CHAPTER VI.
Estimation of the Bible. The Dhammapada and Hebrew (sacred) books. Certain important dates. Jews were never missionaries. Precepts of Buddha. Contrasts. How to overcome undesirable thoughts. Knowledge beats prayer. Sunday proverbs. New birth. Divines preach brotherly love in the pulpit, and provoke hate when out of it. Buddhist precept is "do as I do," not "do as I say." The narrow way of the Gospel finds an origin in Buddhism. One law broken all law broken--a Buddhist maxim. Sakya taught about a future world. Parallel passages. Effect of Buddhist and Christian teaching. Parallel passages about truth and almsgiving. Ignorance a Buddhist vice and a Christian virtue. _Suppressio veri, suggestio falsi_ in the pulpit Classes in the religious world. Why ignorance is cherished. Ignorance often more profitable than knowledge. Examples. Charlatans live by the fools. Honest doctors and parsons must be poor. Poverty an essential part of Buddhism. Hierarchs are quite unnecessary to the enlightened man. Parallel passages again. Unphilosophical dicta in Buddhism and Bible. Prosperity not a proof of propriety, and misery not always a reward of badness. Lions and lambs. Design in creation. Right and wrong--do they exist before the Creator. False analogies. Persecution a Christian but not a Buddhist practice. Popgun thunders from the Vatican. Age not equivalent to wisdom. Siddartha did not prophesy, and so made no mistake about that which was to follow. More negatives and positives. Another contrast No obscene stories in Buddhist as in Jewish scriptures--no legend of Lot and his daughters, David and Bathsheba, of Onan, Judah and Tamar, Zimri, Cozbi, and Phinehas, and a host of others. A good deal of nonsense in all ancient writings. The foolish stories and prophecies of the Bible--if abstracted, little remains. The little might be improved by extracts from Plato, Epictetus, and Buddhist scriptures, and even from those of Confucius.
From the earliest times which I can remember, I have heard the English Bible spoken of with the utmost reverence, as the undoubted word of God, as a revelation of the will, ways, and even the thoughts of the Supreme Being. Everything which it contains has been regarded as infallibly true, and the wisdom, goodness, mercy, and justice of its doctrines and laws have been judged to be unimpeachable. From the pulpit of many earnest divines I have heard innumerable sermons whose burden has been praise of, and admiration for, the morality of the Old and New Testaments, the sublimity of the language therein used, and the loftiness of the thoughts embodied. From those same teachers, and from a still greater number of laymen, I have heard the assertion repeatedly made that the Bible must be divinely inspired, because no other set of men, except those who composed its books, could write so powerfully; and depict so graphically, the wants, the woes, the pleasures, the passions, the aspirations, and the doubts of the human mind. By a great majority, if not by the whole of our imperfectly educated ministers and people, the assertion to which we here refer is raised to the position of an argument; and any opponent who ventures to question the truth of the assumption, is challenged to show a book of divinity equal or superior to the Bible.
The worthlessness of the argument might be readily shown to any one accustomed to use his reason, by pointing out that the religious books of the Ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Medea, Persians, and Etruscans, are lost to us. We may compare the assertion with that which Englishmen might have made, to the effect that the British breed of horses was superior to any other, for no one could show them a better; yet as soon as our Crusaders became acquainted with the Arabian steed, the value of the assumption was destroyed. Yet such a remark would be wholly inoperative on the mind of every bigot whose judgment of evidence is always bribed by his prejudice. Consequently, to make any serious impression upon the mind of the Bibliolater, it is desirable, if possible, to make copies of the holy images worshipped by other nations, under the name of sacred books, and to place these side by side with that grotesque production, which, for our purposes, may be compared to Diana of the Ephesians--the thing which fell down from Jupiter.
Yet even when we do bring from distant countries, to which in our complacency we give the name of "heathen," copies of their deified books, and show their equality with, or superiority to that which we are told was arranged by the disposition of angels (Acts vii. 53)--the scriptures that Paul (2 Tim. iii. 16) affirms were entirely given by inspiration of God [--Greek--], see also 1 Pet. i. 11, 12,--we are met by the assertion, if the equality is allowed, that the Pagan writings have been copied from, or are traceable to, the writers in the Old or in the New Testament.
