Ancient Faiths And Modern: A Dissertation upon Worships, Legends and Divinities in Central and Western Asia, Europe, and Elsewhere, Before the Christian Era. Showing Their Relations to Religious Customs as They Now Exist.Inman, Thomas
Religion
Ancient Faiths And Modern: A Dissertation upon Worships, Legends and Divinities in Central and Western Asia, Europe, and Elsewhere, Before the Christian Era. Showing Their Relations to Religious Customs as They Now Exist.
Inman, Thomas
Religions
To my own mind, the assertion that Sakya did not believe in God is
wholly unsupported. Nay, his whole scheme is built upon the belief that
there are powers above which are capable of punishing mankind for their
sins. It is true that these "gods" were not called Elohim, nor Jah,
nor Jahveh, nor Jehovah, nor Adonai, nor Eliieh (I am), nor Baalim,
nor Ashtoreth--yet, for "the son of Suddhodana" (another name for Sakya
Muni, for he has almost as many, if not more than the western god),
there was a supreme being called Brahma, or some other name representing
the same idea as we entertain of the Omnipotent. Still further, in the
life of Buddha, quoted by St. Hilaire (p. 9) we find the following as
part of the thoughts of the young Siddartha--"The three worlds, the
world of the gods, the world of the assours (the benighted ones, or, as
we should call them, 'the devils ), and that of men, are all plagued
by the occurrence of old age and disease." We do not, for we dare not
assert that this opinion is identical with ours; but we are equally
indisposed to say that the opinions current amongst ourselves are
absolutely true.
Men living in future days, and whose minds are educated, will probably
declare, "that the Christians of Europe and elsewhere, for nearly two
thousand years, had no god but the devil They said he was good, but
they painted him as one who rejoiced in pain, lamentation, mourning, and
woe." Buddha preached that man suffered from the effects of his
sins, and that unless he attained salvation, he would be punished
everlastingly. The son of Mary, and all his followers, taught, and
Christians still entertain the belief, that man suffers from the sin of
a progenitor (assumed to be the parent of all mankind), and that each
person will be tortured throughout eternity unless he is able to mollify
his maker, who is also his judge. Both teachers had necessarily an idea
of a power able to make laws for the conduct of human life, to ordain
rewards for good behaviour, and to apportion punishment for offences,
and yet who was sufficiently forgiving to cease from requital, "for a
consideration," the bribe being invariably a bloody one. Jesus called
this power "my Father," Siddartha called him Brahma, the Supreme one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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