapindika

Buddha’s cousin, who was afte rwards appo inted personalattendant , and Devadatta, the Buddha’s cousin, who was

ever h is enemy.

Conversion of A ndtkapz'

ndika

Now in these days there was a very weal thy merchant, byname Anathapindika, and he was res id ing at the house ofa friend at Rajagaha, and the news reached him that aBlessed Buddha had arisen. Ve ry early in the morninghe went to the Teacher, and heard the Law, and was converted ; and he gave a great donat ion to the Order, andrece ived a promise from the Maste r that he would vis i tSavatthi , the merchant ’s home . Then all along the roadfor the whole d istance of forty-five leagues he bui l t a

re sting-place at every league . And he bought the greatJe tavana Grove at Savatth i for the pri ce of as many piecesof gold as would cover the whole ground . In the midstthereof he bui l t a pleasant chambe r for the Master, and

separate cel ls for the eighty Elders round about i t, and

many othe r res idences wi th long hal l s and open roofs , andterraces to walk by night andday, and reservo i rs of water.Then d id he send a message to the Master that all wasprepared . And the Master departed from Rajagaha, andindue course reached Savatth i . Andthe weal thy merchant,together wi th h is wi fe and h is son and two daughtersin festal att i re, and accompanied by a mighty train offol lowers , went out to meet h im ; whi le the Blessed Oneon his part entered the new-bui l t monaste ry with all theinfini te grace and peerless majesty of a Buddha, makingthe grove to sh ine with the glo ry of h is person , as thoughi t had been sprinkled with dust of go ld .

Then Anathapindika said to the Master : “What shouldI do with thi s monastery ? ” and the Master answered :

51

Buddha the Go spe l of BuddhismBestow i t upon the Order, whe ther now present or tocome .” And the great Merchant, pouring wate r from a

golden vessel into the Master’s hands , confirmed the giftin these terms . And the Master received i t and gavethanks and praised the uses of monasterie s and the giftof them . The ded ication festival lasted nine months .In those days there also res ided at Savatthi , the ch ief townof K osala, the lady Visakha, the wi fe of the weal thymerchant Punnavaddhana. She made hersel f the patronessand supporter o f the Order, andwas also the means of converting her father- in-law, who was previously an adherentof the naked Jainas ; and for th i s reason she got the su rname of the mothe r of Migara. Beyond thi s was herdedi cation to the Order of the monastery of Pubbarama,the value and splendour whereof were second only to thoseof the monastery erected by Anathapindika himsel f.

Tb e Buddka averts a War

Now three rainy seasons were spent by the Lord in theBambu Grove . I t was in the fifth season, when he wasres iding in the Katagara Hal l of the Great Fo re st near toVesali that there arose a d ispute between the Sakyas and

the K oliyas regard ing the water of the river Rohini , which ,because of a great drought, did not suffice that year toi rrigate the fields onboth banks . The quarrel rose high , andmatters were come nearly to battle, when the Buddha proceeded to the place, and took his seat on the river bank . He

enqui red for what reason the princes of the Sakyas and

K oliyas were assembled , and when he was informed thatthey were met together for battle, he enquired what wasthe point in dispute . The princes sai d that they d id not

know of a sure ty, and they made enqui ry of the commanderin-ch ief, but he in turn knew not, and sought informat ion52

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 89° the Gospe l of Buddhismof the five hundred princes who had been ordained on theoccasion of the imminent battle at the Roh ini river ; forthese cons idered that i t was better for them to reti re fromthe world , than to remain at home in widowhood . TheMatron Gautami‘ said to the Buddha that as Suddhodanawas now dead , and Rahula andNandawere both ordainedBrethren, she had no wish to reside alone, and she askedthat she might be admitted to the Order, together withthe princesses who were with her. But this request theBuddha refused , a fi rst, a second , and th ird time , for hereflected that i f they were admitted , i t would perplex theminds of many who had not yet entered the Paths , andwould be the occas ion of evi l speaking against the Order.And when they were st i l l refused , the women feared toask a fourth time, and they returned to thei r homes .And the Buddha returned to the Katagara hal l , nearVesali .

Then the Matron Gautami sai d to the other princessesMych i ldren, the Buddha has thrice refused us admiss ionto the Order, but now let us take i t upon ourselves to goto him where he now i s, and he wi l l not be able to denyus . They all cut thei r hai r, adopted the garb ofrel igieuses , and taking earthen alms-bowls , set out for

Vesali on foo t ; for they cons idered that i t was contraryto the d iscipl ine for a recluse to trave l by car. Thenthey who in all thei r l i fe had walked only on smoothpavements , and regarded i t as a great matter to ascendor de scend from one story of thei r palaces to anothe r,trod the dusty roads , and i t was not unti l evening thatthey reached the place where the Buddha was. Theywe re rece ived by Ananda. And when he saw them , the i rfeet bleeding and cove red with dust, as i f hal f dead , hisbreast was fi l led with pity and his eyes with tears, and he54

The Admission ofWomenenqui red the meaning of the i r journey. When thi s wasmade known he informed the Master, describ ing all thathe had seen. But the Buddha merely sai d : “ Enough ,Ananda, do not ask me that women ret i re from the househo ld l i fe to the homeless l i fe , under the Doctri ne and

D i scipl ine of H im-who-has-thus-attained .

"And he sai d

th is three t imes . But Ananda besought the Blessed Onein another way to receive the women into the homelessl i fe . He asked the Blessed One : Are women competent,Reverend S i re , i f they ret i re from the household to thehomeless l i fe , to attain to the Fru its of the Fi rst, theS econd , the Thi rd , and the Fourth Paths , even toArahatta ? The Buddha could not deny the competenceof women .

“ Are Buddhas ,” he asked , “ born into theworld only for the benefi t of men ? Assuredly i t i s forthe benefit of women also .

”And the Blessed One

consented that women should make profess ion and enterthe Order, subject to the cond i t ions of the Eight Dutiesof S ubordinat ion to the Brethren. But,” he added , “ i fwomen we re not admitted to the Order, then would theGood Law endure for a thousand years , but now i t wi l lstand for five hundred years only . For just as whenmildew fal ls upon a field of flouri sh ing rice

,that field of

ri ce does not long endure , just so when women reti refrom the household to the homeless l i fe under a Doctrineand D i scipl ine, the norm wil l not long endure . And

just as a large reservoi r i s strengthened by a strong dyke,

so have I establ ished a barrier of eight weighty regulations, not to b e transgressed as long as l i fe shal l last .”

And in th is way the Matron Gautami and the five hundredprincesses were admi tted to the order ; and i t was not

long be fore Gautami attained to Arahatta, and the fivehundred princesses attained the Frui t o f the Fi rst Path .

55

Buddha 599 the Gospe l of BuddhismAnd thi s took place in the s ixth year of the Enl ightenment .

Tb e S irM to Me F ourteenM Years

The sixth rainy season was spent at Savatth i , and thereafter the Blessed One repa i red to Rajagaha. Now thename Of king Bimbisara’s wi fe was Khema, 1 and such washer pride in her beauty that she had never deigned tovis i t the Master : but on a certain occas ion the kingbrought about a meeting by means of a stratagem . Thenthe Buddha performed a miracle for her ; he produceda l ikene ss of one of the beauti ful nymphs of Indra’sheaven, and whi le she beheld i t, he made i t pass throughall the stages of youth , middle age , old age , and death .

And by this te rrible s ight the Queen was disposed to hearthe Maste r’s teaching, and she entered the First Path ,and afterwards attained to Arahatta.

During the Master’s res idence in Rajagaha a wealthymerchant of that place became possessed of a piece ofsandal wood , and he had a bowl made of i t . This bowlhe fastened to the tip of a tal l bamboo , and ra i s ing i tup in thi s way, he announced “ I f any Wanderer orBrahman be posse ssed of miraculous powers , let h im takedown the bowl .” Then Mogallana and o ther of theBrethren egged each other to take it down, and that otherby name P indola-Bharadvaja, rose up into the sky and

took the bowl , and moved three times round the ci ty erehe descended , to the astoni shment of all the ci tizens .When th is was reported to the Buddha, he remarked“This wi l l not conduce to the convers ion of the unconverted , nor to the advantage of the converted .

”And

1 Forothermention of the Bhikkuni K hema, see p . 2 2 3 .

56

The S ixth to the Fourteenth Years

he prohibi ted the Brethren from making an exhibitionof miraculous powers .The Buddha met with opposi t ion to h is teach ing, particularly from s ix hereti cal teachers, each of whom had a

large train of adherents . Of these hereti cal teache rsone was Sanjaya, the former master of Sariputta and

Mogallana, and another was N igantha Nataputta, who i sbetter known as Vardhamana, the founder of the sect ofthe Jainas , whose h istory in many respects recal l s that ofBuddhism

,whi le, unl ike Buddh ism , i t sti l l numbers many

adherents in India proper. These various teachers fai ledto find any support in the realm of B imbisara, and therefore betook themselves to Savatth i , hOping to securegreater influence wi th King Prasenajit. Now Savatthi

was the place were all former Buddhas have exh ibi tedthe i r greatest miracle , and remembering this the Buddhaproceeded th i ther with the intention of confounding h isOpponents . He took up his res idence in the Jetavanamonastery . Very soon afterwards he exh ibi ted to the

people , the s ix teachers , and King Prasenaji t, a series ofgreat m iracles , creating a great road across the sky fromEast to West, and walking thereon the whi le he preachedthe Good Law. By these means the heretical teacherswere ove rcome .

Following upon the Great Mi racle, the Buddha departedto the Heaven of the Thi rty- three, and the re preached theLaw to his mothe r, MahaMaya. The Buddha remainedin the Heaven of the Thi rty-three for three months

, and

during that t ime he created a l ikeness of h imself, thatcont inued the teaching of the Law on earth , andwent everyday upon h is rounds begging food . When the Buddhawas about to descend from heaven , Sakka commande dVissakamma, the d ivine arch itect, to create a triple

57

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismladde r, the foot of which was set down near the town ofS ankissa. And the Buddha descended at thi s place,attended by Brahma on the right and Sakka on the le ft .From S ankissa the Master returned to the Jetavanamonastery near Savatthi . Here the here t ical teache rsinduced a young woman of the name of Cinca so toact as to arouse the suspic ion of the people regard ingher relation to the Master . After many vis i ts to the

monastery, she contrived a means to assume the appearance of a woman far gone in pregnancy, and in the ninthmonth She brought an Open accusation, and required thatthe Master should provide a place for her confinement .The Buddha answe red wi th a great voice , S i ste r, whe the rthy words be true or false, none knowe th save thou and I .”

At that very moment the strings gave way, whe rewith thewoman had bound upon herself the wooden globe bymeans of which she had assumed the appearance Of

pregnancy . Pursued by the indignant people , she d isappeared in the midst of flames ri sing from the earth , anddescended to the bottom of the lowest Purgatory .

The ninth re treat was spent in the Ghositarama at

K ausamb i'

. He re there arose violent d isagreementsamong the Bre thren on matters of discipl ine , and theBuddha’s wisdom and kindness avai led not to restorepeace . He the refore left the Bre thren and proceeded tothe vi l lage of Balajalonakarawith the intent ion of residingalone as a hermit. He met on the way Anuruddha,

Nandiya and Kimbila, who we re l iving in pe rfect uni tyand content, and he rejoi ced thei r hearts by a re l igiousd iscourse . Then proceed ing to the Rakkh i ta Grove at

Pari leyyaka, he dwelt alone .

A fte r residing for some t ime at Parileyyaka, the Lo rdproceeded to Savatthi . Now the contumacious Brethren58

The S ixth to the Fourteenth Yearsof Kausamb i had received such signal marks of d isrespe ctfrom the laity of that c i ty that they resolved to proceed toSavatthi and lay the matter in dispute before the Master,and they abode by h is decis ion, and peace was resto red .

During the eleventh retreat the Maste r res ided at

Rajagaha . There he saw one daya Brahman, by nameBharadvaja, supe rintending the cultivation of his fie lds .The Brahman, seeing the Buddha subs isting upon thealms of others , said : “ O Wanderer, I plough and sow,

and so findmy l ive l ihood . DO thou also plough and sow

to the same end ?” But the Buddha repl ied : “ I , too ,

plough and sow, and i t i s thus that I find my food .

”

The Brahman was surprised , and said : I do not see, Oreverend Gautama, that you have a yoke, ploughshare ,goad , or bul locks . How, then, say that thou too

labourest ?” Then the Lo rd said : “ Fai th i s the seed I

sow ; devotion i s the rain ; modesty is the ploughshaft ;the mind i s the tie of the yoke ; m indfulness ismy ploughshare and goad . Energy is my team andbul lock , leadingto safety, and proceeding without backsl id ing to the placewhere there i s no sorrow .

”And Bharadvaja was so

much affected by th is parable that he was converted and

made confession and was admitted to the Order.In the th i rteenth year, during h is stay at Kapilavatthu,

the Buddha was subjected to violent insults on the part ofh is fathe r- ih -law, S uprabuddha, and he uttered the pred i ction that with ina week Suprabuddhawould be swal lowedal ive by the earth . And, notwi thstanding SuprabuddhaSpent the whole week in the tower of h i s palace, the earthopened and he was swal lowed up in accordance withthe prophe cy, and he sank into the lowest Purgatory .

The Lord re turned from K apilavatthu to the Jetavanamonastery at Savatthi and thence proceeded to A lavi , a

59

Buddha $3” the Gospe l of Buddhismplace thatwas haunted by aman-eat ing ogrewhowasaccustomed to devour the ch i ldren of the place day after day.

When the Buddha appeared before h im , he was receivedwith threats

,but the Master, by gentlene ss and pat ience ,

succeeded in softening h is heart, and was able al so toanswe r the que stions propounded by the ogre, who becamea bel iever and mended his l i fe . The fierce robber Angulimala, too , he won over to the Good Law, and notwi th

stand ing his evi l l i fe he quickly atta ined to Arahatta.

About thi s t ime the pious Anathapindika gave hisdaughter in marriage to the son of a friend res id ing inAnga, and as the Anga family were supporters of thehere t i cal teacher N igantha, he gave his daughter a trainof mai dservants to support her in the right fai th . The

young wi fe re fused to do honour to the naked Jainaasce t ics , and she awakened an eager desi re in the heartof her mo ther- in-law to hear the preaching of the Masterand when he arrived the whole family together with manyothers were converted . Leaving the completion of the

work of convers ion to Anuruddha, the Buddha returned toSavatthi .

Tke Buddka’

s Da ily L ifeIn th is waythere passed by year afte r year of the Buddha

’swandering ministry, but the events of the middle yearscannot b e chrono logi cal ly arranged with exact i tude ; i twi l l suffice i f we give a general descript ion of the Master’sda i ly l i fe at thi s time . 1From year to year the change from a period of wanderingto a period of rest and ret i rement repeated itse l f for Buddhaand his d isciples . In the month of June when, after the1 What fo l lows is quoted from the admirable summary ofOldenbergBuddlia

,English translation by W. Hoey. 1

60

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhismdwelt near had taken care to provide shelter, to whichBuddha and his disciples might resort : or, where monkswho pro fessed the doctrine dwelt, the re was sure to befound lodging for the night in the i r abodes , and even i fno other cover was to b e had, there was no want of mangoor banyan trees, at the feet of which the band might hal tfor the night .The most important headquarte rs during these wanderings, at the same t ime the approximate ly extreme po ints ,to the no rth-we st and south - east of the area, in whichBuddha’s pi lgrim l i fe was passed , are the capital c i t ie s of thekings ofK osala andMagadha, Savatth i , now S ahetMaheth

on the Rapti , and Rajagaha, now Rajgi r, south of Bihar.In the immediate ne ighbourhood of these towns the communi ty possessed nume rous pleasant gardens , in whichstructures of various kinds were erected for the requirements of the members . ‘Not too far from , nor yet toonear the town, ’ thus runs the standard description of sucha park given in the sacred texts , ‘we l l provided withentrance s and exits , eas i ly acce ss ible to all people who

enquire afte r i t, with not too much of the bustle of l i fe byday, quiet by night , far from commotion and the crowdsof men, a place of re t i rement, a good place for so l i tarymeditat ion.

’S uch a garden was the Veluvana,

‘ BambuGrove, ’ once a pleasure - ground of King Bimbisara, andpresented by him to Buddha and the Church : ano the r wasthe sti l l more renouned Jetavana at Savatthi , a gi ft madeby Buddha’s most l iberal admire r, the great merchantAnathapindika . Not alone the sacred texts , but equal lyal so the monumental re co rds , the rel ie fs of the great S tfipaof Bharhut, re cently explored , show how highly ce lebratedth is gift of Anathapindika

’

s was from the earl iest days i nthe Buddhist Church . I f i t i s poss ible to speak of a

6 2

The Buddha’

s Daily Lifehome in the homeless wande ring l i fe of Buddha and h isd isciples , places l ike the Veluvana and Je tavana may of

all o thers be so cal led , near the great centres of Indianl i fe and yet untouched by the turmoi l of the capitals , oncethe qu ie t rest ing-places of rulers and nobles , before the

yel low-robed mendicants appeared on the scene, and ‘ theChurch in the four quarters , présent and absent, ’ succeededto the possess ion of the kingly inheri tance . In thesegardens we re the res idences Of the brethren, houses , hal ls ,Clo i sters , storerooms , su rrounded by lotus-poo l s , fragrantmango trees

,and S lender fan-palms that l i ft the i r fo l iage

high over all else , and by the deep green fo l iage of the

Nyagrodha tree, whose roots dropping from the airto earthbe come new stems , and with thei r coo l shady arcades andleafy walks seem to invite to peace fu l meditation.

“ These were the surroundings in which Buddha passed a

great part of hi s l i fe , probably the portions of i t ri chest ineffective work . He re masses of the populat i on, lay as

wel l as monasti c, flocked together to see h im , and to hearh im preach . Hither came pi lgrim monks from far

countrie s , who had heard the fame of Buddha’s teach ing,and, when the rainy season was past, undertook a pi lgrimage to see the Master face to face .“The fame of Buddha ’s person also drew together from ‘

far and near crowds of such as stood wi thout the narrowerc i rcle s of the community. ‘ To the asceti c Gotama,

’

people remarked to one another, ‘ fo lks are coming, pass ingthrough kingdoms and countries , to converse wi th him .

’

Often, when he happened to hal t near the residences ofpotentates , kings , princes , and d igni taries came on wagonsor on elephants to put quest ions to h im or to hear hi sdoctrine . S uch a scene i s described to us in the openingof the Satra on the frui t of asceti cism ,

’

and reappears i n6 3

Buddha 8939 the Gospe l of Buddhismpicto rial representat ion among the rel iefs at Bharhut .The Sfi tra re lates how King Ajatasattu of Magadha in

the ‘Lotus-night ’—that i s , in the ful l moon of October,the time when the lotus blooms—i s si tting in the open air,

surrounded by his nobles on the flat roof of h is palace .Then, ’ as i t i s recorded in that text, the king of Magadha,

Ajatasattu, the son of the Vaideh i princes , uttered th isexclamat ion,

‘ Fai r i n sooth i s th is moonl ight night,love ly in sooth i s th i s moonl ight night, grand in soothi s this moonl ight night, happy omens in sooth givethth is moonl ight night . What Samaria 1 or what Brahmanshal l I go to hear, that my soul may be chee red whenI hear him ? ’ One counseller name s th i s and anotherthat teacher : but Ji vaka, the king

’s physi c ian, s i ts on ins i lence. Then the king Of Magadha, Ajatasattu, thesun of Vedehi , spake to Ji vaka K omarabhacca : Whyart thou s i lent, friend Ji vaka ?

”—“ S i re, i n my mangogrove he resteth , the exal ted , ho ly, supreme Buddha,with a great band of d isciples , with three hundred monks ;of h im , the exal ted Gotama, the re spreadeth through theworld lordly pra ise in these terms : He , the exal ted one , i sthe ho ly, supreme Buddha, the wise, the learned, theblessed , who knoweth the universe, the highest, whotameth man l ike an ox, the teacher of gods and men , theexalted Buddha. S i re , go to hear him , the exal ted onepe rchance, i f thou seest h im , the exal ted one , thy soul ,0 s i re , may be refreshed —and the king orde rs elephantsto be prepared for h imsel f and the queens, and the royalprocession move s wi th burning torche s on that moonl ightnight through the gate of Rajagaha to Ji vaka

’

s mangogrove, where Buddha i s said to have held wi th the kingthe famous d iscourse, ‘ On the frui ts of asceti cism,

’at

1 A begging friar, B lzikkku.

64

The Buddha’

s Dai ly Lifethe end of which the king joined the Church as a laymember.“ A frequent end of these d ialogues i s

, of course,that

the vanquished Opponents or the parti sans of Buddhainvite h im and hi s d isciples to d ine on the fol lowing day.

The Buddha Teach ing in the House of a Layman(Ajanta Frescoes, afterGriffiths)

S ir, may i t please the Exal ted One and h is d isciples todine wi th me to-mo rrow .

’And Buddha permits h is con

sent to b e infe rred from his s i lence . On the fol lowingday, about noon, when d inner i s ready, the host sendsword to Buddha : ‘ S i re , i t i s time , the dinner i s readyand Buddha takes h is cloak and alms-bowl and goes

E 65

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismwith h is d isciples into the town or vi l lage to the res idenceof h is host . A fter d inner at which the host h imsel fand h is family serve the guests, when the customaryhand-washing is over, the host takes h is place wi th h i sfamily at Buddha’s s ide, and Buddha addresses to them a

word of spi ri tual admoni t ion and instruction.

“ I f the daybe not fi l led by an invi tat ion, Buddha, according to monast i c usages, undertakes h is c ircu i t of the

vi l lage or town in quest of alms . He, as we l l as hi sd isciples, rises early, when the l ight of dawn appears inthe sky, and spends the

' early moments i n Spiri tual exerci ses or in converse with h is d i sciples , and then heproceeds wi th h is companions towards the town. In the

days when his reputat ion stood at i ts h ighest po int andhi s name was named throughout India among the fo remost names , one might day by day see that man befo rewhom kings bowed themselves , walking about, alms-bowlin hand , through streets and al leys , from house to house ,and without uttering any reque st, with downcast look ,stand S i lently wai ting unti l a morsel of food was throwninto his bowl .When he had returned from his begging excurs ion and

had eaten h is repast, the re fo l lowed , as the Indian cl imatedemanded , a t ime, i f not of sleep, at any rate of peacefulreti rement . Rest ing in a quie t chamber or, better sti l l ,in the coo l shades of dense fo l iage , he passed the sultryclose hours of the afternoon in sol i tary contemplat ionunti l the evening came on and drew him once more fromholy s i lence to the bustl ing concourse of friend and foe .”

Tb e Appointment of A nanda

During the first twenty years of the Buddha’s l i fe, hispersonal attendants were not such permanently . The

6 6

PLATE G66

STAND ING IMAGE OF THE BUDDHA ATTENDED BYANANDA AND KASSAPA AND TWO BODH ISATTAS

Chi nese ste le,We i dynasty , 6 th century A D

Co leclzon of Mr Vi c ‘or Golonbew

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismpe rmanent attendant of the Buddha .

1 I t was not, howeve r,unt i l after the Buddha’s death that Ananda attained toArahatta.

Tb e E nmi ty of Devadatta

In the picture of Buddha’s dai ly l i fe described a fewpages previously, mention i s made of Ajatasattu, King of

Magadha. This Ajatasattu was the son of Bimbisara,the

ch ief of the Buddha’s royal supporters . WhenAjatasattuwas conceived

,i t was indicated by an omen and a prophe cy

that he would be the S layer of h is father. And th is cameto pass at the instigat ion of Devadatta . One daywhenthe Buddha was teaching in the Bambu Grove , Devadattaproposed that be cause of the Master’s advanced age ,

the leadersh ip of the Congregat ion should be ve sted inhimse l f . From the t ime when th i s sugge sti on was plainlyre fused , Devadatta

’

s enmity and i l l-wi ll greatly increased .

Because of what had taken place the Buddha i ssued a

decree against Devadatta as a renegade whose wo rdswere not to b e recogni zed as proceeding from the Buddha,the Law, or the Communi ty. The angry Devadatta now

be took himse l f to Ajatasattu, King Bimbisara’s son and

he i r, and persuaded him to murder his father and usurpthe throne, whi le Devadatta should ki l l the Master andbecome Buddha. Bimbisara however discove red hisson’s intention, and so far from punish ing h im in anyway,

abdicated the throne and gave over the kingdom to h i sson. Neve rtheless , upon Devadatta’s representing thatB imbisara might desi re to recover the throne, Ajatasattubrought about his death by starvation.

1 P ersonal serv ice on the Buddha impl ied to bring h is waterand toothbrush, wash h is feet, accompany h im abroad, bear his bowl and c loak

,

sweep h is ce l l, and act as Chamberlain.

6 8

P LATE H

THE QUELLING OF MALAGI R I

Amaravati , 2 nd century A D

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismthe gentlest fash ion andknee led before h im . The Maste rcharged him to take no l i fe in future , but to be kindto all people : and the elephant repeated the five precepts be fore the assembled crowds . Thus the rage of

Malagiri was subdued , and had he not been a quadruped ,he might have entered the Fi rst Path .

1 As Buddha hadthus pe rfo rmed a miracle , he refle cted that i t would not

b e becoming to seek alms in the same place , and he

the refore re turned to the Jetavana monastery, withoutproceeding on h is usual course .

Following upon th i s , Devadatta attempted to create a

schism in the Order. Together with certa in other Bhikkhushe requested the Buddha to establ ish a more seve re lyasceti c rule for the Brethren, as that they should clothethemse lves only in cast-off rags , that they should dwe l l asfore st-hermits , accept no invi tations, and abstain from fishand meat . The Master refused to concede these demands ,de claring that those who wished might adopt th is moresevere rule , but that he would not make i t binding upon all.Devadatta, who expected th i s refusal , made i t the occasionof d ivision within the Order. Together with a party offive hundred recently ordained Brethren, he made his wayto GayaS carp . But as hewas preaching there , he happenedto see Sariputta and Mogallana in the aud ience, and

th inking them to be of h is party, he requested Sariputtato preach , whi le he h imsel f slept . Sariputta andMogallana

now addressed the assembly andpersuaded the five hundredsch ismat i cs to return to the Master. When Devadattaawoke and learnt what had taken place, the hot bloodbroke from his mouth in anger. Devadatta lay s ick fornine months : and at the end of thi s t ime he determined1 Animals may keep the precepts, gods may enter the Paths, butonly human beings can attain to Arahatta and Nibbana.

70

Destruc tion of the Sakyas

to seek the Buddha’s forgiveness , for he knew that theMaster fel t no i l l-wil l toward h im . His d isciples en

deavoured to d issuade him , knowing that the Buddhawould not see h im : but he had himsel f conveyed in a

palanquin to the Jetavana monastery . The Bhikkhusinformed Buddha of his approach , but theMaster answered :He wi l l not see the Buddha : for hi s crimes are so greatthat ten, or a hundred , or even a thousand Buddhas couldnot he lp him When they reached the monastery , thed isciple s of Devadatta laid down the palanquin : and then,

despi te hi s weakness, Devadatta rose and stood . But no

sooner did his feet touch the ground , than flames arosefrom the lowest hell , and wrapped him in thei r folds , at

fi rs t h is feet, then his middle , and then his shoulders .Then in terro r he cried aloud : “ Save me, my chi ld ren, Iam the cousin of the Buddha . O Buddha, though I havedone so much aga inst thee , for the sake of our kinshipsave me !” And he repeated the formula of taking refugein the Buddha, the norm , and the order. By th is hereceived the help of the Three Gems at last, and i n a

future bi rth he wi l l become the Private Buddha Sattisara,notwithstanding he now went to hel l and rece ived a

body of fire .Now King Ajatasattu, who had murdered his father, fel tthe pangs of conscience . He found no comfort in thedoctrines of the S ix hereti cal teache rs who were the Lord ’sopponents . And then, on the advice of his physi cian Jivaka—as re lated previously—he sought the Buddha himself, andheard h is teach ing and became a convert to the true fai th .

Destruction of Me Sakyas

Not long after th i s , in the seventh year of Ajatasattu’s

reign, the son of the king of K osala dethroned hi s father7 1

Buddha $5" the Gospe l of Buddhismand, to revenge himsel f for a sl ight received , he marchedon Kapilavatthu. A lmost the whole of the Sakya clanwas destroyed in the ensuing war, while the party of theK osalas pe rished in a great flood .

When the Lo rd had reached his seventy-ninth yearbe ing the forty-fifth year fol lowing the Enl ightenmentAjatasattu unde rtook an unsuccessful war upon theVajjians of Vesali . The Buddha was consulted upon thel ike l ihood of victory, and in this connect ion we are in

formed what i s the Maste r’s view Of pol i ty , for hede clare s that he himse l f has taught the Vajjians the

conditi ons of true welfare, and as he i s info rmed that theVajjians are continuing to obse rve these inst i tutions , heforetel ls that they wi l l not suffer defeat . And the se conditions are stated in the fol lowing terms : S o long

,

Ananda, as the Vajjians meet toge ther in concord , andri se in concord , and carry out thei r undertakings in con

cord—so long as they enact noth ing al ready e stabl ished,

abrogate noth ing that has been al ready enacted, and act

in accordance with the ancient insti tut ions of theVajjians,as establ ished in forme r days—so long as they honour andesteem and revere the Vajjian elders , and ho ld i t a po intof duty to hearken to thei r wo rds—so long as no womenor girls belonging to thei r clans are detained among themby force or abduction— so long as they honour and esteemand revere and support the Vajjian shrines in town or

country, and al low not the proper offerings and ri tes , asformerly given and performed , to fal l i nto de sue tude—so

long as the rightful pro tect ion, defence, and support shal lb e ful ly provided for the Arahats amongst them , so thatArahats from a d istance may ente r the realm , and the

Arahats the rein may l ive at ease—so long may theVajjians be expected not to decl ine, but to prosper.

”

7 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismearnest contemplation, when i t i s set round with uprightconduct. Great be comes the frui t, great the advantageof intel lect, when i t i s set round with earnest contemplat ion. The mind , set round with intel l igence, i s set quitefree from the Intoxicat ions, that i s to say, from the Intoxi cat ionofS ensual i ty, from the Intoxicat ionofBecoming,from the Intoxicat ion of Delus ion

,from the Intoxi cat ion

of Ignorance .”

Tb e gift of a garden by A mbapali'

Then the Master proceeded to Ve sali . At th i s time , alsothere was dwe l l ing in the town of Vesali a beauti ful andweal thy courtesan whose name wasAmbapali , the Mangogi rl . I t was repo rted to her that the Ble ssed One hadcome to Vesali and was hal ting at her Mango Grove .

Immediately she ordered her carriages and set out for thegrove , attended by all her tra in ; and as soon as shereached the place where the Blessed One was, she wentup toward him on foot, and stood respectful ly as ide ;and the Blessed One instructed and gladdened her withrel igious d iscourse. And she , being thus instructed and

gladdened , addressed the Blessed One and said : “Maythe Master do me the honour to take his meal wi th all

the Brethren at my house to-morrow .

”And the Blessed

One gave consent by s i lence . Ambapali bowed downbe fore him and went her way.

1

Now the Licchav i princes of Vesali al so came to knowthat the Blessed One had come to the town, and they tooproceeded to the Mango Grove where he was hal t ing .

1 The picture of the wealthy and truly pious courtesan, gladdened byre l igious discourse , ’ remains true to Indian l ife in Old- fashioned c itieseven at the present day. The who le ep isode exhibits a beauti fulto lerance , recal ling the l ike stories of the Christian Magdalene. For

Ambapali’

s‘ P salm

,

’see p . 2 85 seq.

74

The last Re treat

And as they went they met wi th Ambapali returning, andshe drove up aga inst them axle to axle , and wheel towheel

, S O that they all exclaimed : “ How comes i t,Ambapali , that thou drivest up against us thus ? ” “MyLords ,” she made answer, “ I have just invi ted theBlessed One and hi s Brethren for thei r to-morrow ’s meal .”

Then the princes repl ied : “ O, Ambapali , give up thi smeal to us for the sum of a hundred thousand .

” “MyLords ,” she said , “ i f you were to Offer to me allVesali

with i ts subject te rri tory, I would not give up so honourable a feas t .” Then the Licchav is cast up thei r handsand exclaimed : “We are outdone by the Mango-gi rl !and they went on thei r way to the Mango Grove. And

when they, too , had greeted the Blessed One and had

hearkened to hi s instruction, they addressed the Masterand said : “May the Blessed One do us the honour totake h is meal , with all the Brethren, at our houseto-morrow.

” But the Buddha repl ied : “ O , Licchav is,

I have promised to d ine to-morrow with Ambapali thecourtesan.

”And again the princes exclaimed : We are

outdone by the Mango-gi rlThe next day Ambapali served the Lord and all theBrethren with her own hands , and when they would eat

no more she cal led for a low s tool and sat down bes idethe Master and said : “ Lord , I make a gi ft of th i smans ion to the Order of which thou art the chief .” And

the Blessed One accepted the gi ft ; and afte r instruct ingand gladdening Ambapali with re l igious discourse, herose from his seat and went h i s way.

Tb e last R etreat

From Vesali the Master went to the neighbouring vil lageof Beluva, where he spent the last Retreat . There a severe

75

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhisms i ckness came upon him . But the Exal ted One , cons ideringthat h is time was not yet come , and that i t was not rightthat he should pass away without taking leave of theOrde r, “ by a great effort of the wi l l bent that s i cknessdown again, and kept his hold on l i fe t i l l the t ime hefixed upon should come and the sickness abated upon him .

”

Now when he had qui te recovered , he came out from hislodging, and sat down upon a seat, and the re Anandacame to him and saluted h im and said : “ I have beheld

,

Lo rd , how the Exalted One was i n heal th , and I havebehe ld how the Exal ted One had to suffer. And thoughat the s ight of the s ickness of the Exalted One my bodybecame weak as a creeper, and the hori zon became dim tome , and my faculties we re no l onger clear, yet notwithstanding I took some l i ttle comfort from the thought thatthe Exal ted One would not pass away unt i l at least he hadle ft instructions as touch ing the Orde r,”“What then, Ananda,” said the Buddha, “ does the Orderexpect that of me ? I have preached the truth wi thoutmaking any d istinction between exoteri c and e sote ri cdoctrine ; for in respect of the truths , Ananda, He-who

has- thus-attained has no such thing as the closed fist of ateacher, who keeps some things back . S urely, Ananda,should there be anyone who harbours the thought, ‘ I t i s Iwho will lead the brotherhood , ’ or ‘ the Order i s dependent upon me, ’ i t i s he who should lay down instructionsin any matter concerning the Order. Now He-who-has

thus-attained , Ananda, th inks not that i t i s he who shouldlead the brotherhood , or that the Order i s dependent uponhim . Why then should he leave instructions in any

matter concerning the Order ? I too , O Ananda, am now

grown old, and ful l of years , my journey is drawing to i tsclose

,I have reached my sum of days, I am turning eighty

76

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 399 the Gospe l of Buddhismbrought into being, and o rgani zed , contains with in i tselfthe inherent necessi ty of d isso l ution—how then can this beposs ible that such a being should not be disso lved ? N0such condition can exist ! And, Ananda, that which hasbeen re l inquished , cast away, renounced , rejected , and

abandoned by the Tathagata—the remaining sum of l i fesurrendered by him—veri ly with regard to that, the wordhas gone forth from the Tathagata

, saying :‘The

pass ing away of Him-who-haS -thus-attained shal l takeplace before long . At the end of three months from th istime the Tathagata wil l die !’ That the Tathagata forthe sake of l iving should repent him again of that saying—th i s can no wise be !”Thereafter the Buddha set out wi th Ananda to go to theKfi tagara Hal l in the Great Forest . And be ing arrivedthere , the Brethren were assembled , and the Buddhaexhorted them , and made publ i c announcement of hiscoming death . Beho ld , now, 0 Bre thren, I exhort you,

saying : All component th ings must grow Old. Workout your salvat ion with d i l igence . The final extinctionof the Tathagata wi l l take place before long . At theend of three months from this time the Tathagata wil l

Tb e Last M eal

The reafte r the Buddha proceeded to Para, and he hal tedat the Mango Grove of Cunda, an hereditary smith .

And when th i s was reported to Cunda he hastened to

the grove ; the re the Buddha instructed and gladdenedh im with re l igious d iscourse . And he invited the

Maste r and the Brethren to dine at hi s house on the

morrow .

Early in the morning Cunda the smith prepared sweet78

Conversion of Pukkusa

ri ce and cake and a d ish of pork : 1 and he announced thehour to the Exal ted One . And he, taking his bowl ,proceeded to the house of Cunda the smith , and partookof the meal prepared , and afterward he instructed and

gladdened Cunda the smith wi th rel igious d iscourse .But when the Exal ted One had partaken of the mealprepared by Cunda the smith , there fel l upon h im a di res ickness , the d isease of dysentery and sharp pain cameupon h im , even unto death . But the Exal ted One , mindful and self-possessed

,bore i t wi thout complaint, and

when he was a l i ttle rel ieved he said to Ananda : Come ,Ananda, let us go on to K usinara.

” Even so , lord ,”

said the venerable Ananda.

Now the Exal ted One turned as ide from the path to thefoot of a certain tree, and said to Ananda, “ Fold , I prayyou, Ananda, the robe in four, and Spread i t out for me .

I am weary, Ananda, and must rest awhi le .” Even so ,lord ,” sai d the venerable Ananda. And when he wasseated he asked for water, and Ananda brought i t, from a

neighbouring stream—and he found the water of thestream was running clear, notwi thstanding that a caravanof five hundred carts had j ust passed the ford .

Conversion of P ukkusaImmediately after th is there passed by a young man, byname Pukkusa, a disciple of A lara Kalama . And here lated to the Buddha how upon a certain occas ion th i sAlara Kalama had been s i tt ing bes ide the road , and wasso absorbed in med itat ion that five hundred carts passedh im by , so nearly that even his robe was sprinkled wi ththe dust : and a certain man was so much impressed by1 Or perhaps truflles. But there isnoth ing contrary to Buddhist practicein eating flesh prepared and offered by others.

79

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhismth is profound abstraction that he be came A lara’s d isciple .

Upon hearing this sto ry the Buddha repl ied by relat ingan occas ion of even greater abstraction, on h is own part,when, as he was walking to and fro upon a ce rtainthre shing-floor at Atuma, the rain fel l and l ightningflashed , and two peasants and four men were ki l led by a

thunderbolt—and yet though conscious and awake , heneither saw nor heard the storm : and upon that occasionin l ike manner a ce rtain man was so much impressedby the Master’s abstraction that he became a disciple .

Upon hearing th is relat ion, Pukkusa’s fa i th in A lara

Kalama faded away,and he resorted to the Exal ted

One , and to the Law and to the Brothe rhood as h isrefuge, and requested the Exal ted One to accept h im as a

lay disciple . And he sent for two robe s of clo th of go l dand pre sented them to the Maste r, and so went h is way.

But when Ananda fo lded the robe s and the Maste r worethem , the go lden cloth seemed to have lost i ts brightne ss—and thi s was because wheneve r One-who-has-thusatta ined attains to Pe rfect Enl ightenment, as al so on

the day when he passes away, the co l our of his skinbecomes exceeding bright . “And now,

” said the Master,the utter pass ing away of Him-who-has-thus-attained ,wil l take place at the th i rd watch of th is n ight in theSala-grove of the Mallians Come , Ananda, let us go onto the river K akuttha.

” Even so , lord !” said thevenerable Ananda.

The Exal ted One went down into the water t the riverK akuttha, and bathed and drank ; and then, taking h isseat upon the bank , he spoke with Ananda concerningCunda the smith

,that none should impute the least

blame to him because the Master d ied after re ce iving thelast meal at his hands . On the contrary, he said , there80

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

The Master’

s Death

are two offerings of food which are supremely preciousthat which i s given immediately before One-who-has-thuscome attains to Perfect Insight, and the other before h i sutter pass ing away : and “ there has been lai d up toCunda the sm ith a kamma redounding to length of l i fe ,good birth , good fortune and good fame, and to theinhe ri tance of heaven and Of sove reign power ; and therefore let not Cunda the smi th feel any remorse .

”

Tb e Master’

s DeaMThen the Exal ted One sai d to Ananda : Come, Ananda,let us go on to the Sala-grove of the Mal las , on thefurther s ide of the river Hiranyavati . And when theywere come there , he said : “ Spread over for me , I prayyou, Ananda, the couch with i ts head to the north, betweenthe Twin Sala trees . I am weary, Ananda, and would l iedown.

” Even so , lord !” said the venerable Ananda.

And the Exal ted One lai d h imsel f down on hi s right s ide,with one leg rest ing on the other ; and he was mindfuland sel f-possessed .

And now there came to pass certain marvels , and theMaster Spoke of these to Ananda, and said : “ The twinSala trees are all one mass of bloom with flowers out ofseason ; all over the body of H im-who-has-thus-attained ,these drop and sprinkle and scatter themselves , out ofreverence for the successors of the Buddhas of old . And

heavenly musi c sounds in the sky , out of reverence forthe successors of the Buddhas of old . But i t i s not

thus , Ananda, that He-who-has- thus-atta ined i s rightlyhonoured , and reverenced . But the brother or the s ister,the devout man or woman who continual ly fulfil s all thegreater and lesse r duties , who i s correct in l i fe , walkingaccording to the precepts—i t i s he who rightly honours

F 8 1

Buddha 899 the Go spe l of Buddhismand reverences the Tathagata. And therefore , Ananda,

be ye constant in the fulfi lment of the greater and thelesser dut ies

, and be ye correct in l i fe, walking accord ingto the pre cepts ; and thus , Ananda, should i t be taught .Then the Buddha addre ssed Ananda, and sai d to h imthat he saw a great host of the gods assembled toge therto behold the Tathagata upon the night of h is finalpass ing away : and a host of spi ri ts of the air and of theearth , “ of worldly mind , who dishevel thei r hai r and

weep, who stretch forth the i r arms and weep, who fal lprostrate on the ground , and rol l to and fro in anguishat the thought ‘Too soon wi l l the Exalted One passaway ! TOO soon wi l l the Exal ted One die ! Too soonwi l l the Eye in the world pass away !’ “ But,”

the Master cont inued , “ the spi ri ts who are free frompassion bear i t calm and sel f-possessed , mindful of

the saying—‘ Impermanent, indeed , are all component

And the Maste r made ment ion of four place s that shouldb e visi ted by the clansmen with feel ings of reverencethe place whe re the Tathagata was born, the place wherehe attained S upreme Enl ightenment, the place where the

kingdom of righteousness was establ ished , and the placewhere the Tathagata utterly:passed away : “

and they,Ananda

,who Shal l die whi le they, with bel ieving heart,

are journeying on such a pilgrimage , shal l be reborn afte rdeath , when the body shal l d issolve , in the happy realmsof heaven.

”

When Ananda enqui red what should be done with the

remains of the Tathagata, he answe red : “ Hinde r not

yourse lves, Ananda, by honouring the remains of Himwho-has-thus-atta ined . Be zealous , I beseech you , Ananda,

on your own behal f Devote yourselves to your own good8 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 83" the Gospe l Of Buddhismfree from the Intoxications of S ensual ity, Of Individual i ty,Delusion and Ignorance .” And he prai sed the able serviceof Ananda before the whole assembly .

Then the Master said to Ananda : “ Go now into the

vi l lage of Kusinara, and inform the Mallas that theTathagata i s about to pass away , to the end that theymay not afterwards reproach themselve s by saying : ‘ In

our own vi l lage the Tathagata d ied , and we took not theoccas ion to vis i t the Tathagata in his last hours . ’ And

the Mal las ofKusinara, with thei r young men andmaidensand wive s were grieved and saddened , and betook themselves to the Sala Grove where the Buddha was lying .

And Ananda presented them to the Master,family by

family, in the first watch of the night.Now the re was at th i s time a wanderer of the name ofSubhadda, to whom the Buddha’s approach ing deathwas made known : and he des i red to speak with the

Master, for the d iss ipat ion of hi s doubt . To th is end heapproached Ananda : but he refused access to the Master,saying, The Exal ted One i s weary, do not trouble h im !But the Exal ted One overheard what was said , anddes iredthat Subhadda should be given access : for he knew thatthe questions to be asked were s incere, and that Subhaddawould understand the answers . And th is was what S ubhadda sought to know—whether the leaders of otherschoo l s of thought, the masters of other congregati ons ,such as N igantha Nataputta, or Sanjaya the formerteacher of Sariputta and Mogallana, esteemed as goodmen by many, had, as they cla imed , attained a true unde rstanding Of th ings , or had some of them S O attained , andnot o thers ? And the Exal ted One declared : In whatsoeve r doctrine and d iscipl ine , Subhadda, the Ariyan Eightfo ld Path is not found , there i s not found anyman of true84

The Master’

s Death

sainthood , ei ther of the first, the second , the th i rd , or thefourth degree . But in that Doctrine and D i scipl ine i nwh ich i s found the Ariyan Eightfold Path , there are menof true sainthood , of all the four degrees . Vo id are the

systems of o ther teachers—vo i d of true saints . But inth i s one , Subhadda, may the Brethren l ive the Pe rfectLi fe, that the world be not. bereft of Arahats.

”And

Subhadda’

s doubt being thus reso lved , he resorted tothe Exal ted One , to the Law, and to the Congregat ionas his refuge , and he was received into the Order : and“ere long he attained to that supreme goal of the higherl i fe (Nibbana) , for the sake of which the clansmen go outfrom all and every household gain and comfort, tobe come house less wande rers—yea, that supreme goald id he, by h imsel f, and whi le yet i n thi s vis ible world ,bring himself to the knowledge of, and cont inue to real ize,and to see face to face ! And he became conscious thatb i rth was at an end, that the higher l i fe had been fulfi l led ,that all that should be done had been accompl ished , andthat after th is present l i fe there would be no beyond .

Thus i t was that the venerable Subhadda became yetanother among the Arahats ; and he was the last d i sciplewhom the Exalted One h imsel f converted .

Now the Exalted'

One addressed the Brethren and sai dthrice , I t maybe, Brethren, that there maybe doubt ormisgiving in the mind of some Brother as to the Buddha,or the doctrine , or the path , or the method . Inqui re ,Bre thren, freely, DO not have to reproach yourselvesafte rwards with the thought our teache r was face toface with us , and we could not bring ourselves to inqui reof the Exal ted One when we were face to face with h im .

’

But none had any doubt or misgiving. And the vene rable Ananda said to the Exal ted One : How wonderful

85

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhisma thing is i t, lord , and how marvel lous Veri ly I bel ievethat in th i s whole assembly of the Bre thren the re i s notone Brother who has any doubt or misgiving as to the

Buddha, or the doctrine , or the path or the method !”

And the Buddha answered : “ I t i s out of the fullness offai th that thou hast spoken, Ananda ! But , Ananda, the

Tathagata knows for ce rtain that in his whole assembly ofthe Brethren there i s not one Brother who has anydoubt ormisgiving as to the Buddha, or the doctrine , or the path ,or the method For even the most backward , 1 Ananda,of all these five hundred brethren has be come conve rted ,i s no longer l iable to be borne in a state of suffe ring, andi s assured hereafter of attaining the Enl ightenment ofArahatta.

”

Then again, the Exal ted One addressed the Brethren and

sa id : De cay is inherent in all component th ings ! Workout your salvati on with d i l igence !”

This was the last word of Him-who-has-thus-atta ined .

Then the Exal ted One ente red the fi rst stage of Rapture ,and the second , th i rd , and fourth : and ri s ing from the

fourth stage , he ente red into the stat ion of the infini ty ofspace : thence aga in into the stat ion of the infini ty of

thought : thence again into the stat ion of emptiness : theninto the stat ion be tween consciousness and unconsc iousnessand then into the stat ion whe re the consciousness both ofsensat ions and i deas has whol ly passed away . And now

i t seemed to Ananda that the Maste r had passed away : buthe ente red again into every stat ion in reve rse orde r unt i l hereached the se cond stage of Rapture, and thence he passedinto the thi rd and fourth stages of Rapture . And pass ingout of the last stage of Rapture he immediately expi red .

1 Accord ing to Buddhaghosha this re fers to Ananda h imse lf, and wassaid for h is encouragement.86

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismbody of the Exal ted One was lying . And they spentthere s ix days paying honour and homage to the remainsof the Exal ted One , with dancing and hymns and music,and wi th garlands and perfumes . On the seventh daythey bore the body of the Exalted One through the ci tyand out by the Eastern gate to the shrine of the Mal las ,there to be burnt upon the pyre . They wrapped the bodyin layers of carded cotton wool and woven cloth , and

placed i t in a vessel of i ron, and that again in another ;and bui ld ing a funeral pyre of perfumed woods , they lai dthe body of the Exal ted One upon i t . Then four chieftains of the Mal las bathed the i r heads and clad themse lvesi n new garments wi th the intention of setting on fire thefuneral pyre . But 10, they were not able to set i t burning .

Now the reason of th is was that the venerable MahaKassapa was then j ourneying from Pava to Kusinarawitha company of five hundred Brethren : and i t was willed bythe gods that the pyre should not take fire unti l thevene rable Maha Kassapa together with these Brethrenhad saluted the feet of the Master. And when MahaKassapa came to the place of the funeral pyre , then hewalked thri ce round about i t and bowed in reverence tothe feet of the Exal ted One , and so d id the five hundredBrethren. And when this was ended , the funeral pyrecaught fire of i tsel f.And what was burnt was the flesh and the fluids of thebody, and all the wrappings , and only the bones were le ftbehind ; and when the body was thus burnt , streams of

wate r fel l from the sky and rose up from the ground and

extinguished the flames, and the Mal las also extinguishedthe fire with vessels of scented water. They laid thebones in state in the Counci l Hal l of the Mal las , set roundwith a latti ce-work of spears and a rampart of bows, and88

VI

THE F INAL RELEAS E

ABANINDRO NATHTAGORE

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

The Funeral Ritesthere for seven days they paid honour and reverence tothem with dancing and music and garlands and perfumes .Now these matters were repo rted to Ajatasattu, and tothe Licchav is of Vesali , and to the Sakyas of Kapilavatthu, and the Bul i s of Alakappa , and the K oliyas ofRamagama, and to the Brahman of Vethadi pa ; and all

the se , with the Mal las of K usinara, laid claim to theremains of the Exal ted One , and W i shed to erect a moundabove them , and to celebrate a feast of honour . TheMal las , however, saying that the Exal ted One had diedin thei r vi l lage , re fused to part wi th the remains . Thena certain Brahman of the name of Dona reminded theassembled Ch ieftains that the Buddha was wont to teachforbearance , and he recommended that the remains shouldbe d ivided into e ight portions , and that a monumentshould be erected by each of those who lai d cla im , in

thei r several terri torie s ; and th i s was done accordingly.

Dona himse l f erected a monument over the ve ssel inwhich the remains had been guarded , and the Moriyas ofP ippalivana, who made claim to a share when the d istribution had al ready been made , erected a mound abovethe ashes of the fire . And thus there were eight monuments for the remains of the Exal ted One

, and one otherfor the vessel , and another for the ashes .

PART I I THE GOSPEL OF EARLY

BUDDHISM

I . D I—I AMMA , THE DOCTR INE ANDD I S CI P L INEJust, 0 Brethren, as the wide sea has but one taste , the taste

of salt, so also, Brethren, have this Doctrine and Disc iplineone only taste , the taste of Salvation—Cullavagga ix.

HE whole of the doctrine (dkamma , Sanskri tdkarma)of Gautama i s s imply and briefly capi tulated in theFourAriyanTruths (A rzyasacca

'

ni ) or axioms : Thatthe re i s suffe ring (Dukkka) , that i t has a cause (S amudaya) ,that i t can be suppre ssed (Nirodka) , and that the re i s awayto accompl ish thi s (M agga) , the Path .

’ This representsthe appl icat ion of current med ical sc ience to the heal ingof the spi ri tual ly s i ck . The good physi cian, seeing Everyman in pain, proceeds to diagnosis : he refle cts upon thecure , and commends the ne ce ssary regime to the patient—th is i s the h istory Of the l i fe of Gautama. The s icksoul knows i ts s i ckness only by i ts pain ; i t seeks thecause of i ts suffering, and the assurance of a remedy, andasks what shal l i t do to be saved—th is i s the histo ry ofthose who take refuge in the Law of the Buddha .

