236. Q.Briefly explain what they are?
A.Rūpa, material qualities;Vedanā, sensation;Saññā, abstract ideas;Samkhārā, tendencies of mind;Viññāna, 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 in the combination of the five Skandhas which make every individual differ from every other individual?
A. To the ripened Karma of the individual in his preceding births.
238. Q.What is the force of energy that is at work, under the guidance of Karma, to produce the new being?
A. Tanhā—the will tolive.[12]
239. Q.Upon what is the doctrine of rebirths founded?
A. Upon the perception that perfect justice, equilibrium and adjustment are inherent in the universal system of Nature. Buddhists do not 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 rebirths will be more or less quickly run through according to the preponderating purity or impurity of the several lives of the individual.
240. Q.Is this new aggregation of Skandhas—this new personality—the same being as that in the previous birth, whose Tanhā has brought it into existence?
A. In one sense it is a new being; in another it is not. In Pālī it is—"nacha so nacha añño" which means not the same nor yet another. During this life theSkandhasare constantly changing;[13] 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 reparation 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 of suffering consequent upon his thoughts and actions at every previous stage of his life. So the new being of a rebirth, being the same individuality as before, but with a changed form, or new aggregation ofSkandhas, justly reaps the consequences of his actions and thoughts in the previous existence.
241. Q.But the aged man remembers the incidents of his youth, despite his being physically and mentally changed. Why, then, is not the recollection of past lives brought over by us from our last birth, into the present birth?
A. Because memory is included within theSkandhas; and theSkandhashaving changed with the new reincarnation, a new memory, the record of of that particular existence, develops. Yet the record or reflection of all the past earth-lives must survive; for, when Prince Siddhārtha became Buddha, 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 one who attains to the fourth state ofDhyāna(psychical insight) can thus retrospectively trace the line of his lives.
242. Q.What is the ultimate point towards which tend all these series of changes in form?
A. Nirvāna.
243. Q.Does Buddhism teach that we should do good with the view of reaching Nirvāna?
A. No; that would be as absolute selfishness as though the reward hoped for had been money, a throne, or any other sensual enjoyment. Nirvāna cannot be so reached, and the unwise speculator is foredoomed to disappointment.
244. Q.Please make it a little clearer?
A. Nirvāna is the synonym of unselfishness, the entire surrender of selfhood to truth. The ignorant man aspires to nirvānic happiness without the least idea of its nature. Absence of selfishness is Nirvāna. 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 nirvānic state can be attained while one is living on this earth.
245. Q.Name the ten great obstacles to advancement, called Sanyojanas, the Fetters?
A. Delusion of self (Sakkāya-ditthi); Doubt (Vicikicchā); Dependence on superstitious rites (Sīlabbata-parāmāsa); Sensuality, bodily passions (Kāma); Hatred, ill-feeling (Patigha); Love of life on earth (Rūparāga); Desire for life in a heaven (Arūparāga); Pride (Māna); Self-righteousness (Uddhacca); Ignorance (Avijjā).
246. Q.To become an Arhat, how many of these fetters must be broken?
A. All.
247. Q.What are the five Nirwāranas or Hindrances?
A. Greed, Malice, Sloth, Pride, and Doubt.
248. Q.Why do we see this minute division of feelings, impulses, workings of the mind, obstacles and aids to advancement so much used in the Buddha's teachings? It is very confusing to a beginner.
A. It is to help us to obtain knowledge of ourselves, by training our minds to think out every subject in detail. By following out this system of self-examination, we come finally to acquire knowledge and see truth as it is. This is the course taken by every wise teacher to help his pupil's mind to develop.
249. Q.How many of the Buddha's disciples were specially renowned for their superior qualities?
A. There are eighty so distinguished. They are called the Asīti Mahā Sāvakas.
250. Q.What did the Buddha's wisdom embrace?
A. He knew the nature of the 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 birth and rebirth of individuals, and other things.
251. Q.What do we call the basic principle on which the whole of the Buddha's teaching is constructed?
A. It is called Paticca Samuppāda.[14]
252. Q.Is it 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 Ghosha about it?
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, in the Parinibbāna Sutta, that he "has no such thing as the closed fist of a teacher, who keeps something back"? If his whole teaching was open to every one's comprehension why should so great and learned a man as Buddha Ghosha declare it so hard to understand?
