English
" Perhaps I might remark, in passing, that the case of this universal frame and its Highest Intelligence, as you put it, differs from that of our body and our soul, inasmuch as what- ever care our body may need, independent of our exertions, may, it is conceivable, be supplied by the forethought of a higher or external Being ; whereas the world must be either cared for by its Highest Ruler, or not at all ; or again I might argue, that because some of the lesser processes of our animal constitution go on without much aid from our mind, it does not at all follow, and it is an illegitimate extension of the feusts of the case to suppose, that the mind has no share in guiding, controlling, and even preserving the body ; for surely we might find, even in this instance, the lower does not exist without the supervision of the higher ; but it is more interesting for me at present to ask, if the supreme Buddha be so tranquil as you conceive, not to call it what my countrymen in general would, so inert, why do you offer worship ? wherefore all your temples, and priests, and prayers, as well as your own anxiety, which I have observed is very great, not to act in any way against what you conceive to be piety, either in injuring animal life or otherwise? For piety, I suppose, means conformity with the will of Buddha, does it not ? or, at least, your prayers seem to imply a belief in some Being capable of answering them, and of whom you imagine that he may grant your petitions." Saug. " Evidently it is not to be supposed that the USES OP PRATER. 21 Supreme Intelligence can will what is wrong, for then He would not be intelligent; though neither do I see why we should encumber Him with much volition, supposing, as we believe, that to see clearly all things, as it were with a mental eye, is in itself the highest happiness ; but although the Deity neither wants anything, nor therefore should be said to wish anything, it is clear that mankind become happier in proportion as they draw nearer to what is most perfect. Now I suppose you will not deny that pmyer is an instrument by which man is exalted and improved, his intelligence raised, and his passions calmed; so that by devotion we may draw ourselves nearer to that which is in itself immovable." Blan. " Certainly ; we may walk, for example, towards a city> yet no man in doing so utters exclamations to the city to come nearer him, for he conceives of the motion as a thing de- pending upon himself; whereas in prayer we ask for something which depends upon another; and, except for this mode of thinking, I imagine men in general would scarcely pray at all." Saug " Have I not, then, heard that your own great Teacher told you that your Heavenly Father ki^weth what things ye have need of, as if it did not much concern the Supreme to hear from us a list of our desires, and yet he com- manded you, I believe, to pray?" Blan. "That means, that we are not to use pompous declamations, as if a true prayer to Grod was to be cast in the same mould as an harangue to men ; but it still leaves asking as a condition of our receiving, though not as a means of our Heavenly Father's learning." Saug, "If you please, I am willing to allow that the distinction which you draw is correct, or, at least, intelligible; but still it is our belief that prayer is a part of virtue ; and, although we attach little value to devotional ceremonies, when put in the balance against doing good actions, we should still think it an unpropitious beginning for a teacher of religion to use arguments against prayer." 22 PRATER AND ASPIRATION. Blan. '^ Such, praj believe me, was far fiom mj intention; only it occurred to me that devotions, if they are undertaken rather as the means of self-improvement than in the hope of obtaining any petition from a higher power, might, in our language, be called not so much prayers as aspirations." SAua. **What is the difference?" Blan. " Something of this kind. Prayers are, as it were, firom a child to his father, asking for something. Aspirations are rather a lifting of the affections, as of a man gazing on some beautiful object, or rising in conception to some sublime idea, either of which he endeavours, as it were, to draw himself nearer to." Saug. " Perhaps I understand." Blan. " But it is also part of my distinction, that prayer to the highest of all Beings would most naturally be addressed by those who fancy they have some positive reason for knowing it will be favourably received, and be of some service to them in bringing down an assistance firom above, as the light and rain come upon flowers ; whereas aspiration will be rather the mental posture of those who by reasoning or inference have conjectured some higher intelligence to exist, but are either not persuaded of his hearing prayer, or deny his active government of the world. This, then, I would gladly ask fiirther of you." Saug. " What do you mean ?" Blan. *' What is your ground of belief that one kind of religious worship is better than another, or upon what is that expectation built, which you profess to entertain, of arriving by a certain course of conduct at Nirvana f* Saug. *'Our expectation is part of the £Eiith taught us by the last Buddha, and our worship is also shaped according td his directions, or those of the saints who have followed in his footsteps." Blan. '' In saying the last Buddha, you denote that others had preceded him?" Saug. " Certainly." OBJECTS OP WORSHIP. 23 Blan. ^' Then, I suppose^ thej are not all supreme?" Saug. " They all enjoy the title of supreme, in token of their having attained the supreme perfection of intelligence." Blan. "Am I to understand, by their having attained, that there was a period when they were in some lower state, and, perhaps, one of humanity like our own ?" Saug. "Exactly so. The twenty-four Buddhas had all lived as men, and, in turns, acting either singly or with each other, they regenerated the world from the effects of ignorance and irreligion." Blan. " Then is it to any of these twenty-four Buddhas that you apply the title Adi Buddha^ or is it these persons, who formerly were mere men, that you worship?" Saug. " You ask rather a difficult question to answer ; for it may happen that all of us may not quite agree what is the fittest answer to give. For my own part, I humbly conceive of the single Supreme, Adi Buddha^ as above all the others, and in a manner distinct from them. Perhaps, indeed, by Adi Buddha^ I mean most nearly what in your hmguage you term God the Father, since of him alone I do not presume to conceive as ever having been any other than he now remains, the highest and most perfect Intelligence, and I am afraid of irreverently ascribing to him any unworthy office ; whereas, both the twenty- four Buddhas already mentioned, and also G6tama, the last, as well as the numbers numberless whom I need not mention, have lived in the form of men not only once, but for numerous lives, until by vanquishing sin they escaped the necessity of being bom again. With this highest Being, or Father of all intelligences, I ever associate Dharma^ the law which comes forth from him, and Scmga, the Union, or Bond of Fellowship, in which all the saints are bound to Buddha and to each other. These, then, make up the three blessed ones. Nor do I myself see any use in a distinction, which is often practically drawn in Nepanl, between the more glorious deliverers, who are con- sidered emanations of the highest Deity, and other saints who 24 ABSTRACT IDEA OF DEITY. have acquired blessedness by striving and aspiring. For since Adi Buddha is highest, and best, and alone originative of good, he is the fittest object of prayer ; but since he is the source of all intelligence, so in worshipping it anywhere I really worship him ; and those who rise to partake of this perfection can only do so by being essentially akin to it. There are, however, among the professors of our religion, persons, with some of whom I have recently been conferring, who think somewhat diflferently as to the Deity." Blan. " That is just what I supposed ; and you would confer on me one of the greatest possible favours, if you would convey to me even a faint notion of the difference between you." Saug. " Perhaps it is something of this kind.