.\^^^J^\\\<«S?^!N«^>N«^\^\\\\\v THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA GIFT OF Lt. Col. George "White '7<'->. V -'^ •*'/ % SAKYA BUDDHA: A Narrative of his Life and Teachings. Page ERRATA. 60, 7tli line, for changes, read ranges. 63, 9tli ' ' " kernelike, ' kern-like. 73, IStli ' ' '' Llama, ' Lama. 92, 9th ' ' " thorough. ' thoroughly. 103, 1st ' " best. ' least. 105, 2d ' ' " bones. ' bows. 127, 18th ' ' " Delia-Llama, ' Delai-Lama 162, 6tli ' ' " ribbing, ' rubbing. 8AKYA BUDDHA: Versified, Annotated Narrative OF HIS LIFE AND TEACHINGS; WITH AN EXCURSUS, CONTAINING Citations from tlie Dliaininapafta, or Biiiliist Canon. By E. D. KOOT, AN AMERICAN BUDDHIST. "The more I learn to know Buddha, the more I admire h'm, and the sooner all mankind shall have been made acquainted with his doctrines the better it will be, for he is certainly one of the heroes of humanity."— Dk. Fausboll. NEW YORK : CHARLES P. SOMERBY, iS Bond Street. 1880. Copyrightod, By C. P. Somerby, 1880. C. P. Somerby, Elcctrotyper aucl Printer, 18 Bond-st, N. Y. PREFACE. In" presenting this unpretentious poem to the world, I am not certain that the ca- dence of its numbers will strike favorably the public-ear. Should it fail, through its dearth of afflatus, to arrest the attention of American scholars, I am prone to believe that in India, where the grand ethical teacher gifted his birth-land with fame's proud lau- rels, it will live in the liearts of many of his followers, and, peradveiiture, be enstamped with the sigil of immortality. The volumes containing the Life and Teach- ings of Buddha, from which the material that girds the poem has been gleaned, are ex- vi Preface. pensive, and beyond the reach of the mass of readers. I have epitomized, and brought within the scope of the masses (to M^hom those vol- umes are inaccessible) all that is needed to form a correct biographical narrative of the keenest-minded of all religious, Heaven-sent Ariels. I have endeavored with copious annota- tations to render plain many incidents inter- Woven with the career of Buddha which could not have been easily wrought in rythmic num- bers. In launching my epical poem upon the bournless sea of literature, I offer no apol- ogy, and make no cringing appeal to the mercy of critical reviewers ; and should my humble effort fail to meet their approval, or be rejected by them as unmeritorious, let their censuring frowns forever rest upon the ill-starred narrative of the all-adored Founder, Preface, vii wlio has borne betimes the struggling author over life's storm- vexed surges, when fate-girded Hope was whelmed 'neath affliction's dark waters. Deep-roused by true missionary zeal to blazon far and wide the incomparable Law of the gentle Lord Buddha, and knowing be- yond a shadow of uncertainty, accompanied by an overwhelming cogency of evidence, that my earth -flown friends, hovering near the fringe of supernal spheres, are swaying and shaping my anomalous career, I am lifted tower ingly above the narrow judgment of the daintified, cynical reviewer, who will find it easier^to demolish a fortress than to erect one that will be impregnable. The reader will please accept my assur- ance with all confidence that the poem con- tains nothing dispraising th.e Christian reli- gion, nor the sublime teachings of the God- man Nazarene. viii Preface. Hoping that this candid avowal will dis- arm all unreasonable prejudice, and prepare the mind for a careful perusal of my truth- founded narrative, I remain, kind reader, yours in mortal bonds, striving to attain that glori- ous, spiritual life, which blooms beyond the grave with ineffable grandeur. E. D. K. FORESTVILLE, CoUU., October, 1879. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. It was the gifted poet Goethe who *gave to the world the following paradoxical apo- thegm : " He who knows only one language knows none." To tliis the lettered Max Mtiller adds : " He who knows only one re- ligion knows none. As a true knowledge of a langnage requires a knowledge of languages, thus a true knowledge of a religion requires a knowledge of religions ; and however bold the assertion may sound, that all languages have an Oriental origin, true it is that all religions, like the suns, have risen from the East." In the elucidation of this paradox, the 10 Preliminary Observations. distinguished philologist relevantly queries : "Could Goethe have meant that Homer did not know Greek, ox that Shakspeare did not know English, because neither of them knew more than his own mother-tongue ? No ! What was meant was that neither Ho- mer nor Shakspeare knew what that language really was which he handled with so much power and cunning. ... It becomes clear at once that the most gifted poet and most eloquent speaker, with all their command of words and skillful mastery of expression, would have but little to say if asked what language really is ! The same applies to religion. He who knows onlv one knows none. There are thousands of people whose faith is such that it could move mountains, who yet, if asked what religion really is, would remain silent, or would speak of outward tokens, rather than the inward nature, or of the faculty of faith." Preliminary Observations. 11 To these scholarly testimonies I humbly subjoin : If the man who knows only the English language cannot trace the etymologi- cal derivations of its verbs, nouns and ad- jectives, the believer who knows only the Christian religion cannot trace its primitive source without extending his inquiries into all antedated Hevelations. If it be true, as the late Michelet affirms, that India was the original matrix of the world, the source of races, ideas, languages, and religions, it behooves all believers to ex- tend their continual researches into the origin of the Christian religion, which flings its sheen along life's pathway, and unlocks the death- barred tomb. During many years of my checkered and truth-searching career, I have been a schis- matic, and an unyielding dogmatist, standing upon creed - platforms so narrow that un- 12 Preliminary Observations. guarded mis-steps often plunged me into the bewildering labyrinths of polemic theology. In traversing the broad field of religious credenda, I am borne toweringly above the trammels of churlish bigotry, while my asperity and love of disputation are subdued, so that I now feel liberal in my views toward the mul- tiform, contentious sectaries.* When the underlying truth of Goethe's paradox, with the well-versed Miiller's appli- cation of it to religions, suggested its pro- found significance, I at once betook myself to investigating all ethnical and man-cherished Kevelations. Instead of accepting unaccredited material, gleaned from ancient religions, by surface- compilers, I, with great difficulty, and con- siderable expense, procured literal English * From the Book of all Religions^ by Hay ward, we learn that more than two hundred sects have sprung from the Christian religion. PveliiYiinary Observations. 13 translations of the works entitled as follows : The Zend-Avesta^ containing the four religious books of the Parsees, bequeathed to the world by the old Iranian Prophet Zo- roaster, the date * of whose writings reaches a remote antiquity ; the Rig - Yeda, which gives the earliest collocation of Brahminical prayers and hymns to the Maruts, 'or storm- gods ; the Bhaghavad- Gita^ or Hindu IN^ew Testament, which reveals the discourses be- tween Krishna, Arjuna, and Sanjaya ; the Analects of Confucius ; the Works of Men- cius; the Speculations of the old Chinese philosopher Lan-tsze ; the Koran^ by Moham- med. Also the Dha7nrnaj)ada, or Path of Virtue^ by Sakya Buddha ; his Life and Teach- ings from the Chinese San^rit, by Kev. Sam- uel Beal; the same, by Alabaster, from Siamese sources; also, the same, from the Birmese, by * Elsewhere, in a note, the reader will find historic evidence of the date of the Iran.ian Prophet^ 14: Preliminary Observations, Bishop BIgandet, who is a Catholic Apostolic Yicar of Ava and Pegu.* Anterior to the advent of the gentle Naz- arene, there flourished in India successive gen- erations who must have passed from earth- life without hope — with no well - born Ariel to guide them through death's dark windings, unless we concede that Krishna of Mathnra, and Buddha of Kapilavastu, were their Heaven- ordained Kedeemers. Can the kind-hearted Christian for a moment believe that myriads of human beings, in that far, sunny clime, will languish in Hell's drear dominions througli limitless seons ? The heavens gather black- ness over such a thought ! Tlie Seraphim *"Abufazl, it is said, the minister of the Emperor Akbar, could find no one to assist him in liis inquiries respecting Buddhism. We possess the whole sacred canon of the Buddhists in various languages — in Pali, Sanskrit, Birmese, Siamese, Thibetan, Mongolian and Chinese — which Akbar could not obtain by threats or bribery,"— 7^. JLr Which bear no conscious sway — Their love for God be sated With crass- wrought forms of clay. Such emblems clear betoken That Bralim' is always nigh.; Whene'er his laws they Ve broken, Upheaves the soul-felt sigh. That land whence all religions, All dialects first sprung; From thence to gelid regions A dazing sheen they've flung. (33) Such lore through vast dominions Sets free the trammeled mind. And borne on lightning's pinions, Illumes all human-kind.. His Life ccnd Teachings. 67 We sing of Greenland's mountains, Of India's coral strand, Of Afric's golden fountains — The paean ne'er will stand The rigid test of reason, Whose whelming stress we ply; It 's pealed through fanes a season, In Lethe's shade 't will die ! Earth teems with countless billions, Of Christ who 've never heard ; To punish one, or millions. Indeed 'twould be absurd! Great Heaven! the good All-father Will ne'er the heathen damn; Believe had I much rather All priest-wrought creeds are sham t 68 Sctkya Biiddha : This pride-puffed, all-wise nation Boasts wondrous march of mind; • Withholds all veneration For ao^es left behind. I've e'er in sooth regretted That moderns weakness show ; To pagans they 're indebted For all of God they know! (34) The tribal nomads sordid Of ancient Jewish clans Assume they first recorded Grod's soul-redemptive plans. In torrid climes then dwellino: Were tribes who 'd never heard Of seers 'gainst God rebelling, Though taught 'tis in his Word. (35) His Life and Teachings. 69 Xo youth with zeal impassioned Truth's banner e'er unfurled, l^ov roused by schemes well-fashioned A slumb'rous church, or world. Long years, wdth wealth of learning It needs creed-forms to scan ; The self-taught sage while yearning For light will lead the van. He knows not one religion, The man who knows but one ; In thought's vast, bournless region The search he 's just begun. Though false to many a scholar This paradox may seem. But not to languaged Miiller, With like whose volumes teem. YO ... 