BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE
325. Q. _Has Buddhism any right to be considered a scientific
religion, or may it be classified as a "revealed" one?_
A. Most emphatically it is not a revealed religion. The Buddha did
not so preach, nor is it so understood. 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 in an alleged revelation without testing it by
one's reason and experience?_
A. The Kalama Sutta, of the Anguthara Nikaya.
327. Q. _Do Buddhists accept the theory that everything has been
formed out of nothing by a Creator?_
A. The Buddha taught that two things are causeless, _viz._,
Akasha, and Nirvana. Everything has come ont of Akasha,
in obedience to a law of motion inherent in it, and, after a certain
existence, passes away. Nothing ever came out of nothing. We do not
believe in miracles; hence we deny creation, and cannot conceive of a
creation of something out of nothing. Nothing organic is eternal.
Everything is in a state of constant flux, and undergoing change and
reformation, keeping up the continuity according to the law of
evolution.
328. Q. _Is Buddhism opposed to education, and to the study of
science?_
A. Quite the contrary: in the _Sigalowada Sutta_ in a discourse
preached by the Buddha, He specified as one of the duties of a 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.
329. Q. _Can you show any further endorsement of Buddhism by science?_
A. The Buddha's doctrine teaches that there were many progenitors of
the human race; also that there is a principle of differentiation among
men; certain individuals have a greater capacity for the rapid
attainment of Wisdom and arrival at Nirvana than others.
330. Q. _Any other?_
A. Buddhism supports the teaching of the indestructibility of force.
331. Q. _Should Buddhism be called a chart of science 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.
332. Q. _Why did he do that?_
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.
333. Q. _What do Buddhists say is the reason for the occasional birth
of very good and wise children of bad parents, and that of very bad
ones of 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.
334. Q. _Is anything said about the body of the Buddha giving out a
bright light?_
A. Yes, there was a divine radiance sent forth from within by the
power of his holiness.
335. Q. _What is it called in Pali?_
A. Buddharansi, the Buddha rays.
336. Q. _How many colours could be seen in it?_
A. Six, linked in pairs.
337. Q. _Their names?_
A. Nila, Pita, Lohita, Avadata, Mangasta, Prabhasvra.
338. Q. _Did other persons emit such shining light?_
A. Yes, all Arhats did and, in fact, the light shines stronger and
brighter in proportion to the spiritual development of the person.
339. Q. _Where do we see these colours represented?_
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.
340. Q. _In which discourse does the Buddha himself speak of this
shining about him?_
A. In the _Maha-Parinibbana Sutta_, Ananda his favourite
disciple, noticing the great splendour which came 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 (_b_) on the night when he passes finally away.
341. Q. _Where do we read of this great brightness being emitted from
the body of another Buddha?_
A. In the story of Sumedha and Dipankara Buddha, found in the
_Nidanakatha_ of the _Jataka_ book, or story of the
reincarnations of the Bodhisattva Siddhartha Gautama.
342. Q. _How is it described?_
A. As a halo of a fathom's depth.
343. Q. _What do the Hindus call it?_
A. _Tejas_; its extended radiance they call Prakasha.
344. Q. _What do Europeans call it now?_
A. The human aura.
345. Q. _What great scientist has proved the existence of this aura
by carefully conducted experiments?_
A. The Baron Von Reichenbach. His experiments are fully described in
his _Researches_, published in 1844-5. Dr. Baraduc, of Paris, has,
quite recently, photographed this light.
346. Q. _Is this bright aura a 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.
347. Q. _What peculiarity has it in the case of a Buddha or an Arhat?_
A. It is immensely brighter and more extended than in cases of other
beings and objects. It 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.
348. Q. _Do people of other religions besides Buddhism and
Hinduism also believe in this light?_
A. Yes, in all pictures of Christian artists this light is represented
as shining about the bodies of their holy personages. The same belief
is found to have existed in other religions.
349. Q. _What historical incident supports the modern theory of
hypnotic suggestion?_
A. That of Chullapanthaka, as told in the Pali Commentary on the
_Dhammapada_, etc.
350. Q. _Give me the facts._
A. He was a bhikkhu who became an Arhat. On that very day the Buddha
sent a messenger to call him. When the man reached the Vihara, he
saw three hundred bhikkhus in one group, each exactly like the others
in every respect. On his asking which was Chullapanthaka, every one of
the three hundred figures replied: "I am Chullapanthaka."
351. Q. _What did the messenger do?_
A. In his confusion he returned and reported to the Buddha.
352. Q. _What did the Buddha then tell him?_
A. To return to the vihara and, if the same thing happened, to
catch by the arm the _first_ 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.
353. Q. _What is this power of illusion called in Pali?_
A. _Manomaya Iddhi_.
354. Q. _Were the illusionary copies of the Arhat's 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 messenger's mind.
355. Q. _To what would you compare them?_
A. To a man's reflection in a mirror, being exactly like him yet
without solidity.
356. Q. _To make such an illusion on the messenger's mind, what was
necessary?_
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 messenger.
357. Q. _What is this process now called?_
A. Hypnotic suggestion.
358. Q. _Could any third party have also seen these illusionary
figures?_
A. That would depend on the will of the Arhat or hypnotiser.
359. Q. _What do you mean?_
A. Supposing that fifty or five 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.
360. Q. _Is this branch of science well known in our day?_
A. Very well known; it is familiar to all students of mesmerism and
hypnotism.
361. Q. _In what does our modern scientific belief support the theory
of Karma, as taught in Buddhism?_
A. Modern scientists teach that every generation of men is heir to the
consequences of the virtues and the 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.
362. Q. _What say the Vasettha Sutta about the causation in
Nature?_
A. It says: "The world exists by cause; all things exist by cause, all
beings are bound by cause."
363. Q. _Does Buddhism teach the unchangeableness of the visible
universe; our earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the mineral,
vegetable, animal and human kingdoms?_
A. No. It teaches that all are constantly changing, and all must
disappear in course of time.
364. Q. _Never to reappear?_
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 Akasha.
365. Q. _Does Buddhism admit that man has in his 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 a certain system which is laid down in our sacred books, the
Visuddhi Marga for instance.
