TheOutlineofBuddhism 10000483

TA B L E O F C ONT E NT S .
LIFE OF B UD DH A .
Budd h a s ’
B i rt h .
S i d d a r th a
Marriage
’
5 .
The Three S ights

The G reat Renunciation .
The Long Retirement .
The E nlightenment
B u ddha s Temptation
’
Openin g of Mission .
Sending O ut of the Disciples .
Epoch of G ospel ”
B uddha s Fare w ell Add r ess

’
B ud d ha s Death
’
GEN E R AL H I S TOR Y OF B U DDH I S M .
The F irst B udd h ist Council .
The Second Buddhist Council .
The Third B uddhist

The Divergence of Budd hism
The Fo u rth B uddhist Council .
B uddhism Successes
The F ate of B u ddhism in In d ia
Buddhism l n Ceylon
Buddhism in Tibet
Buddhism i n China
Buddhism i n Japan
DO C TR I N E OF B U DDH I S M .
Introduction
The Principle of T ransit io n .
The Principle of Cause and Eflec t

'
The Principle of Transmigratio n

The Confession
Profession of F aith 1n Trirat n
a .
Observance of the Ten Precepts

P RE F ACE .
The o bj ect of t his b o o k i s inten d ed to give the

reader a n outline of the ge n eral hist o ry of B uddhism ,
together with the li fe o f Bud d h a S akyamuni and his

d oct rine in brief
It is but j u s t ho w ever that I should own here
, , ,
being far fr o m an o riginal the bu l k of the present

,
volume is largely taken from t h e several works of

older scholars of great fame on this su bj ect an d the ,
reader will no doubt als o find many similar state

, ,
ments through the writings of some Western scholars .
Where I di ffer from my predecessors in this under

taking is that I have en d eavored t o com pile the pres
,
ent work in gatheri n g materia l s considered only as

orthodox Buddhism .
So the first c h apt e r on the life o f Bud d h a for ,
instance is mostl y deriv e d from the Nort h ern Bu d d

,
hist canons using seldom an y o f t h e S o uthern text

,
.
The second c h apter on the general hist o ry of Bud d

h is m is sim pl y a rearrangement o f older texts The .
third chapter o n the teachings o f Buddha is likewise , ,
a translati o n o f the com mon canon wildl y used am o ng

the J apanese Buddhists .
The sole ai m of my present u n dertaki n g as stated ,
above b e i n gfs i m pl y to present a fair glimpse of t his

,
much talke d o f B u d dhism to the general readers of

this continent .
If one desires t o investigate more fully I would ,
respectfu lly refer the read er to those learned w o rk s

of distin guished Orien t alists such as Max Muller , ,
Old enberg Eitel Beal Rhys Davids Childers a n d

, , , ,
Dr Paul C arus
. .
6 7 72 6 O l d/i 72 6 o
f B u ddhi sm .
A word of expla n ati o n concerning my Eng l ish is

necessary I sincerely hope it will deserve my
.
reader s attention While the subj ect matter of my

’
.
work is absolutely correct the presentation of it is

,
necessarily crude on account of m y limited command

of the English language I hope however my .
, ,
readers will u nderstand the principles of B uddhism

through my statements .
I cannot conclude with o ut t h anking Mrs Mary .
Olive Coonradt for her kindness i n correcting some

parts of t his work I shall thankful l y receive at all
.
,
times suggestions fo r further improvements

,
.
S K ES A B URO N A GA O
'
S a n F rancisco March 3 1 1 9 00
, ,
.
LIFE O F B UDDHA
C HAPTER I .
U D D II A S B I RT H
B —
’
.
Our Lord Sakyam uni as t h e Saviour of the world ,
and founder of B uddhism is regarded by the people ,
as one of the great men the world has produced He .
was unquestionably an enligh tened man remark ,
able i h the influence he exercised over his countr y

men when alive and the still gre ater influence he
,
has ever since exercised by his doctrine over the world .
He was born about the sixth century before C hrist ,
in K a pi l avast u the royal city of his father Sudd

, ,
b adana who was ruler o f a ki n gdom north of Oude

, ,
in India The prince was called Gautama fro m the

.
,
tribe to which his family belonged His pe r son was .
bright like the shining of the sun and beautiful as a

child of h eaven adorned with every excellent d i st in c
,
tion sel dom seen on the earth At the moment of .
his birth he deliberately took seven steps in the

direction of each of the cardinal points and said : I
alone of all beings in heaven a bove and heaven
,
”
below am worthy of honor
,
.
His mo t her Maya the queen to w hom the future

, , ,
greatness and mighty s w ay of the prince over the

world was revealed in a dream died a few days after ,
his birth a nd addressing her sister Praj apati said :

, , ,
“
A m other who has born a future B uddha will never
give b irth to another child I shall soon leave the .
world W hen I am gone be thou a mother to him

.
”
,
.
W hen the prince was but a chil d of seven years

of age he seemed to understand all arts and sciences ;
and he had such great talent that once instructed he
surpassed h i s teachers After this he was called Sid
.
u d d kz s m
’
f B
’
8 7 72 6 Ou flz n e o .
’
a name given h i m by his father B u ddha s
d ar t h a , ,
proper name and meani n g He who has reached his

, ,
goal and i n later y ears B u ddha or the E nl 1gh t e n e d

'
, ,
One .
CHA P TER I I .
S I D D A R I H A S M A RR I A G E
' ‘ ’
.
The p r ince S i d d art h a d welt in his beautiful

, ,
palace with all kinds o f elegant ornaments to delight

,
him and surr o unded by singi n g women whose m u sic

,
ravished both e ar and heart His mind was ho w ever .

, ,
unmoved by w o rldly delights and was far removed ,
from t h e w orld His purposes aimin g hig h he

.
,
shu n n ed all evil and d w elt in his palace practicing

,
every virtue ; also he loved to stay under the great

j a m b oo tree i n the garden of his father and m e d i t a t ,
ing on the ways of the w orld felt deeply the weak ,
ness and decay o f ol d age and the horror of sickness ,
and death .
Seeing his sadness his father feared he would gro w

,
up a mere dream e r and with the view of having

,
him enj o y life ch o s e a lovely princess for his wife

,
.
In his seventeenth year he was m arried to the ,
P rincess Y a sh o d h ar a h i s cousin the gentle da u ghter

, ,
o f the king of Koli It appears in their wedlock , ,
there was b orn one son R ah u ra w h o after w ard b e, ,

-
came one o f Buddha s disciples ’
CHA P T E R III .
T H E TH RE E S I G HT S .
Thus surrounded by his wife and child S i d d ar t h a

, ,
lived in the calm home of happiness and lov e not ,
kn o w ing o f w oe want or pain

, .
But at this t ime he met three woes which deepened

his pity for bein gs .
TIze Ou t li ne f
o B u d d hi sm . 9
On e day whe n he was driv i ng in his chariot ,

through his realm he saw a feeble old man struggling
,
for life his heart broken and oppressed his head w hite
, , ,
and s houl ders bent his eyes bleared and body,
withered h o lding a stick to support him along the

,
way ; a man w ith fever sick and mud stained whose,

-
hands and knees contracted and his tears flowin g ,
as he piteously muttered his petition ; also a process

ion of a funeral bearing along on a litter with bur n
, ,
ing torches stream ers and flowers It is believed by

, .
the common B uddhists that it was a Deva who ap ,
p eared to Sidd a rt h a under these d ifleren t form s to

'
e xhort him for t h e salvation of m a n Be it as it .
may the fact is that his kind heart felt for all men
,
so strong a pity and love that he afterward resolved

to sacrifice himself for their good .
C HAPTER IV .
TH E G RE A T R EN U N CIA T I O N .
One night when S i d d a r t h a was in his nineteenth

,
year he sat on the couch in the garden an d thought

, ,
A l l the world is full of darkness ignorance and ,
sorrow ; there is no one who knows the cause of

”
sorrow and how to cure the ills of existence .
That moment he resolved to leave his palace and

seek th e way of salvation Then he returned to the .
room where hi s wife was slee p in g that he might see ,
his beloved wife and son The child lay in the arms .
of its mother and fearing to waken them b e d eter

, ,
mined to go and not look upon his b oy until he had

,
become the B uddha or Enlightened Alth ough it

,
.
was b eyond his power to check the pain of parting ,
he s u ppressed his feelings for the sake of man and ,
went into homelessness for salvation .

7 71 8 Ou t li ne B u d d/z z sm
'
10 f
o .
CHAPTER V .
TH E L ON G R E T I R E M E NT .
Leaving his palace our Lord G autama went to the ,
river Anoma a lon g w a y from K a p i l a va s t u where he

, ,
had his hair an d beard shaved and put on a yello w ,
garment like the hermit of the t i me Thus he went .
into the j ungle of U r u vel a there placing himself ,
under two n o ble Brahmans Arada and U d r a k a to , ,
see if their teaching would satisfy his hope of fin d

ing the knowledge of w hich he was in search but ,
he could not discover the reason for human sorrow .
He left them and travel ed through the kingdom of

M a ga d h a and arrived at the fores t near a place called
,
Buddha G ay a and spen t six years in practicing the

-
most severe rites with his five o ther companions ,
Kandanya B h ad h ij i Wappa M a h an a m a and A s s aji

, , , ,
.
Seeing that these were not the means to exting u ish

‘
desire an d to p r oduce ecstatic contemplation but were ,
useles s and selfish he left them and went on alone

, ,
toward the Bodhi tree under which he might attain ,
enlightenment .
CHAPTER VI .
TH E ENLIG HT EN M E NT .
There our Lord G autama took his seat under the

Bodhi tree ( fortunate tree ) and uttered : I shall not
“
rise again from off t h e seat until I have attained the

”
Enlightenment And he entered into deep and
.
subtle contemplation .
O n e day at his thirtieth year of age the great

, ,
crisis came to him for he passed through successive
,
stages of abstraction until he became Buddha the ,

man who knows about his previo u s birth of the ,
causes of the transmigration of souls the causes ,
of sorrow and the way to cure the ills of existence
,
T/ze Ou t li n e of B u dd /zz sm
'
. 11
in short the man who discovered the Four Noble

,
Truths Thus h e became Buddha the Enlightened

.
,
One .
“
Afte r wards the Buddha uttered himself : W hen ,
I apprehended this (the Noble Truth ) and when I

beheld this my soul was released from the evil of
,
desire released from the evil of earthy existence

, ,
release d from t he evil of error released from the evil ,
of ignorance In the released awoke the knowledge.
of r elease ; extin ct is r e birth finished the sacred -
course duty done no m ore shall I return to this world

, , ,
this I know .
C H APTER VII .
B U DDH A S T E M PT A T I O N
’
.
When B uddha sat dow n under t h e Bo d hi tree ,
Mara Lord of the five desires tempte d him a

, ,
second time At first Mara sent his three daughters

. .
”
The first was named Lust p ol u t ion the second -
,
“
Able to delight a m an and the third Love j oy ,
—
,
to allure him b u t B uddha paid no attention to them

, .
Seeing that B uddh a had no desire for the three

daughters Mara ordered hi s subj ects the five
, ,
desires to attack him even using force but was

, , ,
a gain defeated by the power of the great virtues

of Buddh a After w ard when he had b ecome the
.
,
Buddha and remained under the tree fasting

, , ,
and enj oying the bliss of em ancipation Mara ,
tempted him again and again The temptation which .
he felt most severe was to enter at once into Nirvana ,
instead of preaching his doctrine to men But fin ally .
his deep compassion for all b eings m ade him resolve

to proclaim the truth he attained to mankind that
they too might b e free from sorrow .
C H A PT E R V 1 1 1
O PE NI N G O F M IS S I O N .
After re m ainin g u n der the B odhi tree durin g forty

nine days Buddha went to I s i p a t n a near Benares
, , ,
where he first preached Some n orthern B u d dhist s.

’
books say that the seco n d week of his enlightenment

, ,
Buddha began his gospel .
In the assembly there were his form er five com

panions who m he had l e ft when he saw that the
,
reason for hum an s o rrow could not be discovered

by their system and practices .
Buddha pitying them for their errors and point

, ,
i n g out the uselessness of their endeavors showed to ,
th em the perfect way or a middle path between ,
m o rt ifi c at i on and self indu l gence an d the instability

-
of the ego and lastly the bliss of Nirvana which

, ,
only can be obtained by the middle or the eight fold ,

-
p ath.
These doctrines are preserved in the D h a r m a c ha

“
k r ap r av ar t an a Sutra o r the sermon of the fo u n d a
,
tion of the kin gdom of righ t eousness .
Accordin g to some northern Buddhist s books ’

,
B uddha preached the B u d d h av a t a m sa k a maha vai -

-
pulya Sutra in the second w eek after his enlight

e n m ent and which w a s preached nine times in seven
,
different places .
CHA P TER IX .
S E ND I N G O U T TH E D I S CI P L E S .
When Buddha had finished S peaking the five ,
Brahmans perfectly understood the l a w of com plete

purity When he had thus converted the five he
.
went with t h em and preached in Benares .
At that t ime fifty young m en of the wealthy

families of Benares had become disciples and they ,
The Ou t li ne f
o B u dd /zi sm . 13
also b ec a me A r ah at s K nowing them to be perfectly .
enlightened disciples B u ddha comm anded them ,
thus : O disciples be like brothers ; one i n

, ,
love o n e in holiness ; assist one an other and spread

, ,
the truth from pl ace to place for the welfare of t he

people This is t h e holy brotherhood this is S angh a
.
”
,
.
He thus sent out his disciples in di fferent c o un

tries Where the people were eager to receive it And .
it was his custom during the good w eather for

him and his disciples to go out pre achin g to the
people but during the rainy season t h ey would j oin
,
th eir m aster in o n e place to receive his instr u ctions , .
C HAPTER X .
E PO C H OF G O S P E L .
'
The doctrines of B uddha s whole life are arranged
in a chronological order b y the Chinese scho l ar Ten ,
dai dai shi

— —
.
The first is called the period of K e gon by him ,
because B uddha preached the K e gon Sutra It .
embraces the time of the second week after his

enlightenment The second is called the period of
.
Rok u on or deer park from the place which formed

, ,
his principal place of residence It is also known .
as the Agon because Buddha during the second

, ,
period i e twelve years preached the Agon Sutra

, . .
, ,
.
At th e beginnin g of the second epoch t h e five ,
Brahmans before spoken o f were of the m ost learned

, ,
men of his day being t h e first converts others soon

, ,
becoming converts Now returning from Benares t o .

,
Urve r a where he had e n tered into the enlighten

,
ment h e preached to a band of Brahm an s and con

, ,
verted them .
At t h e age of thirty one B uddh a conve rted a n oble -
youth Y a sh a s by name the s o n of a wealthy

, ,
merch a nt in Benares Then he went to th e kingdom .

