The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-06
WEIRD NIGHT IN MANDALAY.
A buddhist Priest Defines His Belief
New NebuIar Hypothesis.

buddhist Priest Defines His BeI1ef
New NebuInr Hypothesis.
Pail Mall Gazette.
1t had been a hot and dusty day in April,
when no one remains in Mandalay who can
help it, and even the club in the gilded pal
ace grows dull as one thinks longingly OF
the approaching water feast and the wet
weather that It should inaugurate. Even as
the buggy whitfield along the wide. straight
streets that seem so strangely out or place
in an Eastern city the air was not only
sitting, but burning, and the only promis-
ing spot seemed the wide, cool moat, for
hidden, alas, since the English began to
drink out OF 1t. Early in the day, In proWl-
ing round the native quarters, threading my
way through the markets and temples,
had lighted on monk who, having been
educated in mission school, spoke English.
Spare and gaunt Of frame was he, his eX-
cellent clean-shaven crown displaying as
much fat as any other part; his sunken eyes
in cavernouS sockets peering, as 1T were,
from some center of meditation; his fingers
and limbs more like half-clothed skeleton
than parts of living being. So when l
but made me welcome for the comparative
cool of the night, / accepted with pleasure
his invitation.
The sun had but recently set, and the
darkness was not yet complete when my
ghari set down its fare at the temple door.
As heard it rumble away and entered the
shddoWy precincts wondered what lay be-
fore me. One or two indistinct figures still
ioitered about at their worship, but other
wise, all was still, and the giant figures of
Buddha all round had been so well watered
that day that the place felt quite cool, al
most chilly, after the dry air outside. AS
small relief that I heard the voice of the
monk, and perceived him coming toward
me. for in treating thus with Orientals one
is doomed so often to disappointment.
We sat down together, he in the peculiar
Burmese posture between kneeling and sit
ting, his feet tucked away to one side, and
l in the more familiar crosS-legged style
We 81 on a species of platform of canes
around a well-leafed tree trunk in the center
of the temple courtyard, for there was nc
monastery proper here and my friend lived
alone. From the first We were in sympathy
with one another. l wanted to know what
he really believed. what his hope was and
if he knew fear; to know the religion OF
Buddha, that controls the greatest number
of my fellow subjects,
Why do you live here alone" I COM
Because the monks in Burmah are not
sincere. Once, perhaps, they We're, in In
dia and Ceylon, but not here, and in China
certainly not They do not keep the pre-
cepts, so l accommodated them. I am
only novice, for whom there are but ten
rules, whereas for the, monk there are
twenty-five, only possible to really, good
people, who desire to leave this world for
Nirvana."
do you believe in spirits?''
"Of course I do-in Nats-because they
are real, living things with forms like men,
but bigger and more powerful Once in In
to earth, but not now, only the bad ones
come still: they are always on EARTH
Have you ever seen them?''
Eyes, / have seen ghosts myself. Some
years ago in this place 1 saw one. 1 saw
1t sitting quite near me-a man whom !
had known when living. saw him there, "
shoulder to the corner of the yard. His
tones were so intense, his geSticulations
so rapid, his evident sincerity so marked
that l felt almost scared. A dismal bell
which some belated worshiper had struck
hard by gave me quite start, and when
the moon peeped between the clouds and lit
up the whitewashed walls and pagodaS and
idols it deepened both the shadows and
the weird impression of the scene. [ was
glad when he proceeded: Did he speak
No, tlfey don't speak, but other ghosts
there are whose voice is heard. This one
did not move. When I was layman l saw
a ghost but only shadoWy, exactly of the
color of a photograph but as a statue, with
form 1t was at midnight. Europeans don
believe in ghosts, though there are ghosts.
It is important to know this for the truth s
sake. And there are many witches in Bur-
nah who make women and children old
and young. They make people cry, they
by their witchcraft. 1t is m evil craft.
What am telling you now i IL truth,
Now, in your religion, do you believe
I'm our religion there is no Everlasting
God. From one to four Buddhas have be-
come gods, but not everlasting; in different
worlds. In some worlds one, in some two, in
some three, in some five. On this four now,
and one to come In others there is no
Buddha- They live, for, some years. and
tirely annihilated, and has no more exist
ence. Buddhas disciples also become gods
but not ALL only those called Yahanda."
Where did this world come from, them"
'By itself it came; it had no maker; and
no end of other worlds, too, some peopled
by celestial beings or good Mats and some
The very beginning of any world even our
Buddha could not tell. There is no writ
ten account of the very beginning OF any
world, or of the very beginning OF any be-
ing"
"But how do you account for the way all
things round us work together SO Well.
THAT is for the interest OF the beings,
but cannot say how, because even Buddha
himself did not tell. For the use of the be-
ing the sun, this moon, these stars mt in, for
the interest of all beings. Just now, nobody
knows. You see the moon over us now; 1T
moves by itself, by airy force. No one
moves it, nor the sun, nor the stars NO one
directs them. If l move my hand or yours
it is the power in me- there is no such force
except in themselves. Whence did they get
it? 1 have told you, for the interest OF the
world, for the interest of the being.
II agree to that, but what causes them to
mover
Il have said there was no maker; they
came of themselves, and will last as long
as the world, and after they and it have
disappeared, new worlds will come again"
do you pTayW
Yes, to Buddha. All Buddhists pray to
Buddha"
rs he then God?'
Eyes, but not living"
HE cannot hear, but the prayer does
good to him who prays. All prayer comes
from a good heart. In every mans heart
there comes a wish to do good TO others or
himself; that shows a good heart, and in
Buddhism the work of a good heart is the
main thing. Through it we can become
good celestial beings and can get better ex-
istence in future lives. Through the work
also of bad heart men become lower be-
ings in after existence. These are the points
in Buddhism. Let me explain also that
through very, very bad hearts men have
to suffer punishment in hell, and through
very, very good hearts men may have es-
pecial enjoyment in this world and in
heaven-the worlds inhabited by good celes-
tial beings. Hell is inside the earth; bad
people go there Immediately after death,
but some go into animals. On this earth
men are not punished on account of bad
hearts, but the natural law really Furnishes
in after existence, except in some things, as
If one do wrong to the Area, or Buddha's
disciples
What good man does for others re-
turns to himself. We love our children be-
cause in former lives we had children, and
fed and nursed them, which was in this life
repaid to us by our parents, which debt we
again repay. This is the natural law. There
goodness except in annihilation-in Nirvana
which causes us to cease to exist. There
are many stages below us, the animals, the
souls in hell, and many stages above us, in
heaven, the Mats, and still others above
them who enjoy untold bliss for very long,
but these must some day return to earth,
and if once they sin they must go back to
hell and begin again. coming on through
the animals as before"
Much more he told me as for hours / sat
and wrote, till at last, after putting before
him the brighter hope of the gospel, we