The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1897-09-02
\ Defense OF Buddhism.

Jn1ar Christianity as taught in oar schools and churches, has ne place n
universal religion Euidha alone has tn. right to be allied the universal teacher
Th"~" arr novel ton"s to find defended in N Of the religions journals of Amer
En- ht The Outlook Hospitality opens its columns toa n article signed, The An.
garka II pharnaIaa in which the above claims are stontly advanced Dhar
mapala mo-" resident in New York writes to supplement what he consider. n
on" sided view Of Buddhism presented by Professor Palmer and dielaims any
intention "f making a comparison between Buddhism and Christianity, but is
concerned in bringing ont the positive side of Buddhitic teaching In doing
this however he does no. entirely sncc,4d in evodiDr sucb counarisn We
quote from I- article.
let Ms be Just and not deny the fact that for full 900 years before the birth
OF 'hn-t no universal religions teacher n savior Of mankind appeared except
Imddta II A~Hrnn and Io'YImian records are to be accepted as genuine, we
find that inst at the time Of "bnl1hn birth in Karilayostu India the Jews we're
returning from their E"hyIonian captivity We find n few years before Bnddha =
1e'1','"' N" prophets Isaiah jeremiah and Ezekiel were changing the be
ht If the older Jewish theology by bringing boiler conceptions of mercy ueac
and righteousness tn" prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel by the grace of Jehovah
Pr"ln'H' II a change OF covenant and illustrating the doctrine of individual re
sp"ns1h1tty by til" rarabl" Of @mr grapes The people all over the Asahc world
w"r" a this tim" looking for n savior India with its 300 millions Of people, and
'"" WIN lF 10" millions OF people, aud the Greco Russian Empire, with its 50
on ~ millions of people were outside the influence of Jewish traditions, which
Were monopoly of til" Jews who numbered at that time ~ 800 men and wo
men, ""d "o h' '@' men servants and maid servants and 200 singing men
This was tn" total population of the Jews at their return from palylonian can
hHty The God Jehovah refused to recognize the 500 millions of Asiatic Aryans
m" '"s''"N' as '' fio" ewS we're tn" object of His gracious solcitude
Until the appearance of Jesus Christ who came o ave the children Of Jsrasl ths
worI'" was 1ttt the tender mercies o zoroaster Brahmanical :Rishus, Jain Ma
n"'n' on'"cn'7 Lac w IL ln11ha Zoroasters beautiful religion was con
fined to the empire of Persia, the Bahmanical Rihus had their influence over
the vice born population of Aryan India, the Jain Mahavira had his influence
over "' h""" a""''S Lac e md 'mtucus had their mystical spirtuaisnn
and moral asn~ticim confined to the Celestial Kingdom No unversalism was
to b" found in any of these systems and Jewish dosmas are also exclusive az the
'"nS 81 me i'aA"'anS fN'dh" alone has the right to be called the universal
teacher for he was the first to break the nanacles Ct priest theolovians to show
ne stupidity OF the asrehcs and to combat the views of the agnostcs and mate
raGsts"
Dhaunnp"a goes on to maintain that Christianity has only within the Inst
N" years become Il missionary religion prior to that time rsortingt o the sword
mapala goes ON to say:
bhNhh mission was one ~ peace and love and never within the atOO vears|
ms religion h"E existed has there ever been one drop IF blood shed in his
for the propagation of the doctrines he promulgated For over ,Io ,e,rs
year" 1t nae Al eXi7tncer in India, Afyhanstan and the Bactrian territory and
the early Indian Buddlists carried their mission Of peace o the far distant ou,
tries of Burrnah. China, Korea, Tibet Siam, and the Java Islands In it,. naoco
M propaganda it avoided controversies and atstained from discussing ouesions
wnrh tended ottot the elhfcaton of the religious mind. Buddbas religion, il.
to 'nnotle and en"ncpntc the huma, mind from ignorance. In the Chinese lan
ShaE' h'rc Is M word t" express the conception of Creator God and the
'h11stmh workers in China are having a difficult time in trying to ret n proner
Term to express the idea, Four hundred millions of Chinese are thus left ont
the Jewish theology and n India nearly 800 millions of people. over socen.
tunfs ago CAV" mp tn" c"aiv" theory of the world and accepted the evolution
whch nS been" brought into acceptance by the researches of Darwin,
spencer Huxley and Others Jndaic Christianity a it is taught in schools and
churches has no place a a universal religion, Buddha avoided all metanbvsics
Sitcuntons and theoogns from practical religion II is woS.,f .,,
o 90 IN" spernmhonS 5" as to find out the origin of God the world. etc, and
'nddha n emnenty practical and taught all people, men and women, to lead
Vrt""u NE OF love, Righteousness charity and truth for the pmanc;nat;,p
rom suffering and misery He taught that we suffer through our Ignorance of
immntaiie laws "f cansaton and by ignoring truths of suffering. causes of
nfernE, cessation of suffering and the noble way of salvation. Bnddha ;oror.1l
creator as he VAS the first to teach the principles Of evolution, and denied nm.
hhilathon, a. he vas the first to discover the great law of causaton with it's d.
"ndentS OF "A r~ntants and he ignored a separate, permanent eo ent;tv as h.
vas the first psychologist to discover that everything is undergoing a continuous
hange in the phenomenal world. ."