, 1877-07-21
Etlnnic Religions.
A SERIES OF RELIGIOUS LECTURES, DE-
LIyERED RY REV. d. n. UTTER, AT sE
ATrLE AND OLYMPIA, W. T.
NO. 3.-BUDHIsM.

thus Of IL OtCause IL 10 S'sS""'J P'N
tast against Brahmanism, the older reli-
piou out OF which it grew.
In MANY of its external forms and
characteristics Buddhism is more like
Catholicism than Professionalism Indeed
there are many notable and surprising
noints of similarity between Romunlsm
and Buddhism. Both use the cross as a
religious symbol, though with different
meaning Both use holy water, have
tas,s and professions OF priests burn In
cense giving their censers with five
cnains. Both worship saints, snd be-
licve saintship to be attained by abstain
ing from marriage, wine and all good
food, retiring into the desert and doing
nothing IN particular save to say millions
Of prayers and torture the body to the ut
most limits OF endurance.
"Father Buny Portuguese missionary
when he bcheld the Chinese priests ton
sured using vogaries, praying in an un'
known tongue, and kneeling before i'm
ages exclaimed in astonishment There
il not piece of dress not priestly
junction not a ceremony of the court OF
Rome which the Devil has not copied in
this country" This theory OF the Devil
conyinr the Romish forms he's the event
of simplicity and perhaps that is tue
hest that eau be said of It, A more ra-
tional theory supposes that these Roman
forms we're carried by Nastorican mis-
sionarics into Asin during the early
Christian centuries. But Buddhism un-
fortunately for this theory is at least tive
hundred years older than the Roman
Church, and many OF these resem0lances'
such as the use VI the cross and worship
of relics belong to the earlier periods OF
Buddhism rs well as the later.
No satisfactory explanation OF these
external resemblsnces in mode Of wor-
ship has yet been proposed; they re-
main prohlem tor the science OF religion
to solve in future,
But IN its inward spirit Buddhism re-
senbles Professionalism as closely as IN
its outward show it resembles Romanism
When the church OF Rome became
hardened, formal and cpid proposing To
save man in their sins certain mystic
s;.aa.-4Ass.ifices ceremos esa and -~nrdr
prayers in unknown tongues, the deep
natural and true religious nature OF man
revolted saying mo we will not be
saved in our sins by magic and circula-
,iou but saved from our sins by faith.
And just 30 when Brahmanism became a
dead letter the priests sacerdotal class
whose existence seemed chiefly for the
end Of depressing the lower castes, when
these pure hymns have been reading
YOU were locked up in an unknown
tongue unknown even to the Brahmi'
nisms though used by them in ceremonial
forms, when even the moral precepts OF
the laws ot Menn were used only fol-
purposes OF oppression there came the
great revolt, and the form it took was
the new religion of buddhs. The
growth OF Buddhism was tue spreading
ola great religious reformation. 1t was
q religious revival involving nations, an
awakening, that continued through cen
turies and took in third of the human
family. Buddhism il the most popular
of the thee religions of China, 1t is the
state religion Thibit and the Birman
Empire, it is the religion OF Japan Siam
Auam Assam Nepaul Ceylon, it takes III
the whole of Eastern Asia, it counts
more adherents, as was stated in the first
lecture than any other religion.
This religion originated about twenty
FIVE hundred years ago that is in the
sixth century B. G. The Jews were
then captives in Babylon, Cyrus the
Great at this period was chasing the
wild boar in Persian woods. Alexander
the Great was not yet born into the
world lie lived 20 conquer Plato was
contemporary with the early followers Of
Buddha, but according to hest estimates
Of dates Buddha died before the battle
Of Marathon.