institutional life and trust itself to the people. These persecutions were
usually followed by a revival of piety and religion among the people. The
Buddhist teachers gathered about themselves a large number of lay devotees who
formed societies which practice religious rites in secret. These sects have
preserved the genuine Buddhist piety, not only in times of persecution, but at
times when the Buddhist organization under imperial favor was departing from
its simplicity.
A number of these sects have continued under different names for several
centuries. For example, the Tsai Li, a society now enjoying a quiet existence
in North China, is successor to the White Lotus society. The latter started in
the fifth century. Its members sought salvation in the Pure Land of Amitabha.
In the eleventh century it enjoyed imperial favor. During the Mongol dynasty it
fought against the throne with rebels and placed one of its leaders, Chu
Yüan-chang, a monk, on the throne, who became the founder of the Ming dynasty.
The sect was soon proscribed and its members persecuted by the government.
During the Ch’ing dynasty it took part in a rebellion and was ruthlessly
exterminated. At present it goes under the name of _Tsai Li,_ i.e., within
the Li or principles of the three religions. It is a mediator among the three
religions.
There are thirty-one organizations of this sect in Peking and branches
throughout North China. The society forbids the use of wine and opium, though
it does not forbid the use of meat. It usually has a Buddhist image, Kuan Yin
or some other. It uses Buddhist prayers and incantations. The outstanding
doctrines held during its long history have been the hope of salvation in the
Western Heaven of Amitâbha, the early coming of Maitrêya, the Buddhist Messiah,
and the large use of magic formulas and incantations.
Another sect which embodies Buddhist ideals is the Chin Tan, the sect of the
philosopher’s stone or pill of immortality. Its founder was the writer of the
Nestorian tablet and so the sect is related to Christianity. It exalts the
teaching of universal love. This is one of several examples of a supposed
contact between Buddhism and Christianity.
These sects of which the two above are examples are present in all parts of
China. They obey the five Buddhist commandments for laymen. The members spend
much time in fasting and prayer, and in the repetition of Buddhist books. Their
lives as a rule are simple and sincere. They are preparing for rebirth in the
land of Amitâbha, or are expecting the early coming of the Buddhist Messiah to
set this world right. In the meantime, by means of incantations, personal
regimen and cooperative action they are doing all they can to usher in a better
state.
_5. Pilgrimages_
Pilgrimages are very popular in China. The famous Buddhist shrines are Wu T’ai
Shan in Shansi, Puto on the coast of Chekiang, Chiu Hua Shan in Anhwei, and
Omei Shan in Szechuan. These, one on each side of China, represent the four
elements of Buddhist science, wind, water, fire and earth. They are also the
centers of the worship of the four great Bodhisattvas, Wenshu, Kuan Yin,
Titsang and Puhsien. Besides these large centers there are many others to which
pilgrims direct their footsteps.
In the spring of the year, when the god of spring covers the earth with a green
mantle, when the sky and winds call, many start on their pilgrimage. Many go
singly and laboriously, kneeling and bowing every few steps. Others go in happy
companies, chaperoned by a pious, village dame, who has organized the group.
Some go because their turn has come. They are members of a guild which has a
fund devoted to pilgrimages by its members. Some go for the performance of a
vow made to Kuan Yin, when the father was sick unto death and the goddess
prolonged his life. To others it is the culmination of a pious life. All go for
the joy which travel in the spring gives.
Puto, an island off the coast of Chekiang, is the goal of many pilgrims from
all parts of China. In, the monasteries on the island are about two thousand
monks. In the pilgrim season this number is increased to ten thousand monks and
thousands of lay pilgrims.
A group of pilgrims was going along merrily. The sun was bright, lighting up
the white caps on the deep blue sea. Spring was rioting all about. One member
was an abbot from Hangchow. A small, humble-looking man with a few straggling
long hairs where the mustache usually grows, was a lay Buddhist from Wuchang.
One was a bright young monk from Tientsin. Last, but almost omnipresent and
always bubbling over, was a servant of the abbot from Hangchow. He was in the
presence of divinity and his whole life was heightened for the time being. “Why
did you come!” they were asked. “We came to worship the holy mother, Kuan Yin.”
When they entered a shrine each purchased three sticks, of incense and two
candles and reverently placed them before the image of the goddess, kneeling
and bowing. Then they sat and partook of the tea offered by the attendant.
After paying a small gratuity, they went on to the next shrine.
On the way a large black snake as thick as an arm lazily crossed over the road.
They stood, reverent and awestruck, until he disappeared in the grass,
remarking that this was a good omen. When crossing a sand dune piled up by the
winds the abbot from Hangchow remarked that this was called the flying sand,
wafted there by the goddess who took pity on some travelers who had been
compelled to cross a narrow strait in order to come to a cave. This cave,
called Fan Yin Tung, is one of the rifts made by an earthquake and washed out
by wind and waves. Below it rushes the tide; from above the sun sends down a
few rays. Each pilgrim after offering incense looks into the darkness to see
whether he can behold in the dark cavern an image of some Buddha. One sees Kuan
Yin and is acclaimed as having had a good vision. Another sees the Laughing
Buddha. All exclaim that he has been the most fortunate of all, for this Buddha
is the Messiah to come and he who beholds him will be blessed. So from place to
place they wander, chatting and seeing the sights of the island. Thus thousands
are doing in various parts of China, and in this way strengthening the hold of
Buddhism upon themselves and their communities.
VII
BUDDHISM AND THE FUTURE LIFE
Before the advent of Buddhism the Chinese had only a vague idea regarding life
after death. The Land and Water Classic mentions the Tu Shuo mountain in the
Eastern Sea, under which spirits of the dead live, the entrance guarded by two
spirits, Shên Tu and Yü Lei, who are in general control of the demons. In some
parts of China the names or pictures, of these spirits are placed on the doors
of a house to guard it. The Taoists early developed the idea of a western
paradise presided over by the Queen of the West, located at first in the K’un
Lun mountains and later in the islands of the Eastern Sea. This heaven,
however, was limited to Taoist hermits and mystics. Buddhism made a complete
purgatory and heaven known to every one in China.
_1. The Buddhist Purgatory_
This is really Buddhism’s most noteworthy addition to China’s religious
equipment; Buddhism lays much stress upon the experiences of a soul immediately
after death. Its punishments are well known to every individual. The temple of
the City Guardian found in every walled city has a replica of the court in
purgatory over which he presides. In the temples of T’ai Shan there is an
elaborate exhibit of the tortures inflicted on culprits in purgatory. Every
funeral service conducted by Buddhists or Taoists is intended to conduct the
soul of the dead through purgatory and pictures vividly the progressive
experiences from the first seventh day to the seventh seventh day. On the the
seventh month, on the fifteenth day [about August] a special service is held
for the souls of the dead in purgatory. Furthermore, every community has a
general service [about October] for the souls of those who died a violent death
or who have no one to look after them. During the war many services were thus
held for those who died on the battlefields of Europe. At such services the
scenes in purgatory are vividly portrayed by pictures and figures. The temples
distribute tracts with pictures of purgatory so that women may see them and
understand. On the stage are often acted powerful plays whose scenes are laid
in Hades. This propaganda is perhaps the most efficient of its kind.
Purgatory is depicted as consisting of ten courts each surrounded by small
hells, where the soul undergoes punishment and cleansing. The fifth court,
which may be taken as an example of the other courts, is in charge of Yen Lo or
Yama. Yama was once in charge of the first court, but his tender heart pitied
the souls who came before him and sent them back to earth. Because of this
leniency he was placed in charge of the fifth court.
When a soul has passed through the first four courts and it has been discovered
that there is no good conduct to its credit, it is led to the fifth court and
examined every seven days regarding past conduct. In order to get back to the
world of men, it eagerly promises to complete various unfinished vows, such as
to repair monasteries, schools, bridges, or roads, to clean wells, to deepen
rivers, to distribute good books, to release animals, to take care of aged
parents, or to bury them suitably. But it is plainly told that the gods know
its artifices, and that now these unfinished tasks can never be completed. The
gods have reached the unanimous opinion that no injustice is being done.
