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I propose on tlie present occasion to bring before you the 
state of Buddhism as it exists in Ceylon at the present day, 
rather than to recur to the earlier traditions of its history, 
which, however full of interest, are more or less doubtful as to 
their accuracy ; and, besides, are within the reach of any who 
are willing to investigate them for themselves. 
2. It must be kept in mind that Buddhism is rather a system 
of philosophy than a creed, and whilst it has a priesthood 
remarkable for their learning and the strictness of their rules 
of living, it does not profess to set before its followers an object 
of worship, or encourage them to place reliance on such acts of 
religious observance as it permits, rather than requires from 
them. This renders it very difficult to institute a comparison 
between this religion and others which prevail amongst the 
various races of mankind, inasmuch as it enables the Buddhist 
priesthood to deny their responsibility for many of the errors into 
which their people have fallen. But if worship is (as surely we 
must consider it to be) the expression of our religion as our 
attitude towards the Deity, we must conclude that a creed 
stands self- condemned which fails to provide its followers with 
sufficient guidance in this the very utterance of the hearths 
impression in the most serious and solemn of all the ideas it 
can entertain. But I will give a brief description of the nature 
of the Buddhist belief, before I consider with you its claim to 
our attention as a system of moral teaching, based (or professing 
to be based) on certain opinions, with regard to man's existence 
and position in the world of which he forms a part. 
3. The system, then, which we are considering is Pantheistic , 
i.e., teaches that God is that universal existence or life which 
pervades everything—not a person — not creating and ruling — - 
not therefore capable of exercising moral judgment; but 
simply — to employ again the same word, however unsatis- 
factory and vague — pervading. I do not think I need discuss 
this point at length, but I draw a distinction between this 
feature in Buddhism and another, which, in fact, is a necessary 
consequence — that it is Atheistic , that it denies the existence of 
God in all the attributes of Deity, with the exception, so far 
as it is worth anything, of this universality , or vague general 
presence without conscious life and being. Such a theory, of 
course, at once renders worship impossible. All that such a 
term implies, or that we signify by such an act, has no meaning 
if we may address no Being. The Buddhist, accordingly, does 
not worship, he contemplates” ; and so far as contemplation is an 
act or conscious operation, it is his sole occupation ; it is in order 
to its performance that he discharges the rest of life's duties. 
