BUDDHISM 



977 



BUDDHISM 



milling centers of the world. Grain is brought 

 to its elevators by rail and by huge barges on 

 the Danube, carrying over 600 tons each. The 

 river is an even more important highway of 

 commerce than the railways. 



Pest, although more modern than Buda, has 

 far outgrown the latter city in importance, 

 both commercially and as a seat of learning 

 and culture. One of its streets, the Andrassy 

 Strasse (Street), nearly two miles in length 

 and lined by fine buildings, is among the most 

 beautiful in Europe. Even as late as 1870 the 

 towns now united as Budapest were backward 

 in all matters relative to public health. The 

 unfiltered water of the Danube was used for 

 all domestic purposes, many people lived in 

 ,damp cellars and unsanitary tenements, the 

 little drainage was discharged into the river, 

 and the death rate was abnormally high. But 

 the Budapest of to-day is well drained, has 

 practical sewage systems and filtration plants 

 and possesses all municipally-owned public 

 utilities demanded by a progressive city. It 

 was the first city in the world to establish an 

 underground electric trolley system. 



The two portions of the town are joined 

 by six bridges across the Danube, one of them 

 a suspension bridge 1,230 feet in length. The 

 growth of the combined cities has been remark- 

 able. In 1841 the population was 107,240, but 

 by 1910 this had increased to 863,735. F.ST.A. 



BUDDHISM, bood'iz'm, the religious system 

 founded in the sixth century B. c., by the Hindu 

 sage, Buddha, "the Enlightened," who, in his 

 life and teachings, was more like Christ than 

 any other of the great teachers of mankind. 

 When the founder of Buddhism began to teach, 

 the prevailing -religion in India was that 

 taught by the Brahmans (see BRAHMANISM). 

 Buddha, like the Brahmans, believed that exist- 

 ence was a sorrow and an evil, but he taught 

 the people that salvation should be sought 

 through a change of heart, not by sacrifices, 

 ceremonies and self-torture. Buddha declared 

 that his followers were released from the re- 

 straints of caste, and the poorest outcast was 

 encouraged to seek the benefits of his teachings 

 (see CASTE). Thus the new faith represented a 

 revolt against the teachings of the Brahmans, 

 and in its spirit Buddhism bore somewhat the 

 same relation to Brahmanism as Christianity 

 did to Judaism in the days of the early Church. 



The central idea in Buddhism is that Nir- 

 vana, or release from existence, is the chief 

 good, and that Nirvana can be attained only 

 by crushing all desire. The Buddhist who fol- 

 62 



lows the "path to the other shore" must hold 

 fast to eight conditions: right view, right judg- 

 ment, right language, right purpose, right pro- 

 fession, right application, right memory and 

 right meditation. The five great command- 

 ments of Buddhism forbid killing, stealing, the 



THE GREAT BUDDHA 



committing of adultery, lying and drunkenness. 

 Almsgiving, purity, patience, courage, contem- 

 plation and knowledge are the virtues espe- 

 cially cultivated, and charity is so broadly in- 

 terpreted that it includes acts of kindness 

 toward even the lowest animals. 



When all the conditions have been met, the 

 individual may hope to have his reward in ceas- 

 ing to exist. But the path to Nirvana is too 

 difficult to travel over in one lifetime, so when 

 the body dies the soul must find another abode. 

 This doctrine, the transmigration of the soul 

 (which see), is found both in Buddhism and in 

 Brahmanism. 



It has been said of the moral code of 

 Buddhism that for pureness, excellence and 

 wisdom it is second only to Christianity, but 

 Buddhism and Christianity are far apart in 

 the great end which the followers of these 

 religions seek. For the Christian, the end of 

 striving is eternal life, and the thought of 

 ceasing to exist is repugnant. 



Buddha taught that there were no gods, and 

 that priests, ceremonies, prayers and sacraments 

 were unnecessary. His teachings, however. 



