38 SIR MONIER MONIER-WILLIAMS, 
“ Let us, then, inquire for a moment what claim Gautama Buddha 
has to this title, ‘the Light of Asia.’ 
“ Now, in the first place, those who give him this name forget that 
his doctrines only spread over Eastern Asia, and that Mohammed 
has as much right as Buddha to be ealled ‘the Light of Asia.’ But 
was the Buddha, in any true sense, a Light to any part of the 
world? It is certainly true that the main idea implied by 
Buddhism is intellectual enlightenment. Buddhism, before all 
things, means enlightenment of mind, resulting from intense self- 
concentration, from intense abstract meditation, combined with the 
exercise of a man’s own reasoning faculties and intuitions. It was 
only after such a course of -meditation that the so-called Light of 
Knowledge burst upon the man Gautama. It was only then that 
he became Buddha, the Enlightened One. We read in the Lalita 
Vistara that, at the supreme moment of this enlightenment, actual 
flames of light issued from the crown of the Buddha’s head. Of 
what nature, then, was this so-called Light of Knowledge that 
radiated from the Buddha ? Was it the knowledge of his own deep 
depravity of heart, or of the origin of sin? No; the Buddha’s 
light was in this respect profound darkness. He confessed himself 
a downright Agnostic. The origin of the first evil act was to him 
an inexplicable mystery. Was it, then, a knowledge of the good- 
ness, justice, and holiness of an Omnipotent Creator? Was ita 
knowledge of the Fatherhood of God? No; the Buddha’s light 
was in these respects also absolute darkness. Here, too, he 
acknowledged himself a thorough Agnostic. He knew nothing of 
the existence of any Supreme Being—of any Being higher than 
himself. What, then, was the light that broke upon the Buddha ? 
What was this enlightenment which has been so much written about 
and extolled ? All that he claimed to have discovered was the 
Origin of suffering and the remedy of suffering. All the light 
of knowledge to which he attained came to this: that suffering 
arises from indulging desires; that suffering is inseparable from 
life ; that all life is suffering ; and that suffering is to be got rid 
of by the suppression of desires, and by the extinction of personal 
existence. You see here the first great contrast. When the 
Buddha said to his converts, ‘Come, follow me,’ he bade them 
expect to get rid of suffering ; he told them to stamp out suffering 
by stamping out desires. When the Christ said to His disciples, 
Come, follow me,’ He bade them expect suffering ; He told them 
to glory in their sufferings, to rejoice in their sufferings, nay, to 