A. The Buddha evidently meant that he taught everything freely; but equally certain is it that the real basis of the Dharma can only be understood by him who has perfected his powers of comprehension. It is, therefore, incomprehensible to common, unenlightened persons.
255. Q.How does the teaching of the Buddha support this view?
A. The Buddha looked into the heart of each person, and preached to suit the individual temperament and spiritual development of the hearer.
[1] Mr. Childers takes a highly pessimistic view of the Nirvānic state, regarding it as annihilation. Later students disagree with him.
[2]Saranam. Wijesinha Mudaliar writes me: "This word has been hitherto very inappropriately and erroneously renderedRefuge, by European Pālī scholars, and thoughtlessly so accepted by native Pālī scholars. Neither Pālī etymology nor Buddhistic philosophy justifies the translation.Refuge, in the sense of afleeing back or a place of shelter, is quite foreign to true Buddhism, which insists on every man working out his own emancipation. The rootSrin Samskrt (sarain Pālī) means to move, to go; so thatSuranimwould denote a moving, or he or that which goes before or with another—a Guide or Helper. I construe the passage thus:Gachchāmi, I go,Buddham, to BuddhaSaranam, as my Guide. The translation of theTisaranaas 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 non-entities and believing in unrealities. The term refuge is more applicable to Nirvāna, of whichSaranamis a synonym. The High Priest Sumangala also calls my attention to the fact that the Pālī rootSarahas the secondary meaning of killing, or that which destroys.Buddham saranam gachchhāmimight thus 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 various examples and precepts."
[3] This qualified form refers, of course, to laymen who only profess to keep five precepts; a Bhikkhu must observe strict celibacy. So, also, must the laic 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 be a Buddhist, yet the five and eight Precepts may profitably bo observed by all. It is the taking of the "Three Refuges" that constitutes one a Buddhist.
[4] Karma is defined as the sum total of a man's actions. The law of Cause and Effect is called thePatice a Samuppada Dhamma. In theAnguttara Nikayathe 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.
[5] After the appearance of the first edition, I received from one of the ablest Pālī scholars of Ceylon, the late L. Corneille Wijesinha, Esq., Mudaliar of Matale, what seems a better rendering ofDhammacakka-ppavattanathan the one previously given; he makes it "The Establishment of the Reign of Law". Professor Rhys-Davids prefers, "The Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness". Mr. Wijesinha writes me: "You may use 'Kingdom of Righteousness,' too, but it savours more of dogmatic theology than of philosophic ethics.Dhammacakkappavattana suttumis the discourse entitled 'The Establishment of the Reign of Law'." Having shown this to the High Priest, I am happy to be able to say that he assents to Mr. Wijesinha's rendering.
[6] 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.
[7] A Buddhist ascetic who, by a prescribed course of practice, has attained to a superior state of spiritual and intellectual development. Arhats may be divided into the two general groups of theSamathayanikaandSukkha Vipassaka. The former have destroyed their passions, and fully developed their intellectual capacity or mystical insight; the latter have equally conquered 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 is applied towithout 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 "Nirvānic". There is in Ceylon a popular misconception that the attainment of Arhatship is now impossible; that the Buddha had himself prophesied that the power would die out in one millennium after his death. This rumour—and the similar one that is everywhere heard in India,viz., that this being the dark cycle of theKali Yuga, the practice of Yoga Vidyā, 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 contrary idea. In theNīga Nikāyahe said: "Hear, Subbhadra! The world will never be without Arhats if the ascetics (Bhikkhus) in my congregationswell and truly keep my precepts." (Imeccha Subhaddabhikkhu samma vihareiyum asunno loko Arahantehiassa.)
[8] Kolb, in hisHistory of Culture, says: "It is Buddhism we have to thank for the sparing of prisoners of war, who heretofore had been slain; also for the discontinuance of the carrying away into captivity of the inhabitants of conquered lands."
[9] The fifth Sīla has reference to the mere taking of intoxicants and stupefying drugs, which leads ultimately to drunkenness.
[10] The "soul" here criticised is the equivalent of the Greekpsuche. The word "material" covers other states of matter than that of the physical body.