Whenever a thoughtless theologian asserts that such a thing _must_ be so, he is not by any means particular as to the facts upon which he bases his belief. This weakness of his is so conspicuous to the logical observer, that he sometimes feels pity at having to wound a mind so earnest as to be unable to use its reason. He almost regards himself as a man fighting a child or a weak woman. Yet men will, in their power and knowledge, deprive a baby of a bon-bon, which it is sucking eagerly, if they know that it is poisonous, and will lay violent hands upon a tender girl who, in a whirlwind of passion, is about to throw herself before a railway train. After the event both the individuals may learn to thank the roughness which saved them; and I feel sure that many an earnest religionist, who now thinks that the philosophers are treating him cruelly, by trying to deprive him of a cherished faith, will ultimately be grateful for having been induced to cease grovelling in the dust of a coarse antiquity.
If we endeavour to ascertain the basis of the belief that everything which is good _must_ have come from the Bible, we find that it exists in the assertion that the Jews were the chosen people of God, selected by Him to receive a record of His past doings and His future desires. Hence it is argued, that all who have not been taught by the Jews, or through their influence, are without God in the world--poor, benighted pagans. To support assumptions so monstrous as this, there is not a tittle of evidence beyond the existence of certain stories in some books, said to contain a truthful record of facts. But although the theologian heaps up protestation upon asseveration until the mass attains an imposing size, the whole is not of more substantial value than a huge bubble blown by an energetic school boy. If millions could be brought to believe that such a hollow sphere was a solid, painted with the most resplendent colours obtained from the celestial mansions, it would not make it other than a film of soap and water filled with air.
Yet though the unanimous consent of myriads cannot convert foam into a solid substance, a mass of froth may be treated as if it were something better, so long as all agree not to test its qualities; and any book may in like manner be regarded as of divine origin, so long as everybody determines not to test the reality of the opinion. We can easily imagine that those who have been educated to believe in the absolute density of a bubble, must be greatly distressed when it bursts. Indeed in every mercantile community we see frequent illustrations of this. Designing men weave a plausible story, and by inflated words induce a number of thoughtless people to believe their statements, adopt their promises, and act upon their recommendation. Whilst all seems to be prosperous, every dupe repels with indignation the statement that the whole of his confraternity are deceived. If faith in the stability of a banking house could have upheld it, Overend & Gurnets would never have broken. If then faith, the most complete and child-like trust in the truth of anything,--say particularly in a certain book--will not make it valuable if it be in reality worthless, then all those who wish to feel beneath them the everlasting arms of truth, should inquire into current beliefs rather than take everything for granted.
At the time when the wealth, power, and stability of the Bank above referred to were implicitly believed in by the many, and especially trusted by its shareholders, there were, outside of its pale, many individuals who felt sure that the establishment was very shaky, and a few who were aware that it was toppling to its fall. If then, at that time, any customer or proprietor, feeling a doubt about its safety, should have endeavoured to investigate the rumours which were adverse to it; and should have acted as reason dictated, after he had weighed the alleged facts on both sides, he might have came to a safe decision and saved his money. What is true in this case may be applied to the Bible--the Bank upon which so many draw large drafts, and in whose stability they have unbounded confidence. The thoughtless may, and doubtless will, continue to trust it implicitly--the thoughtful will probably consult, not only the Bibliolaters, but those who put no faith whatever in the volume, and judge for themselves.
The fear which many men have of biblical inquiry, has for a long period struck me as being inexplicable, inasmuch as it is at variance with the assertion of these very same people, that an examination of the book must prove it to be infallibly true. But investigation into a supposed truth can only end by confirming it fully, and thus making the truth more useful; or by demonstrating that the belief entertained is untenable. It has been the dread--nay the certainty, of the latter result, which has deterred many great minds from investigating the matter. Amongst these the late Professor Faraday was conspicuous, for we learn from a letter in the Athenaeum of Jan. 7, 1870, written by one of his own personal friends, that he--perhaps the most accomplished seeker after physical truth in his time, declined firmly to search into the value of the commonly received notions respecting "the scriptures," as he felt sure that his faith in them would thereby be shaken. Yet he was illogical enough to use them as a basis for his theological teaching. He preached to others from texts in which he had no confidence; and supported his doctrines by quotations from a book which, in his secret heart, he felt was valueless as an exponent of historical truth, or orthodox teaching.
