The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1872-04-04
The Founder of Buddhism.

OF luaI WHICH ID wei anu COOL.
The Founder of Buddhism.
Seven centuries before the Chris
tian era, a prince of one ofthe royal
families of India, having exhausted,
in his twenty-nin,h year, all the
pleasures of the world, and having
in him one Of the deepest, most
comprehensive and most creative
intellects, suddenly abandoned in
disgust his place, his family, his
treasures and his estate, took the
name of Gotama, which means che
who kills the Senses" became a re-
ligious mendicaut, walked about in
q shroud taken from the dead body
Of a female slave, taught, preached
and gathered about him a body of
enthusiastic disciples bound togeth-
or by the most efficient of all eccle-
slastical organizations, dictated or
inspired works which as now pub
lished by tho Chinese government
in four languages occupy 800 vol
umes, and died at the age of 80, the
founder Of the Buddhist religion.
Compared with this man, Moham-
med was an ignorant and ferocious
barbarian, and the proudest amens
in Western philosophy lose a. little
of their lustIe when placed by the
side of this thinker, who grappled
the greatest problems of existence
with the mightiest force Of coucep-
ton and reasoning.
AS q philosopher, he anticipated
both the idealis,n of Berkly and the
positivism of Comte; es a political
thinker he anticipated the noblest
truth of our Declaration of indie
pondendoncp, and 1880 years ago
taught, against the caste system of
, Indla, the doctrine of the equality
Of men; and, in the region of influ-
ence higher than that in which
either philosophy or craftsmanship
works, he founded q religion which
is now professional by two-hlths OF
{ the human race, and which thus ex-
ceeds, in the number of votaries,
{ that of any other religion in the
world. Buddhism has never been
g corrupted by a fantastic mythology,
D but its essential principle, derived
from its founders disgust of exis
4 tence, is that life worth living, ant
a that the extinction of life, is thu
highest reward of virtue. To pas
s in the next world through a variou
x, penal purifying transmigrations
until you reach the bliss of Nirwanf
" or mere nothingness and nonenit,
re that is the Buddhist religion. W
III have said that it was proiessed
n two-ffths of the human race, but!
fundamental principle that life
not worth living, is believed, if Il
at protested, by Il large majority
ID mankind.
a. Not to speak of the hundreds
g. wailing books which misanthrol
q genius has contributed to all mode
ny lit~eratures, not to remind the res
I'D or that tho Buddhist Byron is t
most popular British poet of t
er century, that person must have be
w. slngularly blessed with cheerl
- companions who has not met f
~ lowers of Gotma among the nomir
-, believers Of Christ. The infect
n, of the doctrine as an interpretati
10 of human experience is SO gre
that comparatively few have ali
gether escaped its influence.
in basing his religion on this diseo
II of human nature, Gotama show
10 profounder sagacity than that @,
lr denced by any other founder Of
IL false religion; and In the East til
of disease presented its most despai
OF ing phase, for there WEAKNESS
IN life was both associated with the s
TX tiety of the rich and wretchedne
ne of the poor Il. ?. Whipple.