The final result, when the man becomes perfect according to the Buddhist faith, is Nirvana, a state in which all sin and sorrow, all care and anxiety of every sort, have become extinct, and given place to perfect peace, goodness, and wisdom, a moral condition possible to be reached here in this world and in this life. It is not claimed, however, by the Buddhists generally that this condition has actually been reached save in three or four instances; but by entering on the Noble Path and persistence in well-doing, the Buddhist is certain of reaching the goal in some future existence under more favorable conditions. At death he who has attained to Nirvana ceases to be. Death, utter death, with no life to follow, is the grand result, the glory of the Buddhist system. Its moral code so elaborate, so complete, so admirable, has this as its supreme end; life is not worth living, and the end of all human effort and achievement is to be free from the evils of exist

ence.

There is some uncertainty as to the exact meaning of Gautama in his representations of Nirvana, whether really attainable in this life or not until after death; but extracts from some of the earlier works, which were accepted as a part of the Buddhist Canon, will confirm the position above taken. In a poetical tract entitled "The Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness," the "Blessed One" as he is termed, in addressing the five disciples who, after sharing with him the austerities of his former life, accepted him as the Buddha, speaks of the Noble Eightfold Path as " the Path which opens the eyes and bestows understanding, which leads to peace of mind, to the higher wisdom, to full enlightenment, to Nirvana."1 In "The Book of the Great Decease," the author in referring to the last disciple made by Gautama before his death, says: "Ere long he attained to that supreme goal of the higher life, for the sake of which men go out from all and every household gain and comfort to become houseless wanderers — yea, that supreme goal did he, by himself, and while in this visible world bring himself to the knowledge of, and continue to realize, and to see face to face. And he became conscious that birth was at an end, that the higher life had been fulfilled, that all that should be done had been accomplished, and that after this present life there would be no beyond." 2 This last expression seems to be conclusive as to the position taken by Gautama himself. It was not long considered satisfactory, and other views. 1 Sacred Books of the East, vol. xi. p. 147.

2 S. B. E., vol. xi. p. 110.

were taken up so as to throw doubt over the whole subject. For instance: "When the Northern Buddhists, long afterwards, had smothered the simple teaching of the founder of their religion under the subtleties of theological and metaphysical speculation, and had forgotten all about the Noble Path, their goal was no longer a change of heart in the Arahatship to be reached on earth, but a life of happiness under a change of outward condition, in a heaven of bliss beyond the skies. One of the most popular books among the Buddhists of China and Japan is a description of this heavenly paradise of theirs called the Book of the Happy Country.' The work already referred to, "The Great Decease," gathers up the teachings of Gautama during the last months of his life, a work likened to the gospels of the New Testament, or better perhaps to the Apology of Socrates. In an elaborate statement, repeated in what may be termed farewell visits to places where he had formerly labored, we have the summary of what he evidently regarded as the substance of his doctrines. It is given in the following passage, which is at once a description of his method as well as of his teaching: "He held that comprehensive religious talk with the brethren on the nature of upright conduct and of earnest contemplation and of intelligence. Great is the fruit, great the advantage of earnest contemplation when set around with upright conduct. Great is the fruit, great the advantage of intellect when set round with earnest contemplation. The mind set round with intelligence is freed from the great evils, - that is to say, from sensuality, from individuality, from delusion, and from ignorance." 2 It is evident, as remarked by Rhys Davids, that the word rendered earnest contemplation occupies much the same position that faith does in the New Testament, and is remarkably like the Christian doctrine of faith and works.

In regard to these main truths as above given, Gautama again and again declares that they originated with him, as in the following passage. After citing again the items embraced in the Eightfold Path, he says: "That this was the noble truth concerning sorrow was not among the doctrines handed down, but there arose within me the eye to perceive it, there arose the knowledge of its nature, there arose the understanding of its cause, there arose the wisdom to guide in the path of tranquillity, there arose the light to dispel darkness from day." In a re-statement of the same truth he says: "That I should comprehend that this was 1 Rhys Davids, S. B. E., vol. ii. p. 245.

2 S. B. E., vol. xi. p. 28.

3

the noble truth concerning sorrow, though it was not among the doctrines handed down, there arose within me the eye, there arose the knowledge, there arose the understanding, there arose the wisdom, there arose the light."

Quite in keeping with the above, and not unworthy of Gautama, at least in his spirit, is a volume entitled "The Path of Virtue," consisting of 423 aphorisms. They are simple, free from all extravagance, plain, moral suggestions, much in the style of the Book of Proverbs, as may be inferred from a few instances here given, translated by Max Müller.1

1. "All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded on our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him."

21. "Reflection is the path of immortality, thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who reflect do not die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead already."

51. "But, like a beautiful flower, full of color and full of scent, are the fine and fruitful words of him who acts accordingly."

103. "If one man conquer in battle a thousand times a thousand men, and if another conquer himself, he is the greatest of conquerors."

169. "Follow the law of virtue; do not follow that of sin. The virtuous live happily in this world and in the next.”