Accordingly there is no appeal, but each soul is led by attendants with bulls’
heads and horses’ faces to a tower whence they may see their native village.
Its front is in the shape of a bow with a perimeter of twenty-seven miles; its
height is four hundred and ninety feet. It is guarded by walls of sword trees.
Good men, whose deeds of omission are balanced by the good they have done,
return to life. Only souls judged to be evil see their village from this tower.
These can see their own families moving about, and can hear their conversation.
They realize how they disobeyed the teachings of their elders. They see that
the earthly goods for which they have struggled are of no value. Their
plottings rise up with lurid reality. They see how they planned a new marriage
although already married, how they appropriated fields, state property, and
falsified accounts, putting the blame on persons who were dead. While they
observe their village they behold their erstwhile friends touch their coffin
and inwardly rejoice. They hear themselves called selfish and insincere. But
their punishment does not stop here. They behold their children punished by
magistrates, their women afflicted with strange diseases, their daughters
ravished, their sons led astray, their property taken away, the ancestral house
burned and their business ruined. From this tower all passes before them as a
lurid dream and they are stricken in heart.
About the fifth court are sixteen small hells where the soul is punished. In
each one are stakes buried in the ground and fierce animals. The hands and feet
of the guilty one are bound to a stake, his body is opened with small knives,
and his heart and intestines quickly devoured.
In each of these sixteen hells is a certain type of sinner: (1) Those who do
not reverence the gods and demons and who doubt the existence of rewards and
punishments; (2) those who hurt and kill living beings; (3) those who break
their vows to do good; (4) those who resort to heterodox practices and vainly
hope to attain eternal life; (5) those who upbraid good men, fear the wicked
and hate men because they do not die speedily; (6) those who strive with other
people and then put the blame upon them; (7) men who force women; and women who
seduce young men, and all who have libidinous desires; (8) those who gain
profit for themselves by injuring others; (9) the stingy and those who
absolutely disregard others, whether alive or dead, giving them no help in dire
need, when they can do so without injury to themselves; (10) those who steal
and put the crime upon others; (11) those who requite favors with hate; (12)
those whose hearts are perverse and poisonous, who instigate others to do wrong
even if they may not have carried out their suggestion; (13) those who tempt
others by deceit; (14) those who involve others in their squabbles and in
gambling and then themselves win out; (15) those who stubbornly persist in
their false ideas, do not repent, and slander others; (16) those who hate good
and virtuous men.
Besides these sixteen sorts of sinners the fifth court deals with other types
of wicked people; those who do not believe in rewards and punishments after
death, who hinder good causes, who burn incense without a sincere heart, speak
of the sins of others, who burn books that urge men to be good and worship the
Great Dipper, but persist in eating meat; those who hate men; who repeat sutras
and incantations, and take part in religious ceremonies, but do not fast
beforehand; who slander the Buddhist and Taoist religions; who know how to
read, but refuse to read the ancient and modern exhortations regarding rewards
and punishments; who dig into graves and destroy their marks, who purposely set
fire to trees and underbrush, or are careless with fire in their own houses;
who shoot arrows at animals with the intent, to kill; who urge and tempt the
sick and weak to enter into contests of any kind with themselves; who throw
tiles and stones over neighboring walls, poison fish in the river, fire guns,
or make nets or traps for birds; who sow salt on the ground, who do not bury
dead eats and snakes very deep and thus cause death to those who dig; who cause
men to dig the frozen ground in winter or spring (the vapors of earth chill
such diggers to death); who tear down adjoining walls and compel their
neighbors to move the kitchen stove; who appropriate public highways, lands,
close wells and stop gutters.
Those who have committed any of the above sins are taken, to the tower whence
they can see their own village and then are consigned to the great crying hell,
Râurava, that is, the fourth of the Buddhist hot hells. [Footnote: Buddhism
distinguishes hot and cold hells. In a country like India severe cold is a
serious torture.] Thence they go to their respective small hells. When their
time has expired, they are examined in order to see whether they have any other
sins which need punishment.
Those who have committed any of the above sins may not only escape punishment,
but may have their punishment in the sixth court lessened, if they fast
regularly on the eighth day of the first month and take a vow not to commit
these sins. Some sins, however, cannot be arranged for in such a way, such as
the killing of living beings and hurting them; the associating with heretics;
committing fornication with women and then poisoning them; committing adultery,
violence, envy, or injuring the good name of others; stealing, requiting favors
with hatred, and hearing exhortation but not repenting. These are major sins.
_2. Its Social Value_
The social value of purgatory is quite plain from the description of the fifth
court and of the sinners who are punished therein. Purgatory is the social
mirror of China, wherein the consequences of all unsocial acts are pictured in
such a vivid way as to deter the individual from committing them. It is
effective in China, not only because of the realistic presentation, but because
the opinion of the community is against such acts and in favor of repressing
them on every occasion.
_3. The Buddhist Heaven._
Buddhism brought into China not only a fully developed purgatory but also a
heaven which all may enter. The sovereign of the western heaven is Amitâbha (or
in Chinese O-mi-to-fo), with whom Kuan Yin, the goddess of Mercy, is usually
associated. Amitâbha is explained as meaning “boundless age.” The original
meaning is “boundless light,” which suggests a Persian origin with Mannichean
influences. The translations of the Amitâbha sutras were wholly made by natives
of central Asia.
Amitâbha is one of the thousand Buddhas; he is regarded as the reflex of
Sakyamuni and is connected also in his earthly incarnation with a monk called
Dharmâkara. This monk desired to become a Buddha. This wish he presented to
Lôkês’vararâja asking him to teach him as to what a Buddha and a Buddha country
ought to be. Lôkês’vararâja imparted this knowledge. Then the monk after
meditation returned having made forty-eight vows that he would not become a
Buddha, until all living beings should attain salvation in his heaven.
The eighteenth vow expresses his ideal:
“O Bhagavat, if those beings who have directed their thought towards the
highest perfect knowledge in other worlds, and who, after having heard my name,
when I have obtained Bodhi (knowledge), have meditated on me with serene
thoughts; if at the moment of their death, after having approached them
surrounded by an assembly of monks, I should not stand before them worshipped
by them, that is, so that their thoughts should not be troubled, then may I not
obtain the highest perfect knowledge.”
A few extracts from the _Amitâbha Vyûha Sûtra_ will illustrate the
Buddhist idea of life in this Pure Land:
“In the western region beyond one hundred thousand myriads of Buddhist lands
there is a world. Great Happiness by name. This land has a Buddha called
Amitâbha. The living beings there do not suffer any pain, but enjoy all
happiness. Therefore, it is called the land of Pure Delight … the land of Pure
Delight has seven precious fountains full of water containing the eight
virtues. The bottom of these fountains is covered with golden sand. On four
sides there are steps made of gold, silver, crystal and glass, precious stones,
red pearls, and highly polished agates. In the pools are variously colored,
light emitting lotus flowers as large as cart wheels, delicate, admirable,
odorous and pure…”
“The Buddha of this land makes heavenly music. It is covered with gold. Morning
and evening during six hours it rains the wonderful celestial flowers
(Erythrina Indica). All the inhabitants of this land on clear mornings after
dressing offer these celestial flowers to the hundred thousand myriads of
Buddhas of the regions who return to their country at meal time. When they have
eaten they go away again.”
“This country possesses every kind of wonderful varicolored birds, the white
egret, the peacock, the parrot, the s’rarika (a long legged bird), the
Kalavingka (a sweet voiced bird) … All these birds, morning and evening during
the six hours, utter forth a beautiful harmonious sound. Their song produces
the five _indrya_ (roots of faith, energy, memory, ecstatic meditation,
wisdom), the five _bala_ (the powers of faith, energy, memory, meditation
and wisdom), the seven _bodhyanga_ (the seven degrees of intelligence,
memory, discrimination, energy, tranquillity, ecstatic contemplation,
indifference), and the eight portions of the correct path _marga,_ (the
possession of correct views, decision and purity of thought and will, the
ability of reproducing any sound uttered in the universe, vow of poverty,
asceticism, attainment of meditative abstraction of self-control, religious
recollectedness, honesty and virtue), and such doctrines. When all beings of
this land have heard the music, they declare their faithfulness to the Buddha,
Dharma and the Sangha (the Buddha, the Law and the community of monks).”