8dkya Buddha : He's rendered close translations, From Sanskrit obsolete, The works of Orient nations. Both matchless and complete. His pond'rous tomes have brought me From Error's mazy way; Soul-rousing truths they've taught me, Which glow with keenest ray ! Mis Life and Teachings. Tl SECTION YIL As Krislina of Mathura (36) Had once grand ethics tanglit. The Lord Biiddh' felt the surer - His Laws with trntlis were fraught; That oil the J 'd spread forever, Leave deep their trace behind; All mental gyves would sever, Which long had thralled mankind. I've conned Milesian fables, Homaunts of olden times ; With ease which me enables To sketch with flowing rhymes 72 Sdkya Buddha: The Lord who ne'er was thwarted In deep-laid schemes or plans — His laws have been distorted, Heviled by fleering clans. He flourished long anterior To the godlike Nazarene ; Is deemed by some superior In lore, if not in mien ; The truth of which I'll never Assume, or e'en decide; They'll both live on forever — In liearts they '11 sure abide ! The "sheep" Christ once elected In mansions dwell on high; His Life and Teachings. 73 The "goats" he then rejected In gloom heave many a sigh — O'erwhehned with lethal an Ornish, O'erawed by hostile foes ; In exile doomed to languish With no surcease of woes. (37) When mordant priests of Brahma Assailed the Lord at length, On thesis styled Nirvana He coped with mental strength; Averred that self-denial Would lift the burdened soul, Whene'er o'erborne by trial, And surges o'er it roll. The Llama throned at Thibet (38) Spreads wide his Master's cause, 74 Sdkya Buddha : And staidlj doth exhibit His Heaven-inspired laws : Which code of matchless morals The Ethnics highly prize ; It's won him Fame's proud laurels, A home in astral skies. Where smiled the banks of 'I^oma, He whiled the swift-winged hours ; Mandaras breathed aroma In garths y-prankt with flowers. His mind in self-wrought splendor 'Bove Fakirs' towering rose; With flexile cadence tender Did laws profound disclose, Wliich bore the "wheel," slow-turn- ing (39) Througli all that caste swayed realm ; iris Life and Teachings. 7S With love intensely burning He seized tlie swajful helm To guide the ship while tossing (^0) On life's wide-weltering surge. Which loomed while she was cross- ing Death's gulf near Heaven's verge. Along that winding river Whose marge was fringed with trees, Wide-roamed the great Law-giver, Whose tenets seemed to please The cowled monks world-secluded Througli stormful scenes of life — Saved foes who'd been deluded By wild uproar of strife. 7G Sdhya Buddha : Regaled witli odors floating. He culled ambrosial flowers; To themes sublime devotirio^ His wondrous godlike powers. Tlie wind-swung bowers while thrid- ding, Life danced with pleasaunce gay ; His eye naught smote forbidding, As flung Hope's star its ray. What time light mists were falling, On rolled Night's wheels apace, And gloom waxed most appalling, Then veiled was Nature's face ; A voice he lieard low-speaking (While opening heavens dis- pread) (41) Ills Life and Teachings. 77 Of truths he'd long been seeking From earth's departed dead, Who tidings bore, revealing Things mortals ne'er had learned — On volant vans swift- wheeling. To radiant realms returned. In life's wide, storm-vexed ocean. Where death-foamed billows rise, And sport in wild commotion, A flowering island lies. Where spirit-guides most timely Uplift the care-bowed man; Wldle heaven o'ertowers sublimely. Yon star-sown vault he '11 scan. Oft many a sage arises By aid from spirit- world ; 78 SdJcya Buddha : Oft many a dolt despises Till down to ruin hurled. Ill-starred is that lorn being Who'll stark close eyes and ears His earth-flown friends from seeing. And fling his railing sneers. In realms that know no Summer, I^or fields nor blossoms fair; Engloomed like drear Gehenna, (42) He '11 ffions languish there, With fiends who truth once slighted. Till Hope's star glowed in vain ; Alas ! woe-plunged, benighted ! In thrall he '11 e'er remain ! (43) His Ijifo dnd Taachingfi. 79 SECTION YIII. In towering fanes of Krisl^na, (44) That kissed the gorgeous clouds, To swell the praise of Yishnu, Once gathered saintly crowds. Tlie Lord Buddh' him succeeded, And sagely taught mankind ; The world profoundly needed His wealth of thought-throned mind. Antique was his religion Ere Beth'lem's star arose ; Though zoned in tliat far region, It still sublimely grows. (45) 80 Sdhja Buddha : Yast legions now adore him With love that's most sublime; In fanes they bow before him, "Where blooms that floral clime. A stance he held befitting, Grand truths to teach mankind. While brilliant thoughts were flitting As lightning tln*ough the mind. With Mara's cohorts figliting, Won baj^s he t'^vo-score years ; His life revealed through Avriting To all sublime appears. The world hath crowned Kedeem- ers (46) H Ere death did Ohrist betide ; iris Life and Teachings. 81 Unlike all puerile dreamers, They've laws extended wide. The Lord Buddh' was the true one, The Ariel grand of jore ! "With mind-wealth 'twill endue one His tomes to scan for lore. I '11 cling to . this All-savior, While borne on life's* wide sea ! And hope by staid behavior From tlirall he'll set me free — Bestow his promised guerdon In Heaven's eternal day ; I fain would bear a burden His cause to spread for aye. From life's lone vale he 's brought me To blaze liis fame witli song ; 82 Sakya Buddha : Profound are laws lie's taught me, In faith I 'm waxing strong ! (47) When forth he strolled one ev'ning, A youth o'ergloomed he met, (48) Distraught with soul -pierced griev- ing For one she 'd ne'er forget. "Earth's dead," he 'leged, "are many, The living are but few ; Exempt from death aren't any, Each bids dear frie^nds adieu. In yon star-gloried Heaven The loved and lost will meet; Your anguished heart, though riven, The child again you'll greet." His Life a7id TeacJmigs. 83 'MoDg graves embloomed I've wandered, From life's ga-y scenes have fled ; In sad-tuned mood deep-pondered Long o'er the soul-flown dead. When once most sorely worried, At Night's deep noon, alone. In hands with worn face buried, What time the queen-moon shone, I thought of his vast learning — How world-wide famed was he. And felt intensive yearning His light-robed form to see. In vine-wreathed bower while kneeling, With mien surpassing fair. Mine eye he passed swift-wheeling, Then heavenward soared througli air. (49) 84 Sdkya Buddha : In spire-crowned fanes where kneeling The Hindoos oft were seen, He there was heard reveah'ns: The law with stately mien. With voice soft-toned as Brahma's, Of which have minstrels song ; His most engaging manners O'er all enchantment fluno-. To realms tliis Sage ascended, (50) "Where gloom ne'er drowns the day ; By Indra's host attended, Who winged their easy way. While lono^ he there was living: 'Mid bloom of bowerj^ spheres, His law he then was o-ivins: To all the white-robed Seers. His Life and Teachings. 85 When 'gain to earth returning, His last great work renewed ; For souls felt deepest yearning, With godlike gifts endued. With eye serenely rolling, He scanned the ways of men; Bore tidings -most consoling To lift one now and then From deeps of drear desponding. While laslied by passion's goad. From virtue's path absconding. Till lost on Deatli's wide road. His fame now reaches Heaven ! Hell's baleful bower beneath! Soul-lifting truths he's given, Quaint maxims did bequeath. ^ % 86 Sakya Buddha: Effete creed-forms are dying, O'errolls them Lethe's wave; For life are theorists sighing Which blooms beyond the grave. To limn this well-starred Ariel Now fails my mortal pen; To soar to worlds sidereal, Beyond the scope of ken, My Muse hath callow pinions. And dares no lofty flight; But gropes in earth's dominions, 'Neath Fortune's bloom or blio;ht. Through flown decades he'd noted Wild scenes of horrent strife; Mis Life and Teachings. 87 His storm-beat bark then floated Down foam-flecked tides of life, Which fretted shores were lashing "With mantling drifts of spray; In fiendish glee were dashing With bold, gigantic sway. (51) In rose-wreathed bowers of Malla, 'Mid weird-lit vistas rare. While prone 'neath towering Sala, He voiced a deep-toned prayer. The death-god him was nearing, The film-touched eye to close ; When shorn of sight and hearing, He swooned in life's last throes. Soul-tranced this clay-robed mortal On couch supine did lie, 88 Sdkya Buddha. Till wide was flung Death's portal, Then soared to worlds most high. A woe-bowed host assembled, Whose wails through air forth pealed ; Earth widly rocked and trembled, Mount Meru tottering reeled ! (52) ANNOTATIONS. The Grand Being's miraculous conception and birth were accompanied by convulsions in Nature, and prodigies in the skies. When the auspicious babe was born of Queen Maya, " a minister in state named Ba- sita, in company with distinguished Brahmans, visited the garden of Lumbini. While there convened, Basita addressed the ministers and said : ' Do you perceive how tlie great earth is rocked like a ship borne over the waves? See how the sun and moon are darkened of their light ; just as the stars of night in their appearance ! See how all the trees are blos- soming, as if the season had come — listen ! there is a roll of thunder ! and though there 90 Buddha^s Life and Teachings. be no clouds, yet the soft raiii is falling ; so beautifully fertilizing in its qualities ! and the air is moved by a gentle and cool breeze com- ing from the eight quarters — and hark to the sound of that music of Brahma, so sweetly melodious in the air ! and all the Devas chant- ing their hymns and praises ! while flowers and sweet unguents rain down through the void ! ' " Such were some of the prodigies which appeared when the King, the Descendant* of Mighty Conquerors ; the Holy Grand Man, the Highest Crown ; the Perfection of All Power ; the Infinitely Meritorious Lord, excelling all — descended from the Tushita heavens, and was conceived in the world of men." — BeaVs and Alabaster' s Life of Buddha^ conjoined. (2-) " Iiidra is the king of angels. His palace is in the second tier of heavens, reckoning from Annotations. 91 the earth, called Dawadungsa. There the thoiisand-eyed Lord, as he is called, is attended by myriads of angels. His charger is the three- headed elephant Erawan, and his great weapon the disk Cliakra, with which he drives from heaven the fallen angels Asura. Among other treasures, he has for a trumpet a huge chank- sliell, of the kind still held precious by East- ern kings. "Ko Hindoo deity, unless it be the great Brahma himself, is so frequently introduced in the Siamese legends as is Indra, to whose in- spiration they attribute one of their oldest books on the principles of the law." — Ala- baster. (3.) The Prince on entering school confounded his teacher Yisvamitra, the same as Jesus did Zaccheus, the schoolmaster at Jerusalem. There is a striking similarity in the account of Jesus given in the Apochryphal New Testament and 92 Buddha's Life and Teachings. the one given by the biographers of Buddha.* It is said that while Yisvamitra stood abashed in the presence of the marvelous child, there came from the Tusliita heavens a cer- tain Deva, accompanied by comitless other Devas, and chanted this song : "Whatever arts there are in the world, Whatever Sutras and Shasters, This child is thorough acquainted with all, And is able to teach them to others." • ••••••• The Deva having finished this hymn, show- ered down on the Prince every sort of flower, and returned to liis abode. Tlie historic record of the early career of the Prince is so diffuse that lack of space will only allow a summa- rized account to be cited. I will add, en * On this subject Bishop Bigandet says: *'In read- ing the particulars of the life of the last Buddha, Gautama, it is impossible not to feel reminded of many circumstances relating to our Savior's life, such as it has been sketched out by the Evangelists." Annotations. 