366. Q. _What is this branch of science called?_
A. The Pali name is Iddhi-vidhanana.
367. Q. _How many kinds are there?_
A. Two: _Bahira_, _i.e._, 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 _Sasaniks_, that in which the power in question is acquired by
interior self-development, and covers all and more than the phenomena
of _Laukika Iddhi_.
368. Q. _What class of men enjoy these powers?_
A. They gradually develop in one which pursues a certain course of
ascetic practice called _Dhyana_.
369. Q. Can this Iddhi power be lost?[1]
A. The _Bahira_ can be lost, but the _Sasanika_ never, when once
acquired. _Lokottara_ knowledge once obtained is never lost, and it is
by this knowledge _only_ that the absolute condition of Nirvana is
known by the Arhat. And this knowledge can be got by following the
noble life of the Eightfold Path.
370. Q. _Had Buddha the Lokottara Iddhi?_
A. Yes, in perfection.
371. Q. _And his disciples also had it?_
A. Yes, some but not all equally; the capacity for acquiring these
occult powers varies with the individual.
372. Q. _Give examples?_
A. Of all the disciples of the Buddha, Mogallana was possessed of
the most extraordinary powers for making phenomena, while Ananda
could develop 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.
373. Q. _Does a man acquire these powers suddenly or gradually?_
A. Normally, they gradually develop themselves as the disciple
progressively gains control over his lower nature in a series of
births.[2]
374. Q. _Does Buddhism pretend that the miracle of raising those who
are dead is possible?_
A. No. The Buddha teaches the contrary, in that beautiful story of
Kisa Gotami and the mustard-seed. But when a person only seems to
be dead but is not actually so, resuscitation is possible.
375. Q. _Give me an idea of these successive stages of the Lokottara
development in Iddhi?_
A. There are six degrees attainable by Arhats; what is higher than
them is to be reached only by a Buddha.
376. Q. _Describe the six stages or degrees?_
A. We may divide them into two groups, of three each. The first to
include (1) Progressive retrospection, _viz._, 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 material things.
377. Q. _What would the second group include?_
A. The same faculties, but inimitably developed. Thus, the full Arhat
possesses perfect retrospection, perfect foresight, and has absolutely
extinguished the last trace of desire and selfish attractions.
378. Q. _What are the four means for obtaining Iddhi?_
A. The will, its exertion, mental development, and discrimination
between right and wrong.
379. Q. _Our Scriptures relate hundreds of instances of phenomena
produced by Arhats: what did you say was the name of this faculty or
power?_
A. _Iddhi vidha_. One possessing this can, by manipulating the
forces of Nature, produce any wonderful phenomenon, _i.e._, make any
scientific experiment he chooses.
380. Q. _Did the Buddha encourage displays of phenomena?_
A. No; he expressly discouraged them as tending to create confusion 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 magicians and sorcerers learned in the
_Laukika_, or the baser form of _Iddhi_ science. All false
pretensions to supernatural attainment by monks are among the
unpardonable sins (_Tevijja Sutta_).
381. Q. _You spoke of a "deva" having appeared to the Prince
Siddhartha under a variety of forms; what do Buddhists believe
respecting races of elemental invisible beings having relations with
mankind?_
A. They believe that there are such beings who inhabit worlds or
spheres of their own. The Buddhist doctrine is that, by interior
self-development and conquest over his baser nature, the Arhat becomes
superior to even the most formidable of the devas, and may subject and
control the lower orders.
382. Q. _How many kinds of devas are there?_
A. Three: _Kamavachara_ (those who are still under the
domination of the passions); _Rupavachara_ (a higher class,
which still retain an individual form): _Arapavachara_ (the
highest in degree of purification, who are devoid of material forms).
383. Q. _Should we fear any of them?_
A. He who is pure and compassionate in heart and of a courageous mind
need fear nothing: no man, god, _brahmarakkhas_, demon or deva, can
injure him, but some have power to torment the impure, as well as those
who invite their approach.
[1] Sumangala Sthavira explains to me that those transcendent powers
are permanently possessed only by one who has subdued all the passions
(_Klesa_), 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 victim.
[2] 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.
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
Appendix. 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 accept every one of the
propositions as drafted, with the one exception that the date of the
Buddha is 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, it is a most encouraging fact that the whole Buddhistic
world may now be said to have united to the extent at least of these
Fourteen Propositions.
H. S. O.
FUNDAMENTAL BUDDHISTIC BELIEFS
I Buddhists are taught to show the same tolerance, forbearance, and
brotherly love to all men, without distinction; and an unswerving
kindness towards the members of the animal kingdom.
II The universe was evolved, not created; and its functions according
to law, not according to the caprice of any God.
III The truths upon which Buddhism is founded are natural. They have,
we believe, been taught in successive kalpas, or world-periods, by
certain illuminated 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
Siddhartha Gautama.
V Sakya Muni taught that ignorance produces desire, unsatisfied
desire is the cause of rebirth, and 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 ignorance.
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 paramount
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 life is 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-embracing 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 rebirth, when that is
extinguished rebirths cease and the perfected individual attains by
meditation that highest state of peace called _Nirvana_.
IX Sakya Muni taught that ignorance can be dispelled and sorrow
removed by the knowledge of the four Noble Truths, _viz._:
1. The miseries of existence;
2. The cause productive of misery, which is the desire ever renewed of
satisfying oneself without being able ever to secure that end;
3. The destruction of that desire, or the estranging of oneself from it;
4. The means of obtaining this destruction of desire. The means which
he pointed out is called the Noble Eightfold Path, _viz._: Right
Belief; Right Thought; Right Speech; Right Action; Right Means of
Livelihood; Right Exertion; Right Remembrance; Right Meditation.
X Right Meditation leads to spiritual enlightenment, or the
development of that Buddha-like faculty which is latent in every man.
XI The essence of Buddhism, as summed up by the Tathagatha
(Buddha) himself, as:
To cease from all sin,
To get virtue,
To purify the heart.
XII The universe is subject to a natural causation known as "Karma".
The merits and demerits of a being in past existences determine his
condition in the present one. Each man, therefore, has prepared the
causes of the effects which he now experiences.
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, _viz._: (1) Kill not; (2) Steal not; (3)
Indulge in no forbidden sexual pleasure; (4) Lie not; (5) Take no
intoxication 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 credulity. 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.
