
 
 <fc 
 
 V 
 
 r 
 A
 
 ZTbe Mtsoom of tbe Bast Series 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 L. CRANMER-BYNG 
 
 Dr. S. A. KAPADIA 
 
 THE PATH OF LIGHT
 
 WISDOM OF. THE EAST 
 
 THE PATH OF LIGHT 
 
 RENDERED FOR THE FIRST TIME 
 INTO ENGLISH FROM THE BODHI- 
 CHARYAVATARA OF SANTI-DEVA 
 
 A MANUAL OF MAHA-YANA BUDDHISM 
 BY L. D. BARNETT, M.A., LITT. D. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 E. P. BUTTON AND COMPANY 
 
 1909
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 HAZELL, WATSOK AND VINEY, LD., 
 
 LONDON AND AYLH8BCRY, 
 
 ENGLAND
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 I. THE PRAISE OF THE THOUGHT OF ENLIGHTEN- 
 MENT 37 
 
 II. THE CONFESSION OF SIN . . . .40 
 
 III. TAKING THE THOUGHT OF ENLIGHTENMENT . 44 
 
 IV. HEEDFULNESS IN THE THOUGHT OF EN- 
 
 LIGHTENMENT 48 
 
 V. WATCHFULNESS 53 
 
 VI. THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING . .59 
 
 VII. THE PERFECT STRENGTH . . . .73 
 
 VIII. THE PERFECT CONTEMPLATION . . .82 
 
 IX. THE PERFECT KNOWLEDGE . . . .92 
 
 NOTES 95 
 
 APPENDIX . 103 
 
 2005633
 
 EDITORIAL NOTE 
 
 object of the Editors of this series is a 
 -I- very definite one. They desire above all 
 things that, in their humble way, these books 
 shall be the ambassadors of good-will and 
 understanding between East and West the old 
 world of Thought and the new of Action. In 
 this endeavour, and in their own sphere, they 
 are but followers of the highest example in the 
 land. They are confident that a deeper know- 
 ledge of the great ideals and lofty philosophy 
 of Oriental thought may help to a revival of 
 that true spirit of Charity which neither despises 
 nor fears the nations of another creed and 
 colour. Finally, in thanking press and public 
 for the very cordial reception given to the 
 " Wisdom of the East " Series, they wish to state 
 that no pains have been spared to secure the 
 best specialists for the treatment of the various 
 subjects at hand. 
 
 L. CRANMER-BYNG. 
 S. A. KAPADIA. 
 
 NOBTHBBOOK SOCIETY, 
 
 185 PICCADILLY, W.
 
 THE PATH OF LIGHT 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 ' "TTTHEN the religion formerly received is 
 V V rent by discords," remarks Bacon in his 
 subtle essay on the " Vicissitudes of Things," 
 " and when the holiness of the professors of 
 religion is decayed and full of scandal, and withal 
 the times be stupid, ignorant, and barbarous, 
 you may doubt the springing up of a new sect ; 
 if then also there should arise any extravagant 
 and strange spirit to make himself author thereof. 
 If a new sect have not two properties, fear it not, 
 for it will not spread : the one is the supplanting, 
 or the opposing of authority established for 
 nothing is more popular than that ; the other is 
 the giving licence to pleasures and a voluptuous 
 life : for as for speculative heresies (such as 
 were in ancient times the Arians, and now the 
 Arminians), though they work mightily upon 
 men's wits, they do not produce any great altera- 
 tion in States, except it be by the help of civil
 
 8 INTRODUCTION 
 
 occasions. There be three manners of planta- 
 tions of new sects : by the power of signs and 
 miracles ; by the eloquence and wisdom of speech 
 and persuasion ; and by the sword. For martyr- 
 doms, I reckon them amongst miracles, because 
 they seem to exceed the strength of human 
 nature ; and I may do the like of superlative and 
 admirable holiness of life." 
 
 So far as his range of knowledge extended, 
 Bacon's remarks are true. But when we attempt 
 to apply them to the history of Buddhism, we 
 find that they need considerable qualification. 
 Buddhism arose in an age when " the holiness of 
 the professors of religion," the influence of the 
 Brahman hierarchy in India, was " decayed and 
 full of scandal." But the times, far from being 
 " stupid, ignorant, and barbarous," were full of 
 eager intellectual and moral activity ; on all 
 sides ancient doctrines were being reaffirmed by 
 their professors and assailed by critics, while new 
 systems of thought were rising everywhere. The 
 Buddha himself was not an " extravagant and 
 strange spirit," but a man whose thought in 
 essentials was thoroughly in harmony with the 
 ideas of Hinduism, and whose character fulfilled 
 a Hindu ideal. His Church did indeed endeavour 
 to supplant the authority of the Brahmans ; but 
 it sought to attain this end neither by " the giving 
 licence to pleasures and a voluptuous life," nor 
 by the sword. Its marvellous success was due to
 
 LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA 9 
 
 " the eloquence and wisdom of speech and j 
 persuasion " and to " the superlative and admir- f 
 able holiness of life " of the Buddha. 
 
 About a hundred miles north from Benares, on 
 the border of Nepal, where the plain of the 
 Ganges begins to rise to the uplands at the edge 
 of the mighty Himalayas, lies a little region 
 which was once the home of the Sakyas, a class 
 of Kshatriyas, or men of the warrior caste. To 
 Suddhodana of Kapila-vastu, a nobleman of the 
 Gautama family of this tribe, was born about 
 560 B.C. a son Siddhartha. When he grew up 
 Siddhartha likewise married and begot a son, 
 Rahula by name. And then, when he was about 
 twenty-nine years of age, as tradition relates, 
 Siddhartha became weary of the world and the 
 flesh. The ghastly riddle of Life Life with its 
 endless vicissitudes of phantom pleasure and 
 ever-renewed pain was ceaselessly pressing itself 
 upon him, as it has pressed itself upon so many 
 thousands of other Hindus, and he could find 
 no rest in his father's home. So he left the world, 
 to become a wandering beggar-student, in the 
 hope of finding the key to the great mystery in 
 the teachings of some master of philosophic lore. 
 But none of the teachers whom he met could 
 satisfy the hunger of his soul, and the severest 
 mortifications of the flesh brought him no light. 
 
 One day, as he sat meditating in the shadow 
 of a fig-tree, his long searchings of heart came to
 
 10 INTRODUCTION 
 
 an end, and the answer to the mystery of life was 
 revealed to him. Henceforth he was the Buddha, 
 the Enlightened Seer, who had won the perfect 
 peace of spiritual knowledge, the Nirvana l ; 
 and the remaining years of his long life were 
 passed in imparting his teaching for the salvation 
 of his fellow-creatures, and thus founding the 
 Buddhist Church, until about 482 B.C., full of years 
 and honour, he departed to the supreme Nirvana. 
 When we examine the doctrines which appear 
 to have been taught by the Buddha," we see that 
 they are founded upon two ancient conceptions 
 that are characteristic of Hindu thought : the 
 pessimistic idea of Karma, and the Samsara, 
 " works " and " wandering." According to the 
 usual Indian creed, the universe is tenanted by 
 a countless number of souls in various degrees of 
 elevation ; and each of them must pass through 
 an endless number of births and deaths in the 
 most various kinds of bodies. Every moment 
 of experience that each soul undergoes in each 
 incarnation is the direct result of an act per- 
 formed in a former birth or later, and in its turn 
 bears fruit in a future experience, thus forming 
 a series of sorrows without beginning and without 
 
 1 See below, p. 18. 
 
 2 On this subject the reader will do well to study the latest, 
 and in several respects the best, summary, Boiiddhisme : 
 Opinions sur VHistoire de la Dogmatique, by Professor L. de 
 la Vallee Poussin (Paris, 1909).
 
 THE BUDDHA'S "MIDDLE PATH" 11 
 
 end. For life, however pleasant it may seem, is 
 in reality but a long illusive agony, from which 
 only the few escape who by their perfect spiritual 
 insight win to identity with the transcendental 
 Being, Brahma. 
 
 Now the Buddha, according to the ancient 
 tradition of the Pali Canon, dissented from this 
 teaching on one very important point. He 
 denied that there is a soul in the individual, and 
 that there is a God, or Supreme Being, working in 
 the manifold phenomena of the universe. Of 
 course he believed in gods : no Hindu has ever 
 seriously called them into question ; but the 
 gods, according to him, differed only in degree 
 from mankind, and neither class possessed that 
 permanent centre of thought, tTiat unchanging 
 identity of consciousness, which we call " soul " 
 or " self." Our thoughts are never quite the 
 same from second to second ; our mental life is 
 only a series of causally connected instants of 
 consciousness. By this denial the Buddha 
 thought that he could more readily remove the 
 moral and intellectual weakness of humanity 
 which is founded upon the conception " I am " ; 
 for if there is no real subject of thought, no 
 " soul " or " self," it cannot predicate its own 
 existence, and therefore cannot conceive selfish 
 desire. And desire is the root of embodied life, 
 and therefore of all evil. 
 
 The Buddha therefore taught a " Middle Path,"
 
 12 INTRODUCTION 
 
 equally remote from worldly ways and from 
 extreme asceticism, the " Noble Path of Eight 
 Members." The members of this Path are as 
 follows : Right Views, or acceptance of the 
 Buddha's teachings which we have above set 
 forth ; Bight Desires, or pure aspirations making 
 for righteousness, charity, and purity of heart ; 
 Right Speech ; Right Conduct ; Right Livelihood ; 
 Right Effort, or constant intentness to avoid 
 lapses into frailties of thought or conduct ; Right 
 Mindfulness, or continual dwelling of the memory 
 on the teachings of the Faith for the same purpose ; 
 and Right Ecstasy, or spiritual exercises tending to 
 promote the peace and sanctity of the mind. 
 This "Noble Path" is one of the four "Noble 
 Truths " which are the pillars of the Buddha's 
 system to wit, the fact that life is miserable, 
 the fact that its misery has a cause, the fact that 
 this cause can be killed and thereby the sorrow 
 of life removed, and the fact that the " Noble 
 Path " is the only method that can attain this 
 end, for it destroys the selfish individualism 
 inherent in the human mind, the "original sin," 
 and creates a universal knowledge and sym- 
 pathy and a spiritual calm and purity which are 
 salvation. 
 
 The Buddha's doctrine as to the real nature of 
 Being and consciousness was expressed in a 
 famous formula, called in Sanskrit Pratltya- 
 samutpdda and in Pali Patichcha-samuppada,
 
 MEMBERS OF "CAUSAL SERIES" 13 
 
 which means " origination in a causal series." 
 The members of this series are as follows : 
 
 Ignorance (Sanskrit, avidyd ; Pali, avijja). 
 
 Conformations (Sanskrit, samskdras ; Pali, sam- 
 fchdrd). 
 
 Consciousness (Sanskrit, vijndna ; Pah', vinndna). 
 
 Name and Form (Sanskrit and Pali, ndma-rupa). 
 
 Six sense-organs (Sanskrit, shad-dyatana ; Pali, 
 saldyatana). 
 
 Contact (Sanskrit, sparda ; Pali, phassa). 
 
 Feeling (Sanskrit and Pali, vedand). 
 
 Desire (Sanskrit, trishnd ; Pali, tanhd). 
 
 Attraction (Sanskrit and Pali, updddna). 
 
 Being (Sanskrit and Pali, bhava). 
 
 Birth (Sanskrit and Pali, jdti). 
 
 Age and Death (Sanskrit and Pali, jard-marana), 
 grief, lamentation, pain, depression, and despair 
 (Sanskrit, soka-paridevana-duhkha-daurmanasya- 
 upaydsa). 
 
 There are very few dogmas in the whole history 
 of philosophy and religion that have been so 
 copiously discussed and so differently interpreted 
 as this. It seems to be an attempt to show how 
 individual existences and consciousnesses arise 
 in the cosmic process. According to Buddhist 
 teaching, there is no permanent " soul " and 
 there is no real " matter." There exists only an 
 infinite number of series of consciousnesses either 
 potentially or actively in operation, and each 
 series consists of a succession of moments of
 
 14 INTRODUCTION 
 
 consciousness, each moment being the direct 
 resultant of its predecessors. Now the force which 
 directs this process in each series is its karma, or 
 " works," the influence of former activities, mostly 
 in previous births ; it is by reason of its former 
 karma that a train of consciousness at a particular 
 moment begins to develop itself into an " indi- 
 vidual," that is to say, a consciousness of being 
 a particular person, human, divine, or animal. 
 So we may interpret the Buddha's formula as a 
 vague expression for the manner in which the 
 individual emerges from the ocean of cosmic 
 being. First in order is " ignorance " ; that is 
 to say, when we analyse the operation of karma 
 upon a train of moments of consciousness, we 
 find that its primary effect is to cause ignorance, 
 namely, the false belief held by this consciousness 
 that it is a " self," an ego, and the other con- 
 sequent delusions. This ignorance, in turn, issues 
 in "conformations," the potentialities of love, 
 hatred, and the like weaknesses of the spirit, 
 which are the resultants of activities in previous 
 individuated existences, and inspire to future 
 activities. Then emerges consciousness of finite 
 being in general, and from this issue " name and 
 form," the conception of a definite world of 
 particulars. This leads to the evolution of the 
 sense-organs, and the union of these with the 
 apparent world outside them produces sensation, 
 which issues in desire. In its turn desire leads to
 
 "NAME" AND "FORM" 15 
 
 " attraction," the attachment to individual life. 
 So finite existence, bhava, is at last reached, and 
 the developed consciousness passes through the 
 stages of birth, disease, sorrow, and finally death. 
 Then the process begins anew under the guidance 
 of the old karma, reinforced by that which has 
 resulted from the process that has just come to 
 an end. If this interpretation be right (and it 
 must be confessed that several others are equally 
 plausible), it is evident that the formula is by 
 no means satisfactory on all points ; the causal 
 connection between several of the members in 
 the series in the Pratltya-samutpada is far from 
 being clear, and can only be regarded as a dogma 
 post hoc, ergo propter hoc. 
 
 An individual, according to Buddhist teaching, 
 does not really exist ; but the semblance of an 
 individual, the phenomenal personality, is a fact 
 that cannot be denied, and must be explained. 
 The Buddhists explain it by saying that it is a 
 combination of Name and Form. In " Name " 
 are included all the subjective phenomena of 
 thought, namely, feeling, general notions, " con- 
 formations," and definite consciousness, which 
 are called " aggregations " (in Sanskrit, skandhas ; 
 in Pali, khandhas). " Form," meaning the four 
 elements of physical nature (earth, water, fire, 
 and air) and their products, is a fifth khandha. As 
 we have seen, the force that unites these five 
 khandas into an apparent individual or person-
 
 16 INTRODUCTION 
 
 ality is what is called in Sanskrit karma, in Pali 
 kamma, the resultant of all his previous acts. 
 " When a man dies, the khandhas of which he is 
 constituted perish, but by the force of his kamma 
 a new set of khandhas instantly starts into exist- 
 ence, and a new being appears in another world, 
 who, though possessing different khandhas and 
 a different form, is in reality identical with the 
 man just passed away, because his kamma is the 
 same. Kamma, then, is the link that preserves 
 the identity of a being through all the countless 
 changes which it undergoes in its progress through 
 Samsara." * Now the great purpose of Buddhism, 
 like that of most Hindu faiths, is to enable the 
 believer to reach the perfect spiritual peace of 
 Nirvana, and thus come to an end of the cycle 
 of embodied births. To attain this object he 
 must destroy his kamma ; and this can be done 
 by walking in the " Noble Path," which will 
 infallibly lead him, either in his present birth or 
 later, to final salvation. 
 
 This is, in broad outline, the teaching of 
 Buddhism as it is understood by most Buddhists 
 in Ceylon and Further India. In theory it verges 
 upon nihilistic idealism, for it regards all the data 
 of finite experience as pure subjective phenomena 
 corresponding to no objective reality, and created 
 merely by the force of karma ; there is no higher 
 Power than man's own will, and his karma to 
 1 Childers, Pali Dictionary, s.v. khandho.
 
 THE BUDDHIST CREED 17 
 
 help him towards salvation. On the deepest 
 mysteries of existence, the origin of karma and 
 the condition of the spirit after it has passed 
 away for ever from the cycle of births, Buddhism 
 has nothing to tell us. In practice it is a creed 
 that fosters in its votaries in abundant measure 
 both the homely virtues of laic life, and the 
 higher spiritual aspirations of asceticism ; and 
 its ideals are well expressed in one of its best 
 known texts, the Mangala-sutta of the Sutta- 
 nipata : 
 
 " Following not the foolish, following the 
 learned, reverence for the worshipful this is the 
 highest blessing." 
 
 " Dwelling in a meet land, merit from deeds 
 done of old, due heed to one's own spirit this 
 is the highest blessing." 
 
 " Depth of learning, craftsmanship, gentle 
 breeding well taught, words well spoken this 
 is the highest blessing." 
 
 " Service to father and mother, the company | 
 of wife and child, and peaceful pursuits this is 
 the highest blessing." 
 
 " Almsgiving and righteousness, the company \ 
 of kinsfolk, blameless works this is the highest l 
 blessing." 
 
 " Withholding and withdrawing oneself from I 
 sin, abstinence from strong drink, needfulness in ' 
 doing duty this is the highest blessing." 
 