14 The Ou tli n e of B u d dhi s m .
of M a ga d h a There lived in U rv e ra the j a t i l as b e

.
,
l ie ve r s of Krishna fire wor s hipers ; and their chief ,
was K a s h ap a whom Buddha converted after a dis ,
course a nd then the believers of Krishna became

,
converts soon after their master .
After that Buddha proceeded to Raj a gri h a whose

, ,
king B in b i s ar a had become o n e of his converts

, , ,
and presented t o Buddha the m o n astery ofthe bamboo

forest V e n u v a n a This was followed b y the c o nver
,
.
sion of many distinguished y oung m e n o f the kin g

dom of M a gad h a It w a s at the age of thirty three .
-
that Buddha converted Sh ar ip u t r a and M a u d gal

y a y an a two Brah m ans and chiefs of th e followers of
, ,
S a nj ay a ; the former was unsurpassed in wisdom the ,
latter in m agical powers .
After two years while Buddha was preaching at ,
Raj agriha th ere came a rich merchant of S hr av a st i

,
called S u d at t a better known on acco u nt of his charit y

,
in helpi ng t h e poor and orphans as t h e friend of the

”
orph an and destitute or A n at h a p i n d a d a He ,
.
gladly presented to Bud dha the G eta Vana Vihara - -

.
At the time when Buddha was preparing t o visit

h i s father s court to make an o ff ering accordin g to his
’
religious doctrine his father sent word to him to ,
meet him Now Buddha after an absence o f twelve

.
, ,
years re visited his father s court After this first

,
’
.
m eeti n g B uddha took up his abode in the Vihara

,
of the ban y an grove w h ich h i s father King Sud , ,
d h ad a n a built for his reception and in a S hort time he

, ,
converte d many of S a k y a s At short intervals after .
this h i s fath er his son Rahula his foster mother

, , , , ,
and later his wife became follo w ers of hi s d o ctrine ,

.
Am o ng th e converts o f S ak y a s were Ananda his half ,
bro ther the s o n of F raj apati ; Dev a d a t t a his co u sin

, ,
and brother i n law ; his nephew M ah ak a t y a y a n a who

- -
, ,
pla y ed a prominent r ol e as a missionary ; U pali ,
the barber a n d A n u r u d h a the philosopher

,
-
,
.
The O u tli n e f
o B u ddhi sm . 15
When B uddha returned to Kap il a va st u a second

time he pre ached the Buddha dhyana sama d hi sagara
,
- - -
Sutra to his father

The third is called the period of Hodo by T eu dai -
dai shi During the third period i e eight yea r s

-
.
,
. .
, ,
Buddha s important preaching is preserved in the Sut

’
ras as follows The V i m a l ak i rt t i N i r d e sa Sutra the -
V i s e s h aki n t a bra h m a pari p rik k h a S utra the Lan

— - - —
,
k av at ar a Sutra the S u var n a p r ab h a s a Sut r a

,
the -
,
S ri m al a devi s i m h a n ad a Sutra the M ah av ai p u l y a

— —
,
maha s a m n ip at a Sutra and the Su r am gam a samadhi

-
,
-
Sutra .
The next twenty two years i s called the fourth -
p eriod of Han nya ( Transcendent W i sdom ) by Ten

-
dai dai shi During this period Buddha preached the

- — .
Pr a gn a p ar a m it a Sutra .
The last eight years is called the fifth pe riod of

Hoke and Nehan by the same scholar .
During this period Buddha preached the Sa d d h a r

m ap u n d ar ik a S u t ra the S a m an t a b h a d r a bodhi sattva
,
- -
karya dharma Sutra the Nirvan a Sutra an d the S uk

-
, ,
h avat i v y u h a etc .
Thus during forty fi ve years our Lord B uddha -
p reached his doctrine in traveling from place t o place ,
through the kingdoms of India converting all the ,
classes the B r ahman the Kshatriy a (literally the

—
,
ruler i e king nobility w arriors) the Vaisyas ( the

. .
, , ,
people proper farmers m erchants and artisans) the

—
, ,
C l u d ra (the subj ected a b or i gi n ee s ) .
CH APTER X I .
B U DD H A S F A R E W E L L A DDR ES S
’
.
Our Lord B uddha having accomplished his public ,
mission for about forty fiv e years after attainin g his -
Buddhahood one da y he asserted to Ananda who

, ,
16 The Ou t li ne of B u d dhi sm .
was his inseparable attendant that he had kept back ,
n othing a n d he no longer wis h ed to lead the brother

,
ho o d or thought that the Sangha w a s depen de nt

,
0 Ananda I am no w grown old and

“
u pon him .
, ,
fu ll of years my j ourney is drawing to its close I

,
,
have reached the sum of my da y s I am tur ning ,
eighty years of age ; and j ust as a worn out cart

can o nly w i t h much di fficulty be made to move along ,
so the body of the Tathagata can o nly be kept going

with much additional care Therefore O Ananda .
, , ,
be you lamps to y o urselve s Rely o n y ourselves and .

,
do not rely on external help H o ld fast to the tr u th . .
Lo o k n ot for assistance to an y o n e beside your

”
selves .
After having conversed with Ananda he told him ,
to call the brethren together at the K ap al a t c h a it y a ,
and there he told them that his end was approaching .
and exhorted them to walk in the way of truth and

to follow the Sutra the Vinaya a n d the M a t r ik a
, ,
.
CH APT E R XII .
’
B UDD H A s D EA TH .
At the full moon night o f May 4 77 B C B uddha ,

. .
,
came with Ananda to K u s h i n ar a after their long

j ourney and stopped in the twin sal tree grove
,
.
Now kno w ing that his last t ime had come Buddha
, ,
told Ananda to place his couch between the sal trees .
Ananda did as he was bidden but he was so ,
sorrowful that he could not restrain his flowing

tears Seeing him weeping Buddha ann o unced to
.
“
Ananda : I have ever declared to you that it is
i n the nature of all things that we m ust separate ,
fro m our near and dear and leave them Now then
, .
,
Ananda can it be possible for me to remain since

, ,
everything that is born or brought into being , ,

The Ou t li ne of B u d d hi sm . 17
contains w ithin itself the inherent necessity of dis

solution ' How then can it b e possible that this
, ,
body of mine should not be dissolved ' No such con

”
dition can exist .
N o w when the disciples and the believers heard

,
that their master was about to pass away they as ,
sembled around his couch Our Lord even in his .

,
last hours through the wh ole night preached and ,
converted new disciples ; at daybreak he entered

Ni rvana lyin g by the Sa l trees with his head t o
, ,
the north At the last moment he addressed his

.
“
disciples thus Behold now brethren I impress
'
, ,
upon you that decay is inherent in all componen t s ,
but the truth will remain forever ' Work ou t your

”
salvation with d iligence etc The se were the las t
,
.
words of our Lord Buddha

His funeral was cel ebrated with such ceremonies
as became the great kin g of kings Ambassa
'
.
dors ca me from al l t h e kingdo m s to claim a share

of t h e relics
l
a nd the relics were divided into eight
,
portions and eight pagodas we re erected for wors h ip

,
over each of them .

CH A P TER XIII .
TH E FI R S T B U DD H I S T C O U N CIL .
Very s o o n after Buddha s death the first B u ddhist ’
council was held at the Satg t p auni ca ve near ,
Raj a gr ih a to chant together the wo rd s of the B fi dd h a

, ,
because his teaching w a s oral a n d conversatio n al .
The council consisted o f five hundred A r a h a t s w h o ,
w ere the m o st prominent and revere nd of Buddha s

’
followers under the presidency o f M ah ak a y ap a

,
.
B y request of the assembly Ananda who was ,
foremost amo n g those who heard much who ,
understood what they heard who remembered ,
w hat they had heard recited in a loud voice the

,
Sutras of B uddha as he hear d and understo o d

them menti o n ing villages t o w ns c o untries and kin g
, , ,
doms in which they had been preached by Buddha .
When A n anda had finished reciting all the S utras

which Buddha had spoken the as s embl y cried aloud , ,
“
These then are the Dharmas '
, ,
”
Next the venerable U pali a wise man was re

, , ,
quested by the assembly to recite the Vina y a which

had been taught by Buddha W hen he had finished .
reciting each Vinaya where and for what reason each

,
Vinaya had been made the assembly conse n ted by ,
sa y ing ,
“
The s e then are the Vina y as
, ,
Then M ah ak ay a p a b y the cons ent of the as

,
se mb l y had compiled t h e M at r i k a or t h e meta

, ,
p hysical par t s o f the doctrine with the purpose which ,
makes perfectly lucid the disting u ishing points of

that which ought to be known Thus the teach .
ings of B uddha were sung in th r ee divisions called

the Tripitaka or three baskets of B uddha
, .
During a hun d red years after B uddha s death ’

,
t here were five succeeding teachers whose n ames are ,
M ah a k ay ap a Ananda M a d hy a n t i ka San av a s a and

, , ,
Up agu pta and Buddhis m by their missionary works

, , ,
became the influenti a l religion throughout India al ,
though after that among the B uddhists arose the

, ,
quarrel .
C HA PTER X IV .
TH E S EC OND B U DDH IS T C O U N CIL .
One hundred years after the first council 3 77 ,
B C the second council was held at V e s al i in the

. .
, ,
.
W a l u k a ra m a temple under the presidency of Y a s at

,
Thera for the pu rpose of correcting errors t hat had

,
crept into t h e faith ; especially for condemning the

b hiksh us of V e sal i w h o proclaimed ten false propo
s i t io n s whic h transgressed the law and the rules ,
which were not the B uddha s t eaching or comprised ’

,
in the S utras nor to be foun d in the V inayas which

, ,
transgressed the Dharma ; and the bhikshus of V e s al i

p roclai m ed that these unlaw ful things w ere lawful .
At the same time the V e s a l i Buddhists who had

been excomm unicated by the Theras formed a n ,
other party and many people ten thousand as

, ,
‘
sembled and held a council to maintain their ten

propositions .
Thus B uddhism was divided into two schools .
The congregation which was held under the presi

den e y of Y as at Thera is called the St h avi rah on ,
account of the me m bers of the congregation being

S t hav i ra s or high priests
,
The council which was .
held b y the V e s al i B uddhists is called the Maha

san hi ka
g on account
,
of the great number of its
fo llowers w hich made it a g rea t asse mbly .
The O u t li n e of B u d d hi s m .
CH APTER XV .
TH E TH I RD B U DD H I S T C O U N CI L .
The third council was held at P atna in the two ,
hun d red and twenty sixth y ear of the B uddha era -

,
that is 251 B C in the A s o k ar a m a tem ple under

,
. .
, ,
the presidency o f M a gga l i pu t t at i s s a an d Asoka , ,
the king of M a goda t h e second founder of B uddhism

,
.
At the ti m e there were five schools of Buddhism .
and the kin g i n doubt as to which school was right

, ,
consulted the priests a s to wh a t sh o uld be done

to settle the m atter and they an swered that the ,
matter should be settled by the maj ority .
So the matter was settled by a vote and the vic

tory won by the M a h a s a m gh i k ah S .
F rom this the M ah a s a m ghi k ah s claimed to be the

original portion o f the B uddhism .
Buddhism ho w ever as a whole b ecame t h e state

, , ,
religion of India in the reign of the king and con ,
t i n u e d so fo r nearly nine centuries

The king Asoka founde d many pagodas and
, ,
mo nasteries and subseque n tly d id much to spread

,
the doctrine b y sending out missionaries to foreign

countries ; and he inculcated its principles b y having
them cut upon ro cks and sto n e pillars and in caves ,
in his own country A numbe r of these have been .
disc o vered i n variou s parts o f I ndia and Afghanistan .
They are exhibited in various par ts o f the worl d .
A S OK A ’
S SE V E NTH E D IC T .
King P iy a d a s i bel o ved o f the gods desires that

, ,
all the sects should dwell ( at l i berty ) in all places

The y all indeed seek (equally ) after the sub
j u ga t ion (o f one s self ) a nd purity of heart thou gh
’
,
The Ou t li ne f
o B u d d hi sm . 21
the people are fickle in their aims and fickle in

their attachments They may pursue ei t her in part
.
,
or in whole the aim they set before them

,
.
“
And let e v e ry on e w h et h er he receive abundant alms
,
or not have s elf control purity of heart th ankfulness

, , ,
”
and firmness of love That is always excellent . .
AS O K A ’
S TW EL FTH E D IC T .
K ing Pi y a d as i beloved of the gods honors all

, ,
sects both recluses and laymen he honors them with

, ,
gifts and with every kind of honor But the b e .
loved o f the gods attaches not s o much weight to

alms and ho n ors as to ( the desire) that the good
name and (the moral virtues which are) the essen
tial part of the teaching of all sects may increase , .
“
N o w the prospe r ity of t h i s e s s e n t i al part of the
teaching of all the sects (involves ) it is true great , ,
diversity B ut this is the one foun d ation of all (that

.
is to say) moderatio n in speech ; that there should

be no praisin g of one s sect and decrying of other ’
sects ; that there should be no depreciation (o f other)

wit hout cause but on the contrary a rendering of
, , ,
honor to other sects for whatever cause hono r is due .
By so doing both o ne s own sect will be helped forward

,
’
and other sects will be b e n e fit t e d ; by acting otherwise ,
one s own sect will be destroyed in inj uring others

’
.
“
Whosoever exalts his o w n sect by decrying
others does so doubtless out of love for his own
, , ,
sect thinking t o s pread abro ad the fame thereof

,
.
“
But on the contrary he inflicts the more an i n
, ,
j ury upon his o w n sect Therefore is concord the .
best in that all should hear and love to hear

, , ,
the doctrines ( Dharma) of each other .
“
Thus it is the desire of the beloved of the gods
that every sect should be well instructed and s h ould
(pro fess ) a religion that is lovel y .
22 The Ou tli ne of B u dd hi sm .
So that all whatever their belief should be per

, ,
su a d e d that the beloved of the gods attaches less

weight to alms and to honors than to the d e s1re that O
the good na m e and the moral virtues W t h are the

, .
es sential part of the teachin g of all sects may i ncrease ,

.
“
To this end do the ministers of religion ,
e verywhere strive and the o fficers placed over ,
women and the inspectors and the other o fficials

, ,
.
“
And this is the fruit thereof ; namely the ,
p r os eri t
y of his own sect and the exaltation of
”
religi o n generally .
CH APTER XVI .
TH E D I V ER GE N C E OF B U DDH I S M .
We have seen that under the secon d B uddhist coun ,
cil Buddhism branched into two schools Maha

,
—
s a m ghi k ah and S t h av i r a h Of these the M ah a s am .

,
ghi k ah school has gradually been divided into eight

schools i e the M ah as a m ghi k ah pro per Ek av y a v a
,
. .
, ,
harika Lok ot t ar av a d in a B a h u cr u t i y a Prad s h n ap

, , ,
t i v a d i n a Tc h a i t y i k a Pu r v ac a i l a and A v a r ac a i l a
, ,
.
St h a vi r ah school gradually divided into ten

schools i e the S t h av i r a h proper S ar v a s t i v a din a
,
. .
, ,
V a i b ad y a v a di n a , H et u vi d y a , V at s i pu t r i y a , Dh ar m at
tariya , B h ad r a y a n i y a , S a m m at i y a , M ah i ca s a k a ,
Dh ar m a gu p ta k a , S ad d h a r m av ar s h a k a , Ut t ari y a .
These are called b y the northern B u ddhis ts t h e

twenty sects of Hinayana or the little vehicles ,
.
Of the twenty s ects of Hinayana the S a r v a st i va ,
dina school was the most flourishing for a thousand

years after B uddha while many great teachers who s e ,
names are S ar ip u t r a M a h a m a u d ga l y ay a n a K at y a , ,
yana Deva sar m a n V a s u m it r a V a s u b a n d h u Sam

, ,
, ,
gh ab h d r a and fiv e hundred disciples of K at y a y an a

, ,
etc succeeded each other

.
, .
The O u t li n e of B u d d hi sm . 23
Now it is i n order to treat the development of each

of these sects but we cannot tell in detail here for
, ,
it would take many pages and the space will ,
n ot perm it us .
C HAPT ER XVI I .
TH E FO U RT H B U DD H I S T CO U NCI L .
The fourth great B uddhist council was held under

Ka ni s hk a w h o reigned from K ashmir widely o ver
,
northwester n India in the first century A D

,
'
,
. .
It is stated that the council was the starting point -
of the northern scriptures called Mahayana the , ,

“ ”
Great Vehicle w hich was written in Sanskrit and
,
after w ards had been translated into Tibetan and

Chinese Othe rs say that the third council was t he
.
starting point of the separation of the nor thern

-
(Mahayana) and southern (Hinayana) Buddhism .
According to the northern B uddhists there were ,
three differe n t col lections of the T r ip i t ak a of B uddha ,
the first a n d the second are called the Hinayana

books and the third m ade by M a n gu s u r i and
,
Maitreya i s cal l ed the Mahayana books .
But the last one is not as clear historically as the

first t w o collectio ns and it is t h e reason that the
,
western scholars criticise northern Buddhism or

the G reat Vehicle founded by N a garj u n a and it ,
can be regarded only as an admixture of Buddhistic

and Brah manic ideas Although it i s true this .
,
doubt it seem s can not be claimed as correct

, , ,
because as above mentioned the starting point of

, ,
-
the n or t hern scriptures remained unsettled whether

it originated upon the third co u ncil of Patna 2 51 ,
B C or upon the fourth co u ncil in the first century

. .
, ,
A D and moreover as w e shall see that some Ma

. .
, , , ,
h ay a n a S utras were added to the T r i p it ak a of the

Hinayana in the seco n d century of B uddha era ,
and at that time N a garj u n a s o called founder ,

-
of Mahayana was not yet born in India who ca n

,
, ,
’
then say that the Mahayana Sutras are not B uddha s
,
words but were taught by N agarj una '

,
On examining t h e history of Buddhism we find ,
ample reas o n for adhering to the statement of the

western scholar v i z that the first period durin g
,
'
which the prevailing school w a s the Hinayana and ,
the Mahayan a came long after the Hinay ana B u t it .
does not appear from this that the Mahayana is

not the original portion o f the Buddha s doctrine it ’
may be traced back in the primitive B uddhism but ,
only is it possible to say that it had not gained a

predo m inant influence over the Hinayana until the
perio d of the fourth council .
A t this pe r iod disputes often took place between

the sects of the Mahayanas and Hinayanas and the ,
Mahayanas lost their power while that of Hinayana ,
became flourishing .
But the latter part of the first century before

Christ A sva gh o s h a the first advocate of the Ma
, ,
b ayana promulgated the Mahayan a against the

,
Hinayana schools A century after him the well

.
,
kn o wn N aga rj u n a exp o unded t h e doctrine of the

Mahayana The century forms the golden age of the
.
Mahayana school .
A s a m ga and his younger brother V a s u b a n d h u , ,
composed many Sastras or commentaries of the ,
Sutras and promulgated the Mahayana doctrine At

, .
the time of V a s u b a n d h u among the Mahayan a a ,
dis pute to o k place which divided it into two schools

, ,
the Y o ga doctrine and the Madhyamika doctrine In .
India ho w ever Mahavana did not diver ge so much

.
,
as did the Hinayana .

The Ou tli n e of B u ddhi sm . 25
C H APTER X V III .
S U CC ES S OF B U DDH I S M .
Promulgated at first by t he Buddha Gautama him

self i n a country in which Brahmanism had for more
than a thousand years dominated the thoughts and
lives of men B u ddhis m succeeded in a short time in
,
overthrowing the an cient faith of In d ians an d in less ,
than two hundred years from the death of the Bu d dha

G autama it became the state religion as above men
, ,
t io n e d
. But more than that Budd hism went forth , ,
S preading its doctrines far beyond its native India .
It spread northward to the confines of Swedish

Lapland and north and east to Kashmir to the
, ,
Himalaya countries Tibet the C hinese Empire , , ,
Corea and final ly to our Empire Japan and south ,
ward into C eylon B urmah Siam etc , , ,

.
At the present age those of C eylon Burmah , ,
Siam etc are reckoned as southern B uddhism and

,
.
, ,
those of Nepol Tibet China Corea Japan Sumatra

, , , , , ,
Annam and C ambodia are reckoned as n o rthern

Buddhism Thus it became the religion of five h u n
.
dred millions of the human race .
What was the cause then of the rapid spread of , ,
Buddhism in India and other countries '

The main cause lies in the system of B uddha s ’
teaching that is the doctrine of Buddha brings com

, ,
fort t o the weary and sorrow laden it restores peace ,
to those who are oppressed under the burden of life ,
and gives hope for the despairing .
It is impossi bl e to treat i n detail all the m anifesta

tions in a small book .
26 The Ou t li ne f
o B u d d hi sm .
CHAPTER XIX .
TH E F A TE OF B U DDH I S M IN I N D I A .
During more than a thousand years from 300 B C ,

. .
t o about 900 A D Buddhis m lived si d e by side with

. .
Brahmanism in India and its predominance in India

,
continued down to about the sixth century Accord .
ing to the account of H io u e n Th s an g a C hinese -
pilgrim in the seventh century Bud d h i sm w a s

, ,
already decadent in India In that short period .
Buddhism was three times destroyed by its enemies .
In the eighth centur y there was an Hi n d u i st ,
K u m ar il a by name who not onl y preached against

,
the Buddhists b u t persuaded a k i ng of southern

,
India to persecute them Misle d by his flattery the

.
,
k in g persecuted a l l B uddhi s ts from the southern

m o st poin t of India to the Him alaya mountains .
I n the tenth century only Kashmir and Orissa ,
rem ained faithful Buddhist countries and before the ,
invasion o f Mohamm edan s Budd hism as a po pular , ,
religion had a l most disappeared from India B u t

,
.
it conti n ued a s a po p u lar religion under the P al

Raj as in M a ga d h a to 1 19 9 A D when the Masal . .
,
man conquered R a kh t i y a r Khilj i ; y e t it lingered in

I ndia at least till the thirteenth or fourteenth century .
Although for nearly a thousand years B ud d hism

has been a banished religion from its native home ,
it has won greater triumph s in its exile than it could

have achieved in its home .
Moreover in the prese nce of this its i n fluence in

, ,
India is ever y w here fel t and it undoubtedly a ffects

,
t h e Indian people In the present century Buddhism

.
is recovering more and more rapidly its ancient pre

dominance i h India and the refor e the revival of B udd
,
h i s m in I ndia is more possible than other Buddhist

countries .
The O u tli n e of B u d dhi sm . 27
C HAPTER XX .
B U D D H I S M I N CE Y L O N .
In the year 2 50 B C or the reign of King Tissa

. .
, ,
who was an ally of Asoka Buddhism was introduced ,
into Ceylon by M ahinda King Asoka s own son ,

’
.
Mahinda took with him a band of fellow missionaries ,

and afterwards his sister S an gh am it t a followed with , ,
a company of nuns .
Under the reign of this king B uddhism was pro ,
m u l gat e d successfully by the devotion of Mahinda ,

aide d by the z eal of the king who aspired to be the ,
Asoka of C eylon .
During the last two cen t u rl e s Buddhism did not

flourish But in the latter part it became more estab
.
li sh ed i n the is l and and at length i n the reign of

, ,
'
V at t aga m i n i Abhaya about 8 0 B C m any great ,

. .
,
pagodas were erected and B uddhist sacred books

were committed to w riting i n t he Pali language .
During the reign of the ki n g B uddhism branched ,
into two schools the Maha Vihara and t h e Abha

,
y agi ri school The latter wa s consid e red as heresy

.
by the for mer .
During the first three centuries of the Christian

era on the whole there are no important features
, ,
.
In the reign of M ah a s e n a about 300 A D there ,

. .
,
came the J et av an a school a b ranch of the A b h ay a giri , .
The next century the fourth was a period of great

, ,
development of B uddhism In the reign of King .
B u d d h a d a s a it is said the Sutras were translated

, ,
into Cin galese At the end of the fourth century

.
a famous C hinese pilgrim Fa Hien came to Ceylon ,

-
, .
According to his record there were sixty thousand

monks and B uddhism flourished in the island
,
.
E arly in the fifth century a famous p riest o f Mag

adha B u d d h aghos h a by name cam e to Ceylon
, , ,
where he translated many Buddhist books into

28 The Ou t li n e o f B u d dhi sm .
Pali and made commentaries of Tripitaka He is

,
.
honored as the seco n d founder of Buddhism l n C ey

lon That successful period was followed by a
.
time of depression and again renewed before the ,
recent period In the reign of Sena about 8 66 A D

.
,
. .
,
there came t w o sch o ols A r a n n i k a or forest monks , , ,
and Pa m s u k u l ik as or dust heap robe wearers from ,

- -
,
the A bh a y agi ri school U nder the reign of King .
Para k r a m a who lived about t h e eleventh century

, ,
B uddhism was reformed and m any shrines and viharas

were erec t ed He is said to have united the several
.
sects which existed in his time and invited man y ,
m o nks from d i fle r e n t parts of Southern India to i n

’
struct native monks .
Not long after this reformation again came t ro u b u ,
lous times i n which B uddhism began to decl ine

,
.
But from S ri Vij aya Raj a si n h a s time about A D ’

,
. .
1 740 onward came many monks fro m Siam and

,
Arakan where B uddhism had gained predominance

, ,
and they r e e s tablishe d Ceylo n ese B uddhism

-
.
U nder the reig n of Kin g Kirti Sri Raj a Sinha ,
B u ddhism was revived with some o f its former interest .
F ro m that time onward Buddhis m became es t ablished ,
and now it is becoming more and more influential in

the islan d .
In the present peri o d t here are four sects o f B udd

hi s m in the island those of Siam Amarapu r a Ram , , ,
an y a and K elani .
The S iamese is the oldest and dates its origin from ,
about A D 1 750 when Kirti Sri Raj a obtained twenty

. .
Siamese m o n ks from Siam This sect predominates .
in the Kandian countr y and also in the low country ,

.
The Amarapura sch o ol was founded about A D 1 800 . .

,
by men w h o had been expel l ed from the S i a m e s The .
R a m a n y a sch oo l is more recent It thrives in the low .
c o u n try side by side with the Amarapura school The

, .
Kelani does not diff er widely from Siamese .

The Ou t li ne of B u d dhi sm . 29
Buddhism in B urmah was derived from Ceylon in

the fifth century A D and that of Siam in the seventh
. .
,
century ; Java received the missionaries direct from

India between the fi fth and seventh centuries and ,
the faith spread to Bali and Sumatra .
While southern B uddhism was thus spreading

across the ocean norther n Buddhism had found its
,
way by Central Asia into China and thence to Corea , ,
i n the fourth century and t o J ap an i n the fifth century

,
.
C H APTER XXI .
B U DDH I S M I N T I B E T .
The first appearance of Buddhism in Tibet was

made in the reign of K i n g Lha tho tho ri S n y e n b s h al
- - -
who was born about A D 34 7 When he wa s eighty

. . .
y ears old there fell from heaven into his palace a

casket which contained a copy o f the K ar a n d a v y u h a
S utra an alms b o wl the S i x essential syllables a
, , ,
golden t c h a it y a and a cla y image of t h e chin t amani .
I t is probable that the first introduction of B ud d hism

into Tibet was from Nepol in which it h a d gained ,
pro minence at that time .
At the beginning of the seventh century A D the . .
King Srong b t s a n sent seventeen scholars to In d ia as

—
government students They w ent to S o uthern I n dia

.
,
w here they learn ed the I ndian language and befo re ,
returning to their count r y they tran s lated many

Sutras and also carried back to Tibet a large num
,
ber of B uddhist books Thus Buddhism was estab

.
l is h ed during the reign of the king who helped to

spread it .
I n this ce n tury C hinese B u d dhists came to Tibet

and tran slated m any Buddhi s t b o oks int o Tibetan .
The succes s of B uddhis m in Tibet was only in th e

eighth and ninth centuries A D In the eighth . .
centur y there was a king called Khri l d e gt s u g b s t a n - - -

mes A g t s oms w h o built several monasteries and

-
invited learned monks from India to propagate Budd

hism .D uring his reign many translati ons of Budd
hist works were made from Indian and Chinese
B uddhist books .
In 755 A D Kin g Khri srong l d e b s t a n the great

. .
,
- - -
protector of Bu d dhism invited fro m India two famous ,
m onks S an t ar ak s h i t a and Padma S a m b h av a

,
At .
that time a Kashmir Buddhist n amed Ananda came , ,
to Tib et where he translated many Buddhist boo k s

,
a n d propagated the doctrine of his school .
After a while there was a famous priest K a m al sil a ,
by name who belonged to the Madhyamika sch o ol of

,
Buddhism He translated many B uddhist books

.
into Tibetan a n d wro te several comme n taries From

,
.
that time the Madhyamika school became t h e most

popular religion .
I n the r e ign of King M u khri b t s a n p o who - - -

,
ascended the throne in 78 8 A D and reigned about . .

,
thirty years Buddhism had gained pro minence in

,
Tibet The king i n vi t ed from India many Buddhists

.
,
w h o assisted by Tibetan priests tran s lated a large

, ,
number of Buddhist ca n onical w orks and made ,
numerous com mentaries on the sacred bo o ks More .
over t hey corrected the old translatio n a n d s u b s t i

, ,
t u t e d their o w n new translation i n its place .
In 8 1 6 A D Ral p a chan made a regu l ar organi

. .
,
- -
z a t i on of the priestho o d and afterward h imself en t ered

,
the priesthood and more o ver he m ade the can o nical

, , ,
regulation aided by the Indian Khote n and C hinese

, ,
p r Ie S t s .
During the reig n o f G lang dharma who ascended -
,
the thro ne in 8 99 A D B uddhists were persec u ted .
,
so cruelly that they had to flee from Ti b et A lthoug h .
t he glory of B uddhism vanished throug h the perse

c u t i o n of G lang dharma yet m any person s were -
,
I ntent o n r e establishing the faith of Buddhism
-
.
The Ou t li n e f
o B u d d hi s m . 31
In 1 0 1 3 A D the Indian priest Dh a r m a p al a by

. .
, ,
name came to Tibet wi t h many of his di s ciples and

, ,
i n 1 04 2 t he famous Ati s b a a native of Be n gal came , , ,
there and trans l a t ed many Buddhist books a n d al s o

wrote m any commentaries He was succeeded by .
his Ti b etan disciples the principa l one am o ng them

.
being E u ston
—
.
U nder t heir influence B u ddhism revive d a gain and ,
at that time there came two sects of B udd hism the ,
yello w sect and the red sect The former was .
fo unded by E u ston w h o kept the s t ricte s t rules o f

-
Buddhism ; the latter were more lax a n d man y of ,
them were m arried before becomin g priests

In the thirteenth cen t ury Kublai Khan ad opt e d ,
Buddhism and greatl y promoted the Tibetan m onks .
At the end of the fourteen t h centur y there arose a

refo r m er Tso n g Khapa who raised again the stan
, ,
da r d of or t hodoxy and abolishe d many superstitiou s

fo rms which clung around it After this reformation .
there were n o important m atters in the Tibetan

B uddhis m but the Lama enj oyed his papal p o wer of
,
Tibetan Buddhis m without molestation .
CHA P T ER XXII .
B U DDH I S M I N C H I N A .
The introduction o f Buddhism in China dates from

the o ne thousand and sixteenth year of t h e B uddhist
era ( acc o rding to Chinese B uddhist books ) w hen t h e ,
Em peror Ming ( A D of the latter H an dynasty

. .
,
is said t o have had a dream in which he saw a golden

figure hoverin g over his palace He inqu ired of one .
of his ministers what this could mean and was told a ,
sage named Buddha had been born in the West a nd ,
that his dream w a s probably connected with him .
The em peror in consequence sent mis s ionaries to

I ndia to obtain ne w s concerning this sage They .
32 The Ou t li ne of B u d d hi sm .
returned in A D 6 7 with two B uddhists K ayapa

. .
, ,
Mataga and C hik Ho ran together wit h various books -
and relics The emperor listened to them wI t h

delight and had a temple built for them in h 1s cap i tal
,
Loyang a nd it was named the monastery of Wh i te

,
Horse according to their horses which brought the

, ,
books and relics .
During this dynasty and t h e Western Ts m I t w as ,
not very flourishing Earl y in the fourth ce ntury

(the Eastern Tsin 3 1 7 4 2 0 A D ) native C hinese ,
—
. .
began to take the B uddhist monastic vo w s From .
that time many Indian Budd hists cam e to C hina and ,
t hey under took the labor of translatin g the B uddhist

books .
The first translati o n of the B uddhist books had

already been made fo r we read that at the close of ,
the second ce ntury an Indian B uddhist produced t h e

“ ”
first version of the Lotus o f the Good Law .
In the year A D 4 0 5 the em peror of t h e Tsin

. .
,
country gave a high o ffice to K u ma raj i v a an I n dian ,
priest The priest was c o mmanded by the emperor

.
to translate the sacred boo k o f B uddhism K umara .
j iva a s sisted by eight hundred pries t s produced a

, ,
n e w translation of the B uddhist books into C hinese ,
extending to three hundred volumes This is an ‘
important fact for the history of C hinese Buddhist

literature .
In the b eginning of the fifth century A D F a hien . .

