THE MYTH
In asking, What is Buddhism, we must begin, as before, with the Myth. This has now become the Founder’s life of some eighty years, into which period the whole epic of the victory over death has now been condensed. But if we subtract from the pseudo-historical narrative all its mythical and miraculous features, the residual nucleus of historically plausible fact will be very small indeed: and all that we can say is that while there may have lived an individual teacher who gave the ancient wisdom its peculiarly “Buddhist” coloring, his personality is completely overshadowed, as he must have wished it should be,178 by the eternal substance (ak
lika dharma) with which he identified himself. In other words, “the Buddha is only anthropomorphic, not a man”.179 It is true that a majority of modern scholars, euhemerist by temperament and training, suppose that this was not Man, but a man, subsequently deified; we take the contrary view, implied by the texts, that the Buddha is a solar deity descended from heaven to save both men and Gods from all the ill that is denoted by the word “mortality”, the view that his birth and awakening are coeval with time.180
lika dharma) with which he identified himself. In other words, “the Buddha is only anthropomorphic, not a man”.179 It is true that a majority of modern scholars, euhemerist by temperament and training, suppose that this was not Man, but a man, subsequently deified; we take the contrary view, implied by the texts, that the Buddha is a solar deity descended from heaven to save both men and Gods from all the ill that is denoted by the word “mortality”, the view that his birth and awakening are coeval with time.180Before proceeding to the narrative we must explain how a distinction is made between the epithets Bodhisattva and Buddha. The Bodhisattva is an “awakening being”, or one of “wakeful nature”; the Buddha is “awake” or “The Wake”. The Bodhisattva is, dogmatically, an originally mortal being, qualifying by the making-become of transcendental virtues and insights for the “total awakening” of a Buddha. Gautama Siddhartha, the “historical Buddha”, is thus himself a Bodhisattva until the moment of his “all-awakening”. It is, furthermore assumed that a Buddha is born in every successive aeon, and that Gautama Siddhartha was the seventh in such a series of prophetic incarnations, and that he will be followed by Maitreya, now a Bodhisattva in heaven. There are other Bodhisattvas, notably Avalokite
vara, who are virtually Buddhas, but are vowed never actually to enter into their Buddhahood until the last blade of grass has been first redeemed.
vara, who are virtually Buddhas, but are vowed never actually to enter into their Buddhahood until the last blade of grass has been first redeemed.Previous to his last birth on earth, the Bodhisattva is resident in the Tu
ita heaven; and there being urged by the Gods to release the universe from its sorrows, he considers and decides upon the time and place of his birth and the family and mother of whom he will be born. A Buddha must be born of either a priestly or the royal caste, whichever is predominant at the time; and the royal caste being now predominant, he chooses to be born of Mah Maya, the queen of king Suddhodana of the Skya clan, at his capital city of Kapilavastu in the Middle Country; and that is to say, whatever else it may mean, in the “Middle Country” of the Ganges Valley. The Annunciation takes the form of “Mah My’s dream”, in which she sees a glorious white elephant descending from the skies to enter her womb. The king’s interpreters of dreams explain that she has conceived a son who may be either a Universal Emperor or a Buddha. Both of these possibilities are actually realised in the spiritual sense, for while it is true that the Buddha’s kingdom was not of this world, it is both as Teacher and as Lord of the universe that he “turns the wheel.”
