El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-11

TN KAMAKURA, a few miles from
4 Yokohama, stands one of the
q worlds art wonders. "the bronze
statue of .Diabutsu'-the great Bud
dha." The statue is 40 feet high, and
! represents Buddha sitting in contem-
plation in a sacred grove. Thousands
of copies of this famous statue are to
he bought in wood, bronze and pho
tograph form. but not enc gives the
least impression of its awe-inspiring
beauty and indescribable grandeur.
Coming suddenly upon the D1a-
butsu" as the visitor must, on pass
ing through the outer gates, the effect
is Overwhelming. No matter what the
faith or lack of faith, or whether he
is ignorant or wise in art lore, unless
he is of the lowest type OF develop
ment (akin to the jellyfish) he who
looks for the first time upon the CO
lossaI ideal of an ancient faith, must
be powerfully stirred
No artist or sculptor of all the CEN
turtles has succeeded in making per-
feet representation Of Christ; one
which embod;es love, compassion, WIS
dom. sympathy and Immortality.
Always is there lacking some quail
ty we feel existed in the Christ; some
flaw in the perfect whole.
But all that those Oldest books or
sacred wisdom extant-the Vedas-
describe as the ecStatic state Of reah-
cation which is the ultimate good Of
man: and all that Buddha taught, re-
garding the state three hundred years
before Christ, is expressed in the "Dia-
butsu"
To look upon it is TO know the mean
ing of that much misunderstood word
''Nirvana" Not oblivion, not annihi-
lation. but the serenity of attainment
and the ecstacy of atone moment.
To see this bronze marvel is to
erasp the meaning of Christ when he
said:
Il and my Father are one"
Nothing is known of the artist, but.
great must have been his faith and
large his understanding, to have pro-
duced such enduring magnetism.
Kamakura was the capital OF Japan
from 1889 until several centuries later
The statue was erected during that
period An earthquake in 1855 and
tidal wave in 1926 destroyed the town,
but while calamities wrecked the tenn
pies built over the "Diabutsu.' the
statue itself was unframed and un-
shaken. But one who stands before
the glorious symbol of a great religion
and feels the full beauty of both turns
to modern Japan and seeks in vain Tor
any living expression of that faith-of
that philosophy as taught by the We
das by Krishna, by Buddha. Con-
quest of the earnal self. meditation on
and persistent search for the God
within" until absolute union with the
Creative Power was attained-these
were the principal supports on which
Buddhism in its simple purity rested.
Buddha was an illuminated soul and
a wise man. And he strongly disap-
proved of the worship of idols and all
beliefs which led mankind away from
the one method Of salvation through
self conquest Personal responsible
ty and character development were
bone and sinew of his creed.
Buddhism as it exists in Japan to-
day is idol worship, superstition, igno-
rance and mental Incidence combined
in a helpless and useless mixture.
At the Buddhistfc temple of .Kwan-
non,' in Toxic, may be seen any day
thousands of the lower and middle
class Japanese going through religious
ceremonials. which must bring sorrow
to the soul of Buddha, even in Mir
vana, so utterly devoid are they of his
spirit and so far away from his teach
ings
They are interesting. however to a
foreigner and there is a certain pa
thos about the childish performance so
seriously gone through. At one side Of
the temple may be seen an old woman
tossing a coin in a small aperture and
then beating violently on a closed
door, after which, believing her knock
has gained the attention of the spirit
god presiding over that department of
the temple, she proceeds to utter a
brief prayers. A little farther on, three