Before we proceed to the comparison between the "Dhammapada" and the Bible, it will be judicious to place fairly before the reader the points which we hope to elucidate. We wish to show, by a collation of dates and doctrines, that the two are wholly independent of each other, and as we have elsewhere remarked, that if there has been any relationship between Buddhist and Christian writings, the first have had more than two centuries' precedence over the last. We wish to compare the morality taught by Buddha, with that promulgated in the Old and New Testaments. We desire impartially to examine into the question, whether the claim for inspiration can be allowed in either one case or the other, or in both together--whether, indeed, it is possible to believe the Hebrew scriptures to be dictated by God, without giving a similar confidence to the teachings of Sakya Muni--or, assuming that there is to be found a code of pure morality or ethics which we may suppose to be of universal application, we shall endeavour to ascertain whether the Hebrews and the followers of Mary, or the disciples of the son of Maya Deva, have made the nearest approach to its discovery and establishment. Collaterally we shall examine whether Jesus has a greater claim than Buddha to be the Son of God. The Dhammapada which has recently (Trübner & Co., London, 1870*) been translated by Max Mülller from the Pali, is one of the many books which profess to give, as our Gospels and Epistles do of Christ, the teachings or precepts of Buddha. These were for some two or three centuries traditional only; but about the period, B.C. 300, many, if not most of them, were committed to writing. As far as can be ascertained, the year b.c. 246 was the period of the first Buddhist council under Asok, and shortly after this, Mahuida, a priestly son of Asokâ, went as a missionary to Ceylon; other emissaries went to Burmah, China, Japan, and it is believed elsewhere. The oral promulgation of the Dhammapada would probably begin about b.c. 560--twenty years or thereabouts before the death of Siddartha. If we turn to contemporary history in the west of Asia, we find that at this period Jerusalem was in ruins, and the Jews were captives in Babylonia--no copies of any Hebrew sacred book were known to be in existence (2 Esdras xiv. 21; 2 Maccabees ii. 1-13--see also 1 Maccabees i. 21-23), and, so far as we could learn, India was a country wholly unknown to the Shemitic race. The acquaintanceship between Hindustan and Europe seems to have been made in the time when the Greek monarch, Alexander, overthrew Darius of Persia. Alexander invaded India about b.c. 327, consequently we infer that there was no possibility of Buddha being influenced by western notions in b.c. 560.
* _Buddhaghosa's Parables_, translated from Burmese, by Capt T. Rogers; with an introduction, containing Buddha's Dhammapada, or "Path of Virtue," by Max Müller. Trübner & Co., London, 1870.
To these considerations we must add the fact that the Jews have never been, from the earliest to the latest times, a missionary nation,--indeed, their laws and precepts forced them to be so peculiarly reserved, that even if they had known about India they would not have sent their emissaries there, inasmuch as the Mosaic law obliged them to present themselves at the Temple at Jerusalem thrice a-year, which was wholly incompatible with distant travel. Moreover, there are many extant histories to show that intelligent westerns went to India for knowledge and religion, and never seemed to think of carrying their own faith thither. The whole course of history points to religion and civilization coming westerly from India or Central Asia.
The dates above given will clearly show that Sakya Muni could not have derived his ideas from the teaching of Jesus, or of the Talmudists, neither of whom were in existence when he flourished. Whatever similarity, therefore, we find in the doctrines, &c., of the two, cannot be accounted for by supposing that Christian missionaries carried the New Testament to India. The reverse is far more probable, as we have demonstrated in a preceding chapter.
Some inquirers into the history of the sons of Maya Deva and of Mary are so convinced of the priority of the first, and of the close resemblance of the incidents in the lives and in the teaching of the two, that they have found themselves forced, reluctantly, to consider the question--whether Christianity is not Buddhism altered in some respects by Judaism. This point having been elsewhere spoken of, we will not pursue it. But a far more important, and, for many Christians, a more momentous inquiry, is, whether we can speak of the Son of Mary as the offspring of Jehovah, and yet affirm that the child of Maya Deva was nothing but a common man. So deeply have some been moved by this consideration, that I have positively heard the opinion broached, that the Indian sage was the very same as he who subsequently was put to death in Jerusalem. Wild though the allegation is, there is quite as great an amount of probability in it as in the assertion that Jesus went and preached unto those spirits which were sometime disobedient, i.e., in the time of Noah (1 Pet. iii. 19, 20), and were, consequently, then in prison, or that Buddha went to his dead mother, and converted her to his own faith. About supernatural births we shall treat in a succeeding part.