ita heaven; and there being urged by the Gods to release the universe from its sorrows, he considers and decides upon the time and place of his birth and the family and mother of whom he will be born. A Buddha must be born of either a priestly or the royal caste, whichever is predominant at the time; and the royal caste being now predominant, he chooses to be born of Mah Maya, the queen of king Suddhodana of the Skya clan, at his capital city of Kapilavastu in the Middle Country; and that is to say, whatever else it may mean, in the “Middle Country” of the Ganges Valley. The Annunciation takes the form of “Mah My’s dream”, in which she sees a glorious white elephant descending from the skies to enter her womb. The king’s interpreters of dreams explain that she has conceived a son who may be either a Universal Emperor or a Buddha. Both of these possibilities are actually realised in the spiritual sense, for while it is true that the Buddha’s kingdom was not of this world, it is both as Teacher and as Lord of the universe that he “turns the wheel.”The child is visible in the mother’s womb. When the time comes, Mah My sets out to visit her parents at Devahrada; on her way she pauses at the Lumbini Park, and feeling that her time has come, she stretches out her hand to support herself by the branch of a tree, which bends down of its own accord. Standing thus, she gives painless birth to the child. The child is born from her side. It is not explicit, but can be presumed that the birth was “virgin”; in any case it is interesting that the story was already known to Hieronymus who mentions it in a discussion of Virginity and in connection with the miraculous births of Plato and Christ.181 The child is received by the Guardian Deities of the Four Quarters. He steps down onto the ground, takes seven strides, and proclaims himself the “Foremost in the World”. The whole universe is transfigured and rejoices in light. On the same day are born the “seven connatural ones”, amongst whom are the Bodhisattva’s future wife, his horse, and the disciple 
nanda. These things take place, not uniquely, but “normally”, that is to say that such is the course of events whenever a Buddha is born.
My sets out to visit her parents at Devahrada; on her way she pauses at the Lumbini Park, and feeling that her time has come, she stretches out her hand to support herself by the branch of a tree, which bends down of its own accord. Standing thus, she gives painless birth to the child. The child is born from her side. It is not explicit, but can be presumed that the birth was “virgin”; in any case it is interesting that the story was already known to Hieronymus who mentions it in a discussion of Virginity and in connection with the miraculous births of Plato and Christ.181 The child is received by the Guardian Deities of the Four Quarters. He steps down onto the ground, takes seven strides, and proclaims himself the “Foremost in the World”. The whole universe is transfigured and rejoices in light. On the same day are born the “seven connatural ones”, amongst whom are the Bodhisattva’s future wife, his horse, and the disciple nanda. These things take place, not uniquely, but “normally”, that is to say that such is the course of events whenever a Buddha is born.Mah My’s dormition takes place a week after the child is born, and her sister Prajpat
, and co-wife of Suddhodana, takes her place. The child is taken back to Kapilavastu, and shown to the father; he is recognized and worshipped by the Brahman soothsayers, who announce that he will be Emperor or Buddha, at the age of thirty five. The child is presented in the temple, where the tutelary deity of the 
kyas bows down to him. Suddhodana, desiring that his son may be an Emperor and not a Buddha, and learning that he will abandon the world only after he has seen an old man, a sick man, a corpse and a monk, brings him up in luxurious seclusion, ignorant of the very existence of suffering and death. The first miracle takes place on a day when the king, in accordance with custom, is taking part in the First Ploughing of the year; the child is laid in the shadow of a tree, which does not move although the shadows of other trees move naturally with the sun; in other words, the sun remains overhead. The child at school learns with supernatural facility. At the age of sixteen, by victory in an archery contest, in which his arrow pierces seven trees, he obtains his cousin Yaodhara as wife; she becomes the mother of a boy, Rahula.
My’s dormition takes place a week after the child is born, and her sister Prajpat, and co-wife of Suddhodana, takes her place. The child is taken back to Kapilavastu, and shown to the father; he is recognized and worshipped by the Brahman soothsayers, who announce that he will be Emperor or Buddha, at the age of thirty five. The child is presented in the temple, where the tutelary deity of the kyas bows down to him. Suddhodana, desiring that his son may be an Emperor and not a Buddha, and learning that he will abandon the world only after he has seen an old man, a sick man, a corpse and a monk, brings him up in luxurious seclusion, ignorant of the very existence of suffering and death. The first miracle takes place on a day when the king, in accordance with custom, is taking part in the First Ploughing of the year; the child is laid in the shadow of a tree, which does not move although the shadows of other trees move naturally with the sun; in other words, the sun remains overhead. The child at school learns with supernatural facility. At the age of sixteen, by victory in an archery contest, in which his arrow pierces seven trees, he obtains his cousin Yaodhara as wife; she becomes the mother of a boy, Rahula.In the meantime, on four successive days, while driving through the city to the pleasure park, the Bodhisattva has seen the four signs; for although all such sights have been banned from the city by royal edict, the Gods assume the forms of the old man, sick man, corpse and monk, and the Prince is made acquainted with age, illness, death and the serenity of a man who has risen above these vicissitudes of existence. He goes to his father and announces his intention of leaving the world and becoming a monk, in order to find out the way of escape from subjection to this mortality. The father cannot dissuade him, but keeps the palace gates closed. That night the Bodhisattva takes silent leave of his wife and child and calling for his horse, departs by the palace gate, miraculously opened for him by the Gods; he is accompanied only by his charioteer.