Drafted as a common platform upon which all Buddhists can agree.
H. S. OLCOTT, P.T.S.
Respectfully submitted for the approval of the High Priests of the
nations which we severally represent, in the Buddhist Conference held
at Adyar, Madras, on the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th of January,
1891 (A.B. 2434).
Japan . . . . . ( Kozen Gunaratana
( Chiezo Tokuzawa
Burmah . . . . . U. Hmoay Tha Aung
Ceylon . . . . . Dhammapala Hevavitarana.
The Maghs of
Chittagong . . . Krshna 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 Saydawgyi; Aung Myi Shwebon Sayadaw; Me-ga-waddy
Sayadaw; Hmat-Khaya Sayadaw; Hti-lin Sayadaw; Myadaung Sayadaw;
Hla-Htwe Sayadaw; and sixteen others.
CEYLON
Approved on behalf of the Buddhists of Ceylon this 25th day of
February, 1891 (A.B. 2434); Mahannwara upawsatha pusparama
viharadhipati Hippola Dhamma Rakkhita Sobhitabhidhana
Maha Nayaka Sthavirayan wahanse wamha.
(Hippola Dhamma Rakkhita Sabhitabhidhana, High Priest of the
Malwatta Vihare at Kandy).
(Sd.) HIPPOLA.
Mahanuwara Asgiri viharadhipati Yatawatte
Chandajottyabhidhana Maha Nayaka Sthavirayan wahanse
wamha--(Yatawatte Chandajottyabhidhana, High Priest of Asgiri
Tihare at Kandy).
(Sd.) 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).
(Sd.) H. SUMANGALA
Maligawe Prachina Pustakalayadhyakshaka Suriyagoda
Sonuttara Sthavirayo (Suriyagoda Sonuttara, Librarian of the Oriental
Library at the Temple of the Tooth Relic at Kandy).
(Sd.) S. SONUTTARA
Sugata Sasanadhaja Vinaya chariya
Dhammalankarabhidhana Nayaka Sthavira.
(Sd.) W. DHAMMALANKARA
Pawara neruttika chariya Maha Vibhavi Subhuti of Waskaduwa.
(Sd.) W. SUBHUTI
JAPAN
Accepted as included within the body of Northern Buddhism.
Shaku Genyu (Shingon Shu)
Fukuda Nichiyo (Nichiren " )
Sanada Seyko (Zen " )
Ito Quan Shyu ( " " )
Takehana Hakuyo (Jodo " )
Kono Rioshin (Ji-Shu " )
Kiro Ki-ko (Jodo Seizan " )
Harutani Shinsho (Tendai " )
Manabe Shun-myo (Shingon " )
CHITTAGONG
Accepted for the Buddhists of Chittagong.
Nagawa Parvata Vihaaradhipati
Guna Megu Wini-Lankara,
Harbing, Chittagong, Bengal.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Buddhist Catechism has been compiled from personal studies in
Ceylon, and in part from the following works:
_Vinaya Texts_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Davids and Oldenberg.
_Buddhist Literature in China_ . . . . . . Beal.
_Catena of Buddhist Scriptures_ . . . . . Do.
_Buddhaghosa's Parables_ . . . . . . . . . Rogers.
_Buddhist Birth Stories_ . . . . . . . . . Fausboll and Davids.
_Legend of Gautama_ . . . . . . . . . . . Bigandet.
_Chinese Buddhism_ . . . . . . . . . . . . Edkins.
_Kalpa Sutra and Nava Patva_ . . . . . . . Stevenson.
_Buddha and Early Buddhism_ . . . . . . . Lillie.
_Sutta Nipata_ . . . . . . . . . . . . Sir Coomara Swami.
_Nagananda_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Broyd.
_Kusa Jataka_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steele.
_Buddhism_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rhys-Davids.
_Dhammapada_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fausboll and Max Müller.
_Romantic History of Buddha_ . . . . . . . Beal.
_Udanavarga_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rockhill.
_Twelve Japanese Buddhist Sects_ . . . . . B. Nanjio.
_The Gospel of Buddha_ . . . . . . . . . . Paul Carus.
_The Dharma_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Do.
_Ancient India_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . R. C. Dutt.
_The "Sacred Books of the East" Series_ . Max Müller's Edition.
_Encyclopaedia Britannica_
Printed by
Annie Besant
Vasanta Press
Adyar Madras
* * * * * * * * *
[Note: the version of this book that follows contains many macron-ized
characters, vowels with a horizontal bar above them. The macron
indicates that the vowel is pronounced long, e.g. a-macron is
pronounced as in "way". Since these characters are Unicode, they
cannot be displayed in a Latin1/ISO-8859 file. They have been
indicated as in the line below. In the UTF8 version of this file, the
actual characters have been used. The HTML file uses entities to
display the characters.]
_Nam[=o] Tass[=a] Bhagavat[=o] Arahat[=o] Samm[=a] Sambuddhassa_
THE
BUDDHIST CATECHISM
BY
HENRY S. OLCOTT
PRESIDENT-FOUNDER OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
_Approved and recommended for use in Buddhist schools by H. Sumangala,
Pradhana Nayaka Sthavira, High Priest of Sripada and the Western
Province and Principal of the Vidyodaya Parivena_
FORTY-FOURTH EDITION. (Corrected)
Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Madras
LONDON AND BENARES: THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY
1915
DEDICATION
In token of respect and affection I dedicate to my counsellor and
friend of many years, Hikkaduwe Sumangala, Pradh[=a]na N[=a]yaka
Sthav[=i]ra and High Priest of Adam's Peak (Sripada) and the Western
Province, THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM, in its revised form.
H. S. OLCOTT
_Adyar_, 1903.
CONTENTS
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE
THE SANGHA
THE RISE AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM
BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE
APPENDIX--The Fourteen Propositions accepted by the Northern and
Southern Buddhists as a Platform of Unity
CERTIFICATE TO THE FIRST EDITION
VIDYODAYA COLLEGE,
_Colombo_, 7_th July_, 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 in Buddhist schools, mid to all others
who may wish to impart information to beginners about the essential
features of our religion.
H. SUMANGALA,
_High Priest of Sripada and Galle, and Principal of the Vidyodaya
Parivena._
VIDYODAYA COLLEGE,
_April_ 7, 1897.