 " Reverence and humility, cheerfulness and , 
 
 2
 
 18 INTRODUCTION 
 
 gratitude, listening in due season to the Law 
 this is the highest blessing." 
 
 " Long-suffering, gentleness of speech, sight of 
 | godly men, conversation upon the Law in due 
 season this is the highest blessing." 
 
 " Mortification of the flesh and chastity, vision 
 \ of the Noble Truths, and winning to the Nirvana 
 this is the highest blessing." 
 
 " He whose spirit is stirred not when he is 
 touched by the shows of the world, but abides 
 unsorrowing, undefiled, and happy this is the 
 highest blessing." 
 
 " They who do thus, and are never overwhelmed, 
 come ever to salvation theirs is this highest 
 blessing." 
 
 But an important question arises here. Are 
 the doctrines which we have outlined the original 
 teaching of the Buddha, or do they not rather 
 represent the opinions of the school which formed 
 the Pali Canon some centuries after his death a 
 monastic fraternity with a strong bent towards 
 rationalism ? . Even in this Canon the teachings 
 ascribed to the Master are full of logical incon- 
 sistencies. What then was the Master's own 
 doctrine ? 
 
 Certain knowledge on this point is impossible. 
 But it seems most likely that the Buddha's real 
 attitude was somewhat like that of the positivist 
 and agnostic. He had no revelations to commu- 
 nicate on the highest problems of philosophy and
 
 ESCAPE FROM THE KARMA 19 
 
 theology. Sometimes he seems to have inclined 
 in his utterances to one side, sometimes to 
 another ; but this was apparently for the sake 
 of argument, and there seems to be much truth 
 in the tradition which represents him as having 
 forbidden his followers to speculate upon the 
 deepest questions of life. Even of Nirvana he 
 refused to give any definition ; when the question 
 was bluntly put by an inquiring monk, he was 
 told that he would never know anything about 
 it. It is even doubtful whether his denial of 
 the Self was an essential part of his doctrine, 
 or whether it was only adopted for purposes of 
 controversy. His great aim was practical. He 
 sought to impart a remedy for the world's sorrow, 
 to teach his fellow-creatures an escape from their 
 karma and its fatal fruit of earthly birth. This 
 remedy was the utter destruction of desire, even 
 of the desire for salvation. It could be attained 
 by the man or woman who renounced the world, 
 entered into the monastic order, followed the 
 " Noble Path," and in perfect calm and happiness 
 of spirit waited until death should open the 
 portals of the unknowable, everlasting Stillness 
 from which there is no return. Karma and its ] 
 resultant metempsychosis were to him facts of j 
 practical experience, and could be remedied by 
 an empirical method, the suppression of desire 
 under a practical law of conduct ; as to their 
 metaphysical basis he made no revelation. It
 
 20 INTRODUCTION 
 
 is as the departed Teacher of the way to Nirvana, 
 as the Master, that he is worshipped by the 
 orthodox. 
 
 But there were other elements in the doctrine 
 of early Buddhism which could not fail to bear 
 fruit. As we have already remarked, it lays 
 stress on the impermanence of beings : nothing 
 finite exists in itself, everything is a collection 
 of skandhas temporarily united. It is, in fact, a 
 theory of " phenomenalism," and thus opened a 
 way for development in two directions. On the 
 one hand there grew up a school of nihilism, 
 which dialectically established the non-existence 
 of everything ; on the other hand arose an 
 idealism which arrived at very similar conclu- 
 sions. 
 
 In another and more practical issue the newer 
 teaching departed from the old. The Buddha 
 Gautama, according to the doctrine of his Church, 
 was preceded by twenty-four other Buddhas, 
 each of whom is supposed to have preached the 
 same Law in different ages of the world. Now 
 a Buddha can only attain the rank of Buddhahood 
 after a long course of spiritual progress in former 
 births of the most various kinds. A being thus 
 destined to Buddhahood is called a Bodhi-sattva, 
 or " creature of enlightenment." At some point 
 in his existence he has conceived an aspiration 
 to become a Buddha for the salvation of his 
 fellow-creatures, and thenceforth he advances in
 
 THE OLDER BUDDHISM 21 
 
 birth after birth to higher and higher sanctity 
 in the practice of the ten Perfections l until at I 
 last he is born as the Buddha, preaches the Law, 
 and passes away into the everlasting stillness of 
 Nirvana. A vast amount of Buddhist literature 
 consists of Jdtakas, or legends of the deeds in 
 which the Bodhi-sattvas proved their fitness for 
 their high mission. 
 
 It was around these points that the breach 
 arose which split the Church into the divisions 
 which we commonly and somewhat inaccurately 
 distinguish as Northern and Southern Buddhism. 
 The older Buddhism that we have surveyed in 
 outline did not give enough play for the elements . 
 of mysticism and emotion that have always been ! 
 strong in the Hindu spirit. Its saints, the 
 Arhats, were regularly ordained members of 
 monastic fraternities, who sought salvation for 
 themselves and denied Nirvana to laymen ; and 
 though their deeds of charity and other righteous- 
 ness were incontestable, it was argued that their 
 merit was marred by this self -seeking. Its I 
 theology was very sober, according to Indian I 
 standards ; it tended towards intellectualism, 
 and allowed little room for the large and highly 
 coloured mythological imagination in which the 
 
 1 The Paramitds, or Perfections, according to the chief 
 Northern schools, are almsgiving, morality, long-suffering, 
 manliness, meditation, mystic insight (prajna), resolution, 
 strength, knowledge, and skill in choice of means (updya).
 
 22 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Hindu thought revels. Now during the early 
 centuries of Buddhism the Vishnuite Church grew 
 rapidly, and the spirit that inspired it was stirring 
 likewise in Buddhism. This force was what the 
 Hindus call bhakti, a passionate emotional wor- 
 ship of a supreme God revealed on earth in human 
 personality. Many Buddhists also longed to find 
 a supreme God, to whom they could offer a wor- 
 ship of the heart, and whose personality could 
 satisfy their restless imaginations. Thus arose 
 upon the old foundations a new Church, a vast 
 and gorgeous edifice of soaring fancy tenanted 
 by countless Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas trans- 
 figured into a magnificent brilliance of godhead 
 and worshipped with a passionate fervour of 
 self -surrendering love. The new Church held out 
 to all alike the dazzling hope of Buddhahood. 
 Every man, however humble or sinful, might 
 become a Bodhi-sattva, a candidate for Buddha- 
 hood, and finally reach that blessed end, if he 
 would but will it so and hold to his purpose. 
 Love for the holy Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas of 
 the past, the omnipotent and omnipresent hier- 
 archy of Heaven, and love for his fellow-creatures, 
 manifested in perfect self-sacrifice for their needs, 
 active compassion and charity, were the prime 
 requisites for salvation. Inspired by this vivid 
 energy, the new Buddhism speedily took posses- 
 sion of Northern India, Tibet, Central Asia, and 
 China.
 
 THE NEW BUDDHISM 23 
 
 That this movement was antinomian and ' 
 fraught with danger from the first, is obvious. 
 Its doctrine of love unfettered by considerations 
 of social expediency and ordinary morality, 1 and 
 the wild luxuriance of its myth, were capable of | 
 working harm as well as good, and in practice 
 have often lent themselves to the most dis- 
 graceful abuse. But on this dark side of the 
 picture we need not dwell here. It is enough 
 that we should recognise that the Mahd-ydna, 
 the " Great Vehicle," as the new Church proudly 
 called itself, in opposition to the more primitive 
 Buddhism, which it scornfully styled Hlna-ydna, 
 the " Little Vehicle," laid especial stress upon 
 the emotional side of religion and ethics, which 
 had been somewhat neglected in the latter school, 
 and that it thus gained a novel character and 
 significance. 
 
 In the doctrine of the older schools the Buddha 
 was a teacher whose enlightenment raised him 
 above all the gods, but withal a man, who had . 
 passed away from the world for ever, and could j 
 no more wield any influence upon it, save as a 1 
 holy and blessed memory. His Nirvana was the 
 same as that of any other man who should attain i 
 it. He dispensed no divine power to bring his { 
 followers to salvation ; only their own efforts 
 
 1 In justice to some theologians, such as SSnti-deva, it 
 must be said that they endeavoured to correct this anti- 
 nomiarusm ; but they hardly succeeded.
 
 24 INTRODUCTION 
 
 could win for them that goal. Man's destiny is 
 moulded by his own acts, his " karma," and each 
 individual's karma concerns him alone, and can- 
 not be applied for the spiritual weal of another. 
 Lastly, as we have already remarked, salvation 
 was confined to the monastic orders. 
 
 The Maha-yana changed almost everything. 
 
 {The Buddha now appeared as a god of the first 
 order, invested with all the qualities that the 
 most extravagant mythopceic imagination could 
 suggest. Like the conception of Christ in the 
 Docetic schools, he was imagined as existing 
 throughout the whole of the cosmic period, in 
 the " Body of Enjoyment " visible to the beatified 
 Bodhi-sattvas, and the " Body of Magic Form " 
 revealed to common mortals ; and he was multi- 
 plied to infinity. Imagination created countless 
 periods and countless domains, each under the 
 presidency of a Buddha ; and from the beginning 
 of our era we observe that the historical Gautama 
 Buddha, even in his most mythical disguise, 
 begins to fall into the background, whilst other 
 figures of purely mythical origin become the first 
 : favourites of popular fancy. The most con- 
 r spicuous of these is the Buddha Amitabha, " He 
 of Infinite Light," a being of supreme splendour 
 and grace ; for now the Buddhas have become 
 active dispensers of grace, at any rate from the 
 standpoint of relative truth. Each Buddha 
 dwells in his paradise amidst a retinue of Bodhi-
 
 THE BUDDHA AMITABHA 25 
 
 sattvas ; of the latter the two highest in rank 
 serve as the ministers of his grace, constantly 
 visiting the worlds under his rule in the forms 
 most suitable to their purpose, in order to show 
 their love for suffering mortality by helping them 
 in divers ways and leading them to paradise. . 
 The paradise of Amitabha is Sukhdvati, " The i 
 Happy Place," a fairyland which is tenanted by 
 an entirely divine population dwelling in perfect 
 bliss. 1 Amitabha's chief minister is Avalokite- \ 
 svara, a Bodhi-sattva who has taken a vow not 
 to enter Nirvana until he has led thither all living 
 creatures, and who for this supreme grace is 
 worshipped throughout the North with a corre- 
 sponding fervour of devotion. As a last develop- 
 ment of this mythology, the Buddhas are asso- 
 ciated with Taras, or Saviour-Ladies, who under 
 the form of sexual antithesis typify their consorts' 
 energy of grace. 
 
 The moral standpoint is likewise changed. 
 The ideal is no longer the calm, ascetic monk, I 
 waiting in cheerful tranquillity for the end, but 
 the Bodhi-sattva, the self-appointed votary seek- 
 ing eagerly to procure happiness for his fellow- 
 creatures at any cost, even if he must surrender 
 his own right to spiritual advancement as the 
 price. For now is affirmed the principle of 
 
 1 One of the most popular Mahayanist texts is the Suk- 
 havati-vyuha, which is a detailed description of this fairy- 
 land.
 
 26 INTRODUCTION 
 
 parinamand : the karma of an individual is 
 no longer confined to his experience, but can be 
 made to redound to the benefit of others. The 
 righteous can, of their own free will, sacrifice the 
 merit of their own good deeds for the happiness of 
 their fellow-creatures . Strictly speaking, as we shall 
 see, the ideas of " self," " non-self," " happiness," 
 and " suffering " are illusions. They are real 
 only from the standpoint of relative truth. But 
 this condition of imperfect reality is inseparable 
 from humanity ; it must be accepted and made 
 the basis of a moral activity which by perfect 
 self-sacrifice purifies the spirit from the taint of 
 finite error. And so Santi-deva ends his Bodhi- 
 chayavatdra with a chapter of prayer that the 
 merit gained by him by his work may not only 
 uplift him to the higher grades of beatification 
 as a Bodhi-sattva, but may be also diverted for 
 the benefit of fellow-creatures. 
 
 " Through the blessing which comes to me for 
 pondering upon the entrance into the Path of 
 Enlightenment, may all beings be brightened by 
 walking in Enlightenment. May all that are 
 sick of body and soul in every region find oceans 
 of bliss and delight through my merits. Whilst 
 embodied life lasts on, may they never lack 
 happiness, and for ever may the world win the 
 joy of the Sons of Enlightenment. In all the 
 hells that are in the spheres of the universe may 
 creatures rejoice in the delights of paradise. May
 
 THE PATH OF ENLIGHTENMENT 27 
 
 they that are afflicted with cold find warmth, the 
 heat-smitten be cooled in the oceans raining 
 from the mighty clouds of the Son of Enlighten- 
 ment. . . . May all skies be gracious to all way- 
 farers, and may they encompass as they purpose 
 the enterprise for which they journey. May 
 such as travel on ship achieve their desire, and 
 come in happiness to shore and rejoice with their 
 kindred. May they who stray amid wildernesses 
 find company of travellers' troops, and journey 
 on without dread of bandits and wild beasts. 
 In the stress of sickness, wildernesses, and the 
 like may the heavenly powers guard the slumber- 
 ing, the distraught, and the heedless, the master- 
 less, the young, and the aged. May they be for 
 ever saved from all mischance, dowered with 
 faith, understanding, and tenderness, and pos- 
 sessed of goodly shape and virtue. May their 
 storehouses never fail and their treasuries rise to 
 the skies, and may they live in freedom, without 
 strife or affliction. May beings of little strength 
 win much strength, and the hapless creatures 
 that are of ill form become goodly. May all 
 women in the world become men ; and to their 
 estate may the humble come, and lose their 
 vanity. Through this my merit may all beings 
 cease from every sin, and everlastingly do 
 righteousness, lacking not the Thought of 
 Enlightenment, surrendering themselves to the 
 Path of Enlightenment, withholding their hands
 
 28 INTRODUCTION 
 
 from the works of the Tempter, and be taken into 
 the arms of the Enlightened. May all creatures 
 have boundless term of age ; may they live for 
 ever in bliss, and the very name of death perish. 
 May all regions become filled with Buddhas 
 and Sons of the Buddhas, 1 and lovely with groves 
 of the Trees of Desire ravishing the heart with 
 the sound of the Law. ... As long as the 
 heavens and the earth abide, may I continue to 
 overcome the world's sorrows. May all the 
 world's suffering be cast upon me, and may 
 the world be made happy by all the merits of 
 the Bodhi-sattva." 
 
 In its metaphysics the Maha-yana carried to 
 a logical conclusion the nihilistic idealism that 
 had begun to find expression in the older schools. 
 Its cardinal doctrine is that " all is void." Every- 
 thing that is conceived or can be conceived by the 
 mind is but a subjective imagination in constant 
 flux, existing only in instants of the thought of 
 the subject and by virtue of his karma. No 
 permanent reality can be predicated of it, except 
 that it is really " void." " There are five 
 skandhas,* and these he considered as by their 
 nature empty. Form is emptiness, and emptiness 
 indeed is form. . . . Thus perception, name, 
 conception, and knowledge also are emptiness. 
 Thus, O Sariputra, all things have the character 
 of emptiness, they have no beginning, no end, 
 1 Bodhi-sattvas. 2 See above, p. 15.
 
 TEACHING OF THE MAHA-YANA 29 
 
 they are faultless and not faultless, they are not 
 imperfect and not perfect. Therefore, O $ari- 
 putra, here in this emptiness there is no form, 
 no perception, no name, no concept, no know- 
 ledge. No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and 
 mind. No form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and 
 
 objects There is no knowledge, no 
 
 ignorance, no destruction (of ignorance) .... 
 there is no decay and death, no destruction of 
 decay and death ; there are not (the Four 
 Truths, 1 viz.) that there is pain, origin of pain, 
 stoppage of pain, and the path to it. There is no 
 knowledge, no obtaining^ no not-obtaining, of 
 Nirvana. Therefore, Sariputra, as there is 
 no obtaining (of Nirvana), a man who has ap- 
 proached the Prajna-paramita 2 of the Bodhi- 
 sattvas dwells (for a time) enveloped in conscious- 
 ness. But when the envelopment of conscious- 
 ness has been annihilated, then he becomes free 
 of all fear, beyond the reach of change, enjoying 
 final Nirvana." 3 
 
 Thus everything, even the most fundamental 
 doctrines of Buddhism and the existence of 
 Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas, is denied.. 
 
 But the negation is not intended to be absolute. 
 The Vedantic metaphysicians could find no term 
 to predicate of Brahma, the absolute, transcen- 
 
 1 See above, p. 12. 2 See above, p. 16. 
 
 3 From the Larger Prajna-paramitd-hridaya-sutra, trans- 
 lated in Sacred Books of the East, vol. xlix.
 
 I 
 
 30 INTRODUCTION 
 
 dental Reality, but " Nay, nay ! " And it is 
 rather in this sense that we should interpret the 
 negations of the Maha-yana philosophers. They 
 predicate nothingness of everything but that 
 1 which is beyond all predication, the inconceivable, 
 I transcendental All. They felt that this was a 
 reality too vast for words, a truth before which 
 the thought must be still. But yet they felt it 
 as mysteriously revealing its existence in their 
 moral consciousness, as a divine glory faintly 
 reflected in the soul of man, and they called it 
 the Dharma-kdya, the " Body of the Law " ; for 
 in the stillness of this transcendental unity of 
 joy and love and peace all spirits are one, and 
 this is the Law of the Buddha. Thus the 
 Buddhists, like the Vedantis, were able to accept 
 two spheres of reality. One was the absolute 
 truth, the " Void "; the other was that of relative 
 truth, in which they could rear their edifices of 
 doctrine and myth. Of the Buddha and his 
 Law they could, in transcendental truth, say only 
 " No ! " As practical realities they affirmed them 
 heartily. 
 
