Buddhism and Us Legends. 425 



tanan, the six organs of sense (the eye, the ear, the tongue, 

 the nose, the body, and the mind) are produced ; on account 

 of the six bodily organs, phassa, contact (the action of the 

 organs), is produced ; on account of contact, wedana, sensation, 

 is produced; on account of sensation, tanha, desire, is pro- 

 duced; in consequence of desire, upadana, attachment, is 

 produced; in consequence of attachment, bhawa, existence, is 

 produced ; in consequence of a state of existence, jati, birth, 

 is produced; in consequence of birth, decay, death, sorrow, 

 weeping, grief, discontent, and vexation are produced. Even 

 this is the origin of the complete catenation of sorrow." 



The Buddhists recognize three phases of being — 1. Kama, 

 in the worlds belonging to which (places of punishment in- 

 cluded) pleasures and pains result from the exercise of the 

 senses; 2. Rupa, worlds in which are organization and intel- 

 lect, but no senses ; 3. Arupa, worlds in which there are no 

 bodily forms, but sensation, perception, discrimination, and 

 consciousness. There are four of these worlds, the last being 

 a sort of dreamland, in which consciousness is imperfect, there 

 being neither consciousness nor unconsciousness. "Were a 

 sentient being to pass through all these states of existence, in 

 all these worlds, the period would extend to 231,628 maha 

 kalpas, and 12,285,000,000 years." 



The nirwana is the state of freedom, from wana, attach- 

 ment, or desire. "The great rishis (prophets) who are free 

 from wana, desire, call that nirwana which is achutan, that 

 from which there is no going (no transmigration) ; achchantan, 

 that which has no boundary (neither birth nor death) ; asan- 

 khatan, that which is not affected by cause or effect ; anuttara, 

 that to which there is not anything superior ; and padan, that 

 to which there is nothing to excel it in advantage." 



In Ceylon the nirwana seems to be synonymous with annihi- 

 lation, and Buddhism is described as atheistic, from its not 

 recognizing any one paramount and supreme self-existing being. 

 It must be a weary soul that can long for the eternal cessation 

 of all sensation and activity, as its hoped for rest ; and a 

 religion which inculcates the destruction, instead of the regu- 

 lation and right direction, of desire, must oppose a tremendous 

 obstacle to social progress ; but Buddhism has more theistic 

 aspects in Cochin China, Siam, and Thibet, at least among 

 the more cultivated classes ; and as they become gradually 

 acquainted with European science, their implicit credence 

 in numberless absurdities must pass away. 



From Mr. Spence Hardy's book, which was originally 

 published in Ceylon, we find he is engaged in a most important 

 controversy with the Buddhists. He assails their religion with 

 all the weapons of rationalistic criticism, and the native priests, 