93 passant^ that the youth, with his precocious and prehensile mind, confounded his teachers in all sciences and competitive exercises. ■ (4-) History informs us that when the Prince first \dsited the pleasure-garden of Lumbini, his stately majesty and exceeding beauty evoked from the spectators the wildest enthusiasm. (5.) When the horoscope was cast by the Brah- manical soothsayers on the destiny of the Prince, it was alleged that if he should ever learn that man was doomed to old age, sick- ness, disease, and deatli, he would withdraw from the palace, and become a religious ascetic. Accordingly, King Suddhodana used every pre- caution to prevent his ever coming in contact with such dread evils; but when the Prince was permitted to visit the pleasure-gardens, on hia way he saw them all in thi ir direst forms. 94 BuddhoCs Life and Teachings. After returning to the palace, a voice came from Space exhorting him to flee from that high-viced city to some sylvan retreat. " Before leaving the palace, a bevy of lovely and fascinating girls surrounded him, striving, by dancing, music and songs, to attract his thoughts to pleasure ; but all their enticements were vain. He now no longer found satisfac- tion in such things, and, heeding them not, he soon fell asleep. Then Indra, exerting his miraculous powers, caused these ladies to sleep in a most unseemly manner, quite different to that usual with ladies of high birth and good education. Some of them snored loudly ; oth- ers lay with their mouths wide open; others gnashed their teeth ; others rolled about in un- graceful attitudes. When the Grand Being awoke, and looked around, his heart sank within him. He conceived a disgust for worldly life, and regarded his royal palace full of lovely women as a cemetery full of horrid corpses. Annotations. 95 Tlie more lie looked, the more sorrowful lie became — the more his heart quaked for the miseries of circling existence." Moved bj such sights, he determined to lead a religious life without delay. At mid- night's deepening gloom, he mounted his royal steed Kantaka, and was borne from the sinful haunts of that grand emporium, whose massive gates silently self-opened. At dawn's first faint flush, he reached the smiling banks of the l!Tairanjana river, whose turbulent waters rolled near ihQ fringe of a stately forest, where legions of angels greeted him with songs of ravishing sweetness. He then made the following resolution: "Bather would I have my body crushed by a rock, rather would I drink the deadliest poi- son, or starve myself to death, than not to fulfil my vow to save all flesh from tlie fear- ful ocean of bii'th and death." 9G BiiddhcCs Life and Teachings, (6.) " Mara is the god of love, and of death. Though tills king plays the part of our Satan the tempter, he and his hosts were formerly great almsgivers, which led to their being in the highest Deva heavens, there to live nine thousand millions of years, suri-ounded by all the luxuries of sensuality. From this heaven the filthy one, as the Siamese describe him, descends to the earth to tempt and excite to evil." — A labaster. (7.) As a marked episode in the career of Buddha transpired in connection with his part- ing with Ins Princess-consort, I wdll state that Yasodhara had borne him a son named Ra- hul a. Some writers have censured the Prince for leaving home and kindred to become a reli- gious teacher; but let it be remembered that his family was dowered with the affluence of Annotations. 9Y the kingdom. To accomplisli his great work of founding his sublime religion, he was com- pelled to withdraw from the sinful surround- ings of the palace, and retire to the wilds of a forest. (8.) In BeaPs Life of Buddha appears the fol- lowing sketch of his once making an serial flight over the sacred Ganges : " He said to the boatman, ' Braj, take me over tlie river.' To whom the boatman replied, ' If jou can pay me the fare, I will willingly take you over the river.' Buddha said, ' I have no money to pay you.' To whom the boatman replied, 'This is the only mear.s I have of a liveli- hood for my wife and children.' At this mo- ment a flock of wild-geese flew over the Ganges. Then said the world-honored one, ' How did those geese cross the Ganges ? ' The boatman replied, ' By their inlierent power of flying.' ' So I, by my inherent, spiritual 98 Buddha s Life and Teachings. power, will cross tlie Ganges, though the south bank tower higher than Mount Meru.' Then, by inherent, spiritual power, he passed over the Ganges. Continuing his flight to Benares, he alighted among the Rishis, founded his reli- gion, and thousands of the citizens espoused his cause." If the reader regards this miracle as im- probable, or impossible, he should remember that Jesus is represented as having once Avalked upon the storm - roughed sea of Genesareth. (Matt, xiv, 24-, ct seq.) (9.) A Pansal is a " leafy hut, or sheltered abode." (10.) In the forest TTrnwela, near the banks of the JSTairanjana river, the Prince Siddartha !ived a hermit-like life, doing penance six years amid bowery' shades, w^ithdrawn froui society and endeared friends. Annotations. 99 (11.) " Whilst the world-honored one has arrived at perfect wisdom, he has acquired that un- equaled Law ; he has become perfectly enlight- ened, and yet he has suddenly resolved on Aranya as a place of abode, and not to declare his Law for the good of men ! Oh, let us ex- hort him not to act thus ! be not thus, O world-honored one ! but, for the sake of men sunk in sin, declare thy Law ! " (12.) The struggle of a hard-moiling man with overbearing Poverty, to reach " Fame's proud Temple," is jBuely pictured in the following Spencerian stanza: '*Ah! who can tell liow hard it is to climb The steep where Fame's proud Temple shines afar ; Ah ! who can tell how many a soul sublime Has felt the influence of malignant star, And waged with Fortune an eternal war ; 100 Buddha^ 8 Life and Teachings, Checked by the scoff of Pride, by Envy's frown, And Poverty's unconquerable bar ; In life's lone vale remote has pined alone. Then dropt into the grave, unpiticd and unknovrn ! " —JDr. Beaitie. (13.) Tlie tlieory, posited by Goetlie and Car-, lyle, that no great work was ever effected without renunciation and self-elevation, is clearly- revealed in the teacliings of Lord Buddha. Nothing so demoralizes mankind as luxmy and indolence : "For sluggard's brow the laurel never grows. Renown is not the child of indolent Repose." — Thomson. (U.) An atheistic lady of considerable culture was once bereft of an only daughter, who bloomed in all tlie radiance of youth, whose voice was as musical as the notes of a nightin- gale. Once, at midnight's solemn repose, she was awakened l)y the plaintive accents of her Annotations. 101 child, who had returned to her desoh\tc abode to convince her skeptical mother of the con- tinued existence of earth-flown mortals. After stemming the sullen waters of cheerless atheism (which offers no hope, but is an eternal nega- tion), she reached the child at the door, where, in the cold, she had lono; waited her comino*. Then the true-hearted mother (in the vision) bore the child in her loving arms to a cheerful, well-lighted room, and was overpoweringly con- vinced of her materialized ipseitj, or selfhood : "In spirit-form complete, Slie comes to meet her ; She stays her hurrying feet, Her whispers greet her ; Touch of her shadowy palms Stills all life's fever ; Hinting what restful calms Are hers forever." (15.) The most canorous and clear-toned song- ster in India is the beautiful Kalibinka. It is 102 Buddha's Life and Teachings. regarded by the natives with as much favor as the nightingale is in Europe, or the mavis or song-thrush in America. (16.) This terrific thunder-storm took place in the forest Uruwela. Mara and his host had long striven to circumvent our Lord in his struggles to obtain final deliverance from the warring passions, and are represented as hav- ing caused this tempestuous storm ; but they were overpowered and discomfited by Indi'a's mighty forces. (17.) I give the following views of some of the most eminent Sanskrit scholars touching this mooted, oft - perverted subject : '^ Numerous writers on Buddhism, iu their lectures and articles, tell us that Il^irvana means anni- hilation, and the non-existence of the soul. This statement is more easily made than proved. ^jxniiotations. 103 It would be better, at best, if it was not so frequently repeated in the face of contrary statements made by those well able to judge respecting the matter." — Beat. " Whatever IN'irvana may be, the Siamese Buddhists assume it to be more desirable than any thing they can define as existence, and the question they raise is not ' How shall it be de- fined ? but how can it be obtained ? ' " — A la- haster. No writer has made this subject so clear to me as the erudite Max Miiller : " I go even farther, and maintain' that, if we look in the Dhainma2)(ida^ at every passage where Nir- vana is mentioned, there is not one word which would require that its meaning should be an- nihilation ; while most, if not all, would be- come perfectly unintelligible if we assigned to the word Nirvana the meaning which it has in the metaphysical position of the canon. AVhat does Buddha mean when he calls reflec- 104 IBuddha's lAfe and Teachings. tion the path to immortality, thoughtlessness the path of death. Biiddhagosha does not hesi- tate to explain immortality by Nirvana ; and that the same idea was connected with it in the mind of Buddha is clearly proved by a passage immediately following (v, 237) : ' The wise people, meditative, steady, always pos- sessed of strong powers, attain to ISTirvana, the highest happiness.' " If the goal at which the followers of Bud- dha have to aim had been in the mind of Buddlia perfect annihilation, * amata,' i. e., im- mortalit}^, would have been the very last word he could have chosen as its name." (18.) " Men who have not observed proper dis- cipline, and have not gained wealth in their youth, tliey perish like old herons in a lake without fish. "Men who have not observed j)roper dis- Annotations. 105 cipliue, and have not gained wealth in their youth, they lie like broken bones, sighing after the past." — BuddhcCs Dhammajpada. With the old Cliinese philosopher, Lau- Tsze, economy was one of the three things he most highly prized. He enounces the follow- ing : " Three precious things I prize, and hold fast — Humility, Compassion, and Economy^ (19.) The most logical points ever made against the vice of intemperance are the following, by the Lord Buddha, in his Sutras, or sermons, translated by Alabaster, from the works of the late Hajah of Siam : " As to the sin of drinking intoxicating things, consider ! It is the cause of the heart becoming excited and overcome. By nature there is already an intoxication in man caused by desire, anger, and folly; he is ah-eady in- clined to excess, and is not thoughtful of the 106 Buddha's Life arid Teachings, ^ impermanence, misery, and vanity of all things. If we stimulate this natural intoxication by drinking, it will become more daring; and if the natural inclination is to anger, anger will become excessive, and acts of violence and mur- der will result. Similarly with the other in- clinations : The drunken man neither thinks of future retribution, nor present punishment. Again, spirituous liquors cause disease, liver disease, and short life ; and the use of them, when it has become a fixed habit, cannot be dispensed with without discomfort, so that men spend all their money unprofitably in purchas- ing them, and, when the money is spent, be- come thieves and dacoits. The evil is both future and immediate." (20.) Eev. W. H. H. Murray, the distinguished Conerresational minister, in a lecture delivered in Boston, not long ago, said: " Christian civilization might profit from Annotaiwtis. 