Let us repeat here the essent ial part of Gautama’s firstsermon 1

This, O monks , i s the Ariyan Truth of S uffering : Birthi s suffering, old age i s suffe ring, s ickness i s suffering,death i s suffe ring, to be uni ted wi th the unloved i s suffering, to be separated from the loved is suffering, not toobtain what one des i res i s suffering ; in short, the fivefo ldcl inging to the earth i s suffe ring.

1 Here after Oldenberg, Buddba, 2nd Engl ish cd.,p . 2 06, with a few

verbal alterations.

90

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha S9” the Go spe l of Buddhismworld . What three th ings are they ? Birth , old age ,

and death .

Both then and now, says the Buddha again, just th is doI reveal : S uffering and the Extinction of S uffering.

Dukkka i s to be understood both as symptom and as

disease . In the first sense i t includes all possible phys icaland mental loss , “ all the meanness and agony withoutend,

” suffering and imperfe ction ofwhateve r sort to whichhumani ty and all l iving be ings (gods not excepted) aresubject . In the second sense i t i s the l iabi l i ty to experience these evi ls , which i s inseparable from ind ividualexistence .S o far Gautama has put forward noth ing which is notobviously a statement of fact . I t might, indeed , appearthat in our l i fe pain i s compensated for by pleasure, andthe balance must indeed be exact here, as between all

pai rs of Oppos i tes . But as soon as we reflect, we shal lsee that pleasure i tse l f i s the roo t of pain, for “ S orrowsprings from the flood of sensual pleasure as soon as

the object of sensual desi re i s removed .

” 1 In the wordsthat are quoted on our ti tle- page : Vraiement comencentamours en ioye et fynissent en dolours i n the words ofNie tzsche , “ Sai d ye ever Yea to one joy? 0 my friends,then sai d ye Yea also unto allWoe .”

According to the DkammapadaFrom me rriment cometh sorrow ; from merrimentcometh fear. Whosoever i s free from merriment, forhim there i s no sorrow : whence should fear come to

h im ? From love cometh sorrow ; from love comethfear. Whosoeve r i s free from love, for him there i s no

so rrow whence should come fear to him ? ”

But not only i s pleasure the prelude to pain, pleasure i s1 Visudd/zi Magga, xvi i .9 2

Anic ca

pain i tself ; again in the words of N ietzsche, “ Pleasurei s a form of pain.

”

For there i s for ever a skeleton at the feast happiness i nthe posi t ive sense, joy that depends on contact with thesource of pleasure external to onesel f, canno t be grasped ,i t cannot endure from one moment to another. I t i s thevanity of vani t ies to cl ing to that wh ich never i s , but i sfor ever changing ; and those who real i ze that all th i sworld of our experience i s a Becoming, and never attainsto Being , wil l not cl ing to that which cannot be grasped ,and i s ent i rely void .

Accord ingly, the who le of Buddhist psychology i s d i rectedto an analys i s of consciousness , d i rected to reveal i ts everchanging and compos i te character.

A nicca

Impermanence i s the inexorable, fundamental and pi ti lesslaw of all existence .“ There are five things whi ch no Samana, and no

Brahman, and no god , nei ther Mara, nor Brahma, noranybeing in the unive rse , can bring about . What fivethings are those ? That what i s subject to old age

should not grow old , that what i s subject to s i cknessshould not be s ick , that what i s subject to deathshould not die, that what i s subject to decay shouldnot decay, that what i s l iable to pass away should not

pass away . This no S amana can bring about, nor any

god, nei ther Mara, nor Brahma, nor any being in theuniverse .Just as Brahmanical thought accepts the temporal eterni tyof the S amsara, an eternal succession and coincidenceof evolut ion and involut ion, and an ete rnal success ion of

Brahmas , past and future : so al so Gautama lays emphas i s9 3

Buddha So)” the Gospe l of Buddhism—and more special emphas i s , perhaps—upon the eternalsuccession of Becoming. The fo l lowing stanza has indeedbeen cal led the Buddhist confess ion of fai th , and i tappears more frequently than any other text in IndianBuddhist inscriptions

Of Mose condi tions wkiM spring from a cause

Tb e cause kas been told by TaMagata

A ndMe manner of Meir suppressi onTke great S amanakas likewise taugkt.

How essential in Buddhism i s the doctrine of the eternalsuccess ion of causes appears from the fact that i t i s oftenspoken of as Me gospel“ I wi l l teach you the Dhamma, says Gautama, Thatbe ing present, th i s become s ; from the ari s ing of that ,this arises . That be ing absent, th i s does not be come ;from the cessat ion of that , th i s ceases .” 1

We read again that “ Dhamma-analys i s i s knowledgeconcerning conditions .” 2

What he taught was designed to avoid the two extremedoctrine s of real i sm and nih i l i sm , the bel ie f in phenomenal being and the bel ief that there i s no phenomenalprocess at all. Everyth ing is : th is , O Kaccana, i sone extreme view. Everyth ing is not th i s i s the secondextreme view. Avo id ing both these extremes , the

Tathagata teaches the No rm by the Mean.

” Thisdoctrine of the Mean asserts that eve ryth ing is a

Becoming, a flux without beginning (first cause ) or end ;the re exists no stat i c moment when thi s becomingattains to be inghood—no sooner can we conceive i t by

1 Majjbima JVikaya, u, 3 2 .

94

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 599 the Go spe l of Buddhismwith the babe, the tree with the seed ; but the old man i snot ( ident i cal with) the babe, nor the tree (with) the seed .

The substance of our bodies , and no less the const i tutionof our souls

,changes from moment to moment . That we

give to such individual s a name and form is a pragmat i cconvention, and not the evidence of any inner real i ty.

Eve ry existence i s organi c, and the substance of i tsexistence i s a cont inuity of changes, each of which i sabso lute ly determined by pre-existing condi t ions .Why is th is law of causal i ty of such great importance forGautama, whose doctrine i s not a mental gymnasti c, but“ just th is : Evi l and the Cessat ion of Evi l ” ? Becauseth is doctrine i s precisely the phys i cian’s d iagnos i s of thed isease of Dukkka . AS a const itutional d isease , i t i s se tforth in the we l l-known series of the TwelveN idanas, theinterconnection of which i s spoken of as the Law of

Dependent Originat ion (P aticca-samupada) . The Twe lveNidanas, afterwards cal led the wheel of causat ion, are

repeated in no less than n ine ty-s ix S uttas ; and the im

portance of the series ari ses from the fact that i t i s at oncea gene ral explanat ion of phenomena, and an explanat ionof the special phenomenon of Evi l in which the Buddhistwere most interested . The effect of the series i s to showthat vinnana , the consc iousness of I , does not res ide in an

ete rnal ? soul , but i s a cont ingent phenomenon arising bywayof cause and effe ct . I t should be noted , as ProfessorRhys Davids has pointed out, that the value of the serie sdoe s not lie in the fact that i t explains Evi l , but in thefact that the right understanding of Causal Originat ion con

stitutes that ve ry insight by which the source of Evi lconsc iousness of I and the des ires of the I—i s destroyed .

The ‘Wheel of Causat ion ’ turns as fol lows : 11 Majjlzinza IVikaya, i, 1 40 .

9 6

Anic ca

Ignorance (aviffa)Mi sperceptions (sankkara) or vain imagin

ing, wil l (cetona)

Consciousness (of I , etc .) (vi iinanaName and Form , i .e . Mind and Body ,(nama-rapa)

This present S ense o rgans (sadayatana)l i fe Contact (spassa)and Emotion (vedana)

Craving (tan/ta)A ttachment (upadana)

Coming-to-be (bkava)Rebirth (jati )Old age and death , sorrow, lamentat ion,evi l ,grief, despai r (jara

'

maranam, etc . )

This l ist , wherever i t occurs , ends with the formula ‘ S uchi s the uprising of th i s enti re body Of Evi l . ’ I t should benoted that the who le series of terms i s not always repeated ,and not always in the same orde r ; these are rather thespokes of a whee l than i ts ci rcumference .I f we now ask what i s the effe ct and what cause, i t i sclear that Ignorance l ies at the root of all. From Ignor

ance arises the thought of ent i ty , whereas there exists buta becoming ; from the thought of se l f as enti ty, and fromthe des ires of Me , arises l i fe ; l i fe i s inseparable fromEvi l .The diagnosis impl ies the cure ; i t i s the removal of thecondi ti ons which maintain the patho logi cal state . The secondi tions which maintain Igno rance , are primari lyCraving, and the thought of I and Mine , with all i ts

G 9 7

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismimpl icat ions of selfishness and supe rst i t ion. The means toaccompl ish the cure are set forth in the mental andmorald iscipl ine of the Buddhist ‘Wande rers . ’

A natta‘

Practi cal ly inseparable from the doctrine of A nicca i s thatof A natta

'

, that there exists no change less ent ity in anyth ing, and above all, no ‘ eternal soul ’ i n man. Anandainquires of the BuddhaWhat i s meant, lord , by the phrase, The world is empty ? ”

The Buddha repl ies “ That i t i s empty, Ananda , of

a sel f, or of anyth ing of the nature of a sel f. And whati s i t that i s thus empty ? The five seats of the five senses,and the mind , and the feel ing that i s re lated to mind : all

these are void of a self or of anything that i s se l f-l ike .” 1

Mental states are phenomena l ike other phenomena, and

no th ing substant ial such as a soul or ego l ies behind them ;j ust as the names of th ings are concepts . The favouri tes imi le s are drawn from natural phenomena and fromthings constructed , such as a river, or a chariot . I f youexcept the water, the sand , the h i ther bank and the furthe rbank , where can you find the Ganges ? I f you d ivide thechariot into i ts component parts , such as the wheels , thepo les , the axle, the body, the seat, and so forth , whatremains Of the chari ot but a name ? 3 I n the same way i twi l l be found that when the component parts of con

sc iousness are analyzed , there i s no res idue ; the individualma intains a seeming identi ty from moment to moment,but this ident i ty me rely cons ists in a continuity ofmomentsof consc iousness , i t i s not the absence of change .Like a river,” says a modern Buddhist, which sti l l maintains one constant form , one seeming identi ty, though not a1 Samyutta IVikaya, iv, 54.

2 See be low, p . 2 96.

9 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismin a phi losophi c or aestheti c sense) , the fleshlynature ;Nama i s name or mind ; na

’

ma and rupa , name (merewords) andbody, are just those th ings by which a person,

’

i n fact complex and variable , appears to be a uni ty . I nthe second group, which is not, l ike the fi rst, borrowedd i rectly from the Upani shads , greater stress i s laid on theseveral elements of the mental factor, with the pract i calObject of shutt ing out any poss ible Ioophole for the introduction of the idea of a mind of soul as an unchanginguni ty.

Vedana is with the hedonisti c s ignificance ofpleasant, unpleasant , and neutral , resulting from contactwith the objects of sense , and i tsel f producing tanka,

craving or de s i re . I t i s emphas ized that ‘ there i s no

d istinct ent i ty that feels , ’ ‘ i t i s only fee l ing that feels orenjoys , ’ and thi s ‘ because of some Object which is incausal re lat ion to pleasant or o ther feel ing ’

(Buddhaghosha) . Buddh ist thought knows no subject, and

concentrates i ts attent ion upon the obje ct .S enna i s pe rception of all kinds , sensuous or mental , thati s to say, awareness with recognition, th i s being expressedby naming ’

(Rhys Davids) .The S ankkaras form a complex group, includ ing cetana

‘

,

or wil l (vol i t ion) , 1 and a series of fifty-one coefficients ofany consc ious state .

Vinaana i any awareness of mind , no matter howgene ral or how abstract the content . ’

I t i s to be noted that the terms ru‘pa and v i icna

'

na are

used in a more restri cted sense in the five fold class ificationthan when used to embrace the whole of consc ious existence . The rathe r cumbrous system of the kkandkas was1 “ I say that cetona is action ; thinking, one acts by deed, word, or

thought. —Anguttara M'

ka’

ya, i i i, 4 1 5.

1 00

The Four Pathslater on replaced by a d ivis ion into ci tta , mind , and

cetasika'

,mental propert ies . All Indian th inkers are , of

course , in agreement as to the material , organi c nature ofmind .

For the serious study of Buddh ist psychology the readermust consul t e i ther of Mrs Rhys Davids , two works onthis subject . All that need be emphas ized here i s thepractical purpose of the Buddhists in making use of theseclass ificat ions . “ Why,” says Buddhaghosha,

“ did theExal ted One say there were five Aggregates , no less andno more ? Because these not only sum up all classes ofcondi tioned th ings , but they afford no foo tho ld for souland the animist ic moreover

,they include all other classi

fications .” The Buddhists thus appear to admi t thatthei r psychology i s expressly invented to prove thei r case .The Buddhists were , of course , very right in layingemphas is on the complex structure of the ego

—a factwhich modern pathological and psych i cal research increasingly brings home to us—but th i s complexi ty of the egodoes not touch the questi on of the Brahmanical Atman,which is , ‘

not so , not so .

’ 1

S o much , then , for the fundamental s tatement of R ightViews . ’

Tbe F our P aMs

Frequent ment ion has been made of the Four Paths .This i s a fourfo ld d ivis ion of the last of the Four AriyanTruths . The Four Paths , or rather four stages of the onePath , are as fol lowsI st. Conversion, entering upon the stream , which fo l lowsfrom compani onsh ip wi th the good , hearing the Law,

enl ightened reflection, or the practi ce of vi rtue . This1 For this question see below, p. 1 98 seq.

I O I

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismdepends upon a recogni tion of the Four Ariyan Truths ,and i s subsequent to the earl iest step of me re ly takingre fuge in the Buddha, the Law, and the Order, a formulawhich is repeated by every pro fessing Buddhist, includingthe many who have not yet entered the Paths . The Fi rstPath leads to freedom from the delusion of Ego ity, fromdoubt regarding the Buddha or his doctrine s , and frombe l ief in the efficacy of ri tes and ceremonies .2 nd. The S econd Path i s that of those who wi l l only oncemore return to the world , and in that next bi rth wil l attainFinal Release . In th is Path the converted individual ,al ready free from doubt and from the delus ions of sel fand of ri tual ism , i s able to reduce to a minimum the card inal errors of lust, re sentment, and glamour.grd. The Third Path is that of those who wi l l neve r re turnto th i s world , but wi l l attain Re lease in the present l i fe .

Here the last remnants of lust and of resentment arede stroyed .

4 th . The Fourth Path i s that of the Arahats, the adeptshe re the saint i s freed from all desi re for re - bi rth , whe the rinworlds of form orno-form , and from pride , sel f- righteousne ss , and ignorance . The state of the Arahat i s thusde scribedAs a mother, even at the risk of her own l i fe, protectsher son , her only son, so let there be goodwi l l wi thoutmeasure among allbeings . Let goodwi l l without measureprevai l in the whole world , above, below, around , un

stinted , unmixed with any feel ing of d iffering or Oppos inginte rests . I f a man remain steadfastly in th is state of

mind all the whi le he i s awake, whe ther he be standingwalking, s itting, or lying down, then i s come to pass the

saying, Even in th is world hol iness has been found .

’ 1

1 Metta Sutta .

1 0 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhism

I I . SAMSARA AND K AMMA (KARMA )We are now in a bette r posi ti on to unde rstand thetheory Of soul-wande ring in Early Buddhism . I say

parti cularly Early Buddhism , because in the greaterpart of pre-Buddhist thought, and i n all popular thought,whethe r Brahmani cal or Buddhist, the doctrine of me tempsychos is , the passing of l i fe from one form - to anothe rat death, i s conce iyed animisticallyas the transmigrat ionof an ind ividual soul .Take for example, such a text as Bkagavad Gjédw ,

2 2

As a man lays as ide outworn garments and take s othe rsthat are new, so the Body-Dweller puts away outwornbodies and goes to othe rs that are new.

” Here thelanguag e i s pla inly animisti c . One reader wi l l understandthat a soul , an ethereal mannikin, removes from one abodeto ano ther ; a second reader, Observing that Th is (BodyDwe l le r) i s no o ther than That which i s not so , not so,

’

perceives that empi ri cal ly speaking nothing—nothing thatwe can cal l anyth ing—transmigrates . There i s here an

ambigui ty which is inseparable in the case of all concept ions which are subl imated from expe riences original lyanimisti c or sensuous . 1 Brahmani cal thought does not seekto evade th is ambiguity of expression, which i s , moreover,of h istorical s ignificance ; and this cont inuity of development has the advantage that no impassable gulf i s fixedbetween the animist and the ph i losopher.This advantage i s emphas ized by Sankara i n h i s distinct ion of esoteri c and exoteri c knowledge , para and apara1 As

,for example , in the analogous case of rasa

,wh ich meant taste or

flavour in the sense of savour, and has come to mean in a technicalsense, aesthetic emotion. So w ith ananda, originally physica l pleasure ,afterwards also Spiritual bl iss.

1 04

Samsara and Kamma

v idya‘

: to That which i s ‘not so , not so , ’ attributes are

ascribed for purpose s of worship or by wayof accommodat ion to fini te thought . This ascription of attribute s , onthe part of laymen, i s regarded by the phi losopher withlenience : for he unde rstands that the UnshownWay, thedesi re for That-which- i s-not, i s exceeding hard . Thosewho have not yet won thei r way to ideal ism ,

may notand cannot al together d ispense with idols . 1 Brahmani sm ,

regarded as a Church , i s d istinguished from the Buddhismof Gautama—not yet the Buddhism of the BuddhistChurch—by this tenderness to i ts spi ri tual ch i ldren :

Let not him that knowe th much awaken doubt inslower men of lesser wi t .” 2 Gautama, on the otherhand , i s an uncompromising iconoclast . He preachesonly to higher men, such as wi l l accept the hard sayingsof Dukkka , A nicca , and A natta in all thei r nakedness .This pos i tion enabled h im to maintain one s ingle argument with enti re cons istence ; he needed not to acknowledge even the relat ive value o i other fo rms or degrees oftruth he wished to break enti rely wi th current absolutistand animisti c thought.This posi tion emphas ized for h im the d ifficulty of expressing what he wished to teach , through the popular and

anim istic language of the day and yet he could not avo i dthe use of th is language , except at the cost Of makinghimsel f unintel l igible . This d ifficulty may well have1 Those spiritual purists who insist that abso lute truths, such as anatta

(non-ego ity) , and neti,neti (not so, not so) ought alone to be taught

,

and who despise all theo logical and aesthetic interpretation of theserealitiesas false , should consider the say ing ofMasterKassapa Moraland v irtuous Wanderers and Brahmans do not force maturity on thatwhich is unripe ; they, be ing wise, wait for that maturity .” —P ayasiSutta, D ialogues of Me Budd/1a, i i, 3 3 2 .

2 Bkagavad Gi la, i i i, 2 9 .

1 05

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhismcontributed to the hes itat ion which he fe l t in regard to thepreaching of the gospel . The me thod he was forced to

adopt, was to make use of the current phraseology,expanding and emphasiz ing in his own way, and

employing well-known words in new uses .We have therefore to guard ourselves, as Buddhaghoshasays , from suppos ing that the manner of stat ing the caseexactly expresse s the fact . The term S amsara i s a casein point ; for th is ‘Wandering ’ i s not for Gautama thewande ring of any Ming . Buddhism nowhere teachesthe transmigrat ion of souls , but only the transmigrat ionof character, of personal ity without a person .

Many are the s imi les employed by Gautama to Show thatno Ming transmigrates from one l ife to another. Theending of one l i fe and the beginning of ano ther, indeed ,hardly differ in kind from the change that takes placewhen a boy becomes a man—that also i s a transmigrat ion,a wandering, a new becoming.

Among the s im iles most o ften used we find that of flamee special ly convenient . Li fe i s a flame, and transmigrat ion,new becoming, reb i rth , i s the transmitting of the flamefrom one combustible aggregate to another ; just that,and nothing more . I f we l ight one candle from another,the communicated flame is one and the same, i n the senseof an observed cont inuity, but the candle i s not the same .Or, again, we could not offer a better i l lustrat ion, i f amode rn instance be permitted , than that of a series of

bi l l iard bal ls in close contact : i f ano ther bal l i s rol ledagainst the last stat ionary bal l , the moving bal l wi l l stopdead , and the foremost stationary bal l wi l l move on. Hereprecisely i s Buddhist transmigrat ion : the first movingbal l does not pass over

,i t rema ins behind , i t d ies but i t

i s undeniably the movement of Mat ball, i ts momentum ,

1 06

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of BuddhismI f we combine the doctrine of kamma with that Of samsara,‘ deeds ’ with wandering, ’ kamma repre sents a famil iartruth—the truth that the history of the individual doe snot begin at bi rth . Man i s born l ike a garden readyplanted and sown.

B efore I was born out of my moMergenerations

guidedme .

Now on Mis spot I stand.

This heredity i s th inkable in two ways . The fi rst way,the truth of which is undeniable , represents the action of

past l ives on present ones ; 1 the second , which may or

may not be true , repre sents the act ion of a s ingle con

t inuous se rie s of past l ive s on a s ingle present l i fe . TheBuddhist theory of kamma plus samsara does not d ifferfrom its Brahmani cal pro to type in adopting the secondview . This may have been be cause of i ts pragmat i cadvantage in the explanat ion of apparent natural injustice for i t affords a reasonable answer to the quest ion,

“Who did sin, th i s man or his parents , that he was born1 That the human ind ividual is polypsyckic, that an indefini te numberof streams of consc iousness coexist in each of uswhich can b e variouslyand in varying degrees assoc iated or d issoc iated is now a doctrinewide ly accepted e ven by “ orthodox psycho logy.”

G. W. BALFOUR, I fibbertjournal, No . 43 .

The same thought is expressed more Buddhistical ly by Lafcadio HearnFor what is our individuality ? Most certainly i t is not individuality at

all it is multiplic ity incalculable . What is the human body ? A formbui lt up out of b i l lions of living entities, an impermanent agglomerationof ind ividuals cal led ce l ls. And the human soul ? A composite of

quinti l lions of souls. We are , each and all, infinite compounds of

fragments of anterior lives.

”In the P salm of Ananda “

a congeriesd iseased, teeming with many purposes and places, and yet in whomthere is no power to persist.”1 08

Samsara and Kamma

bl ind ? The Indian theory repl ies wi thout hesi tat ion,

Mis man .

Buddhism , however, does not explain i n what way a

continuity of cause and effect i s maintained as betweenone l i fe A and a subsequent l i fe B, which are separated bythe fact of phys ical death ; the th ing is taken forgranted .

1

Brahmanical s chool s avoid thi s d ifficul ty by postulat ingan astral or subtle body (the linga-sari ra) , a materialcomplex , not the A tman, serving as the vehicle of mindand character, and not dis integrated wi th the death of thephysical body . In other wo rds , we have a group, of body,soul , and spi ri t ; where the two fi rst are material , complexand phenomenal , while the th i rd i s ‘

not so , not so .

’

That which transmigrates , and carries over kamma fromone l i fe A to ano ther l i fe B

, i s the soul or subtle body(which the Vedanta enti rely agrees wi th Gautama in

defining as non-Atman) . I t i s th i s subtle body whichforms the bas is of a new phys i cal body, which i t mouldsupon i tself, effecting as i t were a spi ri tual i st i c ‘ materiali z ation

’ which i s maintained throughout l i fe . Theprinciple i s the Same wherever the ind ividual i s reborn,

i n heaven or purgatoryor on earth .

In th i s view , though i t i s not ment i oned by Buddh ists ,there i s nothing contrary to Buddhist theo ry . The

val id i ty of the dogma of non-eternal-soul remains un

chal lenged by the death survival of personal i ty ; for thatsurvival could not prove that the personal i ty consti tute s1 Vide T. W. Rhys Davids, E arlyBudd/zism,

p . 78 .

2 Vide T. W. Rhys Davids,I bid. p . 78 . That the theory of the subtle

body is not mentioned accords w ith Gautama’s general objectionto the d iscussion o f eschatology . I t is, however, a tri bute to the valueof Buddh ist thought, that even the proof of the survival of the personwould not afl

'

ect the central doctrine of the soul ’s complexity and

phenomenal character.

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhisman ete rnal uni ty, nor can i t prove that anyth ing at all

survived the attainment of Nibbana. We may indeedsay that Buddhism , notably in the Jatakas , takes thesurvival of pe rsonal i ty (up to the t ime of attainingNibbana) for granted ; and were i t o therwise , therewould be l i ttle reason for the strong Buddhist obje ctionto sui c ide , which is based on the very proper ground thati t needs someth ing more powerful than a dose of po i sonto destroy the i llus ion of I and Mine . To accompl ishthat requires the unti ring effort of a strong wi l l .

I I I . B UDDH I S T HEA VENS AND HOW TO

REA CH THEMGautama has not denied the existence of gods or of

future states of existence in heavens or hells. Buddhismis athe i st i c only in the sense that i t denie s the existenceof a Fi rst Cause , and emphas izes the concept ion of the

mortal i ty of all divine be ings , however long-l ived theymay be supposed to be . Apart from th is , Gautama i srepresented as not me re ly acquiescing in popular bel ie fs ,but as speaking of his own intercourse with the gods andvis its to thei r heavens ; and, sti l l more important, all

those spi ri tual exerci ses which do not lead di rectly to

N ibbana are special ly commended as securing the lesser,but sti l l very desi rable , fru i ts of re-bi rth , in the lowerheavens , or in the Brahma-worlds of Form or NOform . In all th is , moreove r, there i s no thing i l logical tothe spi ri t of the Dhamma, which insists on the law of

Becoming, but does not necessari ly exclude the poss ibi l i tyof o the r modes of Becoming than those famil iar in our

o rder of experience . Spiri tual i sm , in other words , whi lequite unessential to early Buddhism, does not in anywaycontradict the Dhamma.

I I O

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of BuddhismThe chief of the gods who are commonly spoken of in the

f S uttas, are Sakka and Brahma.

1 Sakka, as i t we re , i sk ing of the Olympians , the Jupi ter of the multi tude , ’ andis more or less to be ident ified with the Indra of popularBrahmanism . Greater than Sakka and more spiritual lyconceived

,i s Brahma, the supreme overlord of orthodox

Brahman the o logy in the days of the Buddha. Both of

the se d ivini t ie s are represented in the S uttas as convertsto the Dhamma of the Buddha, who is the ‘ teacher ofgods and men.

’A whole group of S uttas has to do with

the conversion and exhortat ion of the se gods , and theseS uttas are evidently designed to make i t appear that theBrahman gods are real ly on the s ide of Gautama, and toth is end they are made to speak as enl ightened and

devout Buddhists .The Buddhist cosmogony though related to the Brahmani cal , i s nevertheless pecul iar to i tself in detai l , and

de serves some attent ion. I t wi l l be be tter unde rstoodfrom the table on page I 1 1 than by a lengthy description.

The most e ssent ial and the truest part of th is cosmogonyhowever (and the only part whi ch i s dwe l t upon in the

more profound passages of early Buddhist scripture ) ,i s the three-fold d ivis ion into the Planes of Desi re , theBrahma Plane s condit ioned by Form , and the BrahmaPlanes unconditioned by Form . There i s a profound truthconcealed even in the mythological idea of the poss ibil i tyof vis i ting the Brahma worlds whi le yet l iving on earth .

Doe s not he ri se above the Plane of Desi re who in aesthe ti ccontemplat ion i s “

aus sic/c selbst entru’

ckt .7 2 does not

the geome tri cian also know the Brahma Plane s of Form ?There are phase s of experience that can carry us furthe r.1 The impersonal Brahman is unknown to Buddhist d ialectic .

2 Goethe , Faust, i i, p . 2 58 .

1 1 2

Buddhist Heavens Bo) ? How to Reach ThemM. Poincaré wri tes of the mathemat i cian Hermiteyama is i l n

’e'

vogua i t une image sensi ble, et pourtantvous vousaperceviez bientbt gue les enti te

’

s lesplus abstra i tese’

ta ientpour lui comme des étres vivants. I l ne les voya it

pas, ma is i l senta i t qu’elles ne sont pas un assemblag e

artificiel, et qu’

elles ont je ne sais guel principe d’

unite

interne.

” 1 Does not Keats , moreover, refer to theBrahma Plane uncondi t ioned by Form , when he writesin one of his letters There wil l be no space , and conse

quently the only commerce between spiri ts wi l l be bythei r inte l l igence of each o ther—when they wi l l completelyunderstand each other, whi le we , i n th is world , mere lycomprehend each other in different degrees ” ? I f i tbe true that he who does not attai n to N ibbana here andnow i s reborn in some other world—and th is i s taken forgranted i n early Buddhism—then what i s more reasonablethan to suppose that those who cul tivate here on earththose states of mind which we have ind icated , viz . thestates of sel f-absorption in the contemplat ion of beauty orof ideal form, or i n the most abstract thought, are reborni n those worlds which they have so often vis i ted ? Thisconsiderat ion i s maintained as follows in the Tevi/ja

1 La Valeur de la S ci ence. Mrs Rhys Davids notices the apparentabsence ofmusic in the h igherBuddh ist heavens (Budd/zist P syclzology,

p . xlv) ; but where form must be replaced by ‘ h igh fetches of abstrac tthought, ’ there also music may be silent, and may not need thosearticulated instruments wh ich are used in the lower heavens of sense .

“ Pythagoras did not say that the movements of the heavenlybod ies made an aud ible music , but that i twas itse l f a music suprasensible”—(Sche l l ing) “There the whole sky is fi l led wi th sound, andthere that music is made without fingers and without strings”There also, and in the same way, exists eternal ly the Veda orDhammawh ich is only ‘ heard ’

in lower worlds.H I I 3

Buddha the Gospe l of BuddhismHaving described the Four S ubl ime Moods , Gautamaasks“ Now what th ink you, Vasettha, wil l the Bhikkhu whothus l ives be in possess ion of women and of weal th , orwi l l he not ? ”

He wi ll not, Gautama !Will he be ful l of anger, or free from anger ? ”

He wi ll be free from anger, GautamaWill h i s mind be ful l of mal ice, or free from mal ice ? ”

Free from mal ice , GautamaWill h is mind be tarnished , or pureI t wi l l be pure , GautamaWil l he have sel f-mastery, or wi l l he not ? ”

S urely he wi l l , Gautama !Then you say, Vasettha, that the Bhikkhu i s free fromhouseho ld and worldly cares , and that Brahma i s freefrom househo ld and worldly cares . I s there then agreement and l ikeness between the Bhikkhu and Brahma? ”“ There i s , Gautama !”

Very good , Vasettha. Then i n sooth ,"

Vasettha, thatthe Bhikkhu who i s free from household cares shouldafter death , when the body is d issolved , become uni tedwith Brahma, who is the same—such a condi tion of th ingsi s every ' way possible ! 1

We must not, however, suppose that the cultivat ion of theFour S ubl ime Moods by an ascetic, and accord ing to thestri ct Buddhist formula, i s the only means of attaining tounion with Brahma. Buddhist scripture re cogni zes bes idethese eth ical exercises other special conditions of inte l lectand emo t ion which are attai ned in the Four Jhanas,

’

and these practices , l ike those of the Four S ubl ime Moods ,may b e fo l lowed by househo lders as well as by asceti cs .1 T. W . Rhys Davids, D ialogues of Me Budd/2a, i , p . 3 1 8 .

1 1 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhism

to understand its impl i cat ions to an orthodox Buddhistand i ts meaning on the l ips of Gautama.

Unfortunate ly, the te rm Nibbana (in i ts Sanskri t formNirvana) be came famil iar to European students longbe fore the Buddhist scri ptures had been made access ible ;and the early western wri ters on Buddhism “ interpretedBuddhism in terms of thei r own be l ie f, as a state to bereached after death . As such they supposed the dyingout

’ must mean the dying out of ‘a soul ’ ; and endless

were the d iscuss ions whether th is meant eternal trance , orabsolute annih i lat ion of a soul .” 1 How i rrelevantwas th isd iscuss ion wi l l be seen when we real i ze that N ibbana i s astate to be real ized here and now, and i s recorded to havebeen attained by the Buddha at the beginning of hi smini stry, as wel l as by innumerableArahats, h is d isciples ;andwhen we remember that Buddhism denie s the existenceof a soul , at any t ime, whether before or afte r death .

In the M i linda P an/ca , Nibbana i s compared to a “gloriousc ity

,stainless and undefiled, pure and whi te

, age less,

deathless , secure , calm and happy and yet th is c ity i svery far from being a heaven to which good men attainafter death“ There i s no spot, 0 king, East , S outh , West or North ,above , below or beyond , where N ibbana i s s i tuate, and yetN ibbana i s ; and he who orders h is l i fe aright

,grounded

in vi rtue , and with rat ional attention , may real ize i t,whe ther he l ive in Greece, China, A lexandria, or in

K osala.

”

1 But the Al i/inda P anlca also speaks (erroneously) of an Arabat asentering into ’ N ibbana, say ing that the layman who attains to Arahatta

must ei ther enter the Order or pass into N ibbana, the latter alternativehere implying physical death (as in the case of Suddhodana, the fatherof Buddha, p .1 1 6

Nibbana

He enters into th is ci ty who ‘ emancipates h is mind inArahatta .

’

The l i te ral meaning of the word N ibbana i s : ‘ dying out, ’

or‘ exti nction,

’as of a fire .

1 To understand i ts technicalimport we must cal l to mind the s imi le of flame so con

stantly employed in Buddhis t thought“ The whole

world i s in flames ,” says Gautama.

“ By what fire i s i tk indled ? By the fire of lust (raga) , of resentment (dosa) ,of glamour (moha) ; by the fi re of bi rth , Old age , deathpain, lamentation, sorrow, grief and despai r i t i s kindled .

The process of transmigrat ion, the natural order of Becoming, i s the communication o i th i s flame from one

aggregate of combustible material to another. Thesa lvati on of the Arabat, the saint, then, i s the dyingdown —Nibbana—Of the flames of lust, hate , and glamour,and of the wi l l to l i fe . N ibbana i s just th is , and no moreand no less .N ibbana (ni rvana) i s the only Buddhist term for salvationfamil iar to western readers , but i t i s only one of many thatoccur in the orthodox Buddhis t scriptures . Perhaps thebroadest term is Vimokka, or Vimutti , salvat ion or1 Other etymolog ies are possible : thus “ I t is cal led N ibbana, in that itis a

‘de-parture ’ from that craving which is cal led vana, lusting ”(Anuruddha, Compendium of P /u

'

losoplzy,iv, I t is important to

remember that the term N irvana is o lder than Buddhism,and is one

of the many words used by Gautama in a spec ial sense . In the

Upanishads it does not mean the dy ing out of anyth ing, but ratherperfect se lf-realiz ation to those in whom the darkness of ignorance hasbeen d ispersed by perfect knowledge , ‘

as the h ighest goal there opensbefore them the e ternal , perfect, Nirvanam ’ —(Cbandogya Upanisbad,8,1 5, I ) . Buddh ist usage emphasiz es the strict etymolog ical S ignificance

of ‘ dy ing out ; but even so, i t is not the dy ing out of a soul oran ind ividuality, for no such th ing ex ists, and therefore no such thing can dieout ; it is only the passions (craving, resentment and de lusion) that candie out. As to what remains, if anyth ing, early Buddhism is si lent.

1 1 7

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhism‘ del ive rance, ’ and those who have attained th is salvationare cal led A rabats, adept, whilst the state of adeptsh ip i scal led A rabatta . Other terms and defini t ions include the‘end of suffering, ’ the ‘ medicine for all evil , ’ ‘ l ivingwater, ’ the ‘ imperishable , ’ the ‘

abid ing, ’ the ‘ ineffable, ’

the detachment, ’ the endless securi ty .

’

The N ibbana of which we have so far spoken, i t wi l l beseen, i s essent ial ly eth ical ; but th is Nibbana invo lves ,and i s often used as a synonym for, ‘

the cessat ion ofbecoming ’

;1and th is, of course , i s the great desideratum ,

of which the ethical extinction i s me re ly the means andthe outward S ign. Salvat ion (vimutti ) has thus also a

psychological aspect , of which the most essential e lementi s the release from individual i ty. Thus we find definedthe fo l lowing Eight S tat ions of De l iverance ( 1 ) Havingonesel f exte rnal form

, one sees forms ; ( 2 ) unaware of one’s

own external form , one sees forms external to onese l f ;(3) ae sthe t ic hypnos is ; (4) abid ing in the sphere of spaceregarded as infini te ; (5) abid ing in the sphere of cogni t ionregarded as infini te ; (6 ) abiding in the sphere of no th ingness ; (7) abid ing in the sphe re of neither ideation nor

non-ideation ; and (8) abid ing in the state where bothsensat ions and ideas have ceased to be .

2

Another way to real i ze the practical connotation of theBuddhist Nibbana, i s to cons ider the witness of thoseArahats who

,be s ide Gautama, have attained thereto .

Two of Gautama’s d isciples are sa id to have test ified as

fo l lows : “ Lord , he who i s Arahant, who has won

his own salvat ion, has utterly destroyed the fetters of

1 Samyutta Nikaya, I I , 1 1 5.

2 Malta IVz'

dana Sutta, 35 ; Makaparini bbana S utta, 3 3 . The

4th—7t«h stations are identical with the Four Arfipa Jhanas by which

the Formless heavens are attained - see pp . 1 1 1,1 47 .

1 1 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of BuddhismPerhaps the prevai l ing thought i s a more or less rapturousdel ight in the escape from evi l and from craving (dukkhaand tanha) , from lust, hate, and infatuation, and fromthe prospect of re-bi rth—of continued Becoming in any

other conditi oned l i fe . From the standpo int of wi ll ,again, there i s emphas i s upon the ach ievement of freedom ,

sel f-mastery, and so forth . And the atta inment i s al soexpressed poetical ly—just as the Brahman inBrahmanicalscripture i s symbol ized as

‘ bl iss , ’ ‘ intel l igence, ’ etc .as l ight, truth , knowledge, happiness , calm , peace ; butthe simi les are always cool , never suggesting any violentrapture or overmastering emotion . But whi le we recognize an unmistakable note of exultat ion in the conquestach ieved here and now, we must also clearly recognizethat orthodox Buddhist teaching is characterized by “ theabsence of all joy in the forward view ; 1

and, indeed , nomystic can look forward to greater bl iss than has al readybeen experienced : 2 to what more, indeed , can one who

has al ready attained the summum bonum look forward ,or what can the phys ical accident of death ach ieve forh im who has al ready by his own effort reached the goal ?Gautama expressly refuses to answer anyquestion relat iveto l i fe after death , and he condemns all speculationas unedi fying “ I have not,” he says , address ing thevenerable Malunkyaputta, who desi red informat ion onthese points , “ revealed that the Arabat exists after death ,I have not revealed that he does not exist ; I have notrevealed that he at once exists and does not exist afte rdeath , nor that he nei ther exists nor does not exist after1 C. A. F. Rhys Davids, P salms of Me B ret/zren, 1 9 1 3 , p . xlvi i i .2 For : Paradise is sti l l upon earth (Behmen) : “When I go hence,maymy last words b e , that what I have seen isunsurpassable (Tagore) .There is noth ing more to be desired .1 2 0

N ibbana

death . And why, Malunkyaputta, have I not revealedthese th ings ? Because

,O Malunkyaputta, th is i s not

ed i fying, nor connected wi th the essence of the norm , nor

tend to turning of the wi l l,to the absence of pass ion, to

cessat ion, rest, to the h igher facul t ies , to supreme wisdom ,

nor to N ibbana ; therefore have I not revealed i t.” 1 The

early Arahats, refraining loyal ly from speculation, mighthave concurred with Emerson in saying : “ Of immortal i tythe soul , when well employed , i s incurious . I t i s so wel lthat i t i s sure i t wi l l be wel l .”

I t i s most expl ic i tly indi cated that the state of Nibbanacannot be d iscussedAs a flame blown to and fro by the wind , says theBuddha, goes out and canno t be registered , even so a

Sage , set free from name and form , has d isappeared , andcanno t be registered .

The d isciple inquires : Has he then merely d isappeared ,or does he indeed no longer exist ?For h im who has disappeared , says the Buddha, therei s no form ; that by which they say He i s ’

exists forh im no more ; when all cond i tions are cut off, all matterfor discuss ion i s also cut off. 2Or again

A sMefi eiy sparks from a forge are one by one

extinguisked

A nd no one knows wkere Mey lzave g one,

S o i t is wiM Mose w/co lzave atta ined to com

plete emancipation,

Wko lcave crossedMeflood of desire,W/co leave entered upon Me calm delzg/ct.

Of Mese no trace rema ins.

1 Ma/jlzinza IVikaya , Sutta 63 .

2 S utta-nipata , 1 0 73—5.

I 2 I

Buddha 899 the Gospel of BuddhismOn th is account they are sometimes compared to thebi rds of the a ir

,whose path i s hard to fol low, because

they leave no trace .

1

Le t us return to the meaning of N ibbana or Vimutti asi t appl ies to the sti l l l iving Arahat. The Arahat and theBuddha have al ike attained N ibbana or Vimutti , and

are Vimutto ; are we to understand that th is state i scontinuously maintained from the moment of enl ightenment to the moment of death ? I f so , what i s i t thatmaintains l i fe in the del ivered being ? This quest ionarises equal ly in the Vedanta. The usual answer i s thatthe momentum of antecedent kamma suffices to carry onthe individual l i fe even after the ‘Will to Li fe ’ hasceased , and th is i s expressed in the bri l l iant s imi le ofthe potter’s wheel , which continues to turn for some t imeafter the hand of the potter i s removed . In any case i t i sevident that the freedom of the Arabat or Ji van-mukta

does not i nvo lve an immediate and pe rmanent emanc ipation from mortal i ty : the Buddha, for example , thoughhe had long since attained Perfect Enl ightenment, i srecorded to have suffe red from severe i l lness , and to havebeen aware of i t . I t i s , no doubt, cons iderat ions of th i ssort which determined the d istinction which was sometimes drawn between Nibbana, or ‘ Dying Out, ’ and

Parinibbana,‘ Complete or Final Dying Out, ’ co incident

wi th phys ical death .

The Arabat has, i ndeed , passed through an experiencewhich i llumines all his remaining l i fe : he knows thingsas they real ly are , and i s saved from fear and grief : hehas real ized , i f but for an instant, the Abyss , wherein all

Be coming is not. He is sat isfied of the authent i ci ty ofthe expe rience by the very fact that the thought ‘ I am1 D lzannnapada, v. 9 2 .

1 2 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 892 the Gospe l of BuddhismThere i s a certai n amount of evidence tending to showthat the N ibbana or Vimutti s tate affords the franchiseof both wo rlds , the Byss as well as the Abyss . We read ,for example , that when a Brother has maste red the EightS tat ions of De l iverance so that he is able to loseh imsel f in, as wel l as to eme rge from , any one Of them ,

whenever he chooses , wherever he chooses , and for

as long as he chooses—when too by roo ting out the

Taints , he ente rs into and abides in that emancipation ofheart, that emanc 1pat10n of the Intel lect whi ch he byh imself, here in th is present world , has come to knowand real i ze—then such a Brother, Ananda, i s cal ledFree-in-both Unfortunately we canno t heretake Free- i h -both-ways to mean “ free of both worlds ”—the condi tioned and the unconditi oned—for the phraseclearly refers to the dual character of Del iverance as at

once psycho logi cal and eth ical . But i t i s, nevertheless ,indicated that the adept Brother i s free to pass from one

world to the other, from the Byss to the Abyss , and theAbyss to the Byss at wi ll : and we can hardly supposethat phys ical death involves the loss of this power : or i fwe do so, we have immediately drawn a distinctionbetween N ibbana of the l iving ind ividual , and N ibbanaof the dead—and the latter becomes the more l imited ,the less free . And that the Vimutta consciousness afterthe death of the ind ividual—or rather, al togethe r apartfrom the bi rth or death of the individual—real ly touche sboth the Byss and the Abyss, as Brahmani cal mysticismplainly asserts , i s at any rate not denied by the Buddha.

We even find it laid down that “ To say of a Brotherthus set free by ins ight He knows not, he sees no t

’

that were absurd !” 2 In other words,i t i s clear, the

1 Illa/za -IVidana Sutta, 3 6 .

2 I bid. 3 2 .

1 2 4

Nibbana

emancipated ‘ ind ividual , ’ after death , does not cease toknow things as they real ly are ’

: the doors of perceptionbeing cleansed , he must continue to see all th ings as theyare , infinite—or to revert to Buddh ist phraseology , as

void . There i s however no ind ividual who ‘ sees , ’ forthe erstwhile ind ividual i s l ikewise infinite or voidsubject and object are unified i n the Abyss . Thus onceagain, we canno t set up a final d istinction between theposi tive and negat ive phraseology of mysticism . Whati s in any case certain i s that the Buddhist (and Brahmani cal) use Of negat ives does not imply that the stateof freedom involves a loss for those who find i t . ForWestern readers the language of Western mysticsshould be a sufficient indicat ion of what i s meantN ibbana i s assuredly ‘ that noble Pearl , which to theWorld appears NaMing , but to the Ch i ldren of Wisdomis A ll Tli z

'

ngs.

’ Precisely what N ibbana s ignifiesin early Buddhism , and Nirvana in the Mahayana,could not ' be more exactly explained than in the firstand second of the fol lowing paragraphs of Behmen’s

Lastly, whereas I said , W/cosoeverfinds i t finds NaMingand all Tkings that i s al so certain and true . But howfinds he NoMing ? Why, I wi l l tel l thee how He thatfinde th i t findeth a supernatural , supersensual Abyss ,which hath no ground or Byss to stand on, and wherethere i s no place to dwel l in ; and he finde th also noth ingi s l ike unto i t and therefore i t may fitly be compared toNoMing , for i t i s deeper than any Tking , and i t i s as

Noth ing with respect to All Things, forasmuch as i t i snot comprehens ible by any of them . And because i t i sNothing respectively, i t i s therefore free from AllThings ,and i s that only Good , which a man cannot express or

1 2 5

Buddha the Go spe l of Buddhismutter what i t i s , there being Nothing to which i t maybecompared , to express i t by.“ But in that I lastly said : Wkosoeverfinds i tfinds A llTlcings ; there i s nothing can be more true than thisasserti on. I t hath been the Beginning of All Things ;and i t ruleth All Things . I t i s al so the End of AllThings ; and wi l l thence comprehend All Things wi th ini ts c i rcle . All Things are from it, and i n i t, and byi t . I f thou findest i t thou comest into that groundfrom whence All Things are proceeded , and where inthey subsist ; and thou art in i t a King over all theworks of God .

”

V. E TH I CSLet not a brother occupy himse l f with busy works.

T/zeragaMa'

,1 0 7 2 .

In cons idering the subject of Buddhist moral i ty, we can

not, in the first place , too strongly emphas ize the fact thati t was no more the purpose of Gautama than of Jesus toestabl ish order in the world .

1 Noth ing could have beenfurther from his thoughts than the redress of social i hj ust i ce , nor could anymore inappropriate t i tle be devisedfor Him-who-haS - thus-attained , than that of democrat orsocial reformer . A wise man, says the Dkammapada ,should leave the dark state of l i fe in the world and fol lowthe bright state of l i fe as a monk .

2

1 D lzammapada, v, 4 1 2 . The Buddhist, like the To lstoyan Christian,has no faith in government. We read of Spiritual lessons for princes,but the ‘

road of political w isdom ’is cal led ‘

an unc lean path of falseness (fatakamala

’

, xix, The point is further i l lustrated inGautama’srefusal to intervene when the message is brought that Devadatta hasusurped the throne of Kapilavatthu (supra , p .2 I bid. 8 7, 88 .

1 2 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8632 the Gospe l of Buddhismevi l , for even good deeds , after the judgment of theworld , determine rebirth : veri ly, they have thei r reward .

“And ye , Brethren,

” says Gautama, “ learn by theparable of the raft that ye must put away good cond i tions,not to speak of bad.

” The good is but the raft thatcarries us across the dangerous sea ; he that would landupon the farther shore must leave the raft when i t touchesthe strand . To real i ze th i s truth however detracts inno way from a real izat ion of the present value of theraft .This i s a

‘Rel igion of Eterni ty —the Brahmanical u ivritti maiga

—and as such could be legit imately spoken ofas ant i-social , i f i t were in the least degree l ike ly or hadi t been contemplated that i t should or could be adoptedin i ts ent i rety by all. S uch re l igions , whi le they embodythe highest truth to which mankind has attained , are onlyto be cri t i ci zed as puri tani cal in so far as the i r fo l lowe rsseek to impose an asceti c regime (rather than one oftempe rance) on all al ike ; in so far as thei r view of art i sexclusively hedonisti c ; and thei r view of worship and

ri tual whol ly unsympatheti c .There i s much to be said for the Brahmanical doctrineof the social debt, and for the view that a man

should reti re from the world only late in l i fe, and

only after taking due part i n the l i fe of the world .

Neve rthele ss we must affi rm the conviction that therenunciat ion of the world , at any moment, by thosewho experience the vocation to asce t ic ism , i s enti re lyjustifiable , i f the vocat ion be real . I t i s , further, a pos it ive social and moral advantage to the communi ty that acertain number of i ts fine st minds , leading a l i fe that maybe cal led she l te red , should remain unattached to socialactivities and unbound by social t ies. Too much stress

Ethics

i s laid upon uti l i ty i n communi ties where nei ther relig ienn nor women are protected .

’And notwi thstanding

that i t i s not the purpose of the herm it to establ ish orderin the world , let us remember that the onlooker sees mostof the game ; i t i s not without reason that i t has becomean establ i shed traditi on of the East that the ruler shouldbe guided by the sage .

°

The example of ascet icism,

moreover,where th i s asceti c ism i s natural and effortless,provides a useful corrective to luxury ; where voluntarypoverty i s h ighly respected , some part of the sufferinginvolved in ordinary poverty i s taken away. To thi sday, the Indian Brahman ideal of pla i n l iving and

social d iscipl ine strongly influences the manners and

customs of all other castes ; and the same resul t i sattained by Buddhist monasti cism in Burma, where i ti s customary, not merely for l i fe ascet i cs , for all menof whatever cal l ing, to spend a shorter or longer t imewith in the fold of the Order.Most l ikely the root of the objection wh ich many feel formonasti c ideal s of the Buddhist type i s to be found in the‘ selfishness ’ of thei r aim, or to put the matter in anotherway, i n the laying of stress on Knowledge, rather thanLove . But let us remember that most and maybe all ofour unselfishness i s a delusion.

No one can g rowfor anoMer—not one .

Tbe g ift is to Me g iver, and comes backmost to aim—i tcannotfa i l,

A nd no man understands anyg reatness or goodness but

lcis own, or Me indication of kis own .

Le t us al so remember that p ity no more could be, if all

were as kappy asye : and just th is happiness i s promisedto all who are prepared to rel inqu ish des i re, resentment,

I 1 2 9

Buddha 892 the Gospe l of Buddhismand sent imental i ty . We must not forge t that i t was a

re cogni zed duty of the Brethren, and some t ime s of the

S i sters , to preach the Dhamma ; and who wil l put forwardthe assert ion that man shal l l ive by bread alone ? According to the Edict of Asoka,

“ There i s no such almsgivingas i s the almsgiving of the Dhamma.

” This was equal lythe viewofso practi cal aWesternmind asCromwell ’s ,whosefirst extant letter (as MrVincent Smith has po inted out)suppl ies a near paral lel to the saying of Asoka just quoted“ Bui lding of hospi tal s ,” he wri tes , “provide s for men ’sbodie s ; to material temple s i s judged a wo rk of piety ; butthey that procure spi ri tual food , they that bu i ld up spi ri tualtemples , they are the men tru ly chari table, t ruly pious .”

I t i s most l ikely that the earl iest Buddhism had no o the rmoral code than that of the mental and mo ral d iscipl ineappo inted for those who renounced the world and enteredthe Paths . The fol lowing Ten Commandments are thosewhich are binding upon the Bre threnTo avo id ( 1 ) the destruct ion of l i fe , ( 2 ) theft, (3) nuchasti ty, (4) lying, (5) the use of intoxicating l iquors ,(6) eat ing between meals , (7) attending secular enterta inments , (8) use of unguents and jewel lery, (9 ) the use ofh igh or luxurious beds , and ( 1 0) the handl ing of money.