 Being and thought are one, in the opinion of 
 these Buddhist idealists ; in the objects of thought 
 there dwells no reality except the thought which 
 conceives them. Now the highest Being is the 
 " Void," and the understanding of this is the 
 " absolute truth," the " enlightenment " (bodhi) 
 or " perfect wisdom " (prajnd-pdramitd), which
 
 THE "BODY OF THE LAW" 31 
 
 is the peculiar possession of a Buddha. This 
 knowledge is actually realised by a Buddha in 
 the ecstasy of his Nirvana, where he dwells for 
 ever in the utter stillness of infinite thought. 
 But it sometimes happens that a Bodhi-sattva 
 who, through the perfection of his wisdom and 
 righteousness, is ripe to enter Nirvana, will not 
 take this step, for his abounding compassion 
 urges him to remain in finite being, and to soothe 
 the sorrows of his fellow-creatures. His passage 
 into Nirvana is then potential, capable of being 
 realised at his will. This enlightenment in 
 Nirvana, actual or potential, together with the 
 " Void " which is its object and therefore is 
 identical with it, is the Dharma-kdya, the " Body 
 of the Law." 
 
 But the needs of history and myth must 
 also be satisfied ; and the Maha-yana achieved 
 this by inventing two more conceptions, the 
 Sambhoga-kdya, or " Body of Enjoyment," 
 and the Nirmdna-kdya, or " Body of Magical 
 Form." 
 
 Every Buddha has a domain of his own, or 
 buddha-kshetra, a universe under the rule of the 
 Law preached by him. The magnificence of such 
 a domain is proportionate to the nobility of the 
 deeds performed by its ruling Buddha during his 
 probation as a Bodhi-sattva. In these domains 
 the reigning Buddhas are revealed to their 
 attendant Bodhi-sattvas in gigantic radiant
 
 32 INTRODUCTION 
 
 forms, surrounded by lialos composed of magical 
 figures of Buddhas. 1 These forms, though mani- 
 fest to the sanctified senses of the divine company, 
 are essentially spiritual ; and the Buddhas 
 wearing them are constantly teaching their holy 
 Law to the Bodhi-sattvas of highest rank, who 
 appear in similarly transfigured bodies. This 
 beatific form is the Sambhoga-kdya or " Body 
 of Enjoyment." It is the fruit of the merit 
 acquired by the Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas 
 through countless deeds of liberality, long- 
 suffering, and virtue. It dwells in the celestial 
 sphere until the far-away day when the Buddha 
 shall enter into his final Nirvana ; then in 
 its place will appear a stupa, or monument- 
 sanctuary, and the Buddha will rest in perfect 
 stillness. 
 
 In the case of the Buddhas this transfiguration 
 is, strictly speaking, illusory. The Buddhas 
 have passed into Nirvana, the Void ; they are 
 identified with the " Body of the Law," in which 
 finitude does not exist. But the merit of their 
 good deeds still lives on in the finite world, and 
 becomes a force working spontaneously for the 
 happiness and welfare of other creatures. It 
 thus creates in the minds of the holy Bodhi- 
 sattvas the conception of a " Sambhoga-kaya " 
 
 1 Abundant illustration will be found in the art of Northern 
 Buddhism, especially in the frescoes of the recently dis- 
 covered temples of Chinese Turkestan.
 
 of their Buddha revealing itself for their joy and 
 instruction in beatific form. 1 
 
 While this theory of the " Body of Enjoyment " 
 satisfied the hunger of the imagination for visions 
 of paradise, the doctrine of the " Body of Magical 
 Form " attempted to explain the appearance of 
 Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas in the world of 
 mortality. They never really appeared among 
 men, and never will so appear, according to the 
 Buddhist sages ; they were but illusions, phan- 
 toms which the Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas in 
 their " Bodies of Enjoyment " created from their 
 compassion to help and instruct the blind and 
 sorrowing creatures of the world. Even as the 
 Buddhas' merits have been turned to the profit 
 of the Bodhi-sattvas by conjuring up before their 
 eyes the vision of their transfigured forms in 
 paradise, so this same force brings blessing to 
 the lower classes of beings by creating for them 
 apparitions of Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas teach- 
 ing the Law in the most diverse guises. And 
 this idea has also its metaphysical side. We 
 have seen that, to the Buddhist philosopher, the 
 subject and the object of thought are really one, 
 so that the Dharma-kaya represents at once the 
 Infinite and the understanding of the Infinite. 
 
 1 This explanation is due to M. L. de la Valise Poussin, in 
 his article The Three Bodies of a Buddha, in the Journal of the 
 Royal Asiatic Society, 1906, p. 943 foil. The reader should 
 also consult Suzuki's Outlines of Mahd-ydna Buddhism. 
 
 3
 
 34 INTRODUCTION 
 
 In the same way the " Body of Magical Form " 
 represents also the universal Intellect when, 
 under the influence of samskdras or " conforma- 
 tions " resulting from former moments of con- 
 sciousness and will, it conceives its object as a 
 universe of finite forms. Thus the universal 
 Intellect issues in what appear to themselves to 
 be individual minds dwelling in finite worlds 
 under the dispensation of the Buddhas. This 
 seeming individuality and finitude is the con- 
 genital illusion of the lower orders of creatures, 
 from which the Law of the Buddhas alone can 
 uplift them to union with the Absolute. 
 
 The current of mystic imagination which 
 culminated in this bold theology seems to have 
 arisen early. Possibly it may, in a rudimentary 
 form, have been one of the elements of primitive 
 Buddhism which were rejected as heretical by the 
 more puritanic schools of the " Hina-yana." 
 Certainly it was already well established before 
 the Christian era, and the famous Council of King 
 Kanishka gave official recognition to the Maha- 
 yana doctrines, and apparently granted to them 
 the royal favour. If modern research is right 
 in identifying the date of Kanishka's accession 
 with the initial date of the Samvat era, 58 B.C., 
 then the Council traditionally believed to have 
 been held under his auspices must have sat not 
 many years afterwards. 
 
 To a somewhat later date may be ascribed a
 
 THE WORK OF NAGARJUNA 35 
 
 half-legendary, half-historical character that is 
 of singular interest. The real Nagarjuna, the 
 scholar who founded the Madhyamika school, 
 is overshadowed by the legendary Nagarjuna, 
 the hero of a hundred myths in which he figures 
 as a miracle-working saint who propagated his 
 doctrine by the marvels of his magic. These 
 wild legends have passed from Buddhist circles 
 into the common stock of Hindu tradition, 
 where he has become a typical sorcerer, to whom 
 are ascribed many works on the black art and 
 divination, notably the popular Kaksha-puta. 
 
 The real work of Nagarjuna, however, was much 
 more respectable. He systematised the old 
 Maha-yana into the Madhyamika school, which 
 by its vigorous dialectic became one of the most 
 effective vehicles of Northern Buddhism. And 
 it is to a follower of his school, ^anti-deva, who ( 
 lived in the seventh century, or possibly some- ' 
 what earlier, that we owe two works, the Bodhi- 
 charydvatdra and the tiiksha-samuchchaya, in 
 which are embodied the keenest logic and the 
 highest spiritual aspirations attained by the 
 Buddhism of the North. 
 
 The following pages contain an abridged 
 translation of the original Sanskrit of the Bodhi- 
 chary avatar a, based upon two editions, that 
 contained in vol. ii. of the Journal of the Buddhist 
 Text Society (Calcutta, 1894) and that pub- 
 lished with Pranjakara-mati's commentary by
 
 36 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Professor L. de la Vallee Poussin in the Biblio- 
 theca Indica. 1 I have omitted a good deal of 
 the text where it seemed needlessly prolix, and 
 the whole of the scholastic disputation which 
 makes up the bulk of the ninth chapter. But I 
 hope that even in this curtailed form my transla- 
 tion will enable readers to understand and fairly 
 appreciate the fervent devotion and brotherly 
 love which make this little book, in spite of its 
 errors, a lasting monument of true religious 
 emotion, " an everlasting possession." 
 
 1 I have much pleasure in acknowledging my debt of 
 gratitude to Professor Poussin's masterly French translation 
 of the text published in the Revue d'Histoire et de Literature 
 Rdigieuses, vols. x.-xii. (1905-1907) under the title Bodhi- 
 carydvatara : Introduction a la Pratique des futurs Bouddhas.
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE PRAISE OF THE THOUGHT OP ENLIGHTENMENT 
 
 ~T)EVERENTLY bowing before the Blessed 
 *- Ones, their Sons, the Body of the Law, and 
 all the worshipful ones (1), I will briefly set forth 
 in accordance with Holy Writ the way whereby 
 the sons of the Blessed Ones enter the godly life. 
 Nothing new will be told here, nor have I skill 
 in writing of books ; therefore I have done this 
 work to hallow my own thoughts, not designing 
 it for the welfare of others. By it the holy impulse 
 within me to frame righteousness is strength- 
 ened ; but if a fellow-creature should see it, this 
 my book will fulfil another end likewise. 
 
 This brief estate, which once gotten is a means 
 to all the aims of mankind, is exceeding hard 
 to win ; if one use it not for wholesome reflection, 
 how shall it ever come again to his lot ? As in 
 the night, amidst the gross darkness of the clouds, 
 the lightning shews for an instant its radiance, 
 so by the grace of the Enlightened it may hap 
 that the mind of man turn for an instant to holy 
 works. Thus righteousness is feeble, and the 
 power of evil is constant, mighty, and dire ; by 
 what righteousness could it be overcome, if there 
 
 37
 
 were not the Thought of Enlightenment ? (2) 
 Pondering through many aeons, the Supreme 
 Saints have found this blessing, whereby a 
 swelling joy sweeps in sweetness down the bound- 
 less waters of mankind. They who would escape 
 the hundreds of life's sorrows, who would end the 
 anguish of living creatures, and who would taste 
 hundreds of deep delights, must never surrender 
 the Thought of Enlightenment. The wretch held 
 in thrall by Life's minions (3) is declared a son of 
 the Blessed Ones straightway when the Thought 
 of Enlightenment arises in him, and he becomes 
 worshipful to the worlds of men and gods. This 
 foul form that he has taken he makes into the 
 priceless jewel of a Conqueror's form ; oh, grasp 
 firmly the Thought of Enlightenment, that 
 exceedingly potent elixir ! Ho, ye who are exiles 
 in the marts of bodied being, grasp firmly the 
 precious jewel of the Thought of Enlightenment, 
 which the immeasurably wise sole Guides of the 
 world's caravan have well assayed ! Like the 
 plantain- tree (4), all other righteousness fades 
 away after its fruit is cast ; but the tree of the 
 Thought of Enlightenment bears everlasting fruit 
 and fades not, but is ever fecund. Though he 
 have wrought most grievous sins, a man by taking 
 refuge therein escapes them straightway ; as 
 ignorant beings under the guardianship of a 
 mighty man escape sore terrors, why seek they 
 not their refuge in this ? , . .
 
 THE MASTER OF THE BANQUET 39 
 
 Eager to escape sorrow, men rush into sorrow ; 
 from desire of happiness they blindly slay their 
 own happiness, enemies to themselves ; they 
 hunger for happiness and suffer manifold pains ; 
 whence shall come one so kind as he who can 
 satisfy them with all manner of happiness, allay 
 all their pains, and shatter their delusion whence 
 such a friend, and whence such a holy deed ? 
 He who repays good deed with good deed is 
 praised ; what shall be said of the Son of En- 
 lightenment, who does kindness unsought ? He 
 who sets a banquet before a few is called a " doer 
 of righteousness," and is honoured by the world, 
 because in his pride he entertains men for half a 
 day with a brief largesse of mere food ; but what 
 of him who bestows on a measureless number of 
 creatures a satisfaction of all desires unbounded in 
 time and perishing not when the world of heaven 
 perishes ? Such is the Master of the Banquet, 
 the Son of the Conqueror ; whosoever sins in his 
 heart against him, saith the Lord, shall abide 
 in hell as many ages as the moments of his sin. 
 But he whose spirit is at peace with them shall 
 thence get abundant fruit ; and truly, wrong to 
 the Sons of the Conqueror can be done only by 
 great effort, but kindness towards them is easy. 
 I do homage to the bodies of them in whom has 
 arisen the choice jewel of the Thought, and even 
 the ill-treatment of whom leads to happiness (5) ; 
 in these mines of bliss I seek my refuge.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF SIN 
 
 To win this jewel of the Thought I offer perfect 
 worship to the Blessed Ones (6), to the stainless 
 gem of the Good Law, and to the Sons of the 
 Enlightened (7), oceans of virtues. All flowers, 
 fruits, and healing herbs, all gems and all waters 
 clear and pleasant in the world, likewise moun- 
 tains of jewels, forests sweet in their solitude, 
 climbing plants bright with ornaments of flowers, 
 trees whose branches bend with goodly fruit, 
 fragrant incenses, trees of desire, and jewel- 
 bearing trees in the worlds of the gods and their 
 kin, lakes bedecked with lilies and wondrously 
 pleasant with the cries of swans, harvests spring- 
 ing without tilth and crops of grain, and all else 
 adorning them whom we worship, all things that 
 are bounded by the spreading ethereal sphere 
 and are in the possession of none, I take in spirit 
 and offer as guerdon to the Supreme Saints and 
 their Sons. Worthy of choicest gifts and great 
 of compassion, may they mercifully accept this 
 
 40
 
 TO THE ENLIGHTENED ONES 41 
 
 of me ! I am exceeding poor, and without 
 righteousness ; there is naught else for me to 
 offer. So may their care for others' weal be for 
 my weal, and let the Lords take this in their 
 native grace. Yea, I give to the Conquerors and 
 their Sons myself entirely. Take me for your 
 chattel, O noble beings ; I make myself in love 
 your slave. By being your chattel I am freed 
 from fear in life, and work good for living crea- 
 tures ; I escape my former sins, and do evil no 
 more. . . . 
 
 With as many obeisances as there are atoms 
 in all the Domains (8) I adore all the Enlightened 
 Ones of the past, present, and future, the Law, 
 and the noble Congregation. I worship all the 
 memorial-sanctuaries and the dwellings of the 
 Son of the Enlightened (9) ; I salute the pre- 
 ceptors and the worshipful holy men. I take 
 refuge with the Enlightened One, awaiting the 
 coming of the perfect Light ; I take refuge in 
 the Law and the Congregation of Sons of En- 
 lightenment. With clasped hands I make sup- 
 plication to the Enlightened Ones dwelling hi all 
 regions and to the most merciful Sons of En- 
 lightenment. Whatsoever be the sin that I, poor 
 brute, in my beginningless round of past births 
 or in this birth have in my madness done or 
 made others do or approved for my own undoing, 
 I confess the transgression thereof, and am 
 stricken with remorse. Whatsoever wrong I
 
 42 THE CONFESSION OF SIN 
 
 have done by sin against the Three Gems (10) or 
 father and mother or other elders by deed, word, 
 or thought, whatever dire offence has been 
 wrought by me, a sinner foul with many a stain, 
 
 Masters, I confess all. How may I escape from 
 it ? Speedily save me, lest death come too soon 
 upon me ere my sin have faded away. Death 
 considers not what works be done or not done, 
 and strikes us through our ease, a sudden 
 thunder-bolt, unsure alike for the healthy and 
 the sick. 
 