,
-
,
a C hinese Buddhist visited India (S ee The Travels

“
, .
”
of F a hien translated by Dr James Legge)
-
, . .
About the year 4 60 it appears from C hinese history

that five Buddhists fro m Ceylon arrived in C hin a by
the Tibetan route .
In the seventh centur y Huen S iang an l l l u st ri ou s ,

-
,
C hinese B uddhi s t trav eled from C hina through ,
India and brought home many Buddhist books and

,
translated them Thus the number of the transla t ed

.
The Ou tli ne of B u d d hi s m . 33
scriptures increased to vol u mes u ntil the ti m e

of Suy dynasty .
Fro m the intr o duction of Buddhism into C hina

there were v a ried sects of B uddhis m by prominen t
priests They are as follows :
.
1 . The A b i d h a r m a sect The forming of the sect .
i n C hina dates from 3 9 1 A D but its promulgation

was not until the time of Hue n Siang ( about 6 50 A -
.
2 . The S at y a s id d hi Sastra sect This sect began -

.
w ith the translatio n of t h e S a t y a s i d d h i Sastra by

Ku m ar aj iva ( about 4 06 A D ) The Sastra was com . .
posed by an Indian named H ar iv arm a n .
3 .The Vina y a sect The Vinaya sect is of .
Chinese origin and was founded by the Chi nese priest

, ,
Dosen who lived early in the seventh century A D

,
. .
4 The Madhyamika Sastra sect The Madhya

.
-
.
mika doctrine was founded by N a ga rj u n a who lived ,
in Southern India about seven cent u ries after B uddha ,
and about three generations afterwards was introduced

to Karachar C entral As 1 a and thence to China by
,
,
Ku m ar aj iv a the famous translator of Chinese Budd

,
hist books where he propagated its doctrine But

,
.
the establishm ent of the s ect was by the Chinese

priest K i ch iz o (589 A .
5 . The Nir vana Sutra sect This sect began with -

.
the translation of the Nirvana Sutra by Dh a r m a k sh a

in 42 3 A D B ut the establishment of th e sect was
. .
by the C h inese priest E k w a n of the So dynasty , ,
(4 2 4 A .
6 . Dasa b h u m ik a Sastra sect This sect began

- .
with the translatio n of the Dasa b h u m ik a Sastra by —
B od hi r u k i i n 50 8 A D . .
7 . The P ure Land sect T h is doctrine was founded .
b y V a s b a n d d h u i n India and in 2 52 A D an Indian ,

.
scholar S a m gh av ar m a n learned in the T r ip i t ak a

, , ,
came to China and translated the great A m i t a y a s

Sutra and its doctrine was prom ulgated in C hina by
,
34 The Ou tli ne of B u d d hi sm .
F h an l w a n
-
But its firm establishment was not until
.
the time of Dos h ak u and Z end o .
8
. The Dhyana sect The Dhya n a doctrine was .
founded by B o d h id a rm the twe n ty eighth Indian ,

-
B u d d hist pa t riarch who visited Chin a in the sixth ,
century (52 0 A He was the third son of a king

.
of the K as h i s in Southern India The D h y ana sect

,
.
branches into t w o parties the Northern which l i ves , ,
undivided an d the S o uthern which branched o ff into

, ,
five houses and seven school s .
9
. The Maha y ana S a m p a ri gr a h a Sastra sect -
.
This sect began with the translation of the Sastra by

Pa ram ar t h a in 56 3 A D . .
10 . The T e u Tai sect This se ct was founded by

-
.
Chikai in the sixth century (59 7 A This was .

”
one of the most famous Buddhis t doctrines of China .
11 . The A v at an s ak a Sutra sect This doctrine .
was fo unded by N aga rj u n a the Sutra was translated ,
by B u d d h a bh ad r a in sixty volumes in 557 A D but . .

,
the firm establishment of the sect was not until the

time of an eminent priest named Ho z o in the F an ,
dynasty (71 2 A .
12 . The Dharma l ak sh an a sect This doctrine -

.
was introd uced into China by Huen Siang from -
Si l a b h ad r a an Indian priest an d founded by J i ou

, , ,
-
w h o learned the doctrine from Huen Siang -

.
13 . The Mantra sect This branch of Buddhism .
is said to have been founded in India about 2 00 A D . .

,
by a saint N a garj u n a by name who made the dis

, ,
c ov e r y o f an iron pagoda inhabited by the holy one .
V agr a s t t a v a w h o comm unicated the hidden doctrine

,
to him In 71 6 A D the great teacher S u b h ak a

. . .
, ,
r a s i m h a came into China and promulgated the doc
,
trine and in 72 0 A D V a gr ab o d h i came with h i s

, . .
disciples to the capital of China and translated the

sacred books .
The Ou t li n e f
The above thirteen schools are important divisions

of Chinese Buddhism which existed up to the time of
To and So that is 6 1 8 1 2 80 A D
, ,
—
. .
In the present period there are two sects of Budd

hi s m in China those of the Blue Robe sect and the
,
Y ellow R o be sect The former sec t consists o f Budd

.
hists of the old Chinese sects and the latter sect was ,
i ntroduced from Tibet i n the Gen dynasty ( 1 2 80 1 3 68 —
A . It is the S am e d o ctrine of Ramaism of Tibet .
C hines e Buddhism on the whole is recovering

, , ,
though slo w ly its ancient prominence owing to the

, ,
labors of Japanese Buddhists .
C HAPTER X XIII .
B U DDH I S M I N J AP A N .
In the sixteenth year of the reign of Emperor

Keit ai (A D
. . it is s aid that a m an from China
brought w ith him an im age o f Budd h a into Japan ,
and setting it up in a thatched cottage worshiped it ,

.
But no notable progress was m ade until the thir

t ee n t h year of Emperor Kin myo A D 552 and one -
,
. .
,
thousand five hundred and o n e years ( according to

Japanese B u d dhists ) after the death of Buddha which ,
is generally accepted and celebrated as the year o f

the introduction of Buddhism in t o Japan from Corea .
Then a king of Hi a k s ai in C o rea s ent over to the

, ,
court a golden i m age of Buddha with Sutras and

sacred books .
From the foundation of Japanese B udd h ism Japan ,
ese Buddhist students went to Chin a and Corea in

order t o study the various sects of Buddhism and ,
brought back with them upon their re t urn v a r i ous

, ,
doctrines and the Chinese e d ition of Tripitaka and

its commentaries .
36 The Ou t li ne of B u dd hi sm .
W e may divide the period of the doctrinal develop

ment of Buddhism in Japan into three periods ,
namely :
1 . The first from 552 to 8 05 A B w i l l cover the
,
. .
,
old six sects which had for their center of propaga

,
tion Nara the southern capital They were called

,
.
the ancie nt sects Kush a J o j itsu Ritsu Hosso .

,
—
, , ,
San ron and K egon were introduced from China in

-
-
this order .
2 . Then follows the medi aeval sects which are gen ,
e r a l l y called Ri y o b u B uddhism namely the Te n dai , ,

-
and the Singon from the ninth to the twelfth century

,
.
3 . This was succeeded by the modern sects ,
wholly and peculiarly Japanese from the twelfth ,
centu ry to the present age They are Pure Land .

-
,
Z en Shin shu Nichiren shu and J i sh u

,
-
,
- -
.
Kusha J o j itsu Ritsu Hosso San ron Ke gon

,
-
, , ,
-
, ,
Ten dai and Shin gon correspond in the main to

- -
those of the C hinese but the remaining five are a ,
peculiarly Japanese foundation Besides these there .
are numerous houses of Japanese B uddhism that is , ,
thirty branches named after prominent teachers , ,
from whom the present head s of monasteries claim

continuous succession .
We s h all now give ver y briefly the period in w hich

each sect of B uddhism was introduced into Japan .
1. The K usha sect ( the A b h id h a r m a sect ) In .
658 A D the A b h id h ar m a S astra was introduced

.
into Japan by two Japanese priests who went to C hina ,

an d learned the S astra fro m Huen Siang but it did -
,
not form an independent sect though the Sastra has ,
always been studied by all B u d dhists The doctrine .
of this sect explains that the three s t ates of existence
(past present and future ) are real and the nature of

, ,
the Dharmas or things are constantly in existence

, , .
2 . The J o j itsu se c t ( t h e Satya Siddhi Sastra sect )

- -
.
In 62 5 A D Ek w a n came over directly from C orea

. .
, .
The Ou t li ne qf B u dd hi sm . 37
He was a scholar of the San ron sect but h e especially -

,
studied the doctrine of the J o j itsu from Kaj o the -
Chinese founder of that school Therefore t h e doc .

,
trine of th i s sect was prom ulgated at that time in

Japan although there were some scholars of the doc
,
trine before his coming This school e x pl ains the .
two kinds of u nreal i t y th at is the emptiness of the .

,
Atman or self and Dharma or thing

, , , .
3 The Ritsu sect ( the Vinaya sect ) In 72 4

. .
A D two Japanese priests went to China and having

. .
, ,
mastered the Ritsu sect d o ctrine received permission

to promulgate the Ritsu doctrine in Japan With .
eighty two Chinese priests they returned a few years

-
later and p r omulgated the Ritsu doctrine in Japan .
This school teaches the practice of the moral precepts

which Buddha taught in V i naya or discipline for “
his disciples .
4 The Hosso sect (the Dh r m a l ak sh an a sect )

.
-
.
This sect was introduced to Japan by Do s h o the Jap ,
anese priest who went to C hina in the fourth year o f

,
Hak u c h i period of t h e Emperor Kotoku (653 A

,
.
This school explains tha t all things are made to

appear by one s o w n thought th at is the three
'
’
, ,
worlds of Desire F o rm and F or ml e ss n e s s consist in ,
thought on l y and there is noth ing outside o f thought

,
.
5 The San ron sect (the Three Sastra sect) In

.
- .
62 5 A D E k w an came from Corea to Japan and pro

. .
, ,
m u l gat e d this d o ctri ne as he made the J o j itsu doc ,

-
trine flourish in this country He is considered to .
be the patriarch of both of these doctrines and the

J o j itsu doctrine in Japan The doctrine of this sect
-
.
is to destroy the confused idea of the people who

believed in the existence of all things and those who ,
believed in the emptiness of all things but t o explain ,
the m iddle path .
6 . The K egon sect ( the A v a t am sak a Sutra sect ) .
In the eighth year of the Ten pyo period of Emperor -

38 The Ou t li n e f
o B u d d hi sm .
Sho m u of the Nara dynasty ( 73 6 A

-
a Chinese .
monk Do k a brought with him the commentaries of

,
-
the A v at am s ak a for the first ti m e It is said how .

,
ever that a Corean priest Shin sho by name claimed

, ,
-
rightl y the honor of the introduction of the sect into

Japan After him Z i k u n and Roben arose and made
.
,
it wid ely popular It is said that in all the preach .
ings of G au t am a Buddha the Sutra of t h e sect only ,
expounds the doctrine of completion t hat is the doc , ,
t rine of that which one and many are mutually

j o ined free and without any obstacles
,
.
7 The Ten dai sect During the period of Te n

.
-
pyo Sho h o ( 749 756 A D ) a Chin ese priest Gan

,
- —
.
, ,
jin brought with him the doctrine of Ten dai into

,
-
Japan but its growth Wa s slow until an ardent

priest Den giyo came back from China after learn
,
-
ing the various schools of Buddhism in the latter ,
part of t h e seventh century and propagated it The ,

.
doctrin e of this sect is to make men understand that

all things w ere origin ally in the state of c o mpletion ,
though they S ink now into confusion thr o ugh i gn or

ance .
8 Sin gon sect (the Mantra sect ) In the first

.
-
.
y ear of the Daido period (8 06 A the Sin gon .