[11] Upon reflection, I have substituted "personality" for "individuality" as written in the first edition. The successive appearances upon one or many earths, or "descents into generation," of thetanhaically-coherent parts (Skandhas) of a certain being are a succession of personalities. In each birth thepersonalitydiffers from that of the previous, or next succeeding birth. Karma thedeus ex machina, 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 personalities ever shift, the one line of life along which they are strung like beads, runs unbroken, it is everthat particular line, never any other. It is therefore individual—an individual vital undulation—which is careering through the objective side of Nature, under the impulse of Karma and the creative direction of Tanhā 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 regarded the life-undulation as individuality and each of its series of natal manifestations as a separate personality? Wemusthave two words to distinguish between the concepts, and I find none so clear and expressive as the two I have chosen. The perfected individual, Buddhistically speaking, is a Buddha, I should say; for a Buddha is but the rare flower of humanity, without the least supernatural admixture. And, as countless generations—"fourasankhyyasand a hundred thousand cycles" (Fausboll and Rhys-David'sBuddhist Birth Stories, No. 13)—are required to develop a man into a Buddha, andthe iron will to become one runs throughout all the successive births, what shall we call that which thus wills and perseveres? Character, or individuality? An individuality, but partly manifested in any one birth, built up of fragments from all the births.
The denial of "Soul" by Buddha (seeSanyutta Nikāya, theSutta Pitaka) points to the prevalent delusive belief in an independent personality; an entity, which after one birth would go to a fixed place or state where, as 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 impossible, since its elementary constituents constantly change and the "I" of one birth differs from the "I" of every other birth. But everything that I have found in Buddhism accords with the theory of a gradual evolution of the perfected man—viz., a Buddha—through numberless natal experiences. And in the consciousness of that individual who, at the end of a given chain of births, attains Buddhahood, or who succeeds in attaining the fourth stage of Dhyāna, or mystic self-development, in any of his births anterior to the final one, the scenes of all these serial births are perceptible. In theJātakat-thavannana—so well translated by Professor Rhys-Davids—an expression continually recurs which, I think, rather supports such an idea,viz.: "Then the Blessed Onemade manifest an occurrence hidden by change of birth," or "that which had been hidden by," etc. Early Buddhism then clearly held to a permanency of records in the Ākāsha, and the potential 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, thejavana chittāis transferred to the object last created by the desires. The will to live brings all thoughts into objectivity.
[12] The student may profitably consult Schopenhauer in this connection. Arthur Schopenhauer, a modern German philosopher of the most eminent ability, taught that "the Principle 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 in a mirror... Intellect is secondary, but may lead, in saints, to a complete renunciation of will, as far as it urges "life" and is then extinguished in Nirvāna (L. A. Sanders inThe Theosophistfor May 1882, p. 213).
[13] Physiologically speaking, man's body is completely changed every seven years.
[14] This fundamental or basic principle may be designated in Pālī,Nidāna—chain of causation or, literally, "Origination of dependence". TwelveNidānasare specified,viz.:Avijjā—ignorance of the truth of natural religion;Samkhāra—causal action, karma;Viññana—consciousness of personality, the "I am I";Nāma rūpa—name and form;Salayatana—six senses;Phassa—contact,Vedanā—feeling,Tanhā—desire for enjoyment;Upādāna—clinging,Bhava—individualising existence;Jāti—birth, caste;Jarā, narana, sokaparidesa, dukkha, domanassa, upāyāsa—decay, death, grief, lamentation, despair.
256. Q.How do Buddhist Bhikkhus 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 Bhikkhus do not acknowledge or expect anything from a divine power.
257. Q.But why then was it worth while to create this Order, or Brotherhood, or Society, apart from the whole body of the people, if they were not to do what other religious orders do?
A. The object in view was to cause the most virtuous, intelligent, unselfish and spiritually-minded persons 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 out of the pleasant path leading towards misery, into the harder path that leads to true happiness and final liberation.
258. Q.Besides the Eight, what two additional observances are obligatory upon the Bhikkhus?
A. I observe the precept to abstain from dancing, singing and unbecoming shows.
I observe the precept to abstain from receiving gold or silver.
The wholeDasa, orBhikkhu Sīlaor Ten Precepts, are binding onallBhikkhus andSamaneras, or novices, but optional with lay devotees.
