[1] Usually but erroneously translated "priest," ignoring a fundamental difference between Buddhism and other religions. Buddhism recognises no priesthood. By "priest" one understands a mediator between God and man, a vehicle of divine grace, a person with delegated authority from God to administer the sacraments of religion, to admit into the faith or eject from it, to absolve from sin, etc. Such an institution can have no place in Buddhism. _Bhikkhu_, (literally, a "beggar" and etymologically the same word) is one of a brotherhood of men trying to live as Buddha lived, to purify and discipline themselves, earnest pilgrims on the road reaching unto deliverance (_Nirvāna_). The layman demands from the _bhikkhu_ no assistance in heavenly, no interference in worldly, affairs, but only that he should live as becomes a follower of the great Teacher. The nearest English equivalent of _bhikkhu is_ "mendicant friar". [2] Sansk. _Artha Kathā_. [3] _Mahā-vagga_, i, 6-10 _seq._ The message continues: "I teach you, I preach the Norm. If ye walk according to my teaching, ye shall be partakers, in a short time, of that for which noble youths leave their homes and go into homelessness, the highest end of religious effort: ye shall even in the present life apprehend the Truth itself and see it face to face." [4] (1) Sammā diṭṭhi, (2) Sammā sankappo, (3) Sammā vāca, (4) Sammā kammanto, (5) Sammā ājīvo, (6) Sammā vāyāmo, (7) Sammā sati, (8) Sammā samādhi. [5] Shipwrecked off Trincomalee in 1660, he remained an unwilling but favoured guest of King Raja Sinha II for twenty years. Escaping to Europe, he wrote his excellent _Historical Relation of the Island of Ceylon_, published 1681. [6] It was uphill work for Colonel Olcott, but his magnificent courage and enthusiasm prevailed over every obstacle. I was then a Magistrate in the Kalutara district of the Western Province, and remember that well-known Buddhists, appearing as witnesses, would not acknowledge their Faith and swore on the Bible rather than affirm. The Portuguese and Dutch Governments had persecuted them, and the English Government, though it did not persecute, continued for years many disabilities. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE