THE GROWTH OF BUDDHISM--THE BUDDHIST ORDER OF
MENDICANTS.
What proud Emperors
Carved his sweet words upon the rocks and caves;
And how--in fullness of the times--it fell
The Buddha died, the great Tathagato,
Even as a man ’mongst men, fulfilling all:
And how a thousand thousand crores[5] since then
Have trod the Path which leads whither he went
Unto NIRVANA where the Silence lives.
EDWIN ARNOLD, IN THE “LIGHT OF ASIA.”
Buddhism is a missionary system. It has spread far beyond the land
of its birth, all over Asia. The methods of its spread were entirely
different from those of Mohammedanism, while they somewhat resembled
those of Christianity. To-day Buddhism numbers about two-fifths of the
world’s population among its adherents. It is still in vigorous life.
It has been propagated mainly through the _Sangha_, or Buddhist
Order of Mendicants. The dates usually assigned for the entrance of
Buddhism into other lands are as follows: Into Ceylon, 250 B.C.; into
China, 65 A.D.; into Corea, 372 A.D.; into Burmah, 450 A.D.; into
Japan, 552 A.D.; into Thibet, about 625 A.D.; and into Siam, 638 A.D.
While some of these have been questioned, no good reason has yet been
given for accepting any others.
We shall at present discuss the character and constitution of the
Buddhist brotherhood of the Sangha, leaving the stories of the
introduction of Buddhism into the various countries to be told in their
respective places.
THE SANGHA, OR BUDDHIST BROTHERHOOD.
All of Buddha’s disciples who had taken the vows of asceticism were
known by the name of _Sangha_, meaning “congregation” or “church.”
The organization of this order had the most to do with the spread of
Buddhism. Keep in mind that, in common with almost all reformers,
Gautama, the Buddha, did not intend to cut loose from his old faith.
He hoped to make the new wine of his teachings go into the old bottles
of Brahminism. We believe that he did not intend or expect that his
religion should spread over Asia. Further, it was not so much due to
his doctrine of the Dharma, or “law,” that his religion gained so wide
an acceptance, as it was due to his establishment of the order of the
Sangha. Here is one point of wide divergence from the missionary labors
of Christianity. Its founder, Jesus Christ, did intend, and distinctly
stated His intention of giving His religion to the world. The order of
the Sangha was a _growth_. Little by little, as occasion demanded,
Gautama laid down rules for those who would be his disciples, and
unconsciously these disciples became more and more exclusive, shutting
in themselves and shutting out all others. Finally, after Gautama’s
death, they became a distinct body.
THE INITIATION CEREMONY.
Any one who was free from contagious disease, who was neither a slave,
a debtor nor a soldier, and who had obtained the consent of his
parents, might be admitted to the order. The following account of the
ceremony of admission has been compiled by T. W. Rhys-David, late of
the Ceylon civil service:
“The layman who wishes for entrance to the Order must be at least
eight years old before obtaining the novitiate, and at least twenty
before receiving full ordination. On the day appointed, a chapter is
held, of not less than ten monks, the president being of at least ten
years’ standing. The monks forming the chapter sit on mats, in two
rows, facing each other, the president being at the head of one row.
The candidate, in lay dress, but carrying the three yellow robes of
a mendicant, is introduced by his proposer (always a monk), makes a
salutation to the president, and offers him a small present as a token
of respect. He then three times asks for admission as a novice. ‘Have
pity on me, lord; take these robes, and let me be ordained, that I
may escape from sorrow and experience Nirvāna.’ The president then
takes the bundle of robes, and ties them around the candidate’s neck,
repeating, meanwhile, a formula of meditation on the perishable nature
of the human body. The candidate then retires, and changes his dress,
repeating the while a formula to the effect that, though he wears
robes, he does so only out of modesty, and as a protection from heat,
cold, etc. When he reappears clad as a mendicant, he kneels before the
president, and repeats after him three times two well-known Buddhist
formulas. The first of these is that called the ‘Three Refuges.’
“‘I go for refuge to the Buddha.
“‘I go for refuge to the Law.
“‘I go for refuge to the Order.’
“The other is called the ‘Ten Precepts,’ which are as follows:
“‘1. I take the vow not to destroy life.
“‘2. I take the vow not to steal.
“‘3. I take the vow to abstain from impurity.
“‘4. I take the vow not to lie.
“‘5. I take the vow to abstain from intoxicating drinks, which hinder
progress and virtue.
“‘6. I take the vow not to eat at forbidden times.
“‘7. I take the vow to abstain from dancing, singing, music and
stage-plays.
“‘8. I take the vow not to use garlands, scents, unguents or ornaments.
“‘9. I take the vow not to use a high or broad bed.