TheAtthanga Sīlaare for those who aspire to higher stages beyond the heavenly regions,[1] aspirants after Nirvāna.
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:
Principal Disciplinary Rules {Pātimokkha Samvara Sīla).
Observances for the repression of the senses (Indriya Samvara Sīla).
Regulations for justly procuring and using food, diet, robes, etc., (Paccaya Sannissita Sīla).
Directions for leading an unblemished life (Ajivapari Suddha Sīla).
260. Q.Enumerate some crimes and offences that Bhikkhus are particularly prohibited from committing?
A. Real Bhikkhus abstain from:
Destroying the life of beings;
Stealing;
False exhibition of "occult" powers to deceive anybody;
Sexual intercourse;
Falsehood;
The use of intoxicating liquors, and eating at unseasonable times;
Dancing, singing, and unbecoming shows;
Using garlands, scents, perfumes, etc.;
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;
Buying and selling;
Cheating, bribing, deception, and fraud;
Imprisoning, plundering, and threatening others;
The practice of certain specified magical arts and sciences, such as fortune-telling, astrological predictions, palmistry, and other sciences, that go under the name of magic. Any of these would retard the progress of one who aimed at the attainment of Nirvāna.
261. Q.What are the duties of Bhikkhus to the laity?
A. Generally, to set them an example of the highest morality; to teach and instruct them; to preach and expound the Law; to recite theParitta(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 compassionate and tender-hearted, and seek to promote the welfare of all beings.
262. Q.What are the rules for admission into the Order?
A. The candidate is not often taken before his 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 must not be a criminal or deformed or in the royal service.
263. Q.As a novice what is he called?
A.Samanera, a pupil.[2]
264. Q.At what age can a Samanera be ordained asSramana—monk?
A. Not before his twentieth year.
265. Q. When ready for ordination what happens?
A. At a meeting of Bhikkhus he is presented by a Bhikkhu as his proposer, who reports that he is qualified, and the candidate says: "I ask the Sangha, Reverend Sirs, for theUpasampada(ordination) ceremony, etc."
His introducer then recommends that he be admitted. He is then accepted.
266. Q.What then?
A. He puts on the robes and repeats the Three Refuges {Tisarana) and Ten Precepts (Dasa Sīla.)
267. Q.What are the two essentials to be observed?
A. Poverty and Chastity. A Bhikkhu before ordination must possess eight things,viz., his robes, a girdle for his loins, a begging-bowl, water-strainer, razor, needle, fan, sandals. Within limitations strictly specified in the Vināya, he may hold certain other properties.
268. Q.What about the public confession of faults?
A. Once every fortnight, aPatimokka(Disburdenment) ceremony is performed, when every Bhikkhu confesses to the assembly such faults as he has committed and takes such penances as may be prescribed.
269. Q.What daily routine must he follow?
A. He rises before daylight, washes, sweeps the vihāra, sweeps around the Bo-tree that grows near every vihāra, brings the drinking-water for the day and filters it; retires for meditation, offers flowers before the dāgoba, 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 believe that there is no merit in the offering of flowers (mala pūjā) as an act of worship?
A. That act itself is without merit as a mere formality; but if one offers a flower as the sweetest, purest expression of heartfelt reverence for a holy being, then, indeed, is the offering an act of ennobling worship.
271. Q.What next does the Bhikkhu do?
A. He pursues his studies. At sunset 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 his four earnest meditations (Sati-patthāna) made?
A. 1. On the body, Kayānapassānā.2. On the feeling, Vedanānupassānā.3. On the mind, Chittānnpassānā.4. On the doctrine, Dhammānupassānā.
273. Q.What is the aim of the four Great Efforts (Sammappadhānā)?
A. To suppress one's animal desires and grow in goodness.
274. Q.For the perception by the Bhikkhu of the highest truth, is reason said to be the best, or intuition?
A. Intuition—a mental state in which any desired truth is instantaneously grasped.
275. Q.And when can that development be reached?
A. When one, by the practice of Jñāna, comes to its fourth stage of unfolding.
276. Q.Are we to believe that in the final stage of Jñāna, and in the condition called Samādhi, the mind is a blank and thought is 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.
277. Q.Try to give me a simile?
A. In the 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 Jñāna andSamādhiit is like the sight of the eagle poised in the upper sky and overlooking a whole country.