Without incumbering our pages with all the precepts of the Dhammapada, we will copy a few in detail to show the reader their style, and then we will only quote those which are most appropriate to our subject. The opening paragraphs singularly resemble those in Bacon's _Novum Organon_, and run thus--"All that we are, is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of him who draws the carriage (lv.)."
2. "All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him" (lvi. et. seq.).
3. "He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me--hatred in those who harbour such thoughts will never cease."**
4. "He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me--hatred in those who do not harbour such thoughts will cease."
5. "For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by love"--this is an old rule.
* The figures refer to the separate precepts, which are given in numerical order.
** With this and the following saying we may compare the words of the Psalms--"Do not I hate those, O Lord, that hate thee? and am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with a perfect hatred; I count them mine enemies" (Ps. cxxxix. 21, 22). The words of David, said to be a man after God's own heart, are equally opposed to the law of love, viz., "Thou hast given me the necks of my enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me" (2 Sam. xxii. 41; Ps. xviii. 40); I shall see my desire on them that hate me" (Ps. cxviii. 7). In Deuteronomy we find, moreover, that indulgence in hatred is attributed to the Almighty, "who repayeth them that hate Him to their face to destroy them: He (God) will not be slack to him that hateth Him, he will repay him to his face" (chap. vii. 10). Hatred of their enemies is, indeed, everywhere encouraged in the Jewish Scriptures, called sacred, and the Hebrew Jehovah is described as one with whom the power to hate and revenge Himself is a favourite luxury.
6. "And some do not know that we must come to an end here; but others know it, and hence their quarrels cease."
7. "He who lives looking for pleasures only, his senses uncontrolled, immoderate in his enjoyments, idle and weak, Mara (the Tempter, the Adversary, or Satan) will certainly overcome him, as the wind throws down a weak tree."
8. "He who lives without looking for pleasures, his senses well controlled, in his enjoyments moderate, faithful and strong, Mara will certainly not overcome him, any more than the wind throws down a rocky mountain."
11. "They who imagine truth in untruth, and see untruth in truth, never arrive at truth, but follow vain desires."
15. "The evildoer mourns in this world, and he mourns in the next, he mourns in both."....
16. "The virtuous man delights in this world, and he delights in the next; he delights in both."
We may pause here, and ask ourselves whether, throughout the whole of the Old Testament, we can find a single passage which so distinctly points to a future state as does this Buddhistic teaching. Yet bibliolaters assert that the effusions of Jewish writers were inspired by God! Mortal men cannot tell what takes place after their bodies have become dissipated into various chemical compounds; consequently, they cannot decide, with certainty, which deserves the greater credit for accuracy--the Dhammapada, or the Hebrew Scriptures; but all those who believe in the teaching of Jesus are bound to acknowledge that the Indian sage was inspired by a power superior to that which is said to have dictated to the Israelite.
How profitably, again, might the following observations be enunciated from our pulpits, instead of the vapid and superficial divinity, which disgraces both the utterer and the listener:--
21. "Reflection is the path of immortality, thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who reflect do not die; those who are thoughtless are as if dead already."
25. "By rousing himself, by reflection, by restraint and control, the wise man may make for himself an island, which no flood can overwhelm."
27. "Follow not after vanity, nor after the enjoyment of love and lust. He who reflects and meditates obtains ample joy"
We dare not affirm that the writer of the first epistle of John was familiar with the Dhammapada, but his words (chap. ii, v. 15), "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world," &c., are as purely Buddhistic as if he had known the doctrine of the Indian sage.
We doubt whether, in the whole Bible, a parallel passage to the following can be found:--
36. "Let the wise man guard his thoughts, for they are difficult to perceive, very artful, and they rush wherever they list: thoughts well guarded bring happiness."
It is true that in the Psalms, and elsewhere, there is a full recognition of the power of God to know, and even to punish man for, bad thoughts, but there is no precept recommending man to cultivate his mental powers for the pleasure which the task will bring. The following observation is equally to be commended:--
40. "Knowing that this body is (fragile) like a jar, and making this thought firm like a fortress, one should attack Mâra (the tempter, or Satan, the adversary) with the weapon of knowledge, one should watch him when conquered, and never cease from the fight."
