MYSTICAL BUDDHISM. 43 
rejected by kings and princes, and followed by poor and ignorant 
fishermen, by common people, publicans, and sinners ; Buddha was 
honoured by kings and princes, and followed by rich men and 
learned disciples. Then Christ had all the treasures of knowledge 
hidden in Himself, and made known to His disciples that He was 
Himself the Way and the Truth, Himself their Wisdom, Righteous- 
ness, Sanctification, and Redemption ; Buddha declared that all 
enlightenment and wisdom were to be attained by his disciples, not 
through him, but through themselves and their own intuitions, 
and that, too, only after long and painful discipline in countless 
successive bodily existences. ‘Then, when we come to compare the 
death of each, the contrast reaches its climax, for Christ was put 
to death violently by wicked men and died in agony an atoning 
death, suffering for the sins of the world at the age of thirty-three, 
leaving behind in Jerusalem about one hundred and twenty disciples 
after a short ministry of three years ; whereas Buddha died peace- 
fully among his friends, suffering from an attack of indigestion at 
the age of eighty, leaving behind many thousands of disciples after 
forty-five years of teaching and preaching. And what happened 
after the death of each ? Christ the Holy One saw no corruption, 
but rose again in His present glorified body, and is alive for ever- 
more. Nay, has life in Himself ever-flowing in life-giving streams 
towards His people. The Buddha is dead and gone for ever ; his 
body, according to the testimony of his own disciples, was burnt, 
more than 400 years before the Advent of Christ, and its ashes dis- 
tributed everywhere as relics. Even according to the Buddha’s 
own declaration he now lives only in the doctrine which he left behind 
him for the guidance of his followers. And here again in regard to 
the doctrine left behind by each, a vast distinction is to be noted. 
For the doctrine delivered by Christ to His disciples is to spread by 
degrees everywhere until it prevails eternally. Whereas the 
doctrine left by Buddha, though it advanced rapidly by leaps and 
bounds, is, according to his own admission, to fade away by degrees, 
till at the end of 5,000 years it has disappeared altogether from the 
earth, and another Buddha must descend to restore it. 
Then that other Buddha must be followed by countless succeed- 
ing Buddhas in succeeding ages, whereas there is only one Christ, 
who can have no successor, for He is still alive and for ever present 
with His people. ‘Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of 
the world.’ Then observe that, although the Buddha’s doctrine 
was ultimately written down by his disciples in certain collections 