278. Q.What do our books say about the Buddha's use of this 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 ready to receive the truth. He would then contrive, if possible, that it should reach them. When persons visited him he would look into their minds, read their secret motives, and then preach to them according to their needs.
[1] The Upāsaka and Upāsika observe these on the BuddhistUposatha(Sabbath) days (in Skr.Upavasata). They are the 8th, 14th and 15th days of each half lunar month.
[2] 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.
279. Q.As regards the number its followers, how does Buddhism at this date compare with the other chief religions?
A. The followers of the Buddha Dharma outnumber those of every other religion.
280. Q.What is the estimated number?
A. About five hundred millions (5,000 lakhs or 500 crores): this is five-thirteenths, or not quite half, of the estimated population of the globe.
281. Q.Have many great battles been fought and many countries conquered; has much human blood been 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 footnoteante—Professor Kolb's testimony.)
282. Q.What, then, is the secret of its wonderful spread?
A. It can be nothing else than its intrinsic excellence: its self-evident basis of truth, its sublime moral teaching, and its sufficiency for all human needs.
283. Q.How has it 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 missionaries?
A. On the full-moon day of the monthWap(October).
285. Q.What did he tell them?
A. He called them together and said: "Go forth, Bhikkhus, go and preach the law to the world. Work for the good of others as well as for your own.... Bear ye 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, Rājās and Mahārājās were converted and gave their influence 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.To whom, more than to any other person, is the world indebted for the permanent establishment of Buddha's religion?
A. To the Emperor Ashoka, surnamed the Great, sometimes Piyadāsi, sometimes Dharmāshoka. He was the son of Bindusāra, King of Magadha, arid grandson of Chandragupta, who drove the Greeks out of India.
290. Q.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, tolerance of religious differences, equity of government, kindness to the sick, to the poor, and to animals. His name is revered from Siberia to Ceylon.
292. Q.Was he born a Buddhist?
A. No, he was converted in the tenth year after his anointment as King, by Nigrodha Samanera, an Arhat.
293. Q.What did he do for Buddhism?
A. He drove out bad Bhikkhus, encouraged good ones, built monasteries and dāgobas everywhere, established gardens, opened hospitals for men and animals, convened a council at Patna to revise and re-establish the Dharma, promoted female religious education, and sent embassies to five Greek kings, his allies, and to all the sovereigns of India, to preach the doctrines of the Buddha. It was he who built the monuments at Kapilavastu, Buddha Gāya, Isipatana and Kusinārā, our four chief places of pilgrimage, besides thousands more.
294. Q.What absolute proofs exist as to his noble character?
A. Within recent years there have been discovered, in all parts of India, fourteen Edicts of his, inscribed on living rocks, and eight on pillars erected by his orders. They fully prove him to have been one of the wisest and most high-minded sovereigns who ever lived.
29.5. Q.What character do these inscriptions give to Buddhism?
A. They show it to be a religion of noble tolerance, of universal brotherhood, of righteousness and justice. It has no taint of selfishness, sectarianism 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 countries.
296. Q.What most precious gift did Dharmāshoka 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. Yes, it is all recorded in the Mahāvansa, by the keepers of the royal records, who were then living and saw the missionaries.
298. Q.Is there some proof of Sanghamitta's mission still visible?
A. Yes; she brought with her to Ceylon a branch of the very Bodhi tree under which the Buddha sat when he became Enlightened, and it is still growing.
299. Q.Where?
A. At Annrādhapura. The history of it has been officially preserved to the present time. Planted in 306 B.C., it is the oldest historical tree in the world.
300. Q.Who was the reigning sovereign at that time?
A. Dēvanampiyatissa. His consort, Queen Anula, had invited Sanghamitta to come and establish the Bhikkhuni branch of the Order.
301. Q.Who came with Sanghamitta?
A. Many other Bhikkhunis. She, in due time, admitted the Queen and many of her ladies, together with five hundred virgins, into the Order.
302. Q.Can we trace the effects of the foreign work of the Emperor Ashoka's missionaries?
A. His son and 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.
303. Q.Can you name them?
A. ANTIOCHUS of Syria, PTOLEMY of Egypt, ANTIGONUS of Macedon, MARGAS of Cyrene, and ALEXANDER of Epiros.
04. Q.Where do we learn this?
A. From the Edicts themselves of Ashoka the Great, inscribed by him on rocks and stone pillars, which are still standing and can be seen by everybody who chooses to visit the places.