A few moments' consideration here, will show the reader that there is a fundamental distinction between the theology of the East and West in reference to the management of "the thoughts of the heart." Jew and Christian teachers alike encourage their disciples to combat evil thoughts by prayer and by fasting, but they never once allude to the value of "knowledge" as a weapon. Yet, of its power, relatively to supplication, none can have a doubt. It it probable that no man or woman can attain to adult age without being aware of the intrusion, into their minds, of thoughts, whose presence greatly distresses the individual, and the worst of these is, that they take so complete a possession, as not to be driven away by any simple wrestling with them. In this emergency the devout Christian has recourse to prayer, which serves to nail the intruder even more closely to his seat. The philosopher, on the other hand, turns his mind to think actively upon some other subject than that which has intruded upon him, and as soon as he has fixed his attention upon the second, the first immediately withdraws. Smarting, for example, under a sense of ridicule from some accident which has happened to himself in a ball-room, or other assembly, a man may retire to his pillow, yet find thereupon no rest. He sees, every minute, the merry faces which laughed when he put the sprig of lavender, that his lovely partner gave him for a keepsake, behind his ear, as if it were a pen, and grinds his teeth with rage or shame. Yet, if he now betakes himself to go through the preparations which ought to be made to enable observers to notice accurately the transit of Venus, and then the means by which they can approximately ascertain the mean distance of the sun from the earth, he will find at once a pleasant refuge from his trouble, and fall asleep whilst extracting a square root. Those young men, and others, who, like the old saints are said to have done, often suffer much from what may be called "presumptuous desires of the flesh," will find the acquisition of knowledge is a powerful agent in subduing the cravings of lust, and hard thinking curbs our passions far more effectually than the scourge of the ascetic, or the prayers of the hermit. Mental activity, although it does not entirely remove it, does much to repress inordinate desire, and we consequently prefer the teaching of the son of Maya to that of any son of Abraham.
Of the estimate of a well-regulated mind we have the following:--
42. "Whatever a hater may do to a hater, or an enemy to an enemy, a wrongly-directed mind will do us greater mischief."
43. "Not a mother, not a father, nor any other relative, will do so much that a well-directed mind will not do us greater service." To this we can find no parallel in the Hebrew scriptures.
Some of the following are equal to any of those proverbs attributed to Solomon:--
76. "If you see an intelligent man who tells you where true treasures are to be found, who shows you what is to be avoided, and who administers reproofs, follow that wise man: it will be better, not worse, for those who follow him."
78. "Do not have evildoers for friends, do not have low people; have virtuous people for friends, have for friends the best of men."
80. "Well-makers lead the water wherever they like, fletchers bend the arrow, carpenters bend a log of wood, wise people fashion themselves."
81. "As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, wise people falter not amidst blame and praise."
94. "The gods even envy him whose senses have been subdued, like horses well broken in by the driver, who is free from pride and free from frailty."
97. "The man who is free from credulity, but knows the uncreated, who has cut all ties, removed all temptations renounced all desires, he is the greatest of men." A saying which is almost identical with "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit better than he that taketh a city" (Prov. xvi. 32). Those Christians who believe in works of supererogation, and trust to stores of merit laid up by certain saints, who have lashed their bodies and otherwise injured themselves, may read the following opinion with profit:--
108. "Whatever a man sacrifices in this world as an offering or as an oblation for a whole year in order to gain merit, the whole of it is not worth a quarter; reverence shown to the righteous is better."
Respecting evil, we find the following:--
116. "If a man would hasten towards the good, he should keep his thought away from evil; if a man does what is good slothfully, his mind delights in evil."
117. "If a man commits a sin, let him not do it again, let him not delight in sin; pain is the outcome of evil."
118. "If a man does what is good let him do it again, let him delight in it; happiness is the outcome of good."
126. "Some people are born again; evil-doers go to Hell, righteous people go to Heaven; those who are free from all worldly desires enter Nirvana."
It is therefore clear that Jesus of Nazareth did not inaugurate the idea of a new birth.
In precept 133 we have another sentiment parallel with a passage in Proverbs: "Do not speak harshly to anybody; those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way. Angry speech is painful blows, for blows will touch thee;" or, as our Bible has it, "A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger" (Prov. xv. 1).
