The Buddhist Catechism Part 15

307. Q. _Whence and when did it reach Korea?_

A. From China, in the year A. D. 372.

308. Q. _Whence and when did it reach j.a.pan?_

A. From Korea, in A. D. 552.

309. Q. _Whence and when did it reach Cochin China, Formosa, Java, Mongolia, Yorkand, Balk, Bokhara, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries?_

A. Apparently in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D.

310. Q. _From Ceylon, whither and when did it spread?_

A. To Burma, in A.D. 450, and thence gradually into Arakan, Kamboya and Pegu. In the seventh century (A.D. 638) it spread to Siam, where it is now, as it has been always since then, the State religion.

311. Q. _From Kashmir, where else did it spread besides to China?_

A. To Nepal and Tibet.

312. Q. Why is it that Buddhism, which was once the prevailing religion throughout India, is now almost extinct there?

A. Buddhism was at first pure and n.o.ble, the very teaching of the Tathagata; its Sangha were virtuous and observed the Precepts; it won all hearts and spread joy through many nations, as the morning light sends life through the flowers. But after some centuries, bad Bhikkhus got ordination (_Upasampada_) the Sangha became rich, lazy, and sensual, the Dharma was corrupted, and the Indian nation abandoned it.

313. Q. _Did anything happen about the ninth or tenth century A.D. to hasten its downfall?_

A. Yes.

314. Q. _Anything besides the decay of spirituality, the corruption of the Sangha, and the reaction of the populace from a higher ideal of man to unintelligent idolatry?_

A. Yes. It is said that the Mussalmans invaded, overran and conquered large areas of India; everywhere doing their utmost to stamp out our religion.

315. Q. _What cruel acts are they charged with doing?_

A. They burnt, pulled down or otherwise destroyed our viharas, slaughtered our Bhikkhus, and consumed with fire our religious books.

316. Q. _Was our literature completely destroyed in India?_

A. No. Many Bhikkhus fled across the borders into Tibet and other safe places of refuge, carrying their books with them.

317. Q. _Have any traces of these books been recently discovered?_

A. Yes. Rai Bhadur Sarat Chandra Das, C.I.E., a noted Bengali pandit, saw hundreds of them in the vihara libraries of Tibet, brought copies of some of the most important back with him, and is now employed by the Government of India in editing and publis.h.i.+ng them.

318. Q. _In which country have we reason to believe the sacred books of primitive Buddhism have been best preserved and least corrupted?_

A. Ceylon. The _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ says that in this island Buddhism has, for specified reasons, "retained almost its pristine purity to modern times".

319. Q. _Has any revision of the text of the Pitakas been made in modern times?_

A. Yes. A careful revision of the Vinaya Pitaka was made in Ceylon in the year A.D. 1875, by a convention of the most learned Bhikkhus, under the presidency of H. Sumangala, Pradhana Sthavira.

320. Q. _Has there been any friendly intercourse in the interest of Buddhism between the peoples of the Southern and those of the Northern Buddhist countries?_

A. In the year A.D. 1891, a successful attempt was made to get the Pradhana Nayakas of the two great divisions to agree to accept fourteen propositions as embodying fundamental Buddhistic beliefs recognised and taught by both divisions. These propositions, drafted by Colonel Olcott, were carefully translated into Burmese, Sinhalese and j.a.panese, discussed one by one, unanimously adopted and signed by the chief monks, and published in January 1892.

321. Q. _With what good result?_

A. As the result of the good understanding now existing, a number of j.a.panese bhikkhus and samaneras have been sent to Ceylon and India to study Pali and Samskrt.

322. Q. _Are there signs that the Buddha Dharma is growing in favour in non-Buddhistic countries?_[1]

A. There are. Translations of our more valuable books are appearing, many articles in reviews, magazines and newspapers are being published, and excellent original treatises by distinguished writers are coming from the press. Moreover, Buddhist and non-Buddhist lecturers are publicly discoursing on Buddhism to large audiences in western countries. The s.h.i.+n Shu sect of j.a.panese Buddhists have actually opened missions at Honolulu, San Francisco, Sacramento and other American places.

323. Q. _What two leading ideas of ours are chiefly taking hold upon the western mind?_

A. Those of Karma and Reincarnation. The rapidity of their acceptance is very surprising.

324. Q. _What is believed to be the explanation of this?_

A. Their appeals to the natural instinct of justice, and their evident reasonableness.

[1] See Appendix.

PART V

BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE

325. Q. _Has Buddhism any right to be considered a scientific religion, or may it be cla.s.sified as a "revealed" one?_

A. Most emphatically it is not a revealed religion. The Buddha did not so preach, nor is it so understood. On the contrary, he gave it out as the statement of eternal truths, which his predecessors had taught like himself.

326. Q. _Repeat again the name of the Sutta, in which the Buddha tells us not to believe in an alleged revelation without testing it by one's reason and experience?_

A. The Kalama Sutta, of the Anguthara Nikaya.

327. Q. _Do Buddhists accept the theory that everything has been formed out of nothing by a Creator?_

A. The Buddha taught that two things are causeless, _viz._, Akasha, and Nirvana. Everything has come ont of Akasha, in obedience to a law of motion inherent in it, and, after a certain existence, pa.s.ses away. Nothing ever came out of nothing. We do not believe in miracles; hence we deny creation, and cannot conceive of a creation of something out of nothing. Nothing organic is eternal.

Everything is in a state of constant flux, and undergoing change and reformation, keeping up the continuity according to the law of evolution.

328. Q. _Is Buddhism opposed to education, and to the study of science?_

A. Quite the contrary: in the _Sigalowada Sutta_ in a discourse preached by the Buddha, He specified as one of the duties of a teacher that he should give his pupils "instruction in science and lore". The Buddha's higher teachings are for the enlightened, the wise, and the thoughtful.