woe
Namé Tassa Bhagavat6 Arahaté Sammé Sambuddhasa.
THE
BUDDHIST CATECHISM,
By HENRY S. OLCOTT,
PRESIDENT OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, BTC.
Approved and recommended for use in Buddhist schools by H. SumManeawa, Pradhana Nayaka Sthavira, High Priest of the Sripada and Western Province and Principal
of the Vidyéddaya Parivéna. es PA ; G OZ # v. fr, Se a CTs oc Thirty-Sixth Edition, Corrected and largely oxtended.f LIBRARY me presse eo aS ees ES < ey ©
Madras: The “Theosophist” Office, Adyar. Lonpon;: THEOSOPHICAL PuBLIsHING SociETY, 26, CHARING CRoss,
8. W.
1903.
35566.
Printed by Thompson & Co., at the “ Minerva Press,” Madras.
PREFACE TO THE THIRTY-SIXTH EDITION.
The popularity of this little work seems undimin- ished, edition after edition being called for. While the present one wasin the press a second German edition re-translated by the learned Dr. Erich Bischoff was published at Leipzig by the Griebens Co., and athird translation into French, by my old friend and colleague, Commandant D. A. Courmes, was being got ready at Paris. A fresh version in Sinhalese is also preparing at Colombo. It is very gratifying to a declared Buddhist like myself to read what so ripe a scholar as Mr.G. R. S. Mead, author of “Fragments of a Faith Forgotten,” “ Pistis Sophia” and many other works on Christian ori- gins, thinks of the value of the compilation. He writes inthe Theosophical Review: “it has been translated into no less than twenty different lan- guages, and may be said without the faintest risk of contradiction, to have been the busiest instrument of Buddhist propaganda for many a day in the
annals of that long somnolent dharma. The least the learned Buddhists of Ceylon can do to repay the debt of gratitude they owe to Colonel Olcott and other members of the Theosophical Society who have worked for them, is to bestir themselves to throw some light on their own origins and doc- trines.”
I am afraid we shall have to wait long for this help to come from the Buddhist d4zkus, almost the only learned men of Ceylon; at least I have not been able, during an intimate intercourse of twenty- two years, to arouse their zeal. It has always seem- ed to me incongruous that an American, making no claims. at all to scholarship, should be looked to by the Sinhalese nation to help them teach the dharma to their children and, as I believe I have said in an earlier edition, I only consented to write the “‘ Bud- dhist Catechism” after I had found that no dkzkku would undertake it. Whatever its demerits, I can at least say that the work contains the essence of some 15,000 pages of Buddhist teaching that I have read in connection with my work.
ES anOs ADYAR, 7¢h February, 1903.
PREFACE
TO THE THIRTY-THIRD EDITION.
In the working out of my original plan, I have added more Questions and Answers in the text of each new English edition of the Catechism ; leaving it to its translators to render them into whichever of the other vernaculars they may be workingin. The unpretending aim in view isto give so succinct and yet comprehensive a digest of Buddhistic his- tory, ethics and philosophy, as to enable beginners to understand and appreciate the noble ideal taught by the Buddha, and thus make it easier for them to follow out the Dharma in its details. In the present edition a great many new Questions and Answers have been introduced, while the matter has been grouped within five categories, vz. : (1) The life of the Buddha; (2) the Doctrine; (3) the Sangha, or monastic order ; (4) a brief history of Buddhism, its Councils and propaganda; (5) some reconciliation of Buddhism with science. This, it is believed,
will largely increase the value of the little book, and make it even more suitable for use in Buddhist schools, of which, in Ceylon, over one hundred have already been opened by the Sinhalese people under the general supervision of the Theosophical Society. In preparing this edition I have received valuable help from some of my oldest and best qualified Sinhalese colleagues. - The original edition was gone over with me word by word, by that emi- neut scholar and bhikku, H. Sumangala, Pradhana Nayaka, and the Assistant Principal of his Pali College at Colombo, Hyeyantuduve Anunayaka Terunnanse; and the High Priest has also kindly scrutinised the present revision and given me in- valuable points to embody. It hasthe merit, there- fore, of being a fair presentation of the Buddhism of the ‘‘Southern Church,” chiefly derived from first-hand sources. The Catechism has been pub- lished in twenty languages, mainly by Buddhists for Buddhists. H. S. O.
ADYAR, 17th May 1897.
CONTENTS.
The Life of the Buddha The Dharma or Doctrine
The Sangha
The Rise and Spread of Buddhism ...
Buddhism and Science
Appendix
PAGE. IT
27
73:
83.
95.
Beet io Ot
i se baw
DEDICATION.
In token of respect and affection I dedicate to my counsellor and friend of many years, Hikkaduwe Sumangala, Pradhana Nayaka Sthavira and High Priest of Adam’s Peak (Sripada) and the Western Province, the “ Buddhist Catechism,” in its revised
forin.
H. S$. Oxcorr.
ADYAR, 1903.
CERTIFICATE
TO THE FIRST EDITION.
VipyOpayvA COLLEGE, Colombo, 7th Fuly, 1881.
I HEREBY certify that I have carefully examined the Sinhalese version of the Catechism prepared by Colonel H. S. Olcott, and that the same is in agreement with the Canon of the Southern Buddhist Church. I recommend the work to teachers iu Buddhist schools, and toall others who may wish to impart information to beginners about the essential features of our religion.
H. SUMANGALA, High Priest of the Sripada & Galle, and Principal of the Vidyodaya Parivena.
Vipy6pava COLLEGE, April 7th, 1897.
I have gone over the Thirty-third (English) Edition of the Catechism, with the help of inter- preters, and confirm my recommendation for its use in Buddhist schools.
H. SUMANGALA.
“a
A,
sai? Fy
SNe
THE
BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
PART I, THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA.
1. Question.—Of what religron * are you ? Answer.—The Buddhist.
eee ee Ee
% The word “religion ” is most inappropriate to apply to Bud- dhism, which is not a religion, but a moral philosophy, as I have shown later on. But by common usage the word has been applied to all groups of people who profess a special moral doctrine, and is so employed by statisticians. The Sinhalese Buddhists have never ia had any conception of what Europeans imply in the etymological construction of the Latio root of this term. In their creed there is no such thing as a“ binding” in the Christian sense—a submission to or merging of self in a divine being. A’gama is their vernacular word to express their relation to Buddhism and Buppua. Jt is pure Sanskrit, and means “ approach, or coming ;” and as ‘ Buddha’ is enlightenment, the compound word by which they indicate Buddhism—BSuddhigama —would be properly rendered as “an approach or coming to enlightenment,” or possibly as a_ following of the Doctrine of Sakya MUNI. The missionaries finding A’gama ready to their hand, adopted it as the equivalent for ‘ religion ;’ and Christianity is written by them Christiani@gama, whereas it should be Christianibandhana, for bandhana is the etymological equivalent
2 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
2. QO. Whats Buddhism ? A. It is a body of teachings given out by a great personage known as the Buddha.
3. Q. Is ‘ Buddhism’ the best name for this teaching ?
A. No: that is only a Western term: the best naine for it is Bauddha Dharma.
4. Q. Would you calla person a Buddhist who had merely been born of Buddhist parents ?
A. Certainly not. A Buddhist is one who not only professes belief in the Buddha as the noblest of teachers, in the Doctrine preached by Him, and jn the Brotherhood of Arahats, but also practises His precepts in his daily life.
5. Q: What ts a male lay Buddhist called ?
A. An Upasaka.
6. OQ. Whata female ?
A. An Upasika.
7. Q. Whenwas this doctrine first preached ?
A. There is some disagreement as to the actual
for ‘ religion” The name Vibhazja vida—one who analyses—is another name given toa Buddhist, and Advayavadi is a third. With this explanation, I continue to employ under protest the familiar word when speaking of Buddhistic philosophy, for the convenience of the ordinary reader.
“
‘THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA, ¥
date, but according to the Sinhalese Scriptures it was in the year 2513 of the (present) Kali-Yuga.
8. QO. Guve the tmportant dates tn the last birth of the Founder.
A. He was born under the constellation Visa on a Tuesday in May, in the year 2478 (K. Y.); he retired to the jungle in the year 2506; became Buddha in 2513; and passing out of the round of re- birth entered Parinirvana in the year 2558, aged eighty years. Each of these events happened on a day of full-moon, so all are conjointly celebrated in the great festival of the full-moon of the month Wesak (Vaisakha), corresponding to the month of May.
9. Q. Was Buddha God ¢
A. No :—Buddha Dharma teaches no ‘“ divine ” incarnation,
to. Q. Was he aman?
A. Yes; but the wisest, noblest and most holy being who had developed himself in the course of countless births far beyond all other beings, the previous BuDDHAS alone excepted.
11. Q. Were there other Buddhas before him ?
A. Yes; as will be explained later on.
12. Q. Was Buddha his name ?
4 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
——
A. No. It is the name of a condition or state of mind, of the mind after it has reached the culmina- tion of development.
13. QO. What is tts meaning ?
A. Enlightened ; or, he who has the all-perfect wisdom. The Pali phrase is Saddaiiiiu, the One of Boundless Knowledge. In Sanskrit it is Servajna.
14. Q. What was the Buddha's real name, thew ?
A. SimppHa/RTHA was his royal name, and Gautama, or GOTAMA, his family name. He was Prince of Kapilavastu and belonged to the illustrious family of the Okkaka, of the Solar race.
15. Q. Who were his father and mother ?
A. King Suddhédana and Queen Maya, called Maha Maya.
16. Q- What people did this King reign over #
A. ‘The Sakyas; an Aryan tribe of Kshattriyas.
17. Q. Where was Kapilavastu ?
A. In India, one hundred miles north-east of the city of Benares, and about forty miles from the Himalaya mountains. Itis situated in the Nepal Terai. The city is now in ruins.
18 Q. On what river ?
A. ‘The Rohini, now called the Kéhana.
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA, 3S
19. Q. Zell meagain when Prince Siddhartha was born ?
A. Six hundred and twenty-three years before the Christian era.
20. Q. TJs the exact spot known ?
A. Itis now identified beyond question, Au archeologist in the service of the Government of India has just discovered in the jungle of the Nepal Terai, a stone pillar erected by the mighty Buddhist sovereign Asoka, to mark the very spot. The place was known in those times as the Lumbini Garden.
21. O. Had the Prince luxuries and splendours like other Princes ?
A. He had; his father, the King, built him three magnificent palaces—for the three Indian sea- sons—of nine, five, and three stories respectively, and handsomely decorated.
22. Q. How were they sttuated ?
A. Around each palace were gardens of the most beautiful and fragrant flowers, with fountains, of spouting water, the trees full of singing birds, and peacocks strutting over the ground.
23. Q. Was he living alone?
6 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
A. No; in his sixteenth year he was married to the Princess Yasddharé, daughter of the King Suprabuddha. Many beautiful maidens, skilled in dancing and music, were also in continual attend- ance to amuse him.
24. Q. How did he get his wife?
A. Inthe ancient Kshattriya or warrior fashion by overcoming all competitors in games and exet- cises of skill and prowess, and then selecting Yaso- dhara out of all the young princesses, whose fathers had brought them to the tournament, or me/a.
25. Q. How, amid all this luxury, could a Prince become all-wise ?
A. Hehad such naturai wisdom that when but a child he seemed to understand all arts and sciences almost without study. He had the best teachers, but they could teach him nothing that he did not seem to comprehend immediately.
26. Q. Did he become Buddha in his splendid palaces ?
A. No: He left all and went alone into the jungle.
27. OQ. Why did he do this?
A, To discover the cause of our sufferings and the way to escape from them.
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA. 7
28. Q. Was tt not selfishness that made him do thts ?
A. No; it was boundiess love for all beings that made him devote himself to their good.
29. Q. But how did he acquire this boundless love ?
‘A. Throughout numberless births and ons of years he had been cultivating this love, with the unfaltering determination to become a Buddha.
30. Q. What did he this time relingutsh ?
A. His beautiful palaces, his riches, luxuries, and pleasures, his soft beds, fine dresses, andrich food, and his kingdom; he even left his beloved wife and only son, Rahula.
31. Q. Did any other man ever sacrifice so much for our sake ?
A. Not one in this present world-period : this is why Buddhists so love him, and why good Buddhists try to be like him.
32. Q. But have not many men given up all earthly blessings, and even life ttself, for the sake of thetr fellow men ? ;
A. Certainly. But we believe that his surpassing unselfishness and love for humanity showed them-
8 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
selves in his renouncing the bliss of Nirvana count- less ages ago, when he was born asthe Brahman Sumedha in thetime of Dipankara Buddha :—he had then reached the stage where he might have entered Nir\ana, had he not loved mankind more than himself. ‘This renunciation implied his volun- tarily enduring the miseries of earthly lives until he became Buddha, for the sake of teaching all beings the way to emancipation and to give rest to the world.
33: Q+ How old was he when he went to the gungle ¢
A. He was in his twenty-ninth year.
34. Q. What finally determined him to leave all that men usually love so much, and go to the jungle ?
A. A deva* appeared to him when driving out in his chariot, under four impressive forms on four different occasions.
35. QO. IVhat were these diffcrent forms ?
A. Those ofa very old man broken down by age, of a sick man, of a decaying corpse, and ofa dignified hermit.
36. Q. Did he alone sce these ?
A. No, his attendant Channa also saw them.
* See the definition of deva given later.
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA. 9
ns
37. Q. Why should these sights, so familiar to everybody, have caused him to go to the jungle ?
A. We often see such sights: he had not seen them, so they made a deep impression on his mind.
38. Q. Why had he not also seen them ?
A. The Brahman astrologers had foretold at his birth that he would one day resign his kingdom and become a Buppua. The King, his father, not wish- ing to lose an heir to his kingdom, had carefully prevented his seeing any sights that might suggest to him human misery and death. No one was allow- ed even to speak of such things to the prince. He was almost like a prisoner in his lovely palaces and flower-gardens. They were surrounded by high walls, and inside everything was made as beautiful as possible, so that he might not wish to go and see the sorrow and distress that are in the world.
39. QO. Was heso kind-hearted that the King feared he might really wish to leave everything for the ror ld’s sake ?
A. Yes; he seems to have felt for all beings so strong a pity and love as that.
40. Q. And how did he expect to learn the cause of sorrow in the gungle ?
A. By removing far away from all that could
Io THE BUDDHIST CATKCHISM.
prevent his thinking deeply of the causes of sorrow and the nature of man.
4t. Q. How did he escape from the palace ?
A. One night when all were asleep, he arose, took a last look at his sleeping wife and infant son ; called Channa, mounted his favourite white horse Kanthaka, and rode to the palace gate. The devas had thrown a deep sleep upon the King’s guard who watched the gate, so that they could not hear the noise of the horse’s hoofs.
42. Q. But the gate was locked, was tt not?
A. Yes; but the devas caused it to open without the slightest noise, and he rode away into the darkness.
‘43. Q. Whither did he go?
