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In the first period, the thought seems to have been simply confined to a state of rest — rest or escape from all possible sorrow ; and to this state, without attempting to describe or define it, Buddha directed his followers to aim. In the latest school, the idea of Nirvana was ''^restoration to the True condition of Being." It would be tedious to bring proofs of this, for many of the latest works or Sutras consist of the one idea, that there is but one Nature, to which all other Natures must in the end return; and this "return" or " ultimate union" is the per- fection of the one Nature of Buddha. So far we have thought it right to direct the attention of the reader to the consideration of Buddhism as a Religion; for it seems that as yet the subject has scarcely been treated in a comprehensive manner, in view of the whole development of the system ; and it is necessary, before appealing to original authorities, to be familiar with the general outline of the subject. The method I propose to adopt in the following extracts, is to gather first of all, from the Gathas or verses scattered in various works, and which certainly are of great antiquity, such primitive ideas of the object and principles of this Religion as they will fairly provide, and then proceed to translate several works which, from evidence of a strong character, may be accepted as embodying the earliest ideas contained in this system of Belief. three ways by which we are to frame our ideas of the Nature of God, viz., viam causalitatis, viam emiuentise, viam remotionis. Scott's Chris- tian Life, p. 306. SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 155 PRIMITIVE IDEAS. ] . The four Truths^ form tbe basis of ancient Buddhism. They are met with in every Buddhist compilation- known to us. They are these: 1. The reality of misery; 2. The cause of its aggregation; 3. The possibility of its destruc- tion ; 4. The means requisite. In a Chinese glossary appended to the Breviary of the Shamans, these Truths are thus explained. '' The four great Truths (sse ti), by observing which the Sravaka (Shiug-wen) may reach his reward, are these. To know the truth that misery (Dukha) exists and is ever accu- mulatingj resolutely to aim at its destruction, by devotion to wisdom. To know that by destroying the cause of accu- mulation and so removing the cause of misery, deliverance may be obtained — these are the four Truths of the Sravaka."^ A Gatha,"^ common to all the schools, is that well known one given in the Manual of Buddhism, p. 196, beginning '^Ye dhamma.^^ This contains the pith of Sakya's Doctrine, as given by Asvajit^ to Sariputra, and also to Mugalan (or Maudgalyayana) : it is found in the notes appended to the Memorials of Tathagata, by Wong Puh (Aphorism 77). "One day, as Sariputra (Shi-li-fuh), was passing along the road, he met Asvajit (Ma-shing) carrying his staff and alms bowl, his garments clean and properly arranged, his gait slow and dignified. Pleased at the cir- cumstance, he asked him, saying, '^ Who is your master V Asvajit replied, '' The Great Shaman Buddha, ** he is my 1 Chatur arya satyani. 2 SpenceHardy, J/. ^.,49G; Bigandet, p. 144 ; Burnouf, Introd., 629; Wassilief (from the Chinese of Vasumitra), p. 224. 3 The " four truths" will be illustrated in the next section. * This Gatha is very frequently found printed on slips of jsajier, and placed in the middle of the small " Josses" or " idols" found in Chinese Temples. ^ Asvajit, we must remember, was one of the five men converted in the Deer Park, and therefore one of the earliest of Buddha's disciples. •^ Compare the Southern Title, " Maha Samanakodam." 15G A CATENA OF BUDDHIST master.'^ Again he asked, ''What Law does he teach?" To which he replied, " I am but just converted" (the disciple of a day), ''and cannot recollect much. But, in brief, one Gatha may exhibit his Doctrine, and it is this — " The origin (birth) of all things is the result of cause ; The cessation of existence likewise results from cause. I, Buddha, tlie Great Sramana, Ever declare this to be the Truth." In other words, this Gatha teaches us the Truth that birth and death result from cause; and to find out that cause and destroy it is the secret of attaining to that state of existence in which there is neither "birth nor death," in other words, the permanent state of Being known as Nirvana. Another Gatha, generally connected with the former,^ beginning " Sabba papassa," is met with in Chinese works. It forms the text and groundwoi-k of the treatise of Chi Kai, called " Siau Chi Kwan"; this Gatha" is undoubtedly of a very primitive character. " Scrupulously avoiding all wicked actions ; Reverently performing all virtuous ones ; Purifying this intention from all selfish ends : This is the doctrine of all the Buddhas." There is another allusion to the primitive Doctrine of Bud- dhism in the 67th Section of the first Kiouen of the Surafi- gama Sutra. "At this time, Tathagata, unfolding his beauti- fully soft and silky hand, displayed his five-circled fingers, and continued his discourse thus for the instruction of Ananda and the Great Congregation. 'When I first arrived 1 Vide Spence Hardy, 31. B., 1<JG, n. ^ This Gatha is thus rendered by Spence Hardy. "This is the advice of the Buddhas : avoid all demerit ; obtain all merit ; cleanse the mind from all evil desire." It is thus translated by Csoma Korosi : — "No vice is to be committed ; Every virtue must be perfectly practised ; The mind must be brought under entire subjection : This is the commandment of Buddha." SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 157 at complete inspiration^ on the occasion of my preaching in the Deer Park^ for the sake of Acljnata and the other mendicants, my words were these : ' All creatures fail to obtain Supreme Wisdom and the condition of a Eahat, from the deception of the " guest" and the " dust^' troubles.' Which of you, at that time, in consequence of my instruc- tion, arrived at the condition of sanctity you now enjoy ? 'Then Kaundinya, rising from his seat, addressed Buddha, and said : " I, who am now so old, of all in the great assembly, alone obtained the name of ' saved'; and it was because I understood the comparisons of the ' guest^ and ' dust^ that I obtained the fruit of Salvation. ' World-honour'd one !^ your comparison was this : that as a traveller takes up his quarters at an inn, and having rested and refreshed himself, sets out again on his weary journey, and has no leisure to Rest or remain fixed (so is Man in his Natural condition) ; whereas the true master of the house moves not from the place of his abode. So, that which is impermanent and unfixed is like the traveller, but that which is fixed we call the Master of the House ; this is the parable of the Guest. 'And again, as in the case of a clear sky, when the bright Sun is shining, a ray of light perchance enters through a crack in a door, and spreading its brightness in the space through which it passes, exhibits all the particles of dust in commotion ; as to the dust, its nature is commotion and unrest, but as to the space in which the particles move, its Nature is Eest; so also is the condition of man in the condition of unrest and permanency (Nirvana) .^^^ From the above extract we may gather that the primitive doctrine of Buddhism centred in this idea of change and of Rest, and that the aim of its Founder was to induce men to seek the condition of Rest and fixity, found in the practice ^ This title is very commonly applied to Buddha. It is rendered by Prof. Julien " LokadjyOchtha," but it seems to me to be merely a Chinese form of the title of Vishnu " Janarddana." Vide Vishnu Purana, p. 19, n. 158 A CATENA OP BUDDHIST of the Precepts, in other words, " Peace" resulting from moral Purity. At the end of the Chinese version of the Pi^atimoksha, wo find several Gathas of the same simple and unvarnished character. " Patience and resignation is the one Road ; Buddha has declared no better path exists : The disciple who is angry or impatient Cannot really be called a Shaman." A similar sentiment occurs in the following Gathas taken from the work of Chi Kai, before alluded to : — " What is it puts an end to peace and joy ? "What is it overthrows all self-possession ? What is it, like a poisonous root, Destroys all virtue of the heart and life ?