M A MAY A N A lU'DDMISM AND I'HI'I S'l'I AN IT Y. 



2 5.". 



established religion of almost the whole of India. It divided, 

 in process of time, into a considerable number of sects, but the 

 only ones which wo nerd notice at present are those known as 

 the Hrnayana, or " Little Vehicle," and the Mahayana, or " Great 

 Vehicle," respectively. Of these the former represents more 

 nearly the original teaching of Buddha ; the latter, based on the 

 same great 'principles, has gradually come to incorporate into 

 itself doctrines borrowed from the religions and philosophies of 

 the various countries into which it has spread. But the impor- 

 tant modifications thus introduced have not to any great extent 

 been permitted, at least in theory, to alter its main dogmas. 

 In the Mahayana system we find certain words used in a sense 

 different from that in which they occur in earlier books, and 

 some terms are now employed in a technical significance which 

 does not necessarily correspond with their etymological* mean- 

 ing. But such tilings are characteristic of all philosophical 

 systems. Popular Mahayanism in China differs not a little 

 from that prevalent in Tibet, which is generally known as 

 Lamaism, and which, therefore, we do not deal with here. The 

 Buddhism of Japan, being in large measure derived from Corea 

 and China, resembles the Chinese form of the system much 

 more closely. Both here and in China we find Hinayana and 

 Mahayana ideas intermingled, so that Chinese Buddhism is in 

 reality most essentially and unmistakably Buddhism, in spite 

 of the fact that it has admitted many modifications in its corrupt 

 popular forms. Yet all of these admixtures, taken together, do 

 not in any way render it at all worthy of being described as in 

 any degree " a form of Christianity," as we now proceed to 

 show. 



One of the latest exponents of Mahayana Buddhism is 

 Suzuki, himself a learned Japanese Buddhist, well acquainted 

 with English, and able to expound his beliefs in our own tongue. 

 In his Outlines oj Mahdydna Buddhism he is, no doubt (like 

 many Muslims and Hindus of Western education), inclined to 

 try to identify the doctrines of his own faith with certain forms 

 of modern philosophical and scientific speculation. For this we 

 must make due allowance. But on the whole he gives a correct 



* E.g., Dharmakdya (from dharma, law, enactment, religion, and kaya, 

 a body, means in early Indian Mahayana works (1) the " law-body," one of 

 the three bodies of each Buddha ; (2) or " having the law as a body ( = a 

 Buddha) ; (3) or it is one of Avalokitesvara's names ; (4) or it is the name 

 of a god of the Bodhi tree (Monier Williams). In modern Mahayanism 

 its sense is different, as we shall see. 