A.: To the river Anéma, a long way from ~ Kapilavastu.
44. QO. What did he then do?
A. He sprang from his horse, cut off his beauti- ful hair with his sword, put on the yellow dress of an ascetic, and giving his ornaments and horse to Channa, ordered him to take them back to his father, the King.
45. Q. What then ?
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA. I
A. He went afoot towards Rajagriha, the capi- tal city of King Bimbisara, of Magadha.
46. Q- Who vtstted him there?
A. The King with his whole Court.*
47. OQ. Why did the Buddha go there?
A. In the forests were hermits—very wise men, whose pupil he afterwards became, inthe hope of finding the knowledge of which he was in search.
48. Q. Of what religion were they ?
A. The Hindu religion: they were Brahmans.t
49. Q. What dtd they teach ?
A. ‘That by severe penances and torture of the body a man may acquire perfect wisdom.
50. Q. Did the Prince find thts to be so?
A. No; he learned their systems and practised all’'their penances, but he could not thus discover the cause of human sorrow and the way of absolute emancipation.
51. QO. What did he then do?
A. He went away into the forest near a place
* For an adinirable account of this interview consult Dr, Paul Carus’ “ Gospel of Buddha,” page 20, e¢ seg.
+ The term Hindu, once a contemptuous term, used by the Mussulmans to designate the people of Sindh whom they con- quered, is now used in an ecclesiastical sense.
12 ‘THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
called Uruvéla, near the present Mahabédhi Temple at Buddha Gaya, and spent six years in deep medi- tation and undergoing the severest discipline in mortifying his body,
52. QO. Was he alone?
A. No; five Brahman companions attended him.
53. Q. What were their names ?
A. Kondafifia, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahanama, and Assaji.
54. OQ. What plan of discipline did he adopt to open his mind to know the whole truth ?
A. He sat and meditated, concentrating his mind upon the higher problems of life, and shut- ting out from his sight and hearing all that was likely to interrupt his inward reflections.
Grune 7d he jasne
A. Yes, through the whole period. He took Re and less food and “water until, it is said, he ate scarcely more than one grain of rice or of sesamum seed each day.
56 QO. Did this give him the wisdom he longed for?
A. No: He grew thinner and thinner in body aud fainter in strength, until, one day, as he was
‘THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA. 13
slowly walking about and meditating, his vital force suddenly left him and he fell to the ground unconscious.
57. OQ. What did his companions think of that ?
A. They fancied he was dead; but aftera time he revived.
58. Q. What then?
A. Thethought came to him that knowledge could never be reached by mere fasting or bodily suffering, but must be gained by the opening of the mind. He had just barely escaped death from self- starvation, yet had not obtained the Perfect Wisdom. So he decided to eat, that he might live at least long enough to become wise.
59. Q. Who gave him food ?
A. He received some food from Sujata, a noble- man’s daughter, who saw him sitting at the foot of a nyagrodha (banyan) tree. After that his strength returned to him; he arose, took his almsbowl, bath- ed in the river Néranjara, ate the food, and went into the jungle.
60. -Q. What dtd he do there ?
A. Having formed his determination after these reflections, he went at evening to the Béddhi, or
14 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
Asvattha tree, where the present Mahabodhi Tem- ple stands.
tr. Q: What dtd he do there ?
A. He determined not to leave the spot until he attained perfect wisdom,
62. QO. At which side of the tree did he seat hin- self ? A. The side facing the east.*
63. Q. What did he obtain that night ?
A. The knowledge of his previous births, of the causes of re-births, and of the way to extinguish desires. Just before the break of the next day his’ mind was entirely opened, like the full-blown lotus flower ; the light of supreme knowledge, or the Four Truths, pouredin upon him. He had become BuDDHA —the Enlightened, the all-knowing—the Sarvazjna.
64. Q. Had he at last discovered the cause of human musery ?
* No reason is given in the canonical books for the choice of this side of the tree, though an explanation is to be found in the popular legends upon which the books of Bishop Bigandet and other European commentators are based. There are always cer- tain influences coming upon us from the different quarters of the sky. Sometimes the influence from one quarter will be best, sometimes that from another quarter. But the Buddha thought that the perfected man is superior to all extraneons influences,
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA. 15
A. Atlast he had. As the light of the morning sun chases away the darkness of night, and reveals to sight the trees, fields, rocks, seas, rivers, animals, men and all things, so the full light of knowledge rose in his mind and he saw at one glance the causes of human suffering and the way to escape from them.
65. Q. Had he great struggles before gaining this perfect wisdom ?
A. Yes, mighty and terrible struggles. He had to conquer in his body all those natural defects and human appetites and desires that prevent our seeing the truth. He had to overcome all the bad influen- ces of the sinful world around him. Like a soldier fighting desperately in battle against many enemies, he struggled: like a hero who conquers, he gained his object, and the secret of human misery was discovered.
66. Q. Whatuse did he make of the knowledge thus gained ?
A. At first he shrank from teaching it to the people at large.
67. QO. Why?
A. Because of its profound importance and sub-
16 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
limity. He feared that but few people would undet- stand it, and that oniy confusion of mind might result if it were preachied.
68. Q. What made him alter this view ? *
A. He saw that it was his duty to teach what he had learnt as clearly and simply as possible, and trust to the truth impressing itself upon the popular mind in proportion toeach one’s individual Karma. It was the only way of salvation and every being had an equal right to have it pointed out to him. So he determined to begin with his five late companions, who had abandoned him when he broke his fast.
69. Q. Where did he find them ?
A. Inthe deer-park at Isipatana, near Benares.
70. Q. Can the spot be now identified ?
A. Yes, a partly ruined stupa, or dagoba, is still standing ou that very spot.
71. Q. Dud those five companions readily listen to ham ?
A. At first, no; but so great was the spiritual beauty of his appearence, so sweet and convincing his teaching, that they soon turned and gave him the closest attention.
* The ancient story is that the god Brahma himself implored him not to withhold the glorious truth.
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA.. by 4
72, Q. What effict did this discourse have upon them ?
A. The aged Kondaiia, “ the Believer ” (Anna), was the first to lose his prejudices, accept the Buddha’s teaching, become his disciple, and enter the path leading to Arahatship. The other four soon followed his example.
73. Q. Who were his next converts ?
A. A rich young layman, named Yasa, and his father, a wealthy merchant. By the end of three months the disciples numbered sixty persons.
74. Q. Who were the first women lay disciples ?
A. ‘The mother and wife of Yasa.
75. Q. What did the Buddha do at that time ?*
A. He called the disciples together, gave them full instructions, and sent them out in all directions to preach his doctrine.
76. QO. What was the essence of wt ?
A. That the way of emancipation lies in leading the holy life and following the rules laid down which will be explained later on.
* Brahinanism not being offered to non-Hindus, Buddhism is, consequently, the oldest missionary religion in the world, The early missionaries endured every hardship, cruelty and persecution with unfaltering courage.
2
©
18 _ THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
77. Q. Tell me what name he gave to thts course of life.
A. The Noble Eight-fold Path.
78. Q. How 1s tt called tn the Pali language ¢
A. Artyo atthangtko maggo.
79. Q. Whither did the Buddha then go ?
A. To Uruvéla.
80. Q. What happened there ?
A. He converted a man named Kashyapa, re- nowned for his learning, and chief priest of the
Jatilas, a great sect of fire-worshippers, all of whom became also his followets.
81. Q. Whowas hts next great convert ¢
A. King Bimbisara, of Magadha.
82. QO. Which two of the Buddha's most learned and beloved disciples were converted at about this teme #
A. SAariputra and Moggallana, formerly chief dis- ciples of Sanjaya, the ascetic.
83. Q. For what did they become renowned ?
A. SAriputra for his profound learning (Prajna) ; Moggallana for his exceptional spiritual powers (Lddht}.
84. Q. Are these wonder-working powers mtracu- fous ?
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA. tg
A, No, but natural to all men and capable of being developed by a certain course of training.
85. OQ. Did the Buddha hear again from hes Jamily after leaving them?
A. O yes, seven years later : while he was living at Rajagriha, his father, King Suddhédana, sent a message to request him to come and let him see him again before he died.
86. O,. Did he go?
A. Yes, His Father went with all his relatives and ministers to meet him and received him with great joy.
87. Q. Did he consent to resume his old rank ?
A. No. In all sweetness he explained to his Father that the Prince Siddhartha had passed out of existence, as such, and was now changed into the condition of a Buddha, to whom all beings were equally akin and equally dear. Instead of ruling over one tribe or nation, like an earthly king, he, through his Dharma, would win all hearts of men to be his followers.
88. Q. Did he see Yasédharé and his son Rahula ?
A. Yes. His wife, who had mourned for him with deepest love, wept bitterly. She also sent
29 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
R4éhula to ask him to give him his inheritance, as the son of a Prince.
89. OQ. What happened ? ~ A. To one and all he preached the Dharma as the cure for all sorrows. His Father, son, wife, Ananda,—his half-brother, Dévadatta—his cousin and brother-in-law, were all converted and became his disciples. Two other famous ones were Anu- ruddha, a great metaphysician, and Upali, a barber. Both of these gained great renown.
go. Q. Who was the first woman ascetic ?
A. Prajapati, the aunt and foster-mother of Prince Siddhartha. With her, Yasodhara and many other ladies were admitted into the Order as dhikkhunis, or female devotees.
gt. QO. What cffect did the taking up of the reli- etous life by his sons Siddhartha and Ananda, his neph- ew Dévadatta, his son’s wife Vasddhard, and his grand- son Rahula, have upon the old king Suddhidana ?
A. It grieved him much and he complained to the Buddha, who then made ita rule of the Order that no minor should thenceforth be ordain- ed without the consent of his parents or guardians.
92. Q. Tell me about the fate of Dévadatta ?
A. He was a man of great intelligence and
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA: 21
rapidly advanced in the knowledge of the Dharma, but being also extremely ambitious, he came to énvy and hate the Buddha, and at last plotted to kill him. He also influenced Ajatashatru, son of King Bimbisara, to murder his noble father, and to be- come his—Dévadatta’s—disciple.
93. Q. Did he do any tnjury to the Buddha ?
A. Not the least, but the evil he plotted against him recoiled upon himself, and he met with an awful death. ;
94. Q. For how many years was the Buddha engaged tn teaching ?
A. Forty-five years, during which time he preached a great many discourses. His custom and that of his disciples was to travel and preach during the eight dry months, but during the season of Was—the rains—he and they would stop in the pansalas and .viharas which had been built for them by various kings and other wealthy cozverts.
95. Q. Which were the most famous of these burldings ?
A. Jetavanarama ; Veluvanarama ; Pubbarama 5 Nigrod4rama and Isipatanarama.
96. Q. What kind of people were converted by him and his disceples ?
22 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
A. People of all ranks, nations and castes ; rajas and coolies, rich and poor, inighty and humble, the illiterate and the most Mearsied His doctrine was suited to all.
97. Q. Give some account of the leavdrip én his body by the Buddha.
A. In the forty-fifth season after his attaining Buddhahood, on the full-moon day of May, knowing that his énd was near, he came at evening to Kusinagara, a place about one hundred and twenty miles from Benaress In the sala grove of the Mallas, the Uparvartana of Kusinagara, between two sala trees, he had his bedding spread with the head towards the north according to the ancient custom. He lay upon it, and with his mind perfectly clear, gave his final instructions to his disciples and bade them farewell.
98 OQ. Dd healso make new converts in those last hours ?
A. Yes,a very important one, a great Brahman pandit named Subhadra. He aa preached to the Mallya princes and their followers.
99. Q. At daybreak what happened? A. He passed into the interior condition of Samédhi and thence into Nirvana.
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA. 23
100. Q. What were his last words to his disciples ?
A. “ Mendicants,” he said, “I now impress it upon you, the parts and powers of man imust be dissolved, but the truth will remain forever. Work out your salvation with diligence.”
yor. Q. What convincing proof have we that the
Buddha, formerly Prince Siddhértha, was a historical personage ?
A. His existence -is apparently as clearly proved as that of any other character of aricient history.
102. Q, Name some of the proofs?
A. (1) The testimony of those who personally knew him.
(2) ‘The discovery of places and the remains of buildings mentioned in the narrative of his time.
(3) The rock-inscriptions, pillars and dagobas made in memory of him by sovereigns who were near enough to his time to be able to verify the story of his life.
(4) The unbroken existence of the Sangha which he founded, and their possession of the facts of his life transmitted from generation to generation from the beginning.
(5) The fact that in the very year of his death and at various times subsequently, conventions and
24 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
councils of the Sangha were held, for the verification of the actual teachings of the Founder, and the handing down of those verified teachings from teacher to pupil, to the present day.
(6) After his cremation his ashes were divided among eiglit kings anda sttipa was erected over each portion, The portion given to king Ajatasatru, and by him covered with a sttipa at Rajagriha, was taken, less than two centuriés later, by the Emperor Asoka and distributed throughout his Empire. He, of course, had ample means of knowing whether the relics were those of the Buddha or not, since they had been in charge of the royal house of Patna from the beginning.
(7) Many of the Buddha’s disciples, being Arahats and thus having control over their vital powers, must have lived to great ages, and there was nothing to have prevented two or three of them, in succession to each other, to have covered the whole period between the death of the Buddha and the reign of Asoka, and thus to have enabled the latter to get from he contemporary every desired attestation of the fact of the Buddha’s life.
* At the Second Council there were two pupils of Ananda,
consequently centenarians, while in Asoka’s Council there were pupils of those pupils.
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA. 25
(8); The “ Mahavansa,” the best authenticated ancient history known to us, records the events of Sinhalese history to the reign of King Vijaya, 543- B.C-—almost the time of the Buddha—and gives most particulars of his life, as well as those of Em- peror Asoka and all other sovereigns related to Buddhistic history.
103. Q. There is a popular belicf that the Buddha was a giant of twelve cubits in height, or about erghtcen feet: ts this founded on historical records ?
A. Itis not: we have no ancient record of the fact. We only read that he was a man of surpassing beauty of form and features, and that he had on his body certain marks which are said to be seen on the body of every Buddha.
104. Can you point out any passage im our scrip- tures that supports the idea that he was an form ltke other men ? ‘
A. Yes. Inthe Anguttara Nikdya we are told that a woman who was in the habit of giving alms to Maha Kashyappa, once offered them to the Bud- dha, mistaking him for his disciple. If he had been a giant this mistake could not have happened _ at all for Maha Kashyappa was of ordinary stature:
26 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.- to5- Q. By what names of respect is the Buddha called ? . A. Sakyamuni (the Sakya sage); Sakya Simha (the Sakya Lion) ; Sugata (the Happy One) ; Sattha (the Teacher) ; Jina (the Conqueror); Bhagavat the Blessed One) ; Loka-natha (the Lord of the world) ; Sarvajna (the Omniscient One); Dharma- raja (the King of Truth) ; Tathagata (the Great Being), etc.
| PART II. THE DHARMA or DOCTRINE.
