The gospel of Buddha according to old records

Front matter

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Preface

/ T > HIS booklet needs no preface for him who is familiar with the -*- sacred books of Buddhism, which have been made accessible to the Western world by the indefatigable zeal and industry of scholars like Burnouf, Hodgson, Bigandet, Buhler, Foucaux, Senart, Weber, Fausboll, Alexander Csoma, Wassiljew, Rhys Davids, F. Max Miiller, Childers, Oldenberg, Schiefner, Eitel, Beal, and Spence Hardy. To those not familiar with the subject it may be stated that the bulk of its contents is derived from the old Buddhist canon. Many passages, and indeed the most important ones, are literally copied from the translations of the original texts. Some are rendered rather freely in order to make them intelligible to the present generation. Others have been rearranged ; still others are abbreviated. Besides the three introductory and the three concluding chapters there are only a few purely original additions, which, however, are neither mere literary embellishments nor deviations from Buddhist doctrines. They contain nothing but ideas for which prototypes can be found somewhere among the traditions of Buddhism, and have been added as elucidations of its main principles. For those who want to trace the Buddhism of this book to its fountainhead a table of reference has been added, which indicates as briefly as possible the main sources of the various chapters and points out the parallelisms with Western thought, especially in the Christian Gospels.

VI THE GOSPEL OF BUDDHA.

Buddhism, like Christianity, is split up into innumerable sects, distinguished mainly by peculiar superstitions or ceremonial rites ; and these sects not unfrequently cling to their sectarian tenets as being the main and most indispensable features of their religion. The present book follows none of the sectarian doctrines, but takes an ideal position upon which all true Buddhists may stand as upon common ground. Thus the arrangement into harmonious and systematic form of this Gospel of Buddha, as a whole, is the main original feature of the book. Considering the bulk of its various details, however, it must be regarded as a mere compilation, and the aim of the compiler has been to treat his material about in the same way as he thinks that the author of the Fourth Gospel of the New Testament used the accounts of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. He has ventured to present the data of Buddha's life in the light of their religio-philosophical importance ; he has cut out most of their apocryphal adornments, especially those in which the Northern traditions abound, yet he did not deem it wise to shrink from preserving the marvellous that appears in the old records, whenever its moral seemed to justify its mention ; he only pruned the exuberance of wonder which delights in relating the most incredible things, apparently put on to impress, while in fact they can only tire. Miracles have ceased to be a religious test ; yet the belief in the miraculous powers of the Master still bears witness to the holy awe of the first disciples and reflects their religious enthusiasm.

Lest the fundamental idea of Buddha's doctrines be misunderstood, the reader is warned to take the term "self" in the sense in which Buddha uses it. The "self" of man can be and has been understood in a sense to which Buddha would never have made any objection. Buddha denies the existence of " self " as it was commonly understood in his time ; he does not deny man's mentality, his spiritual constitution, the importance of his personality, in a word, his soul. But he does deny the mysterious ego-entity, the atman, in the sense of a kind of soul-monad which by some schools was supposed to reside behind or within man's bodily and

PREFACE. Vll

psychical activity as a distinct being, a kind of thing-in-itself, and a metaphysical agent assumed to be the soul.* This philosophical superstition, so common not only in India but all over the world, corresponds to man's habitual egotism in practical life ; both are illusions growing out of the same root, which is the vanity fair of worldliness, inducing man to believe that the purpose of his life lies in his self. Buddha proposes to cut off entirely all thought of self, so that it will no longer bear fruit. Thus Buddha's Nirvana is an ideal state, in which man's soul, after being cleansed from all selfishness and sin, has become a habitation of the truth, teaching him to distrust the allurements of pleasure and to confine all his energies to attending to the duties of life.

Buddha's doctrine is no negativism. An investigation into the nature of man's soul shows that while there is no atman or ego-entity, the very being of man consists in his karma, and his karma remains untouched by death and continues to live. Thus, by denying the existence of that which appears to be our soul and for the destruction of which in death we tremble, Buddha actually opens (as he expresses it himself) the door of immortality to mankind ; and here lies the corner-stone of his ethics and also of the comfort as well as the enthusiasm which his religion imparts. Any one who does not see the positive aspect of Buddhism, will be unable to understand how it could exercise such a powerful influence upon millions and millions of people.

