English
There are three chief reasons why men have not faith ; the first is this : they say " how is it possible that beyond this world in which we live, its Sun and Moon, there yet can be other worlds and systems of worlds V The second is this : they say, '' When men ai^e dead, and their bodies corrupted, and their vital spirits dispersed, how is it possible that the soul can rise to happiness, or sink to misery V The third is this : they say, '' It is impossible to believe that any man can attain to the condition of perfect enlightenment (Bud- dha)"; as much as to say that what the ear or the eye can- SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 33 Bot apprehend ought not to be believed, but ought to be persistently denied. On the same ground men who live in the north ought not to believe that there are merchant ships covering the southern seas, so vast in size that they can carry freights of ten thousand piculs ; and men of Kiang- nan ought not to believe that the nomads of the north live day by day under tents capable of sheltering a thousand men. So it is men object to believe in the Paradise of Buddha/ and that every good man shall go there and be happy. Whereas they ought rather to say : " That which the eye cannot see, is justly represented as a reward fit for the soul (unearthly reward) ." Now our perfectly wise Teacher, possessed of every superior faculty, acquainted with all the intricacies of life, and knowing the tendencies of all creatures, directed his instruction with a view to man^s complete deliverance, and the acquisition of supreme Wisdom. And to this end he taught them to walk as he walked, according to his own words : " Himself perfectly wise, he illuminated others, and so, by wisdom and by practice, he fulfilled himself," But here it maybe objected that this is just what the sages of the Confucian school teach. For what else is that about ^^ex- emplifying practical virtue^'' '^'^ so as to renew the people.^'^ And hence it is argued " the fundamental principles of both schools are alike.^^ But in certain particulars they widely dif- fer. Consider, for instance, that the Confucian school stops short at mere worldly rules, whereas the followers of Buddha apjseal also to religious rules ; the former speak only of one world, the latter refer to the existence of countless worlds, and trace all consequent states of being to former conduct in other lives. In these particulars, therefore, the two systems widely differ. It may be objected again, with respect to the sub- stance of Buddha's doctrine, that whatever is incapable ' Lit.^ the happy lands (kchetras). ^ Tai hioh^ § 4, and chap, ii, § 2. 34 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST of ocular demonstration ought not to be credited. But if Buddha warned men against falsehood^ liow is it possible that he himself spoke falsely ? for if men of the world in high places are averse to anything like deceit^ lest they should lose their position of trustjhow much less could Buddha deceive his followers ! His words, therefore, are fully credible, and there is no room for doubt; — and so an old writer says, "If Buddha^s words are not credible, then what words can be credited "? The substance, then, of his Doctrine is this, that the spirit or soul is the individual ; and the body is the habitation of the soul. As the spirit conies or goes, so the abode of the spirit {i.e., the body) is perfected or destroyed. It may be objected to this that in such a theory there is no room for real birth — it is merely the soul coming into a body ; and also, in case of death, it is merely the same soul going and the abode falling to decay. But the fact is, men generally know nothing about this soul — they only think of their bodies — and so are led to desire life and fear death ; and so their case is a pitiable one. But with respect to this soul coming and going, what is the individual character of that which comes and goes ? Simply what its former karma has made it. And what is Karma? Nothing but one's works. Just according to what a man does, his soul receives its kind of birth — doing good, it is born in heaven; doing evil, it is born in hell (an asura) ; and so, doing any of the three kinds of works belonging to the three evil ways, the soul is so born. So we may understand the six ways of birth in the wheel of existence, from which there is no escape. But to this it may still be objected that the spirit or soul in this case is constantly changing, and never re- maining in one stay ; how, then, can it be the same spirit ? But the explanation of this is that the spirit's abode changes according to its Karma ; and this Karma forbids any long continuance in one condition, because it is always changing: just as a man builds a house for himself — as he makes it so he must dwell in it — or as a man prepares his food and SCRiPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 36 di'ink^ as he concocts tliem ho must endure the taste. So as we do certain works we receive certain returns — this is the principle of self-causation. We should^ therefore, be ever jealous over our actions, seeing the immense conse- quences that will result to ourselves. II.— THE HABITABLE WORLD. 1. With respect to the four great continents of which we have already spoken, we will quote from the Dirghagama Sutra : '' To the south of Mount Sume is a continent called Jambudwipa (Chen-fau-tai) .^ This country is narrow to- wards the south, and wide towards the north ; in length and breadth seven thousand yojanas. The men's faces are of the same shape as the country. It has a great tree called Jambu, seven yojanas round, a hundred yojanas high, and fi% yojanas in spread. The people live a hundred years. More die than are born, and many die in comparative youth. The Abidharma says : " They adopt different styles of dress and personal adornment, and their desires are various, whilst some practise perfect self-denial.-'^ The Hi-shai Sutra^ says, "To the north of the Great-sea is the Jambu Tree, beneath \^hich is abundance of gold called Jambunada." Its height is twenty yojanas.^ From the ex- cellent gold found underneath this tree the continent de- rives its name. The Nyaya Anusara Shaster says: "There are two middle- sized continents belonging to this territory : 1 . Chamra (in- habited by Rakshasas, according to the New Vibasha Shas- ter) ; 2. Varshra. Both these are inhabited by men. (Our ^ This means the land that has gold ; but the Vibasha Shaster calls it Tchen-po-cheou. ^ The Sutra of creation. ^ Vishnu Purana, p. 168. ^ Vide Theories and Legends of the Buddhists, p. 130. d2 3G A CATENA OF BUDDHIST secular books speak of the shining^ spiral shells found in these countries ; and they say that the men widely differ in appearance from one another. They add also that there are numerous little islands in these seas). The Dirghagama Sutra says: "To the east of Mount Sume is a continent called Vide (Fo-yu-tai, i.e., the Purva Videsa of the Singhalese books) . (This word signifies " excellent body". The Lih-Shai calls it Po-tai.) This territory is nar- row towards the east and wide towards the west^ shaped like a half-moon — nine yojanas in length and breadth. The men^s faces are of the same shape as the country. It has a great tree-king called Kadamba/ in girth seven yojanas, height a hundred yojanas, and in spread fifty yojanas. The mfen live two hundred years. They eat fish and flesh. They trade in corn, cloth, pearls, and trinkets ; they also have marriage cei'emonies. The Abidharma says : "To the east is Vidhe ; the men are full of desires, whilst othei'S practise complete self-denial. They eat things which die of themselves, and kill nothing. They shave the front of their heads, and allow the hair to grow long behind. They wear short lower garments, and wind the upper ones round their pei-sons. The Nyaya Anusara Shaster says : " There are two mid- dle-sized islands belonging to this territory, viz., Deha and Videha, both inhabited. The Dirghagama Sutra says : " To the west of Mount Sume is a continent called Godhauya^ (this signifies abound- ing in oxen. The Vibasha calls it Kiu-to-ni, i.e., Gaudani. Lalita Vistara, p. 22). This territory is shaped like the full moon, and the men are similarly shaped in face. In length and breadth it is eight thousand yojanas. There is a tree- king called Ghanta,* seven yojanas round, a hundred yojanas high, and fifty yojanas in the spread of its branches.