I have gone over the thirty-third (English) edition of the Catechism,
with the help of interpreters, and confirm my recommendation for its
use in Buddhist schools.
H. SUMANGALA.
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 working in. The unpretending aim in view
is to give so succinct and yet comprehensive a digest of Buddhistic
history, 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,
_viz._: (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 eminent scholar and
bhikkhu, H. Sumangala, Pradh[=a]na N[=a]yaka, and the Assistant
Principal of his P[=a]l[=i] College at Colombo, Hyeyantuduve Anunayaka
Terunnanse; and the High Priest has also kindly scrutinised the present
revision and given me invaluable points to embody. It has the merit,
therefore, of being a fair presentation of the Buddhism of the
"Southern Church," chiefly derived from first-hand sources. The
Catechism has been published in twenty languages, mainly by Buddhists,
for Buddhists.
H. S. O.
ADYAR, 17_th May_, 1897.
PREFACE
TO THE THIRTY-SIXTH EDITION
The popularity of this little work seems undiminished, edition after
edition being called for. While the present one was in the press a
second German edition, re-translated by the learned Dr. Erich Bischoff,
was published at Leipzig, by the Griebens Co., and a third 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 of a Faith Forgotten_, _Pistis Sophia_, and many other
works on Christian origins, thinks of the value of the compilation. He
writes in the _Theosophical Review_: "It has been translated into no
less than twenty different languages, 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 that 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 doctrines."
I am afraid we shall have to wait long for this help to come from the
Buddhist bhikkhus, 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 seemed to me incongruous that an
American, making no claims at all to scholarship, should be looked to
by the Sinhalese 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 BUDDHIST CATECHISM after I had found that no bhikkhu 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 connexion with my work.
H. S. O.
ADYAR, 7_th February_, 1903.
PREFACE
TO THE FORTIETH EDITION
The popularity of this little work is proved by the constant demand for
new editions, in English and other languages. In looking over the
matter for the present edition, I have found very little to change or
to add, for the work seems to present a very fair idea of the contents
of Southern Buddhism; and, as my object is never to write an extended
essay on the subject, I resist the temptation to wander off into
amplifications of details which, however interesting to the student of
comparative religion, are useless in a rational scheme of elementary
instruction.
The new Sinhalese version (38th edition) which is being prepared by my
respected friend, D. B. Jayatilaka, Principal of [=A]nanda (Buddhist)
College, Colombo, is partly printed, but cannot be completed until he
is relieved of some of the pressure upon his time. The Tamil version
(41st edition) has been undertaken by the leaders of the Pañchama
community of Madras, and will shortly issue from the press. The
Spanish version (39th edition) is in the hands of my friend, Señor
Xifré, and the French one (37th edition) in those of Commandant Courmes.
So the work goes on, and by this unpretending agency the teachings of
the Buddha Dharma are being carried throughout the world.
H. S. O.
ADYAR, 7_th January_, 1905.
PREFACE
TO THE FORTY-SECOND EDITION
The writer of this Catechism has passed away from earth, but, before he
left the body, he had arranged with the High Priest Sumangala to make
some small corrections in the text. These are incorporated in the
present edition by the High Priest's wish, expressed to me in Colombo,
in November 1907.
I have not altered the numbering of the questions, as it might cause
confusion in a class to change the numbers, if some pupils had the
older editions and some the new.
ADYAR, )
17_th February_, 1908. ) ANNIE BESANT
THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM
PART I
THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA
1. Question. _Of what religion[1] are you?_
Answer. The Buddhist.
2. Q. _What is Buddhism?_
A. It is a body of teachings given out by the 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 name for it is Bauddha
Dharma.
4. Q. _Would you call a person a Buddhist who had merely been born of
Buddha 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 in the Brotherhood of Arhats, but practises His precepts in daily
life.
5. Q. _What is a male lay Buddhist called?_
A. An Up[=a]saka.
6. Q. _What a female?_
A. An Up[=a]sika.
7. Q. _When was this doctrine first preached?_
A. There is some disagreement as to the actual date, but according to
the Sinhalese Scriptures it was in the year 2513 of the (present)
Kali-Yuga.
8. Q. _Give the important dates in the last birth of the Founder?_
A. He was born under the constellation Vis[=a] 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 rebirths, entered
Paranirv[=a]na 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
(_Vais[=a]kha_), corresponding to the month of May.
9. Q. _Was the Buddha God?_
A. No. Buddha Dharma teaches no "divine" incarnation.
10. Q. _Was he a man?_
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?_
A. No. It is the name of a condition or state of mind, of the mind
after it has reached the culmination of development.
13. Q. _What is its meaning?_
A. Enlightened; or, he who has the all-perfect wisdom. The P[=a]l[=i]
phrase is _Sabbannu_, the One of Boundless Knowledge. In Samskrt it is
_Sarvajña_.
14. Q. _What was the Buddha's real name then?_
A. SIDDH[=A]RTHA was his royal name, and GAUTAMA, or GOTAMA, his
family name. He was Prince of Kapilav[=a]stu and belonged to the
illustrious family of the Okk[=a]ka, of the Solar race.
15. Q. _Who were his father and mother?_
A. King Suddhodana and Queen M[=a]y[=a], called Mah[=a] M[=a]y[=a].
16. Q. _What people did this King reign over?_
A. The S[=a]kyas; an Aryan tribe of Kshattriyas.
17. Q. _Where was Kapilav[=a]stu?_
A. In India, one hundred miles north-east of the City of Benares, and
about forty miles from the Himalaya mountains. It is situated in the
Nep[=a]l Terai. The city is now in ruins.
18. Q. _On what river?_
A. The Roh[=i]n[=i], now called the Kohana.
19. Q. _Tell me again when Prince Siddh[=a]rtha was born?_
A. Six hundred and twenty-three years before the Christian era.
20. Q. _Is the exact spot known?_
A. It is now identified beyond question. An archaeologist in the
service of the Government of India has discovered in the jungle of the
Nep[=a]l 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 Lumbin[=i] Garden.
21. Q. _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 seasons--the cold, the hot, and the
rainy--of nine, five, and three stories respectively, and handsomely
decorated.