Now Mara, Death, the Evil, offers him the empire of the whole world if he will return; failing in this temptation, he follows the Bodhisattva, to find another opportunity. Reaching the deep forests, the Bodhisattva cuts off his royal turban and long hair, unbecoming a pilgrim, and these are elevated by the Gods and enshrined in heaven. They provide him with a pilgrim’s garments. He sends his charioteer back to the city with his horse; the latter dies of a broken heart.
The Bodhisattva now studies with Brahman teachers and practises extreme mortifications. He finds five disciples, all of whom leave him when he abandons these ineffectual fastings. In the meantime Sujt, the daughter of a farmer, who has been making offerings to the spirit of a banyan tree, now brings her gift of milk-rice, into which the Gods have infused ambrosia; she finds the Bodhisattva seated beneath the tree, and gives him the rice in a golden bowl, and a golden ewer of water. She receives his blessings. He then goes down to the river to bathe, after which he eats the food, which is to last him for seven weeks. He casts the bowl into the river, and from the significant fact it floats upstream learns that he will succeed that very day. He returns to the Tree of the Awakening. At the same time Indra (the Dragon slayer, with Agni, of our former lecture, and the type of the sacrificer in divinis) assumes the shape of a grass-cutter and offers to the Bodhisattva the eight bundles of grass that are used in sacrificial ritual. The Bodhisattva circumambulates the tree, and finally standing facing East finds that the circles of the world about him stand fast. He spreads the strew, and there rises up a throne or altar at the foot of the tree; he takes his seat thereon, determined never to rise again until he has attained the knowledge of the causation and cure of the evil of mortality. It is there, at the navel of the earth, and at the foot of the tree of life, that all former Buddhas halve awakened.
t, the daughter of a farmer, who has been making offerings to the spirit of a banyan tree, now brings her gift of milk-rice, into which the Gods have infused ambrosia; she finds the Bodhisattva seated beneath the tree, and gives him the rice in a golden bowl, and a golden ewer of water. She receives his blessings. He then goes down to the river to bathe, after which he eats the food, which is to last him for seven weeks. He casts the bowl into the river, and from the significant fact it floats upstream learns that he will succeed that very day. He returns to the Tree of the Awakening. At the same time Indra (the Dragon slayer, with Agni, of our former lecture, and the type of the sacrificer in divinis) assumes the shape of a grass-cutter and offers to the Bodhisattva the eight bundles of grass that are used in sacrificial ritual. The Bodhisattva circumambulates the tree, and finally standing facing East finds that the circles of the world about him stand fast. He spreads the strew, and there rises up a throne or altar at the foot of the tree; he takes his seat thereon, determined never to rise again until he has attained the knowledge of the causation and cure of the evil of mortality. It is there, at the navel of the earth, and at the foot of the tree of life, that all former Buddhas halve awakened.Now Mra appears again and lays, claim to the throne. The Bodhisattva touches the Earth, calling her to witness to the virtues by right of which he takes it; and she appears and gives witness. Mra, assisted by his demon army, now assaults the Bodhisattva with fire and darkness, and with showers of burning sand and ashes; but all his weapons fall harmlessly at the Bodhisattva’s feet. At the first sight of Mra the Gods have fled, leaving the Bodhisattva all alone, but for the powers of the soul, his retainers; now Mra gives up the contest and the Gods return.