-
d o ctrine was introduced by Kobo dai shi the eminent - -
Japanese priest who was appointed t o visit the m i ddle ,
kingd o m a s a go vernment student He studied the .
secret doctrine of Mantra u nder a wel l known scholar -
K a kwa a Chinese priest

-
,
The doctrine of this sect is .
explained as fo llows : There is no being beside Buddha ,
and n o B i dda beside being All virtues of B uddha

'
.
are inherentl y completed in all beings though i gn or ,
ant people do n o t know it .
9 The J o do s ect (the P ure Land sect ) The

.
- -
.
Japanese J o do d o ctrine was founded by G en k u

- -
whose birth t o ok pl ace in 1 1 33 A D in the U ruma .
family of the prov ince of Mimasaka in Japan In ,

.
The Ou tli ne f
11 75 A D he began to propagate the doctrine when

. .
, ,
he was in his forty third year This sect teaches the -

.
doctrine of help from another This sect gives up .
S elf reliance an d put their faith only i n the boundless

-
mercy of B u d dha .
10 The Z en s ect ( the Dhyana sect ) There are

. .
three divisions of the Z e n sect in Japan The Lin .
Z ai divis ion w a s introduced by a Japanese priest Y e i ,
sei w h o w ent to C hina in the third year of B un j i

,
-
(1 1 6 8 A The S o to division was introduced by

.
-
a Japanese pr i est Do gen who went to China in the ,

-
second year o f Tei o period ( 1 2 2 3 A D The Ob ac k -

.
division of the third of Z e n sect was introduced by a

hig h priest of China Y i n gen in the second year of ,
-
,
Sho o period (1 653 A

-
The doctrine of this sect is .
explained as follows : There is nothing that has a real

existence but one s own thou ghts ; out of the mind ’
there is no B u dd h a out of Buddha there is no mind ; ,
virtue is not to be sought nor vice to be shunne d ,

.
11 The Shin sect ( the True s ect ) The Shin

. .
sect was founded b y Shin ran who was born in the -
third year o f the Sho an period that is in 1 1 73 A D —

, ,
. .
When he wa s fift y t w o years old he established the -
sect and he died in the ninetieth year of his age

,
.
The doctrines of this sect correspond in the main to

the J o do doctrine though there are many minute
—
,
differences between t h em according to their sectarian

tenets .
12 The Nichiren sect This sect was founded

. .
by Nichiren who w a s born in the first year of the

,
Tei o period In 1 2 52 A D he began to promulgate

-
. . .
,
the doctrine of this s e c t an d he died in the sixty fir s t ,

-
year of his age in the fifth year of the Ko an period

,
—
.
The doctrine of this sect is contained in the Sadd h ar

ma p u n d ar ik a Sutra (the Sutra of the Lotus o f the
-
Good Law ) which B uddha preached in the last period

,
of his li fe .
40 The Ou t li n e of B u d d hi sm .
13
. The J i sectThe J i sect was fo unded by
.
I c h i p en whose birth
, took place in the first year of
the Y en o period and
-
the foundation of this sect in
,
the first vear of the Ken j i period The doctrine

-
.
this sect corresponds in the main to the J o do and -
Shin doctrines .
The preceding pages may be regarded as a sketch

of the successive schools into which Buddhism has
subdivided itself An outline of the com mon d o ctrine
.
upon w hich all sects may stand w ill now be p resented

to the reader .
C HAPTER X XIV
I N TR O D U C T I ON .
Ou r Lord B uddha has explained various methods

to suit the inclination of human minds This is w h y
“
B ud dhism is branched off in t o so m any sects as men ,
t io n e d in the foregoing chapters and each sect clings

“
to its o w n tenets as being the m ost superior tho u gh ,
these sects are t h e di ff erent forms which lead to the

Enlightenment The basic teachings of Buddhism
.
follow none of the sec t arians but take a c o m mon ,
gro u nd upon which all sects m ay stand What are .
the basic teac h ings of pure Buddhism ' The follow

ing table will be interesting to students of Buddh i sm
Th p i c i p l
e ft
r n it i e o r an s on .
D ct i n Th p i nci pl f c
o r e e r d ff ct e o a u se a n e e .
Th p i nc p l
e f t n m ig t i
r i e o ra s ra on .
P B d dhi m
u re u s
C f i o n e ss o n
P ct i c P f i n f f i th i T i t
.
ra e r o ess o o a n r ra na .
O b v nc f t h t n p c pt
se r a e o e e re e s .
DOCTRIN E
CHAPTER XXV .
PR IN CI P LE O F TR A N S IT I ON
TH E .
Buddhism propounds as o n e of its main doctrines ,
that earthly things ar e vanity ; ever y thing is tran

sient changeful and nothing en dures
—
, ,
.
The world is like a morning flower ; it glories in

full bloom in the mornin g but fades away at noon ,
.
We are born into the changeful and transient wo rld

as living feeling and thinking beings and live for
, ,
awhile like a dream and then die ,

.
In the world we hope for a long life and only a few ,
years are permitte d Our hopes are ma n y but few , ,
are realiz ed We toil we su ffer for happines s and

.
, ,
onl y a fe w j oys are fulfilled There is birth and .
death growth and decay separation from obj ects we

, ,
love hating what canno t be avoided craving for what

, ,
cannot be obtained .
Man is an org anism o f m any aggregates consist ,
i ng of the material form and immaterial things As .
to the body which consists of the material form the ,
body of seven years ago is absolutely di ff erent from

the body of seven years older than before according ,
to scientific calculation ; and not only this but after ,
death there remains nothing but the dirt the white ,
bones That which man calls my body is not an

.
entity it originates by the c o operation of material

,
-
forms that is the elements of earth water fire air

, , , , , ,
and ether .
Nex t that which we call the self the Ego which

, , ,
perceives the actio n s of the five roots of mind touch , ,
s m ell taste sight a n d hearing is not an entity i t is

, , , ,
only a mental combin ation .
The Ou t li ne o f B u d dhi sm . 43
The eye th at sees the ear that hears the nose that
, ,
smells the tongue that tastes and the body that

, ,
touches obj ects These five organs of sense consist

.
of the five obj ects of sense or form sound smell , , ,
taste and touch and there could not be a self but a

, ,
combination of these The mind which unites the .
five senses in o n e body cannot appear as a self but a ,
combination of sensation thought disposition and , , , ,
lastly of understandi n g
,
.
Thus each personality of m an is a combination of

mental as well as m aterial substance These are the .
true phenomena of the w orld and our life B ut men .
of ignorance of the true phenomena of the world and

themselves beget self hood and it clings to obnoxious
-
desires ; they crave for pleas ure and the resul t i s

pain ; the y c r a ve for fleeting things and they cause
'
pai n .
Thu s y from error to error and they ,
can find om th e pains of their own mak

ing . ord bewailed the vicissitudes of ,
life It w a s the great cause that Buddha Gautama

.
appeared in the w orl d to perform salvation for the

sake of t he world .
Buddha teaches the twelve N i d an a s or the twelve ,
chains of c a u s atiQn and the four noble truths to dri ve

, ,
a way the idea of Self and to S how the truth In the

,
.
beginning there is ( 1 ) existence ignorance ; on i gnor ,
an ce depends karm a on karma depends con

sc i ou sn e s s o n consciousness dep ends name and
form on nam e and form depend the six organs

of sense on the six organs o f sense depends con
tact o u contact depends sensation on sensa
tion depends desire on desire depends attachment
on attachment depen d s existence on ex i st
ence depends birth on bir th depends old age
and death sorrow la m entation m i sery gr i ef and
, , , ,
despair
Thus ignoran ce is the root of all evil the secret of ,
human misery whose fruit is sin It makes us con

,
.
sider real what is not real pri z e what is not worth

,
priz ing and pass our lives in the pursuit of fleeting

,
obj ects negl ecting what is in reality most valuable

,
.
There is only one way to escape from transition

where birth and growth decay and death have no
, ,
dominion M an m ust dispel ignoran ce to k no w the

.
whole secret of m an s existence and destiny so that

’
,
we may not crave for the transient life that we may ,
live in the highest and most permanent ex istence of

suprem e freedom and happiness Dispel i gnorance
and w e shall destroy the wrong karmas that rise from
ignorance destroy the wrong karmas and we shall
wipe out the wrong consciou s ness that rises from them ,
destro y wron g consciousness and t here is an end of

name and form ; destroy name and form and the .
illu sions of the six organ s of sense wil l disappear ;

destroy illusions and the contact with things will
cease to beget sensation ; destroy sensation and we
do awa y with desire ; destroy desire and we shall be
free of all attachments ; dispel the attachment and
we destroy t h e existence ( selfishness of self hood ) If -
.
the existence be destroyed we shall be abov e birth ,
old age and death and we escape all su ff ering

,
.
In order to dispel ignorance an d remove sorrows ,
Buddha teaches the fo ur noble truths The first .
noble truth is the existence of sorrow Buddha .
“
teaches : Birth is su ffering old age is su ffering, ,
sic k ness is su ffering death is su ffering to be united

, ,
33}
W 1 t h e unloved is su ff ering to be separated from
, ,
the loved is su ffering and not to obtain what one
,
desires is su ffering ” .
The second noble truth is the cause of su fleri ng

’
“
B udd h a teaches : Th i s i s t h e sacred truth of the
o r i gin of suffering : it is t h e thirst for bei n
g w h i ch ,
leads fro m birth to birth t o get h er w ith lust and

,
desire and the thirst for power ” .
The O u t li n e of B u d d hi sm . 45
The third noble truth is the cess ation of sorrow .
“
Buddha teaches : This is the sacred truth of the ex
tinction of su ff ering The extinction of this thirst b v
.
”
com plete annihilation of desire .
The fo urth noble truth i s the eight fold right path -

.
( 1 ) right belief ; ( ) right res o lve ; ( 3 ) right S peech ;

2
(4) right ac t i ori ; (5) right living ; (6 ) right e ffort ;
( 7 ) right tho u g h t ( 8 ) right med i tation
,
.
The first and second correct views free from super , ,
s t i t i on or delusion and right resolve

,
worthy of an ,
intelligent m an are especially intellect u al Th e

,
.
third right speech perfectly truthfu l as well as

, , ,
kindly ; t h e fourth right action p u re h o nest peace

, .
, ,
able ; the fifth right living doing harm to n o livi n g

, ,
thing and the S ix t h right e ffort self c o ntrol self

, , ,
-
training The seventh and eighth r i gh t thought

.
,
and righ t med itation are purely inward The eight ,

.
fold righ t path may t h us be expressed as uprightness

in thought word and deed,
.
R i gh t ct
D d i Ri gh t l i vi g ee '
a s .
n .
W d R i gh t p c h or . s ee .
Ri gh t b li f e e .
R i gh t lv r es o e .
Th gh t Ri gh t ff t ou e or
R i gh t t h gh t
.
ou .
( Ri g h t m d i t t i n e a o .
In short this is the doc t rine which Buddha pointed

,
out for common Buddhists to le ad them i n the cessa ,
tion of sorrow salvation from the miseries of exist

,
ence and lastly attain to Enlightenment

,
.
CHAPTER X X VI .
PR INCI P LE O F C A U S E A ND E FF EC T
TH E .
Why is o u r life tran s ient ' W h y does eac h one

diff er from another i n charac t er station p o ssessions , ,
and fate o f life ' Why are some m en born i n riches

46 The Ou tli ne of B u ddhi sm .
and some men born in poverty ' Why are some men
happy and others unhappy ' W hy are som e men
well all the time even though they are careless and
, ,
others always sick in spite of the fact that they are

,
very careful of themselves ' Why do the bad fare

well and the good fare ill Why must the new born
child who has had no opportunity to incur guilt
, ,
great ago nies ' What has caused us to be

'
fl
‘
s u e r
born What causes us to die ' Whence d o we come ,
where do we go after death ' What was ou r pre

existence ' What is our present life ' Why are we '
Many scientists philosophers and all religions
,
have tried to solve these most important proble ms ,
but they leave them unex plained ; some o f them i h

volve us i n scepticism and some in mysticism We .
find the truth only among the doctrin es of Buddha .
Buddha teaches that every act has its unavoidable

co nsequences good or evil according to the nature
, ,
of the acts .
This is called the law of Karma deed This .
law is the true order of our personal experiences and ,

this ofler s a satisfactory explanation of the d ifle r en ce
'
in character station possession and fa te of our life

, , , .
All the effects of K arma are clear and without par

t i al i t y . Whosoever doet h evil shall fall whosoever ,
doeth good shall rise ; and there is no uncertainty in

it
.
In the distribution of good and evil there are three

methods That which bears fruit in the present exist
ence that which bears fruit in r e birth that which -
bears fruit at no fixed time These are called the .
three seasons This is the reason why three worlds

.
are preached .
Now there may be some w h o assert the following

,
opinion : The cause and eff ect of good and evil is

limited only to t he present and reason does not
.
,
admit of any punishment again in our future life

The Ou t li n e of B u d d hi sm . 47
even if we suppose that there be a future life F or .
there are punishments for bad actio ns in the present ,

and wretches are p unished by the laws of a country
and by social blame Moreover we do not remember
.
,
the acts of our pre existence -

.
This do u bt it seems has no slight e ffect upon the

, ,
truth I f we would examin e the subj ect a little more

.
we might find that the l aw of cause and e ffect must

govern all things in the future as in the present .
Let us s u ppose that there is a man who stole some

precious thin gs fro m another man and that he ,
escaped happily for himself the punishment of the

, ,
laws of the country as there could not be found a

,
proof of his crime though he actually stole

, .
In the supposition then though the robber escaped

,
the punishment of the artificial law it is impossible ,
to escape the natural law which says that we reap

as we sow and which governs all beings and things
, .
If the analogy that a good seed produces a good

pl ant and a bad seed produces a bad plant s o good ,
and evil actions of beings produce good and evil

e ffects upon them selves is a truth it is then that the , , ,
robber s evil seed must produce evil fruit in his future

’
life if it does not produ c e it in the present life ; for

,
truth can n ot be interrupted by time and space .
Then we can understand cl early that the

principle of cause and e ffect of the three worlds is
(founded upon the universal law of nature which is ,
per fect j ustice equilibrium

,
Let us speak more
.
about the subj ect in order to understand clearly .
The life j o u rney of beings is beginningless and one ,
life is not long enough for the reward or punishment

of the beginningless being and therefore still acts , , ,
remain a s the germ of a new existence Thus our .
misfor t une or happines s in the present existence are

effects of our good or evil actions which rem ained
u n e x ni a t e d in the p r e existence Therefore if we
-
.
,
have an excess of merit or demerit we shall be happy ,
or wretched born the next time B uddha teaches .

,
therefore if you want to understand the cause of the

,
present existence look at your present state which

, ’
,
is e ff ect and if you w ant to kno w the e flec t in the

,
future look at your deeds they are cause

, ,
.
B uddhism does not proclaim however s uch doc , ,
trines as are propounded without proof O n the con .
t rar y it proclaims that it is our duty to inquire after

,
truth and to trust in truth

,
.
It is true the i m m ortal tr u th is far above our pres

ent knowledge to grasp but there is certainly one ,
method to understand it We shall reach tr u th .
through reason onl y and reason teaches us there are

,
natural laws of cause and e ffect in the three worlds ;

past present a n d future
,
.
Now the que s tion arises if t h e idea of the human ,
Ego by w hich we are co n scious of our own existence

, ,
is not a n entity as B uddhism teaches what is it that

, ,
forms a new birth '

B uddhis m denies the existence of a soul s u b st ra -
tum ( Atman ) which is not a denial of the feeli ng

, ,
thinking aspiring soul that exists i n the personality

,
of man By Budd h ism the Essential entities are

.
called Skandas and the aggregatio n of Skandas is

,
called personality ; that is every personality consists ,
of the material q u alities sensation abstrac t idea , , ,
tendencies of mind and mental po w er Of these we .
are formed by them we are conscious of our o w n ex

,
i s t en ce The relatio n between the Skandas and the

.
personality may be explained b y analogy ; namely ,
Essential entities like the materials of which a house

is b u ilt and the personality like the house is t o
, , ,
Skandas as the material to the house There i s no .
essential personality but the Essential entiti es after

,
the dissol u t ion of the aggregatio n of the Skandas ,

The Ou tli ne of B u d d hi sm . 49
as there is no essential house but the materials which ,
composed th e house after its destruction .
So the personality or self the aggregation of Skan ,
das which consists of the form sensation perception

, , , ,
discrimination and consciousness is subj ect to change ,
by K arma b u t the Essential S kandas themselves are

,
indestructible The indestructible Skandas r e c om

.
bine under desire for existence through the influence

of K arma i nto new combinations A n ew life is the .
result Thus there are the cycles of r e birth along

.
-
which t h e Skandas are strung like beads and will ,
run unbroken until universal knowledge is attained .
CH APTER X X V I .
TH E PR I NCI P LE OF TH E TR AN S M IG R A T ION .
What causes the r e birth of soul ' As things are -
there is at work in t h e world a force by which the

ele ments on which life depends these faculties and
, ,
charac t ers form con scio usness sen se percep t i o n