As to those who enter this land it says:
“All living beings who hear this should make a vow to be born in that land. How
can they reach the Pure Land? All very good men will gather in that place … He
whose blessedness and virtue are great can be born into that country. If there
is a good man or woman who, on hearing of Amitâbha, takes this name and holds
it in his mind one, two, three, four, five, six, or seven days, and his whole
heart is not distracted, to that man at death Amitâbha will appear. His heart
will not be disturbed. He will at once enter into life in the land of Pure
Delight of Amitâbha. I see this blessing and hence utter these words. Those
living beings who hear these words should make a vow to be born in that land.”
_4. The Harmonization of These Ideas with Ancestor Worship_
The extension of life beyond the grave in purgatory, or in the Pure Land and
through transmigration was readily accepted in China. Both the new ideas and
the disciplines through which to realize them were eagerly adopted, and have
held their place to this day. In other lands the creation of a heaven and a
hades has weakened the grip of ancestor worship and ultimately displaced it. In
China the opposite result has obtained, due, no doubt, to the fact that the
family system and along with it the supreme duty of filial piety were fostered
by the state and Buddhism and its teachings were permitted only in so far as
they bolstered it up. Another reason lies in the agricultural basis of China’s
civilization, reenforced by the great difficulty of communication, which tended
to make the family system dominant in China. Today, the improvement of
communication and the introduction of the industrial system of the West with
the individual emphasis of modern education are factors which are weakening the
family system and with it ancestral worship.
VIII
THE SPIRITUAL VALUES EMPHASIZED BY BUDDHISM IN CHINA
Near the House of Parliament in Peking is located a small monastery dedicated
to the goddess of Mercy, Kuan Yin. Before her image the incense burners send
forth curling clouds of smoke. The walls are decorated with old paintings of
gods and goddesses. The temple with its courtyard has the appearance of
prosperity. Its neat reception room, with its tables, chairs and clock, shows
the influence of the modern world.
Here a monk in the prime of life spent a few months recently lecturing on
Buddhism to members of parliament and to scholars from various parts of China.
Frequently the writer used to drop in of an afternoon to discuss Buddhism and
its outlook. Usually a simple repast concluded these conversations, the
substance of which forms the greater part of this section.
_1. The Threefold Classification of Men Under Buddhism_
“What does Buddhism do for men?”
“There are in the world at least three classes of men. The lowest class live
among material things, they are occupied with possessions. Their life is
entangled in the crude and coarse materials which they regard as real. A
second, higher class, regard ideas as realities. They are not entangled in the
maze of things, but are confused by ideas, ascribing reality to them. The third
and highest class are those who by meditation have freed themselves from the
thraldom of ideas and can enter the sixteen heavens.”
_2. Salvation for the Common Man_
“What can Buddhism do for the lowest class?”
“For this class Buddhism has the ten prohibitions. Every man has in him ten
evils, which must be driven out. Three have to do with evil in the body,
namely, not to steal, not to kill, not to commit adultery; four belong to the
mouth, lying, exaggeration, abuse, and ambiguous talk; three belong to the
mind, covetousness, malice, and unbelief.”
“Is not this entirely negative?”
“Yes, but it is necessary, for during the process of eliminating these evil
deeds, man acquires patience and equanimity. Buddhism does not stop with the
prohibitions. The believer must practice the ten charitable deeds. Not only
must he remove the desire to kill living beings, but he must cultivate the
desire to save all beings. Not only must he not steal, but he must assist men
with his money. Not only must he not give himself to lasciviousness, but he
must treat all men with propriety. So each prohibition involves a positive
impulse to virtue, which is quite as essential as the refraining from evil.”
“What energizing power does Buddhism provide?”
“First, is purgatory with its terrors. The evil man, seeing the consequences of
his acts upon himself, becomes afraid to do them and does that which is good.
Then there is transmigration with the danger of transmigration into beasts and
insects. Again, there are the rewards in the paradise of Amitâbha. Moreover,
there is even the possibility not only of saving one’s self, but by accumulated
merit of saving one’s parents and relatives and shortening their stay in
purgatory.”
_3. The Place of Faith_
“Can any man enter the western paradise of Amitâbha?”
“Yes, it is open to all men. The sutra says: ‘If there be any one who commits
evil deeds, and even completes the ten evil actions, the five deadly sins and
the like; that man, being himself stupid and guilty of many crimes, deserves to
fall into a miserable path of existence and suffer endless pains during many
long ages. On the eve of death he may meet a good and learned teacher who,
soothing and encouraging him in various ways, will preach to him the excellent
Law and teach him the remembrance of Buddha, but being harassed by pains’, he
will have no time to think of Buddha.’”
“What hope has such a man?”
“Even such a man has hope. The sutra says: ‘Some good friend will say to him:
Even if thou canst not exercise the remembrance of Buddha, utter the name of
Buddha Amitabha.’ Let him do so serenely with his voice uninterrupted; let him
be (continually) thinking of Buddha, until he has completed ten times the
thought, repeating ‘Namah O-mi-to-fo,’ I put my trust in Buddha! On the
strength of (his merit of) uttering Buddha’s name he will, during every
repetition expiate the sins which involve him in births and deaths during
eighty millions of long ages. He will, while dying, see a golden lotus-flower,
like the disk of the sun, appearing before his eyes; in a moment he will be
born in the world of highest happiness. After twelve greater ages the
lotus-flower will unfold; thereupon the Bodhisattvas, Avalôkitësvaras and
Mahasattva’s, raising their voices in great compassion, will preach to him in
detail the real state of all the elements of nature and the law of the
expiation of sins.”
“Does faith save such a man?”
“Yes, not his own faith, but the faith which prompted the vow of Amitabha.
Amitâbha’s faith in the possibility of his salvation gives him supreme
confidence that he will attain salvation. All he needs is to have the desire to
be born in that paradise and to repeat the name of Amitabha.”
_4. Salvation of the Second Class_
“How do those of the second class attain salvation?”
“The men of the second class regard ideas as realities. They are not entangled
in the maze of things, but are confused by ideas, regarding them as real. These
men do not need images and outward sanctions, but they need heaven and
purgatory though regarding them as ideas. By performing the ten good deeds they
will obtain a quiet heart, having no fear, and become saints and sages. Among
men, saints and sages occupy a high rank, but not so among Buddhists. By merit
of good works merely they enter the planes of sensuous desire, the six
celestial worlds located immediately above the earth.”
_5. Salvation for the Highest Class_
“And the third class?”
“This class has many ranks. There are those who by the practice of meditation
(four _dkyanas_) [Footnote: Dhyana means contemplation. In later times
under the influence of the idea of transmigration heavens were imagined which
corresponded to the degrees of contemplation.] can enter the sixteen heavens
conditioned by form. By the practice of the four _arûpa-dhyânas_
[Footnote: That degree of abstract contemplation from which all sensations are
absent.] they enter the four highest heavens free from all sensuous desires and
not conditioned by form. These heavens are the anteroom of Nirvana.”
“What is the driving power in all this?”
“It is _vîrya_ or energy.”
_6. Heaven and Purgatory_
“Do heaven and purgatory exist?”
“Heaven and purgatory are in the minds and hearts of men. Really heaven is in
the mind of Amitâbha and purgatory exists in the illusioned brains of men.”
“Does anything exist?”
“Nâgârjuna says: ‘There is no production, no destruction, no annihilation, no
persistence, no unity, no plurality, no coming in and no going forth.’”
_7. Sin_
“Does sin exist?”
