The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-12-14
RELIGION In india.
Lecture Of Lord Ratna Pala,
Buddhist Priest, Convert
to the Salvation Army.

-
Lord Ratna Pala, once a Buddhist priest,
but now q member of the Salvation Army,
talked for over an hour last night on India,
its people, manners, customs, religions, and
of the wonderful work the Salvation Army
has done there. big parade, at the head
of which Lord Ratna marched, preceded
the meeting. The route was, Tonnele to Sip,
to Summit, to Newark avenues, and thence
to the hall, where an unusually large crowd
was found waiting. Prayers were offered,
a chorus was sung, and Lord Ratna began
his talk, which lasted for over an hour. He
has a soft, musical voice, and is an excellent
talker, one that does not tire an audience.
He explained hat he is a native OF Ceylon,
but that be has been working for sons time
in India. He was dressed in his Indian cos
tune, which consisted Of a red jacket,
and q yellow skirt. A yellow sash was
thrown across his shoulder and loosely
knottsd under his right arm. He explained
that none but the Hindoo priests wore the
colored cloth which his garments are made
Of. They wear them to show that they are
dead to the world.
THE wOR IN INDIA .
Continuing he said: 1.-THE Salvation Army
adopted the same garment, because by wear
ing it the people will respect and honor them
as religious teachers and forsakers Of earthly
things. The whole uniform costs but $3.50
and each officer has two Of them. These and
his Bible constitute the only possessions OF a
Salvation Army officer in India. Ii called
upon to farewell and take another station he
can be ready to do SO in five minutes. HE ex-
planned that there are three religions in In
dia; the most powerful is the Hindoo, then
comes the Mohammedan, and thirdly the
Buddhists. THE Buddhists believe in heaven
and hell, sin n morality, but not in a per
sonal God who can save them from sin.
Their creed is, There is no God, but let us
do right, and we will ggo to heaven The
Mohammedans believe in one God, and they
teach that goodness, kindness and holiness
are necessary TO reach heaven. They wor-
ship five times a day, and their business is
never allowed to interfere with THAR devo-
lions. They close their. stores and run OF to
the temple whom prayer time comes, and
when it is over they resume business. The
Saviour, whom they call Rahma They be-
lieve that if they worship any God and serve
him faithfully Rahma will forgive them
their sins at last. 81
CLEANING from SIN.
s'They believe in cleansing from sin; not
by blood, but by water and thousands travel
annually to this sacred river to wash their
incense upon their hands, light it and let it
burn until the blood trickles down at the
same time crying; oh God, see how l burn
to please thee send me some blessing" The
Hindoos worship half the night the priest
holding services in a different house each
night. The Hindoo workman goes to work
at four or five O'Clock in the morning and
returns at six or seven at night, 50 that with
his work and worship he gets but about two
hours sleep a day. "You can see by this
said the speaker, that the people of India
are hungry to be good. Out Of 8 ,0N,-
600 people in India, 2o,ooo,0 900 are
religious teachers and priests. These priests
and teachers do not receive any salary but
beg their living from door to door. In India
the Roman Catholic and other Christian
churches have been trying for 200 years to
convert the heather and have not made in
all 1,000,0 600 converts. The reason is that they
won't adopt the customs and manners of the
country. They must be more like the ma
tives, make more sacrifices than they do, be
holier in living than they are, and then the
people will flock to their religion. In India
and Ceylon, if the natives see a white person
they think him n Christian, and when they
see the sailors and soldiers get drunk and
fight and commit other lawleSs acts they say.
why the Christians are no better than we
are. We are sinners and SO are they
THE woRX IN INDIA.
"When Commissions Booth Tucker
started the Salvation Army work in India
eleven years ago he saw what a self-sacri-
hcing set of people the natives are, and he
said he came to the conclusion that in order
to convert them the Salvation Army would
have to make more sacrifices than they and
thus prove to them that their religion is the
best. Thus he adopted the methods of the
priests, sleeping, dressing, eating and drink
ing like them. The Salvation Army officers
became Indians to win Indians to Christ.
The result of this method is seen by the fact
that the Salvation Army is today the big
gest Christian organization in India. Last
year alone they made 1928 converts
and in the month of March this year when
a great revival was held in the Salvation
Army all over the world 1886 were saved,
making a total of over 10000 in thirteen
months. 1t only costs fifty cents or twenty
five dollars a year to support a Salvation
Army officer in India"
A collection was taken to aid in the work
there. After the collection, which yielded
about seven dollars, Lord Ratna explained
some Of the customs of the Indian people:
how they sleep on mats upon the ground,
with their turbans for pillows, use their
fingers instead of knives, forks, spoons, and
drink without touching the vessel with their
lips. 1t is considered unclean to touch the
lips to the vessel, and if it is done the vessel
is Immediately destroyed. The Salvation
Army workers nave adopted all of these Gus
toms, and this have gained the respect of the
natives, and been able to do the wonderful
work in India, which they have done.