ra appears again and lays, claim to the throne. The Bodhisattva touches the Earth, calling her to witness to the virtues by right of which he takes it; and she appears and gives witness. Mra, assisted by his demon army, now assaults the Bodhisattva with fire and darkness, and with showers of burning sand and ashes; but all his weapons fall harmlessly at the Bodhisattva’s feet. At the first sight of Mra the Gods have fled, leaving the Bodhisattva all alone, but for the powers of the soul, his retainers; now Mra gives up the contest and the Gods return.It is now nightfall. In the course of the night the Bodhisattva passes through all the stages of realisation until at dawn, having perfectly grasped the cycle of “Causal Origination” (prattya samut-pda ) he becomes wholly awakened, and is a Buddha. The whole universe is transfigured and rejoices. The Buddha breaks into his famous song of victory:
tya samut-pda ) he becomes wholly awakened, and is a Buddha. The whole universe is transfigured and rejoices. The Buddha breaks into his famous song of victory:
Seeking the builder of the house
I have run my course in the vortex
Of countless births, never escaping the hobble (of death);
III is repeated birth after birth!
Householder, art seen!
Never again shalt thou build me a house
All of thy rigging is broken,
The peak of the roof is shattered:182
Its aggregations passed away,
Mind has reached the destruction of cravings.
I have run my course in the vortex
Of countless births, never escaping the hobble (of death);
III is repeated birth after birth!
Householder, art seen!
Never again shalt thou build me a house
All of thy rigging is broken,
The peak of the roof is shattered:182
Its aggregations passed away,
Mind has reached the destruction of cravings.
The Buddha remains for seven weeks within the circle of the Tree of the Awakening, enjoying the gladness of release. Of the events of these weeks two are significant, first the temptation by the daughters of Mra, who attempt to win gain by their charms what their father could not gain by his power: and secondly the hesitation to teach; the Buddha hesitates to put in motion the Wheel of the Law, thinking that it will not be understood and that this will be the occasion of needless anguish to himself; the Gods exclaim at this, “The world is lost”, and led by Brahm persuade the Buddha that some are ripe for understanding. The Buddha, accordingly, sets out for Benares and there in the “First Preaching” sets the Wheel of the Law in motion, and in the second preaches that there is no individual constant underlying the forms of our consciousness. In other words, in the doctrine of the un-self-ish-ness (antmya) of all physical and mental operations he dismisses the popular Cogito ergo sum as a crude delusion and the root of all evil. By these sermons he converts the five disciples who had formerly deserted him; and there are now five Arhats, that is to say five “despirated” (nirvta) beings in the world.
ra, who attempt to win gain by their charms what their father could not gain by his power: and secondly the hesitation to teach; the Buddha hesitates to put in motion the Wheel of the Law, thinking that it will not be understood and that this will be the occasion of needless anguish to himself; the Gods exclaim at this, “The world is lost”, and led by Brahm persuade the Buddha that some are ripe for understanding. The Buddha, accordingly, sets out for Benares and there in the “First Preaching” sets the Wheel of the Law in motion, and in the second preaches that there is no individual constant underlying the forms of our consciousness. In other words, in the doctrine of the un-self-ish-ness (antmya) of all physical and mental operations he dismisses the popular Cogito ergo sum as a crude delusion and the root of all evil. By these sermons he converts the five disciples who had formerly deserted him; and there are now five Arhats, that is to say five “despirated” (nirvta) beings in the world.From Benares the Buddha went on to Uruvel, near the modern Bodhgay and finds on the way a party of thirty young men picnicking, with their wives. One of them had no wife, and had brought a woman with him, who had just stolen their belongings and run away. All the young men ask the Buddha whether he has seen such a woman. The Buddha replies, “What now, young men, do you think? Which were the better for you, to go tracking the woman, or to go tracking the Self?” (tmna
