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" And, in confirmation of this, he adds, " There- fore, the Master's (Confucius) discourses about man's Nature and the way of Heaven could not be heard. "^ Let us now pass on to the Text of the Sutra; the first word ^ Viz., of Confucius, Buddha, and Laou-tsen. - The large-hearted man. But " catliolic" is a better word, and jNIr. Chalmers has already adopted this word in the Tau-teh-kimj, xvi. ^ Confucian Analects., v, 12. The meaning of Tsze-Kung, in tliis section of the Analects, appears to be this. " What Confucius taught as a literature could be understood, but the secret of his teaching as it related to man's nature and heavenly wisdom could not be gathered from any mere words — could not be heard under the form of words." SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 281 is Maha (prajila paramita), or^ as it is written in Chinese, Mo Ho. The entire comment on this word (and one such extract will explain the whole method) is this : first of all the couplet of Theen Tai. " The spiritual body (dhai-makaya), as to its substance (hypostasis), is like the vast expanse of Space. The Nature of Man and his Reason were originally one and undivided ; simply by reason of covetous desire his True Nature was perverted, and the six modes of migrational existence and the four kinds of birth were introduced into the world." The comment then proceeds : '' This word {i. e., Maha) is Sanscrit (Fan). It signifies 'vast' and 'unbounded.' The particular reference is to the boundless and infinite void^ known as ' G reat Reason.' Confucius says/ Look up at it, it is higher than you can see ! Bore into it, it is deeper than you can penetrate ! Look at it as it stands before you ; suddenly it is behind you {i. e., it cannot be grasped).'^ Buddha says, 'As the great Universe has no boundary, and the eight quarters of Heaven no gateway, so Supreme Reason has no limits; to measure boundless Space would be difficult indeed.' Lau-tsze says, 'Looking up you cannot see the summit of its head; go behind it you cannot see its back.'"^ ' On the " void of Reason," refer to the Tau-teh-king (Chalmers' Translation), passim [particularly cap. xxi. I think the "emptiness" explained by Lau-tsze would go far to exhibit the Nature of the Absolute as asserted by the Buddhists]. 2 Analects^ ix, 10, 1. Dr. Legge thus translates the whole passage. "Yen yuen, in admiration of the master^ s doctrines^ sighed and said, ' I looked up to them and they seemed to becom,e more high, I tried to penetrate them and they seemed to become more firm, I looked at them before me and suddenly they seemed to be behind.'" Quoted from the- Tau-teh-king, cap. xiv, "On the praise of the Abyss." I have called attention, in a previous note, to the negations found in the works of Christian writers when sj^eaking of the existence of God. There is a passage in Minucius Felix, c. 18, that is very apposite to our present pui'pose. " Hie Deus nee videri potest, visu clarior est ; nee comprehendi, tactu purior est ; nee sestimari, sensibus 282 A CATENA OP BUDDHIST Such, in brief, is the method observed in Wu-Tsin^^ Tsze's commentary. The object of the Sutra, as I apprehend it, is to shew the character of the" wisdom'' possessed by those who have '' gone across" to the other shore. The character of this wisdom consists in the absence of all " conditions." The five " skandha^" are regarded as empty and meaning- less. The identity of differences is assumed (matter and space, &c.). There being no reality in distinctions, then life, death, disease, old age are also meaningless terms. And by similar reasoning there is nothing to be attained, and therefore nothing to affect the eternal quiet of absolute Being. 3. THE MAHA-PRAJNA-PARAMITA-HEIDAYA-SUTRA. Avalolciteshiuarar (the Devatd of the Siitra.) When the Prajna Paramita has been fully practised, then we clearly behold that the five skandha are all empty, vain, and unreal. So it is we escape the possibility of sorrow or obstruction. 