 For the sake of things unloved and things 
 loved have I sinned these many times ; and 
 never have I thought that I must surrender 
 everything and depart. They whom I love not, 
 they whom I love, I myself, shall be no more, 
 naught shall remain. All the things whereof I 
 have feeling shall pass away into a memory ; 
 like the vision of a dream, all departs, and is 
 seen no more. The many whom I love or love 
 not pass away while I stand here ; only the dire 
 sin wrought for their sake remains before me. I 
 understood not that I was but a chance comer, 
 and through madness, love, or hatred I have 
 wrought many a sin. Unceasingly through night 
 and day the waning of vital force increases ; must 
 
 1 not die ? Lying here on my bed, or standing 
 amidst my kin, I must suffer the agonies of 
 dissolution alone. Whence shall I find a kins- 
 man, whence a friend, when the Death-god's
 
 THE FEAR OF DEATH 43 
 
 messengers seize me ? Righteousness alone can 
 save me then, and for that I have not sought. 
 Clinging to brief life, I have been blind to this 
 terror, heedless ; my Masters, grievous guilt 
 have I gathered. He who is taken to be maimed 
 of his limbs at once withers away ; thirst racks 
 him, his sight is darkened, the world is changed 
 to his sight. How then will it be with me when 
 I am in the charge of the Death-god's hideous 
 messengers, consumed by a fever of mighty terror, 
 covered with filth, looking with timid glances 
 to the four quarters of heaven for aid ? Who will 
 be the friend to save me from that awful terror ? 
 I shall see in the heavens no help, and sink back 
 into madness ; then what shall I do in that place 
 of horror ? Now, now I come for refuge to the 
 mighty Lords of the world, the Conquerors eager 
 for the world's protection, who allay all fear ; 
 to the Law learned by them I come with all my 
 heart for refuge, and to the Congregation of the 
 Sons of Enlightenment. . . . Whatsoever guilt 
 I have gathered in my foolishness and delusion, 
 alike the wrong of nature and the wrong of 
 commandment, I confess it all as I stand before 
 the Masters with clasped hands, affrighted with 
 grief, and making obeisance again and again. 
 May my Lords take my transgression as it is ; 
 never more, O Masters, will I do this unholy 
 work.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 TAKING THE THOUGHT OP ENLIGHTENMENT (11) 
 
 I REJOICE exceedingly in all creatures' good 
 works that end the sorrows of their evil lot ; may 
 the sorrowful find happiness ! I rejoice in the 
 deliverance of embodied beings from the griefs 
 of life's wanderings, and in the Sonship of 
 Enlightenment, and the Enlightenment that 
 belongs to the Saviours. I rejoice in the 
 Commanders' (12) oceans of Thought, that bring 
 happiness and establish welfare for all creatures. 
 With clasped hands I entreat the perfectly 
 Enlightened Ones who stand in all regions that 
 they kindle the lamp of the Law for them who in 
 their blindness fall into sorrow. With clasped 
 hands I pray the Conquerors who yearn for the 
 Stillness (13) that they abide here for endless seons, 
 lest this world become blind. In reward for all 
 this righteousness that I have won by my works I 
 would fain become a soother of all the sorrows 
 of all creatures. May I be a balm to the sick, 
 their healer and servitor, until sickness come 
 
 44
 
 SELF-SURRENDER 45 
 
 never again ; may I quench with rains of food 
 and drink the anguish of hunger and thirst ; may 
 I be in the famine of the ages' end their drink 
 and meat ; may I become an unfailing store for 
 the poor, and serve them with manifold things for 
 their need. My own being and my pleasures, all 
 my righteousness in the past, present, and future 
 I surrender indifferently, that all creatures may 
 win to their end. The Stillness lies in surrender 
 of all things, and my spirit is fain for the Stillness ; 
 if I must surrender all, it is best to give it for 
 fellow-creatures. I yield myself to all living 
 things to deal with me as they list ; they may 
 smite or revile me for ever, bestrew me with dust, 
 play with my body, laugh and wanton ; I have 
 given them my body, why shall I care ? Let 
 them make me do whatever works bring them 
 pleasure ; but may never mishap befall any of 
 them by reason of me. If the spirit of any be 
 wroth or pleased with me, may that be ever a 
 cause for them to win all their desires. May all 
 who slander me, or do me hurt, or jeer at me, gain 
 a share in Enlightenment. I would be a pro- 
 tector of the unprotected, a guide of wayfarers, 
 a ship, a dyke, and a bridge for them who seek 
 the further Shore ; a lamp for them who need a 
 lamp, a bed for them who need a bed, a slave for 
 all beings who need a slave. I would be a magic 
 gem, a lucky jar, a spell of power, a sovereign 
 balm, a wishing-tree, a cow of plenty (14), for
 
 46 TAKING THE THOUGHT 
 
 embodied beings. As the earth and other ele- 
 ments are for the various service of the countless 
 creatures dwelling in the whole of space, so may 
 I in various wise support the whole sphere of 
 life lodged in space, until all be at peace. As 
 the Blessed of old took the Thought of En- 
 lightenment and held fast to the rule for Sons of 
 Enlightenment in the order thereof, so do I frame 
 the Thought of Enlightenment for the weal of 
 the world, and so will I observe these rules in 
 their sequence. 
 
 When he has thus taken the Thought of 
 Enlightenment in a spirit of grace, the sage must 
 fill his thought with gladness in order to strengthen 
 the issue. This day my birth is fruitful, my 
 human life a blessing ; this day have I been born 
 in the race of the Enlightened, now am I their 
 son. And henceforth mine is the task of them 
 who work worthily of their race, lest any blemish 
 fall upon this stainless stock. This Thought of 
 Enlightenment has arisen within me I know not 
 how, even as a gem might be gotten by a blind 
 man from a dunghill ; it is an elixir made to 
 destroy death in the world, an unfailing treasure 
 to relieve the world's poverty, a supreme balm 
 to allay the world's sickness, a tree under which 
 may rest all creatures wearied with wandering 
 over life's paths, a bridge open to all wayfarers 
 for passing over hard ways, a moon of thought 
 arising to cool the fever of the world's sin, a great
 
 OF ENLIGHTENMENT 47 
 
 sun driving away the gloom of the world's ignor- 
 ance, a fresh butter created by the churning ot 
 the milk of the Good Law. For the caravan of 
 beings who wander through life's paths hungering 
 to taste of happiness this banquet of bliss is 
 prepared, that will satisfy all creatures coming 
 to it. I summon to-day the world to the estate 
 of Enlightenment, and meanwhile to happiness ; 
 may gods, daemons, and other beings rejoice in 
 the presence of all the Saviours !
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 HEEDFULNESS IN THE THOUGHT OF 
 ENLIGHTENMENT 
 
 THE son of the Conqueror, who has thus firmly 
 laid hold of the Thought of Enlightenment, must 
 constantly strive without slackening to observe 
 the rule. If a work be undertaken in haste and 
 without right reflection, one may well consider 
 whether it should be done or no, even though a 
 vow have been made ; but how should I delay 
 in this work, which has been perpended by the 
 Enlightened Ones, by their most sage Sons, and 
 by me likewise according to the measure of my 
 power ? If I fulfil not my vow by deeds, I shall 
 be false to all beings, and what a fate will be 
 mine ! Even of a small matter it is said that 
 he who gives not what he has purposed in thought 
 to give becomes a tortured ghost ; how, then, 
 shall it be with him who proffers aloud and 
 earnestly the gift of supreme happiness ? I shall 
 be false to all the world, and what a fate will be 
 mine ! . . . 
 
 48
 
 49 
 
 Therefore I must heedfully fulfil my vow ; if 
 I labour not this very day, down, down I fall. 
 Numberless are the Enlightened who have passed 
 by in search of all living beings ; and through 
 my own fault I have not come into their healing 
 hands. If this day also I shall be as I have been 
 again and again, misery, sickness, death, maiming, 
 dismemberment, and the like will fall to my lot ; 
 and when shall I win that most rare boon, the 
 coming of one of the Enlightened, faith, human 
 birth, and fitness to labour in righteousness, a 
 day of health with food and no vexations ? Life 
 is a brief instant, and plays us false ; the body 
 is like a thing held in precarious tenure. Truly 
 with deeds such as mine have been I shall not 
 again win human birth ; and if I win it not, evil 
 awaits me ; whence should good come ? Since 
 I work not righteousness when I am able, how 
 shall I do it when crazed by the pains of hell ? 
 I do no righteous work, and gather sin ; the very 
 name of good destiny is lost to me for millions of 
 seons. Therefore the Lord has said that human 
 birth is exceedingly hard to win ; hard as for a 
 turtle to pass its neck into the hole of a yoke in 
 the ocean. . . . 
 
 I have found this most rare sphere of weal (15), 
 I know not how ; and shall I with open eyes 
 suffer myself to be borne back to these hells ? 
 My thought cannot grasp it ; like one who is 
 driven mad by spells, I know not by whom I 
 
 4
 
 50 HEEDFULNESS OF ENLIGHTENMENT 
 
 am crazed or who possesses me. My foes, Desire, 
 Hate, and their kindred, are handless and footless, 
 they are neither valiant nor cunning ; how can 
 they have enslaved me ? But they dwell in my 
 spirit, and there at their ease smite me. And 
 withal I am not wroth with them ; fie on my 
 unseemly long-suffering ! If all gods and man- 
 kind were my foes, they could not drag me to the 
 fire of the hell Avlchi ; but into this flame, at 
 the touch whereof not even ashes would remain 
 of Meru (16), these mighty enemies the Passions 
 hurl me in an instant. No other foes have life 
 so long as the beginningless, endless, everlasting 
 life of my enemies the Passions. All beings may 
 be turned by submission to kindness ; but these 
 Passions become all the more vexatious by my 
 submission. Then whilst these everlasting foes, 
 sole source of the birth of the floods of sorrow, are 
 dwelling in my heart, how can I fearlessly rejoice 
 in the life of the flesh ? Whence can I have 
 happiness, if these warders of the prison-house 
 of existence, ay, these torturers of the damned in 
 hell and elsewhere, lodge in the house of my 
 spirit, in the bower of my desire ? Then I will not 
 lay down my burden until these foes be smitten 
 before my eyes. Men of lofty spirit are stirred 
 to wrath against even a mean offender, and sleep 
 not until they have smitten him. They rage in 
 the forefront of battle, furious, heeding not the 
 anguish of wounds from arrows and javelins, to
 
 CONFLICT WITH THE PASSIONS 51 
 
 strike fiercely at the poor creatures doomed by 
 nature to death, and turn not away until they 
 have fulfilled their purpose. How then, and for 
 what reason, should I, who have set myself to 
 strike down these natural foes, the constant 
 causes of all miseries, sink down in base despair, 
 even for hundreds of disasters ? Men bear on 
 their limbs, like ornaments, meaningless scars 
 gotten from their enemies ; why should sufferings 
 overcome me, who am labouring to accomplish 
 a lofty end ? Setting their thoughts upon their 
 mere livelihood, fishers, Chanqlalas, husbandmen, 
 and the like bear the miseries of cold, heat, and 
 the rest ; why should not I suffer them for the 
 weal of the world ? 
 
 Ah, when I vowed to deliver all beings within 
 the bounds of space in its ten points (17) from 
 the Passions, I myself had not won deliverance 
 from the Passions. Knowing not my now 
 measure, I spoke like a madman. Then I will 
 never turn back from smiting the Passions. I 
 will grapple with them, will wrathfully make war 
 on them all except the passion that makes for 
 the destruction of the Passions. Though my 
 bowels ooze out and my head fall off, I will nowise 
 abase myself before my foes the Passions. An 
 enemy, though driven away, may establish himself 
 in another spot, whence he may return with 
 gathered powers ; but such is not the way of the 
 enemy Passion. Where can this dweller in my
 
 52 HEEDFULNESS OF ENLIGHTENMENT 
 
 spirit go when I cast him out ; where can he 
 stand, to labour for my destruction ? It is only 
 that I fool that I am make no effort ; the 
 miserable Passions are to be overcome by the 
 vision of wisdom. The Passions lie not in the 
 objects of sense, nor in the sense-organs, nor 
 between them, nor elsewhere ; where do they 
 lie ? And yet they disturb the whole world ! 
 They are but a phantom. Then cast away thy 
 heart's terror, and labour for wisdom ; why 
 shouldst thou vainly torture thyself in hell ? 
 Thus resolved, I will strive to fulfil the rule as 
 it has been taught ; how should he who needs 
 medicine find healing, if he depart from the phy- 
 sician's command ?
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 WATCHFULNESS 
 
 HE who would keep the rules must diligently 
 guard his thought ; the rules cannot be kept by 
 him who guards not the fickle thought. Untamed 
 elephants in their madness do not such harm here 
 as the thought works in Avichi and the rest of 
 the hells, a young elephant ranging free. But if 
 the young elephant of thought be entirely bound 
 by the rope of remembrance (18), all peril departs, 
 and perfect happiness comes. Tigers, lions, 
 elephants, bears, snakes, all foes, all the warders 
 of the hells, witches and devils all of them are 
 bound, if only thought be bound ; all are subdued 
 if only thought be subdued. The Speaker of the 
 Truth has said that from thought alone come all 
 our countless terrors and griefs. Who has 
 diligently forged the swords of hell, or its pave- 
 ment of red-hot iron, and whence were born its 
 sirens ? All this has sprung from the sinful thought, 
 as the Saint's song tells ; thus in the threefold 
 world there is no foe to fear save the thought. 
 If the Perfect Charity frees the world from 
 53
 
 64 WATCHFULNESS 
 
 poverty, how could the Saviours of old have 
 had it, since the world is still poor ? The Perfect 
 Charity is declared to be the thought of sur- 
 rendering to all beings our whole possessions 
 and likewise the merit thereof ; thus it is but a 
 thought (19). Where can fishes and other crea- 
 tures be brought into safety, that I may not slay 
 them ? When the thought to do them no hurt is 
 conceived, that is deemed the Perfect Conduct. 
 How many can I slay of the wicked, who are 
 measureless as space ? But when the thought of 
 wrath is slain, all my foes are slain. Whence can 
 be found leather enough to cover the whole earth ? 
 But with a single leather shoe the whole ground 
 is covered. In like manner the forces without 
 me I cannot control ; but I will control the 
 thought within me, and what need have I for 
 control of the rest ? Though aided by voice and 
 body, indolence can never win for its prize an 
 estate such as that of Brahma, which falls to the 
 lot of the vigorous unaided thought. The prayers 
 and mortifications of a heedless and feeble man, 
 however long he labour, are all in vain, says the 
 Omniscient. To overcome sorrow and win 
 happiness men wander in vain, for they have not 
 sanctified their thcfught, the mysterious essence 
 of holiness. Then I must keep my thought well 
 governed and well guarded ; what need is there 
 of any vows save the vow to guard the 
 thought ? . . .
 
 REMEMBRANCE 55 
 
 The thief Heedlessness, waiting to escape the 
 eye of remembrance, robs men of the righteousness 
 they have gathered, and they come to an evil 
 lot. The Passions, a band of robbers, seek a 
 lodging, and when they have found it they rob 
 us and destroy our good estate of life. Then let 
 remembrance never withdraw from the portal 
 of the spirit ; and if it depart, let it be brought 
 back by remembering the anguish of hell. Re- 
 membrance grows easily in happy obedient souls 
 from the reverence raised by their teachers' lore 
 and from dwelling with their masters. " The 
 Enlightened and their Sons keep unfailing watch 
 in every place. Everything is before them, I 
 stand in their presence." Pondering this thought, 
 a man will be possessed by modesty, obedience, 
 and reverence, and the remembrance of the 
 Enlightened will thus be always with him. 
 When remembrance stands on guard at the portal 
 of the spirit, watchfulness comes, and nevermore 
 departs. 
 
 The thought thus must be kept ever under 
 watch ; I must always be as if without carnal 
 sense, like a thing of wood. The eyes must never 
 glance around without object ; their gaze should 
 always be downward, as if in meditation. But 
 sometimes, to rest his gaze, one may look around 
 him ; he sees [strangers] as mere phantoms, but 
 will turn his eyes upon them to bid them welcome. 
 On the road, and other such places, he will look
 
 56 WATCHFULNESS 
 
 from time to time to the four quarters of space, 
 to take note of danger ; he will rest and turn 
 round to look about him. He will go forward 
 or backward with heed, and in all conditions do 
 what he has to do with understanding. In every 
 act that he undertakes he will consider the due 
 posture of his body, and from time to time will 
 look to see how it is. He will watch with great 
 heed the wild elephant of his thought, so that it 
 remain bound to the stout stake of holy medita- 
 tion and become not loosed. He will watch to 
 see where his mind is moving, so that it may not 
 even for an instant cast off the yoke of rapt 
 devotion. . . . 
 
 When the body is dragged hither and thither 
 by vultures lusting for meat, why is it powerless 
 to save itself ? Why dost thou watch over this 
 frame, O my spirit, as if it were thine own ? if 
 it is a thing apart from thee, what canst thou 
 lose thereby ? Silly one, what thou claimest as 
 thine is not as clean as a wooden doll ; why dost 
 thou cling to this rotten machine framed in 
 foulness ? Lift in thy imagination this envelope 
 of skin, and with the scalpel of wisdom remove 
 the flesh from the frame of bones. Open likewise 
 the bones, and look upon the marrow within 
 them. Then ask thyself what essential thing is 
 therein. And now that thou hast made diligent 
 search and found therein nothing essential, say 
 wherefore thou still clingest to the body. Thou
 
 UNIMPORTANCE OF THE BODY 57 
 
 canst not eat its impurities and entrails, nor 
 drink its blood ; what wilt thou do with the body ? 
 This poor flesh, which thou guardest in order to 
 feed vultures, jackals, and the like, is fitted only 
 to be a tool for men's works. Though thou 
 guardest it thus, pitiless Death will tear away 
 the body and give it to the vultures ; and then 
 what wilt thou do ? To a servant who will not 
 remain, gifts of garments and the like are not 
 given ; when it has eaten, the body will depart, 
 then why waste thy riches upon it ? Pay to it 
 its wage, then set thy thought upon thine own 
 business ; for we give not to the hireling all that 
 he may earn. Conceive of the body as a ship 
 that travels to and fro, and make it go at thy 
 bidding for creatures to fulfil their end. 
 
 He who is thus master of himself will ever 
 bear a smiling face ; he will put away frowns and 
 be first to greet others, a friend of the world. He 
 will not noisily and hastily throw down benches 
 or the like, nor beat upon a door, but always 
 will delight in silence. The crane, the cat, and 
 the thief walk silently and calmly, and accomplish 
 the end that they desire ; thus the holy man will 
 always act. He will accept with bowed head the 
 words of those who are skilful in exhorting others 
 and do kindness unsought ; he will ever be the 
 disciple of all men. He will give applause to all 
 kindly words ; when he sees one who does righteous 
 works, he will gladden him with praises. . . .
 