106. Q: What ts the meaning of the word Buddha ?
A. The enlightened ; or he who has the perfect wisdom.
107, Q. You have satd that there were other Buddhas before thts one.
A. Yes; our belief is that under the operation of eternal causation a Buddha takes birth at intervals, when mankind have become plunged into misery through ignorance, and need the wisdom which itis the function of a Buddha to teach. (See also Q. 11).
108. QO. How ts a Buddha developed ?
A. A person, hearing and seeing one of the Buddhas on earth, becomes seized with the determi- nation to so live that at some future time, when he shall become fitted for it, he also will be a Buddha
for the guiding of mankind out of the cycle of re- birth.
28 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
10g. Q. How does he proceed ?
A. Throughout that birth and every succeeding one, he strives to subdue his passions, to gain wisdom by experience, and to develop his higher faculties. He thus grows by degrees wiser, nobler in character, and stronger in virtue until, finally, after nuimberless re-births he reaches the state when he can becoine Perfected, Enlightened, All-wise, the ideal Teacher of the human race.
110. Q. Whzttle this gradual development ts going on throughout all these births, by what name do we call him ?
A. Béodhisat, or Bédhisattva. ‘Thus the Prince Siddhartha Gautama was a Bodhisattva up to the moment when, under the blessed Bédhi tree at Gaya, he became Buddha.
111. Q. Have we any account of his various ve-births as a Bodhisattva ?
A. In the itakatthakathé, a book containing alleged stories of the Bédhisattva’s reincarnations, there are several hundred tales of that kind.
112. Q. What lesson do these stortes teach? A. hata man can carry, throughout a long
series of re-incarnations, one great, good purpose
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 29:
which enables him to conquer bad tendencies and develop virtuous ones.
113-5 Q. Canwe fix the number of re-tncarnations through which a Bodhisattva must pass before he can become a Buddha ?
A. Ofcourse not: that depends upon his natural character, the state of development to which he has arrived when he forms the resolution to become a Buddha, and other things. :
114. Q. Have we a way of classtfying Bédht- sattvas ? If so, explatn tt.
A. Bédhisattvas—the future Buddhas—are divi- ded into three classes.
115. QO. Proceed. How are these three kinds of Bodhisats called ?
A. Pannadhika, or Udghatitagnya—“ he who at- tains least quickly ;” Saddhadhika, or Vipachita- gnya—‘“‘he who attains less quickly ;” and Viriya- dhika, or Gneyya—“ he who attains quickly.” The Pragnadhika Bédhisats take the course of Intelli- gence ; the Sraddhadhika take the course of Faith ; the Viryadhika take the course of energetic action. The first is guided by Intelligence and does not hasten, the second is full of Faith, and does not
30 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM,
care to take the guidance of Wisdom; and the third never delays to do what is good. Regardless of the consequences to himself, he does it when he sees that it is best that it should be done.
116. Q. When our Bodhisattva became Buddha what did he see was the cause of human mesery? Tell me wi one word.
A. Ignorance (Azzdyd).
17, (Oy On you teli me the remedy ?
A. To dispel Ignorance and become wise (Prajna). ,
118. Q. Why does tgnorance cause suffering ?
A. Because it makes us prize what is not worth prizing, grieve for that we should not grieve for, consider real what is not real but only illusionary, and pass our lives in the pursuit of worthless objects, neglecting what is in reality most valtiable.
119. Q. And what is that which vs most valuable 2
A. ‘To kuow the whole secret of man’s existence and destiny, so that we may estimate at no more than their actual value this life and its relations ; and so that we may live in a way to ensure the great- est happiness and the least suffering for our fellow- men and ourselves:
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 3i
120. Q. Whatis the light that can dispel this Zenorance of ours and remove all sorrows ?
A. The knowledge of the “‘ Four Noble Truths,” as BUDDHA called them.
121. Q. Name these Four Noble Truths.
A. 1, The miseries of evolutionary existence resulting in births and deaths, life after life. 2. The cause productive of misery, which is the selfish de- sire, ever renewed, of satisfying one’s self, without being able ever to secure that end. 3. The destruc- tion of that desire, or the estranging of one’s self
from it. 4. The means of obtaining this destruction of desire.
‘122. Q. Tell me some things that cause sorrow. A. Birth, decay, illness, death, separation from objects we love, association with those who are repugnant, craving for what cannot be obtained.
123. Q. Do these differ with each individual ? A. Yes: but all men suffer from them in degree.
124. Q. How can we escape the sufferings which result from unsatisfied desires and tgnorant cravings ¢
A. By complete conquest over, and destruction of this eager thirst for life and its pleasures, which causes sorrow.
32 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
125. Q. How may we gain such a conquest ? A. By following in the Noble Eight-fold Path which BuppHA discovered and pointed out-
126. Q. What do you mean by that word : what ts this Noble Ezght-fold Path? (For Pali name see Q. 79):
A. The eight parts of this path are called ungas ; they are: 1. Right Belief (as to the law of Causa- tion, or Karma); 2. Right Thought; 3. Right Speech; 4. Right Action ; 5. Right Means of Liveli- hood ; 6. Right Exertion ; 7. Right Remembrance and Self-discipline; 8. Right Concentration of Thought. The man who keeps these angasin mind and follows them wili be free from sorrow and ulti- mately reach salvation.
127- Q. Can you give a better word for salcation 2 A. Yes, emancipation. 128. Q. Lmancipation, then, from what ?
A. Emancipation from the miseries of earthly existence and of re-births, all of which are due to ignorance and impure lusts and cravings.
129. Q. And when this salavtion, or emancipation, is attained what do we reach ?
“THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 33
A. NIRVA‘NA- 130. Q. Whatts Nirvana ?
A. A condition of total cessation of changes, of perfect rest ; of the absence of desire and illusion and sorrow ; of the total obliteration of everything that goes to make up the physical man. Before reaching Nrrva’NA, man is constantly being re-born : when he reaches Nirva’NA he is re-born no more.
131. Q. Where can be found a learned discusstor of the word Nirvana, and a list of the other names by which the old Pali Writers attempted to define wt ?
A. In the famous ‘Dictionary of the Pali Language” by the late Mr. R. C. Childers, isa complete list.*
132 Q. But some people imagine that Nirvana ts some sort of heavenly place, a Paradise. Does Buddhisne teach that ?
A. No. When Ktitadanta asked the Buddha where is Nirvana, he replied that it was “ wherever the precepts are obeyed.”
133. Q. What causes us to be re-born ?
* Mr, Childers takes a highly pessimistic view of the Nirvanic ‘state, regarding it as annihilation, Later students disagree with
+him. 3
34 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
A. The unsatisfied selfish desire (Sk, ¢rzshua ; Pali, azha) for things that belong to the state of personal existence in the material world. This: unquenchied thirst for physical existence (d/aza) is a force, and has a creative power in itself so strong that it draws the being back into mundane life.
134 QO. Are our re-birihs in any way affected by the nature of our unsatisfied destres ? A. Yes:and by our individual merits or demerits.
135. Q. Does our merit or demerit control the stale, condition or form tn which we shall be re-born ?
A. Itdoes. The broadrule is that if we have an. excess of merit, we shall be well and happily born the next time; if an excess of demerit, our next birth will be wretched and full of suffering.
136. Q. One chief pillar of Buddhistic doctrine as, then, the vdea that cvery effect 1s the result of an actucl cause, vs.2¢ not ?
A. Itis: of a cause either immediate or remote.
137. Q. What do we call thts causation ?
A. Applied to individuals, it is Karma, that is. action. It means that our own actions, or deeds bring upon us whatever of joy or misery we ex- perieuce.
THE DHARMA:OR DOCTRINE. 35
138. Q. Cana bad man escape from the out-work- anes of hts Karma ?
A. The ‘“ Dhammapada” says: there exists no spot on the earth, or in the sky, or in the sea, nei- ther is there anyin the mountain-clefts, where an (evil) deed does not bring trouble (to the doer’.
139. Q. Cana good man escape?
A. As the result of deeds of peculiar merit, a man may attain certain advantages of place, body, environinent and teaching in his next stage of pro- gress, which ward off the effects of bad Karma and help his higher evolution.
140. What are they called ?
A. Gati Sanpatti, Upadht Samputtt, Kala Som- patti and aydga Sampatie,
r4t- Q. Ls that conststent or tnconsistent with common sense and the teachings of modern science ?
A. Perfectly consistent: there can be no doubt of it.
142. Q. Alay all men become Buddhas ?
A. It is notin the nature of every inan to so become in one Kalpa,or world-period; a Buddha is developed, under nature’s general adjustment of demand to supply, only at long intervals of time,
35 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
when the state of humanity absolutely requires
such a teacher to show it the forgotten Path to NIRVA‘NA.
143. Q. Does Buddhism teach that man ts re-born only upon our earth ?
A. Asa general rule that would be the case, until he had evolved beyond its level ; but the inhabited worlds are nuimberless. ‘The world upon which a person isto have his next birth, as well as the nature of the re-birth itself, is decided by the pre- ponderance of the individual’s merit or demerit. In other words, it will be controlled by his attractions, as science would describe it; or by his Karma, as we, Buddhists, would say.
144. Q. Are there worlds more perfect and develop- ed, and others less so, than our Learth ?
A. Buddhism teaches that there are whole Sak- zulas or systems of worlds, of various kinds, higher aud lower, and also that the inhabitants of each world correspond in development with itself.
145. Q. Jflas not the Buddha summed up his whole doctrine tn one gathd, or verse ?
A. Yes.
146. QO. Refeat zt.
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 37
A. Sabba papassa akaranam Kusalassa upasampadé Sachitta partyo dapanam— Etam Buddhinusdésanam. ““'To cease from all evil actions, To generate all that is good, To cleanse one’s mind. This is the constant advice of the Buddhas,”
147. QO. Fave the first three of these lines any zery striking characteristics ?
A. Yes: the first line embodies the whole spirit of the Vrnaya Prtaka ; the second that of the Széta, the third that of the AdAzdhamma. They comprise only eight Pali words, yet, as the dewdrop reflects the stars, they sparkle with the spirit of all the Buddha Dharma.
148. Q. Do these precepis show that Buddhism 1s an active or a passive religion ?
A. To ‘cease from sin, may be called a passive, but to ‘ get virtue,’ and to ‘ cleanse one’s own heart,’ or mind, are altogether acfre qualitics. Buddha taught that we should not merely not be evil, but that we should be fosztzely good.
38 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
149: Q. Who or what are the “ Three Gutdes”* that a Buddhist 1s supposed Lo follow ¢
A. ‘They are disclosed in the formula called the Ttsarana:— J follow Buddhaas inv Guide: I follow the Lawas my Guide: I follow the order as my Guide.” ‘These three are, in fact, the Buddha Dharma.
150. OQ. What does he mean when repeating this Sormula ?
A. Heineans that he regards the Buddha as his
* Saranam, \Vijesinha Mudaliyar writes me :—“ This word bas been hitherto very inappropriately and erroneously rendered Refuge, by European Pali scholars, and thoughtlessly so accepted by-native Pali scholars, Neither Pali etymology nor Buddhistic philosophy justifies the translation. Refuge, in the sense of a fleeing back or a place of shelter, is quite foreign to true Buddhism, which insists on every man working out his own emancipation, The root Sri in Sanskrit (sara in Pali} means to move, to go; so that Saranam would denote a moving, or he or that which goes before or with another —a Guide or Helper. I construe the pas- sage thus: GucchamipI go, Budlham, to Buddha, Saranam, as my Guide. The translation of the Tisarana as the “ Three Refuges,” has given rise to much misapprehension, and has been made by anti-Buddhists a fertile pretext for taunting Buddhists with the absurdity of taking refuge in nonentities and believing in.unrealities. The term Refuge is more applicable to Nirvana, of which Saranam is asynonym.” The High Priest also calls my attention to the fact that the Pali root Sara has the secondary meaning of killing, or that which destroys. Buddham saranam gacc!&ani might tous be rendered “I go to Buddha, the Law, and the Order, as the destroyers of my fears ; —the first by his preaching, the second by its axiomatic truth, the third by their virtuous example and precepts.” .
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 39
all-wise Teacher, Friend and Exemplar ; the Law or Doctrine, as containing the essential and immuta- ble principles of Justice and Truth andthe path that leads to the realisation of perfect peace of mind on earth ; and the Order as the teachers and exemplars of that excellent Law taught by Buddha.
151. Q. But are not some of the members of this “ Order,” men tntellectually and morally tnfertor.
A, Yes; but we are taught by Buddha that only those who diligently attend to the Precepts, dis- cipline their minds, and strive to attain or have attained one of the eight stages of holiness and perfection, constitute his “Order.” It is expressly stated that the Order referred to in the ‘“ Tisarana” refers to the “Attha Ariya Puggala”—the Noble Ones who have attained one of the eight stages of perfection. The mere wearing of yellow robes, or even ordination, does sof of itself make a man pure, wise or entitled to reverence.
152. Q. Thenitts not such unworthy bhikshus as they whom the true Buddhest would take as hts guides ?
A. Certainly not.
153. Q. What are the five observances, or untversat
40 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
precepts, called the Panga Stla, which are tniposed on the Laity in general ?
A. They are included inthe following formula, which. Buddhists repeat publicly at the viharas (tem ples) :—
I observe the precept to refrain from destroying the life of beings.
I observe the precept to refrain from stealing.
I observe the precept to abstain from unlawful sexual intercourse. *
I observe the precept to refrain from falsehood.
I observe the precept to abstain from using intoxi- cauts.
x54. QO. What strikes the intelligent person on reading these Silas?
A. That one who observes them strictly must escape from every cause productive of human mis-
* This qualified form refers, of course, to laymen who only profess to keep five Precepts: a Bhikshu must observe strict celibacy. So, also, must the Jaic who binds himself to observe eight of the whole ten Precepts for specified periods; during these Periods he must be celibate. The five precepts were laid down by Buddha for all people. Though one may not bea Bud- dhist, yet the five and eight precepts may profitably be observed by all. It is the taking of the “ Three Refuges ” that makes one a Buddhist,
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 4L
ery. If we study history we shall find that itehes: >
all sprung from one or another of these causes.
155. Q. In which Silas ts the far-seetng wisdom of the Buddha most plainly shown ?
A. Inthe first, third and fifth: for the taking of life, sensuality, and the use of intoxicants, carse at least 95 per ct. of the suffering amcng men.
156. Q. What benefits does a man dertve from the observance of these Precepts ?
A. He issaid to acquire more or less merit according to the manner and time of observing the precepts, and the number observed. That is, if he observes only one precept, violating the other four,. he acquires the merit of the observance of that pre- cept only ; and the longer he keeps that precept the greater will be the merit. He who keeps all the precepts inviolate will cause himself to have a higher and happier existence hereafter.