22. Q. _How were they situated?_
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?_
A. No; in his sixteenth year he was married to the Princess
Yasodhar[=a], daughter of the King Suprabuddha. Many beautiful
maidens, skilled in dancing and music, were also in continual
attendance to amuse him.
24. Q. _How did he get his wife?_
A. In the ancient Kshattriya or warrior fashion, by overcoming all
competitors in games and exercises of skill and prowess, and then
selecting Yasodhar[=a] out of all the young princesses, whose fathers
had brought them to the tournament or _mela_.
25. Q. _How, amid all this luxury, could a Prince become all-wise?_
A. He had such natural 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. Q. _Why did he do this?_
A. To discover the cause of our sufferings and the way to escape from
them.
28. Q. _Was it not selfishness that made him do this?_
A. No; it was boundless 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 aeons of years he had been
cultivating this love, with the unfaltering determination to become a
Buddha.
30. Q. _What did he this time relinquish?_
A. His beautiful palaces, his riches, luxuries and pleasures, his soft
beds, fine dresses, rich food, and his kingdom; he even left his
beloved wife and only son, R[=a]hula.
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 itself, for the sake of their fellow-men?_
A. Certainly. But we believe that this surpassing unselfishness and
love for humanity showed themselves in his renouncing the bliss of
Nirv[=a]na countless ages ago, when he was born as the Br[=a]hmana
Sumedha, in the time of D[=i]p[=a]nkara Buddha: he had then reached the
stage where he might have entered Nirv[=a]na, had he not loved mankind
more than himself. This renunciation implied his voluntarily 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 jungle?_
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_[2] appeared to him when driving out in his chariot, under
four impressive forms, on four different occasions.
35. Q. _What were these different forms?_
A. Those of a very old man broken down by age, of a sick man, of a
decaying corpse, and of a dignified hermit.
36. Q. _Did he alone see these?_
A. No, his attendant, Channa, also saw them.
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 Br[=a]hmana astrologers had foretold at his birth that he would
one day resign his kingdom and, become a BUDDHA. The King, his father,
not wishing 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 allowed 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. Q. _Was he so kind-hearted that the King feared he might really
wish to leave everything for the world'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
jungle?_
A. By removing far away from all that could prevent his thinking
deeply of the causes of sorrow and the nature of man.
41. 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 it 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 Anom[=a], a long way from Kapilav[=a]stu.
44. Q. _What did he then do?_
A. He sprang from his horse, cut off his beautiful 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?_
A. He went afoot towards R[=a]jagrha, the capital city of King
Bimbis[=a]ra, of Magadha.
46. Q. _Who visited him there?_
A. The King with his whole Court.[3]
46a. Q. _Thence whither did he go?_
A. To Uruvela, near the present Mah[=a]b[=o]dhi Temple at Buddha
Gay[=a].
47. Q. _Why did he go there?_
A. In the forests were hermits--very wise men, whose pupil he
afterwards became, in the hope of finding the knowledge of which he was
in search.
48. Q. _Of what religion were they?_
A. The Hindu religion: they were Br[=a]hmanas.[4]
49. Q. _What did they teach?_
A. That by severe penances and torture of the body a man may acquire
perfect wisdom.
50. Q. _Did the Prince find this 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 to
absolute emancipation.
51. Q. _What did he then do?_
A. He went away into the forest near Uruvela, and spent six years in
deep meditation, undergoing the severest discipline in mortifying his
body.
52. Q. _Was he alone?_
A. No; five Br[=a]hman companions attended him.
53. Q. _What were their names?_
A. Kondañña, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mah[=a]n[=a]ma, and Assaji.
54. Q. _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 shutting out from his sight and hearing all that
was likely to interrupt his inward reflections.
55. Q. _Did he fast?_
A. Yes, through the whole period. He took less 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. Q. _Did this give him the wisdom he longed for?_
A. No. He grew thinner and thinner in body and fainter in strength
until, one day, as he was slowly walking about and meditating, his
vital force suddenly left him and he fell to the ground unconscious.
57. Q. _What did his companions think of that?_
A. They fancied he was dead; but after a time he revived.
58. Q. _What then?_
A. The thought 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 food from Sujat[=a], a nobleman's daughter, who saw him
sitting at the foot of a nyagrodha (banyan) tree. He arose, took his
alms-bowl, bathed in the river Nerañj[=a]ra, ate the food, and went
into the jungle.
60. Q. _What did he do there?_
A. Having formed his determination after these reflections, he went at
evening to the B[=o]dhi, or Asvattha tree, where the present
Mah[=a]b[=o]dhi Temple stands.
61. Q. _What did he do there?_
A. He determined not to leave the spot until he attained perfect
wisdom.
62. Q. _At which side of the tree did he seat himself?_
A. The side facing the east.[5]
63. Q. _What did he obtain that night?_
A. The knowledge of his previous births, of the causes of rebirths,
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, poured in
upon him. He had become BUDDHA--the Enlightened, the all-knowing--the
Sarvajña.
64. Q. _Had he at last discovered the cause of human misery?_
A. At last 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 influences 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. _What use did he make of the knowledge thus gained?_
A. At first he was reluctant to teach it to the people at large.
67. Q. _Why?_
A. Because of its profound importance and sublimity. He feared that
but few people would understand it.
68. Q. _What made him alter this view?_[6]
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 to each 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. In the deer-park at Isipatana, near Benares.
70. Q. _Can the spot be now identified?_
A. Yes, a partly ruined st[=u]pa, or dagoba, is still standing on that
very spot.
71. Q. _Did those five companions readily listen to him?_
A. At first, no; but so great was the spiritual beauty of his
appearance, so sweet and convincing his teaching, that they soon turned
and gave him the closest attention.
72. Q. _What effect did this discourse have upon them?_
A. The aged Kondañña, one who "understood" (_Anna_), was the first to
lose his prejudices, accept the Buddha's teaching, become his disciple,
and enter the Path leading to Arhatship. 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?_[7]
A. He called the disciples together, gave them full instructions, and
sent them out in all directions to preach his doctrine.
76. Q. _What was the essence of it?_
A. That the way of emancipation lies in leading the holy life and
following the rules laid down, which will be explained later on.