107 Buddhism : and New Eiio-land iiiiixht 2:0 to school ill Cliina and India. The nnderlying idea of Buddhism is a belief in the infinite capacity of the human intellect ; a belief in the availing of true merit, and in the development of all the human faculties. It is not a heav}^, sensual religion; but one purely rational, ap- pealing to conscientiousness and intellect for support. " While Old England and Kew England have used the rack, the cell, the dungeon, the inquisition, and thousands of implements of tor- ture, there have been twenty-three hundred years of Buddhism with not a drop of blood in its onward march ; not a groan along its pathway. It has never persecuted ; never de- ceived the people ; never practiced pious fraud ; never appealed to prejudice; never, used the sword. If Buddhists are heathen, are they not civilized heathen?" To the above pointed remarks of Mr. Mur- 108 Buddha's .Life and Teachings. raj I subjoin the following from a speecli delivered a few years since by the late Hon. Anson Bnrlingame : " China is a land of scholars ana schools ; a land of books, from the smallest pamphlet up to voluminous encj'clopedias. It is a land where privileges are common. It is a land without caste, for they destroyed their feudal system over two thousand j^ears ago ; and they built their grand structure of civilization on the great idea that the people are the source of power. This idea was uttered by Mencius be- tween two and three thousand j^ears since, and it was old w^hen he uttered it. They make scholarship a test of merit." (21.) The following Five Commandments are the most concise and pointed of the Ten jri^en by the Great Teacher : 1. "Not to destroy life. Annotations. 109 2. "Kot to obtain another's property by unjust means. 3. "]^ot to utter falseliood. 4. "E"ot to indulge the passions, so as to invade the legal, or natural, rights of othej- men. 5. " Not to partake of anything intoxi- cating." — Alabaster, (22.) In the Brahmanical system of Caste, tlie Chandelah, in consequence of mixed marriage, is doomed to be a wretched outcast. The Soo- der, Yvdio is born from the foot of Brahma, is fated to a state of perpetual bondage to the high-caste, lordly Brahman. This soul-enslaving system of servitude the Lord Buddha most streiiuouisly opposed. A similar system did Jesus encounter among the stilted, crest-raised Pharisees. The wretched fate of the unfortunate Chan- delah, or Pariah, is fLuely povtxa-yed in the- 110 BuddJicCs Life, and Teachings. following lines from the scholarly poet Goethe. "We are not of noble kind, For with woe our lot is rife ; And what others deadly find Is our only source of life. ^ Let this be enough for men, Let them if they will desj)ise us ; But thou, Brahma, thou shouldst prize us, All are equal in thy ken." (23.) In the American Antiquities we find the following touching the unchangeable eflfects of climate on the complexions of dififerent races : " In torrid climes, both the white and black, with all the intermediate shades between the two extremes, are found, as also the black , \\'ith curled hair in the northern regions, and in many countries of the Old World. The dark - complexioned varieties of mankind are found near the poles; as people of tlie same complexion are found over the whole continent pf America, under all its various climates." Annotations. Ill (24.) Beattie's Minstrel. (25.) Near Mount Hecla, in Iceland, there is a marvelous column of boiling water thrown up- ward, above ninety feet, by the force of a sub- terranean fire. (26.) Travels of Fah-Hian and Sung-Yun, Buddhist Pilgrims, from China, to India (400- 518 A.D.), hy S. Beal. (27.) "Fah-Hian mentions two footprints in Cey- lon. ' Buddah, by his spiritual power, planted one foot to the north of the royal city, and one on the top of a mountain ; the distance between the two being fifteen yoganas (say a hundred miles'). " You have all heard of the two footprints sculptured on the summit of Mount Olivet, and worshiped by pilgrims as the marks left 112 JBuddha's Life and Teachings. when Jesus sprang into the sky at his ascen- sion." (28.) Touching tJie date when the Iranian Pro- phet flourished, I quote from the writings of the well-known, scholarly author, Hudson Tnt- tle: " The eminent Oriental scholar, M. Hang, places Zoroaster 4,800 B.C., thus antedating Moses. Bat far better are the ancient Greek writers. They agree in placing the era of Zo- roaster more than 6,000 years B.C. "Hermippus, who made the books and re- ligion of th(3 Magi the study of his lifetime, states, according to Pliny, on the authority of Agonakes, his teacher, tliat Zoroaster lived about 5,000 years before the Trojan war, 6,180 B.C." o . . The erudite A. H. Bleeck, in his Prolego- mena to his English translation of the Zend- Avesta^ from Prof. Spiegle's German, says: Annotations. 113 "When we attempt to go farther, and fix the date of the Iranian Prophet, we are met by difficulties at present insuperable, and we can neither deny nor confirm the statement of Aris- totle, who places Zoroaster 6,000 years before his own time, or, rather, that of Plato, about 360 B.C." (29.) A Mobed is the high-priest of the Parsees, the followers of Zoroaster. " A small remnant of them still cling to the Persian soil; but the mass passed across the Persian Gulf into Hindostan, where they received welcome and protection from the Ea- jah of Guzarat. "The Parsees of Bombay are the richest, and most prosperous, and most active, class of merchants in India, the English at Calcutta and Madras excepted. It is more due to them than to any others that Bombay has become that great center and emporium of the trade 114 BuddhcCs Life and Teachings. of Western India. Shrewd and industrious they are far from being either over-reaching or parsimonious. "The merchants of European and Ameri- can cities may well emulate the commercial honesty of this race. They are also lavish on occasion with their wealth. . . . Amons: themselves they are rather a brotherhood than a class or race. There is a genuine Freema- sonry among the Parsees, each being always ready to help his fellow, and. thus knit to- gether, they possess that wide and strong influ- ence which is the result of unity. It - is no empty boast of theirs that throughout their community there is not a single prostitute. . . . It is rarely a Parsee is ever brouglit into court, either on a criminal or civic charge. Prompt in the payment of their debts, almost invariably true to their engagements, they are also quiet, orderly, and law-abiding." — Ajyple- tons' Journal. Annotations. 115 (30.) " Malimoiid, the Sultan of Gliuzni, on hear- ing the astonishing accounts of the relics of the pagoda of Sumnaut, whose roof was cov- ered with plates of gold, and encircled with precious stones, besieged the place, whose in- habitants fell an easj j)rey before the victorious Moslems. ... In the fury of liis Moham- medan zeal against supposed idols, he smote off the nose of the image. Though large sums were offered for his desist an ce, he only pro- ceeded with his soldiers to destroy it. He found an infinite variety of diamonds, rabies, and pearls,, of a water so pure and a magni- tude so uncommon that the soldiers were over- whelmed with astonishment. The accumulated riches of this affluent region were so immense that "they exceeded the power of imagination to grasp them. " Of this Moslem marauder, w^e read that when he approached the scenes of dissolution. 116 JBxiddha^s Life and Teachings. he ordered Ins sacks of gold and jewels to be bronglit before him, that he miglit gaze for the last time upon his earthly treasm-es, then burst into tears, probably from the dis- mal reflection of the thousands of lives he had sacrificed to obtain them ; and perhaps from the thought that they would soon pass into other hands, and lie to the doom of eternity." — ^Y. Howitt. (31.) The great injustice and cruelty of England toward those so-called heathen is most vividly depicted by Goldwin Smith — an Englishman of scholarly ability, now a resident of Canada — in a scathing criticism of the British rule in India, called out by the war with the Ameer of Cabul. We make the following extracts from Prof. Smith's criticism, as we find it quo- ted by Mr. G. B. Stebbins in the Religio- Philosophieal Journal : , . . "In every country but one, the Annotations. 11 T liearts of all who love justice and hate iniquity will be on the side of the Ameer ; and, if ho is beaten, he will be trodden down into the general mass of spiritless and hopeless servi- tude of the two hundred millions who owe their allegiance to the Empress of India — that is, to Queen Yictoria." Of the late famine in Hindostan he saj^s: " Whether it was four millions or only a mil- lion and a quarter of these wretches who died in the late famine, nobody can exactly tell. " People wonder that Christianit}^ does ^lot make more headway in Hindostan. The con- verts are few. Yet the religion of Christ pros- pers as much as it could be reasonably expected to prosper in partnership with the pride of conquest, the insolence of race, fiscal extor- tion and massacre. The preacliers themselves are imperial. Lord Elgin found reverend gen- tlemen out-Heroding even lay terrorists in the ferocity of their sentiments at the time of the 118 Buddha* s Life and Teachings. mutiny ; and he says that, if he were to pur- sue a humane policy in China, the loudest outcries against him would be raised by the missionaries and the women." . Miss Florence Nightingale has also writ- ten a caustic article on the cruelty of her mother - countrymen toward famine - stricken India. (32.) Max Miiller reports the following extract from a speech of a Hindoo at Benares, de- livered before an audience of natives and Eng- lish, which will show that Buddhists are not idolaters : " If by idolatry," says this Hindoo scholar, "is meant a system of worship which coniines our ideas of the Deity to a mere image of clay or stone, which prevents our hearts from being expanded and elevated witli lofty notions of the attributes of God — if this is what is meant by idolatry, "we disclaim and abhor A7i?wtatio?is. 119 idolatry, and deplore the ignorance or nnchari- tableness of those who charge us with this groveling system of worship. We really lament the ignorance or uncharitableness of those who confound our representative worship with the Phoenician, Grecian, or Roman idolatry, as represented by European writers, and then charge us with polytheism, in the teeth of the thousands of texts in the Puranas, declar- ing in clear and unmistakable terms that there is but one God, who manifests himself as Brah- ma, Yishnu, and Siva, in his functions of crea- tion, preservation and destruction." Wong - Ching - Foo, a Buddhist missionary priest, in a lecture delivered in New Haven, said : " If Buddhists are idolaters, most surely are the Christians. On entering a cathedral in one of your cities, I was struck with aston- ishment at the sight of so many images. I asked the Catholic priest if Christians worshiped those images : to which he replied, ' None but 120 Buddha's Life and Teachings. the grossly ignorant devotee worships them. They are merely emblems of real personages which intelligent Catholics adore.' " I will add : As Catholics bow before im- ages in their devotions, and as they largely outnumber the Protestants, it follows by ila- tive reasoning that the major part of Christians are idolaters. (33.) Tlie spiritual dominions of Buddha extend to Siberia, and even Swedish Lapland. (34.) For the behoof of all who fancy that the ancients were inferior to moderns in genius and literature, I cite the following from the poet Alexander Pope : *' The ancients (to say the least of them) had as much genius as we have ; and to take more pains, and to employ more time, cannot fail to produce more com- plete pieces. They constantly applied them- Annotations. 