The present volume is not designed to contribute to the solution of historical problems. The compiler has studied his subject as well as he could under given circumstances, but he does not intend here to offer a scientific production. Nor is this book an attempt at popularising the Buddhist religious writings, nor at presenting them in a poetic shape. If this " Gospel of Buddha " helps people to comprehend Buddhism better, and if in its simple style it impresses the reader with the poetic grandeur of Buddha's personal-

*The translation of "atman" by "soul," which implies that Buddha denied the existence of the soul, is extremely misleading.

Vlll THE GOSPEL OF BUDDHA.

ity, these effects must be counted as incidental ; its main purpose lies deeper still. The present book has been written to set the reader a-thinking on the religious problems of to-day. It presents a picture of a religious leader of the remote past with the view of making it bear upon the living present and become a factor in the formation of the future.

All the essential moral truths of Christianity are, in our opinion, 1 deeply rooted in the nature of things, and do not, as is often assumed, stand in contradiction to the cosmic order of the world. They have been formulated by the Church in certain symbols, and since these symbols contain contradictions and come in conflict with science, the educated classes are estranged from religion. Now, Buddhism is a religion which knows of no supernatural revelation, and proclaims doctrines that require no other argument than the "come and see." Buddha bases his religion solely upon man's knowledge of the nature of things, upon provable truth. A comparison of Christianity with Buddhism will be a great help to distinguish in both the essential from the accidental, the eternal from the transient, the truth from the allegory in which it has found its symbolic expression. We are anxious to press the necessity of distinguishing between the symbol and its meaning, between dogma i and religion, between man-made formulas and eternal truth. This is the spirit in which we offer this book to the public, cherishing the hope that it will help to develop in Christianity not less than in Buddhism the cosmic religion of truth.

It is a remarkable fact that these two greatest religions of the world, Christianity and Buddhism, present so many striking coincidences in their philosophical basis as well as in the ethical applications of their faith, while their modes of systematising them in dogmas are radically different. The strength as well as the weakness of original Buddhism lies in its philosophical character, which enabled a thinker, but not the masses, to understand the dispensation of the moral law that pervades the world. As such the original Buddhism has been called by Buddhists the little vessel of

PREFACE. IX

salvation, or Hinayana ; for it is comparable to a small boat on which a man may cross the stream of worldliness so as to reach the shore of Nirvana. Following the spirit of a missionary propaganda, so natural to religious men who are earnest in their convictions, later Buddhists popularised Buddha's doctrines and made them accessible to the multitudes. It is true that they admitted many mythical and even fantastical notions, but they succeeded nevertheless in bringing its moral truths home to the people who could but incompletely grasp the philosophical meaning of Buddha's religion. They constructed, as they called it, a large vessel of salvation, the Mahayana, in which the multitudes would find room and could be safely carried over. Although the Mahayana unquestionably has its shortcomings, it must not be condemned offhand, for it serves its purpose. Without regarding it as the final stage of the religious development of the nations among which it prevails, we must concede that it resulted from an adaptation to their condition and has accomplished much to educate them. The Mahayana is a step forward in so far as it changes a philosophy into a religion and attempts to preach doctrines that were negatively expressed, in positive propositions.

Far from rejecting the religious zeal which gave rise to the Mahayana in Buddhism, we can still less join those who denounce Christianity on account of its dogmatology and mythological ingredients. Christianity is more than a Mahayana, and Christian dogmatology too had a mission in the religious evolution of mankind. Christianity is more than a large vessel fitted to carry over the multitudes of those who embark in it ; it is a grand bridge, a Mahasetu, on which a child can cross the stream of selfhood and worldly vanity with the same safety as the sage. There is no more characteristic saying of Christ's than his words : "Suffer little children to come unto me."

A comparison of the many striking agreements between Christianity and Buddhism may prove fatal to a sectarian conception of Christianity, but will in the end only help to mature our insight

X THE GOSPEL OF BUDDHA.

into the essential nature of Christianity, and so elevate our religious convictions. It will bring out that nobler Christianity which aspires to be the cosmic religion of universal truth.

Let us hope that this Gospel of Buddha will serve both Buddhists and Christians as a help to penetrate further into the spirit of their faith, so as to see its full width, breadth, and depth.

Above any Hinayana, Mahayana, and Mahasetu is the Religion of Truth.

Paul Carus.

Introduction

PAGE

I. Rejoice i

II. Samsara and Nirvana .... 2

III. Truth the Saviour 5

PRINCE SIDDHARTHA BECOMES BUDDHA.

