18 JOURNAL R. A. S. (CEYLON). [VOL II., PART II. ; 



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 maybe 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 perceptions, 

 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 emotions, 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 consecutive 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 attachments) ; 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 again was experienced by them. 



This freedom from desire ( and the perfect purity necessarily 