“‘10. I take the vow not to receive gold or silver.’
“The candidate then rises, pays respect to the president, and retires a
_novice_. Here, for the novitiate, the ceremony ends.”
RULES OF THE ORDER.
Solid food is forbidden, except between sunrise and noon, and total
abstinence from intoxicating drinks is required. The monks, or brothers
of the order, usually get their food by begging from door to door; each
usually carries his brown earthenware begging-bowl. He says nothing,
but only stands, waiting, at the open door of the hut. If something is
given him, he mutters a prayer for the giver, but if nothing, he passes
on in silence.
The monks generally live together in groves, gardens or monasteries. At
first they led a lonely life, but afterwards they gathered together in
communities. They were required to dress in simple garments of a dull
orange color, first torn in pieces and then sewn together again, so
that they had no salable value. They wear three robes; and, while the
people of the warmer countries wear only the loin-cloth, the members of
the order were required to keep their bodies covered. To “put off the
robes” was equivalent to leaving the society.
Personal indulgence, theft and murder would cause the monk who
committed them to be expelled from the order. No monk was allowed
to possess more than eight articles--the three robes, a girdle for
the loins, a begging-bowl, a razor, a needle and a water-strainer.
The communities of monks, however, were permitted to own property.
Unquestioning obedience to superiors is never required of a monk among
the Buddhists.
DAILY LIFE OF A MONK.
According to the “Manual of Exercises,” the daily life of a monk should
be as follows: He shall rise before daylight and wash; then sweep the
wihāra or residence--as the clean little hut where the mendicant lives
is called--then sweep round the Bo-tree, fetch the drinking-water for
the day, filter it, and place it ready for use. Retiring to a solitary
place, he shall then meditate on the regulations. Then he shall offer
flowers before the sacred dāgaba--the solid dome-shaped shrine in which
relics of the Buddha are buried--or before the Bo-tree, thinking of the
great virtues of the Teacher and of his own faults. Soon after, taking
the begging-bowl, he is to follow his superior in his daily round for
food, and, on their return, is to bring water for his feet and place
the alms-bowl before him. After the meal is over, he is to wash the
alms-bowl, then again to worship Buddha and meditate on kindness and
affection. About an hour afterwards, he is to begin his studies from
the books, or copy one of them, asking his superior about passages he
does not understand. At sunset, he is again to sweep the sacred places,
and, lighting a lamp, to listen to the teaching of his superior, and
repeat such passages from the canon that he has learned. If he finds
he has committed any fault, he is to tell his superior; he is to be
content with such things as he has, and, keeping under his senses, to
grow in grace without haughtiness of body, speech or mind.
THE THREE GREAT BUDDHIST COUNCILS.
Soon after Buddha’s death a council of 500 members of the order was
held in a cave, near the city of Rajagriha. This council met to form
Buddha’s teachings into some sort of a system. A second council of 700
was held a hundred years later. This was to effect a settlement between
certain heretics and the orthodox party. The Rules of the Order and the
Doctrines of the Faith were passed in review and again settled. Then
the heretics advanced still different opinions and called an opposition
council. This was the first great schism. From this time sects
multiplied among the Buddhists. The next council was the Great Council
of King Asoka. Asoka was to the Buddhist Order what Constantine was to
the early Christian Church. There are more men to honor him to-day than
there are to honor Charlemagne or Cæsar. Yet Asoka really caused the
downfall of Buddhism in India by the aid he gave it. As Dante had said:
“Ah! Constantine, of how much ill was cause,
Not thy conversion, but those rich domains
That the first wealthy Pope received of thee.”
Asoka built many monasteries and provided for the support of many
monks. He became a very zealous supporter of Buddhism. Some of his
edicts, based upon Gautama’s teachings, have been discovered within
the last fifty years. In the eighteenth year of Asoka’s reign, a
great council of 1,000 monks was held in Patna. This council finally
determined the canon of the sacred Buddhist books. This council, held,
probably, in the year 246 B.C., lasted nine months. Asoka was filled
with an aggressive, missionary spirit, and at the close of this council
missionaries were sent into various countries, or provinces of India,
from Cashmere to Ceylon. The mission to Ceylon of Asoka’s own son,
Mahinda, was the most important. In the year 62 A.D., the Chinese
Emperor Ming-Ti sent to India and brought Buddhist books to China. From
China Buddhism spread into Corea and Japan and Thibet. From Ceylon it
spread to Burmah and Siam.
Of late years the sources of our information as to Buddhist teachings
and history have greatly changed. Formerly only Ceylon was looked to
for this information, but of late years the work of Bigandet in Burmah,
Alabaster in Siam, Schlagintweit in Thibet, and Beal in China, have
given more thorough knowledge of the facts of Buddhist doctrine and
history.
