Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-07-26
THE FAIrn OF BUDDHISM.
An Interview with the Buddhist
High Priest of CeylOu.
From The f1n ana ErIress.

Taking into consideration Inc IdcI tudt
over one-third OF the whole human race
belong to the Buddhist religion, the fol-
lowing account OF gu interview with
which a French traveller in Ceylon, Nj.
Roger de Bonnieres, had recently been Ia
vored bv the High Priest OF that most
ancient religion, will doubtless be Of H.
terest:
Ceylon, the loveliest of all the green
islands IN the Indian Ocean, the mead
quarters OF Buddhism, just IN Tue sdhe
manner as Rome is that Of Catholicism,
and the High Priest, or Chlet Bonze' pos
sesses the same spiritual prestige among
Buddnists as the Pope among the lOAO"-
ersof the Church OF Rome
The High Priest, whose name is Su-
mangala, resides In tue village oil Mail
gakando, not far from the capital. HIS
lutte nut forms part of the seminary Tor
the education OF young priests.
We found the great man squatting down
under some trees, surrounded by group
Of students, to whom he was eNpoundIng
a difficult text. AS soon as tue lesson
was ended he arose and conducted us TO
the verandA of his hut, the surroundings
OF which, consisting OF hyaclnth bushes
almond and cocoanut trees, and other
rich tropical vegetation, appeared almost
poetical. He " AS dressed IN kind OF
yellow robe, something like a Roma
tOga LEAVING the right arm and shoulder
bare. His unprecedented head was COM
pletely shayeu, aud on MS feet he wore
nothing but leather sandals. HIS cold
black ewes, gentle, but yet penetrating,
never raised or lowered, hut always
looked straight ahead. His teeth and lips
had disagreeaOie appearance, owing 10
the Tact OF their being stained blood red
by the betel nuts, q kind OF narcotic
sJimulant, which he was chewing all the
time.
My conversation with him was some
what in the form Of a catecnism:
"W hat do you mean by The term Budd-
histY'
"a person who acknowledges himself
Ms being follower of our Lord Buddha."
Nv as Budda god"
mo"
"Was he manY
"Ouly as tar as bis outward appearance
was concerned; Tor his inner nature was
altogether suPerhuman, and as far as
mind, heart, or intelligence were con-
cerned, he scared tar above the rest of
mankind.p
WAS Buddha his real name|
"No. II is merely the one which indi-
Gates his spiritual existence. 1t means
'the most enlightened, and fountain OF all
wisdom The basis OF Buddhism is the
assumption that human existence is, on
the whole, miserable and a curse, rather
than u blessing"
"Did Buddha discover the cause OF hu-
man miseTyV
''Yes, for toward the end of his life it
was revealed to him. Just as the light OF
the rising sun dispels the darkness OF the
night, so was the spirit at length I'M
shackled by the light Of wisdom, and it
was gwen TO him TO discover the origin OF
human misery, together with the means
of remedying IT,
"Did he experience much difficulty IN
attaining this state Of knOwIedge?
Yes, Tor be was obliged to dispense
with all those little faults. those favOriJe
sins and desires, which only veil the light
of truth"
"Whatis this light you speak Of which
is to do away with our ignorance and to
rid US of our sins?'
"Tbe knowledge OF the four sublime
verities mentioned by Buddha. The first
OF these Is the misery OF our present eX-
istence; the second, the intense and yet
vain desire of attaining perfection /;
third, the cOnquering OF this desire :
fourth, the means OF thus conquerinr,
namely, right faith, right practice, ODE
dience, right memory, and right medIta-
ton"
But when you are in possession Of
these four Verities, what then? -
"You have then attained Nirvana.
That is a state OF the most absolute rest,
the absence of every desire, illusion aud
pain; IN SHORT, the humiliation of every
thing which makes US human beings.
Before reaching NIryana, one may be born
again in the flesh, but when ii is once at
tanned no one longer feels any desire on
the subject"
After finishing this somewhat brief ex-
PLANTATION, the old gentleman showed
us round the whole seminary, commence
ing with the library, which was filled with
documents written in the Cingalese and
burman languages. A large department
was devoted TO European books, and ON a
lacquer table / discovered most of the
works of Renan, Strauss, Barth, and also
a magniiicently bound Auglo-Cingalese
dictionary, presented to the High Priest
IN 1876 by the Prince of Wales when he
came 10 visit him.
Before bringing our visit to q close we
visited "a little Buddhist temple in a cor
ner Of the immense gardens. The image
OF buddha contained therein was of white
marble, and the eyes, artiticialy colored,
had kind OF tar-Of, dreamy look about
them. The great gold nimbus around his
head gave one somewhat the impression
OF being in little Catholic church
Trays OF the most magnificent flowers, de-
prived, however, OF their stems and leaves
lay before the image. On my drawing
attention thereto the High Priest re-
marked:
"Buddha does not require these flowers
but his followers are 50 anxious to please
him that the custom oil floral offerings
has gradually taken root"
On taking my leave ventured to ask
him what were the greatest Joys and sor-
rows OF his lite. His eyes twinkled
merrily as he replied"
"My greatest JOY is due to the fact that
/ am forever penetrating more and more
into the wOndrOus love of Buddha, while
my sorrows are limited TO occasional
troubles connected with my digestion"
what struck me most was the fact that
the Buddhist creed is the quintessence OF
pessimism, tempered, however, with a
wondrous ana touching sympathy for
the sorrows and troubles OF mankind.
THREE YANKEE CATS