“In the mind of the real Buddhist sin and virtue are different aspects of the
all. Sin is illusion; virtue is illusion, There is a higher unity in which they
are reconciled.”
_8. Nirvâna_
_“Do you know of any one who attained Nirvâna?”_
“Yes, I have experienced it. It is not a state beyond the grave. It is a state
into which one can enter here.”
“Can you express this experience in words?”
“Impossible. I can only indicate the shore of this great ocean. At first I was
in great distress and agony, as though carrying the illusions of the world.
Then came a great peace and calm, ineffable, serene, and surpassing the power
of language to express.”
_9. The Philosophical Background_
“What is behind this universe!”
“Underlying this universe of phenomena and change there is a unity. It is the
basis of all being. It is within all being and all being rests in it. It is
because of this common background that men are able to apprehend it. This
universal basis we call _dharma,_ or law. Its characteristics are that
everything born grows old, is subject to disease and death; that the teachings
of Buddha purify the mind and enable it to obtain supreme enlightenment; that
all Buddhas by treading the same way of perfection will attain the highest
freedom.”
“You speak of the Buddhist Trinity.”
“Yes, we have the Dharmakâya. This is the essence-body, the ground of all
being, taking many forms, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, spirits, angels, men and even
demons. It is impersonal, all-pervasive. It may be called the first person. The
second person is the Sambhogakâya, the body of bliss. This is the heavenly
manifestation of Buddha. The third person is the Nirmânakâya. This is the
projection of the body of bliss on earth.”
Some identify this trinity with that of the Christian faith. While there is a
resemblance, we should note that the first person of the Buddhist trinity would
correspond to God as the absolute or the impersonal background of universal
Being. The second corresponds to the glorified Christ and the third to the
historic Jesus. There is no counterpart either to God the Father or to the Holy
Spirit.
“Do you believe in the salvation of all beings?”
“Yes, all have the Buddha heart. All living beings will finally become
Buddhas.”
Then turning to a friend of mine the speaker said: “What have you done in
Buddhism?” The friend answered: “I have written and translated many books.” “I
do not mean that,” he answered. “What _work_ have you done?” The friend
confessed that he had not done much else. Then he said: “Every morning when you
awake, reflect deeply and profoundly upon your state before you were born.
Think back to that state where your soul was merged with Buddha. Find yourself
in that state and you will find ineffable enlightenment and joy.”
The sun was setting behind the Western hills. The blare of trumpets sounded on
the city wall. Outside of the door was the whirling sound of Peking returning
home from its mundane tasks and joys. We joined the rushing, restless crowd and
still we felt the calm of another world. Has not Christianity a message of balm
and peace for these sons of the East who are so sensitive to the touch of the
eternal and sublime?
_10. What Buddhism Has to Give_
An important government official obliged to deal with many vexatious requests
and demands declared: “I could not get through my day’s work, if I did not
spend an hour every day in meditation, just as Buddha did when he became
enlightened.” He was asked what he did when he meditated or prayed. “Nothing at
all.” “Well, about what do you think?” “Of nothing at all. I stop thinking when
I engage in religious meditation. Life makes me think too much. I should lose
my sanity, if I did not stop thinking and enter into the ‘void’, whence we all
came and into which we all are going to drop back.”
His Christian inquirer still was unsatisfied by the Buddhist’s description of
his prayer life, and pressed further for details. “What happens when you
meditate or pray?”
“Nothing happens, I tell you, except, that I experience a peace which the
passing world cannot give and which the passing world cannot altogether take
away. The secret of religion is simply to realize that everything is passing
away. When you accept that fact, then you become really free. The Christian
world seemed to have been tremendously impressed by the slogan of the French
soldiers at Verdun, ‘They shall not pass!’ Perhaps the German soldiers did not
pass just then or there. But the French soldiers themselves are all passing
away. And everything in the world is passing away. What our Buddhist religion
teaches us is: ‘Let it pass!’ You cannot keep anything for very long. And
prayer or meditation is simply to practice yourself in that thought
deliberately. Oh, it is a wonderful peace when you fully believe that gospel,
and enter into it every day. Vanity of vanities, everything is vanity! Why
worry? We do altogether too much worrying. To pray means simply to quit
worrying, to quit thinking, to enter into the indescribably passionless peace
of Nirvana.”
Here seemed to be an ardent Buddhist. When asked what he thought as the
difference between a Buddhist and a Christian, he answered promptly:
“Yes, there is my wife. She is a very good woman. All the neighbors come to
her, when there is any one sick or in trouble. So I say to her: ‘Wife, I should
think you would make a first-class Christian.’ But I think she lets herself be
worried by altogether too many troubles. She is all the time thinking and
fussing and planning. To be sure, it is mostly about other people, But then she
does have the children and the house and the relatives and friends and
neighbors to look after. Perhaps she really cannot be a Buddhist. Perhaps it is
all a matter of temperament. Oh, but I tell you it is great to be a Buddhist,
because it gives you such a wonderful peace.”
IX
PRESENT-DAY BUDDHISM:
_1. Periods of Buddhist History_
The history of Buddhism in China may be divided into four periods. Buddhism
entered China, as we have seen, in the second century B.C. The first period,
that of the translation and propagation of the faith, ended in 420 A.D. The
second period, that of interpenetration, lasted to the beginning of the T’ang
dynasty, 618 A.D. The third, the period of establishment, ended with the close
of the five dynasties, in 960 A.D. The fourth period, that of decay, has
extended to the present day.
_2. The Progress of the Last Twenty-five Years_
There are signs of a revival of Buddhism in China. Whether this is a tide, or a
wave, only the future can reveal. In 1893 Dharmapala, an Indian monk, stopped
in Shanghai on his way back from the Congress of Religions in Chicago. It was
his purpose to make a tour of China, to arouse the Chinese Buddhists to send
missionaries to India to restore Buddhism there, and then to start a propaganda
throughout the whole world. He addressed the monks of Shanghai. Dr. Edkins, the
veteran missionary, acted as his interpreter. Dharmapala was surrounded by a
horde of curious monks who were more interested in his strange appearance and
in the cost of his garments than they were in his great ideals. They were also
feeling the iron heel of the Confucian government and at once inquired about
the attitude of the government toward such an innovation. Dharmapala did not go
beyond Shanghai.
Japanese Buddhists, especially the members of the Hongwanji sect, have taken a
deep interest in Chinese Buddhists. Count Otani once visited the chief
monasteries of China. Numerous Japanese Buddhists have made such visits. In
1902, the Empress Dowager, fired by a reforming zeal, decided to confiscate
Buddhist property and to use the proceeds for the spread of modern education.
The Buddhist monasteries put themselves under the protection of Japanese monks
in order to hold their property. When by 1906 the Empress Dowager saw the
consequences of her edict, she at once issued a new edict, reversing the former
one, and the Japanese monks took their departure.
The Japanese Buddhists have been fired by missionary zeal for China. In many of
the large cities of China are the temples of the Hongwanji sect. Established
primarily for the Japanese, these temples are intended to serve as points of
departure for a nation-wide missionary work. The twenty-one demands made upon
China included two significant items in the last group which the Chinese
refused to sign: “Art. 2: Japanese hospitals, churches and schools in the
interior of China shall be granted the right of owning land.” “Art. 7: China
agrees that Japanese subjects shall have the right of missionary propaganda in
China.”
Under Japanese influence there was established in 1907 at Nanking, under the
leadership of Yang, a lay Buddhist devotee, a school for the training of
Buddhist missionaries. The students were to go to Japan for further training,
and the more promising ones were to study in India. This project was
discontinued after the death of Yang on account of the lack of funds.
When the republic was established Buddhism felt a wave of reform. The
monasteries established schools for monks and children. A magazine was
published which appeared irregularly for several numbers and then stopped. A
national organization was formed with headquarters at Peking. A survey of
monasteries was begun. The activities in lecturing and propaganda were
increased, but Yuan Shih-kai issued twenty-seven regulations for the control of
Buddhist monasteries, which markedly dampened the ardor of the reformers.