 58 WATCHFULNESS 
 
 The Perfections, Charity, and the rest, are of 
 an ascending order of excellence ; he will not 
 forsake a more excellent for another, save in 
 respect of the dyke of virtue (20). Thus minded, 
 he will be always active for the welfare of others ; 
 even a forbidden deed is permitted to him in his 
 kindliness, if he foresees a good result. He will 
 give of his alms to the fallen, the masterless, and 
 the religious, and eat himself but a moderate 
 portion ; he will surrender everything but his 
 three robes (21). He will not for slight purpose 
 afflict his body, which is in the service of the 
 Good Law ; for thus it will speedily fulfil the 
 desires of living beings. And therefore he will not 
 cast away his life for one whose spirit of mercy 
 is impure (22), but only for one whose spirit is 
 like his own ; and thus naught is lost. ...
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING 
 
 ALL the righteousness, the charity, the worship 
 of the Blessed, that have been wrought in thou- 
 sands of aeons, are destroyed by ill-will. There 
 is no guilt equal to hatred, no mortification 
 equal to long-suffering ; and therefore one should 
 diligently practise patience in divers ways. 
 While the arrow of hate is in the heart, none can 
 have a peaceful mind in equipoise, or feel the 
 joy of kindliness, none can win sleep or calm. 
 They whom a master cursed with an evil spirit 
 honours with wealth and favours, and who dwell 
 under his protection, seek nevertheless to destroy 
 him. Even his friends are in terror of him. His 
 gifts win for him no service. In short, there is 
 no way for a passionate man to find happiness. 
 He who stoutly fights against wrath, the enemy 
 that brings these and other sorrows, wins joy in 
 this world and beyond. Nourished by discontent, 
 hatred grows swollen and destroys me ; and 
 discontent springs from doing unpleasing works 
 or^from^the baffling of desire. Then I will cut 
 59
 
 60 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING 
 
 off the nourishment of my enemy, for this foe- 
 man's sole purpose is to slay me. My cheer- 
 fulness shall not be disturbed, even by the most 
 untoward events ; discontent works no good, 
 and only destroys merit. What profits dis- 
 content if there is a remedy ; and what profits 
 it if there is none ? We shrink from sorrow, 
 defeat, rude speech, and dishonour for ourselves 
 and our friends, and from the opposite of these 
 for our enemy. Happiness is hard to win, pain 
 comes readily ; there is no escape from life save 
 by pain ; then be firm, my spirit ! The 
 Karnatas, the " little children of Durga," suffer 
 the agonies of burning and maiming in a vain 
 hope of salvation ; why then shall I be faint- 
 hearted ? There is nothing which practice cannot 
 make easy ; so by practice in slight sufferings 
 we learn to bear great pains. Flies, stinging 
 creatures, gnats, hunger, thirst, and other like 
 pains, fierce itch and other like miseries lookest 
 thou upon these as profitless ? Before cold, 
 heat, rain, wind, travel, sickness, bondage, and 
 blows be not tender and delicate, else thy 
 anguish will increase. Some there are who at 
 the sight of their own blood become exceedingly 
 valorous, and some at sight of others' blood fall 
 into faintness. This comes about through firm- 
 ness and feebleness of spirit ; then he who is 
 unconquerable by pain will overcome suffering. 
 Even in pain the wise man will not let the calm
 
 ANGER UNPREMEDITATED 61 
 
 of his spirit be disturbed ; for he is at war with 
 the Passions, and in war suffering abounds. They 
 who overcome their foes by presenting their 
 bosoms to the enemy's blows are " victors," 
 " heroes " ; the rest are " slayers of the slain." 
 
 Another virtue of suffering is that from loathing 
 of the flesh pride is brought low, and there arise 
 pity for the creatures wandering through births, 
 fear of sin, and love for the Conqueror. 
 
 I have no anger against the gall and the rest 
 of my humours (23), although they cause great 
 suffering ; then can one be wroth against thinking 
 beings, who likewise are deranged by outer 
 forces ? As a bodily pain arises unwilled [by 
 the humours], so too wrath perforce arises un- 
 willed [in the offender]. A man does not become 
 angry of his free will and with purpose of anger ; 
 nor does wrath resolve of itself to break forth 
 before it breaks forth. All offences, all the 
 various sins, spring of necessity from outer forces ; 
 none are self-guided. The total of outer forces 
 has no consciousness that it engenders an effect, 
 and the effect has no consciousness that it is 
 engendered. The " Primal Matter " and " Soul " 
 of which forsooth men talk are imaginations (24). 
 They do not come into being with consciousness 
 of doing so. Before coming into being they do 
 not exist ; and who can then desire to come 
 into being ? If the " soul " is active upon its 
 objects, it will not cease thence ; and if it is
 
 62 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING 
 
 constant, impassive, and like the ether, it is 
 manifestly inactive ; for though it be joined to 
 outer forces, how can a changeless thing act ? 
 What part of the action is done by a thing which 
 at the time of action is the same as before it ? 
 If " its own action " is the bond [between soul and 
 object], what is the ground of this ? Thus every- 
 . thing depends on a cause, and this cause likewise 
 ? is not independent ; in no wise, then, can wrath 
 1 be felt against beings mechanical as phantoms. 
 
 " Then there can be no restraint ; what is to 
 be arrested, and who shall arrest it ? " Not 
 so ; for since all is really the work of outer forces, 
 hence we deem that sorrow may have an end (25). 
 So when we see a foe, or even a friend, doing un- 
 righteously, let us remember that such are the outer 
 forces moving him, and remain in peace. If all 
 mortals could win their ends at their own pleasure, 
 none would suffer vexation ; for none desire it. 
 
 In heedlessness, wrath, or lust for women and 
 other things beyond their reach, men bring them- 
 selves into distress from thorns, lack of food, 
 and the like. Some destroy themselves by 
 hanging, springing down from a height, taking 
 poison or unwholesome measure of food, or doing 
 unrighteousness. Since under the sway of the 
 passions they harm thus their own persons, which 
 they love, how can they spare the bodies of others? 
 Maddened by passions, striving for their own 
 destruction, there can be only pity for them ;
 
 UNJUSTIFIABLE ANGER 63 
 
 how should we be angered ? If it is the nature 
 of fools to hurt their fellows, it is as wrong for 
 me to feel anger against them as it is to be wroth 
 with the fire which naturally burns me ; and if 
 again it is a passing frailty, and creatures are 
 upright of nature, then it is as wrong to be 
 angered against them as against the air when 
 smoke fills it. 
 
 Say I am angered not against the instrument 
 the stick or whatso it may be but against him 
 who moves it. But he is moved by hatred ; it 
 is better then for me to hate hatred. I myself 
 in former times have wrought the same suffering 
 for other creatures ; then I deserve this for 
 having done hurt to living beings. The cause of 
 my suffering is twofold my enemy's sword and 
 my body. He has taken the sword, I the body ; 
 with which shall I be angry ? What I have got 
 is an ulcer in the shape of a body, unable to bear 
 the touch ; and thus tortured in the blindness 
 of desire, with what shall I be wroth ? I seek 
 not suffering, yet in my folly seek the cause of 
 suffering ; since my pain comes from my own 
 offence, why shall I be wroth with another ? The 
 forest whose leaves are swords, the birds of hell, 
 spring from my own works ; with whom then 
 shall I be wroth ? They who do me hurt are 
 moved thereto by my works, and thence they 
 fall into hell ; surely it is I that undo them ! 
 Thanks to them, my guilt through much patience
 
 64 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING 
 
 fades away ; thanks to me, they go to the long 
 agonies of hell. It is I who do them hurt, they 
 who do me kindness ; base-spirited fellow, where- 
 fore this absurd anger ? If I fall not into hell, 
 it will be by the merit of my spirit ; what matter 
 is it to them that I save myself ? (26) If I should 
 return them evil for evil, they would not be 
 saved thereby ; my progress would be wrecked ; 
 and these poor creatures would be lost. 
 
 In no place and by naught can the mind be 
 destroyed, for it is unembodied ; but from 
 imaginations clinging to the body it suffers with 
 the body's hurt. Discomfiture, rude speech, 
 dishonour, all these things harm not the body ; 
 then why art thou wroth, my spirit ? Can 
 the ill-will of others towards me touch me in 
 this life or in births to come, that I should mislike 
 it ? Haply I may mislike it because it hinders 
 me from gaining alms ; but then the alms that I 
 get will vanish here, my guilt will stay with me 
 for ever. Better for me to die this same day than 
 to live long in sin, for however long I stay, the 
 same death-agony awaits me. One man in 
 dreams enjoys a hundred years of bliss, and 
 awakes ; another is happy for an hour, and 
 awakes ; surely the pleasure of both, when they 
 wake, is alike ended. And so it is at the time of 
 death with the long-lived and the short-lived. 
 Though I may get many gifts, and long enjoy my 
 pleasures, I shall depart empty-handed and naked,
 
 RESTRAINT OF WRATH 65 
 
 as if stripped by robbers. " By my gains I may 
 live to wipe out my sin and do righteousness " 
 ay, but he who is angry for the sake of gain 
 wipes out his righteousness and does sin. If 
 that for which I live is lost, what profits life 
 itself which is spent wholly in ungodliness ? 
 
 " I hate him who speaks to my blame, for he 
 
 brings creatures to destruction " then why art 
 
 thou not angry against him who rails at others ? 
 
 Thou bearest with the unkindly when their un- 
 
 kindness touches others, and bearest not with the 
 
 caviller who touches on the growth of thy vices ! 
 
 It is unmeet for me to hate them that destroy 
 
 or revile images, sanctuaries, or the Good Law ; 
 
 for the Enlightened and their company thereby 
 
 take no hurt. If men wrong thy dear ones, 
 
 masters, brothers, and the rest, know as before 
 
 that outer forces are working, and restrain thy 
 
 wrath. Whether it be wrought by a thing with 
 
 or without thought, suffering is assured to living 
 
 beings ; it is found in whatever has thought ; 
 
 then bear with it. Some in their blindness do 
 
 wrong, others in their blindness are wroth with 
 
 them ; whom of these may we call blameless, 
 
 or whom guilty ? Why hast thou of old done 
 
 so that thou art thus afflicted now by others ? 
 
 All are under the sway of their own works ; who 
 
 am I to undo this ? Knowing this, I will strive 
 
 to do righteousness, so that all may be full of 
 
 love for one another.
 
 66 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING 
 
 When a house is burning, and the fire may 
 fall upon the next house and seize upon the straw 
 and like stuff within it, we carry this stuff away 
 from it ; and in like manner must we straightway 
 cast out the things by touch whereof the spirit 
 is inflamed with the fire of wrath, for fear lest 
 the substance of our merit be consumed. 
 
 If a man doomed to death be released with 
 one hand cut off, is it not well for him ? and if 
 one through human tribulations escapes hell, is 
 it not also well for him ? If one cannot bear the 
 small suffering of the moment, then why does he 
 not put away the wrath that will bring upon him 
 the agonies of hell ? By reason of wrath I have 
 been thus afflicted in hell thousands of times, and 
 done no service to myself or to others. My 
 present tribulation is not so heavy, and will be 
 very gainful ; let me be glad of a suffering that 
 redeems the world from its suffering. 
 
 If some find delight in praising one of high 
 worth, why, my spirit, dost thou not rejoice 
 likewise in praising him ? Such joy will bring 
 thee no blame ; it will be a fountain of happiness ; 
 it is not forbidden by men of worth ; it is the 
 noblest way to win over thy fellows. If thou art 
 not pleased because he [who praises] is glad, then 
 thou wouldst forbid such things as payment for 
 service, and seen and unseen rewards alike 
 perish (27). Thou art willing for thy neighbour 
 to be glad when he praises thy worth ; but thou
 
 JEALOUSY OF THE RIGHTEOUS 67 
 
 art loth to be thyself glad when another's worth 
 is praised. Thou hast framed the Thought of 
 Enlightenment in desire to make all creatures 
 happy : then why now art thou wroth with 
 creatures who of themselves find happiness ? 
 Forsooth thou wouldst have all beings become 
 Buddhas, and worthy of the three worlds' 
 worship ; then why art thou vexed to see their 
 brief honours ? He who nurtures them that 
 thou shouldst nurture gives to thee ; yet when 
 thou findest one that feeds thy household, thou 
 art wroth, not glad ! He that desires the en- 
 lightenment of living beings desires all good for 
 them ; but whence can one have the Thought of 
 Enlightenment who is angered at another's good 
 fortune ? If the gift comes not to thy neighbour, 
 it stays in the house of the offerer ; in no wise 
 does it fall to thee : what matter to thee whether 
 it be given or no ? Shall he check his righteous- 
 ness, the kindness of others, or his own worth ? 
 shall he not take what is given ? say, art thou 
 not angered in every case ? Not only wilt thou 
 not grieve for thine own sins, but thou darest to 
 be jealous of the righteous. If sorrow could 
 befall thine enemy at thy pleasure, what would 
 come of it ? Thy mere ill-will cannot bring 
 forth an issue without a cause ; but if it were 
 accomplished by thy wish, what happiness 
 wouldst thou have in his grief ? The issue then 
 would be more harmful to thee than aught else.
 
 68 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING 
 
 This is in sooth a deadly hook in the hands of the 
 fisher Passion ; the wardens of hell will take thee 
 thence in purchase and seethe thee in their 
 kitchens. 
 
 Praise, glory, and honours make not for 
 righteousness or long life, or for strength, or 
 health, or pleasure of the body. But such will 
 be the end sought by a wise man knowing his 
 advantage ; and he who desires mirth of spirit 
 may give himself to drink, gambling, and the 
 like. For glory men waste their substance, ay, 
 even their lives. But will syllables feed them ? 
 and when they are dead, who has pleasure of it ? 
 As a child wails bitterly when its house of sand is 
 broken down, so I deem my own spirit will be 
 when praise and glory vanish. Praise is but sound, 
 and being itself without thought, cannot praise me. 
 
 " Nay, I am glad, forsooth, because my neigh- 
 bour is pleased with me." But what is it to me 
 whether my neighbour is pleased with me or with 
 another ? the joy is his ; not the smallest share 
 of it is mine. If happiness springs from the joy 
 of others, then I should have it in every event ; 
 so why am I not glad when men rejoice to 
 honour another ? Then gladness arises within 
 me only because I am praised ; and thus, being 
 foreign to myself, it is an utter child's play. 
 
 These praises and honours destroy my welfare 
 and horror of the flesh ; they arouse envy of the 
 worthy and anger at their fortune. Then they
 
 AN ENEMY AS A TREASURE 69 
 
 who rise against me to crush my glory and honour 
 are in truth working to save me from falling into 
 hell. If I seek deliverance, gains and honours 
 are a fetter that befit me not : how can I hate 
 them that release me from this bond ? By the 
 blessing of the Enlightened, as it were, they 
 become a door barring my way into sorrow ; 
 how can I hate them ? " But he hinders me 
 from righteous works " nay, it is not well to be 
 angry for this. There is no work of mortification 
 equal to long-suffering, and surely this is an 
 occasion for it. If by my sin here I show not 
 patience towards him, it is I who hinder myself 
 from doing righteousness when the occasion for 
 it has come. If one thing exists not without 
 another, and exists when the other is present, 
 the latter is the cause of the former : how can it 
 be called a hindrance to it ? The beggar who 
 comes at the due hour makes no hindrance to the 
 almsgiving ; and if a monk comes who can ad- 
 minister the vows, it is not called a hindrance to 
 our taking the vows (28). We find many beggars 
 in the world, but few who will do us hurt ; for if 
 I do no wrong, no man will wrong me. Then an 
 enemy is like a treasure found in my house, won 
 without labour of mine ; I must cherish him, 
 for he is a helper in the way to Enlightenment. 
 Thus this fruit of my patience is won by me 
 and by him together ; to him must be given the 
 first share, for he is the cause of my patience.
 
 70 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING 
 
 " But my enemy seeks not to prosper my 
 patience, and therefore he is not worthy of 
 honour " nay, why then do we honour the Good 
 Law, the unconscious cause of blessing ? " Nay, 
 his purpose is to do me hurt " but if an enemy 
 is therefore not honoured, how can I otherwise 
 shew patience towards him, as though he were 
 intent, like a physician, on my welfare ? It is by 
 reason of his evil design that my patience is 
 born ; therefore he is the cause of patience, and 
 as worthy of honour from me as the Good Law. 
 Therefore the Saint has told of the Domain of 
 Creatures and the Domain of Conquerors (29) ; 
 for by seeking the favour of creatures and Con- 
 querors many have risen to supreme fortune. 
 Since with both creatures and Conquerors is the 
 same gift of the qualities of the Enlightened (30), 
 how may we deal partially and refuse to creatures 
 the reverence shown to Conquerors ? The great- 
 ness of the purpose lies not in itself, but in its 
 works ; hence creatures have a like greatness, 
 and therein they are like [to the Enlightened]. 
 The greatness of creatures is that he who has the 
 spirit of kindliness towards them wins worship ; 
 the greatness of the Enlightened is that merit 
 is won by love toward them. Thus creatures 
 are like to the Conquerors by giving in part the 
 dower of the qualities of the Enlightened, albeit 
 none^of them are peer to the Enlightened, who 
 are oceans of virtues, infinite of parts ; and if
 
 REVERENCE TO " CONQUERORS " 71 
 
 even one atom-small virtue from these sole stores 
 of the essence of the virtues be found in any 
 creature, the whole threefold world is not enough 
 for his worship. In creatures is found a little 
 power, but that most noble, for bringing forth 
 the qualities of the Enlightened ; according to 
 that little power should creatures be honoured. 
 
