534 



BUDDHISM AXD DEMON-WOESHIP. 



[Part I 



suming their robe and 

 occupations ; subsist 

 food ; devote 



on 

 themselves 



labours than the veneration of the human race, as 

 teachers of knowledge and examples of benevolence. 

 Taking the abstract idea of perfect intelligence and 

 immaculate vu^tue for a divinity, Buddhism accords 

 honour to all in proportion to their approaches towards 

 absolute wisdom, and as the reahsation of this per- 

 fection is regarded as almost hopeless in a hfe 

 devoted to secular cares, the priests of Buddha, on as- 



tonsure, forswear all earthly 

 alms, not in money, but in 

 to meditation and self-denial; 

 and, being thus proclaimed and recognised as the most 

 successful aspirants to Nirwana, they claim the homage 

 of ordinary mortals, acknowledge no superior upon earth, 

 and withhold even the tribute of a salutation from all 

 except the members of tlieir own religious order. 



To mankind in general the injunctions of Buddha 

 prescribe a code of morality second only to that of Chris- 

 tianity, and superior to every heathen system that the 

 world has seen.^ It forbids the taldng of life from even 

 the humblest created animal, and prohibits intemperance 

 and incontinence, dishonesty and falsehood — vices which 

 are referable to those formidable assailants, rdga or con- 

 cupiscence, doso or malignity, and moha^ ignorance or 

 foUy.^ These, again, involve all their minor modifications 

 — hypocrisy and anger, unkindness and pride, ungenerous 

 suspicion, covetousness, evil wishes to others, the betrayal 

 of secrets, and the propagation of slander. Whilst all 

 such offences are forbidden, every excellence is simul- 

 taneously enjoined — the forgiveness of injuries, the 

 practice of charity, a reverence for virtue, and the che- 

 rishing of the learned ; submission to disciphne, veneration 



1 '' Je n'liesite pas a aj outer quo, 

 sauf le Christ tout seul, il n'est 

 point, parmi les fondateurs de religion 

 de fig-ure, plus pure ni plus touchaute 

 que cello de IJouddha. Sa vie n'a 



point de tacLe." — Le BoucWia, par J. 



BaHTHELEMT SAINT-IIlLArRE, In- 



trod. p. V. 



2 The Rev. Mr. Gogekly's Notes 

 on Buddhism. Lee's Ribeyro, p. 267, 



