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The last of the four great Truths which formed the immediate outcome of Sakya's inspiration was this — that the only way to escape the sorrow of Life, and attain the happiness of Nirvana (Rest), was by entering the " Paths," in other words, by complying with the method of Salvation ex- hibited in his system. What, then, was this method ? In the first instance it was probably nothing but a public profession of disciple- ship (a submission to be taught) by taking refuge in Buddha, the Law, and the Church. But afterwards it in- cluded a personal discipHue, requiring the disciple to give up all family connections and all property, wife, children, houses, or lands; to shave his head, and assume the robes and take the vows ; and, lastly, to enter on a " reti-ular" life, the principal rule being absolute mendi- cancy. In this way it was declared the mind would pass, by successive stages, from the lowest to the highest grade, and eventually, if not in the present birth, yet in conse- quence of its good Kai-ma (works), find complete deliverance. ' TeAos ov yvaxris aWa irfja^is. Arist. Eth. Nic, i. 3. ' Christianity ii Ceylon, p. 227, Sir J. E. Teuiicut. SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 147 This was the method proposed by Sakya for escaping- the sorrows of Life. But religion also includes tlie idea of Worship. And re- specting this also a trustworthy writer^ has said that " the worship of Buddhism was not one of form and ceremony^ but an appeal to Reason only: Religion, therefore, he adds, it can hardly be called, for it opens no field for the play of the emotions. It is rather a school of philosophy." But the writer of this statement can hardly have considered that the original disciples of Buddhism were not philosophers, but men and women of all classes in society, and in some cases outcasts and chandalas. It was the glory of Buddhism to admit of no caste in Religion, and to offer Salvation alike to Brahman and Sudra. This simple truth, by itself, would offer a large field for ^' the play of the emotions." But the same winter adds, on the same page of his work, that " it was Fear which threw multitudes at the feet of Buddha, the fear of an eternity of Revolution through the cycle of animal existences"; in other words, the fear of '■'' eternal misery." But is not such Fear a necessary, nay a chief, part of all Religion ? Is it not an emotion of the highest order ? How, then, can it be said that " this system opens no field for the play of the emotions." But, in fact, it was not only the fear of an eternity of Revolution through the cycle of animal existences (or, the writer might have added, existence in the nether world, the earth-pi-isons of Hell), but also the hope of escaping these and attaining eternal Rest, that brought these multitudes to the feet of Buddha : and Hope, again, is a powerful sentiment ; and where such Fear and such Hope exist there must be gratitude and reverence, nay, and love — and these, again, are sentiments. So, that on no ground can we accept the assertion that Buddhism is not a Religion, but a school of philosophy. The Worship of the Buddhists is principally paid to the triple object of their veneration — Buddha, the Law, and the Church. This is conveyed to us in the well-known Chinese formula ' Baring Gould, Origin and Development, p. 358. L 2 148 A CAIENA OF BUDDHIST "Namo Fo, narao Yah, naino Sang"; in Ceylon and the Southern schools/ this adoration is somewhat differently expressed : " Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sam- buddhassa" — Praise be to the Blessed One, the Holy One, the Author of all Truth.'' But their worship extends to other objects. *■'' It was declared by Gotama Buddha to Anauda that the objects proper to be worshipped are of three kinds. 1. Seririka; 2. Uddesika; 3. Paribhogika ; The first class includes the rehcs of his body, which were collected after his cremation; the second, includes those such as images of his person (dagobas, etc.) ; and the third, things which have been erected on his account or for his sake, includes the articles he possessed, such as his girdle, alms bowl, the robe he put on, the vessel he drank water from, his seat or throne, etc.''- There is also another division, in which is included the Dharma or doctrines which he taught, or the Sacred Books. In the last division of Paribhogika is also included the Bo Tree, at the foot of which he became enlightened. These objects of worship (except images) are recognised in the earliest records we have of the Religion, and especially in the primitive sculptures found at Sanchi. The worship is rendered not only by men, but by the Gods and the demi- gods ; the idea, in fact, which pervades the whole system, is that all things in Heaven and earth and under the earth ought to worship Him, the all-wise Buddha. However dif- ficult it is to explain the inconsistency of worshipping an extinct Being — such as Buddha is said to have become at his death — the difficulty has never interfered with the actual practice. Nagasena, in one of his conversations with Me- linda, endeavours to explain the difficulty, but with no great success. He illustrates his argument in many ways : the wind, he says, dies out and becomes extinct ; but on that can any one say that the wind no longer is ? — the passing ' For the Burmese form of this act of praise, and an exegesis of it, vide Bigandet, Legend of the Burmese Buddha, p. 1, ss. and notes. 2 Eastern Monachism, p. 2\G. SCRIPTURES PROM THE CHINESE. 149 stroke of a fan will excite it again. How can it be spoken of, then, as non-existent. " Even so," he says, " the virtue of Buddha is everywhere diffused, even as the wind, which spreads itself in every direction; but yet, as that same wind which dies out is not again produced, so there is no recep- tion of the offerings on the part of Buddha."^ But, in point of fact, these scholastic refinements did not affect the early Belief. If we turn to the plates given by Mr. Fergusson, in his work Tree and Serjpent Worship, we shall see at once what this Belief was. For example, in fig. 2, pi. xxiv, is an instance of worship rendered by Kinnaras, Kumbhandas, and Nagas to the Bo-Tree. I would observe, however, that the worship is not offered to the Tree as if it were the resi- dence of a Tree-Deva or Dryad, but simply as it suggests an association of mind with the complete emancipation of Bud- dha beneath its shade -, hence it will be seen, the Diamond seat or throne beneath the Tree is a joint object of adoration. So, again, in fig. 3, plate xxv, we see Devas and men rendering worship to the same objects, the throne being distinguished by the presence of the sacred symbol of the Mani, or threefold gem, indicating the all-supreme Buddha.^ And so we might notice the character of this primitive Worship as it is illustrated in almost every plate throughout the work in question. So that, notwithstanding every meta- physical difficulty, we cannot doubt that worship was offered 1 E. M., 230. ^ Compare with this worship the following lines from the Khuddaka rdlha^ a Pali text : — " Ye spirits here assembled, those of earth and those of air — let us bow before Buddha, the Tathagata revered by Gods and men. Ye spirits here assembled, those of earth and those of air, let vis bow before the Law, the Tathagata revered by Gods and men. Ye spirits here assembled, those of earth and those of air — let us bow before the Church, the Tathagata revered by Gods and men." Khuddaka Pdtha^ vi. 15, 1(3, 17. J. R. A. .S'., vol. iv, part 2, N. S. 150 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST to the memory of the all-wise Buddha from the earliest times. There is one other marked feature in the Eeligion of which we are speaking, to which we can only allude : I mean the important part that " Meditation" occupies in its regulations. The theory is simply this : that by profound meditation we may become united to the Divinity/ or at any rate arrive at perfect tranquillity (samadhi), Avhich is supposed to be the highest possible condition of Mind. And yet (and this, in fact, is the difficulty of all such dis- cussions) supreme mind is supposed to be '^unconditioned." At any rate, by '' meditation," it is declared, we arrive at the emancipation of mind from the sorrows and evils of Life. It has been said, by a writer alluded to previously, that Eeligion to rise must mount on two wings, "reason and sentiment.