The world war which accentuated the spirit of nationalism had the added effect
of stirring up Buddhist enthusiasm. There are at present signs of new activity
among them in China.
_3. Present Activities_
While Buddhism may be standing still or even dying in certain parts of China,
it is showing signs of new life in the provinces of Kiangsu and Chekiang and in
the large cities. Such revival in centers subject to the influence of the
modern world shows that Buddhism in China as in Japan has sufficient vitality
to adjust itself to modern conditions. Let us consider some of these
activities.
_(a) The Reconstruction of Monasteries._—During the T’ai Ping rebellion,
which devastated China in 1850-1865, the monasteries suffered with the towns.
Not only were the monasteries burned to the ground, but their means of support
were taken away and the monks were scattered. There are still many of these
ruined monasteries in the Yangtze valley and in southern and western China.
Quite a number of them have been rebuilt. Perhaps the most notable example is
that at Changchow which was destroyed during the rebellion. Today it is the
largest monastery in China, having about two thousand monks. In Fukien several
new monasteries have been built in the last few decades. In the provinces of
Chekiang and Kiangsu, in the large cities and about Peking there are building
activities, showing that the monasteries are feeling a new wave of prosperity.
T’ai Hsu, one of the leaders’ of modern Buddhism, is holding up an ideal
program for Buddhism in this time of reconstruction. He proposes that there
should be 576 central monasteries, 4608 preaching places, 72 Buddhist hospitals
and 72 orphanages.
_(b) Accessions._—Regarding the number of monks it is almost impossible to
obtain any reliable figures. A conservative estimate, based upon partial
returns, makes the number of monks about 400,000 and that of nuns about 10,000.
The impression among the Buddhists is that the number of monks is increasing.
That is quite probable in view of the rebuilding and repairing which is now in
progress.
More significant is the number of accessions from the learned class. Many
officials, disheartened by the present confused political situation, have
sought refuge in the monasteries. Some of them are now abbots of monasteries
and are using their influence to build them up. All over China there are
Confucian scholars who are giving themselves to the study of Buddhism and to
meditation. Some of the Chinese students who have studied in Buddhist
universities in Japan are propagating Buddhism by lecture and pen.
_(c) Publications._—Quite as significant is the increase in the
publication of Buddhist literature of all kinds. Many of the monasteries have
printing departments where they publish the sutras needed for their own use. In
addition, there are eight or more publishing centers where Buddhist literature
is printed. The most famous are Yang’s establishment at Nanking, the Buddhist
Press in Yangchow and that in Peking. In these establishments about nine
hundred different works are being published. The most noteworthy recent
publication has been that of the Chinese Buddhist Tripitaka in Shanghai.
Among these publications are a few modern issues. The Chung Hua Book Company
has published several works on Buddhism. Other books have been issued for the
sake of harmonizing Buddhism with western science and philosophy. In this
enterprise Japanese influence is visible. In 1921 a Shanghai press published a
dictionary of Buddhist terms containing 3302 pages, based on the Japanese
Dictionary of Buddhism. Other works also show the influence of Japanese
scholarship.
Among the publications have appeared two magazines. One published at Ningpo, is
called “New Buddhism.” This is struggling and may have to succumb. The other is
known as the “Sound of the Sea Tide,” now published in Hankow. Moreover, in all
the large cities there are Buddhist bookshops where only Buddhist works are
sold. These all report a good business. This literary activity reveals an
interest among the reading classes of China. Few such books are purchased by
the monks. The Chinese scholars read them for their style and for their deep
philosophy, but also for light and for help in the present distracting
political situation of their country.
_(d) Lectures._—Along with publication goes the spread of Buddhism by
lectures in the monasteries and the cities of China. A few years ago Buddhist
sermons, however serious, were only listened to by monks and by a few pious
devotees. Today such addresses are advertised and are usually well attended by
the intellectuals. Often many women are found listening. Monks like T’ai Hsü
and Yuan Ying have a national reputation. Not only monks, but laymen trained in
Japan are delivering lectures on the Buddhist sutras. The favorites are the
Awakening of Faith and the Suddharma Pundarika sutra.
_(e) Buddhist Societies._—With the lectures goes the organization of
Buddhist societies for all sorts of purposes. There is a central society in
Peking which has branches in every province. The connection is rather loose.
Buddhism has never been in favor of centralization. Nor for that matter would
the government have allowed it. The chief ends aimed at by these societies are
fellowship, devotion, study, propagation, and service. Such societies, often
short lived, are springing up in many quarters. They meet for lectures on
Buddhism or to conduct a study class in some of the sutras. Occasionally the
more ambitious conduct an institute for several months. Some spend part of the
time in meditation together. Several schools for children are supported by
these societies. They also encourage work of a religious nature among
prisoners, distributing tracts and holding services. Such activities are
especially appreciated by those who are to suffer the death penalty. The
societies are also doing publishing work. The two magazines are supported by
the members of the larger societies.
_(f) Signs of Social Ambition._—Social work is a prominent feature of some
of these Buddhist societies. They have raised money for famine stricken
regions, have opened orphanages, and assist in Red Cross work. One of the
largest Chinese institutions for ministering to people who are sick and in
trouble is located at Hankow. Around a central Buddhist temple is a
modern-built hospital, an orphanage and several schools for poor children. It
may not maintain western standards of efficiency, but it certainly represents
the outreach of modern Buddhism.
Perhaps their most far-reaching advance has been made because of the
realization that leaders are needed and that they must be trained. Several
schools for this purpose have sprung into existence. Such schools are
necessarily very primitive and are struggling with the difficulties of finding
an adequate staff and equipment and of obtaining the best type of students.
Another sign of new life has been the making of programs for the future
development of Buddhism. One of the most comprehensive appeared a short time
ago. For the individual it proposes the cultivation of love, mercy, equality,
freedom, progressiveness, an established faith, patience and endurance. For all
men it proposes (1) an education according to capacity; (2) a trade suited to
ability; (3) an opportunity to develop one’s powers; (4) a chance for
enlightenment for all. For society it urges the cultivation of cooperation,
social service, sacrifice for the social weal, and the social consciousness in
the individual. On behalf of the country it urges patriotism, participation in
the government, and cooperation in international movements. For the world it
advocates universal progress. As to the universe it specifies as a goal the
bringing of men into harmony with spiritual realities, the enlightenment of all
and the realization of the spiritual universe.
A Buddhist writer sums up the aims of new Buddhism as follows:
“Formerly Buddhism desired to escape the sinful world. Today Buddhism not only
desires to escape this world of sin, but longs to transform this world of sin
into a new world dominated by the ideals of Buddhism. Formerly Buddhism was
occupied with erecting and perfecting its doctrines and polity as an
organization. Today it not only hopes to perfect the doctrines and polity, but
desires to spread the doctrines and ideals abroad so as to help mankind to
become truly cultured.”
_4. The Attitude of Tibetan Lamas_
Not only the Chinese Buddhists, but the Lamas of Mongolia and Tibet are feeling
the impulses of the new age. Quite recently an exhibition was held in the Lama
temple at Peking which attracted thousands of visitors. Its object was to
obtain money to repair the temple, and thus to give its work a fresh impulse.
That these impulses are not necessarily hostile to Christianity is shown by a
letter written by the Kurung Tsering Lama of Kokonor district to the Rev. T.
Sörensen of Szechuan:
“I, your humble servant, have seen several copies of the Scriptures and, having
read them carefully, they certainly made me believe in Christ. I understand a
little of the outstanding principles and the doctrinal teaching of the One Son,
but as to the Holy Spirit’s nature and essence, and as to the origin of this
religion, I am not at all clear, and it is therefore important that the
doctrinal principles of this religion should be fully explained, so as to
enlighten the unintelligent and people of small mental ability.
“The teaching of the science of medicine and astrology is also very important.
It is therefore evident if we want this blessing openly manifested, we must
believe in the religion of the only Son of God. Being in earnest, I therefore
pray you from my heart not to consider this letter lightly. With a hundred
salutations.”