 Moreover, what perfect reparation can be 
 made to these Kinsmen without guile, these doers 
 of immeasurable kindness, save the service of 
 creatures ? They tear their own bodies, they 
 go down into the hell Avichi, all for the welfare 
 of others ; then even to them who most sorely 
 wrong us we must do all manner of good. How 
 dare I shew pride, instead of a slave's humble- 
 ness, towards those masters for whose sake my 
 Masters are heedless of their own lives ? When 
 they are happy, the Saints are rejoiced, and 
 wroth when they are distressed ; in their gladness 
 is the gladness of all the Saints ; when they are 
 wronged, wrong is done to the Saints. As one 
 whose body is entirely in flame finds no comfort 
 in any things of desire, so when creatures are 
 distressed these beings of mercy have no way to 
 find pleasure. Forasmuch then as I have done 
 hurt to all these most compassionate beings by 
 doing hurt to living things, I confess now my 
 sin ; may the Saints pardon me for the wrong 
 that I have done them ! To win the grace of the 
 Blessed Ones to-day I make myself utterly the
 
 72 THE PERFECT LONG-SUFFERING 
 
 slave of the world. Let the crowds of living 
 beings set their feet upon my head, or smite me, 
 and the Lord of the World be glad ! Beyond 
 all doubt these Merciful Ones have made the 
 whole universe their own ; truly it is our Lords 
 who shew themselves in the form of creatures, 
 and dare we despise them ? It is this that 
 moves the Blessed to grace, this that wins my 
 true end, this that wipes away the misery of the 
 world ; then be this my vow ! 
 
 A single henchman of the king handles a crowd 
 rudely ; and the throng, looking on from afar, 
 dares not shew sign of passion ; for he is not 
 alone, the king's power is his strength. And 
 likewise thou mayst not dishonour him who 
 wrongs thee because he is weak ; for the warders 
 of hell and the Merciful Ones are his strength. 
 Then let us seek the favour of creatures, as a 
 servant the favour of a wrathful king. Can a 
 king in his anger bring upon us the anguish of 
 hell, which we shall bear for making creatures 
 sorrowful ? Can a king in his pleasure bestow 
 aught equal to Enlightenment, which we shall 
 bear for making creatures happy ? But beside 
 the destined Enlightenment that springs from 
 kindness to creatures, seest thou not that herein 
 lie fortune, glory, comfort ? Favour, health, 
 joy, long life, and abounding delight of empire 
 fall to the lot of the patient man in the course of 
 his lives,
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE PERFECT STRENGTH 
 
 Now he who is patient will seek for strength, for 
 in strength lies Enlightenment. Without 
 strength there is no righteous work, as without 
 the wind there is no motion. And what is 
 strength ? Vigour hi well-doing. What is its 
 contrary called ? Faintness, clinging to base 
 things, despair, self-contempt. From inaction, 
 delight in pleasure, slumber, and eagerness for 
 repose springs a spirit that feels no horror at the 
 miseries of life, and from this arises faintness. 
 Pursued by the Passions, those fishers, thou hast 
 come into the net of Birth, and knowest thou not 
 that this selfsame day thou hast fallen into the 
 jaws of Death ? Seest thou not thy comrades 
 smitten down one after the other ? and withal 
 thou fallest into slumber like a bullock in the 
 butcher's hands. Watched by the Death-god, 
 thy ways hemmed in on every side, how canst 
 thou find delight in food, how canst thou sleep 
 and love ? Wait a little while, until Death shall 
 
 73
 
 74 THE PERFECT STRENGTH 
 
 have gathered his instruments, and he will come 
 swiftly upon thee ; then it will be an ill time for 
 thee to cast off thy faintness, and what wilt thou 
 do ? " This work untouched, this begun, this 
 standing half-done and lo ! Death has suddenly 
 fallen upon me ! Alas, I am undone ! " Such 
 will be thy thoughts, whilst thou lookest upon 
 thy despairing kinsmen with their eyes swollen 
 and red with tears in the passion of their grief, 
 and upon the faces of the Death-god's messengers, 
 whilst thou liest racked by the memory of thy 
 sins, hearing the noises of hell, altogether over- 
 whelmed and oh, what wilt thou do ? 
 
 It is well for thee to think fearfully of thyself 
 here as of a living fish (31), much more so for the 
 sinner to dread the fierce anguish of hell. Thou 
 art burnt if warm water touch thee, tender 
 creature that thou art ; and when thou doest 
 damnable sins, how canst thou sit thus com- 
 fortably ? wretched soul, that longest for 
 reward unearned by striving, thou that art so 
 tender and much afflicted, thou immortal, thou 
 art devoured by Death, and undone ! Thou 
 hast found the ship of manhood ; then sail in it 
 across the broad river of sorrow. Fool, this is 
 no time for slumber ; it will be hard to find the 
 ship again. How canst thou forsake the noble 
 delight in the Law, which brings an endless 
 course of comforts, and find pleasure in wanton- 
 ness, mirth, and other like sources of sorrow ?
 
 ENDURANCE OF PAIN 75 
 
 The spirit that knows not despair, the troops 
 of the Army (32), devoted heed, self -submission, 
 equal esteem of self and others, and regard of 
 others in place of self [are the supports of strength]. 
 
 Let me not despair that the Enlightenment 
 will come to me ; for the Blessed One, the speaker 
 of truth, has revealed this truth, that they who 
 by force of striving have gained hard-won supreme 
 Enlightenment have been erstwhile gnats, gad- 
 flies, flies, and worms. Now I am a man by 
 birth, able to know good and evil : why shall I 
 not win the Enlightenment by following the rule 
 of the All-knowing ? If I am afraid when I think 
 that I must give my hand or foot, it is because 
 in my heedlessness I confound things of great 
 and of small weight. I may be cleft, pierced, 
 burnt, split open many and many a time for 
 countless millions of aeons, and never win the 
 Enlightenment. But this pain that wins me 
 the Enlightenment is of brief term ; it is like 
 the pain of cutting out a buried arrow to heal its 
 smart. All physicians restore health by painful 
 courses ; then to undo much suffering let us 
 bear a little. But even this fitting course the 
 Great Physician has not enjoined upon us ; he 
 heals them that are grievously sick by tender 
 treatment. At first our Lord ordains gifts only 
 of herbs and the like, and then in due course 
 brings men at last to surrender even their own 
 flesh. When there comes to man the spirit that
 
 76 THE PERFECT STRENGTH 
 
 looks upon his flesh as no more than herbs, what 
 hardship is it for him to surrender his flesh and 
 bone ? He is not hurt, for he has cast off sin, 
 nor sad, for knowledge is his ; for distress comes 
 in the mind from false imaginations, and in the 
 body from sin. The body is made happy by 
 righteous works, the spirit by knowledge ; what 
 can vex the compassionate one who remains in 
 embodied life only for the welfare of others ? 
 Annulling his former sins, amassing oceans of 
 righteousness, by the power of his Thought of 
 Enlightenment he travels more swiftly than the 
 Disciples (33). Having thus in the Thought of 
 Enlightenment a chariot that removes all vexa- 
 tion and weariness, travelling from happiness to 
 happiness, who that is wise will despair ? 
 
 To accomplish the welfare of his fellow-creatures 
 he has an Army, the troops of which are Love of 
 Right, Constancy, Joy, and Abandonment. The 
 Love of Right he will frame from the fear of 
 suffering and from pondering upon merits. When 
 he has uprooted his foes, he will strive for increase 
 of vigour by means of his armies, which are the 
 love of right, pride, joy, abandonment, devoted 
 heed, and self -submission. Countless are the 
 faults in myself and my fellows that I shall have 
 to destroy, and hundreds of thousands of seons 
 must pass ere even one of these fade away. But 
 I find not in myself the least morsel of vigour 
 to set myself to undo these faults ; I am doomed
 
 THE LOVE OF RIGHT 77 
 
 to boundless anguish, and why does my bosom 
 not burst ? Many are the virtues in myself and 
 my fellows that must be gained, and hundreds of 
 thousands of aeons will scarce be enough for the 
 practice of even one of them. But I have never 
 practised the least morsel of virtue ; to no 
 purpose has been spent the birth so hardly and 
 marvellously won. The joy of the great festivals 
 in worship of the Lord has not been mine ; I 
 have done no honour to the Law, nor fulfilled 
 the desire of the poor ; I have not given security 
 to them that are in fear, nor happiness to the 
 afflicted ; I have been only a vexation of my 
 mother's womb, to work sorrow. Because of 
 old I departed from the love of right, I am now 
 in this evil plight ; who would forsake the love 
 of right ? This love the Saint has proclaimed 
 to be the root of all righteous works ; and its 
 root is the constant meditation upon the fruit 
 that grows from deeds. Manifold are the pains, 
 the sorrows, the terrors, and the disappointments 
 that arise to sinners. Whithersoever the desire 
 of the righteous turns, it is greeted with happy 
 issue, because of their merits ; and whithersoever 
 turns the sinner's yearning for pleasure, it is 
 smitten with swords of pain, because of his sins. 
 They that are godly of works enter the wombs 
 of broad, sweet-smelling, cool lotus-blossoms ; 
 their lustrous forms grow nurtured by the Con- 
 queror's sweet melody ; then they issue in comely
 
 78 THE PERFECT STRENGTH 
 
 beauty from the lotus-flowers awakened by the 
 sunbeams of the Holy One, and are born as Sons 
 of the Blessed in the presence of the Blessed. 
 As to them that are ungodly of works, shrieking 
 in anguish, they are flayed of their whole skin by 
 the Death-god's henchmen, their bodies bathed 
 with copper molten in the fire, their flesh cut off 
 in gobbets by hundreds of blows from flaming 
 swords and pikes, and they fall again and again 
 upon beds of red-hot iron. Then let the love of 
 righteousness be with you, and be heedful thus to 
 foster it. 
 
 In setting his hand to a work one should foster 
 pride, according to the rule of the Vajra-dhvaja 
 Sutra. When he has first considered the sum 
 of circumstances, he will either begin it, or not 
 begin it ; for it is better not to begin at all than 
 to leave undone what has been begun. For this 
 practice will last even into other births, and from 
 such sin will arise abounding sorrow ; and not 
 only is the present work not accomplished, but 
 likewise others that might be done in the same 
 time come not to pass. 
 
 In respect of three things may pride be borne 
 man's works, his temptations, and his power. 
 The pride of works lies in the thought " for me 
 alone is the task." This world, enslaved by 
 passion, is powerless to accomplish its own weal ; 
 then I must do it for them, for I am not impotent 
 like them. Shall another do a lowly task while
 
 PRIDE OF CONQUEST 79 
 
 I am standing by ? If I in my pride will not do 
 it, better it is that my pride perish. The very 
 crow becomes a Garuda (34) when he lights 
 upon a dead lizard ; if my spirit is feeble, the 
 least occasion of sin will overcome me. To him 
 who is palsied by a faint heart occasions of sin 
 come abundantly ; but he who has a noble pride 
 ever alert is unconquerable even by great tempta- 
 tions. Then with firm spirit I will undo the 
 occasions of undoing ; if I should be conquered 
 by them, my ambition to conquer the threefold 
 world would be a jest. I will conquer all ; none 
 shall conquer me. This is the pride that I will 
 bear, for I am the son of the Conqueror-Lions. 
 Creatures who are overcome by arrogance bear 
 the title of misery, not of pride ; he that is proud 
 falls not into the power of the foe, but they are 
 slaves to the foe Arrogance. Through arrogance 
 they are brought into evil estate, and even in 
 human birth lose their joys, eating the bread of 
 others, slaves, fools, uncomely, wasted away ; 
 despised on all sides are the wretches stiff in 
 arrogance ; if they are ranked with the proud, 
 say, who are the miserable ? Proud, victorious, 
 heroic are they who set their pride on conquest 
 of the foe Arrogance, who overthrow him in all 
 his might, and freely show to the world the fruit 
 of their conquest. 
 
 Surrounded by the troop of the Passions, a 
 man should become a thousand times prouder,
 
 80 THE PERFECT STRENGTH 
 
 and be as unconquerable to their hordes as a lion 
 to flocks of deer. Even in great stress the eye is 
 unconscious of the sense of taste ; and so, into 
 whatever straits he may come, he will not fall 
 into the power of the Passions. He will utterly 
 give himself over to whatever task arrives, greedy 
 for the work, insatiate of spirit, like one who 
 lusts for the delight issuing from his sport. Every 
 work is done for the sake of happiness, whether 
 the happiness come or no ; but how can he whose 
 happiness is work itself be happy in doing no 
 work ? Desires, like honey on the edge of a 
 razor's blade, bring no contentment in life ; but 
 what satiety can there be from the divine draughts 
 of righteous deeds, that are blessed and sweet in 
 their issue ? Then when one work is brought 
 to an end, he will plunge into another, as the 
 elephant, vexed by the heat of midday, plunges 
 straightway into the lake that he finds. 
 
 But when his strength fails, he will withdraw 
 from his work ; and if it be happily ended, he 
 will leave it, in eagerness for more and more 
 tasks. He will guard himself against the blows 
 of the Passions, and deal stout blows against the 
 Passions, as though fighting with the sword 
 against a skilful foe. As one in fear swiftly 
 takes up again a fallen sword, so he will take up 
 the fallen sword of remembrance, bethinking 
 himself of hell. 
 
 As poison that has reached the blood spreads
 
 GREEDINESS FOR WORK 81 
 
 through the body, so the sin that finds a weak 
 spot spreads through the spirit. A man carrying 
 a bowl full of oil, surrounded by soldiers with 
 drawn swords, in fear of death if he should trip, 
 will walk needfully (35) ; and so it is with him 
 that is under the vow. Then when slumber and 
 faintness fall upon him, he will strive against 
 them as speedily as one springs up when a serpent 
 is creeping into his lap. Whenever he is caught 
 unawares, he will be sorely grieved, and consider 
 what he should do that it may not befall him 
 again. For the sake of this he will desire godly 
 company or tasks to come in his way, that his 
 remembrance may be exercised in these condi- 
 tions. Remembering the Sermon on Heedful- 
 ness (36), he will hold himself in readiness, so 
 that even before a task comes to him he is pre- 
 pared to turn to every course. As the seed of 
 the cotton-tree is swayed at the coming and 
 going of the wind, so will he be obedient to his 
 resolution ; and thus divine power is gained.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE PERFECT CONTEMPLATION 
 
 WHEN thus vigour has been nurtured, it is well 
 to fix the thought in concentred effort ; the man 
 of wandering mind lies between the fangs of the 
 Passions. It cannot wander if body and thought 
 be in solitude ; so it is well to forsake the world 
 and put away vain imaginations (37). Because 
 of love, or hunger for gain, and the like, men will 
 not forsake the world ; then in order to cast it 
 aside the wise will lay to heart these thoughts. 
 Passion is overcome only by him who has won 
 through stillness of spirit the perfect vision. 
 Knowing this, I must first seek for stillness ; it 
 comes through the contentment that is regardless 
 of the world. What creature of a day should 
 cling to other frail beings, when he can never 
 again through thousands of births behold his 
 beloved ? Yet when he sees him not, he is ill at 
 ease ; he rests not in concentred thought ; and 
 even when he beholds him he is not satisfied, but 
 is distressed by the same longing as before. He 
 
 82
 
 ATTITUDE TO THE FOOLISH 83 
 
 sees not things in their reality ; he loses his 
 horror of the world ; he is consumed by his grief 
 in yearning for union with the beloved. In 
 thoughts thereupon his brief life vainly passes 
 away hour by hour ; and the eternal Law is 
 broken for the sake of a short-lived friend ! 
 
 If he share in the life of the foolish, a man 
 assuredly goes to hell ; if he share it not, he wins 
 hatred ; what profits it to have commerce with 
 the foolish ? They are friends for a moment, 
 foes for a moment, wrathful when they should be 
 pleased how hard to content are the worldly ! 
 They are angered if wholesomely counselled, and 
 hold me back from good ; if I heed them not 
 they are wroth, and pass into hell. When can 
 good come of a fool ? He is jealous of a better 
 man, contentious with a peer, haughty towards 
 one that is lower, puffed up by praise, angered 
 by blame. Exaltation of self, blame of others, 
 discourse in praise of worldly pleasure some 
 such guilt will assuredly come from fool to fool. 
 Thus it is from the union of one with another ; 
 evil thereby meets evil. I will live alone, in peace 
 and with untroubled mind. 
 
 It is well to flee from the foolish. If he come 
 in thy way, seek to win him over by kindness, 
 not so as to hold commerce with him, but in a 
 manner of godly indifference. I will take from 
 him only enough for the holy life (38), as the bee 
 takes honey from the flower ; thus in every
 
 84 THE PERFECT CONTEMPLATION 
 
 place I will hold myself from commerce with 
 him, like the new moon (39). 
 
 The mortal who thinks of his gains or his 
 honours or the favour of many men will be 
 afraid of death when it falls upon him. What- 
 soever it be in which the pleasure-crazed spirit 
 takes its delight, that thing becomes a pain a 
 thousand times greater. Therefore the wise man 
 will seek not for pleasure, for from desire arises 
 terror ; and if it come of itself, let him stand 
 firm and wait. Many there are who have found 
 gain, many who have won fame ; but none know 
 whither they have gone, with their gains and 
 their fame. Some loathe me ; then why shall I 
 rejoice in being praised ? Some praise me ; then 
 why shall I be cast down by blame ? 
 