12i selves not only to that art, but to that single branch of an art, to which their talent was most powerfully bent ; and it was the business of their lives to correct and finish their works for posterity. If we can pretend to have used the same industry, let us expect the same im- mortality." The writer has reference to the ancient Greek poets and philosophers. (35.) In the American Antiquities w^e read that " Cavigero supposes that the nations of Azta- lan came from Asia, across the Pacific, along the region of tlm coast of the Chinese sea and islands, reaching America not far from Bher- ing's Strait, and from thence followed along the coast of the Pacific, till tliey came, in process of time, to a milder climate. " To this Mr. At water adds, and- supposes them to have thence worked across the con- 122 Buddlia^s Life and Teachings. tiucnt, as well as in other directions, as far as the regions of the Western States and Ter- i ritories, where thej may have lived thonsands of years, as tlieir works denote." (36.) This Hindoo Deity and Savior, who flour- ished about 950 B.C. (tliough positive evi- dence of the correctness of this epocli cannot be established),* was miraculously engendered by the god Yishnu, and born of a maiden of vestal purity, named Devanaguy, in a prison at Mathura. The canonic records of his ca- reer and teachings may be found in the (Jpani- shads of wbat is called the ^oly Bhagavad- Gita, or Hindoo New Testatment. His youtbful career was marked by lieroic * " That the name of Krishna, and the general out- iine of his stor}'," says the learned Sir William Jones, ■'were long anterior to the birth of our Savior, and probably to the time of Homer, ice know very ctrtainly.'''' — Asiatic Researches^ vol. i, p. 259. Annotations. 123 deeds, in redressing tlio wrongs of liumanity, while to free the oppressed never strove u worthier paladin. To give the reader an idea of the style of this Sanskrit Philosophical Poem, I cite the following : Arjuna thns addresses Krishna: " The uni- verse, O Krishna ! is jnstly delighted with thy glory, and devoted to thee. The Pakshasas flee affrighted to the divers quarters of heaven, and all the multitudes of tlie Siddas salute thee. And, indeed, why should they not adore thee, O great one ! thee, the first creator, more important even than Braiuna himself? O in- finite king of gods ! habitation of the uni- verse ! thoa art the one indivisible, the existing and not existing, that which is supreme. Thou art first of the gods, the most ancient person. Thou art the supreme receptacle of this uni- verse. Thou knowest all, and mayest be known, and art the supreme mansion. By tlice is this 124: BudclluCs Life and Teachings. Universe caused to emanate, O thou of endless forms ! Air, Tama, fire, Yarnna, the moon, the progenitor, and the great-grandfather (of the world) art thou. Hail ! hail . to thee a thou- sand times ! and again, yet again, hail to thee! Hail to thee from before ! Hail to thee from behind ! Hail to thee from all sides, too ! Thou All ! Of infinite power and immense might, thou comprehendest all ; therefore thou art All. As I took tliee merely for a friend, I beseech thee without measure to pardon whatever I may, in ignorance of tliis thy greats ness, have said from negligence or affection, such as, ' O Krishna ! O son of Tadu ! (!) friend ! ' and every thing in which I may have treated thee in a joking manner, in recreation, repose, sitting, or at meals, whether in pri- vate or in the presence of these. Eternal One ! . . . . JSTow that I see what I have never seen before, I am delighted, and my heart is shaken with awe. Show me that other forv.i Annotations. 125 only, O god ! Be gracious, O king of gods ! habitation of tlie universe ! With thy tiara, thy staff, and thy discus in thy hand, thus only do I desire to see thee. Invest thyself with that four-armed form, thou of a thousand arms, of every form ! " The Holy One- spoke : " I have shown thee tJiat supreme form, Arjuna ! in kindness to thee by my own mystic virtue — that, which is my splendid, universal, infinite, primeval form, never yet beheld by other than thee. ]N"ot by studying the Yedas, nor by almsgiving, nor rites, nor severe mortification, can I be seen in this form, in the world of man, by other than thee, O best of the Kurus ! Be not alarmed, or in a troubled condition, at hav- ing seen this so terrible form of mine. But look, free from fear, with happy heart, upon that other form only of mine, namely, this." Sanjaya spoke: "Yasudeva, liaving thus ad- dressed Arjuna, showed him again his proper 126 BuddhcCs Life and Teachings. form, and the Great One consoled him who was alarmed bj again assuming a pleasant shape." Arjuna spoke: "Now that I behold this thy pleasant human shape, thou who art prayed to by mortals ! I am composed in my right mind, and brought back to -my natural con- dition." The Holy One spoke : " That form of mine which thou hast seen is very difficult to be- hold. Even the gods are always anxious to behold that form. Neither by studying tlie Yedas, nor mortification, nor almsgiving, nor sacrifice, can I be seen in such a form as thou hast seen me. But only by worship, of which I alone am the object, can I really be known and seen, Arjuna, and approached in this form, O harasser of thy foes ! He who performs his actions for me, intent on me, free from inter- est, and from, enmity toward any being, comes to me, O son of Pandu ! " Annotations. 127 ■ (37.) The period denoted by tlie Second Com- ing of Christ, and its associate events, is mis- understood by the Christian world. He taught his immediate disciples that his second comino* would transpire during thei- lifetime — before the then current generation should have passed a^vaj. (Matt, xvi, 28, and xxiv, 34 ; Luke xvii, 30.) In Matt, xxv, 31, et seq.^ the goats represent the God-cursed Jews, who were tlien doomed to everlasting punishment. They were scattered earth-wide amono- all nations, ao;ree- ably to Christ's prediction. They are a "taunt and a curse '' ; hated and despised by the whole civilized world. Limitation of space precludes further dilation upon the fulfilment of Christ's and their own prophet's veritable predictions. (Jer. *xxiv, 9, et seq.) (38.) " The Delia- Llama is a name given to the sovereign pontiff, or high-priest, of the Tlii- 128 Buddha^ s Life and Teachings. betan Tartars, who resides at Patoli, in a vast palace on a mountain, on the banks of Bur- hampooter, a few niihjs from Lahassa. " This sovereign vicegerent of the Deity on earth is never to be seen only in a secret place in his palace, amid a great number of lamps, sitting cross-legged npoii a cushion, and decked with gold and precious stones ; where, at a distance, tlie people bow themselves be- fore him. He seldom speaks, even to the greatest princes, but only lays his hands upon their heads, and they are fully persuaded they receive from thence a full forgiveness of all their sins." — Ilayward. I subjoin the following: The present cul- tus of Buddhism bears but little similarity to its primitive status, when founded by its im- mortal Author. It has evidently been perverted by an imperial high-priesthood. In a manuer strikingly resemblant has the Christian reli- A nnotations. 129 gion been corrupted by tlie all-potent decretals of the Komisli prelacy. (39.) " Wheel of the Laic. In this passage the Siamese author speaks of the wheel as if it was the quoit-like weapon (chakra) the emblem of the power of Indra, king of the angels, and of emperors of the world ; a few lines farther on, the allusion seems to be the circle of cause and effect. Buddha is said to ac- count for continued existence in transmis-ra- tion. The twelve causes and effects are called the twelve constituent parts of the wheel." — Alabaster. (40.) " The golden junk or ship. In the Life of Buddha we read of ' the lustrous vessel of the law,* by which Buddha would enable men to cross the ocean of transmigrating existence, and reach the other shore, i. e., Nirvana." — Ibid, 130 Buddha s I^fe arid Teachings. (41.) The Lord Buddha at this period was so intensely spiritnallj-minded that he was con- stantly en rapport with the spirit-world while dwelling in his sequestered abode. Bishop Bigandet represents him as then living upon the verge of Heaven. (42.) A Greek phrase which is rendered Hell twelve times in the Gospels of the New Tes- tament, and is believed by theologians to de- note tlie regions of the lost. (43.) The fleering corporealist, who denies the immortality of the soul, might read with profit the following argument in its favor by Socra- tes, an Athenian philosopher, who flourished about 470 B.C. The first argument which he urges is, that everything in Nature is produced or generated Annotations. 131 from its opposite. "TJnis, tlie worse proceeds from the better, and tlie better from the worse. From the state of wakefulness we pass to sleep, and from sleep to wakefulness. And as from being alive we go to the dead, and so, from being dead, we enter into another life. " The soul must subsist after death, be- cause it existed prior to the present life. The soul will exist hereafter, because it is a svmple^ unchanging substance. If it were a compound, like the body, it must, like the body, be dis- solved. But as it is not a compounded sub- stance, it is not subject to mutations like the body, and the conclusion is that it will never be dissolved. It belongs to the soul to oovern the body, and not the body tlie soul ; which proves that the soul is allied to Divinity, and, like that, is immortal. Into whatever tlie sonl enters it introduces life ; which shows that life is essential to it, and that it can never 132 Buddha's Life and Teachings. be subject to the opposite of life, which is death." . . . In all ages, have didactic bards verified the iiiter-commmiion of the soul -flown dead with earth-mortals; but none whose works I have read, excepting Thomson, has more grace- fully portrayed their mission to the denizens of this mundane globe than has the polished poet Rogers in his Pleasures of Memory : "Oft may the spirits of the dead descend To watch the silent slumbers of a friend ; To hover round his evening-walk unseen, And hold sweet converse on the dusky green ; To hail the spot where once their friendship grew, And Heaven and Nature opened to tlieir vie\v ! Oft, when he trims the cheerful hearth, and sees A smiling circle emulous to please ; There may these gentle guests delight to dwell, And bless the scenes they loved on earth so well." (44.) At Mathura and Siam can be seen fanes and pag-orlas with lofty spires. Alabaster de- Annotations. 