The following is a reproach to a vast number of individuals who are called Christian preachers, and teach doctrines of brotherly love, but act as if religious hatred of dissenters of every class were a duty:--
159. "Let each man make himself as he teaches others to be; he who is well subdued may subdue others; one's own self is difficult to subdue."
166. "Let no one neglect his own duty for the sake of another's, however great: let a man, after he has discerned his own duty, be always attentive to his duty."
The following might have served as the original of the epistles of John:--
167. "Do not follow the evil law! Do not live on in thoughtlessness! Do not follow false doctrine! Be not a friend of the world."
168. 9. "Rouse thyself! do not be idle, follow the law of virtue--do not follow that of sin. The virtuous lives happily in this world and in the next."
170, 1, 2, 3, & 4. "Look upon the world as a bubble; the foolish are immersed in it, but the wise do not cling to it. He who formerly was reckless, and afterwards became sober, and he whose evil deeds are covered by good deeds, brighten up this world like the moon when freed from clouds."
174. "This world is dark--few only can be here; a few only go to heaven like birds escaped from the net." A statement repeated by Jesus in different words,--"Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matt. vii. 14). There may likewise be a comparison instituted between the following:--
176. "If a man has transgressed one law, and speaks lies and scoffs at another world, there is no evil he will not do." "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (Jas. ii. 10).
I quote this and the next saying to corroborate the assertion that Buddha taught the existence of a future world:--
177. "The uncharitable do not go to the world of the gods; fools only do not praise liberality; a wise man rejoices in liberality, and through it becomes blessed in the other world."
Compare 1 Tim. vi. 17, 18,19, "Charge them that are rich in this world.... that they be--ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."
See again (306), "He who says what is not, goes to hell; he also who, having done a thing, says I have not done it. After death both are equal, they are men with evil deeds in the next world."
309. "Four things does a reckless man gain who covets his neighbour's wife--a bad reputation, an uncomfortable bed--thirdly, punishment, and, lastly, hell."
310. "There is bad reputation, and the evil way (to hell)."
311. "As a grass blade if badly grasped cuts the arm, badly practised asceticism leads to hell."
178. "Better than sovereignty over the earth, better than going to heaven, better than lordship over all worlds, is the reward of the first step in holiness."
"What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" or, "What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt, xvi. 26).
It would be difficult to find any doctrine enunciated in the Bible more simple than the following:--
183. "Not to commit any sin, to do good, and to purify one's mind, that is the teaching of the Awakened."
184. "The Awakened call patience the highest penance, long-suffering the highest Nirvana, for he is not an anchorite who strikes others, he is not an ascetic who insults others."
185. "Not to blame, not to strike, to live restrained under the law, to be moderate in eating, to sleep and eat alone, and to dwell on the highest thoughts, this is the teaching of the Awakened."
Equally difficult would it be to find in the Old Testament such precepts as--
197. "Let us live happily, then, not hating those who hate us; let us dwell free from hatred among men who hate." "Let us live free from greed among men who are greedy."
200. "Let us live happily though we can call nothing our own."
204. "Health is the greatest of gifts, contentedness the best riches; trust is the best of relatives, Nirvana the highest happiness."
The following quotations deserve the close attention of the Christian inquirer, for they not only contain sentiments almost identically the same as those found in the New Testament, but they are couched in the same language, as closely as the circumstances of the case allow. Both enunciate the opinion that it is injudicious to cultivate or even to permit the existence of those affections which we have in common with the lower animals, and that to attain perfection love and hatred must be trampled under foot. We give the Buddhist teaching priority, as it was promulgated first:--
210. "Let no man ever look for what is pleasant or what is unpleasant. Not to see what is pleasant is pain, and it is pain to see what is unpleasant."
211. "Let, therefore, no man love anything; loss of the beloved is evil. Those who love nothing and hate nothing have no fetters."
212. "From pleasure comes grief, from pleasure comes fear, he who is free from pleasure knows neither grief nor fear."
213-6. "From affection comes grief and fear, from lust comes grief and fear, from love comes grief and fear, from greed comes grief and fear." "He who is free from affection, lust, love, and greed, knows neither grief nor fear." "He that loveth either father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter better than me is not worthy of me, and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it" (Matt. x. 37-39). "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (1 John ii. 15-17).
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it; for what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt, xvi. 24). See also Mark viii. 34, x. 21, and Luke