Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-03-23
The Founder OF Budahism.

II II
Seven centuries before the Christian
era, prince Of one Of the royal fami-
lies of India, having exhausted, in his
twenty-ninth 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 palace, his family,
his treasures and his estate, took
the name of Gotama, which means
he who kills the senses" became a
religious mendicant, walked about in a
shroud taken from the dead body OF a
female slave, taught, preached and gath
cred about him body Of enthusiastic
disciples bound together by the most
Efficient of all ecclesiastical organiza-
tions, dictated or inspired works which
as now published by the Chinese govern
ment in four languages occupy 500 vol
umes, and died at the age of eighty, the
founder of the Buddhist religion. Com
pared with this man, Mohammed was an
ignorant and ferocious barbarian, and
the proudest names in Western philoso-
ply lose a little of their luster when
placed by the side of this thinker, who
grappled the greatest problems OF ex-
istence with the mightiest force OF con-
ception and reasoning.
As philosopher, he anticipated both
the idealism of Berkeley and the positiv-
ism of Comte; as political thinker ne
anticipated the noblest truth of our
Declaration of independence, and 2500
years ago taught, against the caste sys-
TEN of India, the doctrine of. the equal
ity of men; and in the region Of inhu-
ence higher than that in which either
philosophy or craftsmanship works, he
founded religion which is now pro-
fessed by two-ffths of the human race,
and which thus exceeds, in the number
of votaries, that of any other religion
in the world. Buddhism has never been
corrupted by fantastic mythology, but
its essential principle, derived from its
founders disgust of existence, is that
life is not worth living, and that the ex-
tinction of life is the highest reward of
virtue. To pass in the next world
through various penal purifying trans
migrations, until you reach the bliss Of
Nirwana, or mere nothingness and nom
entity, that is the Buddhist religion. We
have said that it was protested by two
lffths of the human race, but its funda-
mental principle, that life is not worth liv-
ing is believed, if not professed, by a
large majority of mankind.
Not to speak of the hundreds Of vail
ing books which misanthropic genius
has contributed to all modern litera-
lures, not to remind the reader that the
Buddhist Byron is the most popular
British poet of the century, that person
must have been singularly blessed with
cheerful companions who has not met
followers of Gotama among the nominal
believers Of Christ The Infection of
the doctrine as an Interpretation of hu-
man experience is so great that COM
paratively few have altogether escaped
its influence. In basing his religion on
this disease of human nature, Gotama
showed profounder sagacity than that
evinced by any other founder of false
religion; and in the East this disease
presented its most despairing phase, for
there weariness Of life was both asso-
ciated with the safety Of the rich and
the wretchedness of the poor.-E. r.
WhiDDle. r.fl