133 scribes one in Siam, wliose spire reaches an altitude little less than the most towerina: in our largest emporiums. ^5 (45.) The question is often raised by Christians why Buddhism is coniined almost exclusively to Asia, while the religion taught by the god- like !Nazarene is widespread throughout Eu- rope and America. A solution of this question I give by affirm- ing that the spread of the Christian religion is due to the following circumstances : Had Buddha been born in Judea, at the date of the appearance of Jesus, it is evident at first blush that his religion would have been founded there ; and from thence through the prevail- ing dialects it would have spread through Eu- ropean nations, and subsequently have reached this hemisphere. With the tide of emigra- tion, its course would have been westward, following the setting of the sun. Had Christ 134 Buddha^ s Lif& and Teachings. been born in India at the time of Buddha, bis religion would liave been founded there ; and, peradventure, I should have written his bio- graphical narrative, instead of Buddha's. It is a singular fact, and worthy of note, that missionaries are being sent to Judea, to proclaim to the benighted denizens the glories of the religion of Jesus, in the land of his nativity. (46.) The world had three Redeemers before the advent of the humble J^azarene. They were: Buddha of Kapilavastu, Krishna of Hindostan, and Osiris of Egypt. In the " Book of the Dead " (Bunsen's Sgyj)t) we find an account of the crucifixion of OL-iris, who flourished about 3,000 years B.C. In this antique work are found religious rituals most strikingly similar to those which are observed by Christians. In a book now before me, entitled The Annotations. 135 WorlcVs Sixteen Crucified Saviors, or Chris^ tlanity Before Christ, I find this loose stater inent : " Buddha, Hindoo Sakya, crucified 600 B.C." I am neither prepared to confirm nor deny the truthfulness of many of the author's state- ments, yet I shall make an issue with him touching t'he criTcifixion of Buddha. As the last note to my poem contains y^^^Z ^particulars touching the death of Buddha, I refer the reader to the aforesai^ note to disprove his allegation that he was crucified, and therein show that he died a natural death in the garden of the Malla Princes, hard by the city of Kusinagara. (47.) Many years has the writer lived unfellowed, in templed shades, within the purlieu of a rural hamlet, withdrawn from society ; during which period he investigated many ancient and modern religions ; but none so fully meets his 136 JBuddhas Life and Teachings. approval as the one founded by the fame- crowned Ascetic of Kapilavastu, whose teach- ings he has endeavored to bring before the American people. (48.) Heference is here h.ad to the story of Kisa- gotimi, who bemoaned the loss of an only child, the account of which may be found in Buddhagosha^s Parables. This parable is given in fall in the closing paragraph of the Excursus. (49.) Oft has the writer, at night-tide's deepen- ing hush, retired from the dinning haunts of his fellow-villagers, for silent self-communing in G od's hallowed " Acre " : ** Where spirit-forms athwart the solemn dusk Tremendous sweep, or seem to sweep, along ; And voices more than human, through the void Deep-sounding, seize the enthusiastic ear ! " — ThomsoTi. Annotations. 137 Oft, too, has he repeated the following, from the same highly-gifted poet: "Deep-roused, I f^el A sacred terror, a severe delight Creep tlirough my mortal frame ; and thus metliinks A voice, than human more, the abstracted ear Of fancy strikes: 'Be not of us afraid, Poor kindred man ! thy fellow-creatures, "we From the same Parent-Power our beings drew ; The same our Lord, and laws, and great pursuit ; Once some of us, like thee, through stormy life, Toiled, tempest-beaten, ere "we could attain This holy calm, this harmony of mind, Where purity and peace immingle charms.' " (50.) "The Modern Buddhist" alleges that the Lord Buddha disappeared for a period of three months, and preached to the spirits of the Dawadmigsa world, and afterward retm-ned to earth. The miracle he regards as a well- attested, accredited fact. He thinks the Lord could not have concealed himself from liis im- 138 Buddhas Life and Teachings, mediate disciples, bat that lie really visited the spirit- world. How strongly this reminds us of Christ,- when he preached to the spirits of tlie ISloa- chian generation, who were in prison in the time of Peter ; but '* were disobedient, when once tlie long-suffering of God waited, in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were 'saved by water." (I Peter, iii, 18, et seq.) (51.) " Buddha's teachings during many years were not unopposed. Failing to equal him in science and miracle-working, his opponents tried to ruin his character. They leagued with a woman to charge him with unchastity. . . They bribed her to accuse him of misconduct with her; and, when she had proclaimed her story, was murdered by her bribers, in order that Buddha might be suspected of the act. Annotations. 139 This plan failed, for the plotters, in a drunken revel, boasted of their craft, and acknowledged their villainy." — Alabaster. ■ (52.) The distinguished Oriental traveler, Dr. J. M. Peebles, in his annotations on the Oral Discussion between a Buddhist priest named Migettuwatte and E.ev. P. Silva, '^an English clergyman, held at Pantura, Ceylon, says : " The general testimony of scholars, as well as the histories of the Siamese, Birmese, and Singhalese, unite in the opinion that Sakya- muni Gautama Buddha died a natural deatli, at the ao-e of about eiarhtv years, the event occurring during the reign of Adazathat." He gives Bishop Bigandet's account of the final summation of his earth-career, and par- ticulars touching his demise ; but I quote the following from Alabaster's Life of Buddha: " On reaching the city of Kusinagara, at- 140 Buddha s Life arid Teachings. tended by Ids immediate disciples, he gave them final instructions. Reclining between two lofty Sala-trees, in the garden of the Malla Princes, he uttered his last words : ' All things that are earth-born are perishable ; qualify your- selves for the imperishable.' Absorbed in ec- static meditation, he remained until the third watch of the night, and then expired. " Then there was a great earthquake ; and the pious who had not tlie perfection of saints wept aloud with uplifted arms, and reeled about, exclaiming, ' Too soon has tlie blessed one expired. Too soon has tlie eye closed on the world.' But the more advanced in reli- gion calmly submitted themselves, saying, ' Tran- sitory things are perishable ; in this world there is no permanence.' " * * In tlie Life of Gautama Buddha, by Edwin Ar- nold, we read the following touching the place and date of his birth and death: "Buddha was born on the borders of Nepaul, about 620 B.C., and died 543 B.C., at Kusinagara, in Oudh." Annotations, 14l On the autlioritj of Max Miiller, I have placed the epoch of his birth at about 553 B.C. Touching the year of Buddlia's advent, there seems to be a diver- sity of opinion among authors ; but nearly all agree that his birth was between 550 and 600 B.C. With Alabaster, Peebles, and Bigandet, IMr. Arnold agrees that Buddha died a natural death. This cor- roborative and consentient testimony disproves the statement made by the author of the WorlcVs Sixteen Crucified Saviors, that he was crucified near the Ke- paul Mountains. EXCURSUS. To GIVE the reader a correct view of Bud- dha's ethical and religious codes, as taught by him in his Dham^napada^ or Path of Yirtue,* I make the following citations : * Translated from the Pali, by F. Max Miiller. I have not numbered, or arranged in consecutive order, chapter and verse, my quotations from the Dhamma- pada. I have adopted the present course to avoid seem- ing repetitions, with slight variations, which plainly appear. Houghton, Osgood & Co., the well-known publish- ers in Boston, have recently issued the DJiammapada, or the Buddhist Canon, translated from the Chinese, by Samuel Beal, B.A., Professor of Chinese in Uni- versity College, London. Although the phraseology varies considerably from Max Miiller's translation from the Pali, yet the general 144 Buddha s Teachings. All that we are is the result of wliat we have thought; it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with au evil tliought, pain follows, like a shadow that never leaves him. If a man does what is good, let him do it again; let him not delight in sin; pain is the outcome of evil. Let us live happily, then, not hating those who hate us ! let us dwell free from hatred among men wdio hate us ! identity of both is substantially indicated. Tlie fol- lowing quotation exhibits the contrast : "Although a man may have heretofore been care- less, yet if afterward he is able to govern and restrain himself, this man becomes illusXrious, or illuminates the world, and the more he reflects the more resolved will he become to use self-restraint, A man may have done many things wrong, but if he recovers himself and atones for the evil by doing good, this man be- comes illustrious in the world, and the more he reflects the more virtuous he will become. A man wiio in the prime of life leaves his home and perfectly tutors him- Exciirsxis. 145 Healtli is the greatest of gifts, contented- ness the best riches ; trust is the best of rela- tives ; Nirvana, the highest happiness. lie who walks in the company of fools sniFers a long way ; company with fools, as witli an enemy, is always painful ; company with the wise is pleasure, like meeting with kinsfolk. Therefore, one ought to follow the wise, the intelligent, the learned, the much-enduringj the dutiful, the elect ; one ought to follow a self in the doctrine of Buddlia, this man shines out in the world as the moon when it hursts from the cloud. The man M'ho in times past has done wickedly, but afterward halts in his career and offends no more, that man shines out in the world as the moon when it emerges from the cloud." It seems, by the wide-spread and growing interest in this ancient religion, that God is especially moving the hearts of men in Europe and America to render in English the sublime doctrines of Buddhism, which have lain buried for ages in the sand of an obsolete language. 