The Washington times., 1901-09-15

mcnt. Tor IL is with nations as Will
children-what is given them they De
spise, while they eagerly desire what
is apparently withheld from them.
1.-The main reason for tho great sue
cesses of Mohammedanisn. especially
among the unciVilized hsathen of At
rica, consists in the great simplicity of
the religion in question. There is no
God but God. and 'Moha1mod is the
Prophet of God The convert need
Only believe these two sentences. and
he is at once Mussuiman. After
learning this simple confession of faith
he then needs only to fulfill the follow
ing five practical duties: % Recital of
the creed; C2) observance OF the five
appointed times of prayer; CO pay
ment of the legal aims: % fasting
during the month Of Ramadhan, and
t5l the pilgrimage 10 Mecca.
And every convert has equal rights
with all other members of the great
community. In regard to the, faith.
there are no distinctions; for did NJ
even the Nubian. SIuhammed AhnrsH
rise to be the Mahdi, the Messiah of
the Mohammedans? b
The essay on Brahminism also give:
some interesting Information. The au
thor says:
What is the meaning of toleraften
in the Nedic sense of the word? Not
that which makes all souls equal. Ill
ttludl. si1l CrtIIPS q cOnlu luSfOT
worse confounded. defeating the vfov-
idential design. The sacred teaching
should be adapted to the souls in the
order of their merit. but not that all
souls. ripe or unripe. rude or unrude.
barbarous or civilized, should be
adapted at once to the sacred teach
ing. The right meaning of liberation
is, allowing each soul to stand on its
own rung. and bidding ii see below
and see above. and understand that il
IA ppf and that
there are Sc many rungs to be got
over still. The ladder is tremendously
high. But If you should iil-advise that
soul that its rung is false. and that
your own rung, say several steps
above the former, is true. and that it
should ct at once to your rung, is il
poss.b or conceivable to jump over
at once several intermediate rungs?
In perfect concordance with the null
tifarious merits OF the myriads of CO.
existent souls. the Perfect Lord had
fixed the corresponding number of
stages of religion
I'm this extract from the writing of
an educated Hindu of the present day,
we have the working principle of
Brahminism. and its attitude toward
the people at large. very fairly ex-
pounded.
"The truth is that the method of
reconciling all these religions with
double face with an outer form and
an inward meaning, is mysticism. The
mystic is one who is Illuminated by the
light of real knowledge, who discernS
the veiled divinity or the secret doc
trine behind symbols, who perceives
the unity of spiritual truth under
many forms; and whose business ii
is gradually to lift the curtain to those
who are fitted to understand while he
allows the stage-play to go on In front
for the benefit of the crowd. This is.
] think. the secret of the true Asiatic
religion, and TO great degree the
source of its strength and power OF
resistance"
OF Sikhism, the religion founded by
lanak, the author says:
THE monotheism of Nanak is often
not to he distinguished from panthe-
ism; and unless creed be provided
with personal and anthropomorphic
deity ii is always difficult to draw the
line between the two. Sometimes
Nanak represents God as a self-con-
scious spirit protecting the creatures
He has made: an ever-present Provi-'
dence, who can be approached through
the Guru, the heayen-appointed teach
er. and ready TO bless and emancipate
the soul which worships sincerely and
humbly. AT other times. man and the
universe and all that exists are but
part of and an emanation from God.
who produces all things out of Him
self and to whom all finally return.
In the same way, it would seem that
of the lower deities of the Hindu my
thology, or the poetic panthesm on
which his belief in the one supreme
God was based could hardly exist
without the symbolism which inspired
all nature with life, and found a spirit
ual force behind and within every
manifestation of natural energy Yet
all such deities he asserted to be in
different and unworthy of regard,
much as the early preachers of Chris
tianity treated the gods OF Greece and
Rome. in whose existence they be-
heYed, but whose dominion was to be
overthrown by Christ. Idolatry he con-
demned, asserting that the service
pleasing to the Deity was .hat of the
heart; neither vain ceremonies nor the
austerities which the Hindu ascetics
had been wont to consider as the key
which unlocked the highest and most
secret mysteries, but pure, unselfish
life, faith in God revealed through
the instrumentality of the appointed
Guru. or spiritual guide. Charity and
good works were ccmmendable and the
worthy fruits of an unselfish life; but
they were not of themselves sufficient
to release the soul from its bondage
to sense and illusion, or to save IL from
transmigration, the ever-present dread
of the Hindu. or to insure its reunion
with God. These results could only be
attained by meditation on God and
through the saving grace of his name
Although Nanak claimed to be a
prophet, he did not assert that he was
inspired or possessed of miraculous
powers, though these were freely
ascribed to him by his disciples, both
during his lifetime and after his death
But he magnified his Office of Guru
into that of an Intermediary between
man and God, and blind obedience to
the Guru was enjoined as an essential
article OF faith. The Gurus saving
power was such that contact with him
brought salvation to the most Grim
inal. In short, the virtue of the Guru
was supreme: and although Nanak
but spoke of himself as an ignorant
and sinful man. yet the Gurus who
succeeded him, and who possessed
more ambition and less piety, were
virtually deit;. by their followers;
and the worship of the Guru and the
honor, and the life of his followers.
became as grievous a burden to the
Sikh community as the yoke OF the
Brahmins had been. Nanak
taught the wisdom and omnipotence
of one supreme God; and the equality
of all men, of whatever race or creed,
in his sight; purity of life, charity,
humility, and temperance. He entoin-
ed kindness to animals. and forbade
both female infanticide and the burn
ing of widows. He condemned idola-
try and asceticisn, and preached the
wholesome doctrine that the state of
the worker and householder was the
most honorable condition, and that,
to find God and serve him, II was not
necessary to practice austerities or re-
tire from active life. His object, in
which he largely succeeded. was TO
purge Hinduism of the dress which
had gathered about it; TO lift II from
the slough OF polythesm and vain
ceremonial in which il was choked.
and to bring 1t back to the firm
ground and the pure air of the Vedas.
His mission. at the close of the
century was the same as that
Of Raia lal Mohun Roy and Keshab
Sen in the nineteenth: but
his originality was the greater. for
his impulse was not, like theirs. the
necessary result OF contact with Euro
pean culture and modes OF thought"
IT will be seen from this that there are
any forms of religion In India with
hich the Western mind is not acduaint-