BUDDHAGHOSHA, THE FAMOUS MONK AND MISSIONARY.
Buddhaghosha lived in the middle of the fifth century after Christ.
He is, next to Asoka, the most celebrated man in Buddhist history. He
visited Ceylon, where he greatly revived the Buddhist faith. He then
went to Burmah, where he established Buddhism among the Burmese. From
these people it spread into Arracan, Pegu, and finally into Siam. He
wrote a famous commentary on the Buddhist Bible; some scholars believe
that this is but a translation of older commentaries which Buddhaghosha
made, and that his parables are but the parables of Mahinda or even of
Gautama re-written. At any rate, they go by Buddhaghosha’s name among
the Burmese Buddhists. His parables are very interesting, and are used
by the monks and preachers in all their sermons. The accompanying
story of King Kākavanna is quoted from Captain Rogers’ translation
of Buddhaghosha’s Parables, and will serve as a fair specimen of the
stories as a whole.
THE STORY OF KING KĀKAVANNA.
A Rahanda once preached the Law to Kākavanna, his queen and concubines,
in the island of Ceylon. King Kākavanna, filled with love for the
Law, resolved to make an offering of the putzo which he was wearing.
In a spirit of niggardliness, however, he thought he would defer the
offering until the next day. Two crows, a husband and wife, who were
perched upon the tree at the foot of which the Law had been preached,
knowing what was passing in the king’s mind, said to each other: “The
king, from his niggardly spirit, excellent as the Law is, cannot make
up his mind to make an offering of the putzo.” Neither the queen, nor
the concubines, nor the nobles understood what the two crows were
saying to each other; but the king, directly he heard the sound of
the crows, knew what they said. “O you pair of crows,” he exclaimed,
“how dare you speak so of a king like me?” The crows replied, “Your
majesty, do not take the putzo you have at home, but make an offering
of the one you are wearing, worth a hundred thousand pieces of gold. In
seven days hence you will receive the five rewards.” The king smiled
at the crows’ speech. My lord, the Rahanda, who had been preaching the
Law, said to the king, “Why does your majesty smile at me?” “I was not
smiling at my lord Rahanda,” replied the king; “I was smiling at what
the two crows said.” The Rahanda, who possessed the Nat’s eye, which
could behold eight past and eight future existences, and who saw the
previous life of the king, said to him, “Great king, I will tell you
something; will you be angry with me?” “My lord,” replied the king,
“I shall not be angry with you; deign to tell it to me.” My lord, the
Rahanda, proceeded: “When your majesty was a poor man in the Anurādha
country, you used to collect firewood, and live by the sale of it.
One day, when you went out to your work, you took with you a small
cupful of boiled rice. Coming across a heap of white sand which looked
like sheet-silver, you reflected that your poverty must have been
occasioned by your not possessing the merit of having made offerings,
and accordingly you raised a pagoda of the white sand, placed in front
of it, as an offering, one-half of the rice you had with you, and gave
the remaining half to the crows to eat, as an offering to the Rahans.
These two crows, husband and wife, are the very same two crows who ate
the rice of which you made the offering when you were a poor man.” When
the king heard this, he exclaimed, “Oh, how unstable is prosperity! I
have obtained the position of king only from making offerings at a sand
pagoda!” So saying, he made an offering to the Law of the putzo he was
wearing.
Seven days afterwards, the five rewards came to the king. The five
rewards were these:
The Nats, wrapping up in a thingan the relics of an excellent Rahanda
who had obtained Paranibbāna while he was up in the sky, and which were
like a jasmine-bud, came and laid them down before the king. In front
of his palace a mountain of gold arose. The Nats brought a virgin from
the island of Uttarakuru. This woman was ten cubits in stature. She
brought with her a kunsā of rice, which, though one were to cook it and
eat it during a whole lifetime, would never be exhausted. An elephant
of priceless value, which could travel a hundred yoganas even before
breakfast. Seven vessels arrived at the port completely filled with
valuable putzos.
BUDDHIST COUNTRIES OF THE PRESENT DAY.
Buddhism in India has almost died out. In Ceylon, and among the sect
of the Jains, in Western India, it still remains; but, excepting
these parts of the country, Brahminism has triumphed in putting down
Buddhism. In Farther India, that is, in Burmah and Malacca, Buddhism
is very strong. Among the Karens of Burmah, Buddhism never gained any
acceptance. In Siam, Cambodia and Cochin China, Buddhism is prevalent.
In China proper and in Corea it is associated with Confucianism and
Taoism. In Thibet it has taken the peculiar form called Lamaism, a
regular hierarchy having developed. In Japan it is often associated
with Shintoism. The Loo Choo Islands are also Buddhist.