The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-22
ASHES OF BUDDHA
BY FRANK G. CARPENTER.


en- Pagoda at Rangoon. That pagoda
| is built over eight nairs which came
| from the head of the great Buddha,
and it's sanctity Is surpassed only by
that of the temple at Randy, which
cantains Buddhas fayorte tooth.
| This tooth was brought to Ceylon
more than sixteen centuries ago by
princess, who concealed 1t in her cloth
ing. Since then 1t has been fought over
and captured and recaptured during
| several wars, and 1t Is now SO holy
that 1t Is shown only with the consent
| of the government The tooth looks
more like the tooth of a crocodile than
that of a man. 1t is a piece of ivory
about an inch In diameter and as long
| as my little finger. 1t reposes Oh a
| lotus flower of pure gold under nest
of seven bells of gold set with jewels.
People come from all parts of the
| Buddhist world to worship at this
shrine; and 1t is said that single pill
grim upon one occasion laid 100000
| flowers upon It.
| Next to Ceylon and Burma, I find that
Siam is the chief Buddhist country of
this part of the world. 1t has no relics
of the saint but the splendor of its
temples beggars description. I visited
one at Bangkok which has carpet or
woven silver wire, and contains little
gold god set with emeralds and other
of figures of Buddha plated with gold,
and in one temple there saw what is
| perhaps the largest idol of the world.
1t is a sleeping Buddha SO heavily
plated that it shines like new we'd
ding ring. 1t is $50 feet long, and its
arm is as big around as flour barrel.
Indian Buddhism
| India should have more Buddhists than
| any other land. 1t was here that Bud
dha was born. Here he spent his whole
life, and from here his religion spread
to other parts of the world. Today, of
the three hundred millions of India, not
more than one in a thousand is q follower
of Buddha. There are between nine and
ten millions of that faith in Burma, and
many more In Ceylon and parts Of farther
India.
| The Buddhists of Hindustan number
less than 100000. They are found in small
numbers along the northern frontier of
Bengal and upon the lower slopes of the
Himalayas. In Nepal, where Buddha was
born, he has still many followers, and in
Kashmir near where these ashes were
found, there are of his believers perhaps
10000 all told
The religion at first had great sway 1t
spread throughout Hindustan. and at the
time of King Kanishka, who built the
| great temple over the ashes recently
| found, it was one of the predominant
faiths. After that 1t began to. Decline
and 1t was almost wiped out at the time
the Mohammedans came in and took pos
session of northern, India. Today there
are something like 15O,0O0,000 Buddhsts
In the world. but this estimate is based
Euron figures which cannot be verified
The religion is the chief one of Japan
| two-thirds of the Chinese are supposed to
believe it, and It's most ardent followers
| are Tibetans and the Monaghan popula-
ton of Asia. There are Buddhists in ST.
IBERIA and In the Dutch East Indies and
the faith Is supposed to be alive in Corea
although the priests there are low fell
lows and are despised and rejected of
men.
| I'm the Footprints of Buddha
During my present stay in India
have walked in the footprints of Buddha
| I passed his birthplace on my way up
the HimaIayas. He was the son of
king whoflived on their slopes, in south
ern Nept, and his boyhood wasospent in
the most beautiful scenery under the
shadows of the highest mountains on the
EARTH During the earlier part of his life
he enjoyed such luxury as only India
knows. He was given every pleasure,
was married to charming princess and
in due time had a beautiful son. During
this period he was kept from the sight
of all evil, sorrow and pain, for fear that
| his contemplative and ascetic nature
might lead him to take to the church. 1t
| was not until he was almost 20 years of
| age that he learned of the troubles OF
| mankind, and decided upon the great
| renunciation. He then gave UP his pal
ace, cut off his long hair, and putting
OH the clothes of a beggar went forth
upon the highways He spent six years
| in wandering about in his efforts for the
i q nrQcfiCad
religion after another; he tasted and
prayed; he mortified the flesh in every
way, and went through struggle after
struggle and temptation after temptation,
until at last at Buddha Gaya. he found
the light and went to Benares, where
he first gave 1t to mankind.
! Fuddha Gaya Is to the Buddhists the
most holy spot upon earth. The DO tree
under which Buddha sat during his great
contemp lations they believe to be the
center Of the earth. They will tell you
that the original tree still stands and
that branches of 1t have been carried to
Ceylon and there sprouted This tree is
situated near a Buddhist temple Which
| is about seven miles from the littl6 city
OF Gaya. II lies some distance south Of
| the Ganges, 1892 miles by rail from Cal
cutta, and Is reached by way Of Patna,
where the great opium factories are. AS
| the crow flies 1t Is about 1875 miles from
Benares.
Tho temple, which stands near the tree,
was erected about 800 years after Bud
dha's death, and is hence about 1900 years
old. 1t is 100 feet high and the wall of
| it's tower is IA feet thick. 1t Is in the form
of Il pyramid of nine stories, embellished
| with inches and holdings. / have no
space to speak Of the tree or it's sur
roundings. The shrines are chiefly in the
| hands of the Brahmins, although there
are a few Buddhist monks who worship
| in monastery nearby. They say their
prayers before a beautiful statue of Bud
dha, which has been brought from Japan.
Buddha Gaya has about 100000 pilgrims
| year.
The Great Temptation
| 1t was on this spot that Buddha, ac-
cording to a manuscript supposed to date
| from the third century before Christ,
spent six years In penance and mortifica-
| ticn of the flesh. During that time he sat
cross-legged under the DO tree fasting
and praying. He became q. living skele-
ton. was naked and covered with dirt,
and an object of contempt to the villages
about. He was tempted by both angels
and devils. Legions of demons, some of
which had thousands of heads, fought
al ound him In vain. They threw poisoned
arrows. but before they fell they were
changed to flowers. In addition there
were hordes of the most beautiful wom-
ell from girlhood to maturity who tried
to attract the saint by their charms.
They tried every one of the two and
thirty modes Of making men fall, but they
were powerless against Guiana Buddha,
who had conquered and risen above all
| cernal desires s. .liisl TYl7a
In addition there were hundreds OF
other temptations of which this manu-.
script tells; but Buddha vanquished tltm
g.