New-York tribune., 1885-02-08
THE BUDDHIsTs OF CEYLON.
BY MONCURE d. CONWAY.

1883. On Christmas Eve the streets OF Colombo
swarmed with many-colored costumes. NO
Christian city could have shown moro signs Oh
festive season. At many doors the women Sd.
around the tom-tom, beating 1T with the painis oi
their hands. Why should these singhaiese 'nuS
greet the nativity of Christ Their tradition says
it has always been so. From n time whereto the
memory of man runneth not to the contrary tue
Christmas season in Ceylon has been associated
with devildances floral offerings ana giitS tha' aio
called boxes" (balsheeshsl just as in London
The Young Buddhists of Colombo invited me 10
give them a lecture. The attendance was large
No white person was present. but all u1iieisto'o
English perfectly. My lecture began WIN com,
parison of the Buddhist and Christian ieeehds Oh
the nativity between which i found close cor
respondence, while in spirit and ideal they were
opposed The one looked heavenward, the other
e,rthvard: the sign of one birth was a
star of the other a flower. After my 'ec-
ture I was visited by the chef prelate OF the
Buddhist world, the Priest of Adams Peak whom
7 found a most amiable as well as erudite and acute
man. He pointed out with much clearness the BUN
ders and misunderstanding OF such proiessseu OK
FOUNDERS of Buddhism as Mr.. Sinnett, and appeared
eager to have bsreligon understood by western peo
ple. With this view he invited me to an extended
INTERVIEW at the college over which he presdes.
Tn the early morning / visited the Pail College at
Colombo for the tropical sun was fierce soon alter
his rising. After examining the library ol DOCKS
written on palm-leaves beautifully bound ana
nictures of sacred places and shrines, we repaired
to tho air temple near by. The Cher Priest
had arranged for my benefit special seance WIN
scrpture-reading, commentary and dialecticai
conversation, which make the normal lnsuucloh
of tho students About twenty persons were
present including several priests, neophytes' some
lending Buddhist gentlemen and liberal Brahman.
the Hon. Mr. Ramnathan. member OF the Counch
of Ceylon who interpreted for me every word tnit
was said was conducted toa chair IN front oi tno
(,b;of Priest who SAT on n circular platform, with
a iab,e before him. on which lay his palm-eaf
hook We were sheltered from the glowing sky
Int there were no walls around u.s. The palm trees
rus,led in the morning breeze. the birds sang their
acconpaniment, the breath of flowers ana OF
bushes burning with their blossoms interfused
incense of the fresh day with thoughts that after
two thousgpd wears had power to blossom OUT OF
their dead palm lenvesI and send forth an odor
syeeter than laurel or lotus. The venerable ohici
Priest put on his English spectaces, and opened 'he
LARGEST of three Pitakas, the Aruguttara-nikaya
Sutta. written before $50 b. G., and IN a clear'
sweet voice read Buddha's plea for Tree thoughe-
me entirely new. At certain parts he was eVldenty
moved his voice tended TO ntcne and his eyes rose
glowing upon us, as if demanding homage ior Suo'
lime ideas The passage was as follows:
p,ooba came to Bihar There certain princes vel
coned him telling him whence they caine. Ihey sha:
sVarons priests and Brah1ans pass IN of the doc
frines of others Each set Is followed ny aaoef VINO
listen to usr They who go into and they VINO come
from The wilderness meet here Ihns our pddha mitu sad
settled: we do not know what 10 believe buda.a m st, @
sThati il but natural. Now hear what have TO say
Accept doctrines that are mere o he
accented because believed by ones iather OF glnu a.
father Ss, bsoss. ssxea %sa fS' thus
is TO be believed Noe ect sati,oes preacher will
express doctrine logically; but not because ~ Is 80
is Ss IL the SyaS system but
not even for that is it TO be accepten. t nre,S
for nat Is IL to be received Sometimes preacher
eaters 70 the existing belief d S o Because
conducts himself according orthodox rules Is ms DOC
saws saw: f Is IS trs fss should Soa accept dotTI
The way doctrines should be accepted nv In your 9Sh
and YOU yonrself know be bad that reject There is
] % Sc. w SSSa SI
amsht murder steal commit o,sing sGVeTy co Of "a follow
his ways viii he not saneg long time yr oda s1eg Sy
eTpI eSplsS follow TRfone5 haired may murder steal
false witness will he not s1eT 98emert 9sn crimes
have the wise praised rejected them = Ihey & haye ave
rejected item n man rnes SGs his mind Of
viii enjoy happiness II man destroys al hatred re- III, ne
snioy EapPness Now ye have judged yourselves
not 3 whS 10 hds @ not e w + he se
. he viii love ali beings. He viii be mercful he viii be
happiness.
Iercifuness sympathy. goodwill shall go forth to all
sbtain fearlessness p four tias III lie cc may 3 say aha,
there be another world, and II III or @el alsos ~ SUI
be happy. II there be other world. have harmed
none and benefited Others an happy If after death
only .he wicked suffer- nave dnne no evil ana hesu nor
secure Bnddha said to the princes Are these doc
-irnes good bad T. They replied: Iney are eo9u;
better than any taught us before and they oeeahc Ills
disciples.
So ended the reading from the sutta, which the
priest had abbreviated The BrahInan gentleman
that sat beside me said Is it not strange that you
and l. come of far different religions, should
together listen to a sermon from Buddha in favor
of that free thought, that independence of trad-
tional and fashionable doctrines, which is still the
vital principle of human develOpmentp ayes
said sand we. with the princes, pronounce his
doctrine good" To me, indeed, it was thrilling
that out of the distant past should come this Voice
In tho Wilderness of superstition. summoning man
TO rest his faith his own reason, and trust his life
for eternity to virtues whose excellence Is craven
in his own consciousness. Here felt, here begins
the new departure Of religion.
Invited to question: / asked the priest about COW
ctousness. and why 1t occupied such cardinal
place among the SINS observed that all commerce
rested upon mans desire for what belonged to his
neighbor asked whether it might not be possible
that originally the covetons eye meant the evil eye
1t being still believed in regions that If one
strongly desires thing belonging to another he
may render the thing useless to that other or even
destroy il. The priest said that cOvetousness was
not associated with the things desired to part
with and that 1t regarded by Buddhism as
specially evil because of its lasting effects. Anger
is great sin but does not last long. Covetousness
is a small sin but endurcs long. Even if a
his things efrODplv IL hrinpg