Enclosed with this letter was a poem written in most elegant language.
“O thou Supreme God and most precious Father, The truth above all religions,
The Ruler of all animate and inanimate worlds! Greater than wisdom, separated
from birth and death, Is his son Christ the Lord shining in glory among endless
beings. Incomprehensible wonder, miraculously made! In this teaching I myself
also believe—As your spirit is with heaven united, My soul undivided is seeking
the truth Jesus the Savior’s desire fulfilling, For the coming of the Kingdom
of Heaven I am praying. Happiness to all.”
_5. The Buddhist World Versus the Christian World_
Looking back over the last twenty-five years we see rising quite distinctly a
Buddhist world growing conscious of itself, of its past history and of its
mission to the world. This Buddhist, world has much more of a program than it
had twenty-five years ago. Its object is to unite the Mahayâna and the Hînayâna
branches of Buddhism and to spread Buddhist propaganda over the world. At
present the leadership of this movement is in Japan. It is in part a political
movement. There is no question that Christianity is not at all pleasing to the
Japanese militarists. It is regarded by them as the advance post of western
industrialism and political ambition. Quite naturally such leaders desire to
make the Buddhist world a unit. It is also a social movement. The spirit of the
Japanese Buddhist has been brought to consciousness by the new position of
Japan. Japan is seeking to take its place in the world as a first rate power.
By this not only will Japan’s industry and commerce profit, but its spiritual
values must also be adapted to the world. The movement then has its spiritual
side. Japanese travelers and people are going to all parts of the world. They
carry with them the religious ideals which have been shaped by Buddhism.
Buddhism in the past was one of the great religions of salvation with an
inspiring missionary message. It is again awakening to this task of
evangelization. Under the leadership of Japanese scholars and religious
statesmen the Japanese are seeking to unite the Buddhist world so that it shall
become a force in the new world. Japan is thus trying to give back what it has
received in the past.
At present in Buddhist countries there is a strong force working against this
movement. Nationalism is a new force to be reckoned with. Still even with the
spirit of nationalism permeating every group, the Buddhist world is getting
together and will strive to make its contribution to the life of the whole
world.
X
THE CHRISTIAN APPROACH TO BUDDHISTS
_1. Questions Which Buddhists Ask_
Buddhists are approaching Christianity. In many places a spirit of inquiry and
interest in the Christian religion is met. It is not necessary that there
should be a Buddhist world permanently over against a Christian world. The
questions which Buddhists ask a missionary indicate an interest in vital
themes. Some of them are as follows:
We put our trust in the three Precious Ones. In what do you trust? Is not your
Shang Ti (name for God used in China) a being lower than Buddha and just a
little higher than a Bodhisattva? Is not Shang Ti the tribal god of the Jews?
Do you believe in the existence of _purgatory?_ What sufferings will those
endure who do not live a virtuous life? Do you believe in the reality of the
Western Paradise? How can one enter it? There being three kinds of merit, by
what method is the great merit accumulated? How is the middle and the small
merit accumulated? What are the fruits of these proportions of merit and what
are they like? Tell me how to believe Christ. What work of meditation do you
perform? Is not Buddhism more democratic than Christianity, because it holds
out the possibility of Buddhahood to all beings? Is not Buddhism more
inclusive, because it provides for the salvation of all beings?
_2. Knowledge and Sympathy_
These questions make it plain that the worker who is to deal with Buddhists
should have a broad background of general culture. He must be thoroughly
humanized. He should have a good knowledge of the history of philosophy and
religion, including the work of the modern philosophers. A knowledge of the
life of Buddha and of the doctrines of the Hînayâna or Southern Buddhism, as
well as the tenets of the Mahayâna should be in his possession. The psychology
of religion should interpenetrate his historical learning; the best methods of
pedagogy should guide his approach to men. Of course he must speak the language
of the Buddhist, not only the spiritual language, but his everyday patois. He
will find it an advantage to know some Sanskrit. While this requirement is not
very urgent at present, it will rapidly become a necessity for doing the best
work.
This knowledge should be interpenetrated by a genuine sympathy, that is,
imagination tinged with emotion. The worker should be able to view doctrines,
values and actions from the point of view of the Buddhist and his past history.
He must have a genuine interest in and a great capacity for friendship. The
Buddhists are very human, responding to friendship very quickly. Such
friendship forms a link between the man and the larger friendship of Christ.
_3. Emphasis on the Aesthetic in Christianity_
A Chinese Christian leader described his idea of a church as a place removed
from the din of the street, approached by a walk flanked with trees and flowers
and adorned within by symbols speaking to the heart of the Chinese. He longed
for the mystic silence and the beauty of holiness which would open the windows
of the world of spiritual reality and throw its light upon the problems of
life. He was asked, “Would you adapt some of the symbols of the Chinese
religions?” He said, “Many of those symbols are neutral. They suggest religious
emotion. Their character depends upon the content which the occasion puts into
them. If the content is Christian then the symbols and emotions will become
Christian.”
Christianity is a religion of beauty. The beautiful in architecture, symbol and
ritual, expressing the spiritual universe of the past, present and future,
makes a strong appeal to the Chinese heart. It may well be emphasized in the
future as never before.
_4. Emphasis on the Mystical in Christianity_
Not long ago a Buddhist in one of the large cities of China was converted. He
found great joy in the experience which revived him and gathered into unity the
broken fragments of his life. He attended church regularly and participated in
the prayer meetings. Gradually he discovered that he was not being nourished.
He felt his joy slipping away from him and his divided life reinstating itself.
He went to Buddhism for consolation. He is not hostile to the church. He
appreciates the help he received, but he said that he came for consolation and
peace and found the same—hard orthodoxy and morality so familiar to him in
Confucianism.
While the case of this man may have individual peculiarities, it may be made
the starting point for a discussion of the situation in many churches in China.
The early message to the Chinese was doctrinal. The false notion of many gods
had to be displaced by the idea of the one true God. With this idea of the true
God a few other tenets of the Christian religion are often held as dogmatic
propositions to be repeated when questions are asked. The great sin preached is
the worship of idols.
The second part of the Christian message is salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.
This salvation is other-worldly to a large extent. The extreme emphasis upon it
has made of the church an insurance society, membership in which insures bliss
in the world beyond.
The third part of the message has been concerned with moral acts, abstinence
from opium (liquor and tobacco in some churches), polygamy, and the gross sins.
Attendance upon church services, contribution for the support of the church,
and the refusal to contribute to idolatry have also been required.
The emphasis to a large extent was doctrinal, moral and individual. The result
has been a body of people free from the gross sins, but also innocent of the
great virtues and individualistic in their outlook upon this world and the
next. This emphasis is needed, but in addition there should be the cultivation
of the presence of God in the soul by appropriate means. The Christian Church
of China should develop a technique of the spiritual life suited to the East.
The formation of habits of devotion should be emphasized. Intercessory prayer
should be given a larger place. Contemplation and meditation should be regarded
not merely as an escape from the turmoil and strife of the world, but as a
preparation for the highest life of service and sacrifice. Buddhist mysticism
united the whole universe and was the great foundation of Chinese art,
literature and morality. The spiritual world of Christianity must likewise seep
through into the very thought of Asia and inspire the new art, literature and
morality which will be the world expression of a Christian universe.
_5. Emphasis on the Social Elements in Christianity_
To the aesthetic and mystical emphasis must be attached a social emphasis.
Buddhism is often criticized as not being social. It is a highly socialized
religion. It has had a large influence upon social life in the East. This
social life is different from ours. We see its wrongs and weaknesses. Likewise
do the Buddhists see the materialism and injustice of our social life.
Christianity must relate itself to the modern world as it is rising in China
and seek not merely to remedy a few wrongs or heal a few diseases, but must
release the healing stream into the social life of the East. This will be done
and is being done through the Church community which has become conscious of
itself, realizing its needs and wants, seeking in an intelligent and systematic
way to rehabilitate itself. It is not so much the external unrelated efforts
that accomplish the thing needed, but it is rather the community life stirred
by ideals and fired by a new dynamic which begins the work of reformation.
