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
"I tell you all, you must of yourselves know, that 'this is evil, this
is punishable, this is censured by wise men, belief in this will bring
no advantage to anyone, but will cause sorrow;' and when you know this,
then eschew it" (pp. 45-47). Then follows a long account of the examples
which Buddha gave to his disciples, examining them by questions, whose
answer is obvious; but these, though wonderfully to the point, are too
long for quotation, and we must refer our readers to the book itself.
Nor do we act thus, reluctantly, for we believe that every honest
inquirer will thank us for the introduction. We should rejoice if
some of our divines became acquainted with it. They might draw as
many valuable texts from the discourses attributed to Buddha, herein
described, as they do now from Jesus' sermon on the mount. We may add,
in passing, that, in the conversation of Sakya Muni, he says, "it is
better to believe in a future life, in which happiness or misery can
be felt, for if the heart believes therein, it will abandon sin and act
virtuously; and even if there is no resurrection, such a life will bring
a good name and the regard of men. But those who believe in extinction
at death, will not fail to commit any sin that they may choose, because
of their disbelief in a future; and if there should happen to be a
future after all, they will be at a disadvantage--they will be like
travellers without provisions" (p. 54).
The following exposition of modern Buddhist belief well deserves
attention.
"Buddhists believe that every act, word, or thought, has its
consequence, which will appear sooner or later in the present, or in
some future state. Evil acts will produce evil consequences, i.e., may
cause a man misfortune in this world, or an evil birth in hell, or as
an animal in some future existence. Good acts, etc., will produce good
consequences; prosperity in this world, or birth in heaven, or in a high
position in the world in some future state" (p. 57).
We will only add, that if the value of Buddhism, like Christianity, is
to be known by its fruits, it is clear, that the former, as practised
generally in Siam, is decidedly superior to the latter as practised in
Great Britain, America, and Christendom, generally.
CHAPTER V.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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