146 Buddha^ s Teachings, good and wise man, as the moon follows the path of the stars. He who does not rise when it is time to rise, who, though young and strong, is full of sloth, whose will and thoughts are weak, that lazy and idle man will never find the way to knowledge. He who, by causing pain to others, w^ishes to obtain pleasure himself, he, entangled in the bonds of hatred, wuU never be free from liatred. What ought to be done is neglected, what ought not to be done is done ; the sins of unruly, thoughtless people are always increas- ing. The disciples of Gautama (Buddha) are al- ways well awake, and their thoughts day and night are alw^ays set on Buddha. The hard parting, the hard living alone, the uninhabitable houses, are painful; painful Excursus. 147 is tlie company with men who are not our equals. . . * Good people shine from afar, like the snowy mountains; bad people are not seen, like ar- rows shot by night. He who, without ceasing, practices the duty of eating alone and sleeping alone, he, sub- duing himself, alone will rejoice in the de- struction of all desires, as if living in a forest. He who says what is not, goes to hell; he also who, having done a thing, and says, I have not done it. After death both are equal; they are men with evil deeds in the next world. Four things does a reckless man gain who covets his neighbor's wife: a bad reputation, an uncomfortable bed ; thirdly, punishment ; and lastly, hell. Like a well-guarded. frontier fort, with de- fenses within and witliout, so let a man guard 14:8 Buddha's Teachings. liimsolf. ISTot a moment should escape, for they who allow the right moment to pass suf-^ fer pain when they are in hell. They who are ashamed of what they ought not to be ashamed of, sucli men, embracing false doctrines, enter the evil path. The Bhikshu who controls liis mouth, who speaks wisely and calmly, who teaches the meaning and the Law, his word is sweet. He who never identifies himself with liis body and soul, and does not grieve over what is no more, he indeed is called a Bhikshu. O Bhikshu, empty this boat ! if emptied, it will go quickly ; having cut off passion and hatred, tliou wilt go to Nirvana. This salutary word I tell you, as many as are here .come together: Dig up the root of thirst, as he who wants the sweet-scented Usira root must dig up the Birna grass, that Mara Excursus. 149 (the tempter) may not cnisli you again and again, as the stream crushes the reeds. As a tree is firm as long as its root is safe, and grows again even though it has been cut down, thus, unless the yearnings of thirst are destroyed, this pain (of life) will return again and again. He whose desire for pleasure runs strong in the thirty-six channels, the waves will carry away that misguided man, namely, his desires which are set on passion. The channels run everywhere, the creeper (of passion) stands sprouting; if you see the creeper springing up, cut its root by means of knowledge. A creature's pleasures are extravagant and luxurious ; sunk in lust and looking for pleas- ure, men undergo (again and again) birth and decay. Men, driven on by thirst, run about like a 150 Buddha^ s Teachings, snared hare; held in fetters and bonds, they Undergo pain for a long time, again and again. Men, driven on by thirst, run about like a snared hare ; let, therefore, the mendicant who desires passionlessness for himself drive out thirst. He who in a country without forests (i. e., a,fter having reached Nirvana) gives himself over to forest life (i. e., to lust), and who, when removed from the forest (i. e., to lust), runs to the forest (i. e., to lust), look at that man ! though free, he runs into bondage. Wise people do not call that a strong fet- ter which is made of iron, wood, or hemp; far stronger is the care for precious stones and rings, for sons and a wife. That fetter do wise people call strong w^hich, drags down, yields, but is difficult to undo; after having cut this at last, people enter upon their pilgrimage, free from cares, and leaving desires and pleasures behind. I^xcursus. 151 Let a man leave anger, let him forsake pride, let him overcome all bondage ! No suf- ferings befall the man Avho is not attached to either body or soul, and who calls nothing his own. He who holds back rising anger like a roll- ing chariot, him I call a real driver; other people are but holding the reins. Speak the truth, do not yield to anger ; give, if thou art asked, from the little thou hast ; by those steps thou wilt go near the gods. _ . He whose conquest is not conquered again, whose conquest no one in this world escapes, by what path can you lead him, the Awak- ened, the Omniscient, into a wrong path ? He whom no desire with its snares and poisons can lead astray, by what path can j^ou lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, into a wrong path ? Even the gods envy those who are awak- 152 BuddhcCs Teachings. ened and not forgetful, who are given to medi- tation, wlio are wise, and who delight in the repose of retirement (from the w^orld). Hard is the conception of men, hard is the life of mortals, hard is the hearing of the True Law, hard is tlie birth of the Awakened (the attainment of Buddhahood). IN^ot to commit any sin ; to do good, and to purify one's mind — that is the teaching of the Awakened. The Awakened call patience the highest penance, long-suffering the highest Nirvana; for he is not an anchorite who strikes others, he is not an ascetic (Shramna) who insults others. Not to blame, not to strike, to live re- strained under the law, to be moderate in eat- ing, to sleep and eat alone, and to dwell on the highest thoughts — this is the teaching of the Awakened. Excursus, 153 Men driven by fear go to many a refuge — to mountains and forests, to groves and -sacred trees. But tliat is not a safe refuge, that is not tlie best refuge ; a man is not delivered from all pains after having gone to that refuge. He who takes refuge with Buddha, the Law, and the Church ; he who, with clear un- derstanding, sees the four holy truths : Namely, pain, the origin of pain, the de- struction of pain, and the eight-fold holy way that leads to the quieting of pain — That is the safe refuge, that is tlie best refuge ; having gone to that refuge, a man is delivered from all pain. A supernatural person is not easily found ; he is not born everywhere. Wherever such a sage is born, that race prospers. Happy is the arising of the Awakened, happy is the teaching of the True Law, happy 1-54: JBuddha's Teachings. is the peace of the Church, happy is tlie de- votiorF of those who are at peace. He who pays homage to those who de- serve homage, whether the Awakened (Buddha) or his disciples ; those who have overcome the host (of evils), and crossed the flood of sor- row; he who pays homage to such as have found deliverance and know no fear — his merit can never be measured by anybody. He who lives looking for pleasures only, his senses uncontrolled, immoderate in his en- joyments, idle and weak, Mara (the tempter) will certainly overcome him, as the wind throws down a weak tree. As rain does not break through a well- thatched house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind. The virtuous man is happy in this world, and he is happy in the next; he is happy in both. He is happy when he thinks of the good Excursus. 155 he has done ; he ' is still more happy when going on the good path. The thoughtless man, even if he can recite a large portion (of the law), but is not a doer of it, has no part in the priesthood, but is like a cowherd counting the cows of others. Reflection is the path to immortalit}" ; thoughtlessness, the path of death. Those who reflect do not die ; those who are thoughtless are as if dead already. Follow not after vanity, nor after the enjoy-, ment of love and lust ! He who reflects and meditates obtains ample joy. Not a mother, not a father, will do so much, nor any other relative ; a well-directed mind will do us greater service. He who knows that his body is like froth, and has learnt that it is as unsubstantial as a mirao;e, will break the flower - pointed arrow of Mara, and pever see the King of Deatli. 156 Buddha^s Teachings. Death carries off a man who is gathering flowers, and whose mind is distracted, as a flood carries off a sleeping village. Hatred does not cease by hatred at any- time; hatred ceases by love; this is an old rule. What is the use of platted hair, O fool ! what of the raiment of goatskins ? Within thee there is ravening, but the outside thou makest clean.* He whose evil deeds are covered by good deeds brightens up this world like the moon when she rises from behind the clouds. As the bee collects honey and departs with- out injuring the flower, so let the sage dwell on earth. *Most strikingly parallelistic are some of the phrases in this passage with the following: "Ye make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but within are full of extortion and excess." (Matt. xxiii, 25.) Excursus. 157 Let no man tliink lightly of good, saying in Ins heart, It will not benefit me. Even by the falling of water-drops a water-pot is filled. Long is the night to him who is awake ; long is a mile to him who is tired ; long is life to the foolish, who does not know the true law. If a traveler does not meet with one who is his better, or equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary journey ; there is no companionship with a fool. If an intelligent man be associated for one minute only with a wise man, he will soon per- ceive the truth, as the tongue perceives the taste of soup. Fools of little understanding have them- selves for their greatest enemies ; for they do deeds which must bear bitter fruit. If you see an intelligent man who tells you where true treasures are to be found. 158 Bxidd.Jia^s Teachings. 'who shows what is to be avoided, and who administers reproof, follow that wise man; it will be better, not worse, for those who fol- low him. There is no suffering for him who has aban- doned grief, and finished his journey ; who has freed himself from all desires, arid thrown off all fetters. They who have riches, who live on author- ized food, who have perceived the void, the Unconditioned, the Absolute, their way is difii- cult to understand, like the birds of the ether. Forests are delightful ; where the world finds no delight; there the passionless find delight, for they look not for pleasures. Let a man overcome anger by love, evil by good, the greedy by liberality, the liar by truth. * * How strikingly does the sentiment of this passage remind us of its analogy with the one expressed b^"" the Nazarene, viz., "Overcome evil with good." Confucius enounces the same sentiment as the one Excursus. 159 Some people are born again ; evil-doers go to Hell ; righteous people go to Heaven ; those who are free from all worldly desires enter Nirvana.