New-York tribune., 1896-11-21
BUDDHISM.
PROFESSOR RHYS DAvIps's AMERICAN
LECTURES.

Buddhist Literature at University College. Lon
don PIP. xiii. go 6. +. Putnams Sois
II all books about Buddhism or about other re-
ligions were as thoughtful and sober as this one
the scoffer would have less occupation. Pro-
fessor Rhys Davids does not seem TO have chcr-
jshed at any time even In the days OF youthfu
enthusiasm as a scholar the hope OF discovering
anything magical or supernatural in the iaiths
of India. What he saw. as he proceeded with MS
Investigations Of Buddhism was the tradltlohai
Seachings of a wise and far-seeing man, VINO
erred mainly in matters where it was Impossible
for antiquity to be right but who anticipated
by more than 300 years the thought OF Eu-
rope. 1t one were to try TO think of a phllos-
opher In the West who most like Buddha
one would be almost sure to name Bishop Berke-
ley. The Bishop OF Coyne. with all his keen
ness in ascertaining the illusiOnary character or
the things OF sense. was still in bonds 10 some
presumed realities from which the ancen,
Aryan philosopher had escaped: but the two
men. so far apart in point of time. We're very
like in their intellectual earnestness. in delicacy
end precision of thought and-if one might safe
~ Judge where film Of tradition and translation
intervenes on one side-in 4 certain remoteness
and dignity OF style Thus. Professor Huxley's
famous comparison only suggests part Of the
likeness between the Buddha and Berkeley. 1t
Is certain that the dealism Of both was no mere
theory, but result of the very nature of the men.
The parallel between them is all the more re-
,narkabe because 1t is Impossible that Berkeley
should have known anything worth mentioning
about Buddhism
1t gives Professor Rhys Davids satisfaction 10
refer also to Schopenhauer. because. though the
German illusionist denied his palpable deb to
IIindoo thought. yet he paid 1t a tribute which
strongly supports plea for the study of Buddh-
ism and Oriental philosophy generally in the
universities Of the West. Schopenhauer made
the common mistake Of distinguishing between
his reading and his thinking as if the one could
fail to he influenced by the other. Perhaps Pro-
fessor Rhys Davds makes a similar mistake in
his exposition Of Buddhism by neglecting the
general history Of the world about the time that
the system must have risen For philosophy
cannot be divorced from history. and II is often
better explained by the events Of a world-epoch
than by the biography real or allt ged. of its
originator. Even religions. which usually begin
IN obscurity, and often in maze Of superstition,
are more impersona than they seem. and Buddh'
ism more than religion. 1t granted at
the outset neither Deity. nor soul. nor prayer. nor
indeed anything for mere pety to hang upon.
1t was philosophy. and for that reason the con-
quest it made of the Eastern World was all the
more wonderful Nothing like this spread of
Against this the scoffer can raise objection
that modern Buddhism. whether in China or
Thibet or japan or India. would not be recog-
nized by its reputed founder. But the important
fact In regard TO Buddha is that his historical
BACKGROUND was similar to that Of the Greek
philosophers I'VE find" SAYS Professor Rhys
Davids 'in the sixth century before Christ. in the
valley Of the Ganges. stage Of social evolution
very similar to that reached IN Greece at the
time Of Plato" The small communities of an
plder time gradually coalescng into larger
hnd larger kingdoms. Now if one stops at this
point, the comparison given by Professor Rhys
Davids seems to mark mere coincidence But
what was happening in all those centuries from
che eighth to the fifth in the vast region which
lntervenes between Greece and India? Precisely
the thing which the author describes. but on the
grandest scale that had then been known to his
tory. family of wealth in Susa and the noun
tain region thereabout gradually absorbed the
ruling power over Media and Persia. the
whole Euphrates valley from the mountains to
lhe sea- over Asia Minor and Egypt. and
stretched out It's hand-fortunately in vain-over
t,reece Now the career Of the Persian con-
uuerors from the siege of Babylon to the defeat
at Saamis may have had no influence on con-
temporary thinkers. But the presumption must
be that just like the Napoeonic upheaval at the
beginning of the present century. II changed the
aspect of the whole civilized world TO thinking
men. Aristotle penetrating enough to see
fhe effect of the Persian war in Greece. He at
tributed to II the rise Of the Sophists. and mod
rrn observers have remarked that without the
Eophists there would have been no Aristotle. lf
ancient India had any history. that is. If its in
habitants had possessed the aptitude for record
ing or remembering events as they occurred. 1t
IN
country was Influenced by struggles that shook
eu Western Asia But 1t is difficult to believe
that the rest of the world could be overturned
and India hear not even an echo of the uproar
1t Is even more difficult to conceive that the great
systems Of thought which still rule the world
Confucanism in the Far East. Buddhism the
Hebraism of Ezra. Zoroastransm, and the Hell
ienic philosophy, should all emerge within
period of a century and a half or. at the most.
Rwo centuries. merely a coincidence.
Observe that all these systems appear to have
been reaction against traditional modes
NJ thought They were all novelties and her
esies in their day. Back OF them there was that
body of primitive belief which Professor Rhys
Dayids describes as common to all men at
given stage Of civilization. If this is true then
Asia has not changed overmuch in 2oOo years.
For there is still behind the book religions and
pb,,osopbies 90 use an expressive phrase OF
She Mahometans) a popular mysticism which is
practically identical in all regions where 1t has
been found. This has msled many an inVest-
gator-among the rest, according to professor
Rhys Dayids. the author OF that well-known DOCK
s.Esoteric Buddhism There Is no such thing
as esoteric Buddhism says Professor Rhys
Oavids "All the talk about the astral body
ard the different kinds of soul, seven more or
less. which is. or rather was. put forward as
ssoteric Buddhism. is part OF the Yoga philoso-
phy of India which is perfectly accessible to all
the world" And this. not only In India. but also
IN Persia where f. G. Browne found "Esoterc
Buddhism" TO be a faithful rescript of the bundle