 Living beings are of diverse character ; not 
 even the Conquerors can content them, much less 
 simple souls such as I. Then why think of the 
 world ? They blame a fellow-creature who gains 
 naught, they scorn him who gains something ; 
 being thus by nature unpleasant companions, 
 what happiness can come from them ? The 
 Blessed Ones have said that the fool is no man's 
 friend ; for the fool has no love save where his 
 interest lies. The love that rests on interest is 
 but selfish, even as grief at loss of wealth springs 
 from loss of pleasure. 
 
 Trees are not disdainful, and ask for no toilsome 
 wooing ; fain would I consort with those sweet
 
 A LIFE OF SOLITUDE 85 
 
 companions ! Fain would I dwell in some 
 deserted sanctuary, beneath a tree or in caves, 
 that I might walk without heed, looking never 
 behind ! Fain would I abide in nature's own 
 spacious and lordless lands, a homeless wanderer 
 free of will, my sole wealth a clay bowl, my cloak 
 profitless to robbers, fearless and careless of my 
 body ! Fain would I go to my home the 
 graveyard, and compare with other skeletons my 
 own frail body ! for this my body will become 
 so foul that the very jackals will not approach 
 it because of its stench. The bony members born 
 with this corporeal frame will fall asunder from 
 it, much more so my friends. Alone man is born, 
 alone he dies ; no other has a share in his sorrows. 
 What avail friends, but to bar his way ? As a 
 wayfarer takes a brief lodging, so he that is 
 travelling through the way of existence finds in 
 each birth but a passing rest. 
 
 It is well for a man to depart to the forest ere 
 the four bearers (40) carry him away amidst the 
 laments of his folk. Free from commerce and 
 hindrance, possessing naught but his body, he 
 has no grief at the hour of death, for already he 
 has died to the world ; no neighbours are there 
 to vex him or disturb his remembrance of the 
 Enlightened and like thoughts (41). Then I will 
 ever woo sweet Solitude, untroubled dayspring of 
 bliss, stilling all unrest. Released from all other 
 thoughts, with mind utterly set upon my own
 
 86 THE PERFECT CONTEMPLATION 
 
 spirit, I will strive to concentre and control my 
 spirit. 
 
 The desires beget harm in this world and 
 beyond : here, by bondage, slaughter, and loss of 
 limb ; beyond, in hell. That for the sake of 
 which thou hast bowed many a time before 
 bawds, heeding not sin nor infamy, and cast 
 thyself into peril and wasted thy substance, that 
 which by its embrace has brought thee supreme 
 delight it is naught but bones, now free and 
 unpossessed ; wilt thou not take thy fill of 
 embraces now, and delight thyself ? This was 
 the face that erstwhile turned downwards in 
 modesty and was unwilling to look up, hidden 
 behind a veil whether eyes gazed upon it or 
 gazed not ; and this face now the vultures unveil 
 to thee, as though they could not bear thy 
 impatience. Look on it why dost thou flee now 
 from it ? ... 
 
 Mark how fortune brings endless misfortune by 
 the miseries of winning it, guarding it, and losing 
 it ; men's thoughts cling altogether to their 
 riches, so that they have not a moment to free 
 themselves from the sorrows of life. Thus they 
 who are possessed by desire suffer much and enjoy 
 little, as the ox that drags a cart gets but a morsel 
 of grass. For the sake of this morsel of enjoy- 
 ment, which falls easily to the beast's lot, man, 
 blinded by his destiny, wastes this brief fortune, 
 that is so hard to win (42). For all time lasts
 
 THOUGHT OF ENLIGHTENMENT 87 
 
 the struggle for the welfare of the mean body 
 that is doomed to depart and fall into hell, and 
 even a millionth part of this labour would win 
 the rank of the Enlightened. Greater is the pain 
 of them that are possessed by desire than the 
 pain of the way of holiness, and no Enlightenment 
 comes to them. Neither sword, nor poison, nor 
 fire, nor fall into abysses, nor foemen may be 
 compared to the desires, if we bear in mind the 
 agonies of hell and the like. Then shrink from 
 the desires, and learn delight in solitude, in the 
 peaceful woodlands void of strife and toil. Happy 
 are they who are fanned by the sweet silent 
 breezes of the forest, as they walk upon the 
 pleasant rock-floors broad as in a palace and 
 cooled by the moonbeams' sandal ointment, and 
 take thought for the weal of their fellow-creatures ! 
 Dwelling anywhere for what time they will, in 
 deserted sanctuary or cave or beneath the trees, 
 saved from the weariness of winning and guarding 
 possessions, they wander fancy-free at pleasure. 
 Indra (43) himself can hardly win the bliss of 
 contentment that is enjoyed by him who wanders 
 homeless at his own free will and unattached to 
 aught. 
 
 By pondering in such wise upon the excellences 
 of solitude a man stills vain imaginations and 
 strengthens his Thought of Enlightenment. First 
 he will diligently foster the thought that his 
 fellow-creatures are the same as himself. " All
 
 88 THE PERFECT CONTEMPLATION 
 
 have the same sorrows, the same joys as I, and I 
 must guard them like myself. The body, mani- 
 fold of parts in its division of members, must be 
 preserved as a whole ; and so likewise this 
 manifold universe has its sorrow and its joy in 
 common. Although my pain may bring no hurt 
 to other bodies, nevertheless it is a pain to me, 
 which I cannot bear because of the love of self ; 
 and though I cannot in myself feel the pain of 
 another, it is a pain to him which he cannot bear 
 because of the love of self. I must destroy the 
 pain of another as though it were my own, 
 because it is a pain ; I must show kindness to 
 others, for they are creatures as I am myself. . . . 
 Then, as I would guard myself from evil repute, 
 so I will frame a spirit of helpfulness and tender- 
 ness towards others." 
 
 By constant use the idea of an " I " attaches 
 itself to foreign drops of seed and blood, although 
 the thing exists not. Then why should I not 
 conceive my fellow's body as my own self ? That 
 my body is foreign to me is not hard to see. I 
 will think of myself as a sinner, of others as 
 oceans of virtue ; I will cease to live as self, and 
 will take as my self my fellow-creatures. We love 
 our hands and other limbs, as members of the 
 body ; then why not love other living beings, 
 as members of the universe ? By constant use 
 man comes to imagine that his body, which has 
 no self -being, is a " self " ; why then should he
 
 REGARD FOR OTHERS 89 
 
 not conceive his " self " to lie in his fellows also ? 
 Thus in doing service to others pride, admira- 
 tion, and desire of reward find no place, for 
 thereby we satisfy the wants of our own self. 
 Then, as thou wouldst guard thyself against 
 suffering and sorrow, so exercise the spirit of 
 helpfulness and tenderness towards the world. . . . 
 Make thyself a spy for the service of others, 
 and whatsoever thou seest in thy body's work 
 that is good for thy fellows, perform it so that it 
 may be conveyed to them. Be thou jealous of 
 thine own self when thou seest that it is at ease 
 and thy fellow in distress, that it is in high estate 
 and he is brought low, that it is at rest and he is 
 at labour. Make thine own self lose its pleasures 
 and bear the sorrow of thy fellows ; mark its 
 deceit at each time and in each act. Cast upon 
 its head the guilt even of others' works ; make 
 confession to the Great Saint of even its slightest 
 sin. Darken its glory by telling of the greater 
 glory of others. Make it a carrier in thy fellow- 
 creatures' service, like a mean slave. It is made 
 of sin, and because it may have some chance 
 morsel of goodness from without, it is not there- 
 fore worthy of praise. Let no man know its 
 goodness. In short, let all the wrong that thou 
 hast done for the sake of thine own self to others 
 fall upon thine own self for the sake of thy fellow- 
 creatures. Grant it no power to talk overmuch ; 
 keep it in the condition of a young bride, abashed,
 
 90 THE PERFECT CONTEMPLATION 
 
 timid, and guarded. Bend it to thy will by 
 commanding it how it shall act and stand and 
 forbear, and chastise it for disobedience. " O 
 my spirit, thou wilt not do as I bid thee ; then I 
 will chastise thee, for in thee all sins find a home. 
 Whither wilt thou go ? I shall see thee, and 
 overthrow all thy pride ; the days are gone when 
 I let myself be undone by thee. Put away now 
 the hope that thou canst still seek an advantage 
 of thine own ; I have sold thee into the hands of 
 others, heeding not however much thou mayst 
 suffer. For if through heedlessness I deliver 
 thee not over to my fellow-creatures, thou wilt 
 doubtless deliver me to the warders of hell. 
 Many times hast thou thus betrayed me, and 
 long have I been racked ; remembering these 
 deeds of enmity, I will destroy thee, thou slave 
 of self-seeking." If thou lovest thyself, thou 
 must have no love of self ; if thou wouldst save 
 thyself, thou dost not well to be saving of self. 
 The more heedfully the body is guarded, the 
 sorer are its sufferings and the deeper its fall. 
 
 But despite its fall, the whole earth cannot 
 satisfy the lust of the flesh ; who can do its 
 will ? To him who longs for the impossible 
 come guilt and bafflement of desire ; but he 
 who is utterly without desire has a happiness 
 that ages not. Then give no room for the lust 
 of the flesh to swell ; blessed indeed is the thing 
 that is not imagined for the sake of its pleasant-
 
 WHY CLING TO THE BODY? 91 
 
 ness. The body is a motionless thing stirred 
 by something without, and ending in ashes, a 
 loathsome frame of foulness ; why do I cling to 
 it ? What have I to do with this machine, alive 
 or dead ? What distinguishes it from such 
 things as clods of earth ? Alas, O thought of 
 self, thou wilt not die ! Through complicity 
 with the flesh I win sorrow, all to no purpose ; it 
 is no better than a thing of wood, and what 
 should avail its hatred or its kindness ? It feels 
 no love when I guard it, no hate when vultures 
 devour it ; then why do I love it ? I am angered 
 when it is treated with scorn, delighted when it 
 is honoured ; but if it has no knowledge, to what 
 end is my toil ? My friends, forsooth, are they 
 who wish well to this body ; but all men wish 
 well to their own flesh, and why are not they 
 also my friends ? So I have surrendered my 
 body indifferently for the weal of the world ; it 
 is but as an instrument of work that I still bear 
 it, with all its guilt. Enough then of worldly 
 ways ! I follow in the path of the Wise, re- 
 membering the Discourse upon Heedfulness (44) 
 and putting away sloth. To overcome the power 
 of darkness I concentre my thought, drawing 
 the spirit away from vain paths and fixing it 
 straightly upon its stay (45).
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE PERFECT KNOWLEDGE 
 
 ALL this equipment (46) the Sage has ordained 
 for the sake of wisdom ; so he that seeks to still 
 sorrow must get him wisdom. We deem that 
 there are two verities, the Veiled Truth and the 
 Transcendent Reality. The Reality is beyond 
 the range of the understanding ; the understand- 
 ing is called Veiled Truth (47). . . . Thus there 
 is never either cessation or existence ; the universe 
 neither comes to be nor halts in being. Life's 
 courses, if thou considerest them, are like dreams 
 and as the plantain's branches (48) ; in reality there 
 is no distinction between those that are at rest 
 and those that are not at rest. Since then the 
 forms of being are empty, what can be gained, 
 and what lost ? who can be honoured or despised, 
 and by whom ? Whence should come joy or 
 sorrow ? What is sweet, what bitter ? What is 
 desire, and where shall this desire in verity be 
 sought ? If thou considerest the world of living 
 things, who shall die therein ? who shall be 
 
 92
 
 THE VEILED TRUTH 93 
 
 born, who is born ? who is a kinsman and 
 who a friend, and to whom ? Would that my 
 fellow-creatures should understand that all is 
 as the void ! They are angered and delighted 
 by their matters of strife and rejoicing ; with 
 grief and labour, with despair, with rending and 
 stabbing one another, they wearily pass their 
 days in sin as they seek their own pleasure ; they 
 die and fall into hells of long and bitter anguish ; 
 they return again and again to happy births after 
 births and grow wonted to joy (49). . . . In life 
 are oceans of sorrow, fierce and boundless beyond 
 compare, a scant measure of power, a brief term 
 of years ; our years are spent in vain strivings 
 for existence and health, in hunger, faintness, 
 and labour, in sleep, in vexation, in fruitless 
 commerce with fools, and discernment is hard to 
 win ; how shall we come to restrain the spirit 
 from its wont of wandering ? There, too, the 
 Spirit of Desire (50) is labouring to cast us into 
 deep hells ; there evil paths abound, and un- 
 belief can scarce be overcome ; it is hard to win j , 
 a brief return, exceeding hard for the Enlightened 
 to arise to us ; the torrent of passion can scarce 
 be stayed. Alas, how sorrow follows on sorrow ! 
 Alas, how lamentable is the estate of them that 
 are borne down in the floods of affliction, and in 
 their sore distress see not how sad their plight 
 is, like one who should again and again come 
 forth from the waters of his bath and cast himself
 
 94 THE PERFECT KNOWLEDGE 
 
 into fire, and so in their sore trouble deem them- 
 selves to be in happy estate ! As thus they live 
 in sport that knows not of age and dissolution, 
 dire afflictions will come upon them, with Death 
 in their forefront. Then when will the day come 
 when I may bring peace to them that are tortured 
 in the fire of sorrow by my ministrations of 
 sweetness born from the rain-clouds of my 
 righteousness, and when I may reverently declare 
 to the souls who imagine a real world that all 
 is void, and righteousness is gathered by looking 
 beyond the Veiled Truth (51) ?
 
 NOTES 
 
 (1) "As is fitting, the book begins with homage to the 
 ' threefold jewel,' or ' three pearls,' i.e. in early Buddhism, 
 the Buddha (^akya-muni), the Law preached by him (Dhar- 
 ma), and the brotherhood of his monks (Sangha). Here, 
 agreeably to the doctrines of the Great Vehicle, we have 
 (i) the Buddhas, designated by the title Sugata, ' the well 
 gone,' or ' the well arrived,' i.e. ' they who have left the 
 world of becoming in order to enter Nirvana,' or ' who 
 know the truth,' ' who have departed to return no more,' 
 ' who have cast off all frailty of body, speech, and mind.' 
 These definitions aim at establishing from every point of 
 view a fundamental difference between the Buddhas and 
 all other beings, (ii) The sons of the Buddhas, namely 
 (a) the Bodhi-sattvas ('creatures of enlightenment') who 
 have reached a ' stage,' a ' ground,' even though it be 
 the first, in their career as future Buddhas (in opposition to 
 the future Buddhas, Bodhi-sattvas, who have not yet entered 
 upon the career, or are only at the outset of it) ; (b) all ' the 
 worshipful ones,' i.e. the ' teachers of discipline or doc- 
 trine,' etc. We must understand ' all spiritual friends.' 
 (iii) The ' Body of the Law,' i.e. either the sum-total of 
 the Scriptures or ' the Body of the Law of the Buddhas,' 
 in opposition to their bodies as visible upon this earth, and 
 to their bodies as beatified in paradise. This Body is the 
 uncreated wisdom which constitutes the essence of all the 
 Buddhas ; and the Law preached by the Buddhas is only 
 
 95
 
 96 NOTES 
 
 the intellectual or verbal expression of this wisdom " (Prof. 
 de la Vallee Poussin). 
 
 (2) The " Thought of Enlightenment " (Bodhi-cUtta) is to 
 the Maha-yina what ' grace ' is to Christian theology. 
 Buddhism, in common with the other schools of Indian 
 thought, holds that all living beings are fettered in the 
 beginningless and endless cycle of embodied births, metemp- 
 sychosis or samsara, in which every instant of present 
 experience is a resultant of former actions. Only the 
 Buddhas, the loving teachers of salvation to mankind, have 
 risen after aeons of effort in countless births into the trans- 
 cendental peace of Nirvana. Hence the great religious 
 duty of the believer is aspiration to become a Buddha for 
 the weal of fellow-creatures. This yearning arises in his 
 heart, by the special grace of the Buddhas, in the form of 
 the Bodhi-chitta, which is finely expressed by our author 
 in his third chapter. By this vow the believer constitutes 
 himself a Bodhi-sattva, " or creature of enlightenment," of 
 the first stage ; he has devoted himself to the acquisition of 
 merit by charity and knowledge which shall raise him through 
 higher and higher planes of existence, until he reaches the 
 condition of the celestial Bodhi-sattvas, such as Manju- 
 ghosha and Avalokitesvara, who have attained the highest 
 beatification that the finite universe can give, and are only 
 delaying their departure into the infinite stillness of Nir- 
 vana in order to continue their works as loving guides and 
 helpers of mankind towards happiness and spiritual sanctifi- 
 cation. 
 
 (3) The minions of life are the passions and other frailties 
 which keep the soul enchained in the cycle (samsara) of 
 bodily births. 
 
 (4) The Musa sapientum. 
 
 (5) See the chapter on the Perfect Long-suffering, below. 
 
 (6) The Buddhas, here styled Tathagata, on which see 
 the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1893, p. 103 f. 
 Compare the term Sugata (above, note 1). 
 