gavi).183 They reply that it were better to seek the Self, and are converted. Here for the first time we meet with the Buddha’s doctrine of a real Self. At Uruvel he reaches the hermitage of a community of Brahmanical Fire-worshippers, and wishes to spend the night in their fire temple. They warn him that it is the haunt of a fierce Dragon that may hurt him. The Buddha thinks not, and retires for the night, seating himself cross-legged and vigilant. The Dragon is infuriated. The Buddha will not destroy it, but will overcome it; assuming his own fiery form, and becoming a “human Dragon”, he fights fire with fire, and in the morning appears with the tamed Dragon in his alms-bowl.184 Upon another day the fire-worshippers are unable to split their wood, or light or extinguish their fires until the Buddha permits it. In the end the Brahmans abandon their Burnt-offerings (agnihotra) and become disciples of the Buddha. In this connection we must cite the instance of another Brahman fire-worshipper, to whom in the course of their dialogue the Buddha says,
, near the modern Bodhgay and finds on the way a party of thirty young men picnicking, with their wives. One of them had no wife, and had brought a woman with him, who had just stolen their belongings and run away. All the young men ask the Buddha whether he has seen such a woman. The Buddha replies, “What now, young men, do you think? Which were the better for you, to go tracking the woman, or to go tracking the Self?” (tmna gavi).183 They reply that it were better to seek the Self, and are converted. Here for the first time we meet with the Buddha’s doctrine of a real Self. At Uruvel he reaches the hermitage of a community of Brahmanical Fire-worshippers, and wishes to spend the night in their fire temple. They warn him that it is the haunt of a fierce Dragon that may hurt him. The Buddha thinks not, and retires for the night, seating himself cross-legged and vigilant. The Dragon is infuriated. The Buddha will not destroy it, but will overcome it; assuming his own fiery form, and becoming a “human Dragon”, he fights fire with fire, and in the morning appears with the tamed Dragon in his alms-bowl.184 Upon another day the fire-worshippers are unable to split their wood, or light or extinguish their fires until the Buddha permits it. In the end the Brahmans abandon their Burnt-offerings (agnihotra) and become disciples of the Buddha. In this connection we must cite the instance of another Brahman fire-worshipper, to whom in the course of their dialogue the Buddha says,
I pile no wood for fires or altars;
I kindle a flame within me, ...
My heart the hearth, the flame the dompted self.185
I kindle a flame within me, ...
My heart the hearth, the flame the dompted self.185
We perceive that the Buddha is here simply carrying on the teaching of the Brahmanical ra
yaka in which, as remarked by Keith, “the internal Agnihotra is minutely described as a substitute for the formal sacrifice”.186
rayaka in which, as remarked by Keith, “the internal Agnihotra is minutely described as a substitute for the formal sacrifice”.186Time will not permit us to relate in detail the later events of the Buddha’s life. He gradually builds up a large following of monastic wanderers like himself; somewhat against his will women were also allowed to be ordained as nuns; and by the end of his life there had developed an organised body of monks and nuns, many of whom lived in monasteries or nunneries, which had been donated to the community by pious laymen. The Buddha’s life was spent in the care of the monastic community, and in preaching, either to assemblies of monks or to audiences of Brahmans, in disputations with whom he is invariably successful; he also performs many miracles. At last he announces his imminent death. When nanda protests, he reminds him that while there will be those who are still addicted to mundane ways of thinking and will weep and roll in anguish, crying out “Too soon will the Eye in the World pass away”, there will be others, calm and self-possest, who will reflect that all component things are impermanent, and that whatever has been born contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution: “Those will honor my memory truly, who live in accordance with the Way I have taught.” When a believer comes to visit him, before he dies, the Buddha says, “What good will it do you to see this unclean body? He who sees the Law sees me, he who sees me, sees the Law (dharma)”.186a In announcing his forthcoming decease, the Buddha leaves this message, “Be such as have the Self (tman) as your lamp, Self as only refuge, the Law as lamp and only refuge”.187