77. Q. _Tell me what name he gave to this course of life?_
A. The Noble Eightfold Path.
78. Q. _How is it called in the P[=a]l[=i] language?_
A. _Ariyo atthangiko maggo_.
79. Q. _Whither did the Buddha then go?_
A. To Uruvela.
80. Q. _What happened there?_
A. He converted a man named K[=a]shyapa, renowned for his learning and
teacher of the Jatilas, a great sect of fire-worshippers, all of whom
became also his followers.
81. Q. _Who was his next great convert?_
A. King Bimbis[=a]ra, of Magadha.
82. Q. _Which two of the Buddha's most learned and beloved disciples
were converted at about this time?_
A. S[=a]riputra and Moggall[=a]na, formerly chief disciples of
Sañjaya, the ascetic.
83. Q. _For what did they become renowned?_
A. S[=a]riputra for his profound learning (_Prajña_), Moggall[=a]na
for his exceptional spiritual powers (_Iddhi_).
84. Q. _Are these wonder-working powers miraculous?_
A. No, but natural to all men and capable of being developed by a
certain course of training.
85. Q. _Did the Buddha hear again from his family after leaving them?_
A. Oh yes, seven years later, while he was living at R[=a]jagrha, his
father. King Suddhodana, sent a message to request him to come and let
him see him again before he died.
86. Q. _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
Siddh[=a]rtha 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 the hearts of all men
to be his followers.
88. Q. _Did he see Yasodhar[=a] and his son R[=a]hula?_
A. Yes. His wife, who had mourned for him with deepest love, wept
bitterly. She also sent R[=a]hula to ask him to give him his
inheritance, as the son of a prince.
89. Q. _What happened?_
A. To one and all he preached the Dharma as the cure for all sorrows.
His father, son, wife, [=A]nanda (his half-brother), Devadatta (his
cousin and brother-in-law), were all converted and became his
disciples. Two other famous ones were Anuruddha, afterwards a great
metaphysician, and Up[=a]li, a barber, afterwards the greatest
authority on Vinaya. Both of these gained great renown.
90. Q. _Who was the first Bhikkuni?_
A. Praj[=a]pat[=i], the aunt and foster-mother of Prince
Siddh[=a]rtha. With her, Yasodhar[=a] and many other ladies were
admitted into the Order as _Bhikkhunis_ or female devotees.
91. Q. _What effect did the taking up of the religious life by his
sons, Siddh[=a]rtha and [=A]nanda, his nephew, Devadatta, his son's
wife, Yasudhar[=a], and his grandson, R[=a]hula, have upon the old King
Suddhodana?_
A. It grieved him much and he complained to the Buddha, who then made
it a rule of the Order that no person should thenceforth be ordained
without the consent of his parents if alive.
92. Q. _Tell me about the fate of Devadatta?_
A. He was a man of great intelligence and rapidly advanced in the
knowledge of the Dharma, but being also extremely ambitious, he came to
envy and hate the Buddha, and at last plotted to kill him. He also
influenced Aj[=a]tashatru, son of King Bimbis[=a]ra, to murder his
noble father, and to become his--Devadatta's--disciple.
93. Q. _Did he do any injury 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 in 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 Way--the
rains--he and they would stop in the p[=a]nsulas and vih[=a]ras which
had been built for them by various kings and other wealthy converts.
95. Q. _Which were the most famous of these buildings?_
A. Jet[=a]van[=a]r[=a]ma; Veluvan[=a]r[=a]ma; Pubb[=a]r[=a]ma;
Nigrodh[=a]r[=a]ma and Isipatan[=a]r[=a]ma.
96. Q. _What kind of people were converted by him and his disciples?_
A. People of all ranks, nations and castes; r[=a]jas and coolies, rich
and poor, mighty and humble, the illiterate and the most learned. His
doctrine was suited to all.
97. Q. _Give some account of the decease of the Buddha?_
A. In the forty-fifth season after his attaining Buddhahood, on the
full-moon day of May, knowing that his end was near, he came at evening
to Kusin[=a]g[=a]ra, a place about one hundred and twenty miles from
Benares. In the s[=a]la grove of the Mallas, the Uparvartana of
Kusin[=a]g[=a]ra, between two s[=a]la 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. Q. _Did he also make new converts in those last tours?_
A. Yes, a very important one, a great Br[=a]hmana pandit named
Subhadra. He had also preached to the Mallya princes and their
followers.
99. Q. _At day-break what happened?_
A. He passed into the interior condition of _Sam[=a]dhi_ and thence
into Nirv[=a]na.
100. Q. _What were his last words to his disciples?_
A. "Bhikkhus," he said, "I now impress it upon you, the parts and
powers of man must be dissolved. Work out your salvation with
diligence."
101. Q. _What convincing proof have we that the Buddha, formerly
Prince Siddh[=a]rtha, was a historical personage?_
A. His existence is apparently as clearly proved as that of any other
character of ancient 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 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 relics were divided among eight kings and a
st[=u]pa was erected over each portion. The portion given to King
Aj[=a]tashatru, and by him covered with a st[=u]pa at R[=a]jagrha, was
taken, less than two centuries 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 Arhats 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 his contemporary every desired attestation of the fact of
the Buddha's life.[7]
(8) The "Mah[=a]vansa," 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 the Emperor Asoka and all
other sovereigns related to Buddhistic history.
103. Q. _By what names of respect is the Buddha called?_
A. S[=a]kyamuni (the S[=a]kya Sage); S[=a]kya-Simha (the S[=a]kyan
Lion); Sugata (the Happy One); Satthta (the Teacher); Jina (the
Conqueror), Bhagavat (the Blessed One); Lokan[=a]tha (the Lord of the
World); Sarvajña (the Omniscient One); Dharmar[=a]ja (the King of
Truth); Tath[=a]gata (the Great Being), etc.
[1] The word "religion" is most inappropriate to apply to Buddhism
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 yet had any
conception of what Europeans imply in the etymological construction of
the Latin 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 the BUDDHA. It is pure Samskrt, and
means "approach, or coming"; and as "_Buddha_" is enlightenment, the
compound word by which they indicate Buddhism--_Buddh[=a]gama_--would
be properly rendered as "an approach or coming to enlightenment," or
possibly as a following of the Doctrine of S[=A]KYAMUNI. The
missionaries, finding _[=A]gama_ ready to their hand, adopted it as the
equivalent for "religion"; and Christianity is written by them
_Christian[=a]gama_, whereas it should be _Christianibandhana_, for
_bandhana_ is the etymological equivalent for "religion". The name
_Vibhajja v[=a]da_--one who analyses--is another name given to a
Buddhist, and Advayav[=a]d[=i] 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.