Scattered through the "Book of the Great Decease" are found many similar maxims, such as Gautama's charge to Ananda, one of his favorite disciples: "Be earnest, be zealous, be intent on your own good." A special charge to his disciples who had adopted the vows of celibacy is given in the following terms, in reply to Ananda's question, "How are we to conduct ourselves, Lord, with regard to Womankind?" "Don't see them, Ananda." "But if we should see them, what are we to do?" "Abstain from speech, Ananda." "But if they should speak to us, Lord, what are we to do?" "Keep wide awake, Ananda." 2 In the treatises cited above so free from legends and of undoubted early date we have the substance of Gautama's teaching, the secret of its power over thoughtful minds.

It is not strange that a system of moral philosophy like thiswe can hardly call it a religion — a system so far in advance of anything known at the time, so true in many respects to the

1 See his volume on Science of Religion.

2 S. B. E., vol. xi. p. 91.

moral nature of man, and so in contrast with the corrupt practices of the priesthood and the burdens of idolatrous worship, should have awakened profound interest and even an enthusiasm among the better classes of the people. "Never," as is remarked by one of the most eminent students of Buddhism,1 "never in the history of the world had a scheme of salvation been put forth so simple in its nature, so free from any superhuman agency, so independent of, so even antagonistic to, the belief in a soul, the belief in God, and the hope for a future life. And we must not allow our estimate of the importance of the event to be influenced by our disagreement from the opinions put forth. Whether these be right or wrong, it was a turning point in the religious history of man when a reformer, full of the most earnest moral purpose, and trained in all the intellectual culture of his time, put forth deliberately, and with a knowledge of the opposing views the doctrine of a salvation to be found here, in this life in an inward change of heart, to be brought about by perseverance in a mere system of self-culture and of self-control."

The object of this paper, as already intimated, is to give a view of Buddhism as taught by Gautama, as matured and developed by him during the annual periods given to the private instruction of his disciples. By constant repetition it was thoroughly committed to memory. Shortly after his death a council was called to secure the aid of those most intimate with him to settle some differences that had arisen; another a hundred years later for the same purpose; and a third by King or Emperor Asoka in the year 250 B. C., which formally settled the Canon of Buddhist Scriptures, and committed them to writing, but not without an evident mixture of myth and legend. This Asoka was the Constantine of Buddhism. Through his influence and patronage it spread over India and became for nearly 800 years the dominant religion, till it broke down under the burden of extraneous accretions, and was supplanted by Hinduism in its narrower sense.

It would be an interesting subject of inquiry to ascertain whether Gautama was really indebted to any source outside of the Vedas and his own meditations for his elaborate code of morals. The striking similarity of many of his precepts to those to be found in the moralists of Greece and Rome, notably in the Laws of Plato, might suggest a common origin; but there seems to have been little if any intercourse between Greece and India prior to the invasion of Alexander, near the middle of the fourth century

before Christ. No theory of occult science, of esoteric wisdom known to the initiated of different countries, will account for this similarity. The Eleusinian mysteries are shown by Mr. Grote to have related only to beliefs touching questions of Greek thought and worship. The common origin of primal truths in morals and religion may rather be ascribed to the remains of the primitive revelation which held its place through the centuries because true to the moral nature of man. Aristotle, as quoted by Jowett, ascribes these truths to the wise men who lived near the beginning of things. Some of these truths are to be found in the Vedas, and though lost sight of in the pantheism and the moral degradation of his time, could not fail to have enlisted the thoughtful regard of a mind so keen in its moral perceptions as that of Gautama. Indeed, Gautama's own testimony may well be taken in proof that he was not indebted to any outside sources.

What is of more interest to us at this day is his formal rejection of any esoteric doctrines for an elect few. There was no privacy in his instructions even for those whom he organized as an order, only certain stricter rules of living as became men devoted to the work of making known his instructions to others. Esoteric Buddhism, of which we hear so much in these later times, is purely an after-thought. When the Buddhism of Gautama had declined from its first estate it compromised with Brahmanism, accepting some of its speculations, among the rest, the Yoga system of occult knowledge, and gave in exchange its Buddha to occupy a place in the Hindu pantheon as an incarnation of Krishna. The instances recorded in which supernatural power is claimed for Gautama in the earlier books are so rare and so out of keeping with their general tenor as to be fairly accounted for as interpolations of a later day, to give increased dignity to his character; unless we suppose that in his old age, like Mohammed or even Keshub Chunder Sen of our time, he may have yielded to his flatterers and accepted their ascriptions of extraordinary

power.

So once for all we may clear our way of all the fancies of esoteric Buddhism, seeing in its claims not the teachings of Gautama, but the accretions of the popular legends of a credulous and superstitious age, reinforced on the one hand by the speculations. of an oriental imagination, and on the other by the jugglery and legerdemain of the devotees of occult science. This is all we can make out of Mr. Sinnetts' Esoteric Buddhism, notwithstanding his claim to have received permission to publish its secrets from