157, Q. Whatare the other observances which wt 1s constdcred meritorious for the latty as such to undertake voluntarily to keep ?
A. The Atthanga Sila, or the Eight-fold Precept which embraces the five above enumerated (omitting
42 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
the word “unlawful” in the third), with three additional ; vzz.:—
I observe the precept to abstain from eating at an “unseasonable time.
I observe the precept to abstain from dancing, ‘singing, music and unbecoming shows, and from the use of garlands, sceuts, perfumes, cosmetics, ‘ointments, and ornaments.
I observe the precept to abstain from using high and broad beds.
The ‘seats and couches here referred to are those used by the wordly-minded for the sake of pleasure aud seusul enjoyment. The celibate should avoid these.
158. Q. How would a Buddhist describe true merit ?
A. There is no great merit in any merely out- ward act ; all depends upon the inward motive that provokes the deed.
159. Q. Give an example. A. A rich man may expend lakhs of rupees in buildings dagobas or viharas, in erecting statues
‘of Buddha, in festivals aud processions, in feeding priests, in giving alms to the poor, or in planting
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 43
trees, digging tanks, or constructing rest-houses by the roadside for travellers, and yet have com- paratively little merit, ifit be done for display and to make himself praised by men, or for any other selfish motives. But he who does the least of these things with a kind motive, as from love for his fellow men, gains great merit. A good deed done with a bad motive benefits others, but not the doer- One who approves of a good deed when done by another shares in the merit, if his sympathy is real, not pretended. The same rule as to evil deeds.
160. Q. Lut which vs satd tobe the greatest of all meritorious actions ?
A. The Dhammapada” declares that the merit of disseminating the Dharma, the Law of Righteous- ness, is greater than that of any other good work.
161. QO. What books contatn all the most excellent suisdont of Buddha's teachings ?
A. The three collections of books called Tripitakas or ‘Tiree Baskets.”
162. Q. Whatare the names of the three Pitakas, or groups of books ?
A. The Vinaya Pitaka, the Ulta Pitaka and the Abhidamma Pitaka,
44 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
163. Q. What do they respectively contain ?
A. ‘The first contains all that pertains to inorality and rules of discipline for the government of the Sangha, or Order; the second contains instructive discourses on ethics applicable to all ; the third ex- plains the psychological teachings of the Buddha, including the twenty-four transcendental laws ex- planatory of the workings of Nature.
164. Q. Do Buddhists believe these books to be znsprred, or revealed by a Divine Being ?
A. No: but they revere them as containing all the parts of that Most Excellent Law, by the knowing of which man may break through the trammels of Samsara.
165, Q. nthe whole text of the three Prtakas how many words are there ?
A. Dr. Rhys-Davids estimates them at 1.752.800.
166. Q. When were the Pitakas first reduced to wreting ?
A. In 88-76. B.C., underthe Sinhalese King Wattagamini ; or 330 years after the Parinirvana of Buddha.
167. Q. Have we reason to belicve that all the dis- courses of the Buddha are known to us ?
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 45
A. Frobably not. Within the forty-five years of his public life he must have preached many hundreds of discourses. Of these, in times of war and persecution, many must have been lost, many scattered to distant countries, and many mutilated.
168. QO. Do Buddhists consider the Buddha as one who by his own virtue can save us from the conse- quences of our tndividual sins 2
A. Notat all. Man must emancipate himself. Until he does that he will continue being born over and over,and over again—the victim of ignorance, the slave of unquenched passions.
169. Q. What, then, was the Buddha to us and all other beings ?
A. An all seeing, all-wise Counsellor ; one who discovered the safe path and pointed it out; one who showed the cause of, and the only cure for, human suffering. In pointing to the road, in showing us how to escape dangers, he became our Guide. Heisto us like one leading a blind man across a narrow bridge over a swift and deep stream and so saving his life.
170, Q. I/we were te try to represent the whole spirtt of the Budthvs Doctrine by one word which word should we choose ?
46 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
A. Justice.
ryt :iQ, cle?
A. Because it teaches that every man gets, under the operations of unerring KARMA, exactly that reward or punishment which he has deserved, no more and no less. No good deed or bad deed, however trifling, aud however secretly committed, escapes the evenly-balanced scales of Karma.
72 On WW aas (OFT ee
A. A causation operating on the moral, as well as on the physical and other planes. Buddhists say there is no miracle in human affairs: what a man sows that must and will he reap.
173. Q. What other good words have bccn used to express the essence of Buddhism ?
A. Self-culture and universal love.
174. QO. What doctrine ennobles Buddhism and gives it rts exalted place among the world’s religions ?
A. That of Afidta, or Afaztreya—compassionate kindness. The importance of this doctrine is more-
* Karma is defined as the sum total of a mai’s actions. The law of Cause and Effect is called the Paticea Sumuppada Dhamma, Jn the Anguttara Nikdya the Buddha teaches that “ my action is my possession, my action is my inheritance, my action is the womb which bears me, my action is my relative, my action is my refuge.”
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. AT
over emphasized in the giving of the name “ Maitri ” (the Compassionate One), to the coming Buddha.
175. Q. Were all these pownts of Doctrine that you have explained meditated upon by the Buddha near the Bo-tree ?
A. Yes, these and many more that may be read in the Buddhist Scriptures. The entire system of Buddhism came to his mind during the Great en- lightenment.
176. Q. How long did the Buddha rematn ucar the Bo-tree ?
A. Forty-nine days.
177. Q. What do we call the first discourse preached by the Buddha—that which he addressed to his fice former companions ?
A. The Dhammacakka-ppavatiana sutta,—the Sutra of the Definition of the Rule of Doctrine.*
* After the appearance of the first edition, I received from one of the ablest Pali scholars of Ceylon, the late L. Corneille Wijesinha, Esq., Mudaliar of Matale, what seems a_ better rendering of Dhammacukka-ppavatlana than the one previously given ; he makes it “ The Establishment of the Reignof Law.” Professor Rhys-Davids prefers “The Foundation ofthe King- dom of Righteousness.” Mr. Wijesinha writes me, “You may use “Kingdom of Righteousness,’ too, but it savours more of dogmatic theology than of philosophic ethics. Dhammacakka- ppavattana suttam is “ The discourse entitled ‘The Establishment of the Reign of Law. ” Having shown this to the High Priest, Iam happy to be able to Say that he asseuts to Mr. Wijesinha’s “rendering.
48 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
178. Q. What subjects were treated by him tn thts discourse ?
A. The “ Four Noble Truths,” and the “ Noble Eight-fold Path.” He condemned the extreme physical mortification of the ascetics, on the one laad, and the enjoyment of sensual pleasures on the other ; pointing out and recommending the Noble Hight-fold Path as the Middle Path.
179. Q. Did the Buddha hold to rdol worship ?
A. He did not; he opposed it. The worship of ecd;, demons, trees, etc., was condemned by the Buddha. External worship is a fetter that one has to break if he is to advance higher.
180. Q- But do not Buddhists make reverence before the statue of the Buddha, his relics, and the monuments enslwtning them ?
A. Yes, but not with the sentiment of the idolator.
181. Q. What ts the difference ?
A. Our Pagan brother not only takes his images as visible representations of his unseen God or gods, but the refined idolator, in worshipping, considers that the idol contains in its substance a portion of the all-pervading divinity.
182. Q. [What does the Buddhist think ?
A. The Buddhist reverences the Buddha’s statue
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 49 ect Ian iti tl ee ai eS and the other things you have mentioned, only as mementos of the greatest, wisest, most benevolent and compassionate man in this world-period (Kalpa). Aliraces and peoples preserve, treasure up, and value the relics and mementos of men and women who have been considered in any way great- The Buddha, to us, seems more to be revered and beloved than any one else, by every human being who knows sorrow,
183. Q. Has the Buddha himself given us some- thing definite upon this subject ?
A. Certainly. Inthe JJahdé Part Nirvéna Sutta he says that emancipation is attainable only by lead- ing the Holy life, according to the Noble Eight-fold Path, not by external worship (dmisa pija), nor by adoration of himself, or of another, or of any image.
184. Q. What was the Buddha's estimate of cere- montalism ?
A. From the beginning, he condemned the obser- vance of ceremonies and other external practices which only tend to inerease our spiritual blindness and our clinging to mere lifeless forms.
185. Q. What as to controversies ?
A. In numerous discourses he denounced this habit as most pernicious. He prescribed penances
4
50 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
for Bhikkus who waste time and weaken their high- er intuitions in wrangling over theories and meta- physical subtleties.
186. OQ. Ave charms, incantations, the observance of lucky hours and devil-dancing a part of Buddhism ?
A. They are positively repugnant to its funda- mental principles. They are the surviving relics of fetishism and pantheistic and other foreign reli- gions. Inthe Brahmajdla Sutia the Buddha has categorically described these and other superstitions as pagan, mean and spurious.*
187. QO. What str¢king contrasts are there between Buddhism and what may be properly called “ reli- gions ?”
A. Among others, these: It teaches the highest goodness without a creating God; a continuity of life without adhering to the superstitious and selfish doctrine of an eternal, metaphysical soul-substance that goes out of the body; a happiness without an
* The mixing of these arts and practices with Buddhism is a sign of deterioration. Their facts and phenomena are real and capable of scientific explanation. They are embraced in the term ‘ magic,’ but when resorted to for selfish purposes, attract bad influences about one, and impede spiritual advancement. When employed for harmless and beneficent purposes, such as healing the sick, saving life, etc., the Buddha permitted their use.
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE, 5r
22 ee eS
objective heaven ; a method of salvation without a vicarious Saviour; a redemption by oneself as the Redeemer, and without rites, prayers, penances, priests or intercessory saints ; and a swmmum bonum, ve., Nirvana, attainable in this life and in this world by leading a pure, unselfish life of wisdom and compassion to all beings.
188. Q. Specify the two matin droesions of “ med- ttation,” t.e., of the process by which one extimguashes passton and attains knowledge.
A, Samatha, and Vidarsana: (1) the attenuation of passion by leading the holy life and by contin- ned effort to subdue the senses; (2) the attain- ment of supernormal wisdom by reflection : each of which embraces twenty aspects, but I need not here specify them.
189. Q. What are the four paths or stages of advancement that one may attain to ?
A. (1) Sotépatt:, the beginning or entering into which follows after one’s clear perception of the ‘Four Noble Truths’; (2) Sekérdagdmi—the path of one who has so subjugated lust, hatred and delusion that he need only return once to this world ; (3) Azagami—the path of those who have so far conquered self that they need not return to
52 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
this world ; (4) Azvhat—the path of the holy and worthy Arhat, who is not only free from the neces- sity of re-incarnation, but has capacitated himself to enjoy perfect wisdom, boundless pity for the ignorant and suffering, and measureless love for all beings.
190. Q. Does popular Buddhism contain nothing but what cs true, and tn accord with scrence ?
A. like every other religion that has existed many centuries, it certainly mow contains untruth mingled with truth ; even gold is found mixed with dross.. The poetical imagination, the zeal, or the lingering superstitions of Buddhist devotees have, in various ages, caused the noble principles of the Buddha’s moral doctrines to be coupled more or less with what might be removed to advantage.
191. Q. When such perversions are discovered what should be the true Buddhist’s earnest desire ?
A. The true Buddhist should be ever ready and anxious to see the false purged away from the true, and to assist, if he can. Three great Councils of the Sangha were held for the express purpose of. purging the body of Teachings from all corrupt in-,
terpolations,
192. Q. When? A. The first, at Sattapanni cave, just after the:
HE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 53
death of the Buddha ; the second at Valukarama, in Vaisali ; the third at Asokarama Vibhara, at Patali- putra, 235 years after the Buddha’s decease.
193. Q. Zn what discourse does the Buddha himself warn us to expect this perversion of the true Doctrine?
A. Inthe Sanyutta Nekaya.
“194. Q. Ave there any dogmas in Buddhism which we are required to accept on farth ?
A. No: we are earnestly enjoined to accept nothing whatever on faith ; whether it be written in books, handed down from our ancestors, or taught by the sages.
195. Q. Did he himself really teach that noble rule ?
A. Yes. The Buddha has said that we must fot believe in a thing said merely because it is said ; nor in traditions because they have been handed down from antiquity ; mor rumours, as such ; nor writings by sages, merely because sages wrote them ; nor fancies that we may suspect to have been inspired in us by a deva (that is, in prestumed spiritual inspi- ration); nor from inferences drawn from some haphazard assumption we may have made ; nor be- cause of what seems an analogical necessity ; nor on the mere authority of our own teachers or masters.
54 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
196. OQ. When, then, must we believe ?
A. We are to believe when the writing, doctrine, or saying is corroborated by our own reason and consciousness. “‘ For this,” says he in concluding, ““T taught you not to believe merely because you have heard, but when you believed of your own consciousness, then to act accordingly and abund- antly.” (Seethe Kdélima Suita of the Anguttara Nikdya, and the Maha Part Nirvana Sittta.)
197. Q. What does the Buddha call himself ?
A. Hesaysthat he and the other Buddhas are only “ preachers ” of truth who point out the way : we ourselves must make the effort.
198. Q. Where zs this said ?
A. In chapter xx. of the Dhammapada.
199. Q. Does Buddhism countenance hypocrisy ?
A. The Dhammapada says: “ike a beautiful flower full of colour without scent, the fine words of
* him who does not act accordingly are fruitless. ”
200. Q. Does Buddhism teach us to return evil Sor evil ?
A. Inthe Dhammapada the Buddha said : “Ifa man foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the protection of my ungrudging love ; the more evil
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 55
Be so Ee el
comes from him, the more good shall go from meas
This is the path followed by the Arhat. * To return
evil for evil is positively forbidden in Buddhism. gor. Q. Does tt encourage cruelty ?
A. No, indeed. In the Five Precepts and in many of his discourses, the Buddha teaches us to be
* A Buddhist ascetic who, by a prescribed course of practice has attained toa superior state of spiritual and intellectual development. Arhats may be divided into the two general groups of the Samathaydnika, and Sukkha Vipassaka. The former have destroyed their passions and fully developed their intellec- tual capacity or mystical insight ; the latter have equally conquer ed passion, but not acquired the superior mental powers. The former can work phenomena, the latter cannot. The Arhat of the former class, when fully developed, is no_ longer a prey to the delusions of the senses, nor the slave of passion or mortal frailty. He penetrates to the root of whatsoever subject his mind 1s applied to without following the slow processes of reasoning. His self- conquest is complete ; and in place of the emotion and desire which vex and enthral the ordinary man, he is lifted up into a condition which is best expressed in the term ©Nirvanic’ There is in Ceylon a popular misconception that the attainment of Achatsbip is now impossible ; that the Buddha had himself proph- esied that the power would die out in one millennium after his death, This rumoar—and the similar one that is everywhere heard in India, viz., that this being the dark cycle of the Kali Yuga, the practice of Yéga Vidya, or sublime spiritual science, is impossible—I ascribe to the ingenuity of those who should be as pure and (to use a non-Buddhistic but very convenient term) psychically wise as were their predecessors, but are not, and who therefore seek an excuse ! The Buddha taught quite the con- trary idea. In the Digha Nikaya he said: ‘Hear, Subbhadara ! The world will never be without Arhats if the ascetics (Bhikkus) in my congregations well and truly keep my precepts.” (Imecha Subhaddha bhikku samma vihareiyum asunno loko Arahantehiassa).
