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" And he adds : "For a long time, Ananda, you have been very near to me, by words and acts of love beyond all measure : go now and inform the Mallas of Kusinara that the last watch of this night, Tathagata will pass finally away." (23) When the Mallas learned of this they were sorely grieved. Some of them wept, some dishevelled their hair, and others fell prostrate on the ground in an- guish of heart. Then they came in great numbers, with their wives and children, and bowed down rev- erently at Gotama's feet. A little later came also Subhadda, a monk of an- other sect, questioning whether his teachings or those of Gotama were right. Buddha replied that in any doctrine in which the noble eight-fold path is not found, no true saint can be found; "that if the noble eight-fold path is found, in any doctrine, there will also be found saintly men and women, living the life that is right." Section 4. Buddha's last moments were now fast approaching, and he told Ananda that when he was gone the rules of the order, as laid down, were to be the teacher to all the brethren. His disciples, the (22) Vol. XI, Sacred Books of the East, p. 96. John, ch. 14: T. 1, quotes this very sentiment and almost the exact words. (23) Page 101, Vol. XI, Sacred Books of the East. 244 A QUESTION OF MIRACLES Bhikkhus, now in great luinibcrs came to visit liini, and he told tlicni to iiujuirc freely as to the truth, the path or way, while he was face to face with them. But not one questioned him. (24) Turning then to Ananda, he said : "Here is fullness of faith. In this assembly of five hundred brethren, there is not one who doubts ; they have all become converted, are no longer liable to be born in a state of suffering and woe; they are assured of final salva- tion." Addressing the Bhikkhus, Buddha added : "Behold now, brethren, I exhort you, decay is inherent in all component things; work out your salvation with dili- gence." These were the last words that Buddha uttered. Then, lapsing into unconsciousness, he soon there- after expired. (25) At that moment, we are told, a mighty earthquake shook the earth terribly, and a crash of thunder rent (24) On the noble eight-fold path, which leads to the "life that is right," one must have "1. Right or correct views, free from superstition or delusion. 2. Right aims, high, noble, intelli- gent, worthy of an earnest man. 3. Right speech, kind and truthful to every one. 4. Honest, pure and peaceful conduct at all times. 5. So live as to bring hurt or pain to no living thing. 6. Right effort, in self-tniining and self-control. 7. Mindfulness; a watchful, active mind. 8. Right contemplations, earnest thought, on the great problems and mysteries of life. Searching for the unknowable." Does not this eight-fold path cover every possible point in the Ncv/ Testament? Some may say it does not tell you to love God, but if one is honest, pure, peaceful, kind and truth- ful, doing hurt to no one, living a saintly life — what then? Will such a nir.n fall into a furnace even if he does not believe the man of Calilce to be the only Savior of the world? (25) Vol. XI, Sacred Books of the East, p. 114. A QUESTION OF MIRACLES 245 the heavens. (26) But the sun was not darkened, nor did any of the dead come out of their graves. Yet Ananda says : "There was terror, and the hair stood on end;" that worldly-minded spirits, both in the sky and on the earth, fell prostrate and moaned in anguish; but those who were free from passion bore their grief with calm, self-possessed minds. When the Mallas {2y) of Kusinara heard of Go- tama's death, they honored his remains by gathering flowers and perfumes, and making wreaths and cano- pies; and with music, song and dancing. Thus for six days they paid homage and respect to the departed Great One. Then they treated the remains as they treat the remains of a King of Kings. They wrapped the body in five hundred successive layers of new cloth and cotton wool ; then placed it in an oil vessel of iron and covered it; and afterward built a funeral pile on which to cremate it. Meanwhile, we are told, that all Kusinara was strewn knee-deep (28) v/ith mandarava "flowers from heaven," and that spirits from the skies paid honor, reverence and respect to the body of the Blessed One. On the seventh day after Buddha's death, eight (26) Philippians, eh. 2, v. 12, and Vol. XI, S. B. E., p. 114. There wag a similar earthquake, it is said, when Jesus died; graves also opened at his death, the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent. Luke 23, v. 45; Matt. 27, v. 51 to 54; Fo Sho, Sec. 2108, says the sun and moon withdrew their shining, but I doubt very much whether the sun or moon was affected by the death of either Buddha or Jesus. (27) The Mallas were a religious sect friendly to Gotama. (28) If that be true, they must have a great profusion of flowers in heaven. 246 A QUESTION OF MIIL\CLES Mallas chieftains bathed their heads and clad them- selves in new garments, intending to carry the body to tlie funeral pile, but were unable to lift it up. They were amazed at this, and, questioning the reason, Anuruddha, one of the disciples, told the Mallas that the spirits desired the body to be carried out by the north gate, "while you would carry it by the south one." Then they carried it out by the north gate to the funeral pile, and here another curious incident oc- curred. They were unable to set the funeral pile on fire. (29) Again Anuruddha explained the reason : "Kassapa, a disciple," he said, "is journeying to Kusinara with five hundred of the brethren, and the funeral pile will not catch fire until he has reverently saluted the feet of the Blessed One. Such," he said, "is the purpose of the spirits." When Kassapa arrived, he clasped his hands and thrice walked round the funeral pile; then, uncovering the feet, he bowed down. And when the five hundred brethren had likewise bowed at the feet of the de- parted one, we are told that the funeral pile caught on fire of itself. (30) Section 5. When the body had been burned, it is said that streams of water poured down from the skies and burst from the earth beneath, to extinguish the flames. On examination it was found that every (29) Vol. XI, Sacred Books of the East, p. 128. (30) Vol. XI. Book of the great decease. — page 129. A QUESTION OF MIRACLES 247 particle of the body was consumed, save only some of the bones, and at once a strife arose for their pos- session. The king of Magadha desired a portion of them, because Gotama belonged to the soldier caste; and he promised to celebrate a feast and erect a sacred cairn in their honor. Many other people from different places made sim- ilar requests and promises, but the Mallas of Kusinara insisted on keeping them all. Finally, Dona, a wise old saint, told them that such a strife was unseemly, and he suggested a division of the bones into eight parts, so that cairns might be erected in many lands. This being approved, the division was thus made; but others, coming later and desiring a memento, even scraped up the ashes and took them away. Dona himself took the iron vessel in which the body was consumed, and built a great Thupas or cairn above it. Such, in brief, were the life and the obsequies of a man who founded a religion which at one time came near being the faith of the world. Moreover, a thou- .sand years after his death, a curious circumstance placed his name among the saints of the Roman Cath- olic Church, and it happened in this wise : A Christian monk, who was subsequently known as St. John of Damascus, living either in Palestine or close by, com- posed a highly wrought religious romance, entitled "Barlaam and Joasaph." The hero of this romance 248 A QUESTION OF MIRACLES was Joasaph, a Hindu prince, who was converted to Christianity by Barlaam. Under a thin veil, St. John draws a picture of this Indian prince, who is none other than Buddha. The picture was faithful in all its details, and the story soon became so popular that it was published in seven or eight different languages. Joasaph, the pious Indian prince, was merely a mis- spelling of Bodhisat, one of the Buddha's numerous titles. People finally came to accept and believe the whole romance as absolutely true. Thence it crept into encyclopedias and the "Lives of the Saints." And thus, about two thousand years after Buddha's death, Pope Sixtus V.