_6. Emphasis on the Person of Jesus Christ_
_(a) As a Historical Character._—The great asset of the missionary among
Buddhists is the historical person of Christ. In contrast to many of the
Bodhisattvas, the saviours of the Buddhists, Jesus is a historical character.
His life among men was the life of God among men.
_(b) As the Revealer._—God is like Christ. Christ reveals God as the
complete, the perfect person. He possessed the pure spiritual personality. The
chief characteristic of this personality is love. This love conscious of itself
finds its highest joy in the well-being of others. This love of God produced
human life which, springing from the lowest form, broke through the material
elements and is capable of attaining the highest development.
Christ reveals to man his heavenly relationship. Man created in the likeness of
God stands in the highest relation of one person to another through love. He
likens this relation to that of father and son. He lifts man to the fellowship
with the divine. Yet such a fellowship that man preserves his personality.
Christ reveals man in his relation to men as a brother and the form of love
which shall control the relation of man to God as well as man to man.
Christ revealed and founded the Kingdom, a society of the saved, dominated by
the spirit of the founder and making this spirit of love and service the
organizing power in the world.
_(c) As the Saviour._—Mahayâna Buddhism emphasized saviourhood. Christ is
the saviour of men. In Buddhism the stress is placed upon the merit of the
saviour and the saved. There is no question that merit has some value. Yet
Christ does not save us by merit, nor do we help to save one another by merit.
Salvation is a moral and spiritual process. It is concerned with the biology of
the soul. The salvation that we preach is not the salvation by knowledge, or
meditation, or merit, but by the interpenetration of Christ’s spirit in ours,
by the mystic and moral union of our life with his. As Paul says: “That I may
know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His
suffering.” Yet He is not the saviour of the individual alone. He saves the
community, the church. Only as His spirit permeates and dominates the community
does he find his true self and the real salvation.
_(d) As the Eternal Son, of God._—The Mahayâna system does not emphasize
the historicity of Amitabha or of the Bodhisattvas. Spiritual truth is the
development of the soul. It is not limited by time and place. Likewise
Christianity must emphasize the eternal character of Jesus Christ. “The Logos
existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was God.” To
the Mahâyânist this spiritual history is more real than any fact conditioned by
time and place.
The Christian worker must learn to understand the import of the Gospel of John.
He must see in Jesus Christ “The real Light, which enlightens every man.” He
must be able to convince himself that the Christ is the fulfillment of the
highest aspirations of the Mahâyâna system.
_7. How Christianity Expresses Itself in Buddhist Minds_
In 1920 a number of Buddhist monks, under the leadership of Rev. K. L. Reichelt
formed a Christian brotherhood. The members of this small brotherhood decided
that they must subscribe to vows and they took the four following:
“I promise before the Almighty and Omniscient God, that I with my whole heart
will surrender myself to the true Trinity, God the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit. I will with my whole heart have faith in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of
the world who gives completion to the profoundest and best objects of the
higher Buddhism. I will live in this faith now and ever after.
“I promise solemnly before God with my whole heart to devote myself to the
study of the true doctrine and break wholly with the evil manners of the world
and show forth in my public and private life that I am truly united with
Christ.
“I promise that I in every respect will try so to educate myself that I can be
of use in the work of God on earth. I will with undivided heart devote myself
to the great work; to lead my brethren in the Buddhist Association forward to
the understanding of Christ as the only One, who gives completion to the
highest and profoundest ideas of Higher Buddhism.
“I promise that until my last hour I will work so that out of our Christian
Brotherhood there may grow forth a strong church of Christ among Buddhists. I
will not permit any evil thing to grow in my heart, which could divide the
brotherhood, but will always try to promote the progress of every member in the
knowledge of the holy obligations laid down in these vows and our
constitution.”
Such men ought, to make choice Christians.
_8. Christianity’s Constructive Values_
Buddhism in the course of its long history developed certain religious ideas
and values which we find in Christianity. It faced the fact of sin and placed
it in the heart. It diagnosed the fundamental instincts of men, sex-appetite,
will-to-achieve, and pugnacity. These must be overcome. It regards them as
delusions which must be eliminated. Christianity also deals with these
instincts. It is under no delusion as to their strength. There are certain
tendencies in Christianity which have tried to annihilate them. The central
tendency of Christianity, however, recognizing their power for good, seeks to
sublimate them and make them serve the individual and society. This attitude of
the two religions toward these instincts is fundamentally different. The
attitude of Christianity has been justified even in Buddhist lands where the
religious life of the people has followed the same line that Christianity
advocates.
Early Buddhism tried to dissolve man’s personality. Later Buddhism corrected
this and perhaps has appealed too much to the desire on the part of the
individual to enter a heaven which is merely a replica of the earth.
Christianity starts with a personal God and holds up before the believer the
goal of perfection for his own personality. It finds man without a self and
confers a real selfhood upon him.
Early Buddhism taught that salvation is accomplished by the individual alone.
It denies the possibility and the necessity of help from a divine source.
Subsequent history has proved this to have been wrong. In India, Buddhism has
been displaced by Hinduism, and in China, and Japan, the Mahâyâna has developed
the idea of salvation through another. The great stream of Buddhism has
recognized that man by himself is helpless. He must have the help of a divine
power in order to obtain salvation. Christianity asserts that salvation is
possible only through the intervention of God. The incarnation, the life, death
and resurrection of Jesus and his work in the world through the Holy Spirit on
the one hand are the expression of God’s solicitude for man, and, on the other
hand, correspond to the deep need which men of all ages have felt, for a power
above themselves. From the early stages of magic to the highest reaches of
religion we find this constant factor recognized by human groups all over the
world. They bear witness to a power above themselves to whom they continually
appeal. In Christianity we find this main tendency enunciated most clearly. The
individual cannot save himself. Mankind cannot save itself. Both must rely upon
the assistance of the divine power which started this universe on its way and
which is the ever present creative force.
Christianity, moreover, has established the community of believers including
all classes and conditions of men. Herein each one may realize himself. Herein
also he may realize the kind of community which is friendly to his highest
aspirations for himself. Herein he has the opportunity to transmute the
instincts above mentioned into forces which make for the larger development of
his own person and the well-being of the community.
Accordingly, as Christians face Buddhists, they can do so with the
consciousness that this great religion has been reaching out after the light
which shines brightly in our Christian religion. They have the assurance not
only that they have a message which brings fulfilment to the ideas of the
Mahâyâna, but also that it has prepared the way for the hearts of the Chinese
to receive the highest message of Christianity.
APPENDIX I
HINTS FOR THE PRELIMINARY STUDY OF BUDDHISM IN CHINA
The student should read and inwardly digest the booklet of K. J. Saunders.
He should follow the directions given in Appendix One of that book, This
procedure is important because the Hînayâna Buddhism and the life of Buddha are
the background of Buddhism in China.
Then he may take Hackmann’s _Buddhism as a Religion_ (No. 15). This will
give a general orientation. This may be followed with R. F. Johnston’s
_Buddhist China_ (No. _20_). Along with this he may read Suzuki’s
_Awakening of Faith_ (No. 32), and also his _Outlines of Mahâyanâ
Buddhism (No._ 33). McGovern’s _Introduction to Mahâyanâ Buddhism (No._
23) will illuminate the philosophical background of Buddhism, and Eliot’s
_Hinduism and Buddhism_ (No. 13) will add historical perspective.
The translation of _Mahdydna Sutras_ by Beal and in the Sacred Books of
the East will give him some of the sources for the doctrines held in China. He
may begin as the Buddhist missionaries did with the sutra of the Forty-two
sections and then take up the Diamond Sutra, and then completing the sutras in
Vol. 59 and the Catena of Buddhist Scriptures.