—
, , , ,
mental energ y tend t o rec o mbination No soo n er

—
has a man d ied and his life elemen ts bee n scatte re d

,
-
than they enter u n der pressure o f thi s fo rce int o

, ,
n ew combinations because d u ri n g l ife he had set

,
in moti o n th at fo rce the un s ati s fie d des i re for ph ysi

—
cal existence which has a crea t iv e po w er in itself

—
,
and consequentl y it cause s r e birth

-
.
C on side r n o w t h at de a th only a ffects o n e ( form )

,
of the Skandas and does n o t a ffect t h e rest of the

,
qualities t h at m a ke u p a human bein g t h a t cause ,
and effect are inherent in the universal law of n ature ,
that it is c o ntinually operative thus m o difying p e r ,
so n al i t y as surely in the n ext as in this w orld that ,
the personality continues to change fo r better or

worse according to the p re p ond er at m g me n t or
,
50 The Ou tli ne f
o B u d d hi s m .
demeri t of several lives of the individual and that the ,
individual himself is continuously operating ; that is ,
he has a force which has a creative power in itself ,
and which i s only conceivable as apart from matter ,
but its operation is absolutely un k nown except in

connection with matter ; as gravitation its e ff ect is ,
only knowable as some m o de of motion of matter .
Thus we under stand that r e birth is the result -
necessitated by the force of Tanha under the guar ,
dian of Karma as all things fall to earth by the

,
necessary law of gravitation and Samsara the cycle

, ,
of life has no particular beginning or ending B e

, .
cause when the individual receives the rewards for

his good or bad deeds a residuum of merit or demerit
,
is always left which demands its recompense or its

,
punishment and therefore still acts as the germ of a

,
new existence And t h e new birth is accom plished

.
by enj oying s u ffering and acting where the l atter

,
again is converte d into works which must be ex ,
p i a t e d afresh i n a subsequent existence so it runs ,
the cycle of life the great circle of r e birth is divided

— -
into six parts called G ati and returns unto itself

, ,
comple t ing a cycle ; n o w passing the Devachan

world then receding the hum an world and so con
, ,
tinning to revolve through the Asura world the ,
brute world the Preta world or the world of vam

,
pires and hell ; t hus unto all eternity like the earth
, ,
that revolves through the four seasons i n its orbit ,
as long as the gravitation lasts does not rest on one ,
way until it puts an end to all his Ego self or the

universal knowledge appears .
The first three are called the three superior states

of Existence the la s t three are c alled the three in
.
fer i or s t ates o f Existence .
The following is an example of cause and e ffect as

tau ght b y B uddha
( 1 ) Th ree su p eri or s t a t es o f Ex i st enc e .
1 Se c o nd a r yp as si o n o f g r eed i n ess .
I ts c a u se 2 Se c o nd a ry p a ss i o n o f a n g er.
3 Se c o n d ar y p as s i o n of b e w i l d e rm e nt
M nki
.
(I) a nd
ct
.
I ts eff e (2 A su ra .
(3 Dv e as o r h ea v nl y b
e ei n g s .
( 2 ) Th ree i nfer i or s t a t es o f Ex i s t e n c e .
1 p
G r ea t ass i o n o f r ee d i n ess g
c g
.
I ts aus e 2 G r ea t p ass i o n o f a n e r
l
.
3 G r eat p a ssi on o f e w i d er m e nt b .
1 B ein s in ge H ll
ct P p
.
I ts e ff e 2 r e tas o r d e ar te d s i r i t s
p .
3 B ru t e .
As show n above this necessary law of K arma not

,
only determines the measure of happiness or su fler

i ng death and r e birth of each individual b ut al so
,
-
determines the origin and evolution of all things in

the universe .
And the appearances of the six worlds (Gati) the ,
operation of nature therefore are the e ffects of the , ,
good and b ad actions of living beings W hen we are .
born in Devachan Human worl d and Asura the , ,
po wer which is the cause of this therefore is our , ,
o w n merit also when we are born in the Preta Brute

, ,
and Hell it is our own demerit Among the bein gs

,
‘
of the six worlds though men are more thoughtfu l

,
than all others yet they all belong to the world of

,
desire and are not free from co n fusion .
But consider n o w that the S amsara of Gati the , ,
cycle of the six worlds as S aid above is made to ap , ,
pear by our thought and actions and by them we ,
are obliged to transmigrate through the G ati and ,
that it is only o u r ignorance that leads us to these

thoughts and actions which brought us in the cycle
of l ife Then it is o u r duty to rej ect our i gnorance
.
in order to attain the eternal state How can we .
dispel our ignorance ' Thou gh there are vari ous ,
rules of practice of B uddhism the three trai ni ngs of ,
the higher morality thought and learn i ng are the ,
most important B ut we are not treati ng about the

.
52 The Ou t li ne of B u d d hi sm
-
.
pro blem in the present chapter ; we shall in the fol

lowing chapter give in detail .
Let us dwell u pon the Mahayana system a few

minutes before passing to the next chapter The .
abov e explanation is considered by the northern

Buddhists as the doctrine of Hi n ayana The Ma .
b ayana doctrine teaches the worlds of Devas Man ,
kind Asura Hell Brute and Preta are all trans

, , , ,
formatio n s of the original B uddha that the five ,
elements w hich con s truct our body too construct , ,

“
the spiritual body of Buddha ; th at the five Skan
”
das which compose o u r personality too form the

, , .
“ ”
nature of the body of compensation of B u ddha ;
that the six organs of sense of all be ings are the form
“ ”
of the body capable of transformation of Buddha .
Thus all bein gs are originally pure and excellen t ,
and the everlasting life of truth It is only through .
ignorance that we dream these six worlds exist sep

a r at el
y in local places The truth Buddha and Nir
.
,
vana consist not in some local heaven beyond this

world but is hidden in the e ver ob t r u si v e selfhood of
,
man
In the midst of immortality man ignorantly dreams ,
of the birth and death of his individual self though ,
there is no birth and death of anythin g save of his

own delusion Originally all beings are non birth
.
-
n o n death non increase n o n decrea s e

-
,
- -
.
,
It is true then that an individual undulation

, , ,
which began in tru t h ( by ignorance ) o r th e subj ect ,
ive side of nature as the wave undulation by the

,
wind began at the water is carrying thr o u gh the ,
obj ective side (the six worlds) of nature under the ,
law of Karma and the creative force of Tan ha and ,
ends when ignorance is dispelled in truth because

’
“ , ,
what has a begin n ing has by a u n iversally admitted

law also an end .
The Ou tli ne of B u d d hi sm . 53
When we attain , therefore the superior state of ,
developm ent or enlightenment the Samsara of G ati ,
becomes com pletely sy nonymous with the eternal

bo u ndless power w hic h is the basic of every t hing
existing ; or to put it i n the words of the western
,
philosophy , tha t is an amalgamation of t h e

obj ective individual and the su bj ective truth ; this
may be expl ained b y a nalogy namely truth like the ,
water the individuals like the waves the individuals

, ,
are to truth as the Waves to the water There is no .
individual b eside the truth as there is n o wave beside,
the wate r an d vice ver sa

, .
My readers may pro fitably consult modern physi

cal scientists i n order to understand the relation
between Truth and the individuals .
Now let us take the univers e as a w hole H and

, ,
i ts materials as A B C D E F which make up the

, , , , , ,
universe then adopting the method of algebra

,
A +B Because although the ,
left hand members of this equation are al w ays havin g

the change in th em selves the sum of all the members
,
or that quantity is always constant .
When coal for instance burns in oxygen gas

, , ,
w hat we have is merely a change of condition a n d ,
the only result is a change from the energy of chem

ical separation into that of absorbed heat there is ,
not an energy destroyed .
Thus if we consider the origin of energy which i s

,
implied in each particle composing the universe we .
shall see that it is p roduced by the su n s rays for ’

,
each visible energy originates i n the sun s ra y s and ’

,
if its condition is chan ged large quantities of heat of

,
high temperature are produced Scientists m oreo ver .

, ,
tell us that the sun n o t only is t h e ultimate materi al

source of all the energy which we possess but regard ,
hi m as the source likewise of our del i cate organ i sm .

54 The Ou tli ne f
o B u d dhi sm .
In a few w ords the world and all living beings

,
—
are changed conditions of heat and there was only ,
heat before the beginni n g a n d therefore the same , ,
heat will remain after the e n d of the universe From .
this explanation we may co n clude that al l m aterials

which make up the universe are the changed forms
of the great heat as t h e above equation shows that
,
each individu al of A B C D E F is a part of the , , , , , ,
changed form of H (the whole heat) itself .
Thus again we may conclude from an alogy that , ,
all things and beings are transformations of the

Truth that is the Devas Mankind Asuras beings
, , , , ,
in Hell P retas and Brutes are made to app e ar by the

,
truth without which there is nothing whatever

,
.
But in the midst of immortality m an ignorantly

dreams of the birth and death of his individual self ,
w ithout knowing that he himself is the Buddh a of

the permanency w ithout be gin n ing or end and with
, ,
out knowing that ou r birth and death is only invented

nature and emptiness .
Now the aim of Buddhis m therefore is to put an

, , ,
end to r e birth to awaken all beings from ignora nce

-
, ,
and to restore them to their original state of i mm or

tality or Nirvana What is Nirvan a ' It once was
.
etymologicall y the great problem amo n g scientists .
For my part although its meaning is extinction it is

, ,
the extinction of desire of s u ff ering of error o f , , ,

”
ignorance o f the fire of lust h atred bewilderm ent
, , ,
.
Hence the state of Nirvana m ay be entered u pon our

earth itself when humanit y collectivel y s hall h ave
,
been perfected and all physical possibilities reali z ed ;

,
therefore it is not identical with annihilatio n as h as ,
often been represented by Western m i n d s .

PRA C TICE
C HAPTER XXVII .
CO N F E S S I ON .
c
To eas e fro m al l si n (s e fi sh ness ) l
v
To ge t ir t u e ; a n d
cl
To ean se o n e ’ s o w n h e art ,
Th i i t h d ct i f B d d h
s s e o r ne o u a .
As before mentioned there are three trainings

,
in the practice of Buddhism by which one may b e ,
come free from i gnorance and attain to B uddhahood .
But this is very hard work for lay believers .
Therefore now we wi l l take the easy way which is

,
the common creed of all sects of Buddhism The .
principal obj ect of Buddha s mission was to cleanse ’
the heart from the taint of sin There are two .
w ays of cleaning from sin : contrition and con

fe s s i o n The for m er is commonly practiced by all
Buddhists but the latter is only practiced by priests
,
.
Con t rition means sorrow for sin a true grief of the ,
heart fo r having committed faults and a sincere ,
repen t ance w ith a firm purp o se of sinning no more

,
.
And we must know that we are really sinful and ,
tha t sin comes not by B uddha or the gods but ,
by our ignorance thereof a n d that ignorance is the

,
root of all evil whose fruit is S i n ; because it m akes

,
us imagine truth as untruth and untruth as truth , ,
and because b y ignorance we create var i ous p a s s w n s

—
the fire of lust hatred bewilderment and by it
, ,
—
we also com mit various crimes .
Some obj ect t o cont riti o n on the alleged ground ,
that there is no necessity for repentance since we are ,
not c ri m inal as the murderer the robber and the , ,
adulterer Although a man does n o t o ffend the

.
.
criminal laws for this reason it must not be i mag i ned ,

56 The Ou tli ne qf B u d dhi sm .
that he is also free from t h e religious the moral sin ,

.
We are not in frequently rebuked by our conscience

that our souls are not free from fault only but ,
weighed down by the accumulated sins of many

years Certainly every one feels his conscience
.
,
troubled with sins of commission and omission of

some kind Will a man discovering poison in his
.
body neglect the remedy unless he be a fool ' I ,
readily understand that man is careful of his body ;

fe w neglect to seek the remedy for his sickness .
B ut I can not we l l conceive why people S hould

neglect the S ickness of soul which necessarily must ,
be cured It is our duty to cure the leprosy of the

.
body as well as absolutely to cleanse the d e fil em e n t s

of the soul Thus if we understood the necessity of
.
contrition next we must know according to the doc

, ,
trine o f B uddha th at all that we are is the result of

,
what we tho u ght B y oneself riches are gai n ed ;

.
by oneself poverty comes ; by oneself evil is done ;

by oneself one is purified ; p urity and impurity b e
l On g to oneself ; no one can purify another we our ,
selves must make the effort .
Having purified our sin s after contrition hereafter ,

we must hold a firm resolve not only to avoid all
mortal sin and its n ear occasions but also we must ,
make an e ff or t to co mpensate for the e vils of the past

with the addition of good dee d s which will be done in
the future .
Confession means the tellin g of one s sins to a ’
competent and venerable bhikshu for the purpose of ,

ob t aining fo rgiveness But i f there is not a reverend
.
bhik s hu t o w hom an o ffender may confess his

o fi e n s e he S hould c o n fess to Buddha s image or pic
’
,
ture with a deep sense of shame and sorr o w for hav

ing o ff ended .
W e do n ot believe in the image or picture itself ,

which is only a method of reaching the truth as all ,
The Ou t li ne of B u d d hi sm
-
. 57
our words are s ymbols and we communicate our ,
ideas through symbols but we believe in the mean

,
ing con vey ed by the symbol C onfession to Buddha s .

’
image means therefore that we set our mind in har

, ,
mony with B uddha who is virtue j ustice beauty

, , , ,
love and other ideas have a real and true existence

,
in reality and which also consists in our m ind obey

,
ing B uddha B uddhism rej ects all v ai n r e p e t i ti on s

.
‘
of B uddha s nam e as attempts to receive the mercy

’
of Buddha and to change the will of Buddha or to

, ,
pray for his pardon of our o ffenses Because all .
that we are is the result of what we thought It .
is founded on our thoughts it is made up of our ,
t hought s it is not made up of B uddha or gods

,
This .
interpretation of the doctrine will be made clear if we

,
can read the B r ah m a gal a Sutra -

.
We will n ow give some extracts from the Sutra to ,
S how its character : If a man speaks or acts with an

evil thought pain follows him as the wheel follows
,
the foot of the ox that draws the cart He who .
S peaks or acts with pure thought j oy follows him , ,
like h i s shadow which does not leave him Let no

,
.
‘
man think lightly of evil saying in his heart It , ,
will not come nigh unto m e A S by the falling of .

