>28 



BUDDHISM AXD DEMOX WORSHIP. 



[Part IV. 



Wliilst Brahmanism, witliout denying the existence, prac- 

 tically ignores the influence and power of a creating and 

 controhing intelhgence, Buddhism, exulting in the idea of 

 the infinite perfectibility of man, and the achievement of 

 the highest attainable happiness by the unfaltering practice 

 of every conceivable virtue, exalts the individuals thus pre- 

 eminently wise into absolute supremacy over all existing 

 beings, and attempts the daring experiment of an atheistic 

 moralitii} Even Buddha himself is not worshipped as a de- 

 ity, or as a still existent and active agent of benevolence and 

 power. He is merely reverenced as a glorified remembrance, 

 the effulgence of whose pmity serves as a guide and incen- 

 tive to the future struggles and aspirations of mankind. The 

 sole superiority which his doctrines admit is that of good- 

 ness and wisdom ; and Buddha ha\dng attained to this 

 perfection by the immaculate purity of his actions, the 



' M. Remusat aiiuoimces, as the 

 result of his researches, that neither 

 the Chinese, the Tartars, nor Mongnls 

 have any word in their dialects ex- 

 pressi^e of oiu* idea of a God. — Foe 

 Koiie Ki, p. 138; and M. Baethe- 

 LEMY Saint-IIilaire adds, that " il 

 n'y a pas trace de Tidee de Dieu 

 dans le Bouddhisme eutier, ni an 

 debut ni au terme." — Le Bouddha, 

 &c., lutrod. p. iv. Colonel Stkes, in 

 the xiith vol. of the Asiatic Journal, 

 pp. 2G3 and 37G, denies that Bud- 

 dhism is atheistic; and adduces, in 

 support of his views, allusions made 

 by Fa PIian. But the passages to 

 which he refers present no direct 

 contradiction to those metaphysical 

 subtleties by which the Buddhistical 

 ^vriters have carefully avoided whilst 

 they closely approach the admission 

 of belief in a deity. I am not pre- 

 pared to deny that the faith in a su- 

 preme beiug- may not have charac- 

 terised Buddhism in its origin, as 

 the belief in a Great First Cause in 

 the person of Brahma is still acknow- 

 ledged by the Hindus, although ho- 

 noured by no share of their adoration. 

 But it admits of little doubt that 

 neither in the discourses of its priest- 



hood at the present day nor in the 

 practice of its followers in Ceylon 

 is the name or the existence of 

 an omnipotent First Cause recog- 

 nised in any portion of their worship. 

 MArPiED has correctly described 

 Buddhism both in Ceylon and China 

 as a system of refined atheism (Essai 

 stir rOrif/ine des Peaples Anciens, ch. 

 X. p. 277), and MorNxsirAET El- 

 phinstone gives the weight of his 

 high authority in the statement that 

 " The most ancient of Baudha sects 

 entirely denies the being of a God ; 

 and some of those which admit the 

 existence of God still refuse to ac- 

 knowledge him as the creator and 



ruler of the world The 



theistical sect seems to prevail in 

 Nepaul, and the atheistical to subsist 

 in perfection in Cei/lon.'^ — History of 

 India, vol. i. pt. ii. ch. 4. An able 

 writer in the fourth volume of the 

 Cakndta JRevietv has also controverted 

 the assertion of its atheistic complex- 

 ion ; but whatever truth may be de- 

 veloped in his views, their application 

 is confined to Buddhism in Hindustan 

 and Nepal, and is utterly at variance 

 with the practice and received dog- 

 mns in Cevlon. 