305. Q.Through what western religious brotherhoods did the Buddha Dharma mingle itself with western thought?
A. Through the sects of the Therapeuts of Egypt and the Essenes of Palestine.
306. Q.When were Buddhist books first introduced into China?
A. As early as the second or third century B.C. Five of Dharmāshoka's monks are said—in the Samanta Pasādika and the Sārattha Dīpanī—two Pālī books—to have been sent to the five divisions of China.
307. Q.Whence and when did it reach Korea?
A. From China, in the year A. D. 372.
308. Q.Whence and when did it reach Japan?
A. From Korea, in A. D. 552.
309. Q.Whence and when did it reach Cochin China, Formosa, Java, Mongolia, Yorkand, Balk, Bokhara, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries?
A. Apparently in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D.
310. Q.From Ceylon, whither and when did it spread?
A. To Burma, in A.D. 450, and thence gradually into Arakan, Kamboya and Pegu. In the seventh century (A.D. 638) it spread to Siam, where it is now, as it has been always since then, the State religion.
311. Q.From Kashmir, where else did it spread besides to China?
A. To Nepāl and Tibet.
312. Q. Why is it that Buddhism, which was once the prevailing religion throughout India, is 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 morning light sends life through the flowers. But after some centuries, bad Bhikkhus got ordination (Upasampada) the Sangha became rich, lazy, and sensual, the Dharma was corrupted, and the Indian nation abandoned it.
313. Q.Did anything happen about the ninth or tenth century A.D. to hasten its downfall?
A. Yes.
314. Q.Anything besides the decay of spirituality, the corruption of the Sangha, and the reaction of the populace from a higher ideal of man to unintelligent idolatry?
A. Yes. It is said that the Mussalmāns invaded, overran and conquered large areas of India; everywhere 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 destroyed our vihāras, slaughtered our Bhikkhus, and consumed with fire our religious books.
316. Q.Was our literature completely destroyed in India?
A. No. Many Bhikkhus fled across the borders into Tibet and other safe places of refuge, carrying their books with them.
317. Q.Have any traces of these books been recently discovered?
A. Yes. Rai Bhādur Sarat Chandra Dās, C.I.E., a noted Bengali pandit, saw hundreds of them in the vihāra libraries of Tibet, brought copies of some of the most important back with him, and is now employed by the Government of India in editing and publishing them.
318. Q.In which country have we reason to believe the sacred books of primitive Buddhism have been best preserved and least corrupted?
A. Ceylon. TheEncyclopaedia Britannicasays that in this island Buddhism has, for specified reasons, "retained almost its pristine purity to modern times".
319. Q.Has any revision of the text of the Pitakas been made in modern times?
A. Yes. A careful revision of the Vināya Pitaka was made in Ceylon in the year A.D. 1875, by a convention of the most learned Bhikkhus, under the presidency of H. Sumangala, Pradhāna Sthavīra.
320. Q.Has there been any friendly intercourse in the interest of Buddhism between the peoples of the Southern and those of the Northern Buddhist countries?
A. In the year A.D. 1891, a successful attempt was made to get the Pradhāna Nayakas of the two great divisions to agree to accept fourteen propositions as embodying fundamental Buddhistic beliefs recognised and taught by both divisions. These propositions, drafted by Colonel Olcott, were carefully translated into Burmese, Sinhalese and Japanese, discussed one by one, unanimously adopted and signed by the chief monks, and published in January 1892.
321. Q.With what good result?
A. As the result of the good understanding now existing, a number of Japanese bhikkhus and samaneras have been sent to Ceylon and India to study Pālī and Samskrt.
322. Q.Are there signs that the Buddha Dharma is growing in favour in non-Buddhistic countries?[1]
A. There are. Translations of our more valuable 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, Buddhist and non-Buddhist lecturers are publicly discoursing 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 ideas of ours are chiefly taking hold upon the western mind?
A. Those of Karma and Reincarnation. The rapidity of their acceptance is very surprising.
324. Q.What is believed to be the explanation of this?
A. Their appeals to the natural instinct of justice, and their evident reasonableness.