For the study of the ethical side he will find De Groot’s _Le Code du
Mahâyâna en Chine_ very helpful. For the study of the sects Eliot, Vol. III,
pp. 303-320 _Northern Buddhism_ (No. 14) will be helpful.
In all his study he will find Eitel’s _Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_ (No.
12) indispensable. He must, however, make a Chinese index in order to be able
to use the book.
Contact with monks will be helpful and is quite necessary in order to
appreciate the human problems of the work.
APPENDIX II
A BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. BEAL, S. _Abstract of Four Lectures_ upon _Buddhist Literature_ in
_China._ London, Triibner, 1882.
Lecture II, on “Method of Buddha’s Teaching in the Vinaya Pitaka,” and Lecture
IV, on “Coincidences Between Buddhism and Other Religions,” especially
desirable.
2. —— _Buddhism in China,_ London, S. P. C. K, 1884.
The best comprehensive account of Chinese Buddhism, written by an authority.
3. —— _Catena of Buddhist Scriptures,_ from the Chinese. London, Triibner,
1871.
A good introduction to Chinese Buddhism from the sources.
4. —— _The Romantic Legend of Sâkya Buddha._ London, Triibner, 1875.
Recounts Buddha’s history from the beginning to the conversion of the Kâsyapas
and others.
5. —— _Texts from the Buddhist Canon Commonly Known_ as _D_
hammapada. London, Triibner, 1878. Pocket edition, 1902.
These “Scriptural Texts,” translated from the Chinese and abridged, are usually
connected with some event in Buddha’s history. This translation has Indian
anecdotes, illustrating the verses.
6. COULING, S., editor. _The Encyclopaedia Sinica._ Shanghai, Kelly &
Walsh, 1917.
Contains, on pages 67-75, a number of brief articles upon Buddhism in China.
7. DE QROOT, J. J. M. _Religion of the Chinese._ New York, Macmillan,
1900.
Pages 164-223 contain a summary of the main facts about Chinese Buddhism by an
authority.
8. —— _Sectarianism and Religious Persecution in China._ 2 vols. J.
Müller, Amsterdam, 1903-1904.
Treats from sources Confucianism’s persecution of Buddhism and other sects. See
Vol. II. Index, under Buddhism, p. 572.
9. DORE, HENEI. _Researches into Chinese Superstitions._ 6 vols. Tusewei
Press, 1914-1920.
A well illustrated miscellany of superstitions of all Chinese religions showing
indistinctly their interpenetration by Buddhism. For Buddhism proper, see Vol.
VI, pp. 89-233.
10. EDKINS, J. _Chinese Buddhism._ 2d edition. London, Trübner, 1893.
A very full account of Buddhism as seen by a Sinologue of the last generation.
11. EITEL, E. J. _Buddhism: Its Historical, Theoretical and Popular
Aspects._ Hongkong, Lane, Crawford and Co., 1884.
Written by an observant scholar and descriptive of Buddhism of South China
especially.
12. —— _Handbook of Chinese Buddhism._ Presbyterian Mission Press,
Shanghai.
This is a Sanskrit-Chinese dictionary, a reprint of the second edition of 1888
without the Chinese index necessary for identifying Chinese Buddhist terms.
13. ELIOT, SIR CHARLES. _Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch._ 3
vols. Edward Arnold and Co., 1921.
This is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of Buddhism by an experienced
student. The parts especially related to Chinese Buddhism are Vol. II, pp.
3-106; Vol. Ill, 223-335.
14. JETTY, A. _Gods of Northern Buddhism._ Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1914.
This work is helpful in identifying images in the temples, though unfortunately
few of those given are Chinese.
15. HACKMANN, H. _Buddhism as a Religion._ London, Probsthain, 1910.
Gives a general view of Buddhism from first-hand investigation. For Chinese
Buddhism see pp. 200-257.
16. HASTINGS, JAMES. _The Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics._ New York,
Scribners, 1908.
Articles Asvaghosa, Bodhisattva, China (Buddhism in), Mahâyâna Missions
(Buddhist).
17. HUME, R. E. _The Living Religions of the World._ New York, Scribners,
1924.
A clear comparative study of these religions in the light of Christian
standards.
18. INGLIS, J. W. “Christian Element in Chinese Buddhism.” _International
Review of Missions,_ Vol. V, 1916, pp. 587-602. An excellent article by a
veteran missionary and scholar of Manchuria.
19. JOHNSON, S. _Oriental Religions … China._ Boston, Houghton, Osgood
Co., 1878.
Pages 800-833 give a comprehensive summary by a student of comparative
religion.
20. JOHNSTON, R. F. _Buddhist_ China. New York, Dutton, 1913.
A well-written, interesting book. The author knows his subject, and is held in
high esteem by Buddhists in China.
21. KEITH, A. BERRIEDALE. _Buddhist Philosophy in India and Ceylon._
Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923.
A study of the historic development of the Buddhistic philosophy in India and
Ceylon which throws much light on the Mahâyâna.
22. LODGE, J. E. _Chinese Buddhist Art._ Asia, Vol. XIX, June, 1919.
Some of the choicest half-tones illustrating its character accompanied by
interesting descriptions.
23. McGOVERN, W. M. _An Introduction of Mahâyâna Buddhism._ Dutton, 1922.
Though written from the point of view of Japanese Buddhism it gives a good
treatment of metaphysical and psychological aspects of the Mahâyâna system.
24. MÜLLER, F. MAX. _Sacred Books of the East._ Vol. XLIX, Buddhist,
Mahâyâna Texts. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1894.
A book of sources necessary for understanding Northern Buddhism.
25. PARKER, E. H. _China and Religion._ New York, Dutton, 1905.
A sketch of Buddhism by a scholar long resident in China is found in Chapter
IV.
26. PAUL, C. T. _The Presentation of Christianity to Buddhists._ New York,
Board of Missionary Preparation, 1924.
A carefully prepared study of Buddhism from the viewpoint of missionaries
working in Buddhist lands.
27. REICHELT, K. L. “Special Work Among Chinese Buddhists.” _Chinese
Recorder,_ Vol. LI, 1920, July issue, pp. 491-497.
An article by a pioneer in work among Buddhists, of rare insight and sympathy.
28. RICHARD, T. _The Awakening of Faith in the Mahâyâna Doctrine._ 2d
edition. Shanghai, 1918.
A loose translation by a very large-hearted and sympathetic student with an
irenic spirit. See 32 below.
29. RICHARD, T. _Guide to Buddhahood; Being a Standard Manual of Chinese
Buddhism._ Shanghai., 1907.
30. SAUNDERS, K. J. _Epochs of Buddhist History_ (Haskell Lectures),
Chicago University Press, 1922.
A good summary of the main developments in Buddhism.
31. STAUFFER, M. T. _The Christian Occupation of China._ Shanghai
Continuation Committee, 1922.
The introductory section contains articles upon China’s religions.
32. SUZUKI, T. A’svaghosa’s _Awakening of Faith in the Mahâyâna._ Chicago,
Open Court Publishing Co., 1900.
A far more accurate translation of this work than No. 28 above.
33. —— Outlines of _Mahâyâna Buddhism._ Chicago, Open Court Publishing
Co., 1908.
While written from the Japanese point of view it is necessary to the
understanding of Chinese Buddhism.
34. WATTERS, T. “Buddhism in China.” _Chinese Recorder,_ Vol. II, 1870,
pp. 1-7, 38-43, 64-68, 81-88, 117-122, 145-150, Shanghai.
A valuable series of articles by an excellent Chinese scholar, discussing the
history, persecutions, and various Buddhas of China.
35. WEI, F. C. M. “Salvation by Faith as Taught by the Pure Land Sect.”
_Chinese Recorder,_ Vol. LI, 1920, pp. 395-401, 485-491.
A good article on the sect whose ideas have spread over China and Japan.
36. WIEGER, L. _Bouddhisme Chinois,_ 2 vols. Ho-Kien-Fou, Roman Catholic
Press, 1910-1913.
This contains the Chinese text and French translation of the life of Buddha as
known to China; also the ritual observed in ordination. A useful source book.