’
water d rops a water j ar is filled so the fool becomes

-
full o f evil though he gather i t little by little Raise

,
.
”
thyself by thyself exami n e thyself by t hyself
,
.
Thus we are taught that if there be one who offend ,
the fault should be confessed by him who remembers

it and desires to be cleansed For a fault when con .
,
fe s sed shall be light to him unless he shall h ave

,
,
weighed him self down with accumulated sins of m any

years .
C H APTER XX V II I .
TR I S A RA N A .
Tr i saran a or pro fession of faith in Triratna is con

fi r m at i on by which we become strong and perfect
Buddhists and soldiers of the three j ewel s or t he holy
trinity of t he Buddha the Dhar ma and the Sangha ,
.
There are two kinds of T ri s aran a internal and ex -
ternal The internal pro fessio n of faith in Triratna

.
is the belief in Triratna which exists in ourselves ,

.
We are taught that all beings are made from the six
great elements namely earth water fire air ether
, ,
, , , , ,
knowledge The first five compose the b ody and the

.
last o ne the mind The combination of the six ele

.
ments or a b eing has the three actions of body ,
thought a nd speech .
Now the six elements and the three actions are

,
not di ffe rent from those of B uddha Therefore there .
is no being besides Buddha an d vi ce ver sa Thus .
we must believe in Buddha whose virtue is com ,
p l e t e d in ourselves as we have the seeds of becoming

,
Buddhas But w e ignorant o n es do not know it

. .
We will find however that only Buddha by dis

, , ,
pelling our ignorance or fear the tyrant of m an and , ,
gaining wisdom which makes us a m aster and puri

, ,
f y i n g our minds from sin This is faith in internal .
B uddha .
The Dharma though there are many Dharmas a

—
,
hundred Dharmas enumerated in som e Sastras and ,
i n others six hundred an d sixty Dharmas which were ,

taught by Buddha the six great elements above ,
mentioned are original Dharmas And again they .
“ ”
m ay be gathered in the only mind of Buddha .
Moreover we are taught Buddha s mind a nd ours

,
’
were originally equal witho ut distinction but we ,
make distinction of them through ignorance .

Th e Ou t li n e f
o B u dd hi s m . 59
Therefore by co mplete conquest and dest r uction

,
of i gnorance ; by searching after truth ; the practice

of morality and the cultivation of virtue there ap ,
pears the idea o f unio n wi t h Buddha and the union ,
begets m any pr e e m inent virtues as G autama has ,
accom plished the enlightened state .
The following is a sum mary of contents of the

princ i pal virtues :
Three s ciences the pure precepts of morality
—
meditation wisdom ,
.
The S i x perfect virtues charity morality p a —

, ,
t i en c e perseverance meditation wisdom

, , ,
.
The seven requisites for the attainment of supreme

knowledge recollection investigation energy j oy
—
, , ,
fulness calmness meditation equanimity

, , ,
.
The fou r graces the grace of king t hat of Buddha

—
, ,
Dharma and Sangha ; that of parents that of people ,

.
The fourfold memory the memory of the impur —
ity of the body that of the evils of sensation that of

, ,
the eva n escence of thought and that of the condition ,
of existence .
The four right endeavors e ffort to retain meri —
tori o u s condition s already existi n g ; e ff ort to produce

such not yet attained ; e ffort to overcome sinful
,
states already existing ; effort to prevent new ones

from arising .
The four steps for the obtainment o f transcendeu

t a l talents the will to acquire them the necessary
—
,
exertion the indispensable preparation of the heart

, ,
and the diligent inve stigation of the truth .
The four unlimited thoughts sincerely to wish —
the good of all b ei n gs to sympathi z e with the dis ,
tressed to rej oice at the prosperity of others to love

,
,
the neighbor without the least partiali ty .
The four social virtues al m s gi v i n g loving speech —

, ,
b e ne fic e n t conduct to others and c o operation with

-
others Besides these there are the five powers the

.
,
,
60 The Ou tli n e of B u d d hi sm .
eightfold right path t he ten power and nu m erous ,
virtues It i s belief 1n Dharma that al l th e se vir t ues

.
are completed I n ourselves .
Sang h a The S angha means friendship or har

—
mo ny .
Then it i s cl e ar to say that Sangha is the state of

.
removal of every bad quality and t h e substitutio n of ,
every good as above mentioned ; to live in harmo ny

with brethren .
This is profession of faith in Sangha to believe

that we are brethren of all people .
In short we must believe that we ourselves are

,
the holy trinity which is called original because it

, ,
form s our human being although ignorance has ,
darkened our understanding weakened our will and , ,
left in us a strong inclination to evil and ignorance ,
can only be extinguished by trusting in truth love ,
for truth and by the practice of morality

,
.
Truth is Buddha the practice of morality is ,
Dharma a nd the love in the truth is Sangha

,
.
Although we have the seeds of the B uddha we ,
ignorant pe o ple do not know how to make t h em

grow and blos s o m i nto such beautiful flowers as Gau
tama did So Buddha teaches them to follow the
.
external Buddh a Dharma and Sangha in order to ,
understand their original states .
The external profession of faith in Triratna is the

belief in Buddha Buddha s doctrine and Buddha s ,
’
,
’
disciples The three j ewels or the holy trinity of

.
the Buddha the Dharm a and the Sangha are g u ides

,
that a B uddhist is to follow .
They are generally called the T i s ar a n a .
I follow Buddha as my guide He the Exalted .

,
One is the holy supreme B uddha the knowing the

, , ,
instructed the blessed who knows the worlds t h e

Per fect O rie who y ok et h men like an ox the teacher
, , ,
, ,
o f gods and men the exalted Bu d dha
”
, .
The Ou t li n e f
o B u d d hi s m . 61
This is our teacher of faith who appeare d in the ,

worl d .
“
I follow the doctrin e as my guide ; well preached
is the doctrine of the Exalted One It has become .
apparent it is above time and space ; it says Come ,

‘
and see it lea d s to welfare ; it is recogni z ed by the

wise in their own heart s ” .
This is o ur doctrine to follo w taught by B uddha ,

“
I follow the Sangha as my guide ; the commun
ity of Buddha s disciples instructs us how to lead a
’
life of righteousness ; the community of B uddha s ’
disciples teaches us how to exercise honesty and j us

tice ; the comm unity of Buddha s disciples shows us ’
how to practice the truth They form a brother .
hood of kindness and charity Their s aints are .
wor t hy of reverence The community of Buddha s

.
’
disciples is founded as a hol y alliance in which m e n ,
bind themselves together to teach the behests of rec

t i t u d e and to do good .
This is Sangha to follow as our guide .
Beside there is another one called the present

,
Triratna which means the Triratna that exist in the

present age Buddha is represented by the image
.
and the pict u re of Buddha the Dharma is inscribed ,
in the Tripitakas or three baskets of the sacred

canons of Buddha and the monks make up the
,
Sangha
B u t to believe in B uddha s ima ge does not mean
’
idol w orship like the pagan who considers the

-
image itself as divinity but the B u d t S t re v erences

,
B uddha s statue only as a memento of B uddha who

’
,
conveyed to us instruction wisd o m and s al v at 1on , , ,
as people o ffer honors to the p 1c t u r e or statue of

their merciful kin g or patriot and th o se who are ,
considered in any w a y great .
The sacred bo o ks are not the truth they are the ,
S ym bols that represent the truth or are thought to ,

62 The Ou t li ne of B u dd hi sm .
represent truth and to attribute divine honor to the

, ,
symbols is paganism or idolatry We worsh i p only ,

.
the truth and the moral law of nature which is i n

,
scribed in sacred books but the symbol s are expressed ,
w ith the paper and ink .
And we Buddhists must be thankful for the kind

ness of the patriarchs as teachers and expounders of
the doctrines revealed by B uddha There are how .
,
ever ignorant monks who are intellectually and

,
morally inferior to lay believers .
We do not want to honor these ignorant and i m

moral monks We are taught by B uddha that only
.
tho se were to receive honor who are distinguished

by their wisdom and have conquered every tempter
, ,
a n d are fre e from every evil an d live so pure and ,
noble a life t hat it begga r s description Such are .
void of con fusion an d filled with j oy an d are , ,
deeply concerned in the security and encouragement

o f their fellows
”
.
Thus we can perceive the internal h oly trinity by

the power of the exter n al Triratna by the practice of ,
morality F or the moment there is no Buddha s

.
,
’
mind besides ours and there is n o mind of ours

,
besides B uddha s In a word the heart of those who

’
.
,
obtain the perfect morality bec o mes one with

Buddha s Now the original holy T r ir at n a m ay be
’
.
called the Rig (reason com pleted) the power of the ,
external Triratna may be called Kaj i (adding hold -
ing ) and the practice of the morality to become one

,
with B uddha may be called Ke n tok (apparent -
obtaining) .
C HAPTER XXIX .
O B S E RV ANC E OF TH E TE N PR ECE PT S .
Misunderstanding of the doctrine of Buddha some ,
Buddhists of the present age teach the ethics of

The O u t li ne of B u d d hi s m . 63
asceticism They regard the pursuit o f happiness as

.
im m oral .
It is re m arkable that Buddha nev er
taught the ethics of asceticism He said : Neithe r “
.
abstinence from fish or flesh n or going naked nor , ,
shaving the hea d nor wearing matted hair nor , ,
dressing in a rough garment will cleanse a man ,
who is not free from delusions Self m or t ific a t io n .

-
by heat or cold and many such penances performed

,
for the sake of immortality do not cleanse the man ,
who is not free from delusions Strengthen thy .
body by drink a n d food and th u s enable th y min d ,
to seek composure .
Thus Buddha himself ate and drank t o refresh h i s

body and thus to aid his mind to become clear .
B uddhis m does not ho w ever accept the principles

, ,
that regard happines s as the criterion of ethics a n d ,
believes that pleasures are the ultimate aim of life .
“
We are taught : He w h o lives f or pleas u re o nly ,
his se n ses u n co n trol l ed i m moderate in his food idle, ,
an d weak him M aya t h e te m pter will ce rtainl y

, , ,
overthrow as the wi n d throws down a weak tree

,
.
“
And in another place we are taught : Let no man
take into consideration whether a thing is pleasant
or unpleasant Pleasures destroy the foolish ; the
.
foolish man b y his thirst for pleasure destroys him

,
”
self as i f he were his own enemy B u ddha bid us .
walk the middle path which keeps aloof from both ,
extrem es the hedonism and asceticis m

— .
According to Buddhism man must m ake an effort ,
of his own as we have often mentioned ; pain i s the

,
outcome of evil happiness is the o utcome of go od

,
.
Which acts a re go od and which are bad ' Buddha

s aid : All acts of li v ing beings become bad by ten
thi n gs and by avoidin g the ten things they become
,
good There are three sins of the bo d y four S i ns o f
. ,
the tongue a n d three sins of the m i nd

,
.
The three sins of the body are m urder theft an d ,
adultery The fo ur si n s of the tongue are lying

.
,
slander abuse and idle talk The three sins of the

,
.
mind are covetousness hatred and error They may ,

.
be included in the following formul a :

N t t k i ll o o .
D d N tt t l ee o o s ea .
N t t c m m it d lt y o o o a u er .
N t t li o o e .
N t t i nv t vi l p t o o en e re or s
W d N t t c p
or
o o ar .
.
N t t b p f n o o e ro a e .
N t t c v t o o o e .
Th gh t T cl n h t f m li c
ou o ea n s e o
’
e s ea r o a e .
T f n m i nd f g n nc o re e o
’
e s o i o ra e .
In every land and age man has had several doc

trines of morals according to the degree of his civi
l i z a t ion
But though man has many moral doctrines or
,
precepts I believe that the ten precepts taught by

,
our Lord Buddha as a d o ctrine for humanity are

, , ,
perfect and that this d o ctrine has the greatest and

,
deepest meanin gs for it teaches self control as the ,

-
main duty toward oneself and j ustice as the main

duty toward others .
“
Buddha said : He w h o looks fo r pleasure for
himself only and who is selfish is not a virtuou s
, ,
”
man and it is said in Sutra that if anyone breaks
,
the ten precepts which nobody denies as the truth , ,
he is n ot far from the fowl a n d the beast for though , ,
he has a body like a man his mind is not far from ,
the beast .
I will give briefly the expl anation of the ten pre

c ep t s
”
1 Not to kill but have r e gard for life The
.
, .
term kill c o m monly means the taking of life but the ,
commandment implies not only to m urder man

kind and not to kill living beings b ut it also com
,
,
mands to take care for life and to have com passion ,
on all lower animals .

Buddha said : K no w now O disciples that all , , , ,
the world is ours and all mankind are our children

, ,
and all men are our fathers and all women are our ,
”
mothers . T h is means that we must have kindness
for all people without any diff erence as parents l o ve ,
their children an d as a child loves his pare nt s

,
.
Let us thi n k of the action of taking life We are .
concerned especially with the lives of the lower ani

mals because it seems needless to think about the
,
action of m urder since it is ackno w ledged as a great

,
crime and because it is not y e t generally taught

,
that to take the life of lower animals is cruel i m ,
moral and unnatural .
Whenever we reflect on all living beings does it ,
not occur to the mind that ani m als seek to escape

fro m death at all times ' Nothing is so painfu l a nd
sorrowful in the world as death If animals are to .
care for their lives then is i t not clear that though

, ,
once there were unfortu n ately many people who

, ,
killed animals merciles s ly to kill is against the na ,
ture of mankind morality and natural law

,
To act with kindness towards beings I nferior to

m e n is the duty of man or the nature of humanity ,
at least Accordin g to Kant the duties incumbent

.
,
o n man are classified fo urfold :
Duties in reference to himself as an individual .
Duties i n reference to his fellow men as l i vm g

in society .
D uties in reference to beings inferi or to man .
Duties in reference to s u p er h u m an b em gs .
Som e obj ections as to our duties toward be i ngs 1n

fe r i or to m a n are raised by Christians on the ground
that inferior ani m a l s are like the inanimate part of ,
crea t ion to be regarded as subj ect to our Wi ll and

,
subservient to our use Although it i s so by c on .
,
s i d e r i n g their love for their o ffsprings and the young

for its parents the love of male and female and the
,
,
66 The Ou t li ne of B u ddhi sm .
m utual affi nities of members of the same group ; also

their attachment for their leader and the g e neral ,
’
condition of the li fe of animals com pared with man s ,
who will say that the inferior living beings are like
the inanimate things ' To kill the inferior animals ,
or even to inflict unnecessary pain upon any living

creature is it not cr u el '
,
Whereupon Buddha taught not to kill but have

, ,
regard for life He who keeps perfectly this pre cept

.
can always be happy in his mind his body safe , ,
and a help to others to attain peace in their mind .
We have discussed at some length this precept b e

cause i t has been considered strange to our Christian
friends that B uddhists h ave regarded inferior anim als
superior to inanimate things The other precepts .
will be mentioned briefly It is not necessary to

.
fully explain them since they are observed as com

,
mon precepts b y C hristians .
“
2. Not to steal or rob ” but help every o n e to ,
obtain the fruit of his labor By the precept we are .
forbidden to take unj ustly or keep what belongs to

another and are commanded to give to all m e n what
,
belongs to them and to respect their property and to

be careful not to da m age the things which we bor
rowed and return them without fail He who keeps
,
.
perfectly t his precept will not lose his property by

disaster .
3.
“
Not to commit adultery b ut lead a l ife of
”
,
chastity B y this precept we are forbidden to commit

.
unchaste freedom with another s wife or husband ; ’
also all immodesty even with one s own wife or h u s ’
band at forbidden time s forbidden places and com

, ,
m an d ed to be pure in thought and modest in al l our

words and action s He who keeps perfectly this
.
precept can enjoy domestic happiness with his wife

and children .
The Ou t li n e f
4 Not to lie but to be truthful ; and to speak

.
,
”
the truth wi t h discretion wisely and lovingly By ,

.
this precept we are forbidden not only the making of

false statements in words but also in actions It is ,
.
”
not only saying that which is not but also pre ,
tending that which is n o t as for instance claim

”
, , ,
”
ing to be a learned man when one is not so Every .
thing the refore that m akes against the truth