Those who attached themselves to the teach ing of theBre thren, but remained laymen, were required to obeythe fi rst five of these injunctions—all of which , i t wi l l benot iced , are of a negat ive character ; but i n the case of

laymen, the th i rd commandment i s taken to mean onlythe avo idance of adultery .

Prac ti cal ly all these rules are taken over from Brahmani csources . This i s more particularly evident in o the rpassage s of the canoni cal books where lay moral i ty i sexpounded in greater detai l . When matters are referredI 30

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 892 the Gospe l of Buddhismfor hi s pupi ls by training them in all that i s good , teachingthem to hold knowledge fast , instructing them in scienceand lore , speaking we l l of them , and by guard ing themfrom dange r. The husband Should treat h is wife wi threspect and kindness , be fai thful to her, cause her to b ehonoured by o thers , and give her suitable clothes and

jewels : she should orde r the household duly, be hospitableto kinsmen and friends , be chaste and thri fty, and in

all matters exh ibi t ski l l and di l igence . A man shouldmini ster to h is friends by presents , courteous speech ,promote thei r interests , treat them as equals , and sharewith them hi s prosperi ty ; they should watch over h imwhen he is off his guard , protect h is property when he i scareless , offe r h im a refuge in danger, adhere to him in

misfortune , and Show kindne ss to h is family. The maste rshould care for his dependents by apportioning the i r workaccording to the i r strength , giving suitable food and

wage s , tending them in s ickness , sharing with them unusualde l i cacies

, and giving them occas ional ho l idays ; theyshould rise before h im , reti re later to re st , be contentwi th what i s given them , work chee rful ly and well , andspeak we l l of him . A layman should mini ster to Bhikkhusand to Brahmans by affection in thought, word , and deed ,by giving them a ready we l come , and by supplying thei rtemporal needs ; and they should d issuade him from vice ,exhort h im to vi rtue , fee l kindly to him , instruct him in

rel igion, clear up h is doubts , and point the wayto heaven.

Andby thus acting the s ix ai rts (N Zeni th , andNadi r) are preserved in peace and free from danger.

”

We may also remark of the Brethren and S i sters , thatthough the practice of good works i s by no meansenjo ined , they we re constantly engaged with what weshould now cal l moral educat ion, and to a cons iderable1 3 2

Ethics

extent, and more so in later t imes , with educat ion and

learning in general . On the whole , i t can hardly becontroverted that Buddhist monastic ism has been a truebenefit to every country whe re i t has been introduced ,and that in India also Buddhism as a who le contributedvaluable and specific elements to the pe rmanent improvement of current standards of social e th ics .I t wi l l be a useful commentary on the present section to

append the fol lowing quotat ion descriptive of popularmoral i ty in Buddhist Ceylon , where the social influenceof early Buddhism may fai rly be cred i ted with a con

siderable part of popular cu lture“ There i s annual ly a gathering from all parts of theI sland at Anuradhapura to vis i t what are cal led sacredplaces . I suppose about people come here

,

remain for a few days , and then leave . There are no

houses for thei r reception , but under the grand umbrageof trees of our park-l ike envi rons they erect thei r l i ttlebooths and picni c in the Open air. As the height of thefestival approaches , the place becomes inst inct with l i fe ;and when there i s no room le ft to camp in, the late rcomers unceremoni ously take possess ion of the verandasof the publ i c bui ld ings . S o orderly i s thei r conduct,however, that no one th inks of disturbing them . Theold K acceri (Government Office) stands, a detachedbuilding not far from the bazaar, and about one-eighthof a mi le from the Ass istant-Agent ’s house . Til l latelythe treasure used to be lodged in a l i ttle i ron box thata few men could eas i ly run away with , guarded by threenat ive treasu ry watchers . There lay th i s sum of money,year after year, at the mercy of any s ix men who choseto run with i t into the neighbouring jungle—once indetection was almost imposs ible—and yet no one ever

1 33

Buddha 8632 the Gospe l of Buddhismsupposed the attempt would be made . Thesemen from all parts of the country come and go annual lywi thout a s ingle pol i ceman being here ; and, as the

Magistrate of the distri ct, I can only say that any to

surpass thei r decorum and sobriety of conduct i t i simposs ible to conceive . S uch a th ing as a rowis unheard of.

”—Report of the Government Agent,Anuradhapura, Ceylon, 1 870 .

To this we may add the testimony of Knox , who was

a prisoner in the inte rio r of Ceylon late in the seventeenthcentury . He says that the prove rb , Take a plougkman

from Me plougk, andwaste of leis dirt, and b e isfi t to rule

a kingdom,

“was spoken of the people of Cande Udabe cause of the civi l i ty, unde rstand ing, and gravi ty of thepoorest among them .

” Their ord inary ploughmen,he

adds , and husbandmen, “ do speak e legantly, and are ful lof complement . And there i s no diffe rence between theabi l i ty and speech of a Countryman and a Courtier.”

But perhaps the best idea of the eth ical consequences ofBuddhist modes of thought wi l l b e gathered from the

fo l lowing Japanese cri t i c i sm of Weste rn Industrial ism ,

original ly publ ished in the Japan Da i ly Ma i l ( 1 890) byVi scount Tori o, who was deeply versed in Buddhistph i losophy, and al so held high rank in the Japanese armyOrder or d isorder in a nati on does not depend uponsomething that fal ls from the sky or ri ses from the earth .

I t i s determ ined by the d ispos i tion of the people . Thepivo t on which the publ i c d ispos i tion turns i s the po intwhere publ i c and private mot ive s separate . I f the peopleb e influenced chiefly by publ i c cons ide rat ions , o rde r i sassured ; i f by private, disorde r i s i nevi table . Publ i cconside rat ions are those that prompt the prope r ob servance of duties . Private cons iderat ions are those1 34

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8632 the Gospe l of Buddhism

poli ti cal creed has ever held that inte l lectual strengthshould be cultivated for the purpose of explo i tinginferiori ty and ignorance . Now, to sat isfy the

needs of one luxurious man, the to i l of a thousand i sneeded . S urely i t i s monstrous that those who owe to

labour the pleasures suggested by thei r civi l i zat ionshould forget what they owe to the labourer, and treath im as i f he were not a fel low being. But c ivi l i zat ion,according to the Occident, serves only to sat isfy menof large desi res . I t i s of no benefit to the masses , buti s s imply a system under wh ich ambit ions compete toestabl ish thei r aims . That the Occidental systemi s gravely disturbing to the order and peace of a countryi s seen by men who have eyes , and heard by men who

have ears . The future of Japan under such a system fi l lsus with anxie ty . A system based on the principle thateth ics and re l igion are made to serve human ambitionnatural ly accords with the wishes of selfish ind ividuals ;and such theories as those embodied in the modernformula of l iberty and equal i ty annih i late the establ ishedre lat ions of socie ty, and outrage decorum and propriety.

Absolute equal i ty and absolute l iberty be ing nu

attainable, the l imi ts prescribed by right and duty are

supposed to be set . But as each person seeks to haveas much right and to be burdened with as l i ttle duty as

possible, the results are endless d isputes and legal content ions . I t i s plain that i f the mutual rightsof men and thei r status are made to depend on degreesof weal th , the maj ori ty of the people, being withoutwealth , must fai l to establ ish thei r rights ; whereas theminority who are weal thy wi l l assert thei r rights , and,

under S ociety’s sanction, wi l l exact oppress ive dutie sfrom the poor, neglecting the dictates of humanity and1 36

Consc ienc e

benevo lence . The adoption of these principle s of l ibertyand equal ity in Japan would vi tiate the good and peacefulcustoms of our country, render the general d ispos i tion ofthe people harsh and unfeel ing, and prove final ly a sourceofcalamityto themasses. Though at first sightOcc idental c ivi l i zat ion presents an attractive appearance ,adapted as i t i s to the grat ificat ion of se lfish des i res , yet,s ince i ts basi s is the hypothes is that men’s wishes constitute natural laws , i t must ult imately end in d isappo intment and demoral i zation. Occidental nations havebecome what they are after pass ing through confl i cts andviciss i tudes of the most serious kind . Perpetuald isturbance i s thei r doom . Peaceful equal ity can neverbe attained unt i l bu i l t up among the ruins of annih i latedW’estern S tates and the ashes of extinctWestern peoples .”1

VI . CONS CI ENCE

I t has often been objected as against Buddhism thatwhi le i ts moral code i s admirable, i t provides no sanct ion,

or no sufficient sanctions , for moral i ty . And we may say

at once , that s ince the ‘ individual does not exist, therecan be no question of reward or punishment for the

ind ividual , and therefore there i s no sanction for moral i tybased on reward or punishment affecting the individualin the future . Neither does Buddh ism name any Godfrom whom have proceeded Tables of the Law inve stedwith supernatural authority . The true Buddhist, however, does not need to be coerced by hopes of heaven or

fears of hel l ; nor can he imagine a higher sanction thanthat Of reason (Truth) . 21 Lafcad io Heam ,japan, p . 2 4 1 .

2 Those who do not admit the suffic iency of reason cannot be cal ledBuddh ists at the same time it cannot be argued by such apriori , that

I 3 7

Buddha 592 the Go spe l of BuddhismS ince Buddhism is essential ly a pract i cal system ,

psychological and eth ical , rather than phi losoph ical or rel igious ,i t may ve ry justly demand to be judged by i ts frui ts, andi t has no need to fear compari sons .At the same t ime i t wi l l throw some l ight on Buddhistthought i f we inquire what in Buddhism corresponds to‘ conscience .’ Conscience—to define the Engl ish word

- i s an internal moral judgment upon the mo t ives andactions of the ind ividual , and as such i s an undeniablefact of consciousness i t automat i cal ly and instantly refersall activi ties to a moral standard . This mo ral standardin a theist i c system l ike the old S emiti c i s formulated ina series of commandments : i n an atheisti c system of selfasse rtion such as i s impl ici tly acknowledged in competit ivesociet ies (modern Industrial ism) there exist s imi lar commandments, but admittedly man-made and recorded inlegal codes ; he who breaks no laws has there a goodconscience . In i deal ist i c systems such as that of Jesus ,the moral standard i s resumed in the principle , to loveone ’s ne ighbour as oneself, a pos ition which the moni stjustifies by adding, for thy neighbour is thysel f indeed .

Thus in i ts lowest form , conscience, which i s al readyrecognizable in certain of the lower animal s, cons ists inl i ttle more than the fear of puni shment, which , however,

for true Buddh ists, reason may not be a sufficient sanction. As saidby C. A . F. Rhys Davids (P salms of Me S isters, p . xxix), “ are we sure

we have gauged the work ing of all human hearts and every touch towhich they wi l l respond ? ” I t is noteworthy that in the thirty-fouredicts ofAsoka advocating moral behaviour, there is only one al lusion tothe word of the Buddha as such the only sanction ,

in the sense ofmotivefor morality, is the we lfare of the ind ividual and the common we lfare .

The idea ofpromoting the we lfare ofall be ings is deeply rooted in Ind iansentiment, and an activity devoted to that end would scarce ly haveseemed to require a furthermotive , whether to Buddhist or Brahman.

1 38

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha $ 2 the Go spe l of BuddhismNibbana.

” 1 S ince the highest good i s a state of mind(the state Of mind of the A rabat, who is de l ive red fromde s i re , resentment, and glamour) , every e thical act ivi tymust b e judged as a means to the attainment Of that state .

A bad conscience, then, a state of sin, would be describedby a Buddhist as a state of mind contrary to N ibbana.

I t mayseem that Because of N ibbana i s not a sufficiente thical motif . In the same way even the true Buddhistmight fa i l to understand the fo rce of the Chri stian Thywi l l be done ,” “ Thy way, not mine, O Lord ,” or of there s ignation s ignified in ‘ I slam .

’Yet all these re fer to

one and the same inner experience, Of which we are

reminded by the Safi , when he says : Whoso hath notsurrende red wi l l , no wi l l hath he .” Most probably thefo rce of these statements can never be made fu lly apparentto those who have not yet in the i r own consciousnessexperienced at least the beginning of the turning of

the pe rsonal wi l l from affirmat ion to denial . But just inso far as a man al lows h is thoughts and act ions to b ede te rmined by impersonal motive -Anatta or Nibbanamot ive, as a Buddhist might say—so far he begins to tasteof a peace that passes understanding . I t i s th is peacewhich l ies at the heart of all rel igion, and Buddhism maywe l l claim that the princ iple Because of N ibbana sufficesto settle in the affirmat ive the question whether or not thesystem of Gautama i s properly described as a rel igion(though th is express ion suggests rather a Mahayana thanan early mode of thought) .1 Shwe Z an Aung, Buddkist R eview,

i i i,2,p . 1 0 7. Cf Cl ive Bell ,

Art, i i, i i i, and G. E . Moore, P rincipia EMica .

Cf. Skiks/zasamuccaya of Shanti Deva, W . 2 1 , 2 3 :“Make thy merit

pure by deeds ful l of the spirit of tendernessandMe Void. Increase

of enjoyment is from almsgiving ful l of the sp irit of tenderness andMe

Void.

”

Sp iritual Exerc isesThat aspect of conscience which inhibi ts wrong act ivi tie s—i t wi l l be remembered that most of the early Buddhistcommandments are negat ive—i s , then, sat i o r reco l le ctedness . There i s , however, another s ide to consc iencewhich impels the individual not merely to refrain frominjuring others , but to expend h imse l f to thei r advantage ,in accordance with the principle that Love can never be

idle : thi s i s spoken of, in Mahayana Buddhism , as theBod/z i -ci tta , or Heart of Enl ightenment . I t d iffe rs fromsat i ch iefly in i ts spontane i ty ; i t does not ari se fromreflection, but from the harmony of the ind ividual wi l lwi th the wisdom and act ivi ty of the Buddhas . This cond it ion i s sometimes spoken of in Western books of edificat ion as a state of grace , or more popularly as the stateof being in tune wi th the Infini te .

’ But a very exce llentrende ring of ‘ bodhi-ci tta ’

may be found in Feltham’

s

‘skoot of everlastingnesse

’:1 th i s phrase i s the more

appropriate , because the awakening of the bodhi-ci tta i spoe tical ly represented in Buddhist l i terature as the Opening of the lotus of the heart.The two states of mind which in Buddhism correspond tothe Western i dea of consc ience , are then, recollectedness,

and love ; and i t i s from these cond itions that therenatural ly flow all those conceptions ofMe g ood which aredefined at length in the Buddhist passages on eth i cs .

VI I . S P I RI TUAL EXERCI SE SA regular part of the da i ly work of the members of theS angha—whether Brethren or S i sters—cons isted in the

practi ce of certain contemplat ions . These stat ions of

1 “The Consc ience, the Character of a God stampt in it, and the

Apprehension of E terni ty doe all prove i t a slzoot of everlastingnesse.

Feltham’

s Resolves.

1 4 1

Buddha 892 the Gospe l of Buddhismmeditat ion differ only in minor detai l s from those wh ichare regularly practised by Indian ascet ics of other o rde rs .With characterist i c systemat i zat ion, these modes of

t ra ining heart and mind are often spoken of as fortyfour in numbe r. How essential ly self-educat ional i s thepurpose of these stat ions of medi tat ion appears from the

fact that ce rtain ones are appointed for persons of onetemperament, and certain others for those of o the r temperaments. I have spoken of these meditat ions delib erately as

‘ work , ’ because i t i s important to understandthat we do not speak here of any s imple matter such as

day-dream or reverie , but of a severe system of mentaltraining , founded on an elaborate psycho logy, and we l lcalculated—now by auto-suggestion, now by close attent ion —to produce the type of character aimed at.

Tra ining of Me H eart

The fi rst medi tat ions are of an eth ical character, and insome respects may be compared to prayer. They consistin che rishing the moods (bkavanas) of loving-kindness ,compass ion, sympathy, and impart ial i ty (metta

'

, karuna"

,

mudi ta, and upekkka) . These are cal led the Four Illimi table S ubl ime Moods (Brakmavikaras) . The medi tati onon Loving-kindness , for example , cons ists in the emphas isof th is feel ing, the active radiation of goodwi l l i n all

d i rections and toward all forms of l i fe : and whoeve r wi l lpractise th i s one Buddhist exe rcise dai ly at a fixed hour

,

for a fixed time , and with ent i re attent ion, though helearn l i ttle e lse of Buddh ism , may be judge for himsel fwhat i s the deve lopment of character to which i t tends .Pe rhaps we can be st understand what the Four S ubl imeMoods real ly s igni fy by cons i de ring thei r equ ivalents inthe thought of a modern . When Wal t Whitman says1 42

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha B99 the Gospe l of Buddhismof the sun that sh ines al ike upon the evi l and the good ;and Buddhism al so knows of special med itat ions uponthe elements , eg . upon the earth , which harbours no

resentment, and i s the Indian symbo l of pat ience , or uponwater, which become s again transparent and clear, whatever mud or fi l th i s cast into i t . The Buddhist would at

all costs avo id sent imental i ty and part ial i ty : Gautama,perhaps , had reflected , l ike Nietzsche , “ Ah , where inthe wo rld have there been greater fol l ies than with the

piti ful ? ”

With the Four Med itat i ons just ment ioned i s associatedanother (asubka-bkavana) , on “ Foul things .” This verydifferent contemplat ion i s appo inted for those whoseemotional nature i s al ready act ive enough , but are

on the other hand too readily moved by the thought ors ight of physical beauty, or fee l a pride in thei r own

phys i cal perfection . The obje ct of th is medi tat i on i s toimpre ss on the mind that every l iving o rgani sm is subjectto change and decay ; the practi ce cons i sts in the contemplation of human bones or hal f-decayed corpses , such asmay be seen in an Indian burial-ground .

I t would be d ifficult to secure for th i s d iscipl ine thesympathy of modern minds . Nor does the methodappear quite cal culated to secure the des i red end ; may i tnot rather enhance the value of the fleeting moment toreflect

S uck is Me beauty of a ma id

L ike autumn leaves Meyfall andfade .

7

Not all the analyti c lo re of the phys io logis t makes himany the less susceptible to love . I f we neglect, however,thi s pure ly monasti c aspect of a rather futi le endeavour toinduce d isgust by artificial means, and remember how1 44

Training of the Heart

Buddhist thought i s always on guard to avoid sent imental i ty, we may understand such a medi tat ion as a

correct ive to the temperament wh ich fal ls in love with allthat i s new and fa i r, and admires only such art as repre

sents the charms of youth and beauty. But i t seems tobe overlooked that physical beauty i s in i tsel f and so fara good. He that would go further must renounce indulgence , not because that indulgence i s bad, but because hehas othe r and stronger des i res . The true ascet i c i s nothe who i s such by a species of mental v iolence, 1 but hewho i s th inking of other th ings than pass ing goods .With regard to the purpose of these medi tati ons : we mayobserve that they are not i ntended for ascetics only, butequal ly for laymen, and must have resulted in act ivedeeds of compass ion . Buddhist thought, however, i smore concerned with states of mind than with d irectinjunctions to labour for others and the true purpose ofthe Four S ubl ime Moods i s to correct the disposi t ionof those who are i l l-tempered and unchari table . Toove rcome re sentment i s essential to all further progress ;but the S ubl ime Moods by themselves lead only to re

birth in the BrahmaHeavens of Fo rm . In the subsequentdevelopment toward N ibbana the S ubl ime Moods are

overpast, since they are di rected toward other pe rsons,whi le the thought of the most advanced i s d i rectedonly to N ibbana. For the real i zat ion of N ibbanathere must be put away not only bad states of mind ,but al so good ones . The former lead to rebi rth underpainful condit ions, the latter to rebirth under favourable condi tions ; but neither consti tutes the savingknowledge which gives emancipat ion. Buddha i s made,1 The saying of the poet, that “Desires suppressed breed pesti lence ,is confirmed by the researches of the psycho-analyst.

K 1 45

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhismin the Buddka-cari ta Of Asvaghosha (vi i , to Speak of

these effo rts as fo l lowsI t i s not the effort i tself which I blame , which fl inging

as ide the base pursues a high path of i ts own ; but thewise, by all th is common toi l, ought to attain that state inwhich noth ing needs ever to be done again .

”

jnanaA further group of medi tat ions consists of the Jhanas orDhyanas stri ctly so-cal led ; these, too , are d iscipl ine s ofattention and abstraction almost ident i cal with those whichare better known as belonging to Yoga .

“ Blessed art thou , therefore,” says Behmen, “ i f thoucanst stand sti l l from sel f-th inking and sel f-wi ll ing, andcanst stop the whee l of thy imagination and thy senses ;forasmuch as hereby thou mayst arrive at length to see

the great S alvation of God , being made capable of allmanner of d ivine sensat ions and heavenly communica

t ions . S ince i t i s nought indeed but th ine own hearingandwil l ing that do hinder thee .” Just as the mysti c seeksto be abstracted from mental act ivi ty, in order the bette rto know the One Real i ty, in just the same way the Buddhist makes a pract ice of abstraction that he may bedel ivered from sel f-thinking I and may come to knowthings as they real ly are . I f we omi t the two words ofGod ’

in the above quotat ion , or remember that God i sNO-thing, i t wi l l exactly explain the character and ultimatepurpose of the Buddhist Jhanas.

One series of these cons i sts in medi tat ion upon certainset objects- for example, a c i rcle of smooth earth—ihsuch a way as to separate onesel f from all appeti te or im

pulse in connexion with them . This exercise recal ls thed isinterestedness of aestheti c contemplat ion, where the

46

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Jhanaspectator i s from himsel f se t free the Buddhist Jhanaaims to attain the same resul t in a more me chanical way.

This contemplati on prepares the way for higher things ,and by i tsel f leads to favourable rebi rth in the Heaven of

Ideal Form (rupaloka) . The resulting trance i s d ividedinto four or five phase s .A further series , which secure rebi rth in the Heaven ofNo-form (arupaloka) , cons ists in the success ive real izati onof the stations of the Infini ty Of Space , of the Infini ty ofIntel lection, of Emptiness , and of Neither-consc iousnessnor-unconsciousness . In these exercises the aspi rantexperiences, as i t were , a fore taste of the worlds of re

be coming to which h is character wi l l lead after death ;for the moment, indeed , he al ready enters those worlds .These exercises , however, do not lead di rectly and immediately to N ibbana, but only to re-becoming in the moreideal conditions of those h igher other-worlds . Beyondthese stat ions there remained the cultivation of ‘ thoughtengaged upon the world beyond ’

(lokuttaram ci ttam) .The method hardly d iffers from what has been lastdescribed , but 1 8 wiMout thought or des i re of any otherworld , whether of form or formless , and is pursued so lelywith the view to achieving perfection of insight he re and

now. For th is reason, no twi thstanding the s imi larity ofmethod , the Buddhist authors draw a sharp d istinctionbe tween the Jhana which leads to N ibbana d irectly, and

those Jhanas which mere ly lead to rebi rth in the BrahmaHeavens of Form or No-form .

The term S amadlz i must also be ment ioned , original lyindi cat ing any profound pious meditat ion or concentration

the one-po inted state of the mind , i s asynonym for samadhi th is samadhi , which i s cal ledsel f-col lectedness , has as i ts characteristi c mark the

1 47

Buddha 892 the Gospe l of Buddhismabsence of wandering, of distract ion and as i tsconcomitants , calmness , or wisdom and ease .” 1

Samadhi i s also d ivided under many separate classes, e .g .

the Empty (sufifiata) , the S ignless (animitta) , and the

A imle ss (appanih ita) , corre sponding to the three phase s ofVimutti s imilarly characterized .

VI I I . CONS OLA TI ON

No thing is more characterist ic of Gautama’ s thought thanthe form of the consolat ionwhich i t offe rs to the suffe ringindividual . The re i s no promise of future compensat ion,

as of a reunion in heaven, but the re i s reference to theuniversal i ty of suffering ; the ind ividual i s led to regardhi s sorrow, not as

‘ h is own,

’ but as world sorrow, welt

sc/cmerz , inseparab le from l i fe i tsel f ; all sorrow is selfinfl i cted , inherent in the conce i t of an I . Consolat ion i sto be found in the ‘ knowledge of th ings as they real lyare .

’

The pilgrimage of beings (Samsara) , my disciples ,says Gautama, has i ts beginning in ete rni ty . N0 opening (first cause) can be d iscove red , whence proceeding,creature s fette red by a th i rst for being, stray and wande r.What th ink ye, d isciples , whether i s more , the wate r whichi s in the four great oceans , or the tears wh ich have flowedfrom you and have been shed by you , whi le ye strayed andwandered on th is long pi lgrimage , and sorrowed and wept,because that was your portion which ye abhorred and thatwh ich ye loved was not your portion ? ” 2 Not only haseach in himsel f thi s long inheri tance of suffering, but allhave expe rienced and sti l l experience the same . I t i sre lated that there came a mother, Gotami the S lender, to1 Commentary on the D /zamma-Sangani .2 S amyutta M

'

kaya, i ii, 1 49 .

1 48

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8632 the Gospe l of BuddhismVery s ignificant also i s the consolat ion which the Buddhaoffers to hi s d i sciples at the time of h is own death .

1

“ Enough , Ananda ! do no t le t yourse l f be troubled ; donot weep ! Have I not al ready, on former occas ions , toldyou that i t i s in the very nature of all things most nearand dear unto us that we must d ivide ourselve s fromthem ? How, then,

Ananda, can th is b e poss ible—whereasanything whateve r born, brought into be ing, and organized ,contains within i tself the inhe rent necess i ty of d issolut ion—how, then, can th is be possible , that such a being should

not be dissolved ? N0 such condition can exist !”

I t wi l l be remembered that Ananda, though in a measurethe favouri te d isciple of Buddha, was also spi ri tual ly theyoungest, the most backward , and did not attain to

Arahatta unt i l afte r the death of the Buddha. And so

when that death takes place, he is represented as ove rcomeby grie f, and exclaiming

Tken was Me terror !

Tken stoodMe ka ir on end!

Wken ke endowed wiM every g race

Tae supreme Buddka—died

and of those of the Brethren who we re not yet free fromthe pass ions , some stretched the i r arms and wept, and

some fe l l headlong on the ground , rol l ing to and fro in

anguish at the thought : ‘Too soon has the Exal ted Onedied ! Too soon has the Happy One passed away ! Toosoon has the Light gone out in the world !’ But those of

the Bre thren who we re free from the pass ions bore the i rgrie f co l le cted andcomposed at the thought Impermanentare all component things ! How i s i t poss ible that (they1 Compare with this the death-b ed conso lation of K ing Dutthagamani ,quoted p . 300 , be low, from the Makavamsa.

1 50

VI I I

BUDDHA AS MENDICANTABANINDRO NATH TAGORE

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

The Order

should not be The venerable Anuruddha,one who had al ready attained , and was an Arahat, does

not feel the personal and pass ionate grief which d istresse sAnanda, and he says

Wben be wbofrom all craving want wasfreel o to N irvana ’

s tranquil state bad reacb ed

Wb en tb c g reat sag efinisbed b is span of li eNo gasping strugg le vexed tbat steadfast b eartA ll resolute, and witb unsbaken mind

H e calmly triump/ced o’

er tbcpa in of deatb .

E’

en as a brig/i tflame dies away, so was

Tbe last emancipation of b is b eart.

While Sakka, the king of the gods of heaven, underBrahma, utters the famous l ines

Tb ey’

re transient all, cack being’

sparts andpowers,Growtb is Meir veiy nature, and decay,

Tbey areproduced, Mey are dissolved aga in

To bring tbem all into subjection—Mat is bliss.

I X . THE ORDER

The central inst i tut ion of H i nayana Buddhism i s theS angba , the Company ’ of Brethren , the men, and in

smal ler number the women, who left the wo rld to walk on

the Path that leads to Arahatta, the attainment of N ibbana.

Gautama h imsel f, together wi th h is d isciples , belonged tothe class of religieux, then well-known as

‘Wanderers ’

(P ari bbajakas) , who are to be dist inguished from thefo rest-dwe l l ing hermits (Vanaprastbas) . The Wandererstrave l led about s ingly or in bands , or took up thei rres idence for a t ime in the groves or bui ld ings se t apartfor thei r use by good laymen. Thus we hear of the

1 51

Buddha 8672 the Go spe l of Buddhismwandering mendicant Potthapada, who on a ce rtain occas ion was dwel l ing at the hal l put up in Queen Mallika

’

s

Park for the d i scussion of systems of opini on the hal lset round with a row of Tinduka trees , and known bythe name of ‘The Hal l . ’ And there was with him a

great fo l lowing of mendicants ; to wit, three hundredmendicants .” 1

S uch mendicants , or Bb ikkbus (a term afterward comingto have a d istinctively Buddhist s ignificance ) were o ftenassociated in companies , under the teaching of someleader, such as the Potthapada above ment ioned ; and

we hear amongst others of the fol lowing orders withmembers of which Gautama at one t ime or anothe r ente rsinto argument theNiganthas (or Jainas) , led byMahavi ra ;the Aj i vikas ; the Gotamakas, fol lowers most l ike ly of

Devadatta, the Buddha’s sch ismati c and i l l-mindedcousin ; various Brahmani cal groups , and many othe rs of

whose views we know l ittle . The first of these groupsdeve loped l ike Buddhism into an Order and a re l igion, and

has survived in India to the pre sent daywith an extens ivel i te rature and over a milli on adhe rents . The Ruleadopted by one or the other group of Wanderers variedin detai l , but always embraced a certain degree of

ascetic ism (always including cel ibacy) , combined withvoluntary poverty .

1 T. W. Rhys Davids, D ialogues of Me Buddba, i , 2 2 4 . ProfessorRhys Davids adds the fo l lowing note : The very fact of the erec tion

of such a place is another proof of the freedom of thought prevalent inthe Eastern val ley of the Ganges in the sixth century BC Buddhaghosha te lls us that after ‘The Hal l ’ had been establ ished, o thers neari t had been bui lt in honour of various famous teachers but the groupof bui ldings continued to be known as

‘The Hal l . ’ There Brahmans,

Niganthas, Achelas, Paribbajakas, and other teachers met and ex

pounded, or discussed, their views.

1 52

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

The Order

We can now examine in greater detai l the Spec ial Rulewhich was adopted in the Order founded by Gautama,and o rganized under h is immediate gu idance . We haveal ready ment ioned the Ten Commandments , or rather,Prohibit ions , which must be observed by every memberof the Order. The Brethren are also required to wear amonast i c costume of yellow or o range cloth , made oftorn pieces

,sewn together so as to have no commercial

value : to seek thei r dai ly food as alms ; to abstain fromfood between meals at the appointed hours : and general ly,to ma intain a decorous behaviour. But they are not required to take any vow of l i fe- long adhesion—on thecontrary, those who find they have no t rue vocat ion are

encouraged to return to the world , whe re , i f they cannotattainArahatta in th is l i fe , theymayyet aspi re to a favourable rebirth . Nor are the Brethren required to take any

vow of obedience to superiors allare equal , with due al lowance for seniori ty, and degree of spi ri tual advancementeven in large monasteries , the head i s merely primusinterpares. The Order consti tutes thus a se l f-containeddemocracy, analogous to a gui ld or occupat ional caste .D i scipl ine i s maintained fo rmal ly by the Order as a who le ,acting upon the confess ion or proved fault of the e rringBrother, and appointing, in b i-monthly convocat ion, a

sui table penance ; the heaviest puni shment, appo inted forinfringement of either of the Four Card inal S ins (breachof the vow of chasti ty, theft, ki l l ing, and laying claim to

miraculous powers) , i s expuls ion from the Order ; ment ioni s al so made in Asoka’s ed i cts of expuls ion or unfrockingof he re t ics or schismati cs. An external check i s alsoprovided by publ i c Opinion, which nei ther in the days ofGautama, nor in modern Burma or Ceylon, would toleratethe mere pretence of a holy l i fe. Thus, says MrField ing

1 53

Buddha 8632 the Gospe l of BuddhismHal l , in modern Burma “ the supervis ion exercised bythe people ove r the i r monks i s most stringent . AS

long as the monks act as monks should , they are he ld ingreat honour, they are addressed by ti tles of great respect,they are suppl ied with all they want with in the rules ofthe Wini (Vinaya) , they are the glory of the vi l lage .D i re ctly he breaks his laws , his ho l iness i s gone . Thevi l lagers wi l l have none such as he . They wi l l hunt h imout of the vi l lage , they wi l l refuse him food , they wi l lmake him a bywo rd , a scorn.

The monastery is also in many cases the vi l lage school ; 1and in Burma i t i s the custom for almost every youngman to take the monasti c vows for a short t ime

, and to

re side for that period within the monastery wal ls . Thisposs ibi l i ty of us ing the Order as a ‘Re treat also expla inshow i t was poss ible for Asoka to assume the monasti crobe s wi thout final ly rel inquish ing h is throne .

I t i s above all important to real i ze that the BuddhistBro ther, Monk, Rel igious mendicant (Bhikkhu, the wordin most gene ral use) , Wanderer, or however we speak ofh im, i s not a prie st . He does not belong to an apostol i csuccess ion, nor has he any powe r to save or condemn, to

forgive s ins or to admini ster sacraments ; he has no o ther1 All monasteries are schoo ls.

”—Fie ld ing Hal l, Tbe Soul of a P eople.

Of course, teaching is not an essential duty of the Brother, but a taskvo luntari ly undertaken. Simi lar conditions prevai led, unti l recently ,in Ceylon “ Besides the re lation in which the priests stand to

their tenants as land lords, and the re l igious influence of the ir possession,they have otherh o lds on the possession of the people . Theirpansalas(monasteries) are the schoo ls for vi l lage chi ldren, and the sons of eventhe superior headmen are very generally educated at them . They havealso frequently some knowledge ofmedic ine, and when this is the case

they genera lly give the benefi t of the ir advice gratuitously the irinfluence among the peop le is, in a soc ial po int of view, useful lyemployed .”—Ceylon, Serv ice Tenures Commission Report, 1 87 2 .

1 54

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

To leranc esancti ty than attache s to his own good l iving . The careof a Buddhist temple i s no essential part of his duties ,though in most cases a temple i s attached to eve rymonastery, and i s unde r the care of the Bre thren, whilevi l lage shrine s have thei r incumbents whose l ivel ihood i sprovided by the produce of lands ded icated to i t . Butth i s care of sacred places has no l ikeness to priestcraft,nor doe s the temple contain any sanctum which maynot

be approached as we l l by laymen as by Brethren.

Each monk is permitted eight possess ions only : the threerobes , a wai st cloth , an alms bowl , a razo r, a needle, anda water-strainer. The modernBh ikkhu general ly possessesin addi tion an umbre l la and a few books , 1 but the handl ingof money i s careful ly avo ided . Neverthele ss the hardshipof voluntary poverty i s large ly mi tigated by the fact thatthe Order as such is permitted to rece ive gi fts and en

dowments from laymen, a pract ice begun even in the timeof the Buddha ; later Buddh ist monasteries became extremely weal thy and are wel l furni shed with res idencesfor the Brethren . Even under these conditi ons the modeof l i fe i s extremely s imple, and no one could accuse themonks of luxury .

X. TOLERANCE

India is the land of re l igious tole rance . There can be nodoubt that Gautama and h is d isciple s extended to thoseof o ther persuas ions the same courte sy which he rece ived .

This i s indicated not only by the gene ral procedure adoptedin the case of argument wi th opponents , but al so in severalamiable anecdotes . We read , for example , that Gautamaconverted at Va isali a Licchav i nobleman, who had been1 Writing was known, but books were not in general use when the

orderwas founded : the basis of learning waswhat a man remembered .

1 55

Buddha 8632 the Gospe l of Buddhisma fol lower of Mahavi ra : but he advised h im as fol lows“ For a long t ime , S i ha, your house has been a place ofre fuge for the N iganthas (fol lowers of Mahavi ra, i .e.

Jainas) . Therefore you should consider i t becoming thatalms should sti l l be given to them when they come to you .

” 1

Primi tive Buddhism included eighteen various schools ofthought, some t imes spoken of as sects or denominati ons ;accord ing to another classificat ion the number i s twelve .Concerning these schools which would arise after h is death

,

Gautama i s sai d to have made the fol lowing pronouncement : “ These schools wi l l be the repos i torie s of thetwelve d ivers ified frui ts of my scriptures without priori tyor inferiori ty—just as the taste of sea-wate r i s everywherethe same—or as the twelve sons of one man, all honestand t rue , so wil l be the expos i tion of my doctrine advo

cated by these schools .” 2 I f these are not the actualwords of the Buddha, they testi fy at least to what theBuddh ists at a later period considered that he might verywel l have sai d ; and th is sympatheti c posi t ion i s also wel li l lustrated in practice, for Hiouen Tsang in the s ixthcentury found representat ives of all the e ighteen sects l ivings ide by s ide in a s ingle monastery wi thout d issens ion. The

tradi tional to lerance of Indian kings , who extend the i r support to all sects al ike , i s also we l l seen in the case ofAsoka,

who patroni zed even the Aj i vikas , whose doctrines are so

often denounced by Gautama as defini tely fal se . Certainpassage s in the Edicts treat of tole rance as fol lows :His Sacred and Gracious Maje sty the K ing doesreve rence to men of all se cts , whether asce t i cs or househo lders , by gi fts and various forms of reve rence .His S acred Maje sty, howeve r, cares not so much forgifts or exte rnal reverence as that there should be a

1 Mabavagga, vi , 3 1 .

2 Beal , I nd. Ant , ix, 1 880, p . 300 .

1 56

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Tolerance

growth of the essence of the matter in all sects . Thegrowth of the e ssence of the matter assumes variousforms

,but the root of i t i s restraint of speech , to wit, a

man must not do reverence to h i s own se ct or disparagethat of another manwithout reason. Depreciat ion shouldbe for specific reasons only, because the sects of othe rpeople all deserve reverence for one reason or anotherhe who does reverence to h is own sect whi le d isparagingthe sects of o thers whol ly from attachment to h is own,

with intent to enhance the splendour of h i s own sect, inreal ity by such conduct infl i cts the severest injury on hi sown sect . 1 Concord , therefore, i s meri torious , to wi t,hearkening and hearkening wi l l ingly to the Law of Pie tyas accepted by other people . For th is i s the desi re of

His Sacred Maje sty that all sects should hear muchteach ing and ho ld sound doctrine .”1 He , in the words of S chopenhauer, who “ labours careful ly to provethat the dogmas of the fore ign be lie f do not agree with those of his

own, to explain that not only they do not say the same , but certainlydo not mean the same as h is. With that he fanc ies in h is S implic itythat he has proved the falsity of the doctrines of the alien be l ief.I t real ly never occurs to h im to ask the question which of the two

is right. I was once acquainted with an ardent Engl ish supporterof foreign missions who informed me that a H indu was a Buddh istwho worshipped Muhammad . Asoka’s view of tolerance is that wh ichhas always prevai led in India. Compare “Let every man

,so far as

in him l ieth, he lp the reading of the scriptures, whether those of

his own church or those of another” (Bbakta-kalpadruma of Pratapa

S imha, The only true missionary is he who brings to the

support of the scriptures of others, that which he finds in his own

books. The more one knows of various be l iefs, the more impossible itbecomes to d istinguish one from another and indeed no re ligion couldbe true wh ich did not imply the same wh ich every otherre l ig ion impl ies.

These are real ly the thoughts of allmen in all ages and lands, they arenot original w ith me . I f they are not yours as much as mine, they arenothing, ornext to noth ing.”—Walt Wh itman.

I S7

Buddha 89" the Gospe l of Buddhism

I t must not, howeve r, be supposed that early Buddhistsextended the idea of to lerance so far as to bel ieve that i twas poss ible to atta in salvat ion o the rwise than throughthe Doctrine and D iscipl ine expressly taught by Gautama.

He resy, on the contrary, i s regarded as a damnable sin, tobe expiated in the purgatories . The Aj i vikas are regardedas particularly impious, and Gautama being asked whetherany such can atta in to heaven after death—to saynoth ingof N ibbana—repl ie s : “ In the ninety-one aeons , O Vatsya,which I recal l , I remember but one s ingle Aj ivika whoattained to heaven and he acknowledged the truth ofkamma and the efficacy of works .” 1

Vo id are the systems of other teachers , says Gautama,vo id of true saints

,

” 2a view that i s echoed by Brothe r

Nagita as fo l lows :Outside our Order many otb ers be, wbo teacb

A patb , never, like Mis one, to Nibbana leading .

3

Norwas free th inking actual ly to le rated within the o rder.The who le obje ct of the Buddhist Counci ls , as we l l as of

the final wri t ing down of the Pal i canon, was to fix thetrue doctrine and eradicate the false . Heretical brethrenwere excommuni cated ; the best evidence of th i s appearsin ce rta in of the Edicts of Asoka, who lays down that theWay of the Church must not be departed from , and thatthose who break the uni ty of the Church shal l be unfrocked ,and must dwe l l apart from the Brethren.

4 I t i s quite1 Anguttara IVika

‘

ya, 11, p. 2 2 7 .

2 Mabaparni bbana Sutta (D ialogues of tbc Buddbo , i i, Cf also ,For all be ings salvation is only to b e found in Buddha, Dhamma, andSangha.

—K buddakapatba .

3 P salms of tbe B retbren, No . lxxxvi (Nagita) .4 Mr. R . F. Johnston is therefore not quite correc t in saying thatexpulsion from monkhood is never infl icted for free thought or in

fidelity.—Buddb ist Ob ina, p . 308 .

1 58

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of BuddhismUnfathomably deep, l ike a fish ’s course i n the water,they say, i s the characte r of women, robbers with manyartifices, with whom truth i s hard to find, to whom a

lie i s l ike the truth and the truth i s l ike a lie .

No heed should be pai d ei ther to thei r l ikes or to thei rd isl ike s .”

The doctrine of Gautama i s monasti c, as his temperamenti s unemotional . In the words of Oldenbe rg, “Was i tpossible for a mind l ike Buddha, who i n the severe determinat ion of renunciation had torn h imsel f away from all

that i s attractive and lovely in th is world , was he giventhe facul ty , to unde rstand and to value woman

’s nature ? ”

We must understand that the Early Buddhist want of

sympathy wi th woman i s not an unique phenomenon, butrather one that i s typical of monast i c sent iment all thewo rld over. I t i s based on fear. For of all the snare sof the sense s which Ignorance sets before the unwary, themost ins id ious , the most dangerous , the most attractive,i s woman .

Maste r, says Ananda, “ how Shal l we behave be forewomen ? ” “ You should shun thei r gaze , Ananda.

”

But i f we see them , master, what then are we to doNot speak to them , Ananda.

” But i f we do speakto them, what then ? ” “ Then you must watch ove ryourselve s , Ananda.

” To fal l in love is a form ofMoba ,

infatuat ion : and just as the monast i c view of art takesnote only of i ts sensuous elements , so the monast i c viewof woman and the love of woman takes into account nonebut the physical factors . To compare N ibbana—as theBri badaranyaka Upanisbad compares the bl iss of Atmanintu ition to the sel f-forgetting happine ss of earthlylovers , locked in each other’s arms, would be for Buddhistthought a bitter mockery. N0 less remote from Buddhist1 60

Women

sentiment i s the view of We ste rn ch ival ry which sees inwoman a guid ing star, or that of Va i shnava or Platoni cideal ism which finds in the adorat ion of the individualan educat ion to the love of all.We need not deny that the posi tion of Gautama i s froma ce rtain point of view just . I t i s scarcely to be gainsai dthat woman i s neare r to the world than man ; and sexuald ifferentiat ion i s one of those things which are not so,not so ’

in Nirvana. We have only to recogni ze thatGautama had no conception of a mo ral duty to providefor the continuance of the race , such as i s impl ied in thelater Brahmani cal doctrine of the debt to the ance stors .He cal led onmen andwomen al ike to root up the infe rnalgrove , to abandon the sexual nature , and to put on spi ri tualmanhood ; for those not yet prepared for th i s change , hefe l t such compass ion as a gentle spi ri t may fee l for thosewho suffer and whose suffe ring is the result of the i r owninfatuat ion.

Gautama’s favouri te and spi ri tual ly youngest d iscipleAnanda i s frequently represented as advocat ing the

cause of woman. When the que stion of the admiss ionof women to the Order—in e ffe ct a claim to the rightsof women not al together unl ike that of the modernswas rai sed , Ananda, al ready three t ime s re fused , final lyasksAre women competent, Reverend S ir, i f they reti re from

the household l i fe to the houseless one , under the doctrineand d iscipl ine announced by the Tathagata, to attain to

the frui t of conversion , to attain to the fru it of oncereturning, to attain to the fru i t of never-returning, to

attain to Arahatta

Gautama cannot deny thei r competence ; in response toAnanda’s further pleas he admits women to the Orde r,

L 1 6 1

Buddha 892 the Gospe l of Buddhismsubject to eighty weighty regulat ions , beginning with one

to the effect that even the eldest o rdained S i ste r muststand before and behave with extreme humi l i ty toward a

Brother,i f even only ordained a s ingle day. But he adds

I f, Ananda, women had not reti red from household l i fe

to the houseless one, under the doctrine and discipl ineannounced by the Tathagata, rel igion, Ananda, wouldlong endure ; a thousand years would the good doctrineabide . But s ince , Ananda, women have now reti red fromthe household l i fe to the houseless one , under the doctrineand disc ipl ine announced by the Tathagata, not long,Ananda, wil l rel igion endure ; but five hundred years ,Ananda, wi ll the good doctrine abide .”

Elsewhere, i n reply to another quest ion propounded byAnanda, Gautama repl iesWomen are soon angered

,Ananda ; women are ful l of

passion, Ananda ; women are envious , Ananda ; womenare stupid , Ananda. That i s the reason, Ananda, thatthe cause, whywomen have no place in publ i c assembl ies,do not carry on a business, and do not earn thei r l ivingby any pro fess ion .

”

Highly characteristi c is the story of th i rty charitablemen , led by the Bodhisatta when existing in the form Of

the young Brahman, Magha : these men , upon a certainoccas ion were setting up a rest-house at the cross- roadsby way of charity. But as they no longer took del ighti n womankind , they al lowed no woman to share in the

good work .

” I t i s pleas ing to reflect that a lady of thename of Piety succeeded in bribing one of these pai nful lygood men to agree to a stratagem by which she was

enabled to share in the meri to rious work, and that shethereby earned for hersel f a palace in the heaven of Sakka.

1

1 K ulavakajataka.

1 6 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8632 the Go spe l of Buddhismever was, drawn from the l i fe of India in those days theycanno t b e le ft out of s ight, i f we des i re to get an ideaof the actors who made the oldest Buddhist communi tywhat i t was.

”

Gautama, however, did not merely accept the Offerings of

the respectable , but also those of ‘ s inners . ’ I t i s re cordedthat upon a certain occas ion he accepted for h imse l f andhis fo l lowers an invi tat ion to d inner 1 from the courtesanAmbapali , and refused the al ternat ive invi tat ion of theLi cchav i princes , to thei r great annoyance .

2 He al so forsome time took up h is residence in her mango pleasaunce,of which , moreover, she made a gi ft to the Order. TheS utta saysThe Exal ted One accepted the gi ft and after instruct

ing, and rousing, and inci t ing, and gladdening her withre l igious discourse

,he rose from his seat and departed

thence .

”

I t i s worthy of no te that nei the r Visakha nor Ambapalii s repre sented to have le ft the world as an immediate re sul tof his teaching, or even to have changed her mode of l i fethe i r gi fts were accepted by Gautama s imply as those of

pious laywomen. Each would rece ive in some heaven theimmediate reward of her gene ros i ty, and in some futurel i fe the frui t of perfe ct enl ightenment .Buddhist thought gives honour to woman to th is extent,that i t neve r doubts the poss ibi l i ty of her putting off her

woman’s nature , and even in th i s l i fe be coming, as i t we re ,a man. The case i s given of the lady Gopika who ,

having abandoned a woman’s thoughts and cultivatedthe thoughts of a man was reborn as a son of S akka inheaven. The re was also , and more conspi cuous, the

1 Th is does not invo lve sitting down to eat at the same table or at the

same time .

2 See above, pp . 74 , 75.

1 64

Women

great body of the S i sters—ini tiated , though under protest ,with the consent of Gautama himsel f—of whom manyattained to Arahatta, to N ibbana ; and of the se last, thebeauti ful songs of triumph are preserved in the P salms ofMe S isters. And al though these S i sters were techni cal lyappointed juni ors in perpetuity to the Brethren,

“ i t i sequal ly clear that, by intel lectual and moral eminence ,a Ther

‘

i might claim equal i ty with the highest of thefrate rni ty .

” 1

The woman who left the world and adopted the S i s ter’srule not only escaped from the restri ctions and drudgery of

domesticity, but—l ike the Hindu widow of the type ofLilavat

'

i , or l ike the mode rn woman th inker who mee tsher mascul ine colleagues on equal te rms—obtained fromher brethren recogni tion as a rat ional be ing, a humanbeing rather than a woman ; she shared the intel le ctualcommunion of the rel igious ari stocracy of the Ariyas.

Her po int of view in this regard i s clearly expressed inthe Psalms

Am I a woman in sncb matters, or

Am I a man .7 or wbat am I tben .

7

How sbould tbc woman’

s nature b inder Us .7

whi le all that i s essential ly feminine i s left behind

Speak not to me of deln ting in augb t of sensuous

pleasuresVerily all sncb vanities now no more may deln t me.

This posi tion i s very closely paral leled by that which i sput fo rward by S chopenhaue r, and by Weininger. Thelatter sums up his argument by saying : Man can only1 C. A. F. Rhys Davids, P salms of Me S isters, p. xxvi.

1 65

Buddha 86132 the Go spe l of Buddhismrespect woman when She hersel f ceases to be object andmaterial for man. A woman who had real ly given upher sexual self, who wished to be at peace, would be nolonger woman.

’She would have ceased to be woman, ’

she would have received the inward and spi ri tual S ign as

we l l as the outward form of regeneration.

” He asks , I si t (then) poss ible for woman real ly to wish to real ize theproblem of existence , the conception of guil t (dukkha) ?Can She real ly desi re freedom ? This can happen onlyby her be ing penetrated by an i deal , brought to the

guiding star. I n thatwayonly can there be an emanc i

pat iou (Nibbana) of woman.

” 1 To these questions theBuddhist experience repl ies that i t is possible for womanto real ly desi re freedom , and that no smal l number ofwomen amongst the Buddhist S i sters attained i t .I t may be left to the advocates of woman’s ‘ emancipat ion on the one hand , and to feminine ideal ists on theo ther, to debate how far these views involve the honouror the dishonour of woman.

’

XI I . EARL Y BUDDH I SM AND NA TURE

Here, 0 Bh ikkus, are the roots of trees, here are empty placesmeditate—Mayflcima IVikaya, i , 1 1 8 .

That deep understanding of Nature which characteri zesthe later developments of Buddhism in China and Japanwe must not regard as enti re ly al ien to the early Buddhists, sti l l less as essential ly Far Eastern rathe r thanIndian. In spite of themselves the early Buddhist hermits were l ove rs of Nature, and even i n H inayana l i terature the poet now and again overcomes the monk . Thatde l ight in flowers and forests wh ich i s characteristic of1 Weininger, Sex and Cbaracter pp. 347—9 .

1 66

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha E132 the Gospe l of BuddhismElsewhere the Buddha, or one l ike Buddha i s comparedto the flower of the lotus :

S o is tb c Buddba in tb is world,

Born in tbe world and dwelling Mere,

But by Me world nowise defi ledE

’

eu as Me lily by tb e lake .

The way of the Buddhist freeman,the Ariyas who have

escaped the fetters of the world , i s l ikened to the fl ight ofthe white cranes against the cloudy sky .

We find al so among the Psalms of the Brethren veritablenature poems

Tb ose rocky b en ts witb bue of darkblue clouds,Wb ere lies embosomedmany a sb ining tarn

Of crystal—clear, cool waters, and wbose slopes

Tb e b erds of I ndra cover and bedeck

F a ir uplands ra in-refresbed, and resonant

Wi tb crested creatures cries antipbonal,L one b en ts wb ere si lent R isb is oft resortF reefrom tb e crowds of ci ti z ens below,

But tbrong ed wi tbflocks of many winged tb ings,Tb e bome of berding creatures of Me wi ld

Haunted by blackf aced apes and timid deer,Wb ere ’

neaM brnt blossoms run Me si lver streams

Sucb are Me braes wberein my soul deligb ts.

