Budhism : — Laics of the Budhist Priesthood. 13 



perpetuation of existence results from, either a continued 

 desire to live after death, or from a desire to terminate upon 

 death the existence of a living entity or soul: — that the only 

 means by which a termination both of sorrow and existence 

 may be secured, is to be entirely free from all desire to 

 existing objects, and to existence itself: and that this freedom 

 from desire can only be attained by a life of unspotted purity. 



But now that they have received him as their teacher, he 

 further instructs them, that there is no existing thing with 

 which they can identify themselves, or say " This is I," this 

 constitutes my soul. He speaks of the body, of the percep- 

 tions, sensations, and reasonings, and also of the consciousness; 

 and of each severally he says, the wise and learned disciple 

 will by his wisdom perceive, these are not mine; they do not 

 constitute me; these are not to me a soul. This doctrine is 

 fully developed in other discourses, in which he denies the 

 existence of a living entity called a soul: life, with all its emo- 

 tions, are merely sequences; they have thus continued by an 

 uninterrupted series, the commencement of which cannot be 

 traced up to the present moment; they are never for two con- 

 secutive moments the same, but form one perpetual system 

 of mutation. He concludes his discourse by saying, that the 

 wise and learned disciple, by perceiving these truths, ceases 

 to have satisfaction either in things corporeal or mental: being 

 no longer satisfied with them, he ceases to be attached to them; 

 ceasing to be attached to them, he becomes free; being free, 

 he obtains the knowledge that he is freed ( from all attach- 

 ments); his births become terminated; his path of purity is 

 perfected; his necessary work is completed; and he knows, 

 that for the accomplishment of that object ( freedom from 

 future existence ), nothing more remains to be done. Upon 

 hearing this discourse, the five priests were greatly edified, 

 and their minds became so liberated from desire, that it never 



- '.'4 



again was experienced by them. 



