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may disregard if he prefers. They are intended as "counsels of perfection," and are especially important only upon certain sacred occasions. These are as follows: (6) Not to eat at prohibited seasons. (7) To abstain from dancing, the singing of worldly songs, the visiting of public plays and musical exhibitions. (8) To avoid the use of ornaments of every kind, perfumes, oils, and ointments-in short, anything that leads to vanity. The commandments which are incumbent upon the bhikshus (monks) form a still higher code, and include the eight rules already mentioned, with the substitution of strict celibacy in place of the third, and the addition of two other commandments, as follows: (9) To abandon the use of luxurious beds, to sleep on a hard, low couch, and to avoid all and every worldly vanity. (10) To dwell always in voluntary poverty. There is still a third or highest code, which is intended for Arahats, or those who are in the way of saintship. The substance of this exalted law is included in what is known as the "seven jewels of the law," which are to be strictly observed, and in the 'ten fetters " from which the candidate for saintship must free himself.2 The marked distinction between the laity and the priesthood in the application of these different codes has resulted in a degree of laxity and indifference to all ethical requirements on the part of the laity which has placed them by themtrasted with that of the selves and freed them largely from all moral restraints. They are practically without oversight on the part of the superior orders, and are left to live as they will, in accordance with their own inclinations. They are accountable to no one, and live pretty much as they please. In fact, they are little ac

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The status of the Buddhist laity as con

higher orders.

sion, with the abandoning of this thirst, with the deliverance from it, with the destruction of desire.

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4. The Noble Truth of the Path which leads to the Cessation of Suffering. The holy Eightfold Path; that is to say, Right Belief, Right Aspiration, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Means of Livelihood, Right Endeavour, Right Memory, Right Meditation."-Page 365.

1 "A Buddhist Catechism," pp. 60, 61.

2 The " seven jewels of the law" are as follows: "The four earnest meditations; the fourfold great struggle against error; the four roads to saintship; the five moral powers; the five organs of spiritual sense; the seven kinds of wisdom; and the noble eightfold path."

The "ten fetters" to be overcome, according to Dr. Rhys Davids, are as follows: "The delusion of self; doubt; dependence on rites; sensuality, or bodily passions; hatred; love of life on earth; desire for life in heaven; pride; self-righteousness; ignorance."

For a full exposition of the "jewels" and the "fetters" consult Rhys Davids, "Buddhism: Its History and Literature," Lecture IV. and Lecture V.

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First Christian College in the East. Built by Carey and his associates in 1819.

Carey's house, in which he died, visible on the left.

SERAMPORE COLLEGE, BENGAL.

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Senate House of Calcutta University on the left.

Presidency College on the right.

The Square is one of the most important centres of student life in the East. COLLEGE SQUARE, CALCUTTA, INDIA.

quainted with the moral teachings of Buddhism, which have hardly any perceptible influence over their lives. They are not candidates for saintship, nor are they seeking to attain Nirvana. They know nothing of the "Noble Eightfold Path" as a rule of conduct. The sense of obligation is feeble, the consciousness of duty as an impelling motive has little, if any, determining sway. The layman's attitude to Buddhist ethics is, therefore, one of practical indifference.1 In the case of the priesthood and the candidates for Arahatship the code is one of strict asceticism, withdrawing them from contact with human life, and segregating them in a special order, in which strict celibacy, poverty, and mendicancy, attended with mystical meditation and severe struggles after a superiority to earthly environment and to the ordinary constitution of man, are characteristic features. It will be seen that in the case of laymen this superior code is entirely inapplicable and inoperative. In the case of priests and seekers after Arahatship its application involves such isolation, asceticism, and practical withdrawal from contact with society that it robs them of all capacity for social service.

There are several points in the Buddhist ethical system which deserve special notice if we are to discover its defects and recognize its incapacity to meet the social needs of man. Its

ideals are unworthy, profitless, and obscure. They some characteristics to have no reference to the development of individ

be specially noted.

ual character. There is no goal of positive attainment in sight. The result desired is negative, consisting of the suppression, elimination, and evacuation of the social relationships and the nobler aspects of manhood. Escape is the key-word, asceticism is the method, Nirvana is the goal. Existence is that which is to be escaped from, and in the process nature as revealed in the spiritual, intellectual, and physical constitution of man is to be trampled upon and stamped out as an evil and hateful thing. Individuality, as has been noted, is not only undesirable in itself, but is a delusion, since the development of individual character is an impossibility, and even if possible would simply make man a more helpless and wearied victim of the evils of existence and the curse of rebirth. The only identity of individuality which Buddhism allows is that of an endless chain of sequences, linking cause and effect in unbroken continuance, known as the doctrine of Karma. This may be interpreted as a resistless destiny, determined by the fact that man reaps what he sows, his life here determin

1 Cf. in confirmation of this statement a series of articles by F. Becker Shawe, of Ladak, Tibet, entitled "Nine Centuries of Buddhism," in The Missionary Review of the World, April, 1896, to August, 1896.

ing the character of his rebirths hereafter. We find in this nothing corresponding to our conception of the soul as the seat of permanent character; in fact, it denounces what it calls this "heresy of individuality." Its conception of sentient being is that it is a congeries of qualities (skandhas) consisting of five constituents: material attributes, sensations, ideas, tendencies, and thoughts. The resultant is sentient existence, but under conditions of impermanence.1

victory?

There is, therefore, an entire absence of the inspiration which is based upon the consciousness of permanent individuality. Man is simply a part of the moving current of destiny, and What is the Buddhist is swept on to a fate which cannot be distinguished from oblivion. The only victory to which he can aspire is somehow to escape his destiny, and the method by which he hopes to attain deliverance is destructive rather than constructive. After he has passed through a round of experience which is implied in asceticism, celibacy, mendicancy, withdrawal from the world, suppression of desire, contempt of existence, all-conquering equanimity, sublimated mysticism, and sublime independence of the rest of mankind, he is about as useless and inane a specimen of emasculated humanity as can be conceived of; yet this is his great victory. He has been retired from the world and crowned with Arahatship. He has attained a perfection so subtle that it cannot be described except in negative terms. He has become so saintly that he is absolutely worthless to the world. He has escaped from self, and from all the misery which selfhood involves, and has passed into a realm of ecstatic inanity.3 What that state is which is popularly known as Nirvana is apparently beyond the power of the most learned students of Buddhism clearly to determine. A careful perusal of the writings of Buddhist scholars leaves one in a maze of perplexity as to whether Nirvana means annihilation or simply freedom from the weariness and The definition of the term given in "A Buddhist Catechism" (p. 45) is as follows: "A condition of the mind and spirit

The mystery of
Nirvana.

pain of existence.

1 Rhys Davids, "Manual of Buddhism," pp. 90-93.

2 "The most sacred bonds that unite man to man-the ties of home life and of affectionate friendship-were absolutely condemned as hindrances to spiritual progress; and no place was found for a Being who might alike be adored and loved with all the heart and all the strength and all the mind."-Berry, "Christianity and Buddhism," p. 103.

3 Kellogg, “The Light of Asia and the Light of the World,” p. 350.

4 "What is Nirvana? If we go back to the literal meaning of the Sanskrit word, Nirvanam (pronounced in Pali Nibbânam), we find that it means extinction,

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