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against the "lectures and articles" of Dr. Rhys Davids, which against all evidence announce that Buddhism "teaches atheism, annihilation, and the non-existence of soul." 1

"Romantic Life," introduction, p. x.

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THE

POPULAR LIFE OF BUDDHA.

CHAPTER I.

BIRTH OF BUDDHA.

AN ancient history of ancient deeds is rendered unintelligible to moderns less by what it states than what it omits. Details and explanations of contemporary customs that were familiar to the writer and his readers have been obliterated by time. I propose to write the story of Buddha, and add amplifications here and there when it is possible to illustrate ancient manners from other sources.

When the legendary life of Buddha opens he is disclosed in the heaven Tusita. Early Buddhism divided the universe into the Domain of Appetite. (Kâmaloka) and the Domain of Spirit (Brahmaloka). Above the earth were six heavens, devoted to those who, according to the theory of the metempsychosis, 少

B

were destined, after temporary sojourns in the sky, to be reborn on earth. Tuśita was the highest of these six heavens; and above it were the heavens of the Buddhas, in many compartments. Buddha, before reaching Tuśita, had already been on earth as a king, a young Brahmin, a she-bear, an antelope, a king of the serpents, and so on.1

What is a Buddha?

question.

There are two answers to this

The first answer is that the Buddha was simply the ascetic who had conquered his lower nature. Buddha himself called them Brâhmanas :

"The man who wears dirty raiments, who is emaciated and covered with veins, who lives alone in the forest and meditates, him I call indeed a Brâhmaṇa."

"Him I call indeed a Brâhmaṇa who is free from anger, dutiful, virtuous, without appetite, who is subdued and has received his last body." 2

"The man who, after cutting the strap [enmity], the thong [attachment], and the rope [scepticism], with all that pertains to it, has destroyed all obstacles [ignorance]—the Buddha, him I call the Brâhmaṇa.”

"Whosoever being innocent endures reproach,

1 The Comtism of Dr. Rhys Davids has been compelled to sweep away Tuśita and the metempsychosis altogether.

2 Fausböll, Sutta Nipâta, p. 28; ibid., vv. 395, 400.

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