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tell you, is a genuine Hindu idea. It is of the very essence of 

 Brahmanism and Hinduism. It is equally a Mohammedan idea. 

 It is even more a Buddhist idea. Buddhism recognises the terrible 

 consequences of evil actions, but provides no remedy except the 

 accumulation of merit by good actions as a counterpoise. The Buddha 

 never claimed to be a deliverer from sin. He never pretended to 

 set any one free from the bondage of sinful acts and sinful habits. 

 He never professed to provide any remedy for the leprosy of sin, 

 any medicine for a dying sinner. On the contrary, by his doctrine 

 of Karma be bound a man hand and foot to the consequences of his 

 own acts with chains of adamant. He said, in effect, to every one 

 of his disciples, ' You are in slavery to a tyrant of your own setting 

 up ; your own deeds, words, and thoughts in the present and for- 

 mer states of being are your own avengers through a countless 

 series of existences. If you have been a murderer, a thief, a liar, 

 impure, a drunkard, you must pay the penalty in your next birth ; 

 either in one of the hells, or as an unclean animal, or as an evil 

 spirit, or as a demon. You cannot escape, and I am powerless to set 

 you free.' ' Not in the heavens ' (says the Dhamma-pada), ' not 

 in the midst of the sea, not if thou hidest thyself in the clefts of the 

 mountains, wilt thou find a place where thou canst escape the force 

 of thine own evil actions.' Contrast the first sermon of Christ, 

 ' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath sent me to 

 proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to 

 them that are bound.' Yes, in Christ alone there is deliverance 

 from the bondage of former transgressions, from the prison-house 

 of former sins ; a total cancelling of the past, a complete blotting 

 out of the handwriting, that is against us ; the opening of a clear 

 course for every man to start afresh ; the free gift of pardon and of 

 life to every criminal, to every sinner even the most heinous. 



" But here, again, I seem to hear some admirers of Buddhism 

 say : 'We admit the force of these contrasts, but surely you will 

 allow that in the law of Buddha we find precepts which tell us not 

 to love the world, not to love money, not to show enmity towards 

 our enemies, not to do unrighteous acts, not to commit impurities, 

 to overcome evil by good, and to do to others as we would be done 

 by?' Yes, I admit all this; nay, I admit even more. I allow 

 that some Buddhist precepts go beyond corresponding Christian 

 injunctions ; for the laws of Buddha prohibit all killing, even of 

 animals for food. They demand total abstinence from stimulating 

 drinks, disallowing even moderation in their use. They bid all 