Anothe r of the poet monks is credited with nine gathas,of which one runs :

Wb en in tb e lowering sky tbundersMe storm-cloud’

s drum,

A nd all tbepatbways of Me birds are Mickw i tb ra in,

Tb e brotb er si ts witb in tb c bollow of Me b i lls

A lone, rapt in tbougb t’

s ecstasy. No bn er bliss

I s g iven to men tban Mis.

1 68

Early Buddhism $ 2 Nature

While yet another wri tes

Wb ene’er I see Me crane, ber clearpale wingsOutstretcb ed infear toflee Me black storm-cloud,

A sbelter seeking , to safe sb elter borne,Tben dotb tb c river Ajakarani

Givejoy to me.

Wbo dotb not love to see on ei tb er bank

Clustered rose-apple trees infa ir array,

B eyondMe great cave of tbc bermi tag e,Or b ear Me soft croak of tbefrogs .

7

N0 less characteri sti c are the ra in-songs

God ra ins as’twere a melody most sweet,

S nug is my little but, skeltered, well-roofed.

Tb e b eart of me is steadfast and at peace .

Now, an i tpleasetb tbee to ra in, god. ra in !

But these are the utte rances of individual monks ; wecanno t frankly cred i t early Buddhism—the teaching ofBuddha—with the kinsh ip of the wi ld . The love of

lone ly places i s most often for thei r ve ry lonel iness , andbe cause there i s the most convenient refuge from thebustle and temptat ions of the world , from intercoursewith world ly men andwith women. The l ines thus quo tedending, ‘ S uch are the braes wherein my soul del ights , ’

are fo l lowed immediately by the edi fying just ificat ionsounding almost l ike an excuse

F or tbal wb icb brings me exquisite deln t

I s notMe stra ins of string andp ipe and drum,

But wb cn wi tb intellect well—poised, intent,I ga in Meperfect v ision of tbc Norm.

While he that notes how “all the pathways of the birds

are th i ck wi th rain cla ims to be absorbed in the ecstasy1 69

Buddha 892 the Gospel of Buddhismof thought . As Mrs Rhys Davids says , the ecstasyi s here scarcely the product of rel igious pleasure alone .

IS not then the ‘ gentle pagani sm which al lows the individual poet anchori te to feel th i s pos i t ive pleasure in thescene s and s ights of the forests , regarded from the standpo int of the Norm , a spi ri tual weakness ? To such as

yie lded the reto, a ci ty l i fe might very well have beenappointed by way of penance .More truly in accord wi th the monasti c wi l l to ent i re aloofne ss i s the co ldness of the monk Citta Gutta, ofwhom theVisuddb i Magga relates that he dwelt for s ixty years i na painted cave , befo re which grew a beauti ful rose-chestnut yet not only had he never observed the paintings onthe roo f of the cave, but he only knew when the treeflowered every year, through seeing the fal len po l len andthe pe tal s on the ground . In the Maba-P arinibbana

S utta , too , the Buddha ho lds up to highest admirat ion theman (himsel f) who ,

“ be ing conscious and awake , ne i the rsee s , nor hears the sound thereof when the fal l ing rain i sbeat ing and Splash ing, and the l ightnings are flashingforth

,and the thunderbolts are crashing.

”

I t i s true that Early Buddhist l i terature abounds withmany comparisons of the ideal man to an elephant or a

rhinoceros . The heart of the comparison, to the Buddhist,lay in the part i cularizat ion of the e lephant as a sol i taryelephant

,and the fact that the rhinoceros i s by nature

so l i tary . In th is waythe Buddhists cal led on h igher men

to leave the market—place, knowing that

Great tb ings are done wb en men andmounta ins meet

Tbey are not done byjostling in Me street.

”

But we cannot credi t the Buddhist authors who use theseme taphors with any Special understand ing of Nature,1 70

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismrecover that uni ty of consc iousness which i s asked for inthe beauti ful praye r of Socrates—to make at one the innerand outer man—and he knows that to recover the kingdomof heaven, the state of Buddhahood , he must becomeagain as a l i ttle chi ld , he must possess the heart of thewi ld dee r ; notwithstanding he must also overcome theignorance of which they are not yet aware . But i t wasnot in th i s sense that the early Buddhist asceti cs yearnedfor the ‘ forest sense of th ings ; ’ or i f for some i t wasso

,then these individual s ingers are no l onge r typical

exponents of primi t ive Buddhism , but fore runners of theMahayana and Z en, taught by thei r fore st mas ters to

understand the unity of l i fe, hearing al ready the S ermonof the Woods , al ready breaking through the spi ri tuali so lat ion of the Arabat and Pacceka Buddha .

That the early Buddhist cul ture i s sti l l far from a trueint imacy wi th the S uchne ss of the world appears in i ts lackof sympathy with human nature . I t i s impossible to cla imfor a monast i c rule which includes as an e ssent ial practi cethe Med itat ion on the Foulness ofThings , a real sympathywith Nature : i t i s inconsistent to del ight in the ways ofthe wild creatures of the woods, and to turn with loath ingfrom the nobi l i ty and innocence of men. I t i s a strangeview of Nature that regards the human body as “ impure

,

malodorous , ful l of foul matte r,” an“ offens ive shape,”

and a carrion th ing,” and strive s to promote a d isgustfor the heal thy flesh by a contemplat ion of decayingco rpses . “This body vi le ,” says S i ste r Vijaya, “ dothtouch me only with d istress and Shame .

” 1

1 The morbid aspects of th is hot-house cultivation of indifference and

purity are indicated in P salms of tbc B retbren, W . 3 1 6 , 1 055, and

almost equal ly SO in W . 56 7 fi . See also Visuddb i Magga, ch . vi ,

Warren, Buddb ism in Translations, p . 2 98 .

1 7 2

Early Buddhism 899 NatureN0 one will wish to deny that the truths of early Buddhismare true , or that the stre ss that was laid on Ani cca (transcience) and Anatta (no eternal soul) , and the thought ofsalvat ion here and now

,const i tuted a permanent con

tribution to our real i zat ion of th ings as they real ly are ;and we can hard ly b e too grateful for the condemnationof sentimental i ty as a card inal sin. But the earlyBuddh ists , l ike so many other enthus iasts , used thei r shareof truth for the denial of o thers : they we re so convincedof the sorrows of the world that they could not sympath izewith i ts joys . In saying th is , I do not forget the S ubl imeMood of Mud ita ; but I remember that early Buddhistl i te rature as a who le i s fi l led with a contempt of the worldwhich inevi tably precludes a sympathy with i ts hopes andfears . Early Buddhism does not associate i tse l f with thehopes and fears of th is l i fe i t seeks only to po int out thehaven of refuge from both hope and fear, and i ts sympathyi s with the struggle s of those who are caught in the toi l s ofe i ther. The early Buddh ist could not poss ibly grasp thethought that The soul ofswee t del ight can never bedefiled.

’

We must not, on the o ther hand , al low ourselves to carrytoo far th is cri t ic ism of early Buddhis t deficiencies. Let

us once more remember that th is i s no t a re l igion forlaymen, but a rule for monks , and as such , though seve re ,i t i s reasonable and sane , and wel l des igned to cultivatethe noble type of characte r des i red . We must alsoremembe r that Gautama d id not stand alone in h is

Puri tani sm ; th is was the intel lectual b ias of h is age ,

and i s reflected as much in Brahmanical and Jainaas in Buddh ist texts , and i t survives as a tendency inIndian thought to the present day, though only as one

among o the rs more powerful . The gene ral (no t onlyBuddhist) aestheti c ofGautama

’s age , moreove r,waswhol ly

I 7S

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismhedoni st ic ; i t was not imagined that musi c or plast ic art

cons idered as secular could have anyothe r than a sensuousappeal , or conside red as rel igious could subserve a morespiri tual aim than that of pleas ing the gods or fulfi l l ingthe purpose s of the magician . I t was also an age of

highly developed mate rial c ivi l i zat ion and, at leastfor those classe s where the inte l le ctual movements of

Atmanism and Buddhism originated , of great, i f s imple ,luxury . I t was, then, the fi rst natural reaction of the

th inking mind to escape from the bondage Of the sensesby asceti c ism , cutting off as i t were the hand , and plucking out the eye . Amongst many who felt thi s impulse ,Gautama was distinguished by mode rat ion .

This Indian age of ascetic ism , moreover, we ought toregard as the useful brabmacarya , the severe and spartanearly educat ion of the future householder, accompl ishedaccording to the discipl ine of the final truths Anatta and

neti , neti . As one of the most severe cri t i cs of earlyBuddhism has remarked : Asceti cism and Puri tanism are

almost indispensable means of educat ing and ennobl ing a

race wh ich seeks to rise above i ts hered itary basenessand work i tsel f upward to future supremacy .

” 1 In late rcenturies the race 2 that had thus by se l f-knowledge and

se l f-contro l attained to spiri tual manhood , could permitto i tse l f a relaxat ion of the monasti c discipl ine , proportionate to i ts growing powe r to achieve the union ofrenunciat ion with sweet del ight

, and to find in wo rk , nowo rk . The future civi l i zation of India, above all i ts

wonde rful social ideal , was based on the intel lectual tapasof the Forest-dwel lers and the Wanderers of the age of

1 N ietz sche, B eyond Good and E vi l, p. 8 1 .

2 By race’I mean no more than the succession of ind ividuals sharing

the Indo-Aryan culture .

1 74

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 399 the Gospe l of Buddhismof th is wide r culture , not the least important are thosetraces of the love o f nature , and that tendency to lyricaland bal lad-form express ion wh ich we obse rve so wel lmarked in the Psalms of the Brethren and S i sters , and inthe Jatakas .

XI I I . B UDDH I S T P E S S IM I SMI t has o ften been said , and nOt al together w i thout reason,

that (early) Buddhism is a pessimisti c fa i th . I t is to

Buddha and such as Buddha that N ietzsche refers whenhe exclaimsThey meet an inval id , or an Old man, or a corpse—and

immed iately they say Li fe i sCan we agree that Buddhism is pessim isti c ? The answeri s both Yes and N0 . Human l i fe i s of supreme value tothe Buddhist as the only condition from which the highestgood can be reached ; hence suicide (the real proo f of theconviction that l i fe i s not worth l iving) i s expl ic i tly and

constantly condemned by Buddh ist scripture as waste of

opportuni ty . But we have to recognize that the qual i tyof l i fe i s very varied , and Buddhism is far from optimist i cabout any and eve ry sort of l i fe , the mere fact ofexistence .Gautama rid i cule s the me re wi l l to l i fe as much as

Nietzsche himse l f despises sensual men ; even the des i refor rebirth in the highest heavens i s spoken of by Buddhistsas

‘ low.

’ The common l i fe of the world , accord ing toGautama, i s not worth l iving—i t i s no l i fe for an Ariya,a gentleman. But on the o the r hand he puts forward a

mode of l i fe for h igher men which he regards as wel lworth l iving, and claims that by this l i fe the highest goodis attainable , and in th is conviction that ‘ Paradise i s sti l lupon earth ’

he i s anyth ing but pess imisti c . I t is truethat he re fuses to regard l i fe as an end in i tsel f ; but so1 76

Buddhist Pessimismdo Nietzsche and Whitman . We do not cal l the latterpess imisti c when he prai ses death more than l i fe .

Tbrougb me sball Me words be sa id to make deatb ex

b ilaratingNor will I allowyou anymore to balkme witb wbat I was

calling life,F or now i t is conveyed to me tbat you are tbc purports

essential,

Tbatyou b ide in tbese sb ifting forms of life.

Tbatyou wi ll one dayperbaps take control of all.

In precisely the same way using Death for N ibbana, theartist d isparages ‘ l i fe ’

For, looking too long upon l i fe, may one not find all th i sto be not the beauti ful , nor the mysterious , nor the tragic,but the dul l , the melodramat i c , and the S i l ly : the conspiracyagainst vi tal i ty—against both red and white heat ? And

from such th ings which lack the sun of l i fe i t i s notpossible to draw inspi rat ion . But from that mysterious ,j oyous , and superbly complete l i fe wh ich i s cal led Death

which seems a kind of spring, a blossoming fromthis land and from th is idea can come so vast an inspi ration,that with unhesitat ing exultat ion I leap forward to i t ; and

behold , in an instant, I find my arms ful l of flowers .” 1

The first of the Four Ariyan Truths then—which affirmsthe existence of suffering, Dukkha, as the symptom and

consti tutional s ickness of individual i ty , cannot be cal ledpessimisti c , because i t merely states the obvious : weknow that a condit ioned l i fe of eternal happiness i s a

contradiction in terms .Moreover, the early Buddhists were very far from miserable ; they rejo i ced as those who were heal thy amongst the1 Gordon Craig, Tbe Art of Me Tbeatre.

M I 77

Buddha 892 the Gospe l of Buddhismai l ing, and had found a remedy for every possible recurrence of i l lness .We read , for example , in the DbammapadaIn perfect joy we l ive , without enemy in th is world ofenmity among s i ck men we dwel l wi thout s ickness

among toi l ing men we dwel l without to i l . Themonk who dwells in an empty abode, whose soul is ful lof peace, enjoys superhuman fel ic i ty, gaz ing solely on thetruth .

”

I t i s to beObserved , however, and must be admitted , thatthe Buddhist view of ordinary l i fe i s lacking in courage .The very emphas is lai d on Dukkha i s false : for i t i s notDukkha only, but an exactly equal measure of Dukkhaand S ukha al ike, Pain and Pleasure , which is the mark ofth is l i fe . There are indeed many reasons why we cannotplace the zenith of our be ing i n th is world of Pain and

Pleasure ; but the predominance of Pa in over Pleasurecannot be one of these .Another mark of genuine pessimism—by which I meanonly ‘ looking on the dark s ide of th ings - i s the characteristic Early Buddhist d istrust of pleasure . We cannotnobly find a rul ing principle of l i fe ei ther in seeking toavoid pain, or in courting pleasure ; but much rather inthe thought : “ I strive not after my happiness , I striveafter my work .

The highes t state must be without des i re , because des ireimpl ie s a lack , and in th i s sense the superman, theArahat, i s by definition pass ionless . Now this i s a s tatewhich we maybest conceive in the manner of Chuang Tzu“ By a man without pass ions I mean one who doe s notpe rmit good and evi l to d isturb h is internal e conomy,but rather fal ls in with whateve r happens , as a matter ofcourse , and does not add to the sum of his mortal i ty.

”

1 78

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8632 the Gospe l of Buddhismthe so-cal led pessimistic bel iefs have always procee dedfrom the h igher classes , who enjoyed the good things of

th is l i fe to the ful l : i f there is a contrast between the

chi ldish ‘Optimism ’ of the early Ved ic hymns , with

the i r prayers for many cattle and long l i fe , and the‘ pessimism ’

of the Vedanta or of Buddh ism , th is i s a

resul t not of a decl ine in material c ivi l i zat ion, but of theaccumulation of expe rience . For the Ind ian view is thecorre ct one , that i t i s not deprivat ion of the good th ingsof th is world that leads the wise at last to turn to higherthoughts , but rather long experience of thei r ul timatemono tony . Des i res suppressed breed pesti lence but theroad of excess leads to the palace of wisdom . Emanc ipation seeks to avoid a future heaven no less than a

future hel l—had i t been prompted by a mere reactionfor the misery of phys ical ex istence, this must havecreated a rel igion s imi lar to certain aspects of Christiani tywhere compensation for the sorrows of th is l i fe is expectedin a heaven of endless del ight .

X I V. A B UDDH I S T EMP EROR

A characteristi c story is related in the later legendaryh istory of Gautama. I t i s said that when he was seatedbeneath the Bodhi tree , and near to attain Nibbana, theEvi l One , fai l ing to shake his purpose in other ways ,appeared in the guise of a messenger with lette rs bearingthe fal se report that Devadatta—Gautama’s cousin and

constant enemy—had usurped the throne of K apilavastu,

and had taken the wives and the goods of Gautama tohimse l f and imprisoned his father ; the letters urged himto re turn to restore peace and order . But Gautamareflected that Devadatta’s act ion resul ted from h is mal i ceand lust, whi le the Sakyas, i n not defending thei r king1 80

A Buddhist Emperorhad shown a cowardly and despicable d isposi tion. Contemplating these fol l ies and weaknesses of the naturalman, h is own resolution to attain to someth ing higherand better was confirmed in h im .

1

This legend aptly expresses the indifference of Buddhismto the order of the world

,I t i s in ful l accord with th i s

po int of view that Buddhism has never formulated theideal of a social order of th i s or that t e : i ts eth i i spurely ind i

—yidgg li sgic , and places no rel iance whatever on

extefnalTegulation. Mere good government cannot leadto the Dying Out (N ibbana) of Craving, Resentment , andInfatuati on : and s ince the Gospel of Gautama has solelyto do with the way to that Dying Out, i t i s not concernedwith government at all. This pos it ion is practi cal lyidentical wi th that of Jesus , who repudiated anyal l iance ofthe Kingdom of God with temporal power. In agreementwi th thi s V iew, both the father and mother of Gautama,and his wi fe and son, and a host of Sakya princes resignedthei r worldly status and became homeless fol lowers ofHim-who-has-thus-attained .

I f, howeve r, every ruler who accepted the Buddhist Gospelhad immediately adopted the homeless l i fe , i t would be impossible to speak of Buddhist emperors or kings . We find,

on the contrary, that rul ing prince s , Buddhist by educationorconvers ion, constantly retained the i r temporal power, andused th is powe r for the propagat ion of the Dhamma, for thesupport of the Brethren, and for the maintenance of socialorde r confo rmable to Buddhist ethi c . History prese rves forus the name s of many such Buddh ist kings, who , notwi th

standing that Buddhism is a Gospe l of se l f-mastery alone ,sought to improve the order of the world by rul ingothe rs . I t i s in th is way that the doctrine which was1 Beal, Romantic I I istory o/ Buddba, p . 2 0 7 supra, p . 3 2 .

1 8 1

Buddha the Gospel of Buddhism

original ly, not perhaps al toge ther ant i-social , but at leastnon-social , has come to have an influence upon the socialo rder.We shal l gain a good idea of the social influence ofBuddhism by devoting attent ion to Asoka Maurya, themost famous of the Buddhist rulers Of India. Asokasucceeded to the throne of Magadha about 2 70 and

rece ived a more formal coronat ion four years later . Thefi rst great event in his reign took place e ight years late rth is was the conquest of Kal inga, a considerable terri torybordering the east coast, south of the modern Orissa ;with th is add i tion, his te rri tory embraced the whole ofIndia except the extreme south . This conquest invo lvedthe slaughter of persons , whi le hal f as manyaga in we re carried into captivi ty, and many moreperished from famine and pesti lence . Pe rhaps the

spe ctacle of so much suffering predisposed the Empe rorto conside r with special attent ion that system of whichthe so le aim was to point out the way of salvation fromSuffe ring, Dukkha.

1 At any rate Asoka himsel f recordsh is adhes ion to the Buddhist Dhamma in the fol lowingte rms :D i rectly after the annexat ion of the Kal ingas , began h isS acred Majesty’s zealous protection of the Dhamma, h islove of that Dhamma, and his giving instruction there in.

Thus arose His Sacred Majesty’s remorse for having con

quered the Kal ingas , because the conquest of a country1 “Victory

,

”says the D bammapada, v. 2 0 1 ,

“ breeds hatred , forthe conquered is unhappy .” I t is worth notice that it has beensuggested that the study of Buddhism is l ike ly to rece ive a greatimpetus in the immediate future , because of “ its power to restrain

i ts adherents from those sangui ‘nary outbreaks of international butcherywh ich occur about once in every generation in the West.” Cambridge

Magaz ine, Apri l 2 4, 1 9 1 5.

1 8 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospel of BuddhismAsoka made the determination to attain Buddhahood insome future l i fe

,but more l ikely he looked forward only to

a future attainment of Arahatta.

The edicts are essential ly concerned with ethical behaviour ; they imply a considerable amount of interfe rence wi th personal l iberty, such as we should now cal l‘making people good by Act of Parl iament . ’ Asokades i res to be a father to his subjects , and speaks withparental authori ty . He lays the greatest stress on re

ligious tolerance and on the duty of reverence to thosewhose age or stat ion deserves i t ; and strongly inculcatesthe sancti ty of animal l i fe . On the o ther hand there i sno attempt to abol ish capital puni shment . Reverence ,compass ion, truthfulness and sympathy are the card inalvi rtues .The most remarkable, far-reaching and permanent effectsof Asoka’s activi t ies are those which resulted from hisForeign Mi ss ions . This phrase i s to be understood inthe modern evangel i cal , and not in a pol i t i cal , sense : forwe find that not content with preaching the Dhamma tohis own subjects , Asoka di spatched impe rial m iss ionariesto all other parts of India, to Ceylon, and then to Syria,Egypt, Cyrene, Macedonia, and Epirus , and these miss ionarises togethe r wi th the Buddh ist Dhamma were alsocharged to d iffuse a knowledge of useful medi cines . I ti s due more to Asoka than to any other individual thatBuddhism became and long remained the predominantrel igion of India, and indeed of Asia, and up to the

present day counts mo re adherents than any o ther fai th .

The conve rs ion of Ceylon is recorded in the Chroni cles ofCeylon with a wealth of picturesque detai l which is partlyconfirmed by archaeo logical d iscoveries in Northe rnIndia, but cannot be regarded as hi storical in toto. In

1 84

PLATE 0

SANCH I STUPA AND GATEWAY3 rd and 2 nd ce ntury B c .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8332 the Gospe l of Buddhismon stone , and that many survive . S ome of these are

recorded on monol i th ic pi l lars ; by far the finest of thesei s the pil lar recently discovered at Sarnath , among themonaste rie s on the s i te of the old deer-park at Benares ,where Gautama preached h is first sermon. The pi l larwas surmounted by a l i on capi tal (Plate P) , with a

string course bearing a horse, l ion, bul l , and elephant inrel ief, and the Wheel of the Law, above a bell-shapedbase of Persian character, such as appears e l sewhere incontempo rary archi tecture . The who le i s of extrao rd inari ly pe rfe ct workmanship only paral leled ih fini sh bythe accurate fitting of some of the Asokan masonry, andthe burnished surfaces of some of the rock-ce l ls dedicatedby Asoka for the use of the Aj i vikas : andwe must notfo rge t the engineering ski l l impl ied in the transport anderection, often hundreds ofmile s from the present quarrie s ,of mono l i th ic pi l lars we igh ing as much as fifty tons .Asoka’s own capi tal at Pataliputra,

1 mode rn Patna, i sdescribed as fol lows by the Chinese pi lgrim Fa Hien,eight centurie s later“ The royal palace and hal ls i n the midst of the ci ty,which exist now as of Old, we re all made by spiri ts whichhe employed , and which pi led up the stones , reared thewal ls and gates , and executed the elegant carving and

inlaid sculpture work in a waywhich no human hands o fth is world could accompl ish .

”

1 Excavations on this site are now in progress.

1 86

PLATE PCAP ITAL OF ASOKA COLUMN

samath , 3rd century B C .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 892 the Gospe l of Buddhismfind i t in the identi ty of Infini te Space wi th the Space inany closed vessel—shatter the bounding wal ls of thevesse l , that i s to say, the ignorance that maintains our

seeming individual i ty, and the ident i ty of space wi thSpace i s patent . “ That art Thou —th i s i s the form theequation take s : in the actual language of the Brihad

aranyaka, Tat tvam asi . That Absolute i s one and thesame with whatever in ourselves we must consider as our

t rue S e l f, the unchangeable essence of our being, our spi ri t .What then is the spi ri t of man? What am I ? That i s aquestion to which , as the Vedanta recognizes , there maybe many answe rs . Even the most ideal i sti c Upanishadsdo not start by denying, as Gautama denies , the existenceof an I , a knowing, pe rduring subject ; i t i s only by aprocess of e l im ination that the thought i s reached thatthe S ubject is No-thing . Thus , some ident i fy the ego

with the body, as we sti l l do in everyday parlance , whenfor example, we say

‘ I am cold , ’ meaning ‘The bodyi s cold .

’ But seeing that the body visibly changesand decays how are we to identi fy our overwhe lmingconsciousne ss of the eterni ty and freedom of our be ingwith the mortal flesh ? Another answer postulates an

‘ Eternal Soul , ’ a dwe l le r in the body pass ing from bodyto body : th is is the well-known Indian theory of transmigrati on of an individual—for which , in Buddhism ,

is substi tuted the transmigrat ion of character. S ucha soul , i f imagined to be freed from corporeal fetters ,may be l ikened to the dream consciousness , where thebonds of time and space are loosely drawn. Analogousto th is view is the Christian doctrine of an EternalS oul which passe s from Earth to an Eternal Heavenor Hel l , and i t i s against such conceptions o f the Atmanthat the Anatta theory of Buddh i sm is d i rected . A

1 88

The Vedanta

th i rd view i s ideal i st i c, recogni z ing only one supremesoul , wherein there i s no dual i ty, “

nei ther shadow ofturning nor consciousness of subject and object . Thisview, subject to sl ight d ifferences of interpretat ion, formsthe common phi losoph i c bas is Of a great part of Easternand Western mysti c ism . Here the state of the sel f i sl ikened to Deep S leep . I t i s th is universal Sel f, onewi thout any other, which the individual seeker pressinginward to the centre finds in h is own consc iousness , whennoth ing of h imsel f i s left in h im . Phi IOSOphically, as we

have said , i t i s reached by a process of el imination—thesuperpos it ion of attributes , 1 and the success ive denial ofeach in turn, as each i s found to contradict our consc iousness 'of t imeless being and utter freedom : and thus wereach the great Vedant i c formula, descript ive of theA tman or Brahman as

‘Not so , not so .

’ The ‘ soul ’ i s,

then, void , N0 th ing, i t does not pass from bi rth to death ,i t has no parts , i t i s not subject to becoming nor to time ,but i s that t imeless Abyss wh ich i s now as i t was in thebeginning and ever shal l be . To these three stat ions ofthe soul the later Upanishads add a fourth , which i ss imply so cal led , The Fourth .

We have , then, four stations . Fi rst i s the WakingConsciousness of everyday experience

1 The ful l list of these attributes, cal led (jpadb is or individual iz ingdeterminations, inc ludes ( 1 ) all th ings and re lations of the outer world,( 2 ) the body, consisting of the gross elements

, 3 ) the I ndrzyas, viz ., the

five organs of sense and the correspond ing five organs of action, (4) theManas (mind) orA ntabkarana ( inner organ) wh ich covers the understand ing and consc ious w i ll, the unified or seemingly unified princ ipleof consc ious l ife, the ‘

soul ’ in a popular sense , and (5) the mukaya

prana, vital airs, the S imi larly unified or seemingly unified princ iple of

unconscious l ife . All these are cut away by him who finds the Se l f,which is the Brahman, ‘

not so, not so .

’

1 89

Buddha 892 the Gospe l of Buddhism

Wben Me soul is blinded byg lamour (maya)I t inbabits Me body and accomplisbes actions

By women, food, drink, andmany enjoyments,I t obta ins satisfaction in a waking condition .

1

In the second stat ion , of Dream-sleep

I n tbc dream-state be moves up and down,

A ndfasb ionsfor b imself asgodmanyforms.

2

In the th i rd stat ion of Deep S leep there i s no empiri calconsc iousness , but an ident ificat ion with the Brahman.

This cond it ion corresponds to the Eternal Rest ’ ofWe stern mystic ism . This state of l iberat ion i s describedin a beauti ful passage of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad ,which we transcribe here as an example of the preBuddhist Vedanti c l i teratureBut l ike as in you space a falcon or an eagle, after he

has hovered , weari ly folds h is pinions and s inks to rest,thus al so hastens the Spiri t to that condition in which ,sunk to sleep, he feels no more des i re, nor beholds anymore dreams . That i s h is (true) form of being, where inhe i s raised above longing, free from evi l and from fear .For

,l ike as one whom a beloved woman embraces , has

no consciousness of what i s wi thout or what i s wi th in, soal so the Spi ri t, embraced by the S elf of Knowledge (theBrahman) , has no consciousness of what i s wi thout orwhat i s with in. That i s h i s form of being, where in h islonging i s sti l led , himsel f i s h is longing, he is wi thoutlonging , and freed from grief. Then the father i s not1 K aivalya Z/panisbad This is living on the surface, emp iricalexperience .

2 B ri bada‘

ranyaka Upanisbad 4, 3 . Compare the state of the creativeartist or personal god.1 90

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha O" the Gospe l of Buddhismthe world , and wandered forth as beggars . For longingfor chi ldren i s longing for possess ions , and longing forpossess ions , i s longing for the world ; for one l ike theother i s mere ly longing . But He, the Atman , i s Not

tbus, not tbus.

”

There i s another stat ion, cal led the Fourth , transcend ingal ike Non-being and Being . This stat ion i s indicated inthe Om ’ logion, and corresponds to the Western conception of Eternal Rest and EternalWork as s imultaneousaspects of the Uni ty . Precisely how th is stat ion d iffersfrom Deep S leep wi l l be apparent from the verses ofGaudapada

D reams and sleep belong to tbc twofi rst,A dreamless sleep isMepossession of Me tb ird,

Neitber dreams nor sleep does be wbo knows i tA sci ibe to MefourM.

Tbe dreamer’s knowledge isfalse,Tbe sleeper knows notb ing at all.

Botb g o astray wbere allMis vanisbesTbere Mefourtb state is reacbed.

I t is in tb e beg inningless i llusion of tbe worldTbatMe soul ( indeed) sleeps : wben i t in sooM) awakes,Tben Mere awakes in i t Me eternal,

Timeless andfreefrom dreams and sleep alike.

1

These l ine s are post-Buddhist, but represent a perfectlylogical deve lopment of the conception of the Brahmanindi cated as ete rnal knower, without object, in the phrasejust quo ted , Ye t i s he a knower, even though he doesnot know ; S ince for the knower there i s no interrupt ion1 Here the usage of the symbo ls of wak ing and sleeping is reversedthe true awakening is a sleep ing to the world .

1 9 2

The Vedanta

of knowing, because he i s imperishable . This phrase , i tmay be noti ced , vividly recal l s the saying of the Buddharegarding the after-death state of him who has attainedN ibbana : But to say of a Brother who has been so setfree by ins ight : He knows not, he sees not, ’ that wereabsurd 1

The object of the Upani shad teach ing, then, i s to removeour ignorance , for ignorance l ies at the root of desi re

,

and desi re , implying lack , i s a mark of impe rfection, and

cannot characterize the h ighest state . The knowledgewhich is opposed to ignorance

,as l ight to darkne ss,

cons ists in the real i zat ion of the unity of the one whichi s not so , not so . This knowledge is not the means ofl ibe rat ion

,i t i s l iberati on i tse l f.

He who attains to the real i zat i on ‘ I am the Brahmannot, of course , who me re ly makes the verbal statement—knowing himsel f to be the total i ty of all that i s , hasnoth ing to des i re or fear, for there i s nought else to fearor to des i re, nor wi l l he injure any being, for no one

injures h imsel f by h imself . He who has reached th isunderstanding continues to exist, for the consequencesof h is former deeds are sti l l val id in the empi ri cal worldof causal i ty ; but l i fe can no l onger de ceive him . Hisformer works are burnt away in the fire of knowledge .He knows that h i s body i s not h is ’ body nor his works‘ his ’ works ; and when he dies , his Sel f goes nowherewhere i t i s not already, nor may he ever again be subjectto the l imitat ions of ind ividual exis tence .

A s rivers run and in Me deepLose name andform and disappear,S o goes, from name andform released,

Tbe wise man to tb e deity.

1c f. supra, p . 1 2 4 .

I 9 3

Buddha 8932 the Gospe l of BuddhismHere the Buddhist th inker must ever bear in mind that‘ the de ity, ’ in passage s l ike this , refers to the Brahmanwhich is not so ,

’and not to any personal god precise ly

as the Buddhist h imsel f i s constrained by the necess i ty oflanguage to symbol i ze N ibbana as Bl iss and the l ike .Of Brahman and Buddhist i t maywell be said , as i t may

be sai d of all rel ig ions in the deepest appl icat ion

Tbou goest tb ine, and I go mine

Many ways we wend

Many days and, many ways,

Ending in one end.

Many a wrong , and its curing song

Many a wora’

, andmany an inn

Room to roam, but only one bome

F or allMe world to win.

I ] . SAMKH YA

There exists another system , the Samkhya, not, l ike theUpani shads , the creat ion of a school , but known to us asformulated by one sage , of the name of Kapi la ; from whommost l ikely the name of Kapilavatthu, the ci ty of Buddha

’sbi rth and youth , i s derived . I t i s not without S ignificancei n th is connexion that Buddhism “ seems to have arisenin a quarter where Samkhya ideas were dominant, andto have borrowed very cons iderably from them ; and the

fact that the Samkhya i s real ly the chief source of Buddh ist modes of thought, gives to this system cons iderableimportance for our study. By contrast with the monisti ci deal ism of the Upanishads , which define the A tman orP urusba (spi ri t) as the so le real i ty, the Samkhya i s an

expl ic i t dual i sm , postulat ing the ete rnal real i ty ofP urusbaand P rakri ti , spi ri t and nature ; the Samkhya moreoverI 94

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha S172 the Gospe l of Buddhismaxe of reason i s fe l led the tree of the ego i sm of the‘ soul

,

’and the axe too being cast away, the bond of

S piri t and Matter i s seve red—the Spiri t i s eve rmoresingle (ka i valya) no more involved in the wheel of birthand death (samsara) . Whoeve r ful ly understands th i spoint of view, wi ll be prepared to understand the card inaldoctrines of Buddhism , which d iffer chiefly from thoseof the Samkhya in thei r taci t denial of Purusha, or

perhaps we should rather say, i n thei r refusal to discussaught but the nature of the ‘ soul ’ and the practi calmeans of del iverance ; Buddhism and the Samkhya, withthe Vedanta no less , are agreed that pleasure and painare al ike suffe ring—for the impermanence of anypleasureconsti tutes an eternal Skeleton at the feast .

I I I . YOGA

Cease but from thine own activity, steadfastly fixing thine Eyeupon one point.—Bebmen

A th i rd system , which was wel l known , though not yetexpounded in ful l detai l before the t ime of Buddha, i sthat of Yoga, or Union. This i s a d iscipl ine des igned tose cure the del iverance contemplated in the Samkhya. I thas a practi cal aspect, which is partly ethical and partlyphys iological ; and a

‘ kingly ’ part, cons isting of the

three phases ofmeditat ion, dbarana , dbyana , and samadb i ,

in which by concentrat ion of thought the d ist inction of

subject and object i s overreached , and the soul becomesaware of i ts ete rnal separateness from reason (buddhi)and i ts conformat ions (samskaras) , and becomes for evers ingle (kaivalya) . The system d iffe rs from the Samkhyaand from early Buddhism in that i t i s not athe isti c—thati s to say, i t recognizes an Overlord (Isvara) , who i s a1 9 6

Yoga

part i cular and exal ted purusha, or individual soul , bywhom the devotee may be a ided on the way of emanc ipation ; but thi s Isvara i s by no means essent ial to thesystem , and i s but one of the many Objects of medi tationwh ich are suggested to the student . The spi ri tual exercisesof the Buddhist contemplative are taken over almostunchanged from Brahmani cal sources , and for th i s reasoni t i s not necessary to repeat here what has al ready beensaid on th i s subject ; but i t may be useful to i l lustratefrom a quite d i stinct source what i s the S ignificanceof accompl ished Yoga, in the fol lowing passage fromS chell ing ’s P b i losopb ical L etters upon Dogmatism and

Cri ticism“ In all of us there dwel ls a secret marvel lous powerof freeing ourselves from the changes of t ime

,of wi th

d rawing to our secret selves away from exte rnal th ings,

and of so discovering to ourse lves the eternal in us in theform of unchangeabi l i ty . This presentation of ourselvesto ourselves i s the most truly personal experience, uponwhich depends everyth ing that we know of the suprasensual world . This presentat ion shows us for the fi rstt ime what real existence i s , whi lst all else only appears tobe . I t d iffe rs from every presentat ion of the sense in i tsperfect freedom , whi lst all other presentati ons are bound ,being overweighted by the burden of the object.This intel lectual presentat ion occurs when we cease to beour own object , when, withdrawing into ourselves, thepe rce iving image merges in the sel f-perceived . At thatmoment we annih i late time and durati on of time : we are

no longer in t ime, but t ime, or rather eterni ty i tsel f (thetime less) i s in us . The external world i s no longer an

object for us , but i s lost in us .”

I 9 7

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhism

I V. B UDDH I SM AND BRAHMANI SMAll wri ters upon Buddhism are faced with the difficultyto explain in what respect the teaching of Gautama diffe rsfrom the higher phases of Brahman thought . I t i s truethat the d istinct ion appeared clear enough to Gautamaand his successors ; but thi s was largely be cause theBrahmanism against which they mainta ined the i r po lemicwas after all merely the popular aspect of Brahmani sm .

From a study of the Buddha ’s d ialogues i t would appearthat he never encountered a capable exponent of thehighest Vedant i c ideal i sm , such a one as Yajnavalkhyaor Janaka ; or i f A lara i s to be considered such , Gautamatook exception to the Atmanistic terminology rather thani ts ultimate s ignificance . I t appeared to Gautama and

to h is fo l lowers then and now that the h ighest truthse special ly the truth embodied by Buddhists in the phraseA n-atta, no-soul—lay rathe r without than within theBrahmani cal c i rcle .

Many t imes in the history of rel igions has the Protestant,having thus eas i ly carried the outer defences ofanOrthodoxfai th , be l ieved that the re remained no other ci tadel . I tmay be, on the other hand , that Gautama knew of theexistence of such a Brahman ci tade l—where the truthwas held , that the A tman is not so , not so —but regardedthe surrounding ci ty as so hopelessly habituated to erro rsof thought and action, as to determine h im rather to bui ldupon a new S i te than to jo in hands wi th the be leagueredgarrison. Perhaps he d id not take into account that allsuch garrisons must be smal l , and did not foresee thei rfinal v ictory . Howeve r th i s may be , i t i s at least ce rtainthat at th is period there existed no fundamental doctrinalOpposition of Brahmani sm and Buddhism but Gautama,1 9 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismforth

,i s d i rected to show that things are Empty ’ ; when

thei r component elements are recogni zed there i s no

remainder, but only the ‘Void ’

; he who real izes th is ,atta ins Nibbana and i s freed . But we cannot d istinguishth is ‘Vo id or ‘Abyss ’ from that Brahman which is Noth ing .

’

I t i s true that the Vedanta speaks of many A tmans , th reeor even five , and al so that thejar/dim ” or ‘ unconditionedS e l f in the ind ividual ’ i s sometimes confused with theindividual ego or d iscriminating subject 1 (ahamkara orV ijfiana—as i f we should attribute individual i ty to a

portion of space enclosed in ajar, forgetting that space i strace less and thejaralone has marks but the stri ctlynon-animisti c view is maintained in many other and moreimportant passages . 2 Either Gautama was only ac

quainted with popular Brahmani sm , or he chose to ignorei ts higher aspects . At any rate , those whom he de featsin controve rsy so eas i ly are mere puppets who never putforward the doctrine of the unconditioned S el f at all.

Gautama meets no foeman worthy of his steel , and forthis reason the greater part of Buddhist polemic i s umavo idably occupied in beat ing the air. This cri ti c i smappl ies as much to modern as to ancient exposi tion.

We are told , for example, that Buddhism d iffers fromBrahmani sm in i ts re futat ion of the “ then current pess im isti c idea that salvat ion could not be reached on earth

,

and must the re fore be sought for in rebi rth in heaVen.

” 3

But i f th is idea was current as a mo t i f of the sacrificialri tual , i t certa inly was not maintained by the Brahmani deal i sts . That art thou ’ denotes a pre sent cond i tion,1 C/zdna

’ogya , 7, and Brz

'

lzaa’dm nyaka, 4 , 3 , 7 fi, etc .

2 Cfidna’ogya, 8 , 7

—1 2, and Ta z

'

ttz'

riya , 2 .

3 T. W. Rhys Davids, E ddyBudd/zirm,p . 55.

2 00

Buddhism 89° Brahmanism

and not a state to be reached after death To-clay al so ,says the Brz

'

fiaa’a

'

ranyaéa ( I , 4, l o) , he who knows th isI am Brahman—becomes th is universe ; and even thegods have no power to prevent h i s so becoming ; for heis i ts Atman .

”In the face of utterances such as these we

cannot admit the suggestion that the doctrine of salvat ionhere and now was “

never clearly or Openly expressed inpre-Buddhist thought .” 1

We also hear that “ in all Indian thought exceptthe Buddh ist, souls , and the gods who are made inimitat ion of souls , are cons ide red as exceptions ,” and

that to these Spi ri ts i s attributed a Being withoutBecoming, an ind ividual i ty withou t change , a beginningwithout an end.

” 9 I t i s d ifficul t to unde rstand how any

one acqua inted with Indian thought except the Buddhistcan make a statement of th i s kind . For i t i s clearlystated by S ankara that the word ‘ Indra ’ means not anind ividual , but a certain pos i t ion (st/zana someth ing l ike the word ‘ General ’ ; whoever occupies theposi tion bears the name .” 3 This view i s taken for

granted in popular H indu l i terature ; i t i s commonlyheld , for example , that Hanuman is to be the Brahmaof the next aeon. Moreover in the pre BuddhistUpani shads the posi tion of the pe rsonal gods i s no moreprivi leged than i t i s i n Buddhism ; precise ly as i nBuddhism they are represented as standing in need of,and capable of re ce iving, saving knowledge , and in thi sre spect they have no advantage ove r men.

4 Would i tb e poss ible to point to anyHindu text claim ing for anype rsonal dei ty as such a beginning without an end ? And

1 T. W . Rhys Davids, E arly B uddbism,p . 74 .

2 1 5121. p . 55 ( italics mine) .3 Deussen, System of tlze Vea

’

dnla,p. 69 .

4 C/zana’

ogya, 8 , 7f2 0 1

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhismi f such texts could be d iscovered , could they be regardedas representing the Vedanta ? Most l ikely

,in making the

statements above quoted , modern exponents of Buddhismhave confused the posi tion of the Ved ic de i t iesin the Vedanta with the thei sm which is a subsequentdevelopment—analogous to the the i st i c deve lopments inBuddhism itsel f—where ind ividual gods (fsavaras) appearas symbol i cal representat ives of the A tman, taking theforms that are imagined by thei r worshippers .Buddhists lay cons iderable stress upon the refusal ofGautama to al low speculat ion on the after-death s tateof those who attain Nibbana, a refusal based on groundsof exped iency . But there i s noth ing pecul iar to Buddhismin the refusal to speculate, only in the Vedanta i t i s notbased on practi cal ’ grounds , but on the ground of theevident futi l i ty of any such inquiry, for, as the Safi s sayth i s i s too high for our l imi ted and contingent be ing .

S ankara, for example, preserve s an old sto ry, to the effectthat a man of the name of Bahva was questioned byVashkali on the nature of the Brahman, and that he keptsi lence . Being questioned a second and a th i rd time , atlast he repl ied : ‘ I teach you , indeed , but you do not

understand ; th is Brahman i s s i lence .

’ For that Atmanof which i t i s said That art thou ’ i s nei ther the body northe individual soul ’ ; i t i s not an object of knowledge,but l ike the future state of the Arahat i t l ies on the others ide ofexperience, inv isible ,unutterable , andunfathomable .That the Brahman cannot be known i s aga i n and againaffirmed in the Upani shadsTfiat tomm 720 eyepenelrales, nor speak, nor lé oagal,W/z z

'

c/z rema ins z méflozwz , and we see i t not, aaw can

z'

nslraclz’

orz l/zerez'

n ae given to asP1

1 K ena

2 0 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of BuddhismBéagavad Gi la

"

, i i , 2 2—“As a man lays as ide outworngarments and takes others that are new, so the BodyDweller puts away unborn bodies and goes to others thatare new —as anim isti c, notwi thstanding that i t i s constantly asserted throughout the same chapter that Taal“ i s never born and never d ies .” But Buddhists also arecompel led to make use of current phraseo logy, and eventhough they do not mean to speak of the transmigrat ionof a soul , they cannot avoid saying that when some oned ies , he ’ i s reborn in a new l i fe , and in the Pi takas we

seem to see a bel ief in transmigrat i on of a pass ing soul ,just as much as we see i t i n the books Of animisti ccreeds .” 1 Buddhaghosha comments on th is I t wouldbe more correct not to use popular modes of stat ing thecase,” and we must just guard ourselves from supposingthat these modes express fact . The difficul ties Of lan

guage were the same for Buddhists and Brahmans ; and

the same al lowance must be made for both .

We are to l d again that those Upanishads which are

ranked as the Oldest “ show a na'

ef animism : thoseranked later reveal thought attained to relat ivematuri ty .

” 2 This i s a complete invers ion. I t i s true,indeed , that there are sti l l many animisti c passages inthe Old Upanishads but the formulas Not so, not so, ’

and That art thou , taken together, represent the highestattainment of Indian thought ; and the later Upanishadsshow, not an advance due to the absorption of Buddhistideas , but a reaction i n favour of ri tual and real i sticthought 3 —a sort of H igh Church development not

wi thout paral lels in Buddhism itsel f.1 C. A . F. Rhys Davids, Budd/ultra

,p . 1 3 7 .

2 Rhys Dav ids, D ialogues of tile Budd/m, vol. 11, p . 48.

3 Deussen, P izz'

losoplzy of Me Upam’

sfiaa’s,pp . 64, 65, 1 7 1 1 7 2 .

204

Buddhism $3” Brahmanism

Professor Rhys Davids says again the h ighest teach ingcurrent be fo re the Buddha, and sti l l preserved in the

pre-Buddhist Upani shads , was precisely about union withBrahma we do not know how th is statement i s to bereconci led with the admiss ion al ready ci ted that “ theBuddha’s idea Of Brahma, i n the mascul ine , real ly d ifferswidely from that Of the Upanishads .” 1

The ‘ further shore ’ i s a symbol of salvat i on used byboth parties ; in the Tevzjja S utta Gautama suggeststhat i t i s employed by the Brahmans to mean union withBrahma ( in the mascul ine) , whe reas he h imsel f meansArahatta. I f he real ly understood the heart of theAtmanist pos i ti on in th i s manner, i t proves that he spokewithout knowledge ; i f he assumed that th i s was theBrahman view for purposes of argument, he was gui l tyof del iberate d ishonesty .

The latter view should not be entertained . But i t i sundeniable that Gautama’s d ialogue i s largely determinedby controvers ial necessi ty!! The compi lers Of the Dialognes had to represent the Buddha as victorious inargument, and they succeed by setting up a dummy whichi t i s easy to demol ish , whi le the object of nominal attack ,the A

-

lma n theory , i s never attached . Gautama con

stantly accuses others of eel-wriggl ing, but in the Dia

logues he adopts the same method himsel f. The neuterBrahman i s quietly ignored , ’ and wo rds are inte rpretedin new senses . In parti cular, the wo rd atla

'

(A tman) isused in a d ifferent sense from that of the Brahmanatmanists, and thus an easy vi ctory i s secured by‘ th inking Of someth ing else ’ The coining of the termAn-atta to imply the absence Of a perduring individual i ty1 D ialogues of tlze Budd/m, vol. 1 1, p . 2 98 .

2 As indicated also by Mrs Rhys p . 59 1 .

2 05

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismi s a triumph of ingenui ty, but i t should not bl ind us tothe fact that the pe rduring Atman of the Brahmans wasnot an individual i ty at all.I t may readi ly b e granted that Buddhist thought i s farmore cons istent than the thought of the Upanishads .The Upani shads are the work of many hands and extendover many centurie s ; amongst the i r authors are bo thpoets and phi losophers . The Buddhist Dhamma claimsto be the pronouncement of a s ingle rational ist, and tohave but one flavour. Gautama propounds a creed and

a system , and i t i s largely to th is fact that the success Ofhis missionary activi ties was due . The Upanishads donot formulate a creed

,though they constantly revert to

the thought of uni ty ; i t i s with Sankara, or Ramanfija,and not wi th the authors of the Upanishads that we mustcompare Gautama, i f we would see a contrast of cons istency with cons istency .

N0 one wi ll assert that the Upanishads exhibi t a consistentcreed . But the explanat ion of thei r inconsistencie s i sh istori cal and leaves the truth of thei r ultimate conclusionsquite untouched . Gautama’s Dhamma purports to be thecons idered work Of a s ingle individual , and i t would bestrange indeed i f i t fai led to attain cons istency ; theUpanishads are the work of many minds , and a compendium of many thoughts . In other words , the l i teratureOf Ind ian thought, apart from Buddhism as interpreted byBuddhists, exh ibi ts a continuous development, and knowsno acute crises ; or rather, the real crises—such as theidentificat i on of all gods as one, and the development ofthe doctrines of emancipati on and transmigration—are

not determined by names anddates , theywere not announcedas the Dharma Of any one teache r, and they are onlyrecognized in retrospection. Here there i s a gradual2 06

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhismand i s sometimes but Obscurely apprehended by modernexponents .In Buddhism great stress i s laid on the doctrine Of theMean,

both from the standpo int of eth ics and Of truth .

In the latter case i t i s , as usual , the phenomenal worldalone which come s under discuss ion : Gautama repudiatesthe two extreme views , that everyth ing is , and that everything is not, and substi tutes the thought that the re existsonly a Becoming .

1 I t i s due to Gautama to saythat the abstract concept of causal i ty as the fundamental principle ofthe phenomenal world is by him far more firmly graspedand more clearly emphas i zed than we find i t in the earlyUpanishads nevertheless the thought and the wordBecoming are common to both , andboth are in agreementthat thi s Becoming is the order of the world , the mark Of

organic existence, from which Nibbana, or the Brahman(accord ing to thei r respective phraseology) alone i sfree .Whe re a d ifference of outlook appears i s in the fact that theBuddha i s content wi th th is conclus ion, and condemns allfurther speculat ion as undefying ; and thus , l ike Sankara,he excludes for ever a reconci l iat ion of eterni ty and t ime,Of rel igion with the world .

The same resul t i s reached in another way by thoseVedantists of the schoo l of Sankara who developed thedoctrine ofMaya in an absolute sense 2 to mean the absolutenonenti ty Of the phenomenal world , contrasted with theonly real i ty Of the Brahman which alone i s . This i s oneOf the two extreme views rightly repud iated by Gautama,but there i s agreement to thi s extent that both Gautamaand the Mayavadins reject the unreal world of Becoming,1 Samyutta Nz

'

kaya, xxu, 90 , 1 6 .

2 Svetasvatara 4, 9—1 0 .

2 08

Buddhism and Brahmanisme i the r because i t i s inseparable from Evi l , or s implybecause i t i s unreal .But the interpretat ion Of the term Maya to s igni fy theabsolute nonentity Of the phenomenal world , i f i t be longsto the Vedanta at all,

1 i s comparat ively late ; and even inthe R igVoo

’a we find another thought expressed , in which

the who le unive rse i s ident ified with the Eternal Male , ’ 2afte rward a recogni zed symbo l Of the Atman . The samei dea finds many express ions in the Upani shads , notably inthe saying, ‘ That art thou .

’ He re ln place Of, or s ideby s ide with the thought, ‘ Not so , not so ,

’we have the

equal ly true consideration of total i sti c ph i losophy, thatthere i s N0 th ing which That Brahman i s not : That Brahman, which i s N0 th ing, i s at the same time All things .To dismiss the world of Be coming as a s imple nonent i ty

,

i s a false extreme, as rightly pointed out al ike by Gautama,and in I sa Upam

'

saaa’, 1 2 . I t i s qu i te true that th ingshave no se lf-exi stence as such , for Becoming never stopsbut the process Of Becoming canno t be denied , and as i tcanno t have a beginning, so i t canno t have an end.

There i s thus asserted from two points of view an i rreconc ilable Oppos i t ion of Becoming and Being, S amsaraand Nirvana , This and That. Over against theseextremes the re appears another doctrine Of the Mean,

enti re ly d istinct from that Of Gautama which mere lyasserts that Becoming, and not e ither Being nor non1 Which is to be doubted . The conception of the absolute nonentityof the phenomenal world is entire ly contrary to many passages inB n

‘

lzaa’

aranyaka and C/zandogya, as we l l as to the Bra/ma Satra,1,2,

which asserts that Everyth ing is Brahman.