°
56 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
merciful to all beings, to try and make them happy, to love them all, to abstain from taking life, or con- senting to it, or encouraging its being done.
202. Q. Ln which discourse 1s this stated ?
A. The Dk smmrka Sutta says: “ Let him (the householder) uot destroy, or cause to be destroyed; any life at all, or sanction the acts of those who do so. Let him refrain from even hurting any creature,* etc.
203+ Q. Does tt approve of drunkenness ?
A. In his Dhammika Sutta we ate warned against drinking liquors, causing others to drink, or sanctioning the acts of those who drink.t
204. Q. Zo what are we told that drunkenness leads ?
A. To demerit, crime, insanity, and ignorance— which is the chief cause of re-birth.
205. Q. What.does Buddhism teach about mar- riage ?
A. Absolute chastity being a condition of full
* Kolb, inhis “ History of Culture,” says: “ It is Buddhism we have to thank for the sparing of prisoners of war, who hereto- fore had been slain ; also for the discontinuance of the carrying away into captivity of the inhabitants of conquered lands.
+ The sth Sila has reference tothe mere taking of intoxicants and stupefying drugs which lead ultimately to drankenness, the final result.
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 57
spiritual development, is most highly commended ; but a matriage to one wife and fidelity to her is rec- ognized as a kind of chastity. Polygamy was cen: sured by the Buddha as involving ignorance and promoting lust.
206. Q. In what discourse ? A. The Anguttara Nrkdya, chap. iv, 55-
207. Q. What does tt teach as to the duty of parents to children ?
A. They should restrain them from vice; train them in virtue ; have them taught arts and sciences; provide them with suitable wives and husbands, and give them their inheritance.
208. Q. What ws the duty of children ?
A. ‘To support their parents when old or needy ; perform family duties incumbent on them ; guard their property ; make themselves worthy to be their heirs, aud when they are gone, honor their memory.
209. Q. What of pupils to the, teacher ?
A. .To show him respect; minister to him ; obey him ; supply his wants ; attend to his instruc- tion.
210. Q. What of husband to wife ?
A. To cherish her ; treat her with respect and
58 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
kindness ; be faithful to her ; cause her to be honored. by others ; provide her with suitable ornaments and clothes.
arr. Q-. What of the wife to her husband ?
A. Toshow affection to him ; order her house- hold aright ; be hospitable to guests ; be chaste ; be thrifty ; show skill and diligence in all things.
212. Q. Where are these precepts taught ?
A. Inthe Szgdlovdda Sutta.
213. Q. Doriches help a man to future happt- ness ?
A. The Dhammapada says: “ One is the road that leads to wealth, another the road that leads to Nirvana.”
214. Q. Does that mean that no rich man can attain Nirvana ?
A. That depends on which he loves most. If
-he uses his wealth for the benefit of mankind—for the suffering, the oppressed, the ignorant,—then his wealth aids him to acquire merit.
215. Q. But tf the contrary ?
A. But if he loves and greedily hoards money for the sake of its possession, then it weakens his moral sense, prompts him to crime, brings curses upon
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 59
him in this life and their effects are felt in the next birth.
216. Q. What says the Dhammapada about Ignorance ?
A. That it is a taint worse than all taints that a man can put upon himself.
217. Q. What does tt say about uncharitableness towards others ?
A. That the fault of others is easily perceived, but that of oneself difficult to perceive; a mau winnows his neighbour's faults like chaff, but his
own fault he hides, as a cheat hides the bad die from the gambler.
218. Q. What advice does the Buddha give us as to man’s duty to the poor ?
A. He says that a man’s nett income should be divided into four parts, of which one should be devoted to philanthropic objects.
219, Q. What five occupations are sazd to be low and base ? A. Selling liquor, selling animals for slaughter,
selling poison, selling murderous weapons, and dealing in slaves.
60 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
—
220. Q. Whoare said tobe incapable of progress in sporitualety ?
A. The killers of father, mother, and holy Arhats; bhikkus who sow discord in the Sangha ; those who attempt to injure the person of a Bud- dha; those who hold extremely nihilistic views as to the future existence; and those who are extremely sensual.
221. Q. Does Buddhism specify places or condt- tions of torment into which a bad man’s Karma draws him on leaving thts life ?
A. Yes. They are: Sanjiva ; Kalasttra; San- ghata ; Raurava; Maha Raurava; Tapa; Pratapa, Avichi.
222. Q. Ts the torment eternal ?
A. Certainly not. Its duration depends on a man’s Karma.
223. OQ. Does Buddhism declare that non-belvev- ers tn Buddha will of necesstty be damned for thetr unbelief 2
A. No: by good deeds they may enjoy a limited term of happiness before being drawn into re-birth by their unexhausted tazha. To escape re-birth, one must tread the Noble Eight-fold Path.
HE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 61
224. Q» What ts the spiritual status of woman among Buddhists ?
A. According to our religion they are on a foot- ing of perfect equality with men. “ Woman,” says the Buddha, in the Chzllavédalla Suita, ““ may at- tain the highest path of holiness ”—Arhatship— that is open to man.
225. Q. What.does a modern critic say about the effect of Buddhism on woman ?
A. ‘That “it has done more for the happiness aud enfranchisement of woman than any other creed” (Sir Lepel Griffin).
226. Q. What did the Buddha teach about caste 2
A. That one does not become of any caste, whether Pariah, the lowest, or Brahman, the highest, by birth, but by his deeds. “ By deeds,” said He, “ one becomes an outcast, by deeds one becomes a Brahman ” (See Vasala Sutta).
227. Q. Tell me a story to tilusirate this ?
A. Ananda, passing by a well, was thirsty and asked Prakriti,a girl of the M4tanga, or Pariah caste, to give him water, She said she was of such low caste that he would become contaminated by taking water from her hand. But Ananda replied : “T ask not for caste but for water ;” and the
62 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
MAatanga girl’s heart was glad and she gave him to drink. The Buddha blessed her for. it.
228: Q. What did the Buddha say in Vasala- sutta about a man of the Pariah Sopika caste ?
A. That by his merits he reached the highest fame ; that many Khattiyas (Kshattriyas) and Brah- maus went to serve him; and that after death he was bornin the Brahma world: while there are many Brahmanas who for their evil deeds are born in hell.
229. Q. Does Buddhism teach the tmmortality of the soul ?
A. It considers “soul” to be a word used by the ignorant to express a false idea. If every thing is subject to change, then man is included, and every material part of him must change. That which is subject to change is not permanent: so there can be no immortal survival of a changeful thing.*
230. Q. What ws so objectionable in this word
“soud” ? A. The idea associated with it that man can be an entity separated from all other entities, and from
* The ‘soul’ here criticised is the equivalent of the Greek psuché The word “material” covers other states of matter than that of the physical body. :
THE DHARMA OR ‘DOCTRINE. 63
the existence of the whole of the universe, This idea of separateness is unreasonable, not provable by logic, nor supported by science.
231. Q. Then there ts no separate, “I,” nor can we say “‘ my” this or that ? _A. Exactly so. There is but one All, of which we and every being and thing are but parts.
232. QO. If therdea of a separate human “ soul” zs to be rejected, what ts tt in man which gives him the impression of having a permanent personality ?
A. Tanhé, or the unsatisfied desire for existence. The being having done that for which he must be rewarded or punished in future, and having Tanhd, will have a re-birth through the influence of Karma.
233. Q. What ts tt that ts born ?
A. Anew aggregation of Skandhas, or personal- ity * caused by the last generative thought of the dying person.
* Upon reflection, I have substituted “ personality” for ‘‘ in- dividuality ” as written in the first edition. The successive ap- pearances upon one or many earths, or “descents into genera- tion,” of the fanhaically-coherent parts (Skandhas) of a certain being are a succession of personalities, In each birth the ferson- ality differs from that of the previous or next succeeding birth. Karma, the deus ex machind, masks, (or shall we say reflects ?) itself, now in the personality of a sage, again as an artisan, and so on throughout the string of births. But though personal. ities ever shift, the one line of life along which they are strung
64 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
234. Q. How many Skandhas ave there ?
A. Five.
235. QO. Name the five Skandhas ?
A. Rtipa, Védana, Satna, Samkhara, anc Vinnana.
like beads, runs unbroken; itis ever that particular line, never - any other. It is therefore individual—an individual vital undula- tion—which is careering through the objective side of Nature, under the impulse of Karma and the creative direction of Tanha, and persists through many cyclic changes. Professor Rhys- Davids calls that which passes from personality to personality along the individual chain, “character”? or “doing.” Since “character” is not a mere metaphysical abstraction, but the sum of one’s mental qualities and moral propensities, would it not help to dispel what Professor Rhys-Davids calls “ The desperate expedient of a mystery” [Buddhism, p. 101], if we re- garded the life-undulation as individuality, and each of its series of natal manifestations as a separate personality? We must have two words to distinguish between the concepts and I find none so clear and expressive as the two I have chosen, The per- fected individual, Buddhistically speaking, is a Buddha, I should say ; fora Buddha is but the rare flower of humanity, without the least supernatural admixture. And, as countless generations (“four asankbeyyas and a hundred thousand cycles ”—Fausboll and Rhys-Davids’ Buddhist Birth Stories, 13) are required to develop a maninto a Buddha, and the iron will to become one runs throughout all the swecessive births, what shall we call that which thus wills and perseveres? Character, or individuality? an individuality but partly manifested in any one birth, but built up. of fragments from all the births.
-. The denial of “Soul” by Buddha (see Sanyutta Nikdya, the Sutta Pitaka) points to the prevalent delusive belief in an independent personality ; an entity, which after one birth would goto a fixed place or state whereas a perfect entity, it could eternally enjoy or suffer. And what he shows is that the ‘I am I’ consciousness is, as regards permanency, logically
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 65
236. Q. Briefly explain what they are.
A. Rfipa, material qualities ; Védana, sensation, Sanfa, abstract ideas; Samkh4ra, tendencies of mind; Vinidna, mental powers, or consciousness. Of these we are formed ; by them we are conscious of existence ; and through them communicate with the world about us.
237. Q. To what cause must we attribute the differences tn the combination of the Five Skandhas which make every individual differ from every other tnaividual ?
A. To the ripened Karma of the individual in his preceding births.
ee impossible, since its elementary constituents constantly change, and the“ I”’ of one birth differs from the “I” of every other birth. But every thing that IT have found in Buddhism acords with the theory of a gradual evolution of the perfected man—viz,
a Buddha—through numberless natal experiences. And in (His consciousness of that individual who, at the end ofa given chain of births attains Buddhahood, or who succeeds in attaining the fourth stage of Dhyana, or mystic self-development, in any of his births anterior to the final one, the scenes of all these serial births are perceptible. In the Jatakatthavannand—so well translated by Professor Rhys-Davids—an expression continually recurs which, I think, rather supports such an idea, viz.: “ Then the Blessed One made manifest an cceurrence hidden by change of birth,” or “that which had been hidden by,” etc. Early Buddhism then clearly held toa permanancy of records in the Akdsa, and the pontential capacity of man to read the same when he has evolved to the stage of true individual enlightenment, At death, and in convulsions and trance, the javana chiltais transferred to the object last created by the desires. The will to live brings all thoughts into objectivity. :
5
66 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
238. Q. What zs the force or energy that ts at work, under the guidance of Karma, to produce the new bein’.
A. Tanha—the will to Zzve.x
239. Q. Upon whatts the doctrine of re-births Sounded ?
A. Upon the perception that perfect justice, equilibrium and adjustment are inherent in the universal system of Nature. Buddhists donot believe that one life—even though it were extended to one hundred or five hundred years—is long enough for the reward or punishment of a man’s deeds. ‘The great circle of re-births will be more or less quickly run through according to the preponderating purity or impurity of the several lives of the individual.
240. Q. Ts this new aggregation of Skandhas— this new personality—the same being as that tn the
* The student may profitably consult Schopenhauer in this connection. ArthurSchopenhauer, a modern German philosopher of the most eminent ability, taught that ‘‘ The Principal, or Radical, of Nature, and of all her objects, the human body included, is intrinsically what we ourselves are the most conscious of in our own body, viz., Will. Intellect is a secondary capacity of the primary will, a function of the brain in which this will reflects itself as Nature and object and body, as ina mirror... Intellect is secondary, but may lead, in saints, to complete renunciation of “ will,’ as far as it urges “life” and is then extinguished in Nirvana (L.A. Sanders in the Theosophist for May 1882,” p. 213).
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 67
previous birth, whose Tanhé has brought tt into existence ?
A. In one sense it isa new being; in another it is not. In Pali it is—‘‘ macha so nacaha aio” ; which means not the same nor yet another. During this life the Skandhas are constantly changing ; * and while the man A.B., of forty, is identical as regards personality, with the youth A. B., of eighteen, yet, by the continual waste and re- paration of his body, and change of mind and character, he is a different being. Nevertheless, the man in his old age justly reaps the reward or suffer- ing consequent upon his thoughts and actions at every previous stage of his life. So the new being of a re-birth, being the same individuality as before, with buta changed form, or new aggregation of Skandhas, justly reaps the consequences of his actions and thoughts in the previous existence.
241, QO. But the aged man remembers the tnet- dents of his youth, despite his being physically and mentally changed. Why, then, ts not the recollection of past lives brought over by us from our last birth into the present birth ?
* Physiologically speaking, man’s body is completely changed every seven years,
-68 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
A. Because memory is included within the Skandhas; and the Skandhas having changed with the new reincarnation, a new memory, the re- cord of that particular existence, develops. Yet the record or reflection of all the past earth-lives must survive; for, when Prince Siddhartha became Bud- dha, the full sequence of his previous births was seen by him. If their several incidents had left no trace behind, this could not have been so, as there would have been nothing, for him to see. And any oue who attains to the fourth state of Dhydna
(psychical insight) can thus retrospectively trace the line of his lives.
242, OQ. What ws the ultimate point towards which tend all these series of changes im form ?
A. Nirvana.
243. Q. Does Buddhism teach that we should do good with the ovew of reaching Nirvana ?
A. No; that would be as absolute selfishness as though the reward hoped for had been money, a throne, or any other sensual enjoyment, Nirvana cannot be so reached, and the unwise speculator is foredoomed to disappointinent.