* All men tremble at punishment; all men fear death ; remember that you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter. taught in the "golden rule," although he expresses it negatively. "The Christian system and the Buddhistic one, though differing from each other in their respective objects and ends as much as truth from error, have, it must be confessed, many striking features of an astonishing resemblance. There are many moral pre- cepts equally commanded and in common by both creeds. It will not be considered rash to assert that most of the moral truths prescribed by the Gospel are to be met with in the Buddhistic Scriptures." — Bishop Bigandei. *In Annotation 17 I have cited the views of sev- eral Sanskrit scholars on the meaning of Kirvana, who distinctly declare their disbelief that the phrase signifies annihilation. In confirmation of their views IGO Buddha's Teachings. He who for his own sake punishes or kills beings longing for life and happiness will not find happiness after death. Do not speak harshly to any body ; those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way. Angry speech is painful ; blows for blows will touch thee. If like a trumpet trampled under foot, thou utter not, thou hast reached Nirvana; anger is not known in thee. As a cowherd with his staff gathers cows into the stable, so do Age and Death gather the life of man. that tlie word denotes immortality, I add the fol- lowing : "The views indicated by 'Nirvana,' 'Dharma,' 'Karma,' and the other chief features of Buddhism, are at least the fruits of considerable study, and also of a firm conviction that a third of mankind would never have been brought to believe in blank abstractions or Nothingness as the issue and crown of Beinff." — Edwin ArruM, Excursus, 161 Cut down the whole forest of lust, not the tree ! When you have cut down every tree and every shrub, then, Bhikshus, you will be free ! So long as the love of man toward women, even the smallest, is not destroyed, so long is his mind in bondage, as the calf that drinks milk is to its mother.* The fool does not know when he commits his evil deeds ; but tlie wicked man burns by his own deeds, as if burnt by fire. He who inflicts pain on innocent persons will soon come to one of these ten st^es : He will have cruel suffering, loss, injury of the body, heavy affliction, or loss of mind, or a misfortune *The injunction given in this passage, to live down all affection for women, was undoubtedly designed by the Lord to apply to the ascetics, or the priesthood, and not to believers indiscriminately. The celibacy of the Romish priesthood, and the same observed by tlie Shakers, the founders of these sectaries have rigidly prescribed. 162 Buddh as Teach Ings. of the king, or a fearful accusation, or loss of relatives, or destruction of treasures, or light- ning-fire will burn his houses ; and when his body is destroyed, the fool will go to Hell. Not nakedness, not platted hair, not dirt, not fasting, or lying on the earth, not ribbing with dust, not sitting motionless, can purify a mortal who has not overcome desires.* Is there a man in this world so restrained by humility that he does not mind reproof, as a well-trained horse the whip ? Like a well-trained horse when touched by the whip, be ye active and lively, and by faitli, by virtue, by energy, by meditation, by discern- ment of tlie law, you will overcome this great pain (of reproof), perfect in knowledge, and in behavior, and never forgetful. How is there laughter, how is there joy, as *Tlie rigid austerities of the Yoga system of as- ceticism the Lord Buddha did not commend to his followers. Excursus. 163 this world is always burning ? Why do you seek light, ye who are surrounded by darkness ? Look at this dressed-up lump, covered with wounds, joined together, sickly, full of many thoughts, which has no strength, no hold ! This body is wasted, full of sickness, and frail ; this heap of corruption breaks to pieces, the life in it is death. Those white bones, like gourds tin-own away in Autumn, what pleasure is there in looking at them ! After a frame has been made of the house, it is covered with flesh and blood, and there dwell in it old age and death, pride and deceit. A man who has learnt little grows old like an ox; his flesh grows, but his knowl- edge does not grow. Without ceasing, I shall run through a course of many births, looking for the maker of tliis tabernacle — and painful is birth again and again. 164 Buddha^s Teachings. But now, maker of this tabernacle, hast thou been seen ; thou shalt not make up this tab- ernacle again. All thy rafters are broken, thy ridge-pole is sundered, and I have attained to the extinction of all desires.* Be not thoughtless ! your thoughts draw yom'self out of the evil, like an elephant sunk in mud. If a man becomes fat and a great eater, ***Many a House of Life Hath held me — seeking ever him who wrought These prisons of the senses, sorrow-fraught ; Sore was my ceaseless strife ! But now, Thou builder of this tabernacle — Thou ! I know Thee ! Never shalt Thou build again These walls of pain, Nor raise tlie roof-tree of deceits, nor lay Fresh rafters on the clay ; Broken thy house is, and the ridge-pole split ! Delusion fashioned it ! Safe pass I thence — deliverance to obtain." — Edwin Arnold. Excursus. 165 if lie is sleepy and rolls himself about, that fool, like a hog fed on wash, is born again and again. This mind of mine went formerly wandering about as it listed, as it pleased ; but I shall now hold it thoroughly, as the rider who holds the hook holds in the furious elephant. Self is the lord of self; who else could be the lord ! With self well subdued, a man finds a lord such as few can find. If an occasion arises, friends are pleasant; enjoyment is pleasant if it be mutual; a good work is pleasant in the hour of death; the giving up of all giief is pleasant. The thirst of a thoughtless man grows like a creeper; he runs hither and thither, like a monkey seeking fruit in the forest. If a man is tossed about by doubts, full of strong passions, and yearning only for what is delightful, his thiret will grow more 166 BuddhcCs Teachings. and more, and he will indeed make his fet- ters strong.* The fields are damaged by weeds; man- kind, b}^ passion ; tlierefore a gift bestowed on the passionless brings great reward. Without knowledge there is no meditation ; without meditation there is no knowledge; he vvho has knowledge and meditation is near unto Nirvana. He who has traversed this mazy and imper- vious world and its vanity, who is through, and has reached tlie other shore, is thouglitt'ul, guile- *Tlie following depiction of the plaj^ of the good and evil passions over man is both powerfully and artistically effected by the grandest poet Scotia ever bore : "^ "From Yiitue's fount the purest joys out-well, Sweet rills of tliought that cheer the conscious soul ; While Vice pours forth its troubled streams of Hell, The which, howe'er disguised, at last ^vith dole Will through the'iiortured breast their liery torrent roll." — Thomson. Excursus, 167 less, free from doubts, free from attacliment, and content, liim I call indeed a Bralimana. He wlio calls nothing his own, whether it be before, behind, or between, who is poor, and free from the love of the world, him I call indeed a Bralimana. He who knows his former abodes, who sees Heaven and Hell, has reached the end of births, is perfect in knowledge, and a sage ; he whose perfections are all perfect — liim I call indeed a Brahmana. The manly, the noble, the hero, the great sage, the conqueror, the guileless, the master, the Awakened, him indeed I call a Brahmana.* * It is a noteworthy coincidence that while the writer was versifying the Life of Buddha, Mr. James Kinnersly Lewis, of London, England, was rendering in verse the DJiammapada, or Path of Virtue. The following passage from the Dhammapada, which he versifies, exhibits his style of rhythmical numbers : "Thy life has come to.au end; thou art come 168 Buddha's Teachings, I will close these summarized citations from the teachings of the Great Teacher with the following beautiful parable from the works of Buddhagosha, who most touchingly depic- tures the Lord Buddha's interview with the bereaved Kisagotimi : * "This girl, who had lost an only child, went to Buddha, and, doing him homage, said: 'Lord and Master, do you know what medi- cine will cure my boy?' Buddha rephed, 'I know some.' She asked, 'What medicine do you require?' He said, 'I want a handful of mustard- seed.' The girl promised to procure near to Death (Yama), there is no resting-place for thee on the road, and thou hast no provision for thy journey." "Thine earthly pilgrimage is now complete — The road to Death hath now no resting-seat ; (Through Yama's waters deep thou soon Avilt wade), And for thy journey no provision made." *I cite this parable from Max Muller's Lecture on "Buddhist Nihilism." Excursus. 169 it for him ; but Buddha continued : ' I require some mustard-seed taken from a house where no son, husband, parent, or slave, has died.' The girl said, ' Yery good,' and went to ask for some at dift'erent liouses. Tlie people said, ' Here is some mustard-seed ; take it.' Then she asked, ' In m}^ friend's house has there died a son, a husband, a parent, or a slave?' Thej replied, ' Lady, what is this tliat you say ? The living are few^ but the dead are inany!' Then she went to other houses ; but one said, ' I liave lost a son ' ; another, ' I have lost a daughter ' ; another, ' I have lost my parents ' ; another, ' I liave lost my slave.' '' At last, not being able to lind a single house where no one had died, from which to procure the mustard-seed, slie began to think, * This is a heavy task that I am engaged in. I am not the only one whose son is dead. In the w^iole Savathi country, everywhere, chil- dren are dying, parents are dying.' Thinking 170 Buddha's Teachings, thus, she was seized with fear, and, putting away lier affection for her cliild, she summoned up resohition, and left the dead body in a forest ; then she went to Buddha, and paid him homage. He said to her, ' Have you procured tlie handful of mustard-seed?' 'I have not,' she replied ; ' the people of the village told me. The living are few^ but the dead are many^ Buddha said to her, ' You thought that you alone had lost a son ; the law of death is that, among all living creatures, there is no permanence.'. "AYhen Buddha had finished preacliing the Law, Kisagotimi was established in the re- ward of the novitiate; and all the assembly who heard the Law were established in the same reward. "Some titne afterward, when Kisagotimi was one day engaged in the performance of her religious duties, she observed tlie lights (in the houses) now shining, now extinguished, and Excursus. 171 she began to reflect, 'My state is like these lamps.' Buddha, who was in the Gaudhaknti building, sent his sacred appearance to her, just as if he himself was preaching, 'All living beings resemble the flame of these lamps, one moment lighted, the next extinguished ; those only wdio have arrived at Nirvana are at rest.' " INYOCATION. To thee, Lord Buddli\ I voice this soul-felt prayer! Oh, hear thy servant plain 'neath sins bowed low! The lowliest lot with thee he'd gladly share, In bowery spheres, dis'thralled from earth's dread woe ! Thy servant save, whene'er dire ills betide ! No more henceforth he'll seek inglorious ease ! Thy matchless code he'll blaze both far and wide! Beyond the bourne of vasty realms and seas! Yon stars may fall ! fierce flames enwrap the world ! Adance in fiendish glee midst wild uproar I Mount Meru's mighty mass to ruin hurled ! Still o'er vast realms thou 'It heign forcvermore I 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. RENEWALS ONLY— TEL. NO. 642-3405 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. ^ m^ f^^ — BECP Li F OEC S '69 •4PM StPslWii RECDLD SEPI 4 7? -2 PM 4 2 LD21A-60m-6,'69 (J9096sl0)476-A-32 General Library University of California Berkeley ■MM ■4: >'J : • 'I'll jHJ. ^ ^ IS x^^^