44 



ON MIRACLES. 



fore be generally open to doubt ; but there is one matter 

 which the instincts of our nature prompt us, even without 

 proof, to accept as a positive fact— and that is, the exis- 

 tence of an absolute almighty Creator of the universe ; 

 and this belief unquestionably enables us to say positively, 

 that Miracles are possible with a Being possessed of al- 

 mighty power. Miracles, therefore, presuppose the exis- 

 tence of an Almighty Being, or an omnipotent power. 

 They are either His act, or that of His accredited agent. 



Now, it is quite clear that Buddhism acknowledges no 

 such Being, nor the possession in any human being of a 

 miraculous power, in the sense of an ability to work a 

 supernatural act, proceeding from the mere order or wish 

 of the performer, and affecting any other being. If Bud- 

 dha and his sanctified disciples had, as it is stated, pos- 

 sessed icldhi, they could have, in seasons of famine, con- 

 verted stones into rice ; and they would have had no occa- 

 sion to go a begging. But we are expressly told, that, 

 although he fasted for forty days during his profound medi- 

 tation, Gotama required, at the expiration of that period, 

 to satisfy the cravings of hunger ; and the requisite food 

 was not cr< ated by him, but was given to him by some 

 itinerant merchants. So likewise Buddha had no power 

 to perform any other act by which he could miraculously 

 contribute to his own personal comfort. Where, how- 

 ever, such an act was indispensable, the intervention of 

 the gods is expressly stated. 



We certainly read of wonderful acts slightly affecting 

 other people than the party performing them, fvide post) ; 

 but they are such as come within the category of cases 

 expressly stated by Gotama in the Kevatta Sutta, in 