, , ,
whether i n deed or word falls under this prohibition ,

.
He who keeps per fectly this precept will not be

deceived by others and will gain the confidence of ,
the world and the reverence of Heaven .
To the above four precepts is added one other to ,
form the five Observances or precepts which are i m

posed ou the Buddhist laity in general namely , ,
“
5 To abstain from using in toxicating liquors
.
,
”
and drugs that tend to procrastination We read .
in the Sutra as follows :

Let the househo l der who approves of this Dharm a
not give himself to intoxicating drinks ; let him not
cause others to drink nor approve of those who drink , ,
knowin g it is madness F or through intoxication .
the stupid comm it sins ; let him avoid this path o f

sin this madness this folly delightful only to the
, , ,
”
inebriate .
The ten precepts embrace the first four above

enumerated with S i x additional : ,
5 Not to fabricate or circulate evil reports not

.
to carp but look for the good that may be i n a

,
fellow man and to d efend h i m against h l s detractors
-
,
”
or calumniators .
0
He who follows this commandment Wi ll gai n the

respect of angels and men and preserve the bonds of , ,
friendship unbroken And he will meri t to be born .
hereafter into a r i ghteous S phere and possess a voice

c ma A -
t h a t o f Buddha himself
D a : .
68 The Ou t li n e of B u d d hi sm .
”
6 . Not to be profane but to speak with decency ,
and dignity B y this precept we are forbidd en from

.
carping and v ill i fy i ng others also of the lowest crea ,
tures such as ants sparrows serpents etc ; from

, , , , .
speaki n g evil words or v il l ify i n g them and are ex ,
h o r t e d to speak of their industrious habits etc ,

.
If you carp o f human beings especially of your ,
parents you would be condemned to A vi t c h (Hell

,
without interruption ) By the merit of keeping this .
precept there will never be fear of strife nor violent

, ,
conduct in any place .
“ ”
7 Not to tattle but to speak to the purpose or , ,
keep silence B y this precept we are commanded to

.
use always harmonious words and keep peace with

each other and be careful not to use words that may
,
destroy the peace existing between husband and w ife ,
parents and children master and servants and , ,
friends and trouble be at an end

,
.
“ ”
8 . Not to covet nor envy but to rej oice at the ,
prosperity of others Covetousness m ay be defined .
as the desire of unlawful possessions Its cure is to .
be found in the absolute indi ff erence to all posses

S i ons .
By this precept we are forbidden t o grudgingly

hold our own or to covet anything which belongs to
,
others but to give of our posses s ions to the poor

,
according to our power Treasure is public property .
of the world and is an implement by which every one

in the world may share equally exch anging all ,
necessities with one another Therefore if you gain .
treasure divide it into four and contribute one part

, ,
of it to the public the second part to Triratna ,
Buddha Dharma Sangha with the third part s u s

, , ,
—
tain yourself and the rest you will deposit for your
,
children So according to circu m stances you will

.
, ,
give or loan your treasures to the poor but never be ,
miserly n or demand unreas o n a bl e D r o fi t 1 nf if 0 11

”
The Ou t li n e of B u d d hi sm . 69
He who keeps perfectly this precept happiness being ,

fulfil led will never su ffer from poverty
, .
9
. To cleanse one s heart of malice ; casting out
’
all an ger spite and ill will to treat all living beings
, ,
-
,
”
with kindness and benevolence .
He who keeps perfectly this precept will love all

with the w armest heart There will then be no .
enmity nor disquiet in his mind at any time or place .
10 . To be diligent in learn i ng an d to free the ,

”
mind from ignorance B y this precept we are
.
exhorted to appreciate all instructions of sages and

wise men keep in our mind that a good cause will
,
bring good results and a bad ca use bad results j ust

, ,
as water is w e t and fire is hot which no one can ,
interchange and to be not selfish but conceive the

, ,
truth of self denial In a word to stand on the same

-
.
,
point of view with all B uddhas and strive t o p r o p a ,
gate the truth I f a man has learned to control all

.
his t h ought he is master o f himself Being m aster .
of himself he is then m aster of the universe or

, , , ,
Buddha .
Lis t of Some Boo ks on Bud d his m
Th e Go s p e l of B ud d ha .
A cc ord i ng t o ol d r e o rd s c
PAU L C ARUS Pp i 2 75 Cl t h pp c
.
By . . x v— . o a er , 35 e nt s .
O p n C t P b l i h i n g C Ch i c g Il l 189 4
,
e ou r u s o a o, . .
B u d d his m a nd It s C h r is t i a n C r i t i c s .
By PAUL CAR U S P p 3 16 Cl o th ,
C t t Th O i gi f B d d h i m Th P h i l p h y
. . .
o n en s : e r n o u s —
e oso of Bu d d
hi m sTh P y c h l gi c l P b l m Th B i c C n c pt
—
e s o o a ro e —
e as o e s of B u d d
h i m B d d hi m
s —
d Ch i t i
u i t y Ch i t i n C i t i c f B s an r s an —
r s a r s o u d d hi s m .
O p n C t P b l i h i g C Ch i c g I ll 1 897
e ou r u s n o .
,
a o, . .
B u d d h i s t C at e h i s m c .
By H O L OTT P
S .C , r es i d e n t o f t h e
. h e osop h i a S o i e t T cl c y
gl c c c
.
En i sh e d i t i on , p ap er , 3 5 e nt s ; m e r i a n e d i t i o n , p ar h m e n t , A
c
50 en t s .
O cc l P bl
u t g
u i sh in C o , 73 r em o n t S t re e t , B o st o n , a ss . T M .
A B u d d h is t C at e h is m c .
B y COL S O C TT. H L O
W i t h i nt ro d u t i o n a nd no t e s y P r o
. . . c b
f es sesso r El l o t t C o u es .
g
B ei n V o l 3 o f B i o g e n S e ri e s . ar h m e nt , 50 c t s Pp iii 8 4 . P c . . v —
cc l P b l g T M
.
O u t u is h i n C o , 73 re m o nt S t ree t , B os ton , a ss . .
A B u d d h is t C at e h i s m c .
B y S U B H A DR A B H K S H P p i v 1 07 C o th , I U .
—
. l
P P T
.
G u t na m ’
s S o n s , 2 7 W est
. w ent t h i r d S t r ee t , y -
Y k N Y
.
N ew or ,
. .
k c f t h Li f n d T c h i g f
B u d d h i s m , b e i n a s et h g o e e a ea n s o
G au t a m a , Th e B u d d h a .
B y T W R H S DA I D S P h D L L D Pp v ii i 2 52 C l t h
. Y V , .
, . . .
—
o
S i xt nt h Th
. . . .
,
a b t
ou nd ee o u sa .
E J B Y g C N w Y k 1 89 4 . . ou n o e or
A l S ci t y f P m t i ng C h i t i n K w l d g 4 3 Q n
. .
, . .
so o e or ro o r s a no e e, u ee
Vi ct S t t L nd or i a r ee , o on .
B u d d h i s m , It s Hi s t o r a n d L i t e r at u r e y .
By T W. HY S V DS , Ph D , L L
. R x — 2 30DA I . . D . Pp C l ot h
c c H i s to ry
. . . .
,
B ei ng t h e F i r st S er i e s o f m eri a n L e t u r es o n t h e A
of R g
e l i i o ns .
G u t n a m .
’
P P
s S o n s , 2 7 W est
. w ent y t h i r d S t r ee t , T -
N ew or , 18 9 6 Y k N Y . . .
Hi b b e rt Le c t u r e s f o r 1 8 8 1 .
By T . W . RH
DA I DS P h D L L D O n t h O i gi n nd
YS V . . e r a
t h f R l i gi n i ll t t d by m p i nt i t h Hi t y f
.
, .
, .
G
w
ro o e o as us ra e so e o s n e s or o
Ind n B d d hi m
ia u s .
W ill i m nd N g t 1 4 H n i tt S t t C v nt G d n
a s a or a e, e r e a re e , o e ar e ,
Lo nd on .
B u d d h i s t B i r t h S t o r i e s or J at a k a Ta l es V ol 1 . .
T l by T R DA I D D Pp ci i i
.
rans a t ed W H YS V DS , P h. LL . . . . . . .
-
347 .
Tru b ue r C o Lu d gat e ill , Lo n d on H .
c
Le t u r e s o n t h e S i e nc e o f e l i g i o n, w it h c
a Pa p e r o n R
B u d d h is t N i h i l i s m a nd a Tra n s at i o n of t h e Dh a m m a l
p a d a o r P at h of
z
i rt u e V
MU LL Pp
.
By MAX ER i v— 300 Cl ot h , . . .
Ch ar les S r i bner C o , N ew Y or 1 8 72 c . k . .
Th e Lif e of B ud d ha a nd t h e E ar l y Hi s t or y of Hi s Or d e r .
T nl t d b y W W R O ILL c nd S c t y
ra s a e . . CK H , Se o e r e ar of U . S .
L g t n i n Ch i n
e a io a .
D i v d f m Ti b t n w k Pp xi i 2 73 C l t h b
er e ro e a or s, —
. o , a ou t
K gan P l F n ch T b Pt n t H
.
e C
au , re ,
ru ue r o .
,
a er os er ou se , Lo n d on .
Th e Po p u l ar L i f e
B ud d ha of .
By RTH R L A E U
xi i — 8 40 ILLI . Pp . .
P l
au , F r en h 8c C o , N o 1 c P L o nd o n
g a t ern o st er Sq u are ,
ega n . .
.
18 s
Th e Inf l u e nc e o f B u d d hi s m on C h r i s t ia ni t y .
B y A RTH U R L ILLIE Pp vi i i 18 4 —
S w a n S o nne ns ch e i n Lond on Ch ar l es S cr i bner s

. . .
S o ns ,
’
, Co .
,
.
N ew Y k or . 1 8 93 .
B u d d h is m i n C h r i s t e n d o m , or J e s u s t h e Es s e n c e .
By ARTHU R ILLIE L
P l F n ch P
.
K e gan au ,
re Co .
, No 1 . at er no st er S q ua re , L o nd on .
B u d d h i s m i n Tr a ns la t i ons .
By H
‘
Y E NR C LA R E W ARR EN Pp xx
K C lot h . . ,
u Pi sh edbl by H var d Uni versi t y Cam bri d ge Mass

ar , ,
. 18 96 .
Or i e nt a l R
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R
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( rt i . e B u d d h is m ) .
By S A M UEL J O H N ON S vi — 80 2 Pp .
R Og M
. .
J am es . s o od o m pan , B ost on , ass C

18 72 y . .
Th e Do c t ri ne of A F u t u r e L if e , A C r it i c al Hi s t o r y of
(Ch a p t er
W ILLIAM R OU NS E ILLE AL ER Pp 9 14
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W J W id d l t . . e on , e or . 1 8 66 .
Lat er ed i ti o n h v b
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a e ee u s e .
Th e Ge ni u s l it ud (A t i l B d d h
of S o e. r c e u a. )
B y W I LLIAM R ALG E R Pp ii 4 12 . . . x —
R b t B th B t n M
.
o er s ro e rs , os o , a ss . 1 86 6 .
A w d ti
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Th e L i gh t A s ia
of .
By SI R E D W I N A R NOLD
b ookst o re
.
To b e o b t a i ne d at a n y .
Ind i a Re v is it e d C h a p t e r s x i v a nd x v i
. .
B y SI R E D W I N A R NOLD M A C S I Pp , . . . 32 4 .
Rb M
.
o e r ts B ro t h ers , B o s t o n , as s . 18 86 .
Th e L a n d of Th e W h it e E l ph e a nt .
By FR A NK VIN EN T J C , R . Pp x vi — 31 6
H p B Y k
. .
ar er r o t h e rs , N ew or . 18 74 .
Th e A nat o m y of N e ga t i o n . C h ap t e r 1 . Th e Re v o l t of the
Or i e nt .
B y E D G R S A Lr UsA .
Be l fo r l , C a r e 8: C o
. l k .
, C h i c ag o an d N ew Y k or . 1 88 9 .
l
S e e a so
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c y cl A t i cl
.
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A c
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c
A nd Di t i o na r of y
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Re c ord of B u d d h i s t i c Ki n d o m g .
g
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i n I nd ia A D a nd e on ( 39 9 . .
T nl ra s C
at e d a nd a n n o ta t e d w i t h a o r ea n r e e ns i o n o f t h e
. h i n ese c C
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J M S L GG , D D row n 4 t o o a rd s ,
. . b
A Re c o r d of t he B u d d h is t e l i gi o n , as ra ti R p c c ed in I n d i a an d
the M l yA c l g A
a a r h ip e a o ( D 6 71
TS I NG T l D
.
By I by . ra n s a t e d J TA K A K US U , B . . A Ph . .
A S h o r t Hi s t o r y of t he T w lv e e J ap a ne s e B u d d h i s t S e t s c
M A O ON
.
B y B UN Y I U N A N J I O , . . X .

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TA B L E O F C ONT E NT S .

The Three S ights

The Long Retirement .

Sending O ut of the Disciples .

B uddha s Fare w ell Add r ess

GEN E R AL H I S TOR Y OF B U DDH I S M .

The F irst B udd h ist Council .

The Second Buddhist Council .

The Third B uddhist

The Principle of Cause and Eﬂec t

The Principle of Transmigratio n

Observance of the Ten Precepts

The o bj ect of t his b o o k i s inten d ed to give the

together with the li fe o f Bud d h a S akyamuni and his

being far fr o m an o riginal the bu l k of the present

volume is largely taken from t h e several works of

reader will no doubt als o ﬁnd many similar state

ments through the writings of some Western scholars .

Where I di ffer from my predecessors in this under

ent work in gatheri n g materia l s considered only as

So the ﬁrst c h apt e r on the life o f Bud d h a for ,

instance is mostl y deriv e d from the Nort h ern Bu d d

hist canons using seldom an y o f t h e S o uthern text

The second c h apter on the general hist o ry of Bud d

third chapter o n the teachings o f Buddha is likewise , ,

a translati o n o f the com mon canon wildl y used am o ng

The sole ai m of my present u n dertaki n g as stated ,

above b e i n gfs i m pl y to present a fair glimpse of t his

much talke d o f B u d dhism to the general readers of

If one desires t o investigate more fully I would ,

respectfu lly refer the read er to those learned w o rk s

Old enberg Eitel Beal Rhys Davids Childers a n d

A word of expla n ati o n concerning my Eng l ish is

reader s attention While the subj ect matter of my

work is absolutely correct the presentation of it is

necessarily crude on account of m y limited command

readers will u nderstand the principles of B uddhism

I cannot conclude with o ut t h anking Mrs Mary .

Olive Coonradt for her kindness i n correcting some

times suggestions fo r further improvements

Our Lord Sakyam uni as t h e Saviour of the world ,

and founder of B uddhism is regarded by the people ,

as one of the great men the world has produced He .

was unquestionably an enligh tened man remark ,

able i h the inﬂuence he exercised over his countr y

has ever since exercised by his doctrine over the world .

He was born about the sixth century before C hrist ,

in K a pi l avast u the royal city of his father Sudd

b adana who was ruler o f a ki n gdom north of Oude

in India The prince was called Gautama fro m the

tribe to which his family belonged His pe r son was .

bright like the shining of the sun and beautiful as a

tion sel dom seen on the earth At the moment of .

his birth he deliberately took seven steps in the

His mo t her Maya the queen to w hom the future

greatness and mighty s w ay of the prince over the

his birth a nd addressing her sister Praj apati said :

world W hen I am gone be thou a mother to him