[2] See the definition of _deva_ given later.
[3] For an admirable account of this interview consult Dr. Paul Carus'
_Gospel of Buddha_, page 20, _et seq._
[4] The term Hind[=u], once a contemptuous term, used by the
Musalm[=a]ns to designate the people of Sindh, whom they conquered, is
now used in an ecclesiastical sense.
[5] 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 certain 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 extraneous influences.
[6] The ancient story is that the God Brahm[=a] himself implored him
not to withhold the glorious truth.
[7] Br[=a]hmanism not being offered to non-Hind[=u]s, Buddhism is
consequently, the oldest missionary religion in the world. The early
missionaries endured every hardship, cruelty, and persecution, with
unfaltering courage.
[8] At the Second Council there were two pupils of [=A]nanda,
consequently centenarians, while in Asoka's Council there were pupils
of those pupils.
PART II
THE DHARMA OR DOCTRINE
106. Q. _What is the meaning of the word Buddha?_
A. The enlightened, or he who has the perfect wisdom.
107. Q. _You have said that there were other Buddhas before this 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 it is the
function of a Buddha to teach. (See also Q. 11.)
108. Q. _How is a Buddha developed?_
A. A person, hearing and seeing one of the Buddhas on earth, becomes
seized with the determination so to 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 rebirth.
109. 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 numberless re-births he
reaches the state when he can become Perfected, Enlightened, All-wise,
the ideal Teacher of the human race.
110. Q. _While this gradual development is going on throughout all
these births, by what name do we call him?_
A. B[=o]dhisat, or B[=o]dhisattva. Thus the Prince Siddhartha Gautama
was a B[=o]dhisattva up to the moment when, under the blessed B[=o]dhi
tree at Gay[=a], he became Buddha.
111. Q. _Have we any account of his various rebirths as a
Bodhisattva?_
A. In the J[=a]takatthakath[=a], a book containing stories of the
B[=o]dhisattva's reincarnations, there are several hundred tales of
that kind.
112. Q. _What lesson do these stories teach?_
A. That a man can carry, throughout a long series of reincarnations,
one great, good purpose which enables him to conquer bad tendencies and
develop virtuous ones.
113. Q. _Can we fix the number of reincarnations through which a
B[=o]dhisattva must pass before he can become a Buddha?_
A. Of course 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 classifying B[=o]dhisattvas? If so,
explain it._
A. B[=o]dhisattvas--the future Buddhas--are divided into three classes.
115. Q. _Proceed. How are these three kinds of B[=o]dhisats named?_
A. Pann[=a]dhika, or Udghatitajña--"he who attains least quickly";
Saddh[=a]dhika, or Vipachitajña--"he who attains less quickly"; and
Viry[=a]dhika, or Gneyya--"he who attains quickly". The Pann[=a]dhika
B[=o]dhisats take the course of Intelligence; the Saddh[=a]dhika take
the course of Faith; the Virya[=a]hika 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 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 B[=o]dhisattva became Buddha, what did he see was
the cause of human misery? Tell me in one word._
A. Ignorance (Avidy[=a]).
117. Q. _Can you tell me the remedy?_
A. To dispel Ignorance and become wise (Pr[=a]jña).
118. Q. _Why does ignorance cause suffering?_
A. Because it makes us prize what is not worth prizing, grieve when we
should not grieve, 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 valuable.
119. Q. _And what is that which is most valuable?_
A. To know 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 greatest
happiness and the least suffering for our fellow-men and ourselves.
120. Q. _What is the light that can dispel this ignorance of ours and
remove all sorrows?_
A. The knowledge of the "Four Noble Truths," as the 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 desire, ever
renewed, of satisfying one's self, without being able ever to secure
that end.
3. The destruction 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 ignorant cravings?_
A. By complete conquest over, and destruction of, this eager thirst
for life and its pleasures, which causes sorrow.
125. Q. _How may we gain such a conquest?_
A. By following the Noble Eight-fold Path which the Buddha discovered
and pointed out.
126. Q. _What do you mean by that word: what is this Noble Eight-fold
Path?_ (For the P[=a]l[=i] name see Q. 79.)
A. The eight parts of this path are called _angas_. They are: 1.
Right Belief (as to the law of Causation, or Karma); 2. Right Thought;
3. Right Speech; 4. Right Action; 5. Right Means of Livelihood; 6.
Right Exertion; 7. Right Remembrance and Self-discipline; 8. Right
Concentration of Thought. The man who keeps these _angas_ in mind and
follows them will be free from sorrow and ultimately reach salvation.
127. Q. _Can you give a better word for salvation?_
A. Yes, emancipation.
128. Q. _Emancipation, then, from what?_
A. Emancipation from the miseries of earthly existence and of
rebirths, all of which are due to ignorance and impure lusts and
cravings.
129. Q. _And when this salvation or emancipation is attained, what do
we reach?_
A. NIRV[=A]NA.
130. Q. _What is Nirv[=a]na?_
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
Nirv[=a]na man is constantly being reborn; when he reaches Nirv[=a]na
he is born no more.
131. Q. _Where can be found a learned discussion of the word
Nirv[=a]na and a list of the other names by which the old P[=a]l[=i]
writers attempt to define it?_
A. In the famous Dictionary of the P[=a]l[=i] Language, by the late
Mr. B. O. Childers, is a complete list.[1]
132. Q. _But some people imagine that Nirv[=a]na is some sort of
heavenly place, a Paradise. Does Buddhism teach that?_
A. No. When K[=u]tadanta asked the Buddha "Where is Nirv[=a]na," he
replied that it was "wherever the precepts are obeyed".
133. Q. _What causes us to be reborn?_
A. The unsatisfied selfish desire (Skt., _trshn[=a]_; P[=a]l[=i],
tanh[=a]) for things that belong to the state of personal existence in
the material world. This unquenched thirst for physical existence
(_bh[=a]va_) is a force, and has a creative power in itself so strong
that it draws the being back into mundane life.