244. Q. Please make rt a lettle clearer.
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE. 69
A. Nirvana is the synonym of unselfishness, the entire surrender of selfhood to truth. The igno- rant man aspires to nirvanic happiness without the least idea of its nature. Absence of selfishness is Nirvana. Doing good with the view to getting results, or leading the holy life with the object of gaining heavenly happiness, is not the Noble Life that the Buddha enjoined. Without hope of reward the Noble Life should be lived, and that is the highest life. The nirvanic state can be attained while one is living on this earth.
245. Q. Name the ten great obstacles to advance- ment, called Sanyojanas, the Fetters.
A. Delusion of self (Sakkaya-ditthi); Doubt (Vicikicch4); Dependence on superstitious rites (Silabbata-paramasa) ; Sensuality, bodily passions (Kama); Hatred, ill-feeling (Patigha); Love of life on earth (Rfiparaga); Desire for life in a heaven (Arfiparaga); Pride (Mana); Self-righteousness (Uddhacca); Ignorance (Avijja).
246. Q. To become an Arahat how many of these fetters must be broken ?
| ay. 0) 8
247- Q. Whatare the five Niwardnas or Hin- drances ?
70 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
A. Greed, Malice, Sloth, Pride, and Doubt.
248. Q. Why dowe see this minute diviston of feelings, impulses, workings of the mind, obstacles and atds to advancement so much used in the Buddha's teachings ? It 7s very confusing to a beginner.
A. Itisto help us to obtain knowledge of our- selves, by training our minds to think out every subject in detail. By following out this system of self-examination, we come finally to acquire knowl- edge and see truth as it is. This is the course taken by every wise teacher to help his pupil’s mind to develop.
249. OQ. How many of the Buddha's disciples were spectally renowned for thetr supertor qualrtses ?
A. There are eighty so distinguished. They are called the As it Mahé Sdvakas.
250. Q. What did Buddha's wisdom embrace ?
A. He kuew the nature ofthe Knowable and the Unknowable, the Possible and the Impossible, the cause of Merit and Demerit; he could read the thoughts of all beings ; he knew the laws of Nature, the illusions of the senses and the means to suppress desires ; he could distinguish the births and re-births of individuals, and other things.
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE: 7t
251. Q. What do we call the basic principle on which the whole of the Buddha's teaching ts construct= ed ?
A. Itis called Paticca Samuppdda.*
252. Q. Js tt easily grasped ?
A. It is most difficult ; in fact, the full meaning and extent of it is beyond the capacity of such as are not perfectly developed.
253. Q. What said the great commentator Buddha Ghésa about tt ?
A. That even he was as helpless in this vast Ocean of thought as one who is drifting on the ocean of waters.
254. Q. Then why should the Buddha say, tn the Parintbhéna Sutta, that he “ has no such thing as the closed fist of a teacher, who keeps something back ; AF his whole teaching was open to every one’s comprehen-
pee * This fundamental or basic principle may be designated in Pali, Niddna—chain of causation or, literally, “ Origination of dependence.” Twelve Nidanas are specified, viz., Avijja—ig- norance of the truth of natural religion ; Samkhara—causal action, karma; Viiiana—consciousness of personality, the “‘Iam Vinee Néma Ripa—name and form ; Salayatana—six senses ; Phass& —contact; Veiana—feeling ; Tanha—desire tor enjoyment ; Upadana—clinging ; Bhava—individualising existence; Jati— birth, caste; Javad, marana, sdkaparidésa, dukkha, démanassa, upiydsa—Decay, death, grief, lamentation, despair.
72 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
ston, why should so great and learned a man as Buddha Ghoésa declare tt so hard to understand ?
A. The Buddha evidently meant that he taught everything freely; but equally certain is it that the teal basis of the Dharina can only be understood by him who has perfected his powers of compre- hension. It is, therefore, hidden and incomprelhen- sible to common, unenlightened persons.
255. QO. How does the teaching of the Buddha support this view ?
A: He spoke parables and recited stories for the unenlightened masses ; preached the Swt/a Prtaka for the more advanced ; gave the Vinaya Pitaka for the government of the Bhikkus and Updasakas; and perfected the Adhidhamma Pitaka, or philosophical and psychological teaching, for the highest class of minds.
or
Foe
oe
BARA IIt.
THE SANGHA.
256. Q. How do Buddhist Bhikkus differ from the priests of other religions ?
A. In other religions the priests claim to be intercessors between men and God, to help to obtain pardon of sins; the Buddhist Bhikkus do not ac- knowledge or expect anything from a divine power.
257- Q. But why then, was tt worth while to create this Order, or Brotherhood, or Soctety, apart from the whole body of the people, tf they were not to do what other religious orders do ?
A. The object in view was to cause the most virtuous, intelligent, unselfish and spiritual-mind- ed persons in acountry to withdraw from the social surroundings where their sensual and other selfish desires were naturally strengthened, devote their lives to the acquisition of the highest wisdom, and fit themselves to teach and guide others outof the pleasant path leading towards misery, into the harder path that leads to true happiness and final liberation.
74 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
258. Q. Lestdes the Eight, what two additional observances are obligatory upon the Bhikkus ?
I observe the precept to abstain from dancing, singing and unbecoming shows.
I observe the precept to abstain from receiving gold or silver.
The whole Dasa or Bhikku Sila or Ten Precepts, are binding on a// Bikshus and Samaneras, or novices, but optional with lay devotees.
The Atthanga Sila are for those who aspire to higher stages beyond the heavenly regions,* aspi- rants after Nirvana.
259. Q. Are there separate Rules and Precepts for the guidance and discipline of the Order ?
A. Yes: there are 250, but all come under the following four heads :— Privcipal Disciplinary Rules (Patimokkha samvara stla), ;
Observances for the repression of the senses (Lndriva samvara sila).
Regulations for justly procuring and using food, diet, robes, &c. (Paggaya sannzsstta séla).
* The Upisak&é and Updsika observe these on the Buddhis} Upésatha (sabbath) days (In Sk. Upavasatht). They are the 8th, 14th and 15th days of each half lunar month.
THE SANGHA. 75 Directions forleading an unblemished life (472va- pari suddha sila).
260. Q. Enumerate some crimes and offences that Bhtkkus are particularly prohibsted from committing. A. Real Bhikkus abstain from :—
Destroying the life of beings ;
Stealing;
False exhibition of “ occult ” powers to deceive anybody ;
Sexual intercourse ;
Falsehood ;
The use of intoxicating liquers, and eating at unseasonable times ;
Dancing, singing, and unbecoming shows;
Using garlands, scents, perfumes, ete. ;
Using high and broad beds, couches or seats ; receiving presents of gold, silver, raw grain and meat, women and maidens, slaves, cattle, elephants, etc. ;
Defaming ;
Using harsh and reproachful language ;
Idle talk ;
Reading and hearing fabulous stories and tales ;
Carrying messages to and from laymen ;
76 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
Buying and selling ; Cheating, bribing, deception and fraud ; Imprisoning, plundering, and threatening others ; and The practice of certain specified magical arts and sciences, such as fortune-telling, astro- logical predictions, palmistry, and other sciences, that go underthe name of magic. Either of these would retard the progress of one who aimed at the attainment of Nirvana. 261. Q. What are the duties of Bhikkus to the Laity 2 A. Generally, to set them an example of the highest morality; to teach and instruct them; to preach and expound the Law; to recite the Pardtta (comforting texts) to the sick, and publicly in times of public calamity, when requested to do so; and unceasingly to exhort the people to virtuous actions. They should dissuade them from vice; be com- passionate and tender-hearted ; and seek to promote the welfare of all beings.
262. Q. What are the rules for admisston into the Order ?
A. ‘The candidate is not often taken before his
THE SANGHA. a7
tenth year ; he must have the consent of his parents ; be free from leprosy, boils, consumption and fits ; be a free man ; have no debts ; and not be acriminal or deformed or in the royal service.
263. Q. Asa novice what ts he called ?
A. Samanera, a pupil.*
264. Q. Atwhat age can a Samanera be ordained as Sramana—monk ?
A. Not before his twentieth year.
265. Q. When ready for ordination, what happens ? A. Ata meeting of bhikkus he is presented by a bhikku as his proposer, who reports that he is. qualified, and the candidate says: “I ask the Sangha, reverend Sirs, for the Upasampada (ordina- tion) ceremony, etc.” His introducer then recom- mends that he be admitted. He is then accepted. 266. QO. What then? A. He puts on the robes and repeats the Three Refuges (Zzsarana) and Ten Precept (Dasa Sila.) 267. Q. What are the two essentials to be observed 2 A. Poverty and Chastity. A Bhikku before or- * The relationship to his Guru, or teacher, is almost like that of
godson to godfather among Christians, only more real, for the teacher becomes father, mother, family and all to him,
78 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
dination must possess eight things, w7z., his robes, a girdle for his loins, a begging-bowl, water-strain- er, razor, needle, fan, sandals. Within limitations strictly specified in the Vinaya, he may hold certain other properties.
268. QO. What about the public confession of faults ?
A. Once every fortnight, a Patimokka (Disbur- denment) ceremony is performed, when every bhikku confesses to the assembly such faults as he has committed and takes such penances as may be prescribed.
269. Q. What datly routine must he follow 2
wa
A. Herises before daylight, washes, sweeps the vihara, sweeps around the Bo-tree that grows near every vihara, brings the drinking-water for the day and filters it; retires for meditation, offers flowers before the dagoba, or relic-mound, or before the Bo- tree; then takes his begging-bowl and goes from house to house collecting food—which he must not ask for but receive in his bowl as given voluntarily by the householders. He returns, bathes his feet and eats, after which he resumes meditation.
270. Q. Must we belseve that there 1s no merit in
THE SANGHA. 79
the offering of flowers (Mala pitja) as an act of wor- ship?
A. That actitself is without merit as a mere for- mality ; but ifone offers a flower as the sweetest, purest expression of heartfelt reverence for a holy being, then indeed is the offering an act of en- nobling worship.
271. OQ. What next does the Bhikku do?
A. He pursues his studies. Atstinset he again sweeps the sacred places, lights a lamp, listens to the instructions of his superior, and confesses to him any fault he may have committed.
272. Q. Upon what are hts four earnest medtla- tions (Satt-patthind) made ?
A. 1. On the body Kaydnapassénd. 2. On the feelings Vedandénupassand. 3. On the mind Chitldnupassand. 4, On the doctrine Dhammdnupassand,
273. Q. What ts the aim of the four Great Lf. Sorts (Sammappadhind) ?
A. ‘To suppress one’s animal desires and grow in goodness.
274. Q. Lor the perception by the bhikku of the highest ‘ruth, 1s reason or tntuition satd to be the best ?
80 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
A. Intuition—a mental state in which any desired truth is instantaneously grasped.
275. Q. And when can that development be reach- ed ?
A. When one, by the practice of Fdna, comes to its fourth stage of unfolding.
276. Q. Are we to beldeve that 1m the final stage of Ghana, and tn the condition called Samiadht, the mind ts a blank and thought ts arrested ?
A. Quite the contrary. It is then that one’s consciousness is most intensely active, and one’s power to gain knowledge correspondingly vast-
a77. Q. Try to give me a simile.
A. Inthe ordinary waking state one’s view of knowledge is as limited as the sight of a man who walks on a road between high hills; in the higher consciousness of Jhana and Samadhi it is like the sight of the eagle poised in the upper sky and over- looking a whole country:
278. Q. What do our books suy about the Bud- dha’s use of thts faculty ?
A. They tell us that it was his custom, every morning, to glance over the world and, by his divine (clairvoyant) sight, see where there were persons
THE SANGHA. 8r
ready to receive the truth. He would then contrive, if possible, that it should reach them, When per- sons visited him he would look into their minds, read their secret motives, and then preach to them according to their needs.
EARL V
THE RISE AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM.
279: Q. As regards the number of tts Sollowers, how does Buddhism at thts date compare with the other chief relzgions ?
A. The followers of the Buddha Dharma out- number those of every other.religious teacher.
280. Q. What ts the estimated number ?
A. About five. hundred millions (5,000 lacs, or 500 crores) : this is five thirteenths, or not quite half, of the estimated population of the globe.
281. Q. How many great battles been fought, many countries conquered, much human blood spilt to spread the Buddha Dharma ?
A. History does not record one of those cruelties and crimes as having been committed to propagate our religion. So far as we know, it) has not caused the spilling of a drop of blood. (See foot-note anfe— Prof. Kolb’s testimony.)
282. Q. What, then, ts the secret of tts wonderful spread ?
84 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
A. Itcan be nothing else than its intrinsic ex- cellence : its self-evident basis of truth, its sublime moral teaching, and its sufficiency for all human needs.
283. Q. How has zt been propagated ?
A. The Buddha, during the forty-five years of his life as a Teacher, travelled widely in India and preached the Dharma. He sent his wisest and best disciples to do the same throughout India.
284. Q. When did He send for his pioneer mts- stonartes ?
A. On the full-moon day of the month Wap (October).
285. Q. What did he tell them?
A. ‘ He called them together and said: Go forth Bhikkus, go and preach the Law to the world. Work for the good of others as well as for your own. .. Bearye the glad tidings to every man. Let no two of you take the same way.”
286. Q. How long before the Christian era did this happen ?
A. About six centuries.
287. Q. What help did Kings give ?
A. Besides the lower classes, great Kings, Rajahs
THE RISE AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM. 85
and Maharajahs were converted and gave their in- fluence to spread the religion.
288. Q. What about pilgrims ?
A. Learned pilgrims came in different centuries to India and carried back with them books and teachings to their native lands. So, gradually,
whole nations forsook their own faiths and became Buddhists.
289. Q. Zowhom, more than to any other person, ts the world indebted for the permanent establishment of Buddha's religion ?
A. ‘To the Emperor Asoka, surnamed the Great, sometimes Piyaddsi, sometimes Dharmasoka. He was son of Bindusara, king of Magadha, and grand- son of Chandragupta, who drove the Greeks out of India.
290. QO. When did he reign ?
A. In the third century B.C., about two centuries after the Buddha’s time. Historians disagree as to his exact date but not very greatly.
291. Q. What made him great?
A. He was the most powerful monarch in Indian history, as warrior and as statesman ; but his noblest characteristics were his love of truth and justice,
86 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
tolerance of religious differences, equity of govern- ment, kindness to the sick, to the poor, and to animals. His name is revered from Siberia to Ceylon.
292. Q. Was he born a Buddhisi ?
A. No, he was converted in the tenth year after his anointment as King, by Nigrodha Samanera, au Arhat. 7 63
2093. QO. What did he do for Buddhisin ?
A. He drove out bad bhikkus, encouraged good ones, built monasteries and dagabas everywhere, established gardens, opened hospitals for men and animals, convened a council at Patna to revise and re-establish the Dharma, promoted female relig- ious education, and sent embassies to four Greek kings, his allies, and to all the sovereigns of India, to preach the doctrines ofthe Buddha. It was he who built the monuments at Kapilavastu, Buddha Gaya, Isipatana; and Kusinara, our four chief places of pilgrimage, besides thousands more.