IV. Buddha's Birth 7

V. The Ties of Life . 10

VI. The Three Woes 11

VII. Buddha's Renunciation 14

VIII. King Bimbisara 19

IX. Buddha's Search 22

X. Uruvilva, the Place of Mortification 27

XI. Mara, the Evil One 29

XII. Enlightenment 30

XIII. The First Converts 34

XIV. Brahma's Request 35

FOUNDATION OF THE KINGDOM OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

XV. Upaka 37

XVI. The Sermon at Benares 38

XVII. The Sangha 43

XVIII. Yashas, the Youth of Benares 45

XIX. Sending Out the Disciples 48

XX. Kashyapa 49

XXI. The Sermon at Rajagriha 53

XXII. The King's Gift 57

Xll THE GOSPEL OF BUDDHA.

PAGE

XXIII. Shariputra and Maudgalyayana 58

XXIV. The People Dissatisfied 59

XXV. Anathapindika 59

XXVI. The Sermon on Charity 63

XXVII. Buddha's Father 64

XXVIII. Yashodhara 66

XXIX. Rahula • 69

XXX. Jetavana , 70

CONSOLIDATION OF BUDDHA'S RELIGION.

XXXI. Jivaka, the Physician 75

XXXII. Buddha's Parents Attain Nirvana 77

XXXIII. Women Admitted to the Sangha 77

XXXIV. The Bhikshus' Conduct Toward Women ... 78 XXXV. Vishakha 79

XXXVI. The Upavasatha and Pratimoksha 83

XXXVII. The Schism - . . . 85

XXXVIII. The Re-establishment of Concord 88

XXXIX. The Bhikshus Rebuked 94

XL. Devadatta 95

XLI. The Goal 98

XLII. Miracles Forbidden 99

XLIII. The Vanity of Worldliness 101

XLIV. Precepts for the Novices 104

XLV. Rules for the Order 105

XLVI. The Ten Commandments 105

XLVII. The Preacher's Mission 107

BUDDHA, THE TEACHER.

XLVIII. The Dharmapada . in

XLIX. The Two Brahmans 117

L. Guard the Six Quarters 122

LI. Simha's Question Concerning Annihilation . . 124

LII. All Existence is Spiritual 130

LIII. Identity and Non-Identity 131

LIV. Buddha, Not Gautama 140

LV. One Essence, One Law, One Aim 141

LVI. The Lesson Given to Rahula 143

LVII. The Sermon on Abuse 145

TABLE OF REFERENCE. Xlll

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LVIII. Buddha Replies to the Deva 146

LIX. Words of Instruction 148

LX. Amitabha 150

LXI, The Teacher Unknown 156

PARABLES AND STORIES.

LXII. Parables 158

LXIII. The Burning Mansion 158

LXIV. The Man Born Blind 159

LXV. The Lost Son 160

LXVI. The Giddy Fish 161

LXVII. The Cruel Crane Outwitted 162

LXVIII. Four Kinds of Merit 164

LXIX. The Light of the Word 165

LXX. Luxurious Living 166

LXXI. The Communication of Bliss 167

LXXII. The Listless Fool 168

LXXIII. Rescue in the Desert 169

LXXIV. Buddha, the Sower 173

LXXV. The Outcast 174

LXXVI. The Woman at the Well . . . 174

LXXVII. The Peacemaker 175

LXX VIII. The Hungry Dog 176

LXXIX. The Despot 178

LXXX. Vasavadatta 179

LXXXI. The Marriage-Feast in Jambunada 180

LXXXII. A Party in Search for a Thief 182

LXXXIII. In the Realm of Yamaraja 183

LXXXIV. The Mustard Seed 185

LXXXV. Following the Master Over the Stream ... 189

LXXXVI. The Sick Bhikshu . . 190

THE LAST DAYS.

LXXXVII. The Conditions of Welfare 192

LXXXVIII. Upright Conduct 194

LXXXIX. Pataliputra 194

XC. Shariputra's Faith 197

XCL. The Mirror of Truth 199

XCII. Ambapali 201

XIV THE GOSPEL OF BUDDHA.

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XCIII. Buddha's Farewell Address 204

XCIV. Buddha Announces His Death 207

XCV. Chunda, the Smith 211

XCVI. Maitreya 215

XCVII. Buddha's Death 218