There are many books on Buddhism, and to produce a new one almost
demands an apology. Yet most of them deal with the dead past, and
Buddhism is a living religion which is showing remarkable powers of
revival and adaptation. This is a movement of so great significance
that I hope this small volume may prove of value, not only to
missionaries but to all sympathetic students of a religion which has
played an immense part in the world's history, and which is still a
dominant influence in the lives of scores of millions. During twelve
years of somewhat intimate study of Buddhist countries I have found
that while there is much that is degenerate there is much that is very
noble, and the object of this little book is to estimate the living
forces of the religion rather than to emphasise its weaknesses. It is
at once more scientific and more worth while to look at the strong
than at the weak points of a religion, and there is an increasing
school of missionary thought which believes in building the Christian
Church of Asia upon the great foundations laid through so many
centuries. Not only is it true that God has not left Himself without a
witness amongst these peoples; it is even truer that during the long
and on the whole noble history of the expansion of Buddhism His Spirit
has been at work. I am convinced that any who really study this
remarkable chapter in human history will come to this conclusion, if
they have any belief whatsoever in a meaning in history and in a
Divine Providence.
The missionary amongst Buddhist peoples should aim at studying all
that is noble and of good repute, whilst of course he will not shut
his eyes to what is degenerate and unworthy, and inasmuch as an
increasing number of missionary teachers are doing me the honour to
consult me as to the method of approach to their Buddhist friends, I
venture to dedicate this small volume to them as a token of hearty
sympathy in the noble work that they are doing in seeking to fulfil
the age-long purposes of God. I think that many of them agree with me
that already a nobler form of Christianity is being produced on
Asiatic soil than that which we have brought thither, and it may well
be in the providence of God that a new and splendid era of Church
History is opening up as these responsive and religious peoples of the
Orient are captured by the Gospel of Christ. In spite of the failures
of Christendom and of our divided Christianity the whole of Asia
reverences the historic Jesus, and from her contact with His Spirit is
at once reforming and revivifying her ancient faiths. This process is
of immense significance and her best spirits, even when they do not
call themselves Christian, are frank to confess how much they owe to
Him and how much there is in their old faiths which will need to die
in order that they may live again, purified and deepened. That Asia is
increasingly becoming Christian in its standards of thought and
conduct is evident to any unbiased observer, and one of the most
remarkable proofs of the authenticity and originality of our faith is
this--that it is at once reforming and fulfilling the ancient faiths
of Asia. What it did with the religions of Rome and Greece it is
already doing with the nobler religions of the Orient; and true
missionaries of Christ are at work upon a task of incomparable dignity
and significance.
These brief sketches are based upon ten years of intimate association
with Buddhists in Southern and Eastern Asia.
Inasmuch as I have only been on the borders of Tibet I have not
written here of Tibetan Buddhism. It is very degenerate and so mixed
with Tantric Hinduism as to demand separate and different handling: it
is very clear that missionary work is urgently needed to free the
people of Tibet from a tyranny which is unworthy of the great name of
the Buddha.