’I t is not the world, ’ but

the extension of the world in time and space—the contraction and

identification into variety—wh ich constitutes Maya. Th is is the

Vedanta according to Ramanuja .

2 R zg Veda , x, 90—2 .

2 09

Buddha the Gospe l of BuddhismBe ing is the mark ofMis world . This o ther Mean asse rtsthat the S o le Real i ty, the Brahman, subsists , not mere lyas not-Becoming, but also as Becoming : not me re ly as

the unregistrable , but also as that of which our registrat i on i s and must be imperfe ct and incomple te .In truth , there are two forms Of Brahman, that i s to say

Tfeeformed ana’ Me are/armed,Memortal andMe

immortal,

Tao aoz'

clz'

ng and Mofleelz'

ng , Me oez'

rzg and Me

1

The Brahman i s not merely m'

rgmza , in no wise, but alsosaroagana ,

‘ in all wise ; and he i s saved—attains Ni rvana—knows the Brahman—who sees that these are one

and the same, that the two worlds are one .

Empiri cal truth (apara vidya) i s then not abso lute ly untrue, but merely relat ively true, whi le the abso lutely true(para vidya) embraces and resumes all relat ive truth ;seen from the standpoint of our empiri cal consciousnessi t i s veritably the Real that i s reflected through the doorways Of our five or six senses , and takes the forms of ourimagination. Here the phenomenal world i s not withouts ignificance , but has just so much significance as the degreeof our enl ightenment al lows us to d iscover in i t . I f thedoors of perception were cleansed everything wouldappear to man as i t i s , infini te .”

From this point Of view the doctrine of A oz’

a’

ya orMaya, ignorance or glamour, does not and should not

assert the absolute nonent i ty and insignificance of the

world , but merely that as we see i t empi rical ly, extendedin the orde r Of space , t ime and causal i ty, i t has no stat i c1 B ri /zadaranyaka Upam

’

s/zad, 2 , 3 , 1 .

2 1 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 899 the Go spe l of Buddhismnothing in Buddha’s atti tude general ly wh ich could beregarded by his contemporaries as unusual , he had not tointroduce anyth ing fundamental ly new ; on the contrary,i t would have been an innovat ion i f he had undertakento preach a way of salvation which d id not proceed ona basis of monasti c Observances .” 1

The fi rst systemat i c express ion of such an‘ innovat ion

,

’

of which the source and sanction are to be found in theal ready old doctrine of the ident i ty of This and That,Be coming and not-Becoming, i s in the Baagaoaa

’Gi la.

This i s variously dated as between 400 B.C. and A .D . 2 00 ,

but whatever remode l l ing i t may have unde rgone i t canhardly b e doubted that i ts essent ial thought i s the recognition of K arma Yoga and Bfiaé lz

’

Yoga s ide by s ide wi th7 7am ; Yoga as

‘means ’ of salvationI t was with works that janaka and o thers came into

adeptship ; thou too shouldst do them , cons ide ring theorde r of the world as do the unwise , attached toworks , so should the wise do , but wi thout attachment,seeking to establ ish o rder in the wo rld .

”

He who beholds in Work NO-work, and in No -WorkWork, i s the man Of understanding amongst mortal s hei s in the rule , a doer Of perfect work Free fromattachment to the frui t of works, everlastingly contented ,unconfined , even though he be engaged inWork he doesnot Wo rk at all.

”

Casting off all thy Works upon Me with thy mind onthe One over S e l f, be thou without craving and without1 B adalza

,English translation, ed. 2 p . 1 1 9 . I t is true that the

layman Arabat is not altogether unknown to Early Buddhism (twentyOne are mentioned in the Angattara M

'

adya, i i i, 451 , and Suddhodana,

Gautama’s father is also spec ial ly mentioned), but the fulfi lment of

world ly duties, however se lflessl y, was never preache d as a way of

salvation.

2 I 2

Buddhism and Brahmanism

thought of a Mine , and with thy fever calmed , engage inbattle .

Thus i t is that even laymen mayattain to perfect freedom ,

in a l i fe obed ient to vocat ion, i f only the activi ty be vo idof mot ive and sel f- reference . The degree of bondageimpl ied in various envi ronments depends enti rely on

the outlook of the individual , and not on anygood or bad

qual i ty intrins i c in anyth ing or any status . Bondage and

del iverance are al ike to be found in the home and in thefore st , and not more nor less inone than the other ; everyth ing al ike i s Ho ly ( in terms of Buddhism ,

and

men and women are not le ss so than mountains or forests .Above all, thi s reconci l iat ion of rel igion with the worldi s practi cal ly mani fested in selfless obed ience to vocat ion(soa for notwi thstanding th is world is but a

Becoming, i t has a meaning whi ch canno t b e fathomedby those who turn thei r backs upon i t in o rde r to escapefrom its pains and elude i ts pleasures .Precisely the same cri s i s that we here speak of as distinguishing Buddhism from Brahmani sm , i s passed throughin the histo ry of Brahmani sm i tse l f, and must, pe rhaps , b epassed over in the histo ry of every schoo l of thought thatattains to i ts ful l development . I t had been held amongstBrahmans , as i t had been also for a t ime assumed byGautama, that salvation must be sought in penance(tapas) and in the l i fe of the he rmi t . Gautama introduced no rad ical change 1 in mere ly ins isting on the futi l ityof carrying such d iscipl ines to a morbid extreme . But in

1 P erhaps we ought to sayno change at all, for i t would be d ifficult topoint to any early or important Brahmanical text advocating a mentaland moral d1scipl1ne more severe than that of the Buddh ist Brethrenon the contrary, the Upanishads constantly insist that salvationis won by knowledge alone , and that all e lse is mere ly pre l iminary .

2 1 3

Buddha 6939 the Gospel of BuddhismBrahman ci rcles , that wide movement of thought , ofwhichGautama reveals but a single phase and a s ingle stage,culminates in a ve ry d iffe rent theory of tapas, which isexpressed as fo l lows in the Mari am Daarma-sastra :

“ The tapas of the Brahmana i s concentrated study ; of theK shattriya, protection of the weak ; of the Va ishya, tradeand agri culture ; of the Sudra, se rvice of othe rs .For the Brahman, tapas and vidya, se l f-denial andwisdomare the only means to the final goal , etc .

”

This i s me rely another version of the doctrine of vocat ional ready refe rred to .

I t i s perfectly true that the more deeply we penetrateBuddhist and Brahmani cal thought, the less is i t possibleto d ivide them . I f, for example , we imagine the questionpropounded to a teache r of e i ther pe rsuasion, What shal lI do to be saved ? ’ —the same answe r would be made ,that salvat ion ve ri tably consists in overcoming the i l lusionthat any such ego I —exists, and the way to th issalvat ion would be de scribed as the ove rcoming of craving .

These are indeed the answe rs of Christ and of all o thergreat Maste rs : He that lose s his l i fe shal l save i t ; Thywil l , not mine . I t i s when we proceed to formulate a

d isc ipl ine that d ist inctions arise , and he re that the

i d iosyncrasy of the individual teache r be come s mostevident . Gautama’s scheme of the A riyan Eightfo ld Path ,as a comple te scheme , i s unive rsal only in the sense thatin all lands and in all age s there are to be found indiv iduals of rati onal i st and asce ti c tempe rament kindredThe fruit of asceticism as such, as of all other deeds, must b efinite in i tse lf : “Of a truth , O Gargi, says Yajnavalkhya, h imse lf a

hermit, “ he who does not know this imperishable One, though in thisworld he should distribute alms and practise penance (tapas tapyate)for many a thousand years, thereby wins but fini te good .

”-Brz7zaa

’

aranyaka 3 , 8 , 1 0 .

2 1 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismto secure thei r just rights for the poor and despised , hewould not have left h is kingdom to become a homelesswande re r, he would not have pre fe rred the status of a

teacher to that of a powerful prince ; the re need have beenno Great Renunciat ion,

’ but h istory would have recordedanotherAsoka, fulfil l ing the ideal ofan earthly Dharmarajasuch as Rama. But Gautama, when he saw the si ck and

the dying d id not think of suffering as due to external causes,or to be al leviated by the be ttering of the social orde r ;he saw that suffe ring was bound up with the ego-asse rtingnature of man, and the refore he taught noth ing but a

mental and moral d iscipl ine designed to root out theconcei t of an I . I t i s made abundantly clear that Gautamaregards the state of the world as hopeless and i rremediable ,and whi le the truth of this i s in one sense undeniable, andthe Brahmans were equal ly aware of i t,

1and of the

re lat ivi ty of all e th ics , neverthe less i t i s they, and not

Gautama, who have seen a pro found s ignificance in thema intenance of the order of the world , cons ide ring i t aschool where ignorance maybe gradual ly d ispe l led . I t i sthey who occupied themselves wi th the development of ani deal socie ty, which they ant icipated in the Utopias Of

Valmi ki , Vyasa, and Manu . Had any Buddhist po intedout to a Brahman phi losopher the impossibi l i ty of e stablishing a millennium , the latter would have repl ied thathe found s ignificance in the task i tself, and not in i tsach ievement .The re i s too a fal lacy in the ve ry suggestion that Gautamacould have broken the chains of caste ; for no twi thstandingthat those ski l ful craftsmen, the Brahman Utopists re fe rredto

, were already at work, the so-cal led chains were not

1 For example , ato’nyaa

’

artam,

‘What is d istinct from H im (theBrahman), that is ful l of suffering . ’ 3 , 4 , 2 , etc .

2 1 6

Buddhism and Brahmanism

yet forged . The caste system as i t now exists i s a sort ofGuild Social i sm supported by theocrat i c sanct ions and

associated wi th eugeni cs ; each caste being self-governing,internal ly democrati c, and having i ts own norm (soazl/zarma) . We need not discuss the meri t or demeri t Ofthis system here ; but i t must be real ized that in the t imeof Gautama the system had not yet crystal l i zed . Whatalready existed was a classificat ion of men according tocomplexion, in the ‘ Four Varnas ’ or colours ; each Of

these included many groups which afterward crystal l i zedas separate castes . Moreove r at thi s time the posi tion Of

the Brahmans as leaders of society was not ye t secure ; wecannot regard the indicat ions of the Brahman Utopists ashistori cal , and i t would appear that the status of Brahmansin the age of Gautama was somewhat lower than that ofK shattriyas. At any rate i n Magadha the intellectualrank of the latte r i s sufficiently indicated by thei r ach ievements , such as the formulat ion of the Atman doctrine ,the insti tut ion of wandering friars , the An-atta doctrineof Gautama, the teachings of Mahavi ra, and so forth .

Neve rtheless i t i s clear that the Brahmans claimed intellectual and eth ical superio ri ty ; and no one acquaintedwith Indian history can doubt that Indian Brahmansborn have to a large extent deserved by character andach ievement the respect in which they have always beenhe ld ; i t i s easy to criti c ize , as did Gautama, the empiri calmethod of de te rmining Brahmanhood by birth , but th iswas the most pract ical me thod that could be devised , andthe world has yet to discover a better way to secure in all

i ts affai rs the guidance of the wisest . Gautama does notoffe r any al ternat ive to the doctrine Of Brahmanhood bybirth , regarded as the so lution to a social problem—the

means of preserving a given type Of high culture . He

2 1 7

Buddha 8659 the Gospe l of Buddhismwas able to ignore th is problem , only because he wishedthat all highe r men should ‘wande r alone .

’

At the same t ime i t i s not only Gautama who sought touse the term Brahman in a pure ly e th ical sense ; the sameusage i s found in the pre

-Buddhist Brz

'

aaa’aranyaéa

Ufiam’

saaa’ ( i i i , 5, 1 ) and e lsewhere . Even where , as inManu , the doctrine of Brahmanhood by bi rth is taken forgranted , we find i t sa id that the Brahman i s born fordharma alone and not for weal th orpleasure ; whi le the( later) Maréana’eya P arana lays down that nothing is perm itted to be done by the Brahman “ for the sake of enjoyment . Andwith regard to the rema ining po int, the right ofthe lowest classes to share in the kingdom Of the spi ri t : th iswas by no means first or only asserted by Gautama ; i t i s ,for example , taken for granted in the S amaaaa-fiaala

S utta that rel igious o rders al ready existing in the t ime ofGautama and not founded by him admitted even slave sto the i r ranks , and in many o the rs of the Buddhist Suttasthere are ment ioned Sadras who became Wande rers , as

i f i t we re a common occurrence and wel l recognized .

And i f the Brahmans were careful to exclude the unculti

vated classes from hearing the Vedas repeated and taught,th i s appl ied almost ent i re ly to the Older Vedi c l i terature ,i n i ts priestly and magical aspects ; al though the doctrineof the A tman may have been known to few in the daysof Gautama (and i t i s in the nature of th ings that suchdoctrines must long rema in in the hands of the few)neverthe less the Brahmani cal Obje ction to Sadra ini t iat ion does not extend to the Upani shads , which consti tutethat part of the Veda which alone in i tse l f suffice s forsalvat ion. Moreove r, we have to know that the Brahmansthemse lve s , by means of the Epics (and especial ly theBaagaoaa

’ Gi ta) and the Puranas , del iberately undertook2 1 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismsee clearly that Indian archi tecture cannot be d ivided intostyles on a sectarian bas is , but i s always primari ly Indian,so also with the phi losophi c and rel igious thought .The re i s no true Oppos i tion Of Buddhism and Brahmani sm ,

but from the beginning one general movement, or manyclosely re lated movements . The integri ty of Ind ianthought, moreove r, would not be broken i f eve ry spec ifical ly Buddhist element we re omitted ; we should onlyhave to say that certain detai ls had been less adequate lyelaborated or less emphas ized . To some Buddhists mayb e recommended the words of AsokaHe who does reverence to h is own sect wh i le d is

paraging the sects of others whol ly from attachment to h isown, with intent to enhance the splendour of h is own

sect, in real i ty by such conduct infl i cts the severest injuryon his own sect . Concord , therefo re , i s meritorious, towi t, hearkening and hearkening will ingly to the Dharmaaccepte d by o thers .To sum up : Gautama does not enunciate the conceptionof Freedom as a state independent of envi ronment andvocati on ; the uni ty of his system , l ike that of Haeckel

’s ,i s only achieved by leaving out of account the Unregistrahle ; in a majori ty of fundamental s he does not differfrom the Atmanists, al though he gives a far cleare rstatement of the law Of causal i ty as the essent ial mark of

the world of Becoming. The greater part of h is po lemic,however, i s wasted in a misunderstand ing. Impl i ci tin Brahman thought from an early period , on the othe rhand , and forming the most marked features of laterIndian mysticism—achieved also in the Mahayana, butwith greate r difficulty—i s the conviction that ignorance i smaintained only by attachment, and not by such actions asare vo id of purpose and self-reference ; and the thought2 2 0

Buddhism and Brahmanismthat This and That world , Becoming and Being, are seento be one by those in whom ignorance i s destroyed . Inthi s ident ification there i s effected a reconci l iat ion of

re l igion with the world , which remained beyond the graspof Theravada Buddhists . The d istinct ions between earlyBuddhism and Brahmani sm

,however practical ly import

ant, are thus merely temperamental ; fundamental ly therei s abso lute agreement that bondage cons ists in the thoughtof I andMine , and that th i s bondage may be broken onlyfor those i n whom all craving is extinct . 1 In all e ssentialsBuddh ism and Brahmani sm form a s ingle system .

1 Those who c laim that Buddha did not teach the extinction of desiredo him less than justice . Even N ietzsche teaches a m’

sfiéama a’

lzarma

when he says : DO I then strive after happiness ? I strive aftermywork !’

2 2 1

PART IV THE MAHAYANA

I . BEGINNINGS OF THE MAHA YANAFIRST Buddhist counci l was summoned in the

reign of Asoka—about 2 40 B.C .—with a view to

the settlement of sectarian disputes . I t i s clearthat heresies had al ready ari sen, for certain of Asoka’sedicts are concerned with the unfrocking of schismat ics ;and, indeed , we know that heresies we re promulgatedeven during the l i fe of the Buddha himse l f. In course of

t ime we find that a large number of sects deve loped , allequal ly claiming to be fo l lowers of the true doctrine , justas has been the case wi th Christ iani ty and every othergreat fai th . The Buddhist sects are divided into two

main groups : those of the H inayana (‘ The Li ttle Raft ’)

and the Mahayana (‘The Great The forme r,

whose scriptures are prese rved in Pal i , claim to representthe pure original teaching of Gautama, and do in the

main preserve i ts rat ional i sti c, monastic and puri tanicalfeature s to a marked extent : the latter, whose scripture sare in Sanskri t, interpret the doctrine in ano ther way,with a development that i s mystical , theological and

devotional . The H inayana has maintained i ts supremacymainly in the S outh , parti cularly in Ceylon and Burma ;the Mahayana ma inly in the North , in Nepal and China.

But i t i s misleading to speak of the two schoo l s as

defini tely Northern and S outhern.

Le t us recal l that accord ing to the orthodox H inayana,Gautama was o riginal ly a man l ike o ther men, and

differed from others only in h is intui t ive penetrat ion of

the secret of l i fe and sorrow, in hi s perception of th ingsas they real ly are , as an eternal Becoming ; with thatknowledge he attai ned Nibbana, and for him the causes2 2 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha $39 the Go spe l of Buddhismcreated , unformed . Were there not, 0 Bhikkhus, th isunborn, unoriginated , uncreated , unfo rmed , there wouldb e no e scape from the world of the born , originated ,created , formed .

”

I t may also be remarked that the most defini te and uni

ve rsal verbal pro fe ss ion of the Buddhist or conve rt runs‘ I take re fuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the

S angha ’

(co l le ct ively, the ‘Three No doubtthi s formula was first used in the l i fetime of Gautama,whose own pe rson maywe l l have seemed to the worldweary a haven of re fuge , no less than the Gospel and theOrde r. But afte r h is death , what can the words , ‘ I takere fuge in the Buddha, ’ have meant to a layman, or anybut the most cri ti cal of the Brethren? I t d id not meanthe Buddha’s gospe l , for that i s separately mentioned .

Those women and o the rs whom we see in the sculpturedre l ie fs of Sanchi and Amaravati

,knee l ing wi th pass ionate

devotion and with offerings of flowe rs before an altar,whe re the Buddha is represented by the symbo l s of thefoo tprints or the wisdom—tree (Plate Q)—what d id i tmean to them to take refuge in the Buddha ?This phrase alone must have Operated wi th the subtlepowe r of hypnoti c suggestion to convince the worshippe r

- and the majori ty of men are worshippers rathe r thanth inkers by nature—that the Buddha st i l l was, and thatsome re lat ion,

however vaguely imagined , could b e e stablished between the worshipper and Him-who- had- thusattained . I t was, almost certainly, the growth of th i sconviction which dete rmined the deve lopment of Buddhist

1 The doctrine of devotion also occurs in another form, where almostin the words of the Blzagaoaa’ Gz’ ta, Gautama is made to say that thosewho have not yet even entered the Paths “

are sure of heaven if theyhave love and faith towards Me .

—Majj/zz'

ma M'

kaya, 2 2 .

2 2 4

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Go spe l of Buddhismany case , the theory that all Buddhas teach the samedo ctrine is of cons iderable interest, and i t corresponds tothe Brahman view Of the eterni ty Of the Vedas , which areheard rathe r than invented by succe ss ive teachers. Thisbe l ief in the timeless uni ty of truth , which i s shared byIndians of d ivers persuas ions, i s of much s ignificance .

Without referring in greater detai l to the mythologicaland magical elements which enter into even the earl iestBuddha l i terature, i t wi l l suffice to po int out that th i sl i te rature al ready includes , as partly indicated above

, the

ge rms of most Of those doctrines wh ich are elaborated toa far greater extent in the dogmas of the ‘ Great Raft . ’

The development of that rel igion from the bas is of earlyBuddhist psycho logy i s nearly paral lel to the developmentof mediaeval H induism on the bas is of the pure ideal i smof the Upani shads .

I I . S YS TEM OF THE MAH J YANA

Le plus saint, c ’est le plus amant.—RUYSBROECKTheMahayana or GreatVessel i s so-cal led by i ts adhe rents ,in contrad istinct ion to the H i nayana or l i ttle Ve sse l ofprimit ive Buddhism , because the former offe rs to all

beings in all worlds salvation byja ith and love as well asby knowledge , whi le the latter only avai l s to convey overthe rough sea of Becoming to the farther shore of N ibbanathose few strong souls who requi re no exte rnal spi ri tualaid nor the conso lat ion of Worship . The H inayana,l ike the ‘ unshown way

’of/th ose who seek the ‘

nirgnna

Branrnan,

’ i s exceed ing hard ; 1 whe reas the burden of the

1 In the words of Behmen (Supersensual L ife, Dialogue But,alas

,

izow lzam’

i t is for tlze Will to sink into not/Zing, to attract not/ting, to

imagine not/Zing .

2 2 6

System of the Mahayana

Mahayana i s l ight, and does not requi re that a man shouldimmediate ly renounce the world and all the affe ctions ofhumani ty . The mani fe station of the Body of the Law,

says the Mahayana, i s adapted to the various needs of thech i ldren of the Buddha ; whe reas the H inayana i s only of

avai l to those who have le ft the ir spiri tual ch ildhood farbehind them . The H inayana emphas izes the necess i ty of

saving knowledge , and a ims at the salvation of the

ind ividual , and refuses to deve lop the mystery ofNibbanain a posi tive sense ; the Mahayana lays as much or greaterstress on love , and a ims at the salvat ion Of every sent ientbeing, and finds in Nirvana the One Real i ty, which i s‘Vo id only in the sense that i t i s free from the l imitat ionsof every phase of the l imited or contingent experience ofwhich we have empiri cal knowledge . The Buddhists of

the primi tive school , on the o ther hand , natural ly do not

accept the name of the Lesse r Ve ssel , ’ and as trueProtestants they rai se Object ion to the theological andaesthe ti c accommodat ion of the true doctrine to the necess i tie s of human nature .Opinions thus d iffer as to whe the r we may regard theMahayana as a development ora degeneration. Even thepro fe ssed exponents of the H inayana have the i r doubts .Thus in one place Professo r Rhys Davids speaks of theBodhisattva doctrine as the a‘

z'

rana-weed which drove outthe doctrine of the Ariyan path

,

”and the weed

,

“ is not

attractive : 1 while in anothe r, Mrs Rhys Davids wri te s ofthe coo l detachment of the Arabat , that perhaps a yet moresaintly Sariputta would have aspired ye t furthe r, even to

an infini te se ries of rebirths , wherein he might, with evergrowing powe r and se l f-devot ion, work for the furtheranceof the re l igious evolution of his fe l lows

,

”adding that

1 D ialogues of tlze Budd/1a,i i,p . 1 .

2 2 7

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhism“ social and re l igious ideals evolve out of

, yea, and evenbeyond the finished work and t ime-stra i tened vis ion of

the Arahants of old.

” 1 Pe rhaps we need not determinethe relat ive value of ei the r schoo l : the way of knowledgewil l ever appeal to some, and the way of love and actionto othe rs , and the latte r the majori ty . Those who are

saved by knowledge stand apart from the world and i tshopes and fears , Offering to the world only that knowledgewhich shal l enable othe rs to stand as ide in the same waythose o thers who are moved by the i r love and wisdom to

perpetual act ivi ty —in whom the wi l l to l i fe i s dead , butthe wi l l to power ye t survives in i ts noblest and mostimpe rsonal fo rms—atta in at last the same goal , and in themeanwhi le effect a re conci l iat ion of re l igion with the world ,and the union of renunciat ion with action.

The deve lopment of the Mahayana i s in fact the ove rflowing of Buddhism from the l imi ts of the Orde r intothe l i fe of the world ; into whateve r devious channe lsBuddhism may have ultimate ly descended , are we to say

that that ident ification with the l i fe of the world , with all

i ts consequences in e th i c and ae stheti c , was a misfortune ?Few who are acquainted with the h istory of As iati c culturewould maintain any such thesis .Mahayanists do not hesi tate to describe the H inayanaideal as se lfish ; and we have indicated in seve ral places towhat extent i t must in anycase b e cal led narrow . But theMahayanists—not to speak of Christ ian cri ti cs of the

H i nayana— do not sufficiently real i ze that a se lfish be ingcould not poss ibly be come an A rabat, who must be freefrom even the concept ion of an ego , and sti l l more fromeve ry form of ego-assert ion. The se lfishness of the wouldb e A rabat i s more apparent than real . The ideal of se l f1 P salms of tile Bret/zren, p . xlvi i i .2 2 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of BuddhismThe Bodhisattva i s he in whom the Bodh ic itta or heart ofwisdom is ful ly expanded . In a sense , we are all Bodhisattvas, and indeed all Buddhas , only that in us by reasonof ignorance and impe rfect ion in love the glory of the

Bodhi- heart i s not yet made mani fe st. But those are

special ly cal led Bodh isattvas who with spe cific dete rminat ion dedicate all the activi tie s of thei r future and presentl ive s to the task of saving the world . They do not mere lycontemplate , but feel , all the sorrow of the world , and

be cause of the i r love they cannot be id le , but expendthe i r vi rtue with supernatural generosi ty . I t i s said of

Gautama Buddha, for example , that the re i s no spot onearth whe re he has not in some past l i fe sacrificed his l i fefor the sake of o the rs , whi le the whole story of h is lastincarnat ion re lated in the Vessantara f ataéa re late s thesame unstint ing gene ros ity, which does not shrink evenfrom the giving away of Wi fe and ch i ldren. But Buddhahood Once attained , accord ing to the Old schoo l , i t remainsfor o the rs to work out thei r salvation alone : “ Be ye

lamps unto yourselves ,” in the last words of Gautama.

According to the Mahayana, however, even the atta inmentof Buddhahood does not invo lve ind ifference to the sorrowof the world ; the wo rk of salvat ion i s perpetual ly carriedon by the Bodhisattva emanations of the supreme Buddhas,just as the work of the Father i s done by Jesus .The Bodhisattvas are special ly d istinguished from the

Sravakas (Arahats) and Pacceka-Buddhas or PrivateBuddhas , ’ who have become fol lowers of the Buddha‘ for the sake Of thei r own complete N irvana ’

:1 for the

1 H indus would express th is by say ing that Sravakas and PaccekaBuddhas choose the path of Immediate Salvation : Bodhisattvas

,that

of U ltimate Salvation.

‘The deferred path of Liberation is the pathof all Bhaktas. I t is the path of compassion or servi ce .

’- P . N . S inha,

Commentary on t/ze Blzagavata P arana, p . 359 .

2 30

Pu n: RAVALOK ITESVARA (Bodhi sattva)

Nepalese copper g1lt , oth—1 0th century A D .

Author'

s Colleclzon

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Go spe l of Buddhismresponsibi l i ty than l ightens i t . There is no myste ry inkarma ; i t i s s imply a ph ase of the law of cause and effe ct,and i t ho lds as much for groups and communi t ies as

for individuals , i f indeed , individuals are not also communities. Let us take a very s imple example : i f a s inglewise state sman by a generous treatment of a conqueredrace secures the i r loyal ty at some future t ime of stress ,that karma accrues not merely to himself but to thestate for ever ; and o ther members of the communi ty,even those who would have deal t ungenerously in

the first instance, benefit undeniably from the vicariousme ri t Of a s ingle man. Just in th i s sense i t i s possiblefor hero-souls to bear or to share the burden of the karmaof humani ty . By this conception of the taking on of

sin, or rather, the passing on of meri t, the Mahayana hasdefini tely eme rged from the formula of psychi c iso lat ionwhich the Hinayana inheri ts from the Samkhya .

In o the r wo rds, the great d ifficulty of imagining a par

ticular karma passing from individual to individual , without the pers istence even Of a subtle body, i s avoidedby the conception of human beings , or indeed of thewho le universe , as consti tut ing one l i fe or self. Thusi t i s from our ancestors that we receive our karma,and not mere ly from ‘

Our own’ past existence s ; and

whatsoever karma we create wi l l he inheri ted by humani tyfor ever .The fo l lowing account of karma i s given by a modernMahayanist“The aggregate actions of all sentient beings give birthto the varietie s of mountai ns , rivers , countries , e tc . Theyare caused by aggregate actions , andso are cal led aggregatefruits . Our pre sent l i fe i s the reflection of past actions .Men consider the se reflections as thei r real selves . Thei r2 3 2

System of the Mahayana

eye s , noses , ears , tongues , and bodies—as we l l as the i rgardens , woods, farms , re s idences , se rvants , and maidsmen imagine to b e thei r own possess ions ; but, in fact,they are only results endlessly produced by innumerableactions . In tracing everything back to the ul timatel imi ts of the past , we cannot find a beginning : hencei t i s said that death and birth have no beginning . Again,

when seeking the ultimate l imi t of the future , we cannotfind the end.

” 1

I t may be pointed out here jus t how far the doctrineof karma i s and i s not fatal isti c . I t i s fatal i sti c in the

sense that the present i s always de te rmined by the past ;but the future remains free . Eve ry action we makedepends on what we have come to be at the time . Butwhat we are coming to be at any t ime depends on thed irection of the wi l l . The karmi c law merely assertsthat th is d irection cannot be al tered suddenly by theforgiveness of s ins , but must be changed by our ownefforts . I f ever the turning of the wi l l appears to takeplace suddenly, that can only be due to the fru iti on oflong accumulated latent tendencies (we constantly readthat Gautama preached the Law to such and such a one ,

forasmuch as he saw that h i s or her intel l igence was‘ ful ly ripe , ’ and in these case s convers ion immed iatelyresults) . Thus, i f we are not d i rectly respons ible for our

present actions , we are always respons ible for ourcharacte r,on which future acti ons depend . On thi s account theobje ct of Buddhist moral d i scipl ine i s always the accumu

lation of me ri t (p i lnya ) , that i s to say the heaping upof grace , or s imply the constant improvement of character.The Mahayanist doctors recogni ze ten stations in theSpi ri tual evo l ut ion of the Bodhisattva, beginning wi th1 S . Kuroda, Outlines of t/ze Ma/zayana P lzilosoplzy.

2 3 3

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhismthe first awakening of the Wisdom-heart (Bodh ic itta) inthe warmth of compass ion (karuna) and the l ight of

d ivine knowledge ( prajfia These stat ions are thoseof ‘

joy,’ ‘ puri ty, ’ ‘ effulgence, ’ ‘ burning , ’ hard to

ach ieve , ’ ‘ showing the face, ’ ‘ going afar off,’ ‘

not

moving to and fro , good inte l l igence, ’ and ‘ dharmacloud .

’ I t i s in the fi rst stati on that the Bodhisattvamake s those pregnant re so lutions ( prani dhana) whichde termine the course of his future l ives . An example of

such a v ow i s the reso luti on of Avalokitesvara not to

accept salvat ion unt i l the least part icle of dust shal l haveattained to Buddahood be fore him .

I t may b e ment i oned that the course (oariya) of theBodhisattva has thi s advantage, that he never comes tobi rth in any purgatory , nor in any unfavourable conditionon earth . Nor i s the Bodhisattva requ ired to cultivate a

d isgust for the condit ions of l i fe ; he doe s not practisea med itat ion on Foul Things, l ike the aspirant forArahatta. The Bodhisattva s imply recogni ze s that thecondit ions of l i fe have come to be what they are , that i ti s in the nature (tattva , anntat/za

‘

, suchness) of th ings tobe so , and he takes them accordingly for what they are

worth . This posi tion i s nowhere more terse ly summedup than in the wel l-known Japanese verselet

Grantea'tais a

’ewa’rop 200e (Be out a a

’ewa

’rop worla

’

,

Tnisgranted,yet

Thus the new Buddhist lawwas i n no way puri tani cal , andd id not inculcate an absolute detachment . Pleasureindeed is not to be sought as an end in i tself, but i t neednot be reje cted as i t ari ses incidental ly . The Bodhisattvashares in the l i fe of the world ; for example, he has a

wife , that h is supernatural gene ros i ty may be seen in the2 34

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of BuddhismThen with firm spiri t I wi ll undo the occas ions of um

do ing ; i f I should b e conque red by them , my ambitionto conquer the three fo ld wo rld would be a je st . I wi l lconquer all ; none Shal l conquer me . This i s the pridethat I wi l l bear, for I am the son of the Conque ro r Lions 11

S urrounded by the troop of the passions man Shouldbecome a thousand times prouder, and be as unconque rable to the i r hordes as a l ion to flocks of deer so ,

into whateve r strai ts he may come, he wi l l not fal l intothe power of the Pass ions . He wi l l utte rly give h imse l fove r to whatever task arrives, greedy for the workhow can he whose happiness is work i tse l f be happy indo ing no work ? He wi l l hold h imse l f in readiness , so

that even be fore a task comes to h im he i s prepared toturn to every course . As the seed of the cotton-tree i sswayed at the coming and going of the wind , so wi l l hebe obedient to h is resolut ion ; and thus d ivine power i sgained .

” 2

We may remark here an important d istinction betweenthe Mahayana and the H inayana l ies in the fact that thefo rme r i s essential ly myth ical and unhistori cal ; thebe l ieve r is, indeed , warned—precisely as the worshippe rof Krishna i s warned in the Va i shnava scripture s thatthe Krishna Li la i s not a history, but a process for eve runfolded in the heart of man—that matters of histori calfact are without rel igious S ignificance . On th is account,notwi thstanding i ts more popular form , the Mahayanahas been justly cal led ‘ more phi losophical ’ than the

1 Buddha is often spoken of as Conqueror (Jina—a term more fami liarin connex ion with the fo l lowers ofMahavi ra, the Jainas and as Lion

(Sakyasinha'

,the lion of the Sakya race ) .

2 From the B od/ziearyaoatara of Shanti Deva, translated by L. D.

Barnett, 1 90 2 .

2 3 6

PLATE SMA ITREYA (Bodh i sattva)

Ceylonese bronz e ,6 th century A D . or later

Colombo M useum

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Go spe l of Buddhismrelative truths , and for all those who do not wish to avo idthe world of Be coming at the earl ie st poss ible momentthese re lat ive truths are far from lacking in l i fe or real i ty .

The Mahayana as a the isti c fai th i s so only to the same

( extent a s the Vedanta, that i s to say i t has an e soteri cllaspect which speaks in negat ive terms of a S uchness anda Vo id wh ich canno t be known, while on the o ther i t hasan exo te ri c and more elaborate part inwhich the Abso luteis seen through the glass of t ime and space , contractedand identified into variety . This development appears inthe doctrine of the Trikaya, the Three Bod ies of Buddha .

These three are ( 1 ) the Dnartnataya , or Essence-body ;( 2 ) i ts heavenly mani festat ion in the S amanogaéaya ,

orBody of Bl iss ; and (3) the emanat ion, transformat ion, orproje ct ion the reo f, cal led Nirmanakaya , apparent as thevisible ind ividual Buddha on e arth . This i s a systemwhich hardly d iffe rs from what i s impl ied in the Christiandoc trine of Incarnat ion , and i t i s no t unl ikely thatbo th Christ iani ty and the Mahayana are inheri tors fromcommon Gnost ic sources .Thus the Dharmakaya may be compared to the Fathe r ;the Sambhogakaya to the figure of Christ in glory ; theN irmanakaya to the vis ible Jesus who announces in

human spee ch that ‘ I and my Fathe r are One .

’ Or againwith the Vedanta : the Dharmakaya i s the Brahman,

t imeless and uncondit ioned ; the Sambhogakaya i s real i zedin the fo rms of Isvara ; the N irmanakaya in eve ry avatar.The e ssence of all th ings , the one real i ty of which the i rflee t ing shapes remind us , i s the Dharmakaya. The

Dharmakaya is not a pe rsonal being who revealsh imse l f to us in a s ingle incarnation, but i t i s the all

pervading and trace le ss ground of the soul , which doesnot in fact suffe r any modification but appears to us to2 38

Mahayana Theo logyassume a variety of forms : we read that though theBuddha (a te rm which we must here understand as

impe rsonal) doe s not depart from h is seat in the towe r(state of Dharmakaya) , ye t he may assume all and

every form , whether of a Brahma, a god, or a monk , ora phys i cian, or a tradesman , or an arti st ; he may revealh imse l f in every fo rm of art and industry, in ci t ie s or invi l lages : from the highest heaven to the l owest hell ,there i s the Dharmakaya, i n which all sent ient beingsare one . The Dharmakaya i s the impersonal ground of

Buddhahood from which the personal wi l l , thought andlove of innumerable Buddhas and Bodh isattvas everproceed in response to the needs of those in whom theperfect nature i s not yet real i zed . In some of the laterphases of the Mahayana, however, the Dharmakayai s pe rsonified as Adi -Buddha (sometimes Vairocana) ,who i s then to be regarded as the Supreme Being, above ‘

all other Buddhas , and whose sakti i s Prajfiaparamita.

Dharmakaya i s commonly translated Body of the Law,

’

but i t must not be interpre ted merely as equivalent to thesum of the scriptures . The fathomless being of Buddhahood , accord ing to the Mahayana, i s some th ing morethan the immortal i ty of the individual in his doctrine ;we must understand Dharma here as the One or L og os.

To understand the meaning of Dharmakaya more fullywe must take into account al so i ts synonyms , for

example , S oaana'

oaéaya , or‘own-nature body ’ ( l ike the

Brahmani cal soarzzpa ,

‘Own Tattoa , or ‘

Suchne ss , ’ S nnya , the vo id or abyss , ’ Nirvana ,

‘the e ternal

l ibe rty, ’ S anza'

zl/z zlzaya , rapture -body, ’ Boil/i i ,‘ wisdom

,

’

i na,

‘ d ivine knowledge , ’ Tat/tagata-

garo/za ,

‘ wombof those who attain.

’

S ome of these terms must be further cons i dered . The2 39

Buddha 8699 the Go spe l of Buddhism‘Vo id

,

’for example , is not by any means ‘

naught,

’ butS imply the absence of characte ris t ics ; the Dharmakaya i s‘ vo id ’ just as the Brahman i s ‘

not so , not so, ’ and as

Duns S cotus says that God ‘ i s not improperly cal ledNothing .

’ I t i s precisely from the undetermined thatevolution i s imaginable ; where there i s nothing there i sroom for eve rything . The voidness of th ings i s the nonexistence Of things- in-themse lves , on which so much stressi s rightly laid in early Buddh ism . The phrase ‘ Own

nature body ’emphas i zes the thought ‘ I am that I am .

’

Bodhi i s the ‘ wisdom-heart ’ which awakens wi th the

de te rm inat ion to become a Buddha.

‘ S uchne ss ’ may be

taken to mean inevi tabi l i ty, or spontanei ty, that the

highest cause of everyth ing must needs be in the th ingi tse l f.A special meaning attaches to the name Prajna or Prajfiaparamita, v i z . Supreme Knowledge , Reason, Unde rstanding, S ophia ; for the name Prajfiaparami ta i s appl iedto the chief of the Mahayana scriptures , or a group ofscripture s , S igni fying the d ivine knowledge which theyembody, and she is also pe rsonified as a feminine divini ty .

AS one with the Dharmakaya she i s the knowledge of theAbyss , the Buddhahood in which the ind ividual Bodhisattva passe s away . But as Reason orUnde rstanding She

isTathagata-

garbha, the Womb orMother of the Buddhas ,and the source from which i ssues the variety of th ings ,both mental and phys ical . 1 In Hindu phraseo logy, she i sthe S akti of the S upreme, the power of mani festat ioninseparable from that which Mani fests : she i s Devi ,Maya,

or P rakriti , the One who i s also the many .

“ In the

1 Prec ise ly as the Z ero mayb e regarded as a Womb, be ing the sum and

source of an infinite series of plus and ofminus quantities, such as the

Extremes or Pairs of opposites of the re lati ve world .

2 40

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhismthat the whole world of becoming is truly void and

unreal .This nih i l i sm ’ i s carried to i ts farthest extreme inworkssuch as the P rajiéa

'

pararnitas1and the Vajraeeaea

’iéa

S ittra we read , for example , i n the latter work“And again, 0 Subhuti , a gift Should not be given bya Bodhisattva, while he sti l l bel ieves in the real i ty of

objects ; a gift should not be given by him whi le he yetbel ieves in anyth ing ; a gi ft Should not be given by h imwhi le he sti l l be l ieves in form ; a gi ft should not b e givenby him whi le he sti l l bel ieves in the special qual i t ies ofsound , sme l l , taste, and touch . And why? Becausethat Bodhisattva, O Subhuti , who gives a gi ft, withoutbel ieving in anyth ing, the measure of hi s stock of meri ti s not easy to learnAnd th i s denial of ent i ty i s carried to the logical extremeof denying the existence of scripture

‘ Then what do you think, O Subhuti , i s the re anydoctrine that was preached by the Tathagata Subhuti

said : Not SO, indeed, O Worsh ipful , The re i s not anyth ing that was preached by the Tathagata.

’

Even more striking is the famous Middle Path of EightNoes ’ of NagarjunaThere i s no production no destructionno annih i lation no pe rsi stence no uni ty(eéartna) , no plural i ty (nanartna) , no coming in (aganeana) ,and no go ing forthThi s V iew, however, i s not properly to be understood as

mere nih i l ism ; i t i s constantly emphas ized that things of1 So cal led because they treat at length of the S ix Perfections (P aramztas) of a Bodhisattva, and the last of these in particular. The Six

P erfec ti ons are a’

ana, charity ; sz’ la, moral ity ; lrlzsanti , meekness w

‘

rya,

energy ; a’nyana, meditation ; andprajna, Wi sdom.

2 4 2

Nagarjunaall kinds nei ther exist nor do not exist . We may understand this ‘ middle view ’

in ei ther of two ways : as thedoctrine that of that which i s other than phenomenal the recannot be any predicat ion of existence or non-existence ;or as the doctrine that from the standpo int of the Absolute , things have no existence, while from the standpointof the Relat ive, they have a relat ive being .

The latter view is d ist inctly maintained by Nagarjuna,

who , l ike Asvaghosa, must have been o riginal ly a Brahman, and l ived about the end of the second centuryA .D . The Middle View just menti oned i s set forth byhim in the Maa

’nyamiéa sz'

i tras. And here Nagarjunagives a very clear answer to the objection that, i f all be‘Void , ’ then the Four Ariyan Truths , the Order ofBrethren , and Buddha h imself must be considered to beand have been unreal : he meets the d ifficulty precisely asS ankaracarya meets the inconsi stencies of the Upanishads ,by saying that the Buddha speaks of two truths , the oneTruth in the highest sense, absolute , the other a conven

tional and relat ive truth ; he who does not comprehendthe d istinction of these cannot understand the deeperimport of the teach ing of the Buddha.

1

1 The Western student w i ll of course meet with simi lar contradictionsin the Christian gospe ls. When Christ says ‘ I and my Fathe r are

One ,’th at is abso lute truth ; when He speaks upon the cross as if

‘ forsaken ’ by the Father, that is a re lative truth only . When He saysthat Mary has chosen the good part that shal l not b e taken away fromher, that is absolute ; but when He commands us to renderunto Caesarthe things that are Caesar’s, He recogniz es again the realm of re lativity .Here also it may b e said that he who does not recogniz e the dis

tinction Of re lative and abso lute truth, cannot be said to understand thegospe l of Christ.

2 43

Buddha the Gospe l of BuddhismThe Mahayana i s thus far from affirming that N i rvana i snon-existence pure and s imple i t does not hes i tate to saythat to lose our l i fe i s to save i t . Nirvana i s posi tive ,or positively is ; even for the individual i t cannot be sai dto come to be, or to be entered into ; i t merely comes tobe real ized , SO soon as that ignorance i s overcome whichobscures the knowledge of our real freedom , whichnoth ing has ever infringed , or ever can infringe . Nirvanai s that which is not lacking, i s not acquired, i s not inte rmittent, i s notnon- intermittent , i s not subject to destruct ion,and i s not created , whose s ign i s the absence of s igns , whichtranscends al ike non-Being and Being . The MahayanaNirvana cannot be be tter explained than in the words of thegreat Safi Al-Hujwi ri When amanbecomes anni hi latedfrom his attributes he attains to pe rfect subsistence , he isnei ther near nor far, neither stranger nor int imate , nei thersober nor intoxicated , nei ther separated nor uni ted ; hehas no name , or s ign, or brand or mark (K asnf al-Man

jaa) . I t i s the real i zat ion of the infini te love and infini tewisdom , where knowledge and love al ike proclaim ident i ty,

that consti tute this N irvana. He in whom the Heart OfWisdom awakes , however, does not Shrink from futurerebi rths, but plunges h imself into the ever rushingcurrent of Samsara and sacrifices himself to save hisfel low creatures from being e ternal ly drowned in i t.” Hedoes not shrink from expe rience, for “ j ust as the lotusflowerS do not grow on the dry land , but spring from thedark and watery mud , so i s i t wi th the Heart of Wisdom ,

i t i s by vi rtue of pass ion and s in that the seeds and

Sprouts of Buddhahood are able to grow, and not frominact ion and eternal annih i lat ion” (Vimala-t irti S tara) .Mahayana non-dual i ty culminates in the magnificentparadox of the ident i ty of Ni rvana with the Samsara,2 44

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismi t no longe r b e considered water ? I t i s that of Behmenwhen he says the Enochian l i fe “ i s in th i s world , yet as

i t were swal lowed up in the Mystery ; but i t i s not al te redin i tse l f, i t i s only wi thdrawn from our S ight and oursense ; for i f our eyes were opened , we should see i t ” 1

Paradise i s sti l l upon earth , and only because of oursel f-th inking and self-will ing we do not see and hearGod . I t i s that of Whi tman, when he says there wil lnever be anymore perfection than there i s now, nor anymore of heaven or hel l than there i s now,

”and inquires,

Why Should I wish to see God better than this day?”

S trang e and nara’t/zatparadox true I g i ve,

Otifeets gross andMe unseen soal are one.

The Ena’a’nasIn the realm of absolute (fiarama

'

rtna) truth we mayspeakonly of the Dharmakaya as void . But the re exists al sofor us a realm of relat ive (samoritti ) truth whe re the

Absolute i s made mani fest by name and form ; to thedwe l le rs in heaven as Sambhogakaya, the Body of Bl iss ,and to those on earth as Nirmanakaya, the Body of

Transformat ion.

The Sambhogakaya i s the Buddha or Buddhas regardedas God in heaven,

determined by name and form , butomni scient

, omnipresent, and with in the law of causal i ty,Omnipotent . A Buddha, i n thi s sense, i s identical wi th

1 Tae Forty Questions.

2 me Supersensual L ife, Dialogue 1 . Close ly paral le l to a passage of

the Aoatamsaka Satra “Chi ld of Buddha, there is not even one l iving

be ing that has not the wisdom of the Tathagata. I t is only because of

the ir vain thought and affe c tions that all be ings are not consc ious of

this.

”

The Buddhas

the Brahmanical Isvara,’who may be worshipped under

various names (e .g . as Vi shnu or as S iva) , the worsh ipperattaining the heaven ruled by him whom he worships,though he knows that all of these forms are Iessentiallyone and the same. The Mahayana does in fact multiplythe number of Buddhas indefini tely and quite logi cal ly,s ince i t i s the goal of every individual to become a

Buddha. The nature of these Buddhas and thei r heavenswi l l be best real i zed i f we describe the most popular of all,whose name is Amitabha, or Amida.

Amitabha Buddha rules over the heaven Sukhavati , thePure Land or Western Paradise . With h im are associatedthe h istorical Gautama as earthly emanat ion, and theBodh isattva Avalokitesvara as the Saviour (Plate R) .The history of Amitabha relates that many long ages agohe was a great k ing, who left h is throne to become a

wanderer, and he atta ined to Bodhisattvahood under theguidance of the Buddha, that is , the human Buddha thenmani fest ; and he made a series of great vows, both tobecome a Buddha for the sake of saving all l iving things ,and to create a heaven where the souls of the blessedmight enjoy an age

- long state of happiness, wisdom and

puri ty . The eighteenth of these vows is the chief sourceof the popular deve lopment of Amidism , as the bel ief ofthe worshippers of Amitabha i s styled . This v ow runs asfo l lows“When I become Buddha, let all l iving beings of the tenregions of the universe maintain a confident and joyfulfa i th in me ; let them concentrate thei r longings on a re

birth in my Paradise ; and let them cal l upon my name,though i t be only ten t imes or le ss : then, provided onlythey have not been gu i lty of the five heinous S ins , andhave not slandered or vi l ified the true rel igion, the

2 47

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismdesi re of such beings to be born in my Paradise will besurely fulfil led . I f th is be not SO, may I never receivethe perfect enl ightenment of Buddahood.

This i s a ful ly developed doctrine of salvation by fai th .

The paral lel with some forms of Christ iani ty i s veryclose . Amitabha both ‘ draws ’ men to himsel f, and

sent his son Gautama to lead men to h im , and he isever accessible through the holy spiri t of Avaloki tesvara.

The efficacy of death- bed repentance i s admitted ; and inany case the dying Amid ist Should contemplate theglo rious figure of Amitabha, just as the dying Cathol i cfixes h is eyes upon the Crucifix upheld by the priest whoadministers extreme unction . The fai thful Amidist iscarried immediately to heaven, and i s there reborn with aspi ri tual body with in the calyx of one of the lotuses of thesacred lake . But those of less virtue must wai t longbefore thei r lo tus expands , and unt i l then they canno t seeGod. Those who have committed one of the five he inouss ins, and yet have cal led on Amitabha’s name, must wai tfor countless ages, a period of t ime beyond conception,before thei r flowers Open ; just as, according to Behmen,

those souls that depart from the body “ without Christ’sbody, hanging as i t were by a thread , must wai t for thelast day, ere they come forth . Another Mahayanist idea,that the heaven of a Buddha is coextens ive with theuniverse , i s al so to be found in Behmen, who, to thequestion, Must not the soul leave the body at death , andgo either to heaven or hel l ?

”answers , There i s veri ly

no such kind of ente ring in ; forasmuch as heaven and

hel l are everywhe re , being universal ly extended .

”S tri ctly

speaking, the heaven of Amitabha canno t be ident ifiedwith N irvana, but is a Buddha-field,

’ where preparationfor Nirvana i s completed .

248

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismthat atan early stage of Buddhism Gautama i s al ready madeto affirm that he i s not a man, but a Buddha ; he re, in a

deve lopment S imi lar to that of Chri stian Docet ism , we

find the view put forward that the earthly Buddhas arenot l iving men, but ghosts or forms of thought , act ing as

vehicle s of the saviour-will which led the Bodhisattva tothe abyss of Buddhahood . In part, no doubt, th is represents an attempt to get over the logical difficul ty presentedby the continued survival Of the person Gautama formany years after the attainment of that enl ightenmentwh ich cuts the conne cting bonds of the spi ri tual compoundknown as personal i ty ; th i s continuance has al so beenaptly compared to the cont inued spinning of the po tte r’swheel for Some time after the hand of the potter has beenremoved , the final physi cal death of the body beingl ikened to the subsequent stopping of the wheel .

Convenient M eans

Int imately associated with the doctrine of emanat ion i sthat ofConvenient Means (upaya) : the Heart ofWisdomabiding in the Uni ty creates part icular means of salvation(Nagarjuna) . The knowledge of the se means i s one ofthe perfe ct ions of Buddhahood , and i s the powe r ofresponse to the infini te variety of the spiri tual needs ofsent ient beings . The vari ous forms which the divineTathagata assumes , reveal ing h imself in the right place ,at the right t ime, and never miss ing the right oppo rtunityand the right word—these mani fe stations consti tute theN irmanakaya. To a certain extent the doctrine of upayacorresponds to the ready wi t of such teachers as Buddhaor Christ, who with l i ttle effort so effectual ly renderaid to those who seek them , and no less effe ctual ly con

found thei r Opponents : admirably i l lustrated , for example,2 50

Convenient Means

in Gautama’s deal ing with Gotami the S lender, and in

many wel l-known anecdotes of Jesus . Of ei ther i t maybe said ,H e is t/ze A nswerer,

W/zat can ae answer’

a’ li e answers, and wnat cannot ao

answer’

a’ li e snows now i t cannot ae answer/ cl.

