New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-08-08

|
| Their food is brought TO them by the monks OF
neighbonng monastery They employ their time III
reciting the sacred volumes. in mcditations on the
Buddhist doctrines in the of their cell and In
| replenshinQ the incense urn placed before the
image of ShakyamunL
| The books of primitive buddhism exmDlt
higher moral tone than is found in the larger works
| full of metaphvsical distractions which preceded
| them. An early work speaks of ten vices and ten
yi.tues belonging to mankind. The vices are; three
| of the bodybuilding, stealing and adultery; four of
| the lIps-slandering, revling, lying, and elegant
words uttered with vicious intention; three of the
mnd-iealousy, hatred and folly. The opposites OF
these are the ten virtues. disciple of Buddha
pledges himself not to kill; not steal; not to com
nit adultery; not 10 lie not TO drink wine. Drink
| ing intoxicating liquors, gambling ideness, im-
proper associations and reQuenting places of amuse-
ment are all TO be avoided. Conceptions of the
future state of existence sensual. Religious
worship is engaged IN with Interior views OF ma
terial happiness. Forgiveness of sin is to be at
tanned by repentance and ment0rOus actions. The
morality of Buddhism has received high praise from
several recent writers. Max Miller pronounces IFS
moral code zone of the most perfect which the world
has eyer known" But in China the best precepts of
Buddhism are very much neglected. Moreover the
Chinese intellect being strong and Independent In
|
ism. The contemplative life has few attractions
in that country.
The Buddhist heavens are thirty-tw0 in number
OF these five are Inhabited by sagcs only twenty
five by sages and common men together, and two by
common men alone. The following story illustrates
the Buddhist idea OF hell:
In the " ri tsangSutra is a ST Orv Of a maiden of
! the Brahman caste, whose mother had been con-
! dcmned to the Wa-km H-ya or" Ayichi naraka.'
Full of distress. she went % temple TO pray Tor
! help from an ancient Bufdha whose image WAS
there adorcd. In reply II her offerings ana prayers
! a voice addressed LeT-that of the Buddha repre-
! Scutcd by the image She told to SIT at home
/ and mediate on the name OF the same budGha
" lille doing so she fell after day thus spent into
/ a state of deep erie, aud found herself on the
banks Of an ocean. Here she saw many bcastso
| prey with iron bodies. living and walking on the
| sea. MultitudcS of unhappy men and women were
also swimming there and were constantly bitten
/ by the power of Buddha, dld not leel TERMED
/ demon king addressed her kindly, ana informed
! her that she come to the great IRON mountain
/ gTdlc that surrounds TIE W0ilU Il hlN0 Htdlu'
! said the maiden that he'll is here how can !
! reach ii ~ Ans only by Sp ritual mower, ana oil
merit self-acourcd" Qu.-'And who are these
They are the wicked inhabitants OF the Jambu con
tinent who have recently died After iorty-hve
days if no one performs any meutorouS ACT lor
their benefit, they must hTst he transported TO
this place. Eastward are TWO other seas OF ms
! still greater GU" But where is he'll 2" Ans,
"WIhn these I rec seas there are many thousand
prisons but of the larger kind only eighteen"
! Qu.-My mother died not long since; where now
! is her soul n The gOod-hearted demon KING an
swered this question by another. QUO Bod
lisattwa what sort Of fife did your mother for
opinions. She ridiculed and slandercd the Three
treasures (Buddha the Law and the PRIESTHOOD;
If she became a believer for time, she soon ceased
to honor them gu" What vas her name =
Ans" Ny father a:d mother were both of the
Brahman caste Their names were 1 ~ oi %nd
hands respectfully TO the Iodhisattwa, said: Holy
maiden, return. Dismiss all sad thoughts 1t is
now three days since the sinful letill was born
| an nhabltant of paradise. The hlal love that
| prompted such acts TO save parent, and such
| nietv toward an ancient Buddha are sufficient mott
only to preserve q mother from hell, but also 10
| raise innumerable other persons to heaven Inc
! Brahman maiden then returned to CONSCIOUSNESS
| as from dream. Rejecting on what had hap
| pened she visited again the shrine of the ancient
| Buddha, and made vow that through innuneT-
able coming kalpds she would perform acts of merit
I for the deverance from suffering OF mutitndes OF
| living beings Shakyamun Buddha added, adj
dressing Manjusiri. That demon king and Brah-
| man maiden have now become the '1sai-sheu
| Bodhisattwa and the Ti-tsapg Bodhlsattwa."
The Chinese Buddhists are greatly devoted to
image worship The temples are full of grOtesque
statues These are yaIiously arranged and the pur-
pose of many of them Is to present to the mind of
the visitor "a picture of the conception of Buddha
| IN its most expanded form, each image exhibiting
distinct feature of the ideal whole to the cOntem-
plation of the worshlpper." The phlOsophic Buddh-
| lists believe that the use of idols at all must be
viewed as symbolica as well as offerings OF incense
| candles and gilt paper. But the common people see
in each idol a powerful Divinity, and have faith in
the power of the objects of their dOlay to preserve
them from sickness, poverty, childessness an early
| death and other dreaded evils Relics carefully
preserved. Mr.. Edkins Ill a temple a tooth
| of Buddha 1t was two inches and half thick and
ten by thirteen in width. The following account of
the Chinese method of making idols is interesting
| The Picking custom in making large images
whether they of brass iron, wood OF clay, Is TO
construct them with the internal organs as COM
| plete a. possible While the smaller images are
| filled with Thbetan incense or cotton wool, the
larger have the interior arranged according to
| always empty The chief visccra of the chest
| and abdomen are always represented. They are
OF silk satin, and their shape is that found IN
| drawings OF the organs in native medical works.
round red piece OF silk represents the heart
whose element Is fire. 1T is the size of dollar.
| II and The lungs, which are white. and divided
! into three loDes, are attached TO piece of
wood, round which is wound piece of yellow
| wood is attached by silk threads of five coors IA
metallic mirror called ming-king. This represents
intelligence, the heart being regarded as the seat
brella or lid, as if to preserve it from injury.
In the abdomen the inte,tncs are made of long
narrow pieces of silk with cotton wool ttched
| along the concave border. Tins may represent
fat the mesentery. Embracing all, like the
prritoneuIn, is large piece of silk covered with
| PRAYERS or charms. INSIDE are also 10 be found
! little bags containing the live kinds of grain.
with pearls, Jade, small ngots of silver. and
gold Of five candarcens' weight and bits of solder
OF various shapes 10 represent silver
Al the larger Buddhist monastcres possess libra
res-a complete collection, presented by some
former EmperOr-of " the books of religion" They
are preserved in bookcases with great care
Even when they are worn-eaten and injured by ]
damp. the priests are unwilling to part
with any portion of them. They seldom
use the library Themselves but think that it
would be an offence against the Emperor TO allow
any Of the books to be removed. The proportions
of souc of these works are enormous One of them