8driputra (the Rishi of the SiUra.) That which we call form (rupa) is not different from that which we call space (simyata). Space is not different from major est, infinitus, immensus et soli sibi tantus quantus est notus ; nobis vero ad intellectum pectus augustum est et ideo sic eum digne festimamus, dum inasstimabilem dicimus. Eloquar, quemadmodum sentio ; magnitudinem Dei, qui se putat nosse, minuit, qui non vult luinuere, non novit. Nee nomen Deo quseras ; Deus nomen est." This last con- fession is precisely that to which the Buddhists were driven. 1 The five skandha or elements of (limited) existence are these. (1) Rupa- skandha, comprehending organs of sense and objects of sense. (2) Vijnyana-skandha consists in intelligence or consciousness of sensa- tion. (3) Vedana-skandha comprises pleasure, pain, or the absence of either. (4) Sanjnya-skandha, the knowledge or belief arising from names and words, as ox, horse, etc. (5) Sanskara-skaudha includes passions, as hatred, fear, etc. Avalokiteshwara, i. e., the manifested Divinity. In such works as the present, this refers to the inward manifestation of the Divinity which takes place in the enlightened Heart. With regard to the general meaning of the term, tliere will be occasion to speak hereafter. SCEIPTUEES FROM THE CHINESE. 283 form. Form is the same as space. Space is tlie same as form. And so with the other skandhas, whether vedana, or sanjna, or sanskara^ or vijnana, (they are each the same as their opposite). Sdriputra. All these things around us (ye dhamma) being thus stript or devoid of qualities (lakshana), there can be no longer birth or death, defilement or purity, addition or destruction. In the midst then of this void (simyata), there can be neither nipa, vedana, sanjna, sanskara, or vijnana (i. e., neither of the five skandha) ; nor yet organs of sense, whether the eye, or nose, ear, or tongue, body, or mind (manas) ; nor yet objects of sense, i. e. matter (rupa), or sound, odour, or taste, touch, or ideas (dharma) ; nor yet categories of sense (dhatu), such as the union of the object and subject in sight, in smell, in touch, in taste, in apprehension. So there will be no such thing as ignorance (avidya), nor yet freedom from ignorance, and therefore there can be none of its consequences;^ and therefore no such thing as decay or death (jara or marana) , nor yet freedom from decay and death. So neither can there be a method (or way) for destroying the concourse of sorrows. No such thing as wisdom, and no such thing as attaining (happiness or rest), as there will not be aught that can be attained. The Bodhisatwa resting on this Prajna Paramita, no sor- row or obstruction can then affect his heart, for there will be no such thing as sorrow or obstruction. Therefore, having no fear or apprehension of evil, removing far from him all the distorting influences of illusive thought, he arrives at the goal of Nirvana. The Buddhas of the three ages, relying on this Prajna Paramita, have arrived at the " unsurpassed and enlight- ened" condition (samyak-sambodhi). 1 Colebrooke, p. 255. 284 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST Therefore we know that this Prajna Paramita is the Great Spiritual Dharani, — it is the Great Light-giving Dharani. This is the unsurpassed Dharani. This is the unequalled Dharani, able to destroy all sorrows. True and real {i e., full of meaning), not vain (t. e., unmeaning). Therefore we repeat (or let us repeat) the Prajna Paramita Dharani. Then also say — Ki-tai, Ki-tai, Po-lo, Ki-tai, Po-lo-seng-Kitai, Bo-tai-sah-po-ho.^ 3. THE SURAHGAMA^ SUTRA. We have shewn in the previous section how the meaning of the word " vanity'^ or " emptiness/' as it was used in the early period of Buddhist history — that is, to signify the vanity of all earthly sources of happiness, — became changed or transferred, at a later period, to the question of the reality or non-reality of all sensible phtenomena (or sensory perceptions). In the same way, the question about per- manency or impermanency — that is, the permanency of earthly happiness or the happiness of Heaven (as it was generally known), — which occupied so conspicuous a place in. the early Sutras, became afterwards the subject of discus- sion in a sense entirely different from its first use. It be- came the groundwork of an important argument, the object being to prove that there is something which is not suscep- tible of change, and that "That" is the universal self (tsong ; Alaya) .