This i s also a doctrine of the graduat ion of truth : fai thsare not d ivided into the true and the false, but are somany rungs of the ladder, so many separate ladders , thatlead to One Unknown. The doctrine of upaya impl iesthe perfect understanding of human needs by that d ivineintel l igence that knows no need in itsel f, save that impl iedin the saying, E terni ty is in lovewitntneproa

’nctions of time

—the only reasonwe can al lege for the des ire Of the One tobecome many. This perfect understanding, “

as of fathe rwith son, comrade with comrade , lover with mistress ,” 1 doesnot clash with the inte l lectual recogni t ion of the gods asman-made, and th i s the H indus have beauti ful ly re conci led wi th the idea of Grace, in the adorat ion Thou thatdoest take the forms imagined by Thy worshippe rs ”

addressed , indeed , by Saivas to S iva, but no le ss appropriateto the thought of the Mahayana. The doctrine of upayai s comparable also wi th the thought, “ He makes h imsel fas we are , that we may be as He is .” The arts and

re l igions of the world are all so many upayas—one source,one end, only wi th d ivers ity of means .A second Mahayana schoo l

,in some respe cts d ivergent

from the Madhyamika school of Nagarjuna, i s the Yogacara schoo l of Asanga and Vasubandhu. Here threekinds of knowledge are recogni zed in place of two ; buttwo of the se three are merely a subdivis ion of relat ive1 B lzagavad Gzta, xi , 44 .

2 51

Buddha @9 the Go spe l of Buddhismknowledge, into pos i tive e rror and relat ive knowledgeprope rly so-cal led . We have thus in place of samvri ttiandfiaramartna satya

( 1 ) P ariéalfi i ta satya , for example, when we mistake a

rope for a snake .

( 2 ) P aratantra satya, for example, when we recogni zethe rope as a rope .

(3) P arispanna satya , when we recogni ze that ‘ rope ’ i sa me re concept, and has no be ing as a th ing in i tsel f .Of which ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) are together samvri tti and (3) i sparamartha.

The Yogacaras also maintain a form of ideal ism whichdiffe rs from the abso lute agnosti cism of the Madhyamikas .According to the fo rmer, there does real ly exist a cosmi c,no t impe rsonal , Mind , cal led A laya

-o ijr’zdna ,

1 the Allconta ining, or Eve r-enduring, Mind . All things in theunive rse rest in, or rather consi st of this

'

substrate . I t i ssome t ime s confused wi th the S uchness ; but actual lyi t co rresponds rather to the sagnna (qual ified) than then irgnna (unqual ified) Brahman of the Brahmans . I t provides the bas i s for a sort of Platoni c ideal i sm ; for,according to the Yogacaras, i t i s in th i s Cosmic Mindthat the germs of all things exist in thei r ideal i ty . In

other words , the object ive world cons ists enti re ly of mindstuff, and i t i s the i l lus ion born of igno rance that projectsthe real ideas into an external and phenomenal universe .

I I I . CH’AN , OR Z EN B UDDH I SM

We have so far set fo rth the Mahayana accord ing to theMadhyamika school of Nagarjuna and the Yogacara schoo lof Asanga, with i l lustration of the Sambhogakaya according to the sect of the Amidists , and with some notice1 Hence the Yogacaras are commonly spoken of as Vijfianavadins.

2 52

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismand whose personal i ty has yet impressed itself so deeplyon the memory of the Far East, was Of a taciturn and

even faroncne dispos iti on, and l i ttle incl ined to sufferfools gladly . He Spent the nine years of h is l i fe in China(A .D . 52 7

—536 ) in the S hao Lin monastery, near Loyang,

achieving l i ttle populari ty, and earned the ni ck-name of

the ‘Wal l-gaz ing Brahman.

’ The essence of hi s doctrineasserts that the Buddha i s not to be found in images andbooks , but in the heart of man. His fol lowers, as thename of the school impl ies , lay great stress on medi tat ion ; they avoid the slavish worship of images , the fettersof authori ty, and the evi ls of priestcraft . 1The fundamental principle of Ch ’an, or Zen Buddh ism ,

may be summed up in the express ion that tae Universe istae scrigtnre of Z en,

2 or mo re phi losoph ical ly, the ident i tyof the Many and the One , of Samsara with the Brahman,This with That. Actual scri pture is worthless in the lette r,andonly valuable forthat to wh ich i t leads ; andto ,

that goalthere are other gu ides than the written page or Spokenword .

1 I t must not b e supposed, however, that the w ide d iffusion of Ch ’anideas in Ch ina has done away with ri tual worsh ip, or even wi th superstition. The creed of the Chinese layman, as in other countries, is

Often crude,irrational

,and superstitious he is liable to mistake symbo l

for objec tive truth ; and he is apt to assume that faith is a suffic ient

guarantee of historic fac t.”—R . F . Johnston, B ua’

a’

lzist Clzina, p . 96 .

The Ch’an and Amid ist parties, respective ly phi losophical or mystic ,and devotional, are c lose ly allied—gorgeous shrines are often attachedto Ch’an monasteries—very much as Christian mystic ism is associatedw ith the icono latry of the Roman church . The Chinese Buddhistleans to one side or the other according to h is temperament and

Spiritual needs.

2 He , therefore , is the true Teacher ‘who makes you perce ive the

Supreme S e lfwlzerever i lze mina’ attac/zes i tself ’

(Kabi r) for ‘Whateverthing, of whatsoever kind i t be , ’

tis wisdom’s part in each the real thing

to se e’

(K arral, xxxvi, All is in all.

2 54

Ch ’an,or Z en Buddhism

I t i s related , for example, of the sage Htien Sha that hewas one dayprepared to del iver a sermon to an assembledcongregat i on, and was on the po int of beginning, when a

bird was heard to s ing very sweetly close by ; Huen Shadescended from his pulpi t with the remark that thesermon had been preached . Another sage , Teu Tse , oneday pointed to a stone lying near the temple gate , andremarked , ‘ There in re s ide all the Buddhas of the past,the present, and the future .

’ The face of Nature wascal led The S ermon of the Inanimate . ’

As we have al ready indi cated , some of these concept ions may be traced back to very early Buddhist o rigins ,and i t would be easy l ikewise to point to Westernparal lels . When the Zen teachers point to the ris ingand sett ing of the sun, to the deep sea, or to the fal l ingflakes of snow in winter, and thereby inculcate the lessonsof Z en, we are reminded of One who bids us cons ider thel i l ies , which toi l not, ne ither do they spin, and who bidsus not to be anxious for the morrow. When the mysteriousvisi tors to the Chinese island of Puto

,being asked

to explain thei r rel igious bel iefs , reply, “ Our eyes haveseen the ocean, our ears have heard the winds. s igh ing,the rain descend ing, the sea waves dashing, and the wi ldbirds cal l ing,” 1 we are reminded of Blake

,exclaiming,

When thou seest an eagle , thou seest a portion of genius .Li ft up thy head I and The pride of the peacock is theglory of God .

”

The l ines al ready quoted—a complete poem in theJapanese original

Granted t/z is dewdrop world ao ant a dewdrop world,

Th is granted, yet

1 R . F. Johnston, Budd/fist C/li na, p . 388 .

2 55

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhismare pure ly of the Zen tradit ion, though not perhaps i tsmost profound express ion . That most profound intu i t ioni s of the one S uchness that finds express ion in the ve rytranscience of every pass ing moment : the same ind ivis iblebe ing is ever coming to express ion

, and never expressed ,i n the coming to be and pass ing away of man and of thewhole world moment by moment ; i t i s the ve ry heart of‘ culture ’ and rel igion to recognize the eternal , not as

obscured , but as revealed by the trans ient, to see infini tyin the grain of sand , the same unborn in every bi rth, andthe same undying in every death . These thoughts findconstant express ion in the poetry and art inspi red by Zenthought . The Mo rning Glory, for example , fad ing inan hour, i s a favouri te theme of the Japanese poet andpainter. What are we to understand by the poem ofMatsunaga Te itoku ?

Tti e morning glory alooms but an nonr, andyet i t di ers

not at neart

F rom t/z e g iantpine taat livesfor a tnoasandyears.

Are we to th ink of the morning glory as a type and symbolof the tragic brevity of our l i fe , as a memento mori , a re

minder of impermanence, l ike the wagta i l ’s tai l ? We may

do thi s without e rror : but there l ies beyond this a deepe rmeaning in the words of Matsunaga, something mo re thana lamentat ion for the very const i tut ion of our experience .Acco rd ing to the commentary of K insoHe who has found the way in the morning maydie at

peace in the evening. To bloom in the morning, to awai tthe heat of the sun, and then to peri sh , such i s the lotappo inted to the morning glory by Providence . Thereare pines , indeed , which have l ived for a thousand years,but the morning glory, who must d ie so soon, never for a2 56

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhism

And with th is contrasts the futi le longing of man for anetern ity of happiness :

You do obeyyour mont/es and times, but I

Would kave i t ever Spring :

Myfate wouldknow no Winter, never die .

Nor tkink of suck a tking .

0 Mat I could my oed of eartkout v iew

A ndi

smi le , and look as ckeciy’

ully asyou

And SO i t i s that the S ermon of the Woods Should teachus spontaneity of action , to fal l in with the natural orderof the world , neither apathetic nor rebel l ious, but possessing our souls in pat ience .

2 58

PART V : BUDDHIST ART

1 . B UDDH I S T L! TERA TURE

Language and Wri tingE may safely assume that Gautama

’s teach ingwas communicated to h is d isciples in Magadhi ,the spoken dialect of h i s nat ive count ry . The

Oldest contemporary documents of Buddhist l i terature ,the Edicts of Asoka, are wri tten in a later form Of thes ister d ialect of K osala.

1 The H i nayana Buddhist scriptures , the Theravada Canon or old Buddhist B ible, arepreserved to us only in the l i terary d ialect known as Pal i ;whi le the later Mahayana texts of the Mahayana are compi led to us in Sanskri t, and preserved in that form , or inthe early Chinese translat ions . Pal i and Sanskri t inBuddhist ci rcles play the part whi ch was taken by Lat inin the Christian Church of the Middle Ages . Pal i i s al i terary form based onMagadhi , gradual ly developed , andperhaps only defini tely fixed when the scriptures were fi rstwri tten down in Ceylon about 80 B.C.

Howcan we speak of authenti c scriptures which were notput into wri ting unt i l four centuries after the death ofthe teacher whose words are recorded ? That i s possiblein India, though not in Europe . In the time of Gautama,a very long period of l i terary activi ty was al ready past,and the same activity sti l l continued . Vedi c l i terature, inparti cular, with the exception of the later Upani shads , wasal ready ancient, whi le the work of the great compi lers ofepic poetry, and of the grammarians and lawmen, i s only1 T/ze Edicts of Asoka , though veritable Buddh ist l iterature , are not

inc luded in the scriptural canon, and are here re ferred to in a separatechapter, p . 1 80 seq.

2 59

Buddha E'

s?the Gospel of Buddhism

a l i ttle later, and th is l i terature has been fai thful ly transm i tted to the pre sent day. There existed also a greatmass of contemporary popular poetry in the form of

bal lads and romances , tales and proverbs , part of whichi s pre served and embedded in Buddhist and Sanskri tl i terature, such as the Pal i Jatakas and the Brahmani calepics . And yet i t i s unl ikely that any wri tten booksexisted much before the time of Asoka.

Writing was first introduced to India about the e ighthcentury B.C . , probably by merchants trading with theci ties of the Euphrates val ley, but for a long time theidea of the wri tten word was regarded in l i te rary ci rcleswith much disfavour. One curious i l lustrat ion of th isappears in the fact that books are not included in the l istOf personal property al lowed to be possessed by theBrethren. The Indians had long since elaborated a systemof remembe red l i te rature , which , given the ce rtainty of aregular success ion of teachers and disciples , secured thetransmission of texts as well , and perhaps better than thewritten page . Because of th i s mnemoni c system , the lackof exte rnal means of record had not been fe l t . S tudycons isted , therefore in hearing, and in repeat ing to one

sel f, not in the reading of books . This tradition hassurvived in cons ide rable vigour to the present day; i t i sno uncommon th ing to meet with Pandi ts who can repeatfrom memory a body of sacred l iterature of almost incredible extent , and i t i s sti l l be l ieved that “ oral instruct ioni s far superior to book-learning in maturing the mind anddeveloping its powers .” I t hardly needs to be pointedout that many great th inkers , both ancient and modern,have Shared th is V iew. Plato suggests that the invent ionof le tte rs “ wi ll produce forgetfulne ss in the minds of

those who learn i t, through neglect of memory, for that,2 60

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of BuddhismThe text of the Three Pitakas and the commentarythereon d id the most wise Bhikkhus hand down in formertimes oral ly, but s ince they saw that the people werefal l ing away (from the orthodox teach ing) , the bhikkhusmet toge ther, and in order that the true doctrines mightendure, they wrote them down in books .” 1

These texts have been fai thful ly transmitted to moderntimes by success ive copyists . On the othe r hand i t i squi te certain that a cons iderable part al ready existed inthe same form in the time of Asoka, for some of the textsare referred to by name, andwith quotat ion, in the Ed icts .Without entering upon a l ong discussion, i t wi l l suffice tosay that some parts of the texts almost as certainly go backto an earl ier peri od , and record the sayings and doctrineof Gautama as remembered by his immediate d isciples .The orthodox H inayani sts, however, are not justified inasserting that the Pal i canon was actual ly fixed , sti l l lessthat i t was written down, at the ‘ Fi rst Counci l ’ immediately fo l lowing the death Of Gautama ; the BuddhistBible , l ike the Chri stian, cons ists of books composed at

d ifferent ages , and many or most of the books are compi lat ions of materials by many hands and of various periods .

Tke Pali CanonThe Pal i canon consists of ‘Three Pi takas , ’ or Baskets . ’

The Vinaya P i taka i s conce rned with the rules of theOrde r of Brethren. I t i s subd ivided as fol lows

ParajikaPac ittiya

Mahavagga

Cullavagga

Suttav ibhanga

1 Makavamsa, ch . xxxii i .2 6 2

A . CALLING THE EARTH To WITNESS (THE ASSAULTOF MARA)

Cave pai ntmg at Dambulla , Ceylon ( 1 8th century)

P u-rx‘

l'

2 62

B . BUDDH I ST LIBRARY ,KANDY , CEYLON

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismkindled : thus I say. The ear i s in flames , the audible i sin flames , the knowledge of the audible is in flames , thecontact with the audible i s in flames , the fee l ing whicharises from contact wi th the audible i s in flames , be i tpleasure , b e i t pain, be i t ne i ther pleasure nor pain, th isalso i s in flames . By what fire is i t kindled ? By thefire of des i re , by the fire of hate, by the fire of fascinat ion,i t i s kindled ; by bi rth , old age , death , pain, lamentat ion,sorrow,

grief,de spai r, i t i s kindled ; thus I say. The

sense of sme l l i s in flames -and then fo l lows for the

th i rd time the same serie s Of proposi tions the tongue i sin flames ; the body is i n flame s ; the mind is in flame seach time the same detai l fol lows unabridged . Then theaddress goe s onKnowing th is , 0 disciples , a wise , noble , bearer of the

word be comes wearied of the eye , he becomes wearied of

the vis ible,he be comes wearied of the knowledge of the

vi sible , he be comes wearied of contact wi th the visible ,he become s wearied of the feel ing which arise s fromcontact with the vis ible , be i t pleasure , b e i t pain, be i tne i the r pleasure nor pa in. He becomes wearied of the

ear’—and then fo l lows one afte r the othe r the who le

series of ideas as above . The address concludes“ ‘While he becomes wearied thereof, he be comes freefrom de si re ; free from desi re , he be comes de l ivered ; inthe de l ive red arise s the knowledge : I am del ive red ;rebirth i s at an end , perfected i s ho l iness , duty done ;the re i s no more returning to this world he knows this .” 1

I t should b e noted that th is addre ss i s de l ivered byGautama to an assembly of Brethren al ready ini tiatedand ordained , al ready famil iar with the thought of o rigination and de cease . A somewhat d ifferent me thod i s1 Condensed from Oldenberg. Another version above

,p . 4 2 .

2 64

The Pal i Canonemployed in addresses to unini tiated laymen , such as the

vi llage elders sent by King Bimbisara to theBuddha for instruction. There i s in a much more popularstyle—milk forbabes . When in another place the Buddhai s accused of favouri t ism , inasmuch as he teaches themore profound doctrine to hi s di sciples and more simplematters to the publ i c, he draws an analogy from theoperat ions of a farmer, who devotes the most care to hismost productive fie lds (the Brethren) , somewhat lessattention to the le ss ferti le fie lds (the Buddhist lai ty) , andless sti l l to the barren soi l (those who do not accept theGood Law) .While D i scipl ine i s deal t with in the Vinaya P itaka , theS utta P i taka , the Basket of Suttas i s our ch ief sourcefor the Buddha’s Gospel as expounded in argument andd ialogue s . Here also are included the “ Psalms of theBrethren and S i sters ,” the most important l i terary production of early Buddhism , and the jatakas, whichembody the largest and Oldest col lection of fo lkloreextant . The S utta P i taka i s d ivided as fo l lows1 . n ka Nikaya 2 . Majjkima Nikaya ; 3 . S amyutta

N ikaya ; 4 . Anguttara N ikaya ; and 5. K kuda’aka

Nikaya . The last, aga in, includes , 1 . If /zuddakapatka ;2 . Dkammapada ; 3 . Udana ; 4 . I tivuttaka 5. S utta

ninata ; 6 . Vimanavattku ; 7 . P etavattku ; 8 . Tkera

gatka ; 9 . Tker igatka ; 1 0 . f ataka ; 1 1 . Niddesa ; 1 2 .

P atisamakida'

magga ; I 3 . Apaa’ana ; I 4 . Budd/tavamsa

and 1 5. Cariya/fii taka .

The first Of the D eg/ea N ikaya S uttas i s cal led the Perfe ctNe t. In th i s net are supposed to be caught and exposedeach and all of s ixty-two d iffe rent ph i losoph ies whichproceed from the ancient animisti c conception of soulas a subtle, permanent ent ity within the body, and

2 65

Buddha 89° the Gospe l of Buddhismindependent of the l i fe of the body . These variouseel-wriggle rs , as Gautama cal ls them , he says are all

of them trapped in the ne t of the s ixty-two modes“ thi s way and that they plunge about, but they are in

i t ; th is way and that they may flounder,but they are

i ncluded in i t , caught in i t . Just, brethren, as whena ski lful fisherman or fisher-lad Should drag a t iny poo lof water with a fine-meshed net he might fai rly th ink‘Whatever fish of S i ze may be in th is pond , every one

wil l be in th i s net ; flounder about as they may, they wi l lbe included in i t, and caught just so i s i t wi th thesespeculators about the past and future , in th i s net, flounderas they may, they are included and caught .

”

I t i s unfortunate that in all these cases we hear only oneS ide of the argument

,which always appears to leave

no way of escape for the ‘Ski l led abso lutist . ’ I f eve r

Gautama met hi s match we should l ike to hear whatpassed on such an occasion.

Of more enduring interest i s the S utta upon the F ru its oftke L ife of a Wanderer. Here, moreover, we do not geta purely Buddhist

,but rather an Indian point of view .

The whole Sutta const itutes a reply to the quest ion,what advantage i s the l i fe Of a recluse ? K ing Ajatasattu of Magadha points out the gain that men derive fromthei r worldly occupat ions, andwishe s to know what corresponding frui t, vis ible here and now, the members of arel igious Order obtain. Gautama repl ies that the fru i tof the l i fe of the member Of an Order maybe seen in1 . The honour and respect Shown to such men by othersin the world ; even the king, for example , would Showrespect to a man who had formerly been a slave or aservant, i f he adopted the homele ss l i fe . 2 . The training i n mere moral i ty, as kindness, honesty, chasti ty, etc .2 66

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhisml i fe has been fulfi l led . What had to be done hasbeen accomplished. A fte r thi s present l i fe there wil l be no beyondJust

, 0 king, as i f in a mountain fastness there were apool of water, clear, translucent, and serene ; and a man,

standing on the bank , and with eyes to see , Shouldperce ive the shel lfish , the gravel and the pebbles and theshoals of fish , as they move about or lie with in i t : hewould know : This poo l i s clear, transparent and serene ,and there with in i t are the she l lfish , and the sand and

gravel , and that the Shoal s of fish are moving about orlying sti l l . ’“ This, 0 king, i s an immediate frui t of the l i fe Of a

re cluse, vis ible in th i s world , and highe r and swee te rthan the last . And there i s no fru i t of the l i fe of a

recluse, vis ible in th i s world, that i s h igher and sweeterthan this .”

The Tevi/ja S utta , one of the very few which emphas izethe advantage of rebi rth in the Brahma heavens , whileleaving out of account the fundamental idea of Ara

hatta, i s remarkable for the beaut i ful description of theFour S ubl ime Moods which , i f they are not the end Of

Buddhist culture, are at any rate i ts ini tiat ionAnd he lets h is mind pe rvade one quarter of the worldwi th thoughts of Love, and SO the second , and so thethird , and so the fourth . And thus the whole wo rld ,above , below, around , and everywhere, does he continueto pe rvade with heart of Love, far-reach ing, grown great,and beyond measure .

“ Just, Vase ttha, as a mighty trumpete r makes h imse l fheard—and that without difficulty—in all the fourd i re ctions ; even so of all th ings that have shape or l i fe,there i s not one that he passe s by or leaves as ide , butregards them all with mind set free , and deep-felt love .2 68

The Pali Canon

Veri ly th is , Vase ttha, i s the way to a state o f union withBrahma.

Exactly the same formula i s repeated in the case of thethree other moods , Compass ion, Sympathy, and Im

partial i ty .

The S zgalavada S utta consists of a discourse in wh ichthe Buddha lays down for a young layman the duties ofthose who l ive in the world

, in general accord with theinjunctions of Brahmanical scriptures .A Sutta of greater importance i s the Makapariniaaana ,

the Great S utta of the Ful l Re lease , in which the lastdays and last words Of the Teacher are recorded . S omeparts of th is date back almost certainly to the memory of

the Buddha’s immed iate d isciples . Undoubtedly Old, forexample , i s the famous saying“Therefore, O Ananda, be ye lamps unto yourselves .Be ye you r own refuge . Hold fast to the Norm as yourLight, fast to the No rm as your Refuge .”

So too the descript ion of Ananda’s overwhelming grief,leaning against a door-po st and weeping, unti l the Mastersends for and Speaks to him words of consolat ion. Manyof the verse s scattered through the prose, and markingmoments of heightened emotion, must be ancient . In allthese more ancient passages the Buddha Spe aks ent i relyas a man to man ; but elsewhere in the same wo rk supernatural powers and portents are freely introduced . A

number of quotat ions from th is S utta have al ready beengiven in earl ie r chapters .The P ayasi S utta maintains an argument in favour of theexistence of a soul qui te contrary to the real genius of earlyBuddhist thought . I t i s true the upholder of the Buddhistposi tion i s the vene rable Kumara Kassapa, and not

Gautama himsel f ; sti l l i t i s taken to be the Buddhist2 69

Buddha $ 9 the Gospe l of Buddhismposi tion

, and i t i s very curious to see the scept ical Payas ii nqui ring : But who lets Master Kassapa know all theseth ings : that there are Three-and—Thirty Gods , or thatthe Three-and-Thirty Gods l ive so many years ? We donot bel ieve him when he says these things .” This i sevidence that some Of the early Buddh ists , at least, tookvery seriously the i r pantheon of minor d ivini ties .The Majjhima Nikaya contains a numbe r— 1 52

-of

sermons and d ialogues which are shorter than thoseof the D igha Nikaya .

The Samyutta Nikaya contains fifty-s ix groups of Suttasdeal ing with connected subjects or persons . The Mara

samyutta , and the Bkikkunisamyutta for example , numbers four and five in the series , contain a group of

legends in which Mara the Tempter appears to theBuddha, to h is disciples , or to one or other of theS i s ters , and endeavours to shake the i r fa i th . TheseS uttas are cast in the old form of conte faale, an

al te rnat ion of prose and verse, the Indian name of whichis a‘kkya

'

na . Amongst these bal lads are some of themost beauti ful of old Ind ian poems ; we recognize in themalso many of the elements of a primit ive drama, thematerial from which ‘drama may have developed , but wecannot Speak of them as early Buddhist dramas in themselves , for they are neither sufficiently elaborated , nor wasany such world ly activi ty as the drama to lerated in the

rule of the Brethren . Only at a considerably late r date(Asvaghosha) do we find Buddhist poets creat ing admittedlydramat i c works . Of the spi ri tual bal lads now undercons iderat ion, the fol lowing of Gotami the S lende r—the

sto ry of whose conversion has al ready been given (p . 1 48 f.)—will serve as a good exampleThus have I heard . The Master was once staying at

2 70

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha do? the Gospe l of BuddhismThen Mara vani shed thence , sorry and dejected , th ink

ing : S i s ter Gotami’ knowe th me .”

The Anguttara Nikaya i s a very extens ive work , containing at least 2 308 S uttas . These are class ified in sections,numbe red one to e leven, the S uttas in each sect ion deal ingwith such th ings of which there are as many as the number of the S utta i tself . Thus in the S econd S ection theS uttas speak of the two things which a man Shouldavo i d , the two kinds of Buddhas , the two virtues of theforest-l i fe ; in the Third Sect ion the S uttas speak of thetrini ty of Thought, Word , andDeed , and the three sorts ofmonks ; in the Fourth S e ction, the four things which leadto a cessat ion of Becoming

,the four that lead to Purga

to ry, the four that lead to Paradise, and so forth ; in theEighth S ection, the eight ways in which man and womanmutual ly hinder each o ther, and the eight causes of an

earthquake ; in the Tenth S ect ion, the ten powers of aBuddha. Needless to po int out, the arrangement i s formaland pedanti c , and the general tone i s also somewhat dry .

One of the best passage s, however, i s that which speaksof the Three Messengers of the Gods—Old Age , I l lness ,and Death—of whom K ing Yama asks the misdoers whofal l into Purgatory, thus0 man, d id you not see the first of Death ’s messengers

vis ibly appear among men ? ’

He repl ie s : Lord , I d id not. ’

Then, 0 Brethren, King Yama says to him : O man,d id you not see among men a woman ora man, eighty orninety or hundred years of age , decrepit, crooked as thecurved rafter of a gable roof, bowed down, leaning on a

staff, trembl ing as he walked , miserable , with youth longfled, broken-toothed , grey-hai red and nearly bald , tottering, with wrinkled brow, and blotched with freckles ?

’

2 7 2

The Pal i CanonHe repl ied , Lord , I d id .

’

Then, 0 Brethren, King Yama says to him : O man,d id

i t not occur to you , being a person of mature inte l l igenceand years : “ I am also subject to Old age , and i n no wayexempt . Come now, I wi l l act nobly, in deed , word , and

He repl ies : Lord , I could not. Lord,I d id not th ink .

’

Then, 0 Brethren, K ing Yama says to h im : 0 man,

through thoughtlessness you fai led to act nobly in deed ,word , and thought . Veri ly i t shal l be done unto you

, 0

man, in accordance with your thoughtlessness . I twas you yoursel f who d id th i s wickedness , and you al oneShal l feel i ts consequences !From the l i terary point of view we may remark threecharacteristi cs of the S uttas so far cons idered . Fi rstof all, tke repetitions, of wh ich an example wi l l be foundin the Fi re Sermon quoted above . I t i s almost imposs ibleto put such texts before a modern reader without condensat i on, and without the use of the conjunction ‘

and,’

and without,pronouns, as they are i n the original , to say

nothing of the ted ious rei terat ion of every phrase and

every shade of thought .“ The periods of these addresses, says Professor Oldenberg , “ in thei r motionless and rigid uni formi ty, on whichno l ights and shadows fal l , are an accurate picture of theworld as i t represented i tsel f to the eye of that monasti cfrate rni ty , the grim world of originat ion and decease, .

which goes on l ike clockwork in an ever uni form course ,and behind which rests the sti l l deep of the Ni rvana. In

the words of th i s ministry, there is heard no sound ofworking within no impassional entreat ing of men tocome to the fai th , no bi tterness for the unbel ieving whoremain afar off. I n these addresses , one word , one

S 2 73

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismsentence

,l ies bes ide ano the r in stony sti l lness , whether

i t expresses the most trivial th ing or the most important .AS worlds of gods and men are , for the Buddhist consc iousness, ruled by everlasting necess i ty, so also are theworlds of ideas and of veri ties : for these, too , there i sone , and only one , necessary form of knowledge and

expression, and the thinke r does not make th is form buthe adopts what i s ready to hand and thus thoseendless repeti tions accumulate which Buddha’s d iscipleswere never t i red of l istening to anew , and always honouring afresh as the necessary garb of holy thought .”

The Buddhist authors were perhaps so much impressedby and S O pleased wi th the excel lent doctrine, that theyd id not feel the repeti tions wearisome, they could not heartoo often the hard-won truths that had set them free . Wehave a gl impse Of th is point of view in one of Asoka’sEdicts , where the Empero r saysCertain phrases have been uttered aga in and again byreason of the honeyed sweetness of such and such a topic ,in the hOpe that the people may act up to them .

”

The early Buddhists had no wish to make thei r scripturesinteresting, and i t i s very true that they ‘ have but onetaste . ’ At the same time i t i s most l ikely that th isextremely serious and indeed heavy style, made eloquentonly by i ts very seri ousness—i t i s not to be deniedthat the method of l ine upon l ine has a certain cumulat iveimpress iveness , a kind of noble austeri ty and pat ience, a‘ subl ime monotony ’—real ly reflects the manner of Speechof the Buddha himsel f. For Gautama i s not—l ike Jesus—a poet and a mysti c

,but a psychologist : 1 he does not

1 I fGautama was indeed a mystic , as the Mahayanists c laim,i t is then

to Buddhaghosha and o ther of the Pal i authors whom we must regard asch iefly responsible for Pali Buddhism .

’

2 74

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

The Pal i Canonspeak to uneducated fishermen, but to practi sed metaphysicians , and in an atmosphere of controversy : hemakes no personal appeal , he speaks with wel l- cons ideredpurpose rather than enthus iasm or fervour, and he i sconcerned to leave no loophole for poss ible or del iberatemisunderstandings . He feels, i ndeed , some apprehens ionlest in future the most profound sermons Should beneglected in favour of more arti sti c and attractive composi tions :“ S ome there are ,

” he says , “ who hearken wi l l ingly tothe works of fol lowers of mine who are poets , poetaste rs ,litte

'

rateurs, or mystics and who al low the sermonsof the Tathagata, of profound import, transcendent, and

devoted to the doctrine of the Vo id , to be fo rgotten.

”

We may thus bel ieve that the more poetical and l i terarybooks were only l i ttle by l i ttle and with some difficultyadmi tted to the canon ; and thi s i s probably the explanat ion Of the fact that they are for the most part gatheredtogether i n one N ikaya, the Kkuddaka , which was mostl ikely included in the authori tat ive scripture at a comparatively late date , though of course i t conta ins abundance of ancient matter s ide by S ide wi th the younger.The second characteristi c wh ich we remark in the Suttasso far d iscussed i s the dialectic metkod of the Buddha’sargument. The manner of h i s speech i s always courteousand friendly :The method fol lowed is always the same . Gautama putsh imsel f as far as possible in the mental posi t ion of thequestioner. He attacks none of h is cherished convict ions .He accepts as the starting-point of h is own expos i tion thedes i rabil i ty of the act or cond ition prized by h is Opponent .

He even adopts the very phraseology of the questioner. And then, partly by putting a new and (from the

2 75

Buddha the Gospe l of BuddhismBuddhi st point of view) a h ighe r meaning into the wordspartly by an appeal to such ethi cal conceptions as are

common ground between them ; he gradual ly leads hisOpponent up to his conclusion . This i s , of course, alwaysArahatsh ip.

” 1

This i s the method of the S ocrat i c d ialogue ; and we mayalso take i t that i n the D ialogues extant we have at leastas much of the actual teach ing of Gautama preserved ,as Plato gives of the teach ing of Socrates . The method ,however, presupposes an acquaintance with the point ofview of the Buddha’s Opponents , S ince , as Professor RhysDavids justly remarks , the argumentum ad kominem can

never be qui te the same as a general statement madewithout reference to the opposi te view . There i s also thed isadvantage that the argument i s made to lead to a foregone conclus ion, and though the logical sequence may beindisputable , the twisting of words in a new sense sometimes ‘ corners ’ the Opponent wi thout meeting his realposi t ion. We do not real ly hear both s ides of the case .

As Professor Oldenberg truly comments : “ Those whoconverse wi th Buddha are good for nothing e lse buts imply to say and to he eventual ly converted , i fthey have not yet been converted .

”S ubje ct to th is

l imi tat ion , and apart from the wearisome repetitions , wecan nevertheless recogni ze that the Dialogues are ski lful ly constructed and couched in language of restraintand dignity.

A th ird special characteri sti c of the S uttas i s the constantuse of s imi le and parable . A s imile , indeed , i s not an

argument ; but i t Often serves better to convince thel i stener than any sequence of close reasoning . Many ofthe s imi les are wel l-found, and additional to thei r value1 Rhys Davids, D ialogues of tke Budd/2a, i, p . 2 06 .

2 76

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Go spe l of Buddhismmark of o ther-worldly and d ivine origin or nature . Needle ss to say the lotus , in l i te rature , is the source of manyo ther s imiles and metaphors , for the most part not

specifical ly Buddhist .I n general also , the lotus stands for anyth ing that i sexcel lent and we l l-l iked :“ The boy Vipassi , Brethren , became the darl ing and

beloved Of the people , even as a blue or rose or whi telotus i s dear to and beloved of all, so that he was l i teral lycarried about from lap to lap.

”-Makapadana S utta .

In another place the true Spiritual l i fe i s compared toa lute , of which the strings must be nei ther too looselynor too tightly stretched ; by th is is indicated the internalbalance and harmony of the ideal character. The teach ingof salvat ion, again,

i s compared to the heal ing work of

the physician,who removes from a wound the poisoned

arrow, and appl ie s the curing herbs . S ometimes thes imile s are humorous , as when i t i s pointed out thati f a man should mi lk a cow by the horns, he would getno mi lk ; or i f one should fi l l a vessel wi th sand and

water, and churn i t ever so much , sesamum Oil wouldnever be produced ; just so a monk wil l never reach h isgoal unless he goes the right wayabout i t .In o ther cases the parable is not merely valueless as

argument, but abso lutely futi le . When, for example , i ti s desi red to expose the social and spi ri tual pretensionso f the Brahmans , Gautama inqui res i f a fire Shouldbe l ighted by a Brahman, a Kshattriya, a Vaishya and a

Sadra : would the fires l i t by Brahmans and K shattriyas

alone give l ight and heat, or would the fi res l i t by out

casts , hunte rs and sweepe rs, not also yield the i r l ightand heat ? The king with whom Gautama speaks can

natural ly only answe r that the fires wi l l not differ in thei r2 78

The Pal i Canonproperties . But what has th is to do with a d iscuss ion fororagainst the Brahmani cal scheme of social d ifferentiat ion ?That all men have many th ings in common does not

prove that all men are al ike in every particular, nor doesi t d isprove the advantage of heredi tary cul ture : thewho le d iscuss ion, l ike so many others which turn uponanalogy , i s nei ther he re nor there .The contents of the Kkuddaka Nikaya are very varied .

Most of the works in th i s collection of aphorisms , songs ,poems , and fables have some arti sti c and l i te rary as wel las an edifiying character, and thus i t has the greates timportance in the l i terary h istory of India. He re alsogreater relative stress i s laid on eth ics , and the moreprofound doctrine occupies less space . The Mangala

S utta ,for example, ment ions the honouring Of parents

and the cherish ing of wi fe and chi ldren as amongst themost auspic ious actions . I t is , however, theDkammapadain which the ethi cal aphori sms are ch iefly assembled .

This book i s better known in Europe than any otherBuddhist scripture, and has been Often translated . I tis , indeed , worthy of the notice i t has attracted , and ofthe eulogy of OldenbergFor the elucidation of Buddhism nothing better couldhappen than that, at the very outset of Buddhist studies ,the re should be presented to the student by an auspicioushand the D/zammapada , that most beauti ful and ri chestcol lection of proverbs , to which anyone who is de terminedto know Buddhism must over and ove r again re turn.

”

This proverb ial wisdom gives a true pi cture of Buddh is tthought and fee l ing, but expressed in terms of emotionand poetry which lend to the themes of transc ience and tothe formulae of the psychologist a tragi c poignancy thati s Often lacking in the set d ialogues .

2 79

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of BuddhismHow can ye b e merry, how can ye indulge desi re ?Evermore the flames burn . Darkness surrounds you wi l lye not seek the l ight ?Man gathers flowers ; his heart i s set on pleasure .

Death comes upon him , l ike the floods of water on a

vi l lage, and Sweeps h im away .

Man gathers flowers ; his heart i s set on pleasure . TheDestroyer brings the man of insat iable desi re wi th in hisclutch .

“ Neither in the region of the air, nor i n the depths of thesea, nor i f thou piercest into the clefts of the mountains ,wil t thou find any place on th i s earth where the hand ofdeath wi l l not reach thee .From me rriment cometh sorrow from merriment comethfear. Whosoever i s free from merriment, for him there i sno sorrow whence should fear reach h imFrom love cometh sorrow 1

: from love cometh fearwhosoever i s free from love for him there i s no so rrowwhence should fear reach h im ?“Whoso looketh down upon the world , as though hegazed on a mere bubble or a dream , him the ruler Deathbeholdeth not.Whosoever hath traversed the evi l , trackless path of theSamsara, who hath pushed on to the end, hath reachedthe Shore, rich in meditat i on , free from desi re, free fromhesitancy, who, freed from being, hath found rest, himI cal l a true Brahman.

1 This truth,which has SO deeply pene trated Ind ian thought, is balanced

by a reco gni tion of the impossib i l ity that the majori ty o f men Shouldfor fear of sorrow refrain from love , and expressed w i th trag ic beautyin a we l l-known Indian refrain, which may b e translated

B elovéd,kad I known t/zat love kringspain,

I must lzaveproclaimed, wi t/z beat of drum,tkat none s/zould love.

2 80 .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismverse

, and contain a co l lect ion of sayings of the Buddha .

The s imple ethi cal aspect of the Dhamma, for example ,i s given as fol lows

To speak no i l l , to injure not,To be restrained accord ing to the precepts ,To be temperate in food ,To sleep alone ,To dwell on lofty thoughts ,Thi s i s the Law of the Buddha.

The S utta-nipata i s a col lection of five Suttas who l ly inverse . The Vasettka Sutta , for example , returns to theold question of what const i tutes a Brahman, whe therbi rth or character . In connexion with thi s d iscuss ion,the re i s a remarkable passage aflfirming the uni ty of thehuman spe cie s , a view in accord with most (though not

all) of modern authori ties . The passage runs , afte rmentioning the marks of distinction between quadrupeds ,serpents , bi rds , etcAs in these species the marks that const i tute species are

abundant, S O in men the marks that consti tute species arenot abundant .Not as regards thei r hai r, head , ears , eyes , mouth , nose ,l ips or brows , nor as regards thei r hands , fee t , palms ,nai ls , calves , thighs , co lour, or voice are there marks thatconsti tute species as in o ther species .Diffe rence the re i s in be ings endowed with bodies , but

amongst men thi s i s not the case ; the diffe rence amongstmen i s only nominal .”

And, the refore“Not by birth i s one a Brahman, nor i s one by bi rth noBrahman but by effort, by re l igious l iving, by selfre stra int and by tempe rance , by th is one i s a Brahman.

Amongst allworks of the KkuddakaN ikaya , however, the2 8 2

The Pal i CanonPsalms of the Brethren andS i sters (Tkera-t/zeri -gat/za)stand foremost in l i terary and human interest . In ski l fulcraftsmanship and beauty these songs are worthy to b e se t

beside the hymns of the Rig Veda, and the lyrical poemsof Kal idasa and Jayadeva. Each of the songs is ascribedby name to some member of the Sangha who attained toArahatta in the l i fetime of Gautama, and the later commentary Often adds a few words by way of a biography ofthe author. But we cannot place very much re l iance onthe name s , al though thei r ci tation does not mislead us inpresupposing a great variety of authors in th i s collec

t ion. I t i s inte rest ing to note that analys is reveal s certainpsychological d iffe rent iat ion as between the songs of theBrethren and those of the S i sters : in the latter there i s amore pe rsonal note , and more of anecdote ; in the formermore of the inner l i fe , and more descriptions of naturalbeauty. The burden of all the songs i s the calm de l ight,the peace beyond words to which they have attained , whohave left the world and are free from des i res and fromresentment ; each Psalm , as i t were , i s a l i ttle song of

triumph—l ike the Buddha’ s song of the bui lde r o f thehouse, which is he re ascribed to the Arahat S ivaka

pertinent to the ind ividual experience of the one thatspeaks .These songs are a personal expression of all those idealsand aims which are spoken of in the more ‘ pro found ’

texts . On the part of the Brethren, very often the themeis one of extreme misogyny : the true he ro i s he who barsh is heart from ‘

all that emanates from woman.

’ Morethan one picture of a woman’s corpse in the charnel fieldi s presented with unpleasant de tai l ; and the re at least awoman becomes of some use, for her decaying bodyteaches the lesson of disgust ; nowhere else can She be

2 83

Buddha @9 the Gospe l of Buddhismaught but a fe tter and a hindrance to those who wouldset themselves to righteous duties . I t would perhaps beunfai r to contrast th is point of view with the Brahmani calideal of marriage as undertaken by man and woman prec isely for the joint performance of social and rel igiousdutie s ; for we are here concerned with monasti c ism , and

Brahmani cal ascet ic l i terature can provide i ts own misogynistic texts to compare wi th those of Buddhism . The

fo l lowingmayserve as an example of the Thera’s songs : 1

Of Candana i t i s sai d that when a chi ld was born to him ,

he left h i s home for the Order, and dwelt in the forest .One day, hearing that he was engaged in medi tat ion inthe charne l fie ld , his wi fe endeavoured to win him backto the househo ld l i fe I t was in vain ; and th is was theArahat

’

s wi tness

I n g oldeng ear hedecked, a troop of ma ids

A ttending in her tra in, hearing the hahe

Upon her h ip,my wif e drew near to me.

I marked her coming , mother of my ch ild,

I n brave array, like snare of Mara la id.

Thereat arose in me the deeper thoughtA ttention to thefact and to the cause.

The misery of i t all was man ifest ,

D istaste , indifference, the mindpossessed

A nd so my heart was set at liherty.

0 see the seemly order of the Norm

The Threqfold Wisdom have I made my own,

A nd all the Buddha aids me do is done .

1 The translations are quoted from the admirable versions ofMrsRhysDavids (P salms of the B rethren

,The much more interesting

Nature poems of the Brethren are quoted above , p . 1 66 seq.

2 84

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha !if the Gospe l of BuddhismGlossy and black as the down of the bee my curls once

clustered.

They with the waste of the years are liker to hempen or

bark cloth .

S uch and not otherwise runneth the rune,the word of the

S oothsayer.

D ense as a g rove wellplanted, and comely with comb, p in

andparting .

All wi th the waste of theyears dishevelled the fa ir pla itsandfallen

S uch and not otherwise runneth the rune , the word of theS oothsayer .

L ovely the lines of my ears as the delicate work of the

goldsmi th .

They wi th the waste of years are seamed wi th wrinkles

andpendent.

S uch and not otherwise runneth the rune , the word of theS oothsayer.

F ull and lovely in contour rose of yore the small breasts

of me .

They with the waste of the years droop shrunken as skins

without water .

S o and not otherwise runneth the rune, the word of the

S oothsayer.

S uch hath this body been. Now ag e—weary and weak and

unsightly,

Home of manifold i lls ; old house whence the mortar is

S o and not otherwise runneth the rune , the word of the

S oothsayer .

2 86

The Pal i CanonAnd inasmuch as the Theri , by the vis ible s igns of impermanence in her own person,

discerned impermanencein all phenomena of the three planes , and bearing that inmind , brought into rel ie f the signs of I l l (dukkha) and ofNO-soul (anatta) , she, making clear her insight in her Pathprogress , attai ned Arahantship.

” 1

The words of S undari -Nanda, another of the S i sters ,resume the same train of thought

Nowfor the body care I never more , and all my conscious

ness ispassion-fi ne .

K een with unfettered z eal, detached, calm and serene I

taste N ibba'

na’

speace.

Another composi te work , and one of the greatest significance for l i terary and social h istory, i s the book i atakas,

or h istories of the previous bi rths of Gautama. Original lyconsisting only of verses, to wh ich the reciter must haveadded a verbal explanat ion , they are now preserved in theform of the Pal i f atakavannana , where the verses are

enshrined in a formal framework of which the ch ief partsare the introductory episode and the concluding identificat ion of the characters ; with in these i s the sto ry proper,cons isting of prose and verse . Each of these fourelements

, as Professor Rhys Davids points out , has had a

separate h istory ; the Old Jataka book contained the versesonly ; the necessary oral commentary wh ich accompaniedthe quotat ion of the verses was subsequently wri tten downand forms the prose story, which i s summed up , as i twere , and cl inched by the old verses , and final ly the1 Mrs Rhys Dav ids comments : “ I t is interesting to find these two

anc ient institutions, the hetaira o f the communi ty and theWise Woman,w ith her monopoly of see ing things as they have been, are, or w i l l b e ,combined in one and the same poem.

”

2 8 7

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismscholasti c framework was completed . The Jatakas in thisfinal form were not completed before the fifth century A .D .

However, the stories SO preserved , we have every reasonto bel ieve , closely fol low an old trad ition handed downfrom at least the th ird century B.C. ; for a cons iderablenumber of these stories are i l lustrated in the we l l-knownBharhut sculptures, and are there label led with the i rnames , and in one case a hal f verse i s al so quoted . Welearn from these sculptures that folk-tales and secularfables were adapted to an ed i fying purpose quite early inthe h istory of Buddhism preci sely as popular and secularart i s adapted to Buddhist purposes in the sculpture themselves .Beside thi s , we have to Observe that al though the stori esare now converted to the purposes of Buddhist edification,they belong rather to Indian than to specifical ly Buddhistl i terature, and very few have a purely Buddhist o rigin .

In point of fact the rule of the Order forbids the Brethrento l i sten to stories of kings and queens , wars , women, godsand fai ries , and so forth , and some l i ttle t ime must haveelapsed befo re the Buddhists could have come to bel ievethat the Jatakas were real ly related by the Buddha h imself.Then again, i n the very fact of the stress that i s laid uponthe doctrine of the Bodhisattva, and in the emphasis lai dupon the old ‘ reso lve ’ of the Brahman Sumedha ( in theJataka) , aswell as in the i ntroductory and other referencesto the twenty-four ‘ previous Buddhas , ’ the Jataka bookshows a cons iderable development of Buddhist scholast ic ism and theo logy, and might very wel l be described asa Mahayani st scripture, notwi thstanding i t i s included inthe Pal i canon . Many of the stories are o lder thanBuddhism , and notwithstanding that i n thei r Buddhistgarb they do not date from the time of Gautama, they2 88

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhism‘ supernatural generos ity ’ of the Bodhisattva in h is lastincarnat ion before the attainment of Buddhahood .

ChaddantajatakaIntroductory episode : A well-born girl of Savatthi ,recogniz ing the misery of the worldly l i fe, had adoptedthe homeless state , and was one day seated with o the rsof the S i ste rs , hearing the Master’s teach ing ; and thethought came into heart, ‘Was I in some former l i fean attendant of hi s wives ? ’ Then She remembe red thatin the t ime of the elephant Chaddanta, she hersel f hadbeenhis wi fe, and her heart was fi l led wi th joy . But ‘Was Iwel l or i l l -disposed to h im ? ’ She thought, ‘ for the greaterpart of women are i l l-disposed to thei r lords . ’ Thenshe remembered that she had borne a grudge againstChaddanta, and had sent a hunterwi th a po i soned arrowto take his tusks . Then her grie f awoke , and her heartburned , and she burst into sobs and wept aloud . On

see ing that, the Maste r smi led , and being asked by thecompany of the Brethren, ‘What, S ir, was the cause of

your smi l ing, ’ he said , ‘ Brethren, th is young S i ster weptfor an injury she d id me long ago .

’And so saying he told

a story of the past .Once on a t ime the Bodhisatta was born as the son

of the chief of a herd of elephants in the H imalayas .He was pure white, with red feet and face ; when he

grew up he became the chief of a great herd , and he

worshipped private Buddhas . His two ch ief queens wereCullasubhadda and Mahasubhadda. One year i t wasreported , ‘The great Sal-grove i s in flower ’ ; and withall his herd he went to take his pleasure the re . As hewent along he struck a Sal tree wi th his forehead

, and

be cause Cullasubhadda was standing to windward , twigs2 90

Chaddanta Jatakaand d ry leaves and red ants fe l l on her, while Mahasubhadda stood to leeward

, SO that flowers and pol len and

green leaves fel l on her. Cullasubhadda thought, “ Hele t the flowers and po l len fal l on his favouri te wife , andthe twigs and red ants on me

,

’and she bore h im a grudge .

Upon another occas ion, when a lotus wi th seven Shoo tshad been Offered to him , he presented i t to Mahasub

hadda.

Then Cullasubhadda was st i l l more estranged , and She

went to a Shrine of private Buddhas and made offeringsof wi ld frui ts , and prayed : ‘ Hereafter, when I passaway, I would be reborn as the daughte r of a king,that I may become the queen of the King of Benares .Then Shal l I be dear to h im , and may work my wi ll ,and I wi l l have h im to send a hunte r wi th a poisonedarrow to ki l l th i s e lephant and bring me his s ixfo ld tusks . ’

And in time to come she be comes the chie f queen of the

King of Benares . She remembers her former l i fe , and

th inks : ‘Mypraye r has been fulfi l led .

’She fe igns s i ckness ,

and persuade s the king to grant her a boon, which alonewi l l restore her heal th and spi ri ts ; what the boon i s shewil l te l l when all the king ’s huntsmen are assembled . I ti s that some one of them Should bring her the tusks ofChaddanta . She Opens a window and points to the

Himalayas in the North and says

There dwells inv incible in might,Th is elephant, six- tasked and wh ite ,

L ord of a herd e ight thousand strong

Whose tasks are like to chariot poles,A nd wind-swift they to g uard or strike

If they should see a ch i ld of man

Thei r ang er should destroy h im utterly,

Buddha 899 the Go spe l of Buddhismand she beheld in her heart the very spot where he wastaking his pleasure , how

F resh from h is bath and lotus-wreathed,

H e mov es along the homeward trach .

Vast is his hrahe and li ly whi te,

A nd there before h im walhs a dear-loved queen .

Of all the huntsmen, one by name S onuttara, who was a

hideous lout and big and strong, unde rtook the task , andbe ing furnished wi th all needful implements , he set forthon his way. I t needed seven years of weary go ing to

reach Chaddanta’s haunts ; but no sooner come the re ,than Sonuttara dug a pi t and covered i t wi th logs andgrass , and donning the yellow robes of a man of re l igion,and taking his bow and po i soned arrow, he h id h imse l fand lay in wai t . Presently Chaddanta passed by, and

S onuttara wounded him with the po i soned arrow . Butthe e lephant subduing h is fee l ings of resentment, askedthe hunter, ‘Why have you wounded me ? i s i t for yourown ends or to sati sfy the wi l l of another? ’ The hunte ranswe red that Subhadda, the consort of the K ing of

Benares, had sent h im to secure the tusks . Chaddanta

refle cted , I t i s not that she wishes for the tusks , but shedesi res my death ; and he said

Come now,thou hunter, and hefore I die

S aw through my ivory tushs ;

A nd hid thejealous queen rejoice‘H ere are the tushs, the elephant is dead.

’

S o Chaddanta bowed h is head , and S onuttara began to

saw the tusks ; and when he could not cut them,the

great elephant took the saw in h is trunk and moved i t toand fro t i l l the tusks were severed . Then he gave up2 9 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha fio" the Gospe l of Buddhism

S ummary of the Vessantara fatahaA son was born to Phusati , the Queen-consort of theK ing of S ivi he was named Vessantara, and the fortunetel lers predicted that he would be devoted to almsgiving,neve r sati sfied wi th giving. He was married to his cousinMaddi , and they had a son and a daughter. Vessantara

possessed al so a magical wh ite elephant, that broughtra in whe rever he went . At that t ime there was a droughtand famine in Kal inga, and the men of that country,knowing of the e lephant , and of Vessantara ’s generosi ty ,sent an embassy of Brahmans to ask for the elephant,As the Prince was rid ing through the city on the elephant,to visi t one of his alms-hal ls , the Brahmans met him bythe way and craved a boon , nor would he re fuse the

elephant h imse l f. He de scended from his back , and

bestowed him on the Brahmans , together with all hi spri celess jewels and hundreds of attendants .

