Excerpt from Christ and Buddha; Religion Comparison Between Buddhism and Christianity, Volume 1;
Christ and Buddha
A DEEP interest in Buddhism needs no apology on my part. For more than thirty years I have been brought into constant and intimate contact with it, not simply in the coast districts of Burma where foreign influences are distinctly felt, but in the distant interior where until very recently the foreigner had never come and the people held intact their ancestral beliefs. In the preparation of my Shan and English Dictionary it became necessary to examine extensively the literature of the Shans. This literature is largely a collection of Buddhist books, the most of which are translations from the Burmese language. I have always had the pleasure of the helpful acquaintance of a good number of Buddhist monks, well educated in the books of their faith, who were ready to give any information about their religion that was desired, and to discuss quietly and as exhaustively as they were able, any points of doctrine difficult to understand. It was also my very good fortune to enjoy the friendship of the learned and scholarly Bishop Bigandet during the last twelve years of his eventful life. The extensive knowledge of Buddhism which he possessed is shown in his widely known " Life of Gautama." He was always ready to open his stores of information for the benefit of others, and I often availed myself of his kindness and personal friendship to gain light on obscure and difficult subjects. I ought not to forget to acknowledge the extremely valuable information that I gained from Dr. Emil Forchhammer, Professor of Pali in the Government College at Rangoon, and Government Archaeologist, of whose family I was at one time a member. The results of his profound study of Buddhism and diligent investigation of ancient Buddhist monuments and inscriptions in Burma were largely lost to the world through his premature death. During the last five years my interest in Buddhism has been intensified by the study of Pali and of Sanskrit which has brought me into direct acquaintance with the original text of the Pitakas so far as they have been pubUshed. During the last three months I have been staying in Ceylon, and have improved the opportunity to investigate Buddhism in the island where Mahinda was the great first missionary, and where many of the monks thoroughly understand the tenets of their religion, although the common people, as in Burma, are much addicted to practising the worship of spirits, especially demons, while they conform outwardly to the customs of Buddhism.
There are other than personal reasons why the study of Buddhism is interesting. It is a religion which has been accepted for centuries, by many millions of the human race, and still, in its various phases, is spread over Ceylon, Burma, Siam, China, Korea, Japan, and Thibet. From Asoka's celebrated edicts inscribed on rocks and stone pillars, beginning about 250 b. c. and situated in places at immense distances from one another, we learn that Buddhism had already spread throughout his vast Indian empire and even in adjacent countries. Although it disappeared from India about the twelfth century, it has ever maintained a vast and molding influence in many other Asiatic countries. Before Christianity arose, the adherents of Buddhism were very many, and it is doubtless true that it has, in its history, had more followers than Christianity or any other single religion. It is safe to say that at the present time no two religions exert a wider direct and indirect influence than Buddhism and Christianity, the one by its quiet, tenacious hold on a multitude of men, the other by its vigorous, aggressive life that not only leads its followers to an active religious effort, but seeks to attract men of other faiths to its acceptance. Once Buddhism had a missionary spirit as Christianity now has, and its dogmas, whatever we may think of them as a whole, had as winning a power over many
Christ and Buddha
A DEEP interest in Buddhism needs no apology on my part. For more than thirty years I have been brought into constant and intimate contact with it, not simply in the coast districts of Burma where foreign influences are distinctly felt, but in the distant interior where until very recently the foreigner had never come and the people held intact their ancestral beliefs. In the preparation of my Shan and English Dictionary it became necessary to examine extensively the literature of the Shans. This literature is largely a collection of Buddhist books, the most of which are translations from the Burmese language. I have always had the pleasure of the helpful acquaintance of a good number of Buddhist monks, well educated in the books of their faith, who were ready to give any information about their religion that was desired, and to discuss quietly and as exhaustively as they were able, any points of doctrine difficult to understand. It was also my very good fortune to enjoy the friendship of the learned and scholarly Bishop Bigandet during the last twelve years of his eventful life. The extensive knowledge of Buddhism which he possessed is shown in his widely known " Life of Gautama." He was always ready to open his stores of information for the benefit of others, and I often availed myself of his kindness and personal friendship to gain light on obscure and difficult subjects. I ought not to forget to acknowledge the extremely valuable information that I gained from Dr. Emil Forchhammer, Professor of Pali in the Government College at Rangoon, and Government Archaeologist, of whose family I was at one time a member. The results of his profound study of Buddhism and diligent investigation of ancient Buddhist monuments and inscriptions in Burma were largely lost to the world through his premature death. During the last five years my interest in Buddhism has been intensified by the study of Pali and of Sanskrit which has brought me into direct acquaintance with the original text of the Pitakas so far as they have been pubUshed. During the last three months I have been staying in Ceylon, and have improved the opportunity to investigate Buddhism in the island where Mahinda was the great first missionary, and where many of the monks thoroughly understand the tenets of their religion, although the common people, as in Burma, are much addicted to practising the worship of spirits, especially demons, while they conform outwardly to the customs of Buddhism.
There are other than personal reasons why the study of Buddhism is interesting. It is a religion which has been accepted for centuries, by many millions of the human race, and still, in its various phases, is spread over Ceylon, Burma, Siam, China, Korea, Japan, and Thibet. From Asoka's celebrated edicts inscribed on rocks and stone pillars, beginning about 250 b. c. and situated in places at immense distances from one another, we learn that Buddhism had already spread throughout his vast Indian empire and even in adjacent countries. Although it disappeared from India about the twelfth century, it has ever maintained a vast and molding influence in many other Asiatic countries. Before Christianity arose, the adherents of Buddhism were very many, and it is doubtless true that it has, in its history, had more followers than Christianity or any other single religion. It is safe to say that at the present time no two religions exert a wider direct and indirect influence than Buddhism and Christianity, the one by its quiet, tenacious hold on a multitude of men, the other by its vigorous, aggressive life that not only leads its followers to an active religious effort, but seeks to attract men of other faiths to its acceptance. Once Buddhism had a missionary spirit as Christianity now has, and its dogmas, whatever we may think of them as a whole, had as winning a power over many