nanda protests, he reminds him that while there will be those who are still addicted to mundane ways of thinking and will weep and roll in anguish, crying out “Too soon will the Eye in the World pass away”, there will be others, calm and self-possest, who will reflect that all component things are impermanent, and that whatever has been born contains within itself the inherent necessity of dissolution: “Those will honor my memory truly, who live in accordance with the Way I have taught.” When a believer comes to visit him, before he dies, the Buddha says, “What good will it do you to see this unclean body? He who sees the Law sees me, he who sees me, sees the Law (dharma)”.186a In announcing his forthcoming decease, the Buddha leaves this message, “Be such as have the Self (tman) as your lamp, Self as only refuge, the Law as lamp and only refuge”.187He explains that what this means in practise is a life of incessant recollectedness (sm
ti). The Buddhist emphasis on mindfulness can hardly be exaggerated; nothing is to be done absent-mindedly; or with respect to which one could say “I did not mean to do it”; an inadvertent sin is worse than a deliberate s
n. That means, that one must not simply “behave”, instinctively; or as Plato expresses it, “Do nothing but in accordance with the leading of the immanent Principle, nothing against the common Law that rules the whole body, never yielding to the pulls of the affections, whether for good or evil; and this is what ‘Self-mastery’ means”.189 At the same time it must not be overlooked that behind this ethical application of mindfulness to conduct there lies a metaphysical doctrine; for Buddhism, like the Upanishads, regards all recognition not as an acquisition of new facts but as the recovery of a latent and umtimately limited omniscience; as in the Platonic doctrine, where all teaching and experience are to be thought of simply as reminders of what was already known but had been forgotten.190
ti). The Buddhist emphasis on mindfulness can hardly be exaggerated; nothing is to be done absent-mindedly; or with respect to which one could say “I did not mean to do it”; an inadvertent sin is worse than a deliberate sn. That means, that one must not simply “behave”, instinctively; or as Plato expresses it, “Do nothing but in accordance with the leading of the immanent Principle, nothing against the common Law that rules the whole body, never yielding to the pulls of the affections, whether for good or evil; and this is what ‘Self-mastery’ means”.189 At the same time it must not be overlooked that behind this ethical application of mindfulness to conduct there lies a metaphysical doctrine; for Buddhism, like the Upanishads, regards all recognition not as an acquisition of new facts but as the recovery of a latent and umtimately limited omniscience; as in the Platonic doctrine, where all teaching and experience are to be thought of simply as reminders of what was already known but had been forgotten.190Plato, again, continually reminds us that there are two in us, and that of these two souls or selves the immortal is our “real Self”.191 This distinction of an immortal spirit from the mortal soul, which we have already recognized in Brahmanism, is in fact the fundamental doctrine of the Philosophia Perennis wherever we find it. The spirit returns to God who gave it when the dust returns to the dust. Γν
ϑι σεαυτ
ν ; Si ignoras te, egredere. “Whither I go, ye cannot follow me now ... If any man would follow me, let him deny himself”.191 We must not delude ourselves by supposing that the words denegat seipsum are to be taken ethically (which would be to substitute means for ends); what they mean is understood by St. Bernard when he says that one ought deficere a se tota, a semetipsa liquescere, and by Meister Eckhart when he says that “The kingdom of God is for none but the thoroughly dead”. “The word of God extends to the sundering of soul from spirit”;192 and it might well have been said by the Wake that “No man can be my disciple but and if he hate his own soul” (
α
ο
μι
ε
. . . τ
ν 
αυτο
ψυχ
ν).193 “The soul must put itself to death”—“Lest the Last Judgment come and find me unannihilate, and I be siez’d and giv’n into the hands of my own selfhood”.194
ϑι σεαυτν ; Si ignoras te, egredere. “Whither I go, ye cannot follow me now ... If any man would follow me, let him deny himself”.191 We must not delude ourselves by supposing that the words denegat seipsum are to be taken ethically (which would be to substitute means for ends); what they mean is understood by St. Bernard when he says that one ought deficere a se tota, a semetipsa liquescere, and by Meister Eckhart when he says that “The kingdom of God is for none but the thoroughly dead”. “The word of God extends to the sundering of soul from spirit”;192 and it might well have been said by the Wake that “No man can be my disciple but and if he hate his own soul” (α ο μιε. . . τν αυτο ψυχν).193 “The soul must put itself to death”—“Lest the Last Judgment come and find me unannihilate, and I be siez’d and giv’n into the hands of my own selfhood”.194