Then was a m ighty terror felt, then bristling ofthe ha ir

When the great elephant was g iven , the earth

did quaheforfear,

and the people of the city reproached the Bodhisattva forhis too great generosi ty . In o rder to avo i d thei r anger,he was bani shed . Vessantara spent a day in bestowinggi fts of e lephants , horses , women, jewels , and food ; thenhe went forth into exi le , accompanied by Maddi and boththe chi ldren, se tting out in a go rgeous carriage drawn byfour horses. On the way he give s the horses and chariotin alms ; final ly they reach a beauti ful fore st re treat, andthe re take up the ir abode in a hermitage .While there a Brahman vis i ts Vessantara, and begs for2 9 4

Other Books of the Canon

the children to b e h is servants , and they are freely given ;they are subsequently brought by the same Brahman tothe c i ty from which Vessantara had been exi led , and theyare the re ransomed by h is parents . Next, Sakka appearsto Vessantara in the shape of another Brahman, and asksfor his wi fe .

The Bodhisattva bestows h is wi fe upon the seemingBrahman, saying :

Weary am I,nor h ide that : yet in my own desp ite

,

g ive , and shrinh not : for in g ifts my heart doth tahe

Bothjali and K anhajina let another tahe,

A ndMaddi my devoted wife , and allfor wisdom’

s sahe .

Not hatef ul is myfa i thful wife , noryet my children are ,

But perfect hnowledg e , to my m ind, is something dearer

far.

Sakka then reveals h imsel f, and restores Madd i , and

bestows ten boons ; as the resul t of which Vessantaraand Madd i are brought back to thei r paternal c i ty ,re stored to favour, and reuni ted with thei r ch i ld ren, and

final ly Vessantara receives the assurance that he shal l beborn only once again.

Other Boohs of the CanonThe Buddhavamsa i s a somewhat jejune reci tal of thehistories of the twenty-four previous Buddhas , and thel i fe of Gautama, represented to have been re lated byh imse l f. The last book of the K huddaha N iha

'

ya i s theCariya

’

p i taha , a col le ction of thi rty-fiv e Jatakas .The th i rd d ivis ion of the Pal i canon, the A bhidhammaF i taba , need not be considered here at any length , for i t

2 95

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismd iffers from the S utta l i terature al ready discussed only inbeing more dry, more invo lved , and mo re scholasti coriginal i ty and depth are comparat ive ly lacking, and ourknowledge of Buddhist ph i losophy would be l i ttle less i fthe A bh idamma P itaha were al together ignored .

Uncanonical Pali L i terature

I f we proceed now to speak of the uncanonical Pal iBuddhist l i terature, we meet in the first place the we l lknown book of the Questions of K ing M i linda , whichmight very we l l indeed have been included in the canon,

and i s so included in S iam . The most o ften quoted , andve ry characteristi c passage of the M i linda P anha i s thechario t d iscourse on anattaNagasena enqui res of the king : “ Pray, did you comeafoo t, or rid ing ? ” and the re ensues the followingdialogueBhante , I do not go afoot : I came in a chario t .Your majesty, i f you came in a chariot, de clare to me

the chariot . Pray, your majesty, i s the pole the chariot ? ”

Nay ve ri ly, Bhante .

”

I s the axle the chariot ? ”

Nay ve ri ly, Bhante .

”

And so for the hee ls , the body, the banner-staff, the yoke,the reins , and the goad : the king admits that none of

these , nor al togethe r consti tute a chario t, nor is the re anyo the r th ing be s ide these which consti tutes a chario t .Then Nagasena cont inue s :“Your majesty, though I question you ve ry close ly, I fai lto d iscover any chariot . Ve ri ly now, your majesty, theword chario t i s a mere empty sound . What chario t i sthere here ? ”

And the king is convinced that the word chariot “ i s but a2 9 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 89” the Gospe l of Buddhismtribution to Buddhist doctrine, but on the o the r handmany legends and tale s of wonder are preserved here and

nowhe re else there i s cons iderable stress laid onmiraclesperfo rmed by the saints . Buddhaghosha also compi leda commentary on the whole of the canoni cal l i terature ;though i t is doubtful i f the jataka and Dhammapadacommentarie s are real ly h i s work . In any case, Buddhaghosha i s the Buddhist commentator, before all others ;his me thod is clear and penetrat ing, and the i l lustrat ivelegends serve to l ighten the more tedious summarie s .Two Buddhist Pal i works of very great importance , the

vamsa and Mahavamsa , are verse chroni cle s of

Ceylon history . Notwithstanding that no distinction i shere made between saga, legend , and de facto history, acons iderable part

, and espe cial ly the later part of the seworks , has a great h i stori cal value . We find, forexample, a striking confi rmat ion of the genera l accuracyof the tradi tion, in the fact that the chroni cles mentionamongst the names of Asoka’s miss ionarie s those of

Kassapa-gotta and Majjh ima as having been sent withthree others to the Himalayas , whi le archaeo logicalexplo ration has unearthed from a stfipa near Sanchi a

funeral urn bearing the inscript ion in script of the thi rdcentury B.C. Of the good man Kassapa-gotta, teache r ofall the H imalaya region,

’ while the ins ide of the urn i sinscribed Of the good man, Majjhima .

’

Indian practi ce, howeve r, deal s wi th h istory as art ratherthan science ; and perhaps the chief interest of the Ceylonchroni cles appears in the i r epic characte r. The D ipavamsa ,

probably of the fourth century A .D .—just before Buddha

ghosha—i s composed in very poor Pal i , and i s al togethe r

an inartisti c production ; i t has only been preserved inBurma, whi le in Ceylon i ts place has been taken by the2 9 8

Uncanonical Pal i Literaturemuch finer book of theMahavamsa , composed byMahanama

toward the end of the fi fth centu ry .

“We are here able,” says Pro fessor Geiger, “ in a way

that e lsewhere i s not easy, to fol low the development ofthe epi c in i ts l i terary evolution. We are able to pictureto ourselves the contents and form of the chroni cle wh ichforms the bas is of the epi c song, andof the various e lementsof which i t i s composed . The D ipavamsa representsthe first unaided struggle to create an epi c out of theal ready existing material . I t i s a document that fixe s ourattent ion just because of the imcomple teness of the com

posi tion and i ts want of style . The Mahavamsa i sal ready worthy of the name of a true epi c . I t i s therecogni zed work of a poet . Andwe are able to watch th i spoet in a certain measure at hi s work in his workshop .

A l though he i s quite dependent on h is materials , which hei s bound to fo l low as closely as possible, he deal s wi ththem criti cal ly, perceives thei r shortcomings and irregulari ties, and seeks to improve and to e l im inate.” 1

The hero of th i s epi c i s Dutthagamani , a nat ional heroking of the second century B.C. , whose renown in S outhernBuddhist annal s i s second only to that of Asoka h imse l f .The king’s

.

victory over the Tamil leader i s related as

fol lows“ King Dutthagamani proclaimed with heat of drum‘ None but mysel f shal l s lay Elara .

’ When he himsel f,armed , had mounted the armed elephant Kandula

,he

pursued Elara and came to the south gate (of Anuradhapura) . Near the s outh gate of the ci ty the two kingsfought : Elara hurled h is dart, Gamani evaded i t ; hemade his own elephant pierce (Elara

’s) e lephant with h istusks , and he hurled h is dart at Elara ; and the latter1 Ge iger, s avamsa una

’ Mahavamsa introduction.

2 99

Buddha $39 the Gospe l of Buddhismfe l l there with h is e lephant . On the spot where h is(Elara

’s) body had fal len he burned i t with the catafalque ,and there did he bui ld a monument and ordain worsh ip .

Andeven to this day the princes ofLanka, when they drawnear to th i s place, are wont to s i lence thei r musi c be causeof th is worship .

”

With true Buddhist feel ing the king is represented to havefe l t no joy in h i s great vi ctory and the slaughter of theinvader’s hosts :“ Looking back upon hi s glorious vi cto ry , great thoughi t was, he knew no joy, remembering that thereby waswrought the destruct ion of mi l l ions of beings .”

On th is the chroni cle comments“ S hould a man th ink on the hosts of human be ings murdered for greed in countless myriads , and should he careful ly keep in mind the (consequent) evi l , and should heal so ve ry careful ly keep in mind that mortal i ty i s the(real) murderer of all of them—then wi l l he, in th is way,speedi ly win to freedom from sorrow and to a happystate .”

One of h is warriors took the robes of a monk, and thename ofTheraputtabhaya, saying :“ I wi l l do battle wi th the rebel pass ions , where victory i shard to win ; what other war remains where all the realmis uni ted ? ”

The death-bed scenes are related wi th deep feel ing : theking has his couch brought where he can gaze upon histwo great bui ld ings , the Brazen Palace monaste ry, andthe Great Thapa, the latter not yet complete . He i ssurrounded by thousands of the Bre thren, but lookingabout , he does not see Theraputtabhaya, his old companion-in-arms , and he thinks °

“The Theraputtabhaya comes not now to aid me , now300

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha $ 9 the Gospe l of BuddhismA cons iderable part of these corresponds to the books ofthe Pal i canon al ready described but they are not translations from Pal i , but rathe r paral le l texts derived fromthe same Indian sources , the lost Magadhi canon on whichthe Pal i books are based . On th is account, al though fewof the Mahayana texts can be shown to be o lde r in recens ion than the th i rd or fourth century A .D . ,

we can understand that they embody older materials , together wi th thenew add i tions .The Mahavastu , indeed The Book of Greati s sti l l nominal ly a H inayana work, though i t belongs tothe hereti cal sect of the Lokottaravadins who regard theBuddha as a supernatural being ; the biography i s a

h istory of mi racles . I t i s a compi lat i on without anyattempt at system . I t contains also much that i sproperly Mahayani st, such as an enumerat ion of theTen S tat ions of a Bodhisattva, Hymns to Buddha, thedoctrine that wo rship of Buddha suffice s to achieveNi rvana, and so forth ; but there i s no characteri sti cal lyMahayana mythology.

A more famous and a more important work i s theLali tavistara , The History of the Play (of the Buddha)

’

—a t i tle suggestive of the Hindu conception of Li la orPlay, the ‘Wonderful Works of the Lord .

’ This is aBuddha biography wi th elaborate mythology, and stressi s la i d on fai th as an essent ial element of rel igion.

The general trend of the Lalitavistara i s wel l knownto Western readers , for i t has formed the basis of

S ir Edwin Arnold ’s beauti ful poem , The L ight ofA sia . I ts contents have also been closely fo l lowedin the famous sculptures of Borobodur ; and from thesubject matter of Gandhara art we can infer withce rtainty that the Lalitavistara or some very s imi lar30 2

Asvaghosha

text must have al ready been known in the first and

second centu ry A .D . In i tsel f,howeve r, the work i s not

yet a true Buddha-epi c, but contains the germ of an

epi c .

A svaghosha

I t i s from such bal lads and anecdotes as are preservedin the Lali tavistara that Asvaghosha, the greatestBuddhist poet, has composed his masterly Buddha-cari ta ,

the ‘ Course of the Buddha .

’Asvaghosha i s indeed

not me rely a Buddhist poet , but one of the greatest ofS anskri t poets , and the ch ief fo rerunner of Kal idasa.

We have no certain knowledge of h is date , but i t i s mostprobable that he flouri shed during the first century A .D . ,

and in any case he must be regarded as a Father of theMahayana. He must have been brought up as a Brahmanbe fore becoming a Buddh ist . The Tibetan biographyinforms us that “ there was no problem he could not

solve , no argument he could not re fute ; he ove rcame h isadversary as eas i ly as the storm wind breaks a rottent ree .

” The same authori ty tel ls us that he was a greatmusi c ian, who h imsel f composed and went about thevi l lage s wi th a troupe of s ingers and songstre sses . Thesongs he sang spoke of the emptiness of phenomena, andthe crowds who heard his beauti ful mus i c s tood and

l i s tened in rapt s i lence . The Ch inese pi lgrim I -ts ing,who vis i ted Ind ia in the seventh century, speaks of hisl i te rary style as fol lows :He i s read far and wide throughout the five Ind ies and

the lands o f the southern seas . He clothes in but a fewwo rds many and many thoughts and ideas , which so

rejo i ce the reader’s heart that he never wearies of readingthe poem . Very profi table al so i t i s to read this poem ,

303

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismfor here the noble doctrines are set forth wi th conven ientbrevity.

”

The wo rk as we have i t i s but a fragment,comple ted by

other hands ; ye t i t i s a true Buddha-epic and the work ofa true poe t, who has created a wo rk of art, informed withh is own deep love of the Buddha andbel ie f in the doctrine ;i t i s a court epic in the techni cal sense , in a s tyle somewhatmo re elabo rate than that of the M ahavamsa ,

but not yetat all immoderately art ificial . The Buddha-

cari ta i s notonly an important monument of spe cifical ly Buddhistl i terature, but exercised an unmistakable influence on

the development of Brahmani cal class i c S anskri t .When the d ivine ch i ld i s born i t i s prophes ied .

The ch i ld i s now born who knows that myste ry hard toattain, the means of destroying bi rth . Fo rsaking h isk ingdom , ind iffe rent to all wo rldly objects , and attainingthe highe st truth by strenuous efforts , he wil l shine forthas a sun of knowledge to de stroy the darkness of i l lus ionin the world . He wi ll proclaim the wayof del ive ranceto those affl i cted with sorrow, entangled in obje cts of sense ,and l ost in the forest-paths of worldly existence , as tot rave l lers who have lost thei r way. He wil l breakopen for the escape of l iving beings that door whose bolti s desi re, andwhose two leaves are igno rance and delus ion,

with that excellent blow of the good Law that i s so hardto find. And s ince I have not heard his Law, butmy time has come to depart ” (says the prophet)

“ myl i fe i s only a fai lure , I count even dwell ing in the highestheaven a misfortune .

The young prince , as he grew up, was surrounded byevery pleasure , whereby to hinde r h im from seeking theWandere rs ’ l i fe ; his father “

arranged for his son all

kinds of worldly enjoyments , praying ‘Would that he304

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha $5" the Gospel of Buddhismto adopt the rel igious l i fe apart from me 1 He does not seethat husband and wi fe are al ike consecrated by sacrifices ,purified by the performance of Vedic ri tes , and destinedto enjoy the same fru i ts hereafter. I have no suchlonging for the joys of heaven , nor are these hard forcommon folk to attain, i f they be re solute ; but my onede s ire i s that my darl ing maynever leave me either in th isworld or the next .”

I t i s interesting to no te the arguments adduced by theking ’s Brahman family priest, and by a trusted counse l lo r,who are sent to pe rsuade the Bodhisattva to return,

offe ring him the kingdom itself in his father’s place . The

former points out :“ Rel igion i s not wrought out only in the forests ; thesalvat ion of ascetics can be accompl ished even in a ci ty ;thought and effort are the true means ; the forest and thebadge are only a coward ’s s igns .”

and he cites the case of Janaka and others ; at the samet ime he appeals to the prince to take pity on his unhappyparents . The counsel lo r, with more worldly wisdom ,

argue s that i f there be a future l i fe , i t wi l l be t ime enoughto conside r i t when we come to i t, and i f not, then the rei s l iberat ion attained without any effort at all ; and moreover, the nature of the world cannot be al tered , i t i s suig eneri s subject to mortal i ty, and i t therefore cannot b eovercome by extinguishing desi re

‘Who causes the sharpness of the thorn ? ’ he asks , orthe various natures of beasts and birds ? All th is hasarisen spontaneously ; there i s no act ing from desi re, howthen can there be such a th ing as wi l lAt the same time he reminds the prince of h is socialduties , his debt to the ancestors , to be repai d only bybege tting chi ldren, by study, and by sacrifice to the Gods ,306

Asvaghosha

and suggests that he should fulfi l these social dutiesbe fore reti ring to the fore st . To these subtle advise rsthe prince repl ies by offering the usual ‘ conso lation ’ tosorrowing parents“ S ince parting is inevi tably fixed in the course of t imefor all beings , just as for travel lers who have jo inedcompany on a road , what wise man would cheri sh sorrow,

when he loses h is kindred , even though he loves them ? ”

He adds that h i s departure to the forest canno t becons idered ‘ i l l-t imed , ’ for l iberat ion can neve r b e i l lt imed . That the king should wish to surrender to h imthe kingdom , he says , i s a noble thought, butHow can i t be right for the wise man to enter royalty ,the home of i l lus ion, where are found anxiety, pass ion,and weariness, and the violation of all right throughanother ’s servi ce (explo i tat ion)To the metaphysi cal objections he repl ies“ This doubt whether anyth ing exists or not, i s not to b eso lved for me by another ’s wo rds ; having determined thetruth by d iscipl ine or by Yoga, I wi l l grasp for mysel fwhatever i s known of i t what wise man would goby another’s bel ief ? Mankind are l ike the bl ind d i rectedin the darkness by the bl ind . Even the sun, therefore ,may fal l to the earth , even the mount H imalaya may losei ts firmness ; but I wi l l never return to my home as a

worldl ing , lacking the knowledge of the truth , and withsense only alert for external objects : I would ente r theblaz ing fire , but not my house with my purpose unful

fi l led .

”

In such a fash ionAsvaghosha represents those stat ions inthe l i fe of every Saviour, which are famil iar to Chri stiansin the reply of Christ to h is parents : Wist ye not thatI must be about my Father’s business ? and in his refusal of

307

Buddha 39° the Gospe l of Buddhisman earthly kingdom and the status of a Dharmaraja, whenthe se are la id before him by the Devi l .The passage s so far quoted are primari ly ed ifying : and

notwithstanding the ski l l with wh ich Buddhist thought i sthe re expre ssed , there are othe rs that wi l l better exempl i fyAsvaghosha

’

s epic d iction and personal intens i ty of imagination. Of the two fol lowing extracts , the first de scribes anearly meditat ion of the Bodhisattva, beneath a rose-appletree and the second , the gi ft of food which he accepts , whenafte r five years of mortification of the flesh , he finds thatmortification of the flesh wi ll not lead him to h is goal ,and reve rts to that first process of insight which came tohim as he sat beneath the rose-apple . He re Asvaghosha

proves himsel f a true poet ; he has a saga-te l ler’s powe r ofcal l ing up a vivid picture in a few words , he unde rstandsthe heavy toi l of the peasant and of the beasts of burden,and he represents the pure d igni ty of unsoph isti catedgi rlhood , in the person of the herdsman’s daughte r, withthe same simpl ic i ty that Homer uses when he speaks ofNausicaa.

The prince went forth one daywith a party of his friends ,with a des i re to see the glades of the forest, and longing

for peaceLured by love of the woods and longing for the beautiesof the earth , he repai red to a place near at hand on theoutskirts of a forest ; and there he saw a piece of landbeing ploughed , with the path of the plough broken l ikewave s on the water. And regard ing the men as theyploughed , the i r faces soi led by the dust, scorched by thesun and chafed by the wind , and the i r cattle bewilde redby the burden of drawing, the all-noble one felt the utte rmost compass ion ; and al ighting from the back of h ishorse , he passed slowly over the earth , overcome with308

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of BuddhismVajrasuci , or D iamond-needle , a polemic aga inst theBrahmani cal caste system , supported mainly by ci tationsfrom Brahmani cal source s , such as the Vedas, the Mahabharata, and the Laws of Manu . Final ly there rema ins tobe named the very important Mahayana-sraddha-ucpada ,

or Awakening of Fa i th in the Mahayana, ’ a phi losophicaland mystical work deal ing wi th the doctrines of theTathagata-

garbha and Alaya-v ijfiana after the manne r ofthe Yogavaracaras andAsanga but there are good reasonsto th ink that th i s text may be of considerably late r date ;i t was first translated into Chinese only in the s ixth century ,and i s not known in the Sanskri t o riginal .

A ryasura

A poe t of Asvaghosha’s school i s Aryasura, the autho r ofa

famousjatakamala or Garland ofjatakas ,’to b e assigned ,

most probably, to the fourth century A .D. jatakamalas ofth is type are sele ctions of the old stories retold as homil ie sin artisti c prose and verse , for the use ofmonkish teache rstrained in the tradition of Sanskri t court prose and poetry .

Of Aryasfira’

s wo rk i t has been we l l said :“ I t is pe rhaps the most pe rfect wri ting of i ts kind . I t i sd ist inguished no le ss by the superio ri ty of i ts style thanby the loftiness of i ts thoughts . I ts verses and artfulprose are wri tten in the purest Sanskri t, and charm the

reade r by the e legance of the i r form and the ski l l d isplayedin the handl ing of a great variety of me t re s . Aboveall, I admire h is moderat ion. Unl ike so many othe rIndian maste rs in the art of l i terary compos i t ion, he doesnot al low himse l f the use of embel l i sh ing appare l and the

who le luxuriant mise en scene of Sanskrit alamhara beyondwhat is ne cessary for his subje ct (S peye r) .I - tsing pra ise s thejatahama

'

la asamong the works special ly3 1 0

Aryasura

admi red in his time . But mo re important i s the fact thati t is these vers ions of the jatakas which are i l lustrated inthe wal l-paintings ofAjanta, and indeed , in some cases thepictures are inscribed with verse from Aryasura

’s wo rk ;

the paint ing and the l iterary work are in close harmony ofsent iment .The first story relates the Bodhisattva’s gift of h is ownbody for the nourishment of a hungry tigress, thatshe might not eat her own young, and i t begins as

fo l lowsEven in former bi rths the Lord showed h is innate , disin

terested, and immense love toward all creatures , and

ident ified h imse l f wi th all beings . For th i s reason weought to have the utmost fai th in Buddha, the Lord .

This wi l l be shown in the fo l lowing great deed of the Lordin a former bi rth .

” Following each story i s an injuncti onpoint ing out the moral . Many of the stories inculcatethe duty of gentleness and me rcy, by means of the re lat ionof some anecdote regard ing some helpful animal and an

ungrateful man. The Ruru-deer, for exampleWith h is large blue eyes of incomparable mi ldness and

brightness , with h is ho rns and hoofs endowed with a

gentle rad iance , as i f they were made of precious stones ,that ruru-dee r of surpass ing beauty seemed a movingtreasury of gems . Then, knowing his body to be a verydes i rable th ing, and aware of the pi ti le ss hearts of men,

he would frequent such forest ways as were free fromhuman company, and because of his keen intel l igence hewas careful to avoid such places as were made unsafe bydevice s of huntsmen he warned also the animal swho fo l lowed afte r h im to avoid them . He exercised h isrule ove r them l ike a teacher, l ike a father . ’

One day, however, he heard the cries of a drowning man,

3 1 1

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhismand entering the stream he saved his l i fe and brought himto the shore . At the same t ime the ruru- dee r prayed theman to say noth ing of his adventure, for he feared thecrue l ty of men. The queen of that country , howeve r,happened at that t ime to dream of just such a dee r ;and the king offe red a reward for the capture of such acreature . The man whose l i fe had been saved , be ingpoor

, was tempted by the offe r of a ferti le vi llage and

ten beauti ful women, and revealed to the king the se cre tof the beauti ful dee r. The king is about to le t fly hisarrow, when the deer asks h im to stay his hand , and to

tel l who has revealed the secret of his forest home .When the wretched man i s pointed out, the deer exclaimsF ie upon him ! I t i s veri ly a true word , that be tte r i ti s to take a log from the water than to save an ungrate fulman from drowning .

’ Thus i t i s that he requites the

exertions undertaken on his behal f !The king inqui res why the deer speaks so bitte rly, and

the Bodhisattva ( for such , of course , i s the dee r) repl ie sNo des i re to pass censure moved me to these words

, 0

king, but knowing his blameworthy deed , I spoke sharpwo rds to hinder h im from do ing such a deed aga in. Forwho would wi l l ingly use harsh speech to those who havedone a s inful deed , strewing sal t, as i t were , upon the

wound of the i r fault ? But even to h is beloved son a

phys ician must apply such medicine as his s ickne ssrequi re s . He who has put me in th is dange r, 0 best ofmen, i t i s whom I rescued from the current, be ing movedby pity . Veri ly, inte rcourse wi th evi l company does not

lead to happiness .”

Then the king would have slain the man ; but the Bodhisattva pleads for his l i fe, and that he may re ce ive the

promised reward . Then the Bodhisattva preaches the3 1 2

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8679 the Gospe l of BuddhismS carce ly d istinguishable from the jatakas are the vario usAvadanas, which cons is t in genera l of Bodhisattvalegends . Amongst these there should b e noti ced the

Asoka cyc le which forms a part of the D ivyavaa’ana or

Heavenly Avadanas.

’ The finest of these legends i s thepathe ti c story of Kunala, the son of Asoka, whose eyesare put out by his wicked stepmothe r, without awakeningin his heart any fee l ings of ange r or hatred . I quote thesummary of th is story from the wo rk of Oldenbe rgKunala— th is name was given to h im on account of hiswonde rful ly beauti ful eyes , which are as beauti fu l as theeye s of the bird Kunala—l ives far from the bustle of the

court, devo ted to med itat ion on impe rmanence . One o f

the queens is burning with love for the beauti ful youth ,but her so l ic i tat ion and the menaces of disda ined beautyare al ike in va in. Thirsting for revenge , she contrivesto have him sent to a distant province , and then issue san o rde r to that quarter, sealed with the slyly sto len ivo ryseal of the king, for the prince ’s eye s to be to rn out.

When the o rde r arrive s , no one can b e preva i led upon tolay hands on the noble eyes of the prince . The princehimse l f offe rs rewards to any one who should be preparedto execute the king’s orde r. At last a man appears ,repuls ive to look on, who unde rtake s the performance .

When,amid the cries of the weeping multi tude , the first

eye i s to rn out, Kunala takes i t in hi s hand and saysWhy seest thou no longer those forms on which thouwast just now looking, thou coarse bal l of flesh ? How

they de ce ive themse lves , how blamable are those foo ls,who c l ing to thee and say,

“ This is I .” And when hisse cond eye i s to rn out , he says : The eye of flesh , whichis hard to get, has been torn from me , but I havewon the perfect faultle ss eye of wisdom . The king has3 14

Aryasura

forsaken me , but I am the son of the highly exal ted kingof truth : whose chi ld I am cal led .

’ He is informed thati t i s the queen, by whom the command concerning himwas i ssued . Then he says Long may she enjoy happine ss, l i fe , and power, who has brought me so muchwel fare . ’ And he goes forth a beggar wi th h is wi fe ;and when he comes to h is father’s c ity, he s ings to the

l ute before the palace . The king hears Kunala’

s vo i ce ;he has him cal led in to h im , but when he sees the bl indman be fore him , he cannot recogni ze his son. At last thetruth come s to l ight . The king in the excess of rage and

grie f i s about to torture and ki l l the gu il ty queen. ButKunala says : ‘ I t would not become thee to ki l l her.

Do as honour demands , and do not ki l l a woman. The rei s no highe r reward than that for benevo lence pat ience

,

s i re , has been commanded by the Pe rfect One .

’And he

fal ls at the king’s fee t , saying : O king, I fee l no pain,

notwi thstanding the inhumani ty which has been practisedon me

,I do not fee l the fi re of anger. My heart has

none but a kindly feel ing for my mothe r, who has giventhe o rde r to have my eyes torn out. As sure as the sewo rds are true , maymy eye s aga in become as they we re ;

’

and his eyes shone in the i r old splendour as before .

Buddhist poe try has nowhere glorified in more beauti fulfash ion

,forgiveness , and the love of enemie s than in the

narrat ive of Kunala . But even here we fee l that coo l a irwhich floats round all pictures of Buddhist moral i ty .

The wise man stands upon a he ight to which no act of

man can approach . He resents no wrong which sinfulpassion may work him , but he even fee l s no pain unde rth i s wrong . The body, ove r wh ich his enemies havepowe r , i s not h imse l f. Ungrieved by the actions of othe rmen, he permits h is benevo lence to flow over all, over the

Buddha 899 the Go spe l of Buddhismevi l as we l l as the good .

‘ Those who cause me pain and

those who cause me joy, to all I am al ike ; affe ctionand hatred I know not. In joy and sorrow I remainunmoved , in honour and d ishonour ; th roughout I am

al ike . That i s the perfection of my equanimity .

’

The whole of the Buddhist Sanskri t works so far describedstand in a hal f-way pos i t ion between the Hinayana and

Mahayana, the Awakening of Fa i th ascribed to Asvaghosha, of course , excepted , though leaning more andmoreto the Mahayana s ide , a tendency which finds expressionin an increas ing emphas i s on devotion to the Buddhaupon the Bodhisattva ideal .

Mahayana- satras

With the Mahayana-sutras we reach a serie s of worksthat are ent i re ly and wholly Mahayanist . There 18 of

course no Mahayana canon, but at the same time there arenine books which are sti l l h ighly honoured by all se cts ofthe Mahayana al ike . Amongst these are the Lalitav istaraal ready mentioned , the A shtasahasriha-prajnaparamita,and the S addharmapundarz

'

ha .

The last ment ioned , the ‘ Lotus of the Good Law,

’ i sperhaps the most important of the se , and ce rtainly of thechief l i te rary interest . I t may be dated about the end of

the second century A .D. He re no th ing remains of the

human Buddha : the Buddha i s a God above all othe rgods , an everlasting be ing, who ever was and for eve rshal l be ; the Buddhist re l igion i s he re comple tely freedfrom a dependence upon history. The Lo tus of theGood Law i s rathe r a drama than a narrat ive ; i t i s“ An undeve loped mystery play, i n which the chie f inte rlocutor, not the only one , i s Sakyamuni , the Lord . I tconsists of a series of d ialogues , brightened by the magic3 1 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 599 the Gospe l of Buddhismhe, O Subhuti , does not understand the meaning of mypreaching . And why ? Because the word Tathagatameans one who doe s not go to anywhere , and does not

come from anywhe re ; and the refo re he i s cal led the

Tathagata (truly come ) , ho ly and ful ly enl ightened .

”

The ve ry much more extended works known as theP rajnaparami tas are fi l led with s imi lar texts upon theEmptiness (S unyata) of th ings . Wo rks of th i s class areknown, having in various recens ions 2 8000 ,

andsome smal le r numbe rs ofcouplets ; theP rajnaparamitaof 8000 couple ts i s the most commonly met wi th . Theydeal in part with the S ix Perfe ctions of a Bodhisattva(Param itas) , and espe cial ly with the highest of these ,Prajna, Transcendent Wisdom . This wisdom cons ists inperfe ct real izat ion of the Void , the No-th ing, the S unyata ;all is mere name . In the se works the repe ti tions and thelong l i sts of parti cular i l lustrations of the gene ral truthsare carried to incredible lengths , far beyond anything to

b e found in the H inayana S uttas . But le t us rememberthat the single truth of the Emptiness of th ings , thusinculcated by repeti t ion—a repe t i t ion s imi lar to that ofthe endle ss serie s of painted and sculptured figures of theexcavated churches and temple wal ls—i s no easy thing tob e real i zed ; and the pious authors of these works werenot concerned for an art isti c sense of proportion, butwi th the disseminat ion of the saving truth . They d idnot bel ieve that thi s truth could be too o ften repeated ;and i f, for example , as they c laim in the Vajracchediha ,

i t was known even to chi ldren and ignorant personsthat matte r i tself could be nei the r a thing nor nothing,perhaps even the mode rn world might do we l l to

cons ider the value of repe tit ion as an educat ional princ iple . For in Europe i t i s not always remembered ,3 1 8

Nagarjuna and Others

even in scient ific ci rcles , that Matter exists only as a

concept .

Nagarjuna and Others

We have al ready ment ioned the great Mahayana maste rNagarjuna, who flourishe d in the latte r part of the secondcentu ry , a l i ttle after Asvaghosha. Like the latter he wasfi rst a Brahman,

and Brahmani cal phi losophy i s evidentin h is work . I f not the founder of the Mahayana, he i sthe moulde r o f one o f i ts ch ief deve lopments , the Madhyamika school , of which the ch ief scriptures are his own

Madhyamiha sutra . In these he i s chiefly concernedto demonstrate the indefinab ili tyof the S uchness (Bhutathuta) , and he expresses th i s very plainly in severalp assages of these sfi tras, as fol lows

After h ispassing , deem not thus

The Buddha sti ll i s here .

’

H e is above all contrasts,

To be and not to be .

Wh ile liv ing , deem not thus :

The Buddha is now here .

’

H e is above all contrasts,

T0 be and not to be .

To th inh f t is'

is eternalism ,

To thinh , ! t is not,’

is n ih i lism

B e ing and non-be ing ,

The wise cling not to e ither.

The work of Kumaraji va cons ists in h is biograph ie s of

Asvaghosha andNagarjuna, and a certain legendary Devaor Aryadeva the se biograph ies were translated intoChine se early in the fi fth century A .D.

3 1 9

Buddha @9 the Gospe l of BuddhismThe works of Asanga, the great master of the Yogacarasect, were translated into Chinese in the sixth century .

S hanti Deva

Most eminent amongst the later Mahayana poe ts i s thesainted S hant i Deva, who i s probably to b e ass ignedto the seventh century . His Sh ihsha

’

samuccaya , or

‘ S tudent’s Compendium ’ i s a work o f infini te learning,each verse being provided with an extens ive commentaryand exeges i s : the work i tse l f ne i ther i s , nor i s meant tobe , original or personal . The two first of i ts twenty-sevenverses run as fol lows :

S ince to my ne ighbours as to myselfAre fear and sorrow hateful each ,What then distinguishes my self,That should cherish i t above another

’

s

Wouldst thou to E v i lput an end,

A nd reach the Blessed Goal,

Then letyour F a i th be rooted deep,

A nd allyour thought upon E nlightenment.

Far more poetical , and in Buddhist l i te rature ve ryno t iceable for i ts burden of personal emotion, is theBodh ica iyavatara , or ‘Way of Enl ightenment,

’ whe rethe loft iest note of rel igious art i s again and again touched .

This i s perhaps the most beauti ful of allpoetic express ionsof the Bodhisattva i deal , of sel f-dedicat i on to the work of

salvat ion, and the eternal act ivi ty of love . 1No th ing new wil l be to ld here , says S hant i Deva, “

nor

have I ski l l in the writ ing of books ; therefore I have1 This work has been compared to the Imi tation of Christ of

Thomas aK empis ; both are works of true devotion and true art, but

the Way of E nlightenment is not an‘Imitation ’

of Buddha, butteaches how a man maybecome a Buddha.

3 2 0

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismovercomes the coldness of the early Buddhist asce t i cism ,

and engages our sympathy without provoking disgustTree s are not d isda inful , and askfor no to i lsome woo ing ;fain would I consort with those sweet companions ! Fa inwould I dwell in some deserted sanctuary, beneath a treeor in caves, that I might walk wi thout heed , looking neverbehind Fain would I abide in nature ’s own spacious andlordless lands , a homeless wanderer, free of wi ll , my soleweal th a clay bowl , my cloak profitless to robbers , fearlessand carele ss of my body . Fain would I go to my homethe graveyard , and compare wi th other skeletons myown frai l body ! for th is my body wi l l become so foulthat the very jackals wi l l not approach i t because of i tsstench . The bony members born with th is corporealframe wi ll fal l asunder from i t, much more so my friends .A lone man i s born, alone he d ies no other has a share inh is sorrows . What ava i l friends , but to bar his way? As

a wayfarer takes a brief lodging, so he that i s travell ingthrough the way of existence finds in each birth but apass ing rest .Enough then of worldly ways ! I fol low in the path ofthe wise, remembering the Di scourse upon Heedfulness ,and putting away sloth . To overcome the power of darkness I concentre my thought, drawing the Spiri t away fromvain paths and fixing i t straightly upon i ts stay .

We deem that there are two veri ties , the Ve i led Truthand the Transcendent real ity . The Real i ty i s beyond therange of the understanding ; the understanding is cal ledVei led Truth .

1 Thus there i s never ei ther cessat i on

1 Ve i led Truth,i .e. samvri tti -satya, the saguna or apara vidya of the

Vedanta, and the Real ity, i .e. paramartha-satya , the nirguna or paravidya of the Vedanta, the former a

‘ d istinction ofman i fold th ings, ’ thelatter truth ‘wh ich is in the unity ’ (Tauler) .3 2 2

FIGURES OF A YAK KH I OR DRYAD , AND OF ANAGARAJA OR SERPENT K ING

Guardi an spm ts of th e Great Thfipa at Bharhut (3rd—z udcentury B c

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 899 the Gospel of BuddhismBeauty is no th ing to me , ne ither the beauty of the body,

nor that that come s of dress . 1“ I f a Bro the r or S iste r see s various co lours , such as

wreaths , dressed images, do l ls , clothes , woodwork , plaste ring , paintings , jewe l lery, i vory-work , s trings , leaf-cutting,they should not, for the sake of pleasing the eye , go wherethey wi l l see the se co lours and forms .” 2

S i ste rs were forbidden to look on conversat ion picture sor love scenes ; whi le the Bre thren were only permittedto have painted on the monastery wal ls or the wal ls of

the i r cave re treats the repre sentat ion of wreaths and

creepers , never of men and women. The hedonisti cfoundati on of these injunct ions i s ve ry clearly revealed ina passage of the later Visuddh i Magga

— for the Hinayanamaintains the puri tani cal tradi tion to the end, with onlysl ight concess ion in admi tting the figure of the Buddhah imself—in a passage where pa inte rs andmusi c ians are

c lassed wi th pe rfume rs , cooks, el ixi r- producing physi ciansand o ther l ike persons who furni sh us wi th obje cts o f

sense f

E arly B uddh ist"A rt

I t i s only in the thi rd and se cond centurie s B.C . that wefind the Buddhists patroni z ing craftsmen and employingart for ed i fying ends . From what has al ready been sa id ,however, i t wi l l be we l l understood that the re had not

ye t come into be ing any truly Buddhist or i deal i sti cBrahmanical re l igious art, and thus i t is that EarlyBuddhi st art i s real ly the popular Indian art of the t ime

1 Infinitely remote from a modern view, wh ich was also current in

Med iaeval India,that ‘

the secret of all art l ies in the faculty ofS e lf-ob l ivion.

’—R ic iotto Canudo , !Music as a Religion of the F uture.

2 D asa D hammiha S utta .

3 2 4

F IGURE OF YAK KH I , A DRYAD

From decorated gateway of th e sanch i S tupa ( z ud century B c )

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha $99 the Go spe l of Buddhismexecuted sculptures in low-rel ief we have a remarkablere co rd of Indian l i fe with its characte ri sti c envi ronment,manner, and cul ts , set out with convincing real i sm and a

weal th of c i rcumstant ial detai l . But though they te l l usin what manne r the holy legend was visual i zed with in a

few centurie s of the Buddha’s death , they are fundamental lyi l lustrat ions of ed ifying episodes, and only to a ve ryl imited extent—far less , for example , than at Borobodur

can be said to express di rectly the Buddhist conceptionsof l i fe and death .

The re is , however, one respect in which that view ispe rfectly refle cted , and th is i s in the fact—strange as i tmay at fi rst appear—that the figure of the Master h imse l fi s nowhe re repre sented . Even in the scene which i l lustrate s S iddhattha’s departure from his home , 1 K anthaka

’

s

back i s bare, and we see only the horse, with the figuresof Channa, and of the attendant Devas who l i ft up hisfee t so that the sound of h is tread may not be heard , andwho bear the paraso l of dominion at h is s ide . The

Buddha, however, may be symbol i zed in various ways ,as by the Wisdom Tree, the Umbrel la of Dominion, or,

most typical ly, by convent ional ly repre sented Foo tprints .I t wi l l b e seen that the absence of the Buddha figure fromthe world of l iving men—whe re yet remain the trace s ofh is m ini stry—i s a true artist ic rendering of the Maste r ’sguarded si lence re specting the after-death state of thosewho have atta ined N ibbana the Pe rfect One i s re leasedfrom this , that hi s be ing should b e gauged by the measureof the corporeal wo rld , he i s re leased from name and

fo rm .

”In the omiss ion of the Buddha figure , then,

thi sEarly Buddhist art i s truly Buddhist, but in nearly all

1 Dep icted on the central horiz onta l beam of the east Sanchi gate(P late O) .3 2 6

Pu n-z YSTAND ING IMAGE OF THE BUDDHA

3 2 6

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismyogi—was determined in another way. We have al readyunder the headings of ‘ Yoga ’

and ‘ Spiri tual Exe rcise , ’

expla ined the large part that i s played , even in EarlyBuddhism , by the practice of contemplat ion. At a veryearly date, probably al ready, in fact, in the time of Buddha,the seated yogi , practis ing a mental d iscipl ine or attainingthe highest stat ion of Samadhi , must have repre sented tothe Indian mind the ult imate ach ievement of spi ri tuale ffort, and the attainment of the Great Quest . And so ,

when i t was de s i red to represent by a vis ible i con thefigure of Him-who-had-thus-attained , the appropriatefo rm was ready to hand . I t i s most l ikely that imagesof the seated Buddha we re al ready in local and privateuse as cult obje cts , but i t i s not unt i l the beginning of the

Christian era that they begin to play a recogni zed part inofficial Buddhist art, 1 and the Buddha figure i s introducedin narrat ive sculpture .I t i s ve ry probable that examples of these earl iestBuddh ist primitive s are no longer extant, but eveni f that be so , the splendid and monumental figuresof Anuradhapura and Amaravati of perhaps the se condcentury A .D . , sti l l reflect almost the ful l force of primitiveinspirat ion. Of these figures there i s none finer

and pe rhaps noth ing finer in the who le range of Buddhistart— than the co lossal figure at Anuradhapura i l lustrated in Plate K . With th is figure are to be associateda stand ing image of Buddha (Plate E) and one of

a Bodhisattva, and these aga in are closely related to

1 As po inted out by M. Foucher,the image on the K anishka re l iquary

‘ indicates an already stereotyped art and this votive documentsuffices to throw back by at least a c entury the creation of the plastic typeof the Blessed One , and thus to take us back to the first century beforeour era.

’—L ’

0rzgine grecque de l’

I mage da Bouddha,Paris, 1 9 1 3 , p . 3 1 .

3 2 8

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhismthe re i s no better evidence of th is than the art ofGandhara.

I t i s of inte res t to observe also the manne r in which certainIndian symbo ls are awkward ly and impe rfectly inte rpreted ,for th is affo rds proo f, i f that were needed , that the types inquestion are of olde r, and Indian o rigin. A clear case i sthat of the lo tus seat which i s the symbo l of the Buddha’sspiri tual puri ty or divini ty. The seated Buddha of Gandhara i s insecurely and uncomfortably balanced on the

prickly pe tals of a disproportionately smal l lotus , and thisde fect at once destroys the sense of repose which i s aboveall essent ial to the figure of the yogi—who i s l ikened inIndian books to the flame in a windless Spo t that does notfl i cke r—and in immediate confl i ct with the Yoga textswhich declare that the seat of meditat ion must be firmand easy (sthira-suhha) . We see before us the work of

fo re ign craftsmen im itat ing Indian formulae which theyd id not unde rstand . We cannot th ink of th is as an o riginaland autochthonous art, despi te i ts h istorical inte rest, and

i t i s ce rtainly not primi t ive in the sense in which thi sword i s used by artists . 1

I conographyWe mayd igress he re to describe the ch ief types of Buddhaimage . The seated figure has three main forms , the fi rstrepre sent ing pure S amadhi , the highest stat ion of e cstasy—he re the hands are crossed in the lap in what i s known

as dhyana mudra, the ‘ seal of meditat ion ’

(Plate K) ;the se cond , in wh ich the right hand i s moved forwardacross the right knee to touch the earth , in what i s knownas the bhumisparsa mudra

’

,the seal of cal l ing the earth

to wi tness ’

(Plates Ta, Z b ) ; the th i rd wi th the hands1 In prim itive art you wi ll find absence of representation, absenceoftechnical swagger, subl ime ly impressive form.

” —C1ive Be l l , Art, p . 2 2 .

3 30

PLATE A A3 30

THE FI RST S ERMON (TURNING THE WHEELOF THE LAW)

Gandhara, I st—z nd century A D

Bri ti sh M useum

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 89° the Gospe l of Buddhismears are pierced and elongated , but the Bodhisattvaalone wears earrings . The monasti c costume of theBuddha and the Bre thren cons ists of t hree strips of

clo th , forming an undergarment (antaravasaha) wo rnabout the loins l ike a ski rt

,and fastened by a

gi rdle , an uppe r garment (uttarasanga) covering thebreast and shoulders and fal l ing be low the kneesand a cloak (sanghati ) worn ove r the two o the rgarments . I t i s th i s outer cloak which i s natural lymost conspicuous in the sculptured images. In stand ingfigures the drapery i s treated with elaborat ion, and themo re so the stronger the western influence—being basedon the drapery of the well-known Lateran S ophocle s , andamount ing to absolute identi ty of design be tween the

C rasco- Christ ian Chri st and the Gracco - Buddhist Buddhabut in a majori ty of typi cal ly Indian figure the drape ry i salmost transparent, and ind icated by a mere l ine . In

Gupta images especial ly the who le figure i s plainlyrevealed (Plate s B ,

E) . The upper robes are wo rn in twodifferent ways , in the one case covering both Shoulde rs,in the o the r leaving the right shoulder bare . Anothe rconspicuous feature of Buddha image s i s the nimbus or

glory, which assumes various fo rms, the early type s beingpla in, those of the Gupta period e labo rately decorated ;th i s again appears to be a moti f that i s techni cal lywestern, at the same t ime that i t reflects the tradi tionsregard ing the Buddha rays and the transfiguration,

and

from a vi s ionary standpoint may be cal led real ist i c .

Classi c Buddh ist A rt

The vari ous types of Buddhist art to which we haveso far re fe rred

,from th is t ime onward draw closer and

closer together, to const i tute one nat i onal art and style3 3 2

PLATE B B

THE BUDDHACambodi a , 1 3 th—I 4th centuryCollecti on of Mr Vi ctor Golonbew

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhism—but repre sents th is l i fe wi th passionate sympathy for alli ts sensuous pe rfe ct ion. Pra i se of the beauty of womencould not b e more pla inly Spoken

, and the sound of musi ci s everywhere : no refe rence is made to age , and the rei s no ins istence upon death or suffering, for human and

animal l i fe al ike are always represented at the highest leve l sofexperience . I t i s inquite anotherwaythat Buddhist ideal sare he re expressed—by the eve r present sense of tragedyfor the very emphasis on youth andbeauty is the reve lat ionof the i r transcience . The l i fe of the world i s depictedwith such transparency as i f in a mountain fastnessthe re we re a poo l of water, clear, translucent, and serene—that i t appears l ike the substance of a dream , too fra i lto grasp , however heaven- l ike i ts forms . And the remove s through these enchanted scenes the figure of one

whose heart i s set on a more d istant goal , and fee ls an

infini te compass ion for all born beings whose swee tde l ights are subject to mortal i ty (Plate CC) . I t i sjust because the mediaeval Buddhist consciousness haslearnt so wel l to understand the value of the world thatthe figure of One who seeks to save all creatures fromth is radiant phenomenal l i fe appears so tragic .I t i s not that I do not value the se my tusks , ’ says the

Bodhisattva e lephant in the Chaddanta f ataha ,

‘nor

that I desi re the status of a god, but be cause the tusks ofInfini te Wisdom are dearer to me a thousand time s thanthese, that I yie ld you the se , good hunter .

’

It is to be obse rved , too , that the spi ri tual S upe rman i sneve r poor and despised , but always freely endowed withthe lordship and the weal th of the world , he does notsco rn the company of beauti fu l women. Dharma , artha ,

and hama , S ocial virtue , weal th , and the pleasures of thesenses are his , and yet the Bodhisattva’s thoughts are

3 34

PLATE C CBODH I SATTVA , PERHAP S AVALOK ITESVARA

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8659 the Gospel of Buddhismsculpture are thus—as at Elephanta, Ellora, andMama]lapuram

—almost ent i re ly Hindu in subje ct . I t i s onlyhe re and the re that the re survive a few pre cious re l i cs ofpure ly Indian Buddhist s culpture of the classi c age .

Probably the best of these i s the l i ttle S inhalese bronzeof Avalokitesvara reproduced on Plate Z c , whi le the

rathe r less impress ive , but very gracious S inhalese figureof Ma i treya reproduced on Plate S mayb e a l ittle late r.The Nepale se figures of Buddha and Avalokite svara,i l lustrated on P lates C, R , are close ly related to Ajantatypes , and range from the eighth to the e leventh century ,and from the eleventh to the th irteenth century thereare prese rved seve ral examples of beauti ful ly i l lustratedBuddh ist palm-leaf manuscripts in the same style . Sub

sequent to th is the Buddhist art of Nepal i s mod ifiedby Tibetan, Chinese, and pe rhaps al so Pe rsian influence s .Buddhist art pe rs isted in Magadha and Bengal only unt i lthe final victo rie s of I slam invo lved the destruction of themonasteries in the twelfth century .

Colonial I ndian A rt

Ind ia has been the source of a colonial art of great importance, d eve loped from the s ixth century onward inBurma, S iam ,

Cambodia, Laos , and parti cularly in javaand the great part of th i s co lonial art i s Buddhist . Themost important school i s the javane se . java was co loni zedby Brahmani cal H indus in the early centurie s of the Christ ian era and largely conve rted to Buddhism a l i ttle late r ;the two forms ofbe l ief exi sted S ide by S ide unt i l theMuham

madan conque sts of the fifteenth century . The large st andfine st Buddhist monument i s the stfipa of Borobodur ;here the proce ss ion gal le ries are adorned by a series ofsome 2 000 bas-rel ie fs i l lustrat ing the l i fe of the Buddha3 36

PLA I‘E l) l)

MANjUS R I BODH ISATTVAjava ( i 4th century A D )

B erli n

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of Buddhism

The F ar E ast

The Buddhist art of China i s on another foot ing, for notwi thstanding i t repeats the forms of Indian art, China hadal ready an old, and, from a techni cal s tandpo int, exceedingly accompl ished art, and a profound phi losophy of herown,

before the Buddhi s t pilgrims andmiss ionaries carriedacross the wastes of Central As ia the impulse to a new

deve lopment of thought and of plasti c art ; thus , al thoughthere were at one t ime many thousands of Ind ians in China,and some of these were Buddhist arti sts , ye t ChineseBuddh ist art i s not, l ike javanese , enti rely Indian, butessent ial ly a new thing, almost as much Chinese as

Indian.

The first introduction of Buddhism took place in the firstcentury A .D . In the second century a golden statue, perhapsof the Buddha, was brought into China from the west ; in thesame century a Buddhist miss ion reached China fromParth ia. Buddhism did not however immediate ly obtain a

firm hold , and the Chinese were then as now partly Confuc ianist, partly Tao is t andpartly Buddhist . Natural ly as theearly Buddhist influences came through westernAs ia, earlyChinese Buddhist art exhibi ts some re lation to the GraecoBuddhist art of Gandhara ; but few traces of anyworko l der than the fifth century now remain, and by that t imethe Graeco-Roman elements were almost negl igible, ortraceable only in minor de ta i ls of ornament and technique .Under the Northe rn Wei dynasty of the early fifth cen

tury, however, the re i s an immense artisti c activi ty, andthe mountains and caves of Tatong are carved wi thcountle ss images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of allS i zes , from miniature to co lossal , and these works are thetypical Chine se Buddhist primi tives . One colossal figure3 38

PLATE E E

BODH I SATTVACh i nese , school o f Long

-men (8 th century)Cologne

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha $39 the Gospe l of Buddhismforth the teachings of Nagarjuna : he is sti l l worshippedby craftsmen and artisans as Patron of the Arts . Theonly remains of this period , however, are the co lossalbronze Buddha of Anko in, which has suffered manyvic iss i tudes and i s too much restored to afford a ve rydefinite idea of the earl iest japanese Buddhist art : and

the famous temple of Horiuji near Nara,which is rich

al ike in contemporary sculpture and paint ings . We

find in these works ,” says Okakura, “a spiri t of intense

refinement and puri ty, such as only great re l igious feel ingcould have produced . For divini ty, in th is early phaseof nat ional real i zat ion, seemed l ike an abstract ideal ,unapproachable and myste rious , and even i ts distancefrom the naturalesque give s to art an awful charm .