 (7) This term here denotes the divine Bodhi-sattvas
 
 NOTES 97 
 
 (Avalokitesvara, Manju-ghosha, etc.), who have reached the 
 higher stages of beatification. 
 
 (8) A Buddha-lcshetra, or " domain of Buddha," ia a 
 system of a thousand millions of worlds, each under the 
 guardianship of a Buddha. 
 
 (9) This refers to the Buddha of the present era, Gautama 
 the S*akya, and the places hallowed by his pious deeds iu 
 varous births previous to his Nirvana. 
 
 (10) The Buddha, the Law, and the Congregation. 
 
 (11) See above, note 2. 
 
 (12) These are the celestial Bodhi-sattvas (see notes 1, 2). 
 
 (13) " Stillness " is perhaps the most suitable term to 
 express the idea of Nirvana ; compare Deussen, Allgemeine 
 Geschichte der Philosophic, bd. i., abteil. 3, pp. Ill f., 152 f., 
 etc. Nirvana does not signify extinction or annihilation, 
 as is commonly imagined in Europe, but the very reverse, 
 perfect spiritual self-realisation in transcendental being. 
 The metaphor first occurs in the Upanishads, and frequently 
 reappears later in non-Buddhist theology ; it denotes rrao- 
 ksha, the state in which the individual soul, identifying 
 itself with universal Being, is entirely at rest in itself and 
 in Brahma, in the stillness of infinite thought. The fire of 
 delusion and earthly desire has become extinguished in it 
 by the annihilation of its fuel, the false imagination of finite 
 being. Nirvana is thus similar to the yoga, or ecstasy of the 
 Yogic adept, which is technically defined as diitta-vritti- 
 nirodha, cessation of the activity of the finite imagination, 
 and it is frequently used in the same connection. Nirvana 
 properly may denote either the blowing-out of a flame, or 
 the burning of a flame undisturbed by wind (compare Bha- 
 gavad-glta, vi. 19). The latter interpretation will suit the 
 oldest passages where the word occurs ; but the former is 
 also applicable, and is necessary hi some of the later passages. 
 Now the Buddhists denied the existence of a soul, or per- 
 manent Self. Logically, therefore, they could not assert 
 the existence of a Nirvana, or transcendental existence of 
 the soul or Self ; and theoretically, indeed, the Madhyamika 
 
 7
 
 98 NOTES 
 
 school of the Maha-yana denied Nirvana as well as finite 
 being, substituting for the whole the universal " Void," 
 
 (i&unya, which however is only another name for infinite 
 Being, the unqualified Transcendental. Buddhist orthodoxy 
 refused to speculate on this antinomy. But in the same way 
 as Buddhism, whr'le denying the Brahmanic conception of 
 > the soul, substitutes for it the santdna, or succession of mo- 
 ments of consciousness, which practically differs very little 
 from it, so its conception of Nirvana practically amounted 
 to much the same as the Brahmanic ideal. See above, p. 19. 
 
 (14) The " lucky jar " is a magic vessel in which is found 
 whatever the owner desires ; the " wishing- tree " and the 
 " cow of plenty " are part of the furniture of the Hindu 
 paradise, and have similar properties. 
 
 (15) Namely, human birth under the dispensation of a 
 Buddha. 
 
 (16) Meru is an imaginary mountain in the Hindu cos- 
 mology, which forms the centre of the universe, and around 
 which the sun and moon turn. 
 
 (17) The ten points of space are the north, south, east, 
 west, north-east, south-east, north-west, south-west, zenith, 
 and nadir. 
 
 (18) The remembrance is of the Law of the Buddha and 
 of the teachings of his Church. 
 
 (19) The Perfect Charity (Dana-pdramita) is not an 
 actual deliverance of the world from poverty (misery due 
 to worldly desire), but an intention for such deliverance ; 
 it is a grace of the spirit. Thus purity of the will is the 
 greatest of all virtues, and the foundation of all. Similarly, 
 the Perfect Conduct (Glla-paramita), which is the subject 
 of this chapter, consists essentially in the will to hurt no 
 living creature. 
 
 i (20) Morality is higher than charity, patience than morality, 
 
 fi etc., and the aspirant to Buddhahood must not practise 
 
 < charity at the expense of morality, and so on. But this 
 
 rule has an exception. The essential principle of the divine 
 
 Bodhi-sattvas' conduct is sikshd-samvara, "right and holy
 
 NOTES 99 
 
 conduct," the dyke which holds in their place the " waters of 
 righteousness " ; and this principle must never be infringed 
 by the aspirant's action. 
 
 (21) The aspirant, having collected alms of food by begging 
 from door to door, will divide it into four parts, one for each 
 of the three classes here mentioned, and one for himself. The 
 three robes allowed to Buddhist devotees are of yellow rags. 
 
 (22) Namely, a person whose compassion is excited 
 Merely in connection with friends, enemies, the unfortunate, 
 etc. The aspirant devotes his whole self to the welfare of 
 fellow-creatures, but this gift must not be too hastily given. 
 It should be reserved for occasions when it will assist to 
 enlightenment, etc., another aspirant of equal or greater 
 power for good. 
 
 (23) The fundamental principle of Hindu medicine, like 
 that of the Greeks, is the existence of three " humours " 
 (dosha, dhatu), namely, wind, gall, and slime, which when 
 in equipoise cause health, and when disturbed produce 
 sickness. 
 
 (24) Here comes a polemic against the Sankhya and the 
 Vedanti schools. The former divide existence into primal 
 Matter and individual souls which by connection with the 
 former assume the functions of finite thought. The Ve- 
 dantis believe in a single universal soul or Brahma, essentially 
 indeterminate, which by the operation of the cosmic Illusion 
 (Maya) differentiates itself into individual finite souls. 
 Buddhism denies the existence of a permanent soul, sub- 
 stituting for it a succession of instants of consciousness. 
 
 (25) It may be objected that if all action is a purely 
 mechanical result of previously existent forces, the action 
 of the mind in hatred, etc., is also mechanical, and cannot 
 be checked, and hence the peace and salvation of the spirit 
 are unattainable. But this is not the case, according to 
 our author. Existence is a series of forces proceeding one 
 from the other (the pratitya-samutpdda ; but by arresting 
 one of these the individual arrests all subsequent forces as 
 far as he is concerned ; and the primary force is ignorance.
 
 100 NOTES 
 
 (26) If I save myself from hell by refraining from retalia- 
 tion upon those who wrong me, the merit of this is mine ; 
 and their merit, which consists in forcing me to suffer and 
 expiate my guilt from former deeds, is not lessened by this 
 merit of mine. 
 
 (27) The objector claims that, while he admits the merits 
 of the person praised, he cannot abide the pleasure which 
 the eulogist feels in praising him. But this is a sin. To 
 every man must be given his just reward, both in this and 
 other worlds ; and both the eulogy and the eulogist's jojr 
 are part of the reward of the person eulogised. 
 
 (28) The presence of a pravrajaka, an ascetic who has 
 himself withdrawn from the world, causes us to perform 
 the pravrajya, i.e. to take from him the vows of his ascetic 
 order and become a monk in his company. 
 
 (29) Living creatures are a "domain" (kshetra) for the 
 acquisition of merit by the aspirants to enlightenment ; for 
 merit is gained by showing love, charity, etc., towards them. 
 The Buddhas or " Conquerors " (Jina) are likewise a " do- 
 main " ; merit is gained by doing service to them. (Cf. note 
 7 above.) 
 
 (30) Both Buddhas and inferior creatures alike assist the 
 aspirant to win merit and become a Buddha himself. True, 
 the Buddhas are immeasurably good and great, and are 
 always consciously beneficent, while other creatures often 
 are in their intention maleficent. But if v,e measure the 
 worth of a purpose by its results, noting that wrong-doing 
 is a " blessing in disguise " to the sufferer, we must conclude 
 that the purpose of a Buddha's help is not more valuable 
 to the aspirant than the various motives of other creatures 
 with whom he has dealings. 
 
 (31) This refers to the Eastern custom of keeping fish 
 alive in tanks until they are needed for the kitchen. 
 
 (32) See p. 76. 
 
 (33) This is a polemical reference to the Hlna-yana school 
 of Buddhism, of which the adepts (Sravaka) sought en- 
 lightenment and Nirvana for themselves and by themselves.
 
 NOTES 101 
 
 Is not such a course more rapid and sure than that recom- 
 mended by our author, in which the aspirant to Buddhahood 
 deliberately postpones his^ Nirvana in order to work for the 
 welfare of the world ? Santi-deva here brushes aside this 
 objection. In his ninth chapter, in a passage omitted in 
 this translation, he attempts to prove that the Hlna-yana 
 can atta. ; n neither Nirvana nor suppression of passion. 
 
 (34) The sacred kite on which the god Vishnu rides. 
 
 (35) A reference to an ordeal hi a well-known legend. 
 
 (36) See Dhamma-pada, ch. ii. 
 
 (37) Namely, conceptions inspired by sensual love, hatred, 
 or delusion, which agitate the spirit. 
 
 (38) To wit, alms of food and the rags from which is made 
 the beggar-monk's robe. 
 
 (39) This is a play on words. Bala signifies (i) a fool, 
 and (ii) the morning sun, the red glow of which does not 
 stain the pure whiteness of the new moon. 
 
 (40) The bearers of the funeral bier. 
 
 (41) At the hour of death he can fix his thought upon 
 the Buddha and the Law, without disturbance from the 
 laments of kinsfolk and friends. 
 
 (42) Under the malignant influence of former evil works 
 men fail to use the opportunity of salvation offered by 
 their human birth, and after death are reborn in hell or 
 as lower beings. 
 
 (43) The chief of the gods, who dwells in paradise, svarga. 
 
 (44) Dhamma-pada, ch. ii. 
 
 (45) This refers to the spiritual exercises practised by 
 the Buddhists, as by other Hindu devotees. In order to 
 fender the thought immobile and uninfluenced by external 
 sensations, various physical objects are prescribed to be 
 rigidly contemplated by it, which, together with the themes 
 of meditation described above, raise it to a state of still 
 ecstasy, from which it passes either into a blessed rebirth 
 or into final Nirvana. 
 
 (46) Namely, the Perfections of charity, morality, etc. 
 
 (47) This distinction of "veiled" or conventional reality
 
 102 NOTES 
 
 (samvriti-satya) and transcendental reality (paramartha- 
 satya) is shared by the Madhyamikas with the monistio 
 Vedantis. The former conceives objects as they appear to 
 the normal intelligence of finite beings ; but this mode of 
 conception is false when viewed from the standpoint of 
 transcendental verity, which insists upon the essentially 
 infinite and inconceivable nature of things. Thus in the 
 higher reality nothing can be predicated of anything ; all 
 is inconceivable, " void." Our author here launches upon 
 a long discussion, omitted in our translation, in which he 
 argues that the impermanence of finite being, which the 
 Hina-yana regards as the highest truth, is, from the trans- 
 cendental standpoint of his school (the Madhyamika) mere 
 illusion; that the Vijnana-vadis, who hold that nothing 
 exists but pure absolute thought, are likewise mistaken ; 
 that the Hina-yana is insufficient in theory and in practice ; 
 that the conception of an ego held by non-Buddhist philo- 
 sophers is false ; that the principles upon which various 
 heretical schools wrongly regard being as based are non- 
 existent ; and that the only legitimate attitude is that of 
 the Madhyamikas, with their denial of the validity of the 
 means of knowledge and their doctrine of a conventional 
 reality on the one hand and a higher reality or " void " 
 on the other. 
 
 (48) See above, note 4. 
 
 (49) The following stanza appears to mean : " In life 
 there are many precipices, and no true reality" (reading 
 atatvam) ; " there are contradictions, and can be no true 
 reality." But as this meaning is somewhat uncertain, I 
 have omitted it in my translation. 
 
 (50) Mara, the embodiment of worldly desire and lust 
 of the flesh. 
 
 (51) The tenth chapter, which follows in the original 
 Sanskrit, is omitted in this translation, as its 58 verses 
 contain only prayers for the welfare of all beings for the 
 sake of the merit acquired by our author in composing this 
 work. A quotation is given in the Introduction, p. 26 f.
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 As an epilogue to the Bodhi-charydvatdra, I 
 append a translation of the Karikas, or metrical 
 summary of the main themes of Santi-deva'a 
 other great work, the Sikshd-samuchchaya. 
 These verses consist of twenty-eight stanzas in 
 the anushtubh metre, and may be taken as aa 
 epitome of the Bodhi-charydvatdra.] 
 
 Since both I and my fellow-creatures dread 
 and hate pain, what is the peculiar quality of 
 my Self, that I should care for it, rather than 
 for my fellow-men ? 
 
 He that would make an end of sorrow and 
 come to the bound of happiness must stablish 
 firmly the root of Faith and immovably set his 
 thought upon Enlightenment. 
 
 The Bodhi-sattva's rule of holiness develope* 
 from the Maha-yana. Therefore one should know- 
 its principles, and so be free from evil. 
 
 103
 
 104 APPENDIX 
 
 Surrender to all creatures thine own person 1 
 and thy pleasures, yea, and thy righteousness 
 too, in past, present, and future time ; guard 
 them, and increase thy holiness. 
 
 For the enjoyment of fellow-creatures are 
 sacrificed our own persons and the like. If they 
 be not guarded, how can they be enjoyed ? and 
 can that be a gift that is not enjoyed ? 
 
 Therefore to the end that fellow-creatures may 
 have the enjoyment thereof, one should protect 
 his own person and the like, by leaving never 
 the Blest Friend and by studying ever the 
 Scriptures. 
 
 Now what means it to guard one's own person ? 
 to shun mishap. How is this all found ? by 
 shunning fruitless effort. 
 
 Fulfil this work ever by mindfulness. From 
 deep reverence springs mindfulness ; and rever- 
 ence, the glory of the chastened spirit, arises 
 from an understanding zeal. 
 
 " He that hath concentred thought under- 
 
 1 The word atma-UhJava, literally "condition of self," i.e. 
 person or body, properly denotes the plexus of concepts 
 which collectively form the idea of an individual being as 
 conceived by himself.
 
 APPENDIX 105 
 
 stands what is as it verily is," said the Saint. 
 Let the spirit turn away from outward action, 
 and fall never away from its stillness. 
 
 Steadfast throughout, mild of spirit, one 
 should by gentle address win over worthy men, 
 and thus become acceptable. 
 
 The worldly folk who scorn the scion of the 
 Conqueror and accept him not shall be broiled 
 in all the hells, like fire hidden under ash. 
 
 Therefore the Conqueror in the Ratna-megha 
 has told in brief the holy rule : " Heedfully avoid 
 that which gives displeasure to thy fellow- 
 creatures." 1 
 
 Thus to care for one's own person with medi- 
 cines, clothing, and the like, if it be to indulge the 
 lust of the flesh, leads to grievous misfortune. 
 
 " Let man set himself to good deeds, and withal 
 know the mean throughout." Through thispre- 
 ept it is easy for him to guard his enjoyment. 
 
 By quenching the lust for issues of thine 
 own advantage, thy righteousness will be well 
 guarded. Regret not thy deeds, nor make a 
 public talk of them. 
 
 1 Or, " that whereby fellow-creatures lose their faith."
 
 106 APPENDIX 
 
 The Bodhi-sattva will dread gain and honour, 
 will shun exaltation ; he will have glad faith 
 Law, and dismiss doubts. 
 
 When the body is made pure, it becomes 
 wholesome for creatures to enjoy, like perfect 
 spotless rice. 
 
 As a crop of grain overgrown by weeds sinks 
 under disease, and thrives not, so a scion of the 
 Buddha, if overcome by sin, cannot grow in grace. 
 
 What is the " cleansing of our person " ? Cleans- 
 ing it of evil and sin, in obedience to the words 
 of the Enlightened. If this endeavour be lacking, 
 hell awaits us. 
 
 Let men be long-suffering, and fain to hear the 
 Law, then let them withdraw to the forest, strain 
 the thought on concentred effort, and ponder 
 upon the uncleanness of the flesh and the like. 
 
 Understand how to make clean thy enjoy- 
 ments, until thy soul be cleansed. Make thy 
 merit pure by deeds full of the spirit of tender- 
 ness and the Void. l 
 
 1 Acts are to be inspired by knowledge of the Void and 
 brotherly love. These two requisites (sambhara), the intel- 
 lectual and the moral, are necessary for spiritual advance- 
 ment ; one is of no avail without the other.
 
 APPENDIX 107 
 
 Full many there are who will take from thee. 
 If thou hast but little, what of that ? if it give* 
 not full satisfaction, then it must be increased. 
 
 What is increase of the body ? increase 
 of strength and energy. Increase of enjoyment 
 is from almsgiving full of the spirit of tenderness 
 and the Void. 
 
 Firstly should a man with care establish 
 firmly his resolution and purpose ; then with an 
 attendant spirit of tenderness, he should strive 
 to increase his merit. 
 
 The rule of right conduct worship and the 
 like should ever be reverently observed. Let 
 faith and the like be always practised, likewise 
 brotherly love and the remembrance of the 
 Buddha. 
 
 In short, the weal of fellow-beings in all con- 
 ditions, the godly gift without worldly desire, 
 and the Thought of Enlightenment cause right- 
 eousness to increase. 
 
 Perfection arises from constancy in the heedful 
 effort to make right renunciations, by remem- 
 brance, by attention, and by true meditation.
 
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 LONDON AJ*D AYI.E8BURY, 
 
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