134. Q. _Are our rebirths in any way affected by the nature of our
unsatisfied desires?_
A. Yes, and by our individual merits or demerits.
135. Q. _Does our merit or demerit control the state, condition or
form in which we shall be re-born?_
A. It does. The broad rule 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 is, then, the idea
that every effect is the result of an actual cause, is it not?_
A. It is; of a cause either immediate or remote.
137. Q. _What do we call this 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 experience.
138. Q. _Can a bad man escape from the outworkings of his Karma?_
A. The _Dhammapada_ says: "There exists no spot on the earth, or in
the sky, or in the sea, neither is there any in the mountain-clefts,
where an (evil) deed does not bring trouble (to the doer)."
139. Q. _Can a good man escape?_
A. As the result of deeds of peculiar merit, a man may attain certain
advantages of place, body, environment and teaching in his next stage
of progress, which ward off the effects of bad Karma and help his
higher evolution.
140. _What are they called?_
A. _Gati Sampatti_, _Up[=a]dhi Sampatti_, _K[=a]la Sampatti_ and
_Payoga Sampatti_.
141. Q. _Is that consistent or inconsistent with common sense and the
teachings of modern science?_
A. Perfectly consistent: there can be no doubt of it.
142. Q. _May all men become Buddhas?_
A. It is not in the nature of every man to become a Buddha; for a
Buddha is developed only at long intervals of time, and seemingly, when
the state of humanity absolutely requires such a teacher to show it the
forgotten Path to Nirv[=a]na. But every being may equally reach
Nirv[=a]na, by conquering Ignorance and gaining Wisdom.
143. Q. _Does Buddhism teach that man is reborn only upon our earth?_
A. As a general rule that would be the case, until he had evolved
beyond its level; but the inhabited worlds are numberless. The world
upon which a person is to have his next birth, as well as the nature of
the rebirth itself, is decided by the preponderance 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 perfectly developed, and others less
so than our Earth?_
A. Buddhism teaches that there are whole _Sakwalas_, or systems of
worlds, of various kinds, higher and lower, and also that the
inhabitants of each world correspond in development with itself.
145. Q. _Has not the Buddha summed up his whole doctrine in one
g[=a]th[=a], or verse?_
A. Yes.
146. Q. _Repeat it?_
A. _Sabba p[=a]passa akaranm,
Kusalassa upasampad[=a]
Sachitta pariyo dapanam--
Etam Buddh[=a]nus[=a]sanam._
"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. Q. _Have the first three of these lines any very striking
characteristics?_
A. Yes: the first line embodies the whole spirit of the _Vinaya
Pitaka_, the second that of the _Sutta_, the third that of the
_Abhidhamma_. They comprise only eight P[=a]l[=i] words, yet, as the
dew-drop reflects the stars, they sparkle with the spirit of all the
Buddha Dharma.
148. Q. _Do these precepts show that Buddhism is an active or a
passive religion?_
A. To "cease from sin" may be called passive, but to "get virtue" and
"to cleanse one's own heart," or mind, are altogether _active_
qualities. Buddha taught that we should not merely not be evil, but
that we should be _positively_ good.
149. Q. _Who or what are the "Three Guides"[2] that a Buddhist Is
supposed to follow?_
A. They are disclosed in the formula called the Tisarana: "I follow
Buddha as my Guide: I follow the Law as my Guide: I follow the Order as
my Guide." These three _are_, in fact, the Buddha Dharma.
150. Q. _What does he mean when repeating this formula?_
A. He means that he regards the Buddha as his all-wise Teacher, Friend
and Exemplar; the Law, or Doctrine, as containing the essential and
immutable principles of Justice and Truth and the 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
intellectually and morally inferior?_
A. Yes; but we are taught by the Buddha that only those who diligently
attend to the Precepts, discipline 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 not of itself make a
man pure or wise or entitle him to reverence.
152. Q. _Then it is not such unworthy bhikkhus as they, whom the true
Buddhist would lake as his guides?_
A. Certainly not.
153. Q. _What are the five observances, or universal precepts, called
the Pañcha S[=i]la, which are imposed on the laity in general?_
A. They are included in the following formula,, which Buddhists repeat
publicly at the vih[=a]ras (temples):
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.[3]
I observe the precept to refrain from falsehood.
I observe the precept to abstain from using intoxicants.
154. Q. What strikes the intelligent person on reading these S[=i]las?
A. That one who observes them strictly must escape from every cause
productive of human misery. If we study history we shall find that it
has all sprung from one or another of these causes.
155. Q. In which S[=i]las is the far-seeing wisdom of the Buddha most
plainly shown?
A. In the first, third and fifth; for the taking of life, sensuality,
and the use of intoxicants, cause at least ninety-five per cent of the
sufferings among men.
156. Q. _What benefits does a man derive from the observance of these
Precepts?_
A. He is said 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 precept 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. _What are the other observances which it is considered
meritorious for the laity as such to undertake voluntarily to keep?_
A. The _Atthanga S[=i]la_, or the Eightfold Precept, which embraces
the five above enumerated (omitting the word "unlawful" in the third),
with three additional; _viz._:
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, scents, 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
worldly-minded for the sake of pleasure and sensual enjoyment. The
celibate should avoid these.
158. Q. _How would a Buddhist describe true merit?_
A. There is no great merit in any merely outward 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 building d[=a]gobas or
vih[=a]ras, in erecting statues of Buddha, in festivals and
processions, in feeding priests, in giving alms to the poor, or in
planting trees, digging tanks, or constructing rest-houses by the
roadside for travellers, and yet have comparatively little merit if it
be done for display, or to hear himself praised by men, or for any
other selfish motives. But he who does the least of these things with
a kind motive, such as 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 applies
to evil deeds.
160. Q. _But which is said to be the greatest of all meritorious
actions?_
A. The _Dhammapada_ declares that the merit of disseminating the
Dharma, the Law of Righteousness, is greater than that of any other
good work.
161. Q. _What books contain all the most excellent wisdom of the
Buddha's teachings?_
A. The three collections of books called _Tripitakas_ or "_Three
Baskets_".
162. Q. _What are the names of the three Pitakas, or groups of books?_
A. The _Vinaya Pitaka_, the _Sutta Pitaka_ and the _Abhidhamma Pitaka_.