” We

are reminded here that all the early Buddhist art of the

Far East is more purely h ierat i c and abstract than i s thecase , for example , at Ajanta, to which the painting at

Horinj i i s otherwise so close ly related ; and the explanat ion i s not far to seek . For when the arti sts of the FarEast, toge the r wi th the new re l igion, adopted the Indianformulas and symbo ls , they kept these separate from the

ord inary practi ce of the i r art, and so developed a spe ciali z ed hie rat i c qual i ty, the rarest and most remo te pe rhapsthe art of the painte r has ever expre ssed .

” Whereas , tothe Indian mind Buddha and hi s d isciple s we re moreactual figures , with pos i t ive re lat ions to the i r own socialworld . The place s whe re they l ived and taught were tothem defini te places , to which they themselves could at

anymoment make pi lgrimages ,” 1

and thus there was notin India that “

separat ion of social and re l igious tradit ions which is apparent in Chinese art, as i t i s l ikewiseevident in European rel igious sculpture and paint ing . Of1 W . Rothenstein, in Ajanta Frescoes (India Soc iety) , London, 1 9 1 5.

340

PLATE F F

THE BUDDHACentral figure of a trnptych i n th e Tofukuji temple ,

Kyoto ,

japan , ascri b ed to Wu Tao - t z u (Ch i nese , 8th century)F rom Taytma

,S elected Reli cs of japanese Art

,Vol I

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 899 the Gospe l of Buddhismearl ier excavat ions atTatong ; from thesewe reproducehe rethe central figure of a co lossal Buddha (Plate F) , and of

the same schoo l but unknown provenance the gracious andalmost coque tt ish figure ofa Bodhisattva (Plate EE) now inthe museum at Cologne . Many o ther detached examples ofT’

ang Buddhist sculpture maybe seen i n the European and

Ame ri canmuseums . Intermediate ln date between theWe i

andT ’ang peri ods i s the monumental ste le in black marble

,

in the co l le ction ofM. Goloubew, reproduced on Plate G .

What l i ttle we know of the painting of the T ’ang period

is dominated by the great name of Wu Tao-tzu , of whoma few mo re or less authenti c works are prese rved in japan.

One of these , which i f not actual ly the work ofWuTao-tzu,

i s at anyrate a masterwork of T’ang, i s the beauti ful Buddha

figure of the Tofukuji temple in Kyoto , reproduced onPlate D . Another paint ing by a somewhat late r artis t

,

but thought to be afte r Wu Tao-tzu , i s the BodhisattvaKwanyin, the Indian Avalokitesvara, reproduced onPlate HH . At an early date the male Avalokitesvarawasinte rpre ted in China as a feminine d ivini ty and saviouress

,

and the re i s a long and charm ing Chinese legend whichrecounts her l i fe as an earthly princess . S ince Kwanyini s a gracious saviouress who hears all cries and answersall praye rs , i t wi l l readi ly be understood that she becameone of the most popular of allChinese and japanese Buddhist d ivini t ie s , and the subject of innume rable paintings.

I t wi l l b e noticed in our example (from the co l lection of

Mr C . L . Freer, and reproduced by his kindness) that thegoddess ho lds a basket wi th a fish in her outstretchedhand , whereas in a majori ty of repre sentat ions she carrie sa willow spray or a phial of the water of l i fe .

1 A more1 The cult of Kwanyin and the significance of the fish are d iscussed byR . F. johnston, Buddhist China, ch . xi .

34 2

PLATE G G

KWANYINGi lt bronz e , medi e val japanese

Collection of Mr H Getty

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha the Gospe l of Buddhismtwi l ight

, the summits accentuated and dist inct againstthe pale sky , the lowe r parts lost in mist , among whichwoods emerge or melt along the uneven slope s . S omewhe re among those woods , on high ground , the curvedroof of a temple i s vis ible . I t i s just that S i lent hourwhen travel lers say to themselves , The day i s done,

’

and

to thei r ears come from the distance the expected soundof the evening be l l . The subje ct i s e ssential ly the sameas that which the poeti c genius of jean Frango is Mi l letconce ived in the twi l ight of Barbizon, at the hour whenthe Ange lus sounds over the plain from the d istant churchof Chai l ly .

”

But as another cri t i c has remarked on th i sWhat a d ifference in the treatment ! Mi l let place s Man

in the foreground , explaining the content of the pictureby human act ion, but the Chinese art ist needs no figure,nothing but a hint ; the Spectator must complete thethought himsel f.”

The world of Nature at th is t ime had come to mean forthe Chine se arti st someth ing other thanwe are accustomedto th ink of in connexion with European landscape . In

one wayhe uses Nature’s forms as the phrase s of a phi lo

S ophical language , l ikening mountain and mist , dragonand t ige r, to the Great Extremes so that whi le the

mode rn cri t i c can perhaps appre ciate much of thei r pure lyaestheti c qual i ty, i t i s only by an effort that he real i ze sthe depth of sugge st ion and mysti cal s ignificance whichthese monochrome brush drawings have for the Chinesestudent steeped in Buddhist nature lore and Tao ist phi losophy . Very o ften also even th is underlying phi losophicalS ignificance i s, so to say, unexpressed . In any case,“ The l i fe of nature and of all non-human things is re

garded in i tself ; i ts character contemplated and i ts

344

PLATE H HKWANY IN

Chi nese pai nt ing , ro th—1 2 th century , afterWu Tao -t z u

Collecti on of Mr C. L. F reer

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

BIBL IOGRAPHY OF WORK S CONSULTEDBY THE AUTHOR

ARNOLD , S IR EDW IN : The L ight of Asia.

BARNETT, P ROF. L. D. The P ath of L ight (Bodhicaryavatara ojSantiDeva) , London, 1 909 .

BEAL, S . The Romantic I I istory of B uddha . London, 1 8 75.

BEAL, S . A. : Catena of Buddhist S criptures. London, 1 8 7 1 .

B INYON, L. P a inting in the F ar E ast. ( 2nd ed. ) London,1 9 1 3 .

BURGESS, j. : Amaravati andjaggayyapeta . London,1 88 7 .

CHAVANNES , E. : M'

ssion Archa ologi que dans la Chine septentrionale.

1 909 .

COOMARASWAMY, A. Arts and Crafts of I ndia and Ceylon. London,1 9 1 3 .

B ronz es from Ceylon, chiefly in the Colombo Museum. Co lombo,1 9 1 4 .

Buddhist P rimi tives,“Burl ington Magaz ine , jan.

, March , 1 9 1 6 .

Mahayana B uddhist I mages from Ceylon andjava .

“ j ournal ofthe Royal Asiatic Soc ie ty . 1 90 9 .

.Mediwval S inhalese Art. Campden, 1 908 .

COWELL, MAX MULLER,andTAKAKAKUSO . BuddhistMahayana Satras

(Buddhacari ta of Asvaghosha, Oxford 1 894 .

CUNN INGHAM , A. : Mahabodhi . London, 1 89 2 .

S tupa of Bharhut. London, 1 8 79 .

FOUCAUX, E . : n a Tch’er Rol P a (Lali ta -vistara) . Paris, 1 848 .

FOUCHER, A . Etude sur l’i conographi e bouddhique de l

’I nde. Paris,

L’Art gre

’

co-bouddhique da Gandhara . Paris, 1 905.

La P orte Ori entale da S tupa de Sanchi . Paris 1 9 1 0 .

Le GrandM iracle da Buddha aS ravasti . “ j ournal Asiatique ,1 909 .

L’orzgi ne grecque de 1

’Image da Bouddha. Paris, 1 9 1 3 .

GARBE, R . : Sanzhhya and Yoga (“Grundriss der Indo-arischen Ph i lo

S trassburg, 1 896 .

GE IGER , W. : The Mahavamsa . London, 1 9 1 2 .

GEMMEL, W. The D iamond Sutra . London, 1 9 1 2 .

GETTY, A. The Gods of Northern Buddhism. Oxford , 1 9 1 4 .

GOLOUBEW,V . P einturesB ouddhiques aux I ndes. AnnalesduMusée

Guimet, Bibliothéque de Vulgarisation,”Tome 40, Paris, 1 9 1 4 .

347

Bibl iographyGRAY. j. : Buddhaghosupatti . London, 1 89 2 .

GR IFF ITHS : The P aintings of the Buddhist Cave-temples oj Ajanta .

London, 1 896 .

HACKMANN, H . : Buddhism as a R eligion. London, 1 9 1 0 .

HALL,F IELD ING The Soul of a P eople.

HARDY, S . A Manual of B uddhism. London, 1 860 .

HARE,W. L. Buddhist R eligion.

HAVELL,E . B . : I ndian Sculpture and P ainting. L

HUBER, E . Sutralamhara of Asvaghosha . Paris, 1 908 .

I ND IA SOC IETY : Ajanta Frescoes. Oxford, 1 9 1 5.

joHNSTON,R . F. Buddhist China . London, 1 9 1 3 .

K ERN,H . Manual of I ndian Buddhi sm Grundrissder Indo arischen

S trassburg, 1 89 6 .

Saddharma P undari'

ha (The Lotus of the Good Law) . Oxford1 909 .

LE COQ, A. VON : Chotscho. Berlin, 1 9 1 3 .

MA ISEY, F. C. Sanchi and i ts R emains. London, 1 89 2 .

MAX MULLER and FAUSBOLL Dhammapada and Sutta IVipata . Oxford1 88 1 .

MI'INSTERBERG, O. : Chinesische K unst. Erlangen, 1 9 1 0 .

NARASU ,P . L . The E ssence of B uddhism. Madras, 1 90 7 .

NUKARIYA, K . The R eligion of the S amurai . London, 1 9 1 3 .

OKAKURA KAKUZ O I deals of the E ast. ( 2 nd ed London, 1 904 .

OLDENBERG, H . : Buddha ; his L ife, his D octrine, his Order (Engl ishversion by W . Hoey) . London,

1 88 2 .

POUSS IN , L . DE LA VALLEE : B ouddhisme. Paris, 1 909 .

The Three Bodies of a Buddha.

“ j ournal of the Royal AsiaticSoc iety .” 1 906 .

RHYS DAV I DS C. A. F . The Love of Nature in Buddhist P oems.

“Quest, Apri l 1 9 1 0 .

Buddhism. (Home University Library . )B uddhist P sychology. London,

1 9 1 0 , 1 9 1 4 .

Compendium of P hi losophy (Anuruddha) . London,

1 9 1 0 (withS . Z . Aung) .

P salms of the E arlyBuddhists. London, 1 90 9 , 1 9 1 3 .

RHYS DAV I DS, T. W. Buddhism,i ts H istory and L i terature. London

andNew York, 1 90 7 .

Buddhism. London (many editions) .I ndian Buddhism. (Hibbert Lectures, London, 1 89 7 .

348

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

GLOSSARY

Where a word is g iven in two forms, the first is Pal i, the second ,w ith in brackets, is Sanskrit. E lsewhere the d istinction is ind icated bythe letters P and S . The Pal i andSanskrit termsare , of course, c ognatethroughout.

Ahamkara, S the conceit of indiYiduality, empirical egoism.

Ahhyana , S : an old l iterary form, viz . contefable.

Alamhara, S : rhetoric , poetic ornament.A

-

laya-viy

’

nana, S Cosmic Mind or Reason, realm of the P latonic I deas.

A h -atta,P the doctrine that there are no egos, or souls.

Anicca ( ani iya) : impermanence , transc ience .

Antahharana, S inner actor, the innerman, the soul . ’Apara vidya, S re lative truth, esoteric truth .Arahal, P one who has attained to Arahatta.

Arahatta, P the state of saving truth , the state ofone who has attainedN ibbana, or walks in the Fourth Path of wh ich the fruit is

N 1bhana.

Anya (aiya) : noble, gentle, honourable .

Ariyasaccani (aryasagiani ) the Four Noble Truths emunciated in

Buddha’s first sermon.

Ariipa-lohas,S : the Four H ighest Heavens, transcend ing form.

Asubha-jhand , P meditation on the essential unc leanness of things.

Atman, S ( 1 ) taken by Buddhists in the sense of ego, or soul ;( 2 ) in Brahmanism, the Abso lute, uncond itioned, sp irit, Brahman ;also the reflec tion of the Absolute in the ind ividual .

Atta ( artha) : aim, gain, advantage , profit.Atta ( atman) , P se l f, soul, person, ego a permanent unity in the sense

ofan‘eternal soul ,’ the existence ofwh ich is denied in the proposition

‘an-atta.

’Atta etymologically= atman, but does not connote the

uncond itioned Atman of the Brahman abso lutists.

Avidya, S : ignorance , the contrac tion of Suchness into variety. The

basis of Tanha,and thus of the who le S amsara .

I gnorance is the true First Cause of Ind ian ph ilosophy : but th isFirst Cause ’

is first’only as

‘ fundamental,

’not as temporal .

I gnorance can be overcome by the individual consc iousness, wh ichis then set free ,

”nimalto.

Bhahti , S : loving devotion.

3S I

GlossaryBhahti marga, S : the way of love, the means of salvation by devotion.

B havanga-

gati , P , S the ordinary unconscious l ife of the body, etc .

Bhihhhu,P mendicant friar, ‘Buddh ist priest. ’

Bhi hhhuni,P : feminine of B hihhhu.

Bodhi,P wisdom

, Suchness, intuition, i l lumination, inner l ight. Cf.

P ersian’I shq.

Bodhi -citta, P : heart-of-wisdom,inward light, grace , ‘

shoot of everlastingnesse,

’the d ivine spark! of the Buddha-nature in the heart.

Bodhisatta (B odhisattva) : Wisdom-be ing . ( 1 ) Gautama before attain

ing enlightenment ; ( 2 ) any individual se lf-dedicate to the

salvation of others and destined to the attainment of Buddhahood.

B rahma, S : the supreme personal god so cal led .

Brahmacarya, S chaste l ife , especial ly of a Brahmanical student.B rahman

, S : a man of the B rahmana varna, a Brahman by b irth , aphi losopher, priest. Ethical ly, one who fulfi ls the ideal of a true

Brahman.

Brahman,B rahma, S the Absolute, the Unconditioned, which is Not

so,not so,

’the Ground, the Und ivided Se lf, the World of

Imagination.

Buddha,P, S Enlightened . ( 1 ) S iddhattha Gautama, after attaining

enl ightenment ; ( 2 ) other individuals who have simi larly attainedN ibbana (3) any such individual considered as a supreme God,whose attainment of Buddhahood is time less.

B uddhi,P,S : enl ightenment, inte l ligence .

Cahha ( cahra) :‘whee l . ’ Symbo l of sovere ignty, hence the Whee l of

the Good Law, of the Gospe l .Cariya, P course,

’the succession of l ivesof a Bodhisattva.

Cetana, P wi l l .Ci tta, P heart, Suchness.

D eva , P , S : any personal god, ange l, e.g. Brahma, Sakka.

Dhamma (dharma) : Norm, gospe l, law,righteousness, moral ity,

re ligion condition.

Dhamma—cahhhu,S Eye for the truth .

Dharmahaya , S : law body, Logos, the supreme state o f a Buddha ;Abso lute Be ing, the Ground abso lute knowledge .

D ibba-cahhhu, P : heavenly eye , omniscient v ision of the Universe of

Form (Rfipaloka and Kamaloka) .Dosa

,P hatred, resentment, revenge, anger.

352

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8979 the Gospe l of BuddhismMoha

,P : infatuation, de lusion, prejud ice , fo l ly, sentimentality .

Mudi ta,P sympathy, one of the Four Sublime Moods.

Mudra, S : seal . Position of the fingers, h ieratic gesture .

Naga, P , S : a being having the dual character of man and serpent.Also an e le phant, a wise man.

Nagini , P , S feminine of Naga.

Nama-rapa, P , S lit. name and form, wh ich alone constitute an aggre

gate into a seeming personal ity or unit. Psycho logical ly, ‘an

embodiment ’ w ithout the idea of anything embodied : mind and

body, ormind and matter. For rapa in other senses, s.v .

IVibbana ( nirvana) : ethically, the dying out of lust, resentment, andi l lusion : psycho logical ly, re lease from individual ity . The R ecogn ition of Truth . A state of salvation to be realiz ed here and

i now ; those who attain, are re leased from becoming, and after

death return no more . IVibbana does not imply the annihi lationof the soul , ’ for Buddhism teaches that no such entity as a soul hasever existed . lVi bbana is one of many names for the summum

bonum it may b e best translated as Abyss, S ti l lness, Void, or

Nothing (not-thing-ness) .IVirguna, S uncond i tioned, unquali fied, in no wise .

IVirmanahaya, S : magical body, apparition,body of transformation, the

earth ly aspect of a Buddha.

Nishhama, S : d isinterested .

Nivri tti marga, S the Path of Return.

P acceha Buddha, P one who attains enlightenment, but doesnot teacha

‘ private Buddha.

’

P aii ha,P : w isdom,

reason, insight.P ahna-cahhhu, P : Eye of insight or wisdom.

P ara vidya, S absolute truth,esoteric truth .

P aramartha satya, S : abso lute truth .

P arami ta, S : transcendental perfection, espec ial ly the perfected virtueof a Bodhisattva.

P aribajaha, P a‘Wanderer, ’ a peripatetic hermit.

P arinibbana (parinirvana) : full N ibbana, ’ ( 1 ) identical with IVibbana,Arahatta

,Vimutti

,Anna

, etc . , ( 2 ) death of a human being who haspreviously real i z ed IVi 'bbana

,death of an Arahat : also simply

d isso luti on.

’

P aticca -samupada, P : dependent origination, causality.P rajna, S : reason, understanding.354

Glo ssaryP rajna-parami ta, S supreme reason. Also personified as the Mother

of the Buddhas, ’ Tathagata -

garbha . Cf. P ersian’Aql. Regarded

as the way out, she is the princ iple of analysis as the way in, the

princ iple of synthesis.

P rahri ti , S : Nature , the corporeal world .

P ranidhana, S vow, se lf-ded ication, firm persuasion, of a Bodhisattva.

P ravri tti marga , S the Path of Pursuit.P i t /71762 (punya) : merit, good character.

P ur usha , S : Male , ’ a personification of the Brahman or Atman

(Vedanta) : an ind ividual soul (Samkhya) . Antithetic to Prakriti ,spirit ’ as Opposed to ‘matter.

’

Raga, P , S lust, passion, desire .

Rakshasa , S a man -devouring demon.

Rapa, P , S : form,shape . In a categorical sense , qual ity. See also

Namarhpa .

Rapa-lohas,P , S : the S ixteen Heavens conditioned by form,

nextthe be low Arfipa~lokas.

Saguna , S : cond itioned, qual ified .

Samadhi , P , S : tranqui l l ity, se lf-concentration,calm, rapture . A state

attained in jhana, and then equivalent to the transcend ing of

empirical consc iousness : also the state of calm wh ich is alwayscharacteristic of the Arahrat

,

Samana, P : wandering friar. The Buddha is often referred to as The

Great Samana.

’

S ambhogahaya, S Enjoyment-body,’ the heavenly aspect of a Buddha.

Samhhya , S Schoo l of the Count, ’ a pre Buddhist ph i losophy, so-cal ledas

‘reckoning -up ’

the twenty-five categories.

Samsara, P , S : Becoming , cond itioned existence , b irth -and-death,ete rnal recurrence , mortal ity, corporeal existence, the vegetativeworld .

S amvri tti satya, S re lative truth .

Sangha , P , S : the Order, the company or congregation ofmonks and

nuns

(Sanhhara) Samshara conformation, ’ impression of previous deeds,

constituents of character.

Sauna, P : perception.

Sarrag una , S : in all w ise , having all possible qual i ties.

S ati , P reco l lectedness, consc ience .

S ila, P : conduct, moral i ty .355

Buddha the Gospe l of BuddhismSufi a P ersian mystic .

S uhha,P, S : good , pleasure , happ iness, weal .

Sukhavati'

: the We stern Parad ise of Amitabha,the h ighest heaven,

the Buddha fi e ld where souls are ripened for N irvana.

Sutta ( satra)‘thread .

’A l i terary form,

in Buddh ist scripture s,words of the Buddha strung together as a sermon or d ialogue ;in H indu scriptures, a connec ted series of aphorisms.

Svabhava, S own-nature .

’ The se lf-ex istent, the source of spontane i ty ;a term analogous to ‘ I am that I am

,

’appl ied to the Supreme

Buddha (Adi-Buddha of the laterMahayana) .Sva-dharma

, S :‘own norm,

’ pecul iar duty of the individual or soc ialgroup .

Tanha ( trishna) : desire, coveting, craving, an eager w ish to obtain or

enjoy , interested motive . In th is sense Buddhism teaches the

e xtinction of desire ( in H induism,

‘renunc iation of the fruits of

but Tanha does not cover aspiration or good intention,which are inc luded in the ‘R ight Desire of the Eightfo ld Path .

Tao : the abso lutist phi losophy of the Ch inese phi losopher Laotse .

The term Tao has a connotation simi lar to that of N irvana and

Brahman .

Tapas, S : burning, glow, toi l, torture .

Tara the feminine counterpart of a Bodh isattva, a saviouress.

Tathagata, S : Thus-gone or Thus-come, He -who -has-thus-attained, aterm used by the Buddha in speaking of himse lf.

Tathagata-

garbha, S :‘Womb - of—Those -who - have - thus- come .

’ The

Dharma-haya , or Suchness, as v i ewed from the standpo int of the

re lative and regarded as the orig in of all th ings ; mother of the

Buddhas and all sentient be ings ; Nature as potential matter,Maya, Prakriti Prajfiaparamita.

Tattva, bh ii tatathata, S Suchness, Ground, Substrate , the inevitabi lityand universal ity of things, the source of spontane ity . The qual ityof infinity in every particu lar

,Of the whole in the part.

Tavatimsa : Heaven of the Thirty -three Gods, one of the S ix LowerHeavens.

Thera,P an e lder amongst the Brethren, an Arabat.

Theravada, P :‘ word of the e lders.

’By this term the early Buddhists

d istinguish the ir be lief from that of the Mahayanists. The

Theravada texts constitute the Pal i canon.

Theri’

,P : feminine Of Them .

3 56

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

INDEX

AKEM P IS , THOMAS , 320

Abh i dkamma P i taka, 36 , 2 9 5, 2 96

Ach elas, 1 52

Adi b uddha ,2 3 9 , 2 49

Afghani stan , 1 85Ahamkara , 1 9 5Ajanta. 3 1 1 . 3 3 3 . 3 35. 3 36 . 3 37 . 3 39

Ayanta F rescoes, 340

Ajatasattu ,64 , 6 8 , 7 1 , 7 2 , 89 ,

2 66

Afivrkas, 1 52 , 1 56 , 1 58 , 1 86

Akshobya ,2 49

Al-Hujwiri , 2 44Alakappa , 89

Alamkara , 309

Alara Kalama,2 8 , 2 9 , 38 , 79 , 80 ,

Alav i , 59Alaya -vi i fzana ,

2 52 , 3 1 0

Amaravati , 2 2 4 , 32 7—32 9

Am ida ,2 47

Am idism ,2 47

Am i tab ha ,2 47—2 49 ,

2 53 , 3 1 7

Ampabali , 74 , 7 5, 1 64 , 2 85

Ampabali'

s P salm,

’

74

Amoghasiddha ,2 49

Ananda ,1 4 , 1 8 , 50 , 54 , 55, 6 7

—69 ,

7 2 , 76—87 , 9 8 ,

1 04 , 1 08 , 1 2 4 ,

_1 50 , 1 60—1 6 2 ,

2 69

Ananda , 104

Ananda ,P salm Of

,1 08

Anathap indika , 51 , 52 ,60 , 6 2 , 2 6 3 ,

2 7 1

Anatta, 9 1 , 9 8 , 105, 1 40 ,1 7 3 , 1 74 ,

2 96

Anci ent M ari ner, The , 3 1 3Anga , 60

Angulimala , 60

Anguttara Ni haya , 100 ,1 1 9 , 1 58 ,

359

Ani cca , 9 1 , 9 3—9 8 , 105, 1 7 3 , 1 7 5

Anko in , 340

Anoma,2 5

Anotatta lake , I 3Antahkarana , 1 89 , 1 95Anula ,

P rincess, 1 85Anup iya,

2 7 , 50

Anuradhapura,1 3 3 , 1 34 , 1 85,

2 9 7 ,

Anuruddha , 50 , 58 , 60 , 87 , 99 ,

Apadana ,2 6 5

Arab at , 1 2 , 1 5, 3 1 , 39 , 4 1 , 7 2 , 7 3 ,

85, 87 , 1 0 2 , 103 , 1 1 6—1 1 8 , 1 2 0

1 2 2 , 1 40 , 1 7 8 ,2 1 2 ,

2 2 7—2 30

Arahatta. 4 2 . 43 . 45. 4 8 . 53 , 55.

56 , 8 3 , 86 , 1 1 6—1 1 8 , 1 2 3 ,

Ariyas, 1 65, 1 6 8

Ari yasaccani , see Four Ari yanTruths

Arnold, S ir Edw in, 1 1 , 302

Art, 1 40

Art of the Theatre , The , 1 7 7

Arapa jhanas, 1 1 1

Arapa - loka , I I I , 1 47Araparaga , 1 0 3Aryadeva , 3 1 9Aryasfi ra , 3 1 0

—3 1 6

Asanga ,2 51 ,

2 52 , 3 1 0 , 3 2 0

A shtasahasri ka pramaparamua3 1 6

Asadha , 2 5Asra , 1 84

Asoka Maurya , 1 54 , 1 56 ,1 57 ,

1 8 2—1 86 ,2 1 6 ,

2 2 0 ,2 2 2

,2 60

,

Asoka , Edi cts of, 1 30 , 1 38 , 1 53 ,

Assai l , 44 . 45Asvaghosha ,

1 46 ,2 43 , 2 45, 2 70 ,

30 3—3 10 , 3 1 6 . 3 1 9

Buddha 8939 the Gospe l of Buddhism

Asabho-bhavana , 1 44 , 1 7 1

A tman,th e , 2 8 ,

2 9 , 1 87—1 89 , 1 9 2 ,

1 94 ,1 9 8—2 0 3 , 2 05, 2 06 , 2 09 ,

—2 1 9A tta , 1 99

Atuma, 80

Aung,S . Z . , 99 , 1 40

Avadanas, 309 , 3 1 4

Avalokitesvara ,2 47—2 49 ,

2 53 , 3 1 7 ,

A vatani saka S i'

i tra ,2 2 9 ,

2 46

A vi dya,2 10

A vma, 9 7 ,1 0 3

A vijyaasava ,1 0 3

A vyakala S amyutta , 2 2 3

Awakeni ng of F a i th The 2 45

BALAJ ALONAKARA , 58

Balfour, G . W 1 08

Bambu-

grove Monastery , 44 , 6 2 ,

6 8 see also Veluvana

Barnett,L . D .

,2 36

Beal,1 56 , 1 8 1

Becom ing , Law of, 1 1 0 , 1 1 7 ,1 2 0 ,

Behmen, 1 2 0 ,

1 2 5, 1 46 , 2 2 6,

Bell, Cli ve , 1 40 , 3 30

Beluva , 7 5Benares, 30 , 38 , 46 , 1 86 , 2 6 3 ,

333Bengal. 3 35. 336Beyond Good and Evi l, 1 74

Bhaddiva , 50

Bhadda , 1 6 3

Bhagavad Gi ta, 104 , 1 05, 1 43 , 1 49 ,

Bhakta-kalpadruma , 1 57Bhakti Yoga ,

2 1 2

Bharadvaja , 59Bharhut , 6 2 , 3 2 5, 3 33Bhava , 9 7

360

Bhava dsava , 1 03Bhi kkuni samyutta ,

2 70

Bh i kkhus, 69 , 1 52 , 1 54 , 1 55, 3 3 1

Bihar, 6 2

B imb isara, 2 7 , 43 , 56 , 57 , 6 2 , 6 8 ,

2 65B inyon. 34 1 , 343Black Snake K ing

, whirlpool of

th e, 3 2

Blake,Wm . , 2 35, 2 45, 2 55, 345

Bodh i , 2 39

B odhi caryavatara ,2 36 , 3 2 0

Bodh i - c i tta , 1 4 1

Bodh idharma,2 53

Bodh isatta (Bodh isattv a) ,

Bodh i tree,1 4 , 1 80 , 1 85

Bohd Gaya,2 9 7

Borob odur, 30 2 , 3 2 6 , 3 36

Bo - tree, 1 85

Brahma,2 9 , 1 1 2 , 1 1 4 ,

1 51 ,I 9 9 ,

2 O5, 2 37 ,2 4 I

Brahma- lokas,1 1 1

Brahman,2 8 ,

2 9 , 1 87 , 1 87—1 94 ,

1 99

Brahman, 89 , 1 99 ,

2 1 4 , 2 7 8

Brahmanism, 1 1 2 , 1 9 8

—2 2 1Brahma Satra ,

2 09

Braz en P alace monastery, 300

Bri hadaranyaka Upani shad, 1 60,

1 87 , 1 88 , 1 90 ,2 00

,2 0 1 , 2 0 3 ,

Buddha , 60 , 90 ,2 1 2

Buddha—cari ta, 1 46 , 30 3 , 304 , 309Buddhaghosha , 86 , 1 00 , 1 0 1 , 106 ,

Buddhavamsa, 2 65, 2 95

Buddh i sm , 1 9 8—2 2 1

Buddh i sm, 1 99 ,2 04 ,

2 37Buddhi sm i n Translati ons

, 43 , 1 6 3 ,

1 7 2

Buddh i st Chi na ,

Buddh i st P sychology , 1 1 3 ,2 03

Buddhi st Revi ew, 1 40

2 2 5,

1 58 » 2 37 , 2 54 :

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 893° the Gospe l of BuddhismDukkha , 90—9 2 , 96 , 105, 1 20 , 1 7 7 .

Duns Scotus,2 40

Dutthagamani, 1 50 , 2 99

Dy ing Out , 1 2 2 , 1 8 1

Early Buddhi sm, 40 , 1 09 , 2 00 , 20 1

Egypt.1 84

Eight Stations of Deli verance ,

E ightfold P ath , the Ariyan, 1 0 ,

37 . 39 . 40 . 84. 85. 9 1 . 2 6 3Elara , 2 99 , 300

Elephanta, 336

Ellora , 336

Emerson , R . W 1 2 1

Ep irus, 1 84E ternal Life , 1 1 5Eternity , Religion of 1 2 8

E th ics, 1 2 6—1 37Euphrates

,2 60

Evening Chime of the

Temple, 343

D i stant

FA H IEN , 1 86F ana, 1 1 5, 1 1 9Fana-al-fana, 1 1 9F aust, 1 1 1

Feltham , 1 4 1

First Cause , 1 1 0

First P ath , the , 40 , 44 , 45, 48 , 55,

56 , 70 , 10 1 , 1 0 2 , 1 49 , 2 9 3Fi ve Aggregates

, 99 ,1 0 1

Fi ve Wanderers (or D isc iples) , 30 ,

38 , 39 , 4 1

F orty Questi ons, The , 2 46Foucher, M. , 3 2 8

Foul Things, Meditation on, 1 44 ,

I 7 Z . 2 S4

362

F ourArapa jhanas, 1 1 2 , 1 1 8

Four Ari yan Truths, or FourNob le Truths, 10 , 44 , 90 ,

1 0 1 ,

Four Cardinal S ins, 1 53Four Floods, 1 0 3Four Great K ings, 2 2 , 37 , 1 1 1

FourGuardians of th e Quarters, 1 3 ,

2 2 see also Four Great K ingsF ourjhanas, 1 1 2 , 1 1 4

FourMedi tations, 1 44Four P ath s 10 1

Four S igns 1 6 , 1 9

Four Sub lime Moods,

Four Varnas, 2 1 7Fourth Path , th e , 53 , 55, 10 2 , 103Franc is of Assisi , 1 59Free—in-both -ways, ’ 1 2 4Freer, C . L . , 342

1 1 4 , 1 42 ,

GAMANI , 2 99Gandhara. 32 9 , 3 30 . 333 . 335. 3 38

Gargi , 2 1 3Gaudapada, 1 9 2

Gautama ,2 49

Gautami , the Matron 1 6 ,2 2 49 ,

53—55

Gaya S carp , 42 , 70

Ge iger,P rofessor, 2 99

Ghositarama, 58

Goeth e , 1 1 1

Goloub ew ,M ., 342

Gop ika,1 64

Gotamakas, 1 52

Gotam i , the S lender, 1 48 ,

2 70 see also K isa Gotami

Great Renunc iation, 1 9 ,2 4 ,

2 1 6

Great Th t’

i pa,

’

300

Greece , 34 1

Grove of Gladness, the , 1 3

Gupta period, 332 , 3 33

2 51 ,

Index

HAECKEL , 2 20

Hall,Fi elding , 1 53 , 1 54

Hanuman, 2 0 1

Havell, 3 37

Hearn,Lafcadio

, 108 , 1 37 , 2 49 ,

3 1 7Heaven of Delight , 1 3Heaven of I deal Form ,

1 47Heaven of No - form , 1 47Heavens, Brahma, 1 45, 1 47Heavens

,Buddhi st , 1 10—1 1 5, 1 1 8 ,

I 47Herm ite , 1 1 3H i bbertjournal, 1 08H imalayas, 1 3 ,

2 90 ,2 9 1

H inayana Buddhism , 1 51 , 1 85,2 2 2 ,

2 2 6—2 2 8 ,2 32 , 2 36 , 2 37 ,

Hinduism , 1 75, 2 2 6

H iouen Tsang , 1 56H i ranyavati , R 8 1

H i topadesa ,2 8 1

Hoey , W 60

Homer, 308

Honan , 3 39 , 34 1

Horiuji , 340H ii en Sha , 2 55

Imi tation of Chri st, 3 20I ndia . 1 57 . 1 74 . 1 84 . 1 85. 2 59 .

3 39 . 345

I ndi an S culpture and P ai nting,

3 37I ndra ,

1 1 2 ,2 0 1

I ndra ,h eaven of, 2 5

I ndri yas, 1 89I ntoxi cations, the , 74

I sa Upani shad,2 09

I sipatana, 30 , 38

1 40

I svara , 1 96 , 1 9 7 , 2 38 ,2 47

I ti vuttaka ,2 65, 2 8 1

I -tsing , 303 , 3 10

KABIR ,K a i valya Upani shad, 1 90

363

J

JA INAS , the , 1 1 , 52 , 57 , 1 56 ,2 36

Jali,2 9 5

Jamb u-tree, mirac le of the , 1 6 , 2 9 ,

30 , 47

Jamuna,R . , 309

Janaka , 1 9 8 ,2 1 2

J anapada K alyani’ , 49Japan , 1 35- 1 37 , 1 66

,2 53 , 333 ,

J apan, 1 37Japan Da i ly Mai l, 1 34

jardmaranam , 9 7

jataka , 2 65

J atakamata, 1 2 6 , 1 3 1 , 3 10

jatakas, the , 1 59 ,2 2 5, 2 87

—2 89 ,

jdtakavannana ,2 87

.I dfi 3 9 7Java

, 33 3 , 3 36 . 3 37

J ayadeva ,2 8 3

Jesus, 1 1 5, 2 1 5,2 38 ,

2 51 ,2 74 ; also Christ , 2 1 4 ,

J etavana Grove orMonastery , 51 ,58 . 59 , 6 3 , 7o

J hanas, the ,1 1 2 , 1 1 4 , 1 46 , 1 47

J ivaka,64 , 7 1

jfia'

nd Marga ,2 1 1

jnana Yoga ,2 1 2

Johnston , R . F . , 1 58 , 2 37 , 2 54 ,

2 55» 342

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of BuddhismK akusandha 2 49

K akuttha ,R 80

K ala De vala,1 5, 2 9 , 47

Kali , 2 4 1

Kalidasa , 2 8 3 , 30 3Kahka,

2 4 1

Kalinga , 1 82 , 1 83 , 2 94

Kaludayi , I 4

Kaludayin, 46

K ama , 1 0 3Kama dsava , 1 0 3

K ama- lokas, 1 1 1 , 2 67

Karna-vacara deva- lokas 1 1 1

K amma , 1 07 , 1 08 , 1 2 2

K andula , 2 99

K anhajina ,2 9 5

K anishka , 32 8

K anthaka ,1 4 , 2 4

—2 7 , 3 2 6

K ap i la , 1 94

K ap i lavatthu , 9 , 1 3 , 1 4 , 1 7 , 1 9 ,

2 2 ,2 6 ,

2 9 , 3 2 , 46 , 47 , 50 . 53 ,

K arandavyuha , 3 1 7

K arma,see K arnrna

K arma Yoga ,2 1 2

K aruna, 1 42 , 1 43

K ashf al—M ahynb , 2 44

K assapa , 42—44 ,

8 8 ,1 05, 2 49 , 2 69 ,

2 70

K assapa- gotta ,2 9 8

K athaka Upani shad, 2 0 3

Kausamb i , 58 , 59Keats, John ,

1 1 3

K haggavi sdna S utta , 1 7 1

K handaka ,2 6 2

K handhas, 1 00

K h ema, 56 ,1 6 3 ,

2 2 3

K hnddaka Ni haya,2 65, 2 75, 2 79 ,

K huddakapatka , 1 58 , 2 65K imb ila , 50 , 58

K ing,Henry

,2 57

K inso ,2 56

K isa Gotami , 2 3 , 1 6 3 , 2 7 1 ,2 7 2 ;

see also Gotam i th e Slender

364

K nox , 1 34K oliyas, 52 , 89K onagammana

,2 49

K ondafifia , 1 5, 1 6 ,2 9 , 38 , 40

K orea, 3 39

K osala, 52 , 6 2 , 7 1 , 1 6 3 , 2 2 3 , 2 59

K osalas, 9 , 7 2

K rishna ,2 36

K rishna Li la,2 36

K rishna , Sri , 1 49K shattriyas, 1 99 ,

2 1 4 ,2 1 7 ,

2 7 8

K nldvaka jdtaka , 1 6 2

K umarajiva , 3 1 9

K unala, 3 1 4 , 3 1 5

K uroda,S .

,2 3 3

K urral, 2 54K usinara

, 7 9 , 84 , 87—89

Kutagara Hall, 52 , 54 , 7 8

Kwannon ,see Kwanyin

Kwanyin (Kwannon) , 2 49 , 342

K yoto , 342

Lali tamstara 1 1 , 30 2 , 30 3 , 3 1 6

3 37Lanka, 300

Laos, 3 36

Laotz e,1 59

Licchav is, 74 , 75, 89 , 1 64

L i ght ofA si a,The , 1 1 , 302

Li nga-sari ra

,1 09

Lokottaravadins, 30 2

Longmen, 3 39 , 34 1

L’

Origi ne grecque do l’

I rnage da

Bouddha , 3 2 8

Loyang , 2 54 , 34 1

MACEDONI A , 1 84

Maddi,2 94

Madhyami ka si ttras, 2 43 , 3 1 9

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha $39 the Gospe l of BuddhismNalaka , 1 5Nalanda, 7 3Nama-rupa , 9 7 , 99 , 1 00

Nanda , 54Nandab ala

, 309Nandiya , 58

Nara, 340

Nausicaa , 308

Nepal,2 2 2 , 3 35, 3 36

Ni bbana , 1 2 ,2 3 , 36 , 37 , 4 1 43 ,

53 , 1 0 3 , 1 1 0,1 1 3 , 1 1 5

1 2 5, 1 2 7 , 1 40 ,1 45, 1 47 , 1 80 ,

N iddnakathd, 1 1

d desa,2 6 5

Nietz sche, 7 7 , 9 2 , 9 3 , 1 44 , 1 74 ,

1 76 , 1 7 7 , 1 79 ,2 2 1 , 2 2 9 ,

2 6 1

Nigantha Nataputta , 57 , 84Niganthas, 1 52 , 1 56

Ni grodha-tree

, 3 1

Nikayas, 1 99Nimmana-rati , 1 1 1

Ni rmanakaya ,2 38 , 2 46 ,

2 49 ,2 50

Ni rodha , 90

Ni rvana , 39 ,1 2 5, 1 6 1 , 2 09 , 2 1 0 ,

2 39 , 2 4 1 , 2 44 , 2 48 , 3 2 1 see

also Ni bbdna

Ni rvdna Tantra ,2 4 1

No -form , heaven of, 1 5, 1 47

Norm , th e Buddhist , 37 , 7 1 94 ,

O KAK URA , 340

Oldenb erg , 60 , 90 ,1 2 7 , 1 60 , 1 6 3 ,

Orissa , 37 , 1 82

Oudh, 9

Outlines of Mahdydna Buddhi sm,

1 59

Outli nes of the Mahdyiina P hi lo

sophy . 2 33366

PACCE KA -B UDDHAS ,2 30

P aCi ttiya ,2 6 2

P admapani , 2 49P ai nti ng i n the F ar East 34 1

Pali canon, th e , 1 0 , 1 58 ,

2 6 2—2 89 ,30 2

P ali,2 2 2

,2 2 3 , 2 59 ,

2 6 1

P ali Jatakas, 1 1 , 2 60P 5111 Suttas

, 3 3 3Para

, 7 8

Parajika ,2 6 2

P aramdrtha , 2 46 ,2 52

P ardmi tds, 2 89P aranimi tta-vasavatti , 1 1 1

P aratantra satya ,2 52

P ari bbdfakas, 1 51 , 1 52 see also

Wanderers

P arzkalpi ta satya , 2 52

Pari leyyaka , 58

P arini b bana,1 2 2

P ari spanna satya ,2 52

P arivara,2 62

Parth ia, 3 3 8

Parvat i , 2 4 1P asenadi , 2 2 3P atacara

, 1 49 , 1 6 3Pataliputra , 1 86

P ati oea-samupdda , 96

P ati gha , 1 0 3P ati sambh i ddmagga , 2 65P atna , 1 86

Pava, 88

P ayasi S utta , 1 05, 1 1 1

P erfect Enligh tenment , 35, 1 2 2

P etavatthu ,2 65

P etrucc i,R . , 2 57

P h i losophi cal Letters upon Dogmati sm and Cri ti ci sm , 1 9 7

P hi losophi e de la Nature dans

l’

A rt d’

Extréme Ori ent, La ,2 57

P h i losophy of the Upani shads, The,

IndexP husati , 2 94P i ndola-Bharadvaja, 56

P i ppali vana, 89P i takas, 204 , 2 6 2

P lanes of Desi re , 1 1 1 , 1 1 2

P lanes of Form , 1 1 1 , 1 1 2

P lanes of No -form , 1 1 1 , i 1 2, 1 1 3

P lanes of Sensuous Desire , 1 1 1

P lato , 2 60

Poincare, M 1 1 3Potthapada , 1 52

P rafii a ,2 39 , 2 40

P rajfiaparamita,2 39 , 2 40 , 2 49 , 337

P rap'

idpdrami tds, 2 42 , 3 1 8

P rakri ti , 1 94 , 2 40 , 2 4 1

P rani dhana , 3 2 1

P rasenaji t , 57P ratapa S imha , 1 57P ri nc ipi a E th i ea , 1 40

P salms of the Brethren,1 1 9 , 1 20 ,

1 58 , 1 6 7 , 1 6 8 , 1 7 2 ,1 76 ,

2 2 8 ,

P salms of the S i sters, 1 1 9 , 1 38 , 1 49 ,

P ubbarama, 52

P ukkusa, 79 , 80

P unna, 3 1

P unnavaddhana, 52

P urz’

i nas,2 1 8

P urusha, 1 94—1 96 , 2 3 1

P uto , 2 55

QUEEN MALLI KR’

S P ark, 1 52

Questi ons of K i ng M i li nda ,

2 9 7

RAFT , the Great , ’ 2 2 2 , 2 2 6

Raft, the L i ttle ,

’

2 2 2

Raga, 34

Rahula , 9 , 1 4 ,

2 6 3Rahula, the mother of, see Yasodhara

Rajagaha, 2 7 , 2 9 , 43—46 , 50 , 51

56 , 59 . 6 2 , 64 . 7 3Ra]gi r, 6 2

Rakkh i ta, Grove , 58

Rama , 1 67 , 2 1 6

Ramagama, 89Rdmdnuja , 1 87 , 2 06 ,

2 09Rdmdyana , 1 67 , 2 89Rapti , R . , 9 , 6 2

Rapture ,stages of, 86

Ratana S utta , 10 3Rati

, 34Ratnapani , 2 49Ratnasambhava

,2 49

Resolves, 1 4 1

Revata , 2 9 7R i g Veda , 2 09 , 2 83Rohi ni , R . , 52

Romanti c H i story of Buddha 1 8 1

Roth enstein, W . , 340

Rupa-loka , 1 1 1 , 1 47 , 2 67Rupardga , 1 0 3Ruru-deer, 3 1 1

—3 1 3

Ruysb roeck, 2 35

2 2 , 2 4 , 50 , 54 ,

367

SADAYATANA , 9 7S addharmapundarika , 1 59 , 2 3 1 ,

3 1 6

S agand, 2 52

Sab et Mah eth, 6 2

Sai vas, 2 511 1 1 , 1 1 2 ,

S ahkdya-di tth i , 103

Sakt i,2 40 , 2 4 1

Sakyamuni , 3 1 6S z

‘

ikyas, 9 , 1 7 , 1 8 ,2 2

, 3 2 , 46 , 47 ,

50 , 52 , 7 2 , 89 , 1 80 , 1 8 1

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of BuddhismSakyasinha ,

2 36

Samadh i , 1 47 , 1 48 ,1 96 , 3 30

S amddh i hdya ,2 39

S arnafiha-phala S u tta ,2 1 8 ,

2 7 7Samantab hadra

,2 49 , 34 1

S ambhogakaya ,2 38 ,

2 46 ,2 49 ,

2 52

Sa'

imkhya system, 1 1 9 ,

1 87 ,1 94

Samsara, 9 3 , 1 06 , 1 48 , 1 96 ,

2 09 ,

S amudaya , 90

S amvri tti , 2 46 ,2 52

S amyutta Ni hdya , 9 8 , 1 1 8 ,1 1 9 ,

S énchi , 2 2 4 , 3 2 5, 3 2 6 , 3 3 3 , 3 37S angha , 1 2 7 , 1 4 1 , 1 51 , 1 58 ,

2 2 4 ,

2 83Sangh am itta , 1 85Sanjaya , 57 , 84

Sankara , 1 04 ,2 0 1 , 2 06 ,

2 07 ,2 1 1

Sankaracarya , 1 87 , 2 43S anhhdra , 9 7 , 99 ,

1 00

Sanki ssa , 58

S ai‘

ind, 9 9 ,1 00

Sanskrit , 2 59 , 30 1—30 3 , 3 10

S i rlputta , 44 , 45, 50 , 57 , 67 , 70 ,

Sarnath ,1 86

S aundardnanda K dvya , 309savatthi , 51 , 52 , 56—60 , 6 2 , 1 6 3 ,

S ch elling , 1 1 3 ,1 9 7

S chopenhauer, 1 57 ,1 65

S ea of E x istence ,1 2

S econd P ath , 48 , 55, 1 02

S ermon of th e Inanimate,

’

2 55S ervi ce Tenures Commi sswn Re

port, 1 54S e ven Connatal Ones, 1 4

S ex and Character, 1 66

Shanti Deva ,1 40 , 2 36 , 3 2 0

—3 2 3

Shao Lin monastery , 2 54S h i hshasamuocaya ,

1 40 , 3 2 0

S i am , 2 9 7 , 3 36

S i gdlavddd S utta ,1 3 1 ,

2 69

368

S iha , 1 56

S i labbata pdramdsa , 1 03S i lver H i ll

, 1 3S i nha ,

P . N. , 2 30

S i nh alese , 1 85S i va

,2 47 ,

2 51 ,2 6 7

S iv aka,2 8 3

S i v i , 2 94SD: P erfections, 2 42 , 3 1 8

Sm i th, Vi ncent , 1 30

Socrates, 1 59 , 1 7 2

Sonuttara ,2 9 2

Sophocles, 3 3 2

S oul of a P eople , The, 1 54Spassa , 9 7Speyer, 3 1 0Sravakas

,2 30

S tupa of Bharhut , the ,6 2

Sub hadda, 84 , 85

Sub hadda (W i fe of K . of Benares) ,2 9 2

Sub hut i,2 42 , 3 1 7 , 3 1 8

2 9 , 3 2 , 45, 49 , so , 53 , 54 , 1 1 6

2 1 2

S i'

i dra ,2 1 4 ,

2 1 8 , 2 7 8

Sufi , 1 1 5, 1 1 9 , 1 40

Sujata, 30 , 3 1 , 36 , 37Sukha

, 1 7 8

Sukhavat i , 2 47Sukhdvati vyuha , 3 1 7Sumedha ,

1 1 , 1 2 , 2 2 5, 2 88

Sundari—Nanda,2 87

S unya ,2 39

S unyata , 3 1 8

S upersensual Life , The, 2 46Suprab uddha, 1 7 , 1 8 , 59S i

'

i tra , 64

S utralamkdra , 309S u tta-ni pdta ,

1 2 1 , 2 65, 2 82

SuttaV i b hanga ,2 6 2

S utta P i taka ,2 65

Suttas,the

, 1 1 1 , 2 7 3

Suz uki , T. , 1 59 ,2 45

S vabhdvakdya ,2 39

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

Buddha 8639 the Gospe l of BuddhismVasub andhu , 2 51

Vatsya , 1 58

Vattagamani,2 6 1

Vedana, 9 7 , 99 , 1 00

Vedanta Sutras, 1 87

Vedanta , 45, 1 09 ,1 2 2

,1 80 , 1 87

1 94 , 1 96 ,2 00

,2 02

,2 0 3 , 2 09 ,

Vedas, 1 87 , 1 9 1 ,2 1 8 ,

2 2 6 , 3 10

Veluvana , 6 2 , 6 3Vesali , 52 , 54 , 7 2 , 7 4 , 7 5, 89Vessantara ,

P rince , 1 2 , 34 , 47 ,2 94 , 2 9 5

Vessantara jdtaka ,2 30 , 2 89 , 2 94 ,

2 9 5Vethadipa , 89

Vi bhanga , 94

Vi c i ki cchd, 10 3Vijaya , S ister, 1 7 2

Vijfiana Bh ikshu , 2 1 9

Vijfianavadins, 2 52

Vi mokha, 1 1 7Vi mala-ki rti S i

'

i tra , 2 44

Vimdnavatthu , 2 65Vi mutti , 1 1 7 , 1 1 8 , 1 2 2

—1 2 4 , 1 48

Vi naya P i taka ,2 6 2 ,

2 65Vi ii i

'

i dna , 9 6 , 9 7 , 9 9 , 1 00

Vi passi , 2 7 8

Visakha, 52 , 1 6 3 , 1 64Vishnu ,

2 4 1 ,2 47

Vissakamma , 57Vi suddhi M agga, 9 2 , 9 5, 1 59 , 1 70 ,

Vi svape'

i ni,2 49

Vulture’

s P eak, 7 3Vyasa ,

2 1 6

WANDERERS,The

, 1 51 , 1 52

Wang We i, 343

Warren,1 6 3 ,

1 7 2

Way of Enli ghtenment, 3 2 0

We i peri od, 342

We ini nger, 1 65, 1 66

Wh eel of Causat i on, 96

Wh e el of the Law the, 39 , 45,

1 86

Wh i tman, Walt , 77 1 42 , 1 57 , 1 67 ,

Worsley,A .

,1 9 9

Wumayado ,P rince

, 3 39Wu Tao - tz u , 342 , 343

Z EN B UDDH IS M ,

2 52—2 581 7 1 , 1 7 2 ,

YAJ NAVALKHYA , 1 9 8 , 2 1 3Yakkhas

,2 2

,2 5, 3 2 5

Yama , 2 7 2 ,2 7 3

Y asa, 4 1

Yasodhara, 1 7 , 1 8 ,2 1 , 2 2

47 , 49 , 50 , 305Yoga

, 1 46 , 1 96 , 1 9 7 , 3 2 8

Yogacara ,2 51 , 2 52 , 3 2 0

Yogavaracaras, 3 1 0