294. Q: What absolute proofs exrst as to his noble character ?
A. Within recent years there have been discover- ed in all parts of India, 14 Edicts of his, inscribed on living rocks, and 8 on pillars erected by his orders.
THE RISE AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM. 87
They fully prove him to have been one of the wisest and most high-minded sovereigns who ever lived.
295. Q. What character do these inscriptions give to Buddhism ?
A. They show it to be a religion of noble tole- rance, of universal brotherhood, of righteousness: and justice. It has no taint of selfishness, sectari- anism or intolerance. They have done more than anything else to win for it the respect in which it is now held by the great pandits of Western coun- tries.
296. Q. What most precious gift did Dharmiasoka make to Buddhism ?
A. He gave his beloved son, Mahinda, and daughter, Sanghamitta, to the Order, and sent them to Ceylon to introduce the religion.
297. Q. Is this fact recorded in the history of Ceylon ?
A. O yes, it is all recordedin the “ Mahavansa,” by the keepers of the royal records, who were then living and saw the missionaries.
298. Q. Zs there some still visible proof of San- ghamitta’s massion ?
A. Yes: she brought with her to Ceylon a branch of the very Bodhi tree under which the Buddha sat
88 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
when he became Enlightened, and it is still grow- ing.
299. Q. Where?
A. At Anuradhapura. The history of it has been officially preserved to the present time. Planted in 306 B.C., it isthe oldest historical tree in the world.
300. OQ. Who was the reigning soveretgn at that Lime ?
A. Dévanampiyatissa. His consort, Queen Aunula, had invited Sanghamitta to come and estab- lish the Bhikkuni branch of the Order.
301. Q. Who came with Sanghamutta ?
A. Many other bhikkunis. She, in due time, admitted the Queen and many of her ladies, together with 500 virgins, into the Order.
302. Q- Can we trace the effects of the forergn work of the Emperor Asoka’s mtsstonartes ?
A. His son aud daughter introduced Buddhism into Ceylon ; his monks gave it to the whole of Northern India, to fourteen Indian nations outside its boundaries, and to five Greek kings, his allies, with whom he made treaties to admit his religious preachers.
THE RISE AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM. 89
303. Q. Can you name them ?
A. Awnvriocuus, of Syria, ProLEMy, of Egypt, AnTIGONUS, of Macedon, Marcas, of Cyrene, and ALEXANDER, of Epiros,
304. Q Where do we learn this ?
A. Fromthe Kdicts themselves, of Asoka the Great, inscribed by him on rocks and stone pillars, which are still standing and can be seen by every- body who chooses to visit the places
305. Q. Through what Western religious brother- hoods dtd the Buddha Dharma mingle ttself with Western thought ?
A. Through the sects of the Therapeuts, of Egypt, and the Essenes, of Palestine.
300. Q. When were Buddhist books first intro- duced tnto China ?
A. As early as the second or third century B.C. Five of Dharmasoka’s monks are said—in the Sam- anta Pasddiké and the Sérattha Dipani—two Pali books—to have been sent to the five Divisions of China.
307. Q. Whence and when dtd tt reach Korea ? A. From China, in the year 372 A.D. 308. Q. Whence and when did at reach Fapan ?
go THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM,
A. From Korea, in 552 A.D.
309. O. Whence ant when dtd tt reach Cochin China, Formosa, Fava, Mongolia, Yarkan, Balk, Bo- khara, Afghantstan and other Central Asian countries?
A. Apparently in the fourth and fifth centuries De
310. OQ. From Ceylon, whither and when did tt spread ?
A. To Burma, in 450 A.D., and thence gradu- ally into Arakan, Kamboya and Pegu. In the se- veuth century (638 A.D.,) it got to Siam, where it is now, as it has been always since then, the state religion.
311. Q. From Kashmir, where else did tt spread bestdes to China ?
A. To Nepal and Tibet.
312. Q. Why ts tt that Buddhism, which was once the prevailing religion throughout India, 1s now almost extinct there ?
A. Buddhism was at first pure and noble, the very teaching of the Tathagata ; its Sangha were virtuous and observed the Precepts ; it won all hearts and spread joy through many nations, as the morn- ing light sends life through the flowers. But after
THE RISE AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM. gt
some centuries, bad bhikkus got ordination (Upasam- pada), the Sangha became rich, lazy and sensual, the Dharma was corrupted, and the Indian nations abandoned it.
313. QO. Did anything happen about the ninth or tenth century A.D., to hasten tts downfall ?
ACCS.
314. QO. Anything besides the decay of sptritual- tty, the corruption of the Sangha, and the re-action of the populace from a higher ideal of man to unintellr- gent zdolatry ?
A. Yes, It is said that the Mussalmans invaded, over-ran and conquered large areas of India ; every- where doing their utmost to stamp out our religion.
315. Q: What cruel acts are they charged with doing ?
A. They burnt, pulled down or otherwise de- stroyed our viharas, slaughtered our bhikkus, and consumed with fire our religious books.
316. Q. Was our literature completely destroyed in India ?
A. No. Many bhikkus fled across the borders into Tibet and other safe places of refuge, carrying their books with them.
92 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
317. Q. Have any traces of these books been re- cently discovered ?
A. Yes. Rai Bahadur Sarat Chandra DAs, ¢.1.E. a noted Bengali pandit, saw hundreds of them in the vihara libraries of Tibet, brought copies of some ot the most important back with him, and is now employed by the Government of India in editing and publishing them.
318, Q. Ln which country have we reason to believe the sacred books of primitive Buddhism have been best preserved and least corrupted ?
A. Ceylon. The Lucyclopedia Britannica says that in this istand Buddhism has, for specified rea- sons, “‘ retained almost its pristine purity to modern times.”
319. QO. Has any revision of the text of the Pitakas been made tn modern times ?
A. Yes. <A careful revision of the whole was made in Ceylon ‘in the year 1875 A.D., by a conven- tion of the most learned bhikkus, under the presi- dency of H. Sumangala, Pradhana Sthavira.
320. QO. Has there been any frrendly intercourse tn the tnterest of Buddhism, between the peoples of the Southern and those of the Northern Buddhist coun- tries ?
THE RISE AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM. 93
A. Inthe year 1891 A.D.,a successful attempt was made to get the Pradhana Nayakas of the two great divisions to agree to accept fourteen proposi- tions as embodying fundamental Buddhistic beliefs recognized and taught by both divisions. These propositions, drafted by Colonel Olcott, were care- fully translated into Burmese, Sinhalese and Japa- “nese, discussed one by one, unanimously adopted and signed by the chief monks, and published in January 1892.”
321. QO. Wrth what good result ?
A. As the result of the good understanding now existing, a number of Japanese bhikkus and sama- neras have been sent to Ceylon and India to study Pali and Sanskrit.
322. QO. Arve there signs that the Buddha Dharma zs growing tn favour tn non-Buddhistic countries ?
A. There are. Translations of our more valu- able books are appearing, many articles in reviews, magazines and newspapers are being published, and excellent original treatises by distinguished writers are coming from the press. Moreover, Bud- dhist and non-Buddhist lecturers are publicly dis-
* See Appendix,
94 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
coursing on Buddhism to large audiences in western countries, The Shin Shu sect of Japanese Buddhists have actually opened missions at Honolulu, San Francisco, Sacramento and other American places.
323. Q. What two leading tdeas of ours are chiefly taking hold wpon the Western mind ?
A. ‘Those of Karma and Reincarnation. The ra- pidity of their acceptance is very surprising.
324. Q. What ws believed to be the explanation of this ?
A- Because of their appeals to the natural in- stinct of justice, and their evident reasonableness.
PART V.
BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE.
325. Q. Has Buddhism any right to be considered a scientific religion, or may tt be classified as a“ reveal- ea” one ?
A. Most emphatically it is not a revealed religion. The Buddha did not so preach it, nor is it so un- derstood. On the contrary, he gave it out as the statement of eternal truths, which his predecessors had taught like himself.
326. Q. Repeat again the name of the Sutta in which the Buddha tells us not to believe tn an alleged revelation without testing tt by one’s reason and ex- pertence ?
A. The Kdléma Sutta, of the Anguthara Nikdya.
327: Q. Do Buddhists accepi the theory that every- thing has been formed out of nothing by a Creator ?
A. ‘The Buddha taught that two things are eter- nal, viz., ‘ A’kasa’ and ‘ Nirvana’: everything has come out of A’kdsa, in obedience toa law of motion inherent in it, and, after a certain existence, passes away. Nothing ever came outof nothing. We do
96 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
not believe in miracles; hence we deny creation,
and cannot conceive ofa creation of something out
of nothing. Nothing organic is eternal. Every-
thing isin a state of constant flux and under-
going change and reformation, keeping up the con- tinuity according to the law of evolution
328. Q. What did the Buddha say to the venerable Kashyapa about the common source of all things ?
A. He said that “all things are made of one es- sence (Swabhdva) yet things are different according to the forms which they assume under different im- pressions.”
329. Q. What does scrence call thts production of all things from one essence ? A. Evolution.
330. Q. Do Buddhists believe matter eternal ?
A. They do, as to its essence. If it were not so, it would imply that we believe in its miraculous creation. Matter, as we know it, is but a manifesta- tion of A'kasa, and material forms are its imperma- nent modifications.
331. Q. Ls Buddhism opposed to education, and to the study of scrence ?
A. Quite the contrary: in the Szgdlowdda Sutta,
BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE. 97
by a discourse preached by the Buddha he specified as one of the duties ofa teacher that he should give his pupils ‘instruction in science and lore.” The Buddha's higher teachings are for the enlightened, the wise, and the thoughtful.
332. Q. Can you show any further endorsement of Buddhism by scrence ?
A. Buppua’s doctrine teaches that there were many progenitors of the human race; also that there is a principle of differentiation among men; certain individuals havea greater capacity for the rapid attainment of Wisdom, and arrival at Nirvana, than others.
333. O. Anyother? A. Buddhism supports the teaching of the inde- structibility of force.
334. Q. Shoutd Buddhism be called a chart of scrence or a code of morals ?
A. Properly speaking, a pure moral philosophy, a system of ethics and transcendental metaphysics. It is so eminently practical that the Buddha kept silent when Malunka asked about the origin of things. 335. QO. Why did he do that? 7
98 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
A. Because he thought that our chief aim should be to see things as they exist around. us and try to make them better, not to waste time in intellectual speculations.
336. Q. What do Buddhists say ts the reason for the occastonal birth of very good and wise children of bad parents, and that of very bad onzs af good parents ?
A. It is because of the respective Karmas of children and parents; each may have deserved that such unusual relationships should be formed in the present birth.
337, Q. Ls anything satd about the body of the Buddha giving out a bright light ?
A. Yes, this wasa divine radiance sent forth from within by the power of his holiness.
338. OQ. What ts tt called in Pali ?
A. BLuddharansr, the Buddha rays.
339. QO. How many colours could be seen vn tt ?
A. Six, linked in pairs.
340. Q. Their names ?
A. ula, Pita, Lohtta, Avadata, Mangasta, Pra- bhasvara.
341. Q. Did other persons emit such shining light ? .
BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE. 99
A. Yes, all Arhats did, and in fact the light ‘shines stronger and brighter in proportion to the spiritual development of the person.
342, Q. Where do we see these colours represent- a 2
A. In all viharas where there are painted images of the Buddha, ‘They are also seen in the stripes of the Buddhist Flag, first made in Ceylon but now widely adopted throughout Buddhist countries.
343. OQ. Ln which descourse does the Buddha him- self speak of this shining about him ?
A. Inthe Maka-Purinibbéna Sutta. Ananda, his favourite disciple, noticing the great splendour which caine from his Master’s body, the Buddha said that on two occasions this extraordinary shining occurs, (a) just after a Tathagata gains the supreme insight, and (4) on the night when he passes finally away
344. Q. Where do we read of thts great bright- ness being emitted from the body of another Buddha ?
A. In the story of Sumedha and Dipankara Buddha, foundin the Midinakathé of the $étaka book, or story of the reincarnations of the Bodhi- sattva Siddhartha Gautama,
100 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
345. Q. How ts tt described ? A. As ahalo of a fathoin’s depth.
346. Q. What do the Hindus call tt ?
- A. Tejas; its extended radiance they call Pra- ka sha
347. Q. What do Europeans call tt now ? A. The Human Aura.
348. Q. What great scientist has proved the existence of this aura by crrefully contucted expert— ments ?
A. The Baron Von Reichenbach. His experi- ments are fully described in his ‘‘ Researches ”—pub- lished in 1844-5. Dr. Baraduc, of Paris, has, quite recently, photographed this light.
349. QO. Ls this bright auraa miracle or a natural phenomenon ?
A. Natural.~It has been proved that not only all human beings, but animals, trees, plants and. even stones have it.
350: Q. What peculiartty has rt in the case of a Buddha or an Arhat ?
A. It is immensely brighter and more extended than in the cases of other beings and objects. It
BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE. Ior
is the evidence of their superior development in the power of Iddhi. The light has been seen coming from dagobas in Ceylon where relics of the Buddha are said to be enshrined.
351. Q. Do people of other religions besides Bud- adhism and Hinduism also believe in this light ?
A. Yes, in all pictures of Christianartists this light is represented as shining about the bodies of their holy personages. The same belief is found to have existed in other religions.
352. O. What historical tncident supports the modern theory of hypnoitce suggestion ?
A. ‘That of Chullapanthaka, as told in the Pali Commentary on the Dhammapada.
353: Q. Give me the facts.
A. He was a bhikku who became an Arhat. ‘On that very day the Buddha sent a messenger to eall him. When the man reached the Vihara, he saw 300 bhikkus in one group, each exactly like the others in every respect. On his asking which was Chullapanthaka, every one of the 300 figures replied. “Tam Chullapanthaka.”’
354. QO. What did the messenger do?
102 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
A. Inhis confusion he returned and reported to- the Buddha.
355: QO. What dtd the Buddha then tell him ?
A. To return to the Viharaand, ifthe same thing happened, to catch by the arm the /7si figure who said he was Chullapanthaka and lead him to- him. The Buddha knew that the new Arhat would make this display of his acquired power to impress. illusionary pictures of himself upon the messenger.
356. Q. Whats this power of illusion called te Pali?
A. Vrkubbana lddhe.
357. Q. Were the tllustonary copies of the Arhats person material? Were they composed of
substance and could they have been felt and handled by the messenger ?
A. No:they were pictures impressed by: his. thought and trained will power upon the messen- ger’s mind.
358 QO. Zo what would you compare them ?
A. Toa man’s reflection ina mirror, being ex- actly like him yet without solidity.
359: O. Zo make such an rlluston on the messen— gers mind what was necessary ?
BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE. 103
A.’ That Chullapanthaka should clearly conceive in his own mind his exact appearance, and then impress that, with as many duplicates or repetitions as he chose, upon the sensitive brain of the mes- senger.
360. Q. What vs thrs process now called ?
A. Hypnotic suggestion.
361. QO. Could any third party have also seen these wllustonary figures ?
A. That would depend on tue will of the Arhat, or hypnotiser.
362. QO. What do you mean ?
A. Supposing that fifty, or ive-hundred, persons were there, instead of one, the Arhat could will that the illusion should be seen by all alike; or, if he chose, he could will that the messenger should be the only one to see them.
363. QO. Ts this branch of scrence weil known in our day ?
A. Very well known: it is familiar to all students of mesimerism and hypnotism,
364. Q. Ln what does our modern screntific belief support the theory of Karma, as taught both tn Hin- duism and Buddhism ?
104 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
A. Modern scientists teach that every generation of men is the heir to the consequences of the virtues and vices of the preceding generation, not in the mass, as such, but in every individual case. Every one of us, according to Buddhism, gets a birth which represents the causes generated by him in an antecedent birth. This is the idea of Karma.
365: QO. What says the Vasettha Sutta about the causation tn Nature ?
A. It says: ‘‘ The world exists by cause ; all things exist by cause ; all beings are bound by cause.”
366. OQ. Does Buddhism teach the unchangeable- ness of the vistble universe ; our carth, the sun, the mjon, the stars, the mineral, vegetable, antmal and human kingdoms ?
A. No. It teaches that all are constantly chang-
ing, and all must disappear in course of time,
367, Q. Never to re-appear ?
A. Not so: the principle of evolution, guided by Karma, individual and collective, will evolve another universe with its contents, as our universe was evolved out of the A’kasha,
368. O. Does Buddhism admit that man has tm
BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE. 105
fis nature any latent powers for the production of phenomena commonly called ‘miracles’ ?
A. Yes; but they are natural, not supernatural. They may be developed by acertain system which is Jaid down in our sacred books ; the “ Visuddhi Marga” for instance.
369. Q. What ts this branch of science called ?
A. The Pali name is /ddhi-vidhaiidna.
. 370. OQ. How many kinds are there ?
A. Two: “Taukika,” te, one in which the phenomena-working power may be temporarily obtained by ascetic practices and also by resort to drugs, the recitation of mantras (charms), or other extraneous aids ; and ‘ J,6kéttara,” that in which the power in. question is acquired by interior self- development, and covers all and more than the phenomena of Laukika Iddhi.
371. Q. IVhat class of men enjoy these powers ?
A. They gradually develope in one who pursues a certain course of ascetic practice called Dhyana.
372. Q. Can this Iddht power be lost ? *
* Sumangala Sthavira explains to me that those transcendent powers ire permanently possessed only by one who has subdued all the passions (Klésa), in other words,an Arhat. The powers may be developed by a bad man and used for doing evil things, but their activity is but brief, the rebellious passions again dominate the sorcerer, and he becomes at last their victiin,
106 THE BUDDHIST CATRCHISM.
A. The Laukika can be lost, but the Lokéttara never, when once acquired. Lékéttara knowledge once obtained is never lost, and it is by this know- ledge ony that the absolute condition of Nirvana is known by the Arhat. And this knowledge can be got by following the noble life of the Eight- fold Path.
373. Q. Had Buddha the Likbttara Iddhe ?
A. _Yes;"inv perfection.
374. Q. And hrs disciples also had tt ?
A. Yes, some, but not all equally : the capacity for acquiring these occult powers varies with the individual.
375. Q: Give examples ?
A. Of all the disciples of the Buddha, Mog- gallana was possessed of the most extraordinary powers for making phenomena, while A’nanda could develope none during the twenty-five years in which he was the personal and intimate disciple of the Buddha himself. Later he did, as the Buddha had foretold he would.
376. Q. Loes a man acquire these powers sudden- ly or gradually ?
A. Normally,they gradually develope themselves
BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE. 107
as the disciple progressively gains control over his. lower nature in a series of births,*
377- Q. Does Buddhism pretend that the miracle of raising those who arc dead ts possible ?
A. No. The Buddha teaclies the contrary, in that beautiful story of KisA Gétami and the mustard-seed- But when a person only seems to be dead but is not actually so, resucitation is possible.
378. Q. Give mean tdeaof the successive stages of the Lékottara development in Iddhi.
A. ‘There are six degrees attainable by Arhats > what is higher than them is to be reached only by a Buddha.
379: O. Describe the six stages or degrees.
A. We may divide them into two groups, of three each. The first to include (1) Progressive retrospection, 7zs., a gradually acquired power to look backward in time towards the origin of things ; (2) Progressive foresight, or power of prophecy ; (3) Gradual extinction of desires and attachments to inaterial things.
380. Q. What would the second group include ?
* When the powers suddenly show themselves, the inference- is that the individual had developed himself in the next anterior birth. We do not believe in eccentric breaks in natural law.
108 THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM.
A. The same faculties, but illimitably developed. Thus, the full Arhat possesses perfect restrospec- ‘tion, perfect foresight, and has absolutely extin- guished the last trace of desire and selfish attractions.
381. Q. What are the four means for obtaining Lddhi ?
A. The will, its exertion, mental development, and discrimination between right and wrong.
382. QO. Our scriptures relate hundreds of tn- stances of phenomena produced by Arhats: what did you say was the name of this faculty or power ?
A. JLddhi vidha. One possessing this can, by manipulating the forces of nature, produce any wonderful phenomenon, z.c., make any scientific experiment he chooses.
383. OQ. Did the Buddha encourage displays of phenomena ?
A. No; he expressly discouraged them as tend- ing to create cotifusion in the minds of those who ‘were not acquainted with the principles involved. ‘They also tempt their possessors to show them merely to gratify idle curiosity and their own vanity. Moreover, similar phenomena can be shown by anagicians and sorcerers learned in the Laukika, or the baser form of /ddhz science. All false preten-
BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE, 109
sions to supernatural attainment by monks are among the unpardonable sins (7evzyja Sulla),
384. Q. You spoke of a ‘div.’ having appeared to the Prince Stddartha under a variety of forms ; what do Buddhists believe respecting races of elemental tnvis- tble beings having relations with mankind ?
A. They believe that there are such beings which inhabit worlds or spheres of their own. The Bud- dhist doctrine is, that by interior self-development and conquest over his baser nature the Arhat be- comes superior to even the most formidable of the devas, and may subject and control the lower orders.
385. O. How many kinds of devas are there?
A. Three: Kdmdvachard (thoseywhich are still under the dominion of the passions) ; Aeépdvachara- (a higher class, which still retain an individual form) ; Ardpdvachara (the highest in degree of pu1i- fication, which are devoid of material forms).
386. QO. Showld we fear any of them?
A. He whio is pure and compassionate in heart, and of a courageous mind need fear nothing: no. man, god, brahma rakshas, demon or deva can injure him, but some have power to torment the impure, as well as those who invite their approach.
APPENDIX.
The following text of the Fourteen items of belief which have been accepted as fundamental principles in both the Southern and Northern sections of Buddhism, by authoritative committees to whom they were submitted by me personally, have so much historical importance that they are added to the present Edition of the Buddhist Catechism as an Ap- pendix. It has very recently been reported to me by H. E., Prince Ouchtomsky, the learned Russian Orientalist, that having had the document translated to them, the Chief Lamas of the great Mongolian Buddhist monasteries declared to him that they ac- cept every one of the propositions as drafted, with the one exception that the date of the Buddhais by them believed to have been some thousands of years earlier than the one given by me. This surprising fact had not hitherto come to my knowledge. Can it be that the Mongolian Sangha confuse the real epoch of Sakya Muni with that of his -alleged next predecessor ? Be this as it may, itis a most encour-
112 APPENDIX.
aging fact that the whole Buddhistic world may now be said to have united to the extent at least of
these Fourteen Propositions. H.8. 0;
FUNDAMENTAL BUDDITISTIC BELIEFS.
I. Buddhists are taught to show the same toler- ance, forbearance, and brotherly love to all men, without distinction ; and an unswerving kindness towards the members of the animal kiugdom.
II. The universe was evolved, not created; and it functions according to law, not according to the caprice of any God.
III. The truths upon which Buddhism is found- ed are natural. ‘They have, we believe, been taught in successive kalpas, or world periods, by certain il- luminated beings called BUDDHAS, the name BUDDHA meaning ‘ Enlightened.”
IV. The fourth Teacher in the present Kalpa was Sakya Muni, or Gautama Buddha, who was born in a royal family in India about 2,500 years ago. He is an historical personage and his name was Siddartha Gautama.
V. Sakya Muni taught that ignorance produces desire, unsatisfied desire is the cause of rebirth, and
APPENDIX. 113
rebirth, the cause of sorrow. To get rid of sorrow, therefore, it is necessary to escape rebirth; to escape rebirth, it is necessary to extinguish desire ; and to extinguish desire, it is necessary to destroy igno- rance.
VI. Ignorance fosters the belief that rebirth is a ‘necessary thing. When ignorance is destroyed the worthlessness of every such rebirth, considered as an end in itself, is perceived, as well as the para- mount need of adopting a course of life by which the necessity for such repeated rebirths can be abolished. Ignorance also begets the illusive and illogical idea that there is only one existence for man, and the other illusion that this one lifeis followed by states of unchangeable pleasure or torment.
VII. The dispersion of all this ignorance can be attained by the persevering practice of an all-embra- cing altruism in conduct, development of intelligence, wisdom in thought, and destruction of desire for the lower personal pleasures,
VIII. The desire to live being the cause of re- birth, when that is extinguished rebirths cease, and the perfected individual attains by meditation that highest state of peace called Mervdna.
8
114 APPENDIX.
IX. Sakya Munitaught that ignorauce can be dispelled and sorrow removed by the knowledge of the four Noble Truths, vzz, :—
I. ‘fhe miseries of existence ;
2. The cause productive of misery, which is the desire ever renewed of satisfying one- self without being able ever to secure that end ;
3. Thedestruction of that desire, or the estrang- ing of oneself from it ;
4, .The means of obtaining this destruction of desire. ‘The means which he pointed out is called the noble eight-fold Path, viz. :— Right Belief; Right Thought; Right Speech ; Right Action; Right Means of Livelihood ; Right Exertion ; Right Re- membrance ; Right Meditation.
X. Right Meditation leads to spiritual enlighten- ment, or the development of that Buddha-like faculty which is latent in every man.
XI. The essence of Buddhism as summed up by the Tathagata (Buddha) himself, is :—
To cease from all sin, 2 . To get virtue,
APPENDIX, 115
To purify the heart.
XII. The universe is subject to a natural causa- tion known as“ Karma.” The merits and demerits of a being in past existences determine his condition in the present one. Each man therefore has pre- pared the causes of the effects which he now ex- periences,
XIII. The obstacles to the attainment of good karma may be removed by the observance of the following precepts, which are embraced in the moral code of Buddhism, zz. :—(1) Kill not ; (2) Steal not ; (3) Indulge in no forbidden sexual pleasure ; (4) Lie not ; (5) Take no intoxicating or stupefying drug or liquor. Five other precepts which need not be here enumerated should be observed by those who would attain, more quickly than the average layman, the release from misery and rebirth.
XIV. Buddhism discourages superstitious cre- dulity. Gautama Buddha taught it to be the duty of a parent to have his child educated in science and literature. He also taught that no one should believe what is spoken by any sage, written in any book, or affirmed by tradition, unless it accord with reason.
116 APPENDIX.
Drafted as a common platform upon which all Buddhists can agree.
HE. S Oncor Peiiass
Respectfully submitted for the approval of the High Priests of the nations which we severally repre- sent, in the Buddhist Conference held at Adyar, Madras, on the 8th, oth, roth, r1th, and 12th of January 1891, (A. B. 2434).
Kozen Gunaratana
J 2Par “* UChiezo Tokuzawa Burmah ... U. Hmoay Tha Aung Ceylon ... Dhammapala Hevavitarana
The Maghs of Chittagong...Krishna Chandra Chowdry, by his appointed Proxy, Maung Tha Dwe. BURMAH. Approved on behalf of the Buddhists of Burmah, this 3rd day of February, 1891, (A. B. 2434): Tha-tha-na-baing. Sayadawgyi ; Aung Myi Shwe- bon Sayadaw ; Me-ga-waddy Sayadaw ; Hmat-Kha- ya Sayadaw ; Hti-lin Sayadaw ; Myadaung Sayadaw ; Hla-Htwe Sayadaw ; and sixteen others.
APPENDIX. 117
CEYLON.
Approved on behalf of the Buddhists of Ceylon this 25th day of February, 1891, (A.B. 2434) Mahanu- wara upawsatha pusparama viharadhipati Hippola Dhamma Rakkhita Sobhitabhidhana Maha Nayaka Sthavirayanwahanse wamha.
(Hippola Dhamma Rakkhita Sobhitabhidhana, High Priest of the Malwatta Vihare at Kandy).
(Signed) Hippora,
Mahanuwara Asgiri viharadhipati Yatawatté Chan- dajottyabhidhana Maha Nayaka Sthavirayan wa- hanse wamha— (Yatawatté Chandajottyabhidhana. High Priest of Asgiri Vihare at Kandy).
(Signed) YATAWATTE.
Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Sripadasthane saha Kolamba palate pradhana Nayaka Sthavirayo (Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala, High Priest of Adam’s Peak and the District of Colombo).
(Signed) H. SUMANGALA.
Maligawe Prachina Pustakalayadhyakshaka Suri- yagoda Sonuttara Sthavirayo (Suriyagoda Sonutta- ra, Librarian of the Oriental Library at the Templo of the Tooth Relic at Kandy.)
(Signed) S. Sonurrara,.
118 APPENDIX.
Sugata Sasanadhaja Vinaya chariya Dhammalan- karabhidhana Nayaka Sthavira. (Signed) DHAMMALANKARA.
Pawara neruttika chariya Maha Vibhavi Subhuti of Waskaduwa. (Signed) W. SUBHUTI. JAPAN. Accepted as included within the body of Northerm
Buddhism. Shaku Genyu (Shin Gon Su Sect. ) Fukuda Nichiyo (Nichiren 5
Sanada Seyko (Zen Shu . ) Ito Quan Shyu (_,, “ ) Takehana Hakuyo (Jodo "7 ; Kono Rioshin (Ji-Shu 5) ) Kira Ki-ko Jodo Seizan Fs ) Harutani Shinsho (Tendai & ) Manabe Shun-myo (Shingon Shu Sect.) CHITTAGONG.
Accepted for the Buddhists of Chittagong. Nagawa Parvata Viharadhipati Guna Megu Wini-Lankara, Harbang, Chittagong, Bengal.
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The Buddhist Catechism has been compiled from personal studies in Ceylon, and in part from the
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OF seer Ta Lot WS)
fe
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