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At the time when this restlessness is indulged, the influences of religion are no longer felt, and therefore when the man afterwards desires to practise fixed contemplation, he finds himself overpowered by vexation on account of his former conduct, and so sorrow obscures the mind ; hence this name of "obscuration" or "hindrance." Now this vexa- tion or sorrow, caused by transgression, is of two kinds : (1 .) The sorrow which we have just mentioned. (2.) Sorrow for some grievous sin, the recollection of which causes con- tinual remorse, the arrows of which stick fast in the soul, and cannot be removed. As the Gatha says : " Doing what we ought not to do, Not doing what we ought to do, The fire of regretful sorrow which (now) burns, In after ages (leads to) ruin and misery. JUit if a man is able to rei)ent of his sin, And to complete his repentance, there is no more grief. In this way the heart is restored to Peace ; But repentance not fulfiHed, there is the constant recollection of sin, ^Vhether of onussion or couniiission. And this is just the condition of the Fool, Not repenting with all his Heart, Not doing wliat lie is able to do, lie completes the sum of his evil deeds. And he cannot but do that which he ought not." SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 2G5 The fifth hindrance to be rejected is the cloud of unbelief. This unbelief obscuring the mind^ thet-e can be no hearty- faith in any religious duty^ and there being no Faith, then there is no advantage to be got by any religious profession (Law of Buddha). We may compare the case of such a man to that of a person without hands in the middle of a Treasure Mountain ; — having no hands^ what use to him are the Treasures ? Such is the character of this unbelief. There are three kinds of unbelief. (1.) That sort of doubt about oneself which leads a man to think thus : " All my faculties are dark and dull ; the pollution of sin in my case is very great ; I am unlike any one else." Thinking thus about himself, a man in the end will be unable to attain perfec- tion. If he desire to prepare himself for this perfection, he must not undervalue his own condition ; for whilst sojourning in the present world, it is difficult to ascertain what principles of virtue there may be within the heart. (2.) There is a second kind of unbelief, viz., that which relates to one's Religious Teacher, as if a man were to say : " My teacher has no dignified ways with him, or peculiar marks of excellency; he cannot, then, possess any great religious en- dowments ; how then can he instruct me V Such doubts as these will effectually prevent any advance in the way of Samadhi ; we should desire, therefore, to exclude the idea, for as it is said in the Mahayana Shaster, "A stinking leather purse may contain much gold ; if, therefore, we would have the gold we must not fling away the purse." The disciple should argue even thus : " My master, although he is not perfectly pure, is yet able to promote in my mind the love of religion (Buddha)." (3.) There is a third kind of unbe- lief I'elates to the Law : for this is the argument, " that the mind of man, which is naturally so taken up with worldly concerns, can never with faith and reverence undertake re- ligious duties ; and that there can be no sincerity in such profession." But what then? (Such a) doubt is the very principle of failui-e, as is said in the Gatha : 2G6 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST " The man who, travelling along a precipitous road, Doubts whether he can proceed or not. Is like the man who, living in the midst of the realities of life (religious virtues), Doubts of their truth. Because he doubts, he cannot diligently inquire After the true marks of that which is. This unbelief, born from folly, Is the evil product of an evil heart, For virtue and vice are true ; And so Life and death and Nirvana are true. There can be no doubt about these. Cherishing the principles of unbelief. The King of Death and the infernal lictors will bind you, As a Lion seizes the deer. So that there can be no rescue. There will be doubts as long as we reside in the world ; Yet, pursuing with joy the road of virtue, We ought, like the man who observes the rugged path along the precipice, Gladly and profitably to follow it. Thus those who have faith will enter into all the profit of a religious life ; whilst those who have no faith, even when living in the profession of religion, will profit nothing. By all these considerations, therefore, we should learn at once to cast away the hindrance of unbelief. But why should we reject only these, it may be asked, out of so many hindrances which exist ? Because, we reply, in these five all others are included.^ The disciple, therefore, who gets rid of these five is like the man who is suddenly freed from a burthen on his back, or a dis- eased man restored to health, or a stai^ving man brought to a place of abundant food, or a man who escapes un- hurt from a band of robbers ; so the man freed from these hindrances finds his heart restored to rest, filled with calm and peace. Whereas the heart, enthralled by these faults, is like the sun or the moon obscured by clouds, or when covered by the hand of the Asui^a, unable to shed forth any light, or shine with any degree of brightness. ' The passions, " trishua, ragas, nioha," etc. SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 2G7 4. HARMONISING (tHE FACULTIES). The disciple, wlaen lie first engages in the practice of "religious^ contemplation/^ desiring to prepare his life in agreement with the Laws of all the Buddhas,~ must first arm himself with a firm resolve to save all creatures, vowing that he will (himself) seek to obtain the wisdom of the Supreme Buddha, Firm as adamant in this resolve, press- ing forward with all courage and determination, regardless of his own individual hfe, if he thus goes on perfecting himself in Religion;^ and in the end not turning back, then, afterwards, when sitting in devout meditation, keep- ino- before his mind none but right reflections, he will cleai^y apprehend the true condition of all phsenomenal existence ; without any distinct recognition of that which is called excellent (virtue) or the contrary ; disregarding the knowledge of all that which depends on the exercise of the senses; perceiving that all things, in their nature imperfect, are mixed up with grief and vexation ; that the three worlds are the result of birth and death ; and that all things in the three worlds do but result from the Heart — his experience will be that which is stated in the Dasabhumi Sutra. " The three worlds have no other originator but the ^one self (heai't) — if a man knows that this ^ self ^ has no individual Nature, then all phgenomena (conditions) will appear to him unreal; and thus, his heart being without any polluting Dhyana. Chi-kai is now about to explain tlie character of the pre- paration necessary for entering on the practice of " meditation," and for securing the abstraction called " Samadhi." The distinction between Dhyana and Samadhi is best given in the words of Patanjali. " Restraint of the body, retention of the mind and meditation, Avhich thence is exclusively confined to one subject, is Dhyfina ; the idea of identifica- tion with the object of such meditation, so as if devoid of individual Nature, is Samadhi." Vishnu Picrajia, 658 n. 2 The Buddhas of the ten regions of space, of the three ages (past, present, and future). This expression is but a developed form of the early formula " to perfect wisdom." 3 " The Laws of all the Buddhas." 2G8 A CATENA or BUDDHIST influence (envelope), there will be a clear end of all power possessed by Karma to reproduce in liis case 4ife or death."^ Having arrived at this pointy the disciple ought to ad- vance to the further practice of right pi-eparation. Now what do we mean by " harmonising the faculties V We mean just what the potter does to the clay before he places it on his Avheel; he cleanses it from all impurities^ and brings it to a proper consistency ; or as the musician, who tunes the strings of his lute to a proper concord ; — so the disciple prepares his heart. Now, for the purpose of thus harmonising his, faculties, there are five duties requiring attention, which, properly performed, will make the attain- ment of Samadhi easy ; but not obsei^ved, will cause many difficulties in the way of attaining virtuous principles.