153 



OEDINARY MEETING.* 

 T. Chaplin, Esq., M.D., in the Chair. 



The Minutes of the last Meeting were i-ead and conlirmed, and the 

 following Elections were announced : — 



Associates ; — J. Caleb Jackson, Esq., M.D., [Tnited States ; Rev. J. H. 

 Parry, B.A., Burma ; Rev. W. M. Teape, B.A., Durham ; Rev. S. M. 

 Zwemer, M.A., Arabia. 



The following paper was then read by the author : — 



BUDDHISM, AND ^^ THE LIGHT OF ASIA:'\ 

 By the Rev. R. Collins, M.A. 



IN what sense, and how far, can Buddha be called "the 

 Light of Asia " I In putting the question thus, I am by- 

 no means wishing to suggest that I am embarking on an 

 attempt to prove that the teaching of Buddha was all dark- 

 ness. That certainly is not my conviction : how could it be 

 so in the face of many of the moral tenets that are to be read 

 in the Buddhist books, as, for instance, that " the man who 

 has sinful friends, unwise associates, and frequents the com- 

 pany of those who follow evil practices, will come to de- 

 struction, both in this world, and in the next " ; that " it is 

 right that children should respect their pai'ents, and perform 

 all kinds of offices for them ^' ; and that they are even " to 

 wash the feet and hands of their parents, thinking how they 

 themselves were washed when they were young." Such are 

 truly moral and noble precepts. But I demur at what mani- 

 festly tends to represent Buddha as " the Light of Asia " in 

 regions beyond those to which his influence really belonged. 

 And this is what I thinkis the tendency of Sir Edwin Arnold's 



* 7th of 28th session. 



t Discussion completed September, 1895. 



