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It is only after the Vedic age that they became, each for his own worshippers, undisputed Lords of the Universe. A limiting date to the antiquity of Śivaism and Vishnuism, as their cults may be called, is furnished by Buddhist literature, at any rate for north-eastern India. The Pali Piṭakas frequently introduce popular deities, but give no prominence to Vishṇu and Śiva.
To understand the teaching of Buddhism, it must be remembered that to the Buddhist, as to the Brahmin, man's soul is eternal. In other faiths and other philosophies this is not so. There the soul is immortal; it cannot die, but each man's soul appeared newly on his birth. Its beginning is very recent. To the Buddhist the beginning as well as the end is out of our ken.
In the centre of the place was a Buddhist temple table, and priests' chairs, lacquered and inlaid, stood about the room. The floor was covered with Chinese rugs, dull yellow with blue flowers, and over a doorway which led into another room was fixed a huge rama of Chinese pierced carving, gilded, in which there were trees and rocks and little grouped figures of the hundred immortals.
Certainly the Japanese peasant does not think the psychical Self nearly so complex a thing as Buddhist philosophy considers it, or as Western science proves it to be. But he thinks of himself as multiple.
Afterwards this lady, for reasons which are not known, cut off her hair and became a Buddhist nun taking the name of Shingyo-in. 'And one who knew the Nun Shingyo-in a man whose name was Kondo-ju- haku-in-Hokyo had the honour of receiving the doll as a gift. 'Now I, who write this document, at one time fell sick; and my sickness was caused by despondency.
You will have to suffer a great deal on the way and face many dangers, but if you come back with this Buddhist Priest and the prayer books, by that time your savage temper will be gone and you will be put in a nice place in heaven and enjoy life forever afterwards." This finished the play, which was very interesting, and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.
"Then I expect you have picked up some facts about cocaine smuggling?" "That's true, though I never let it soak into me mind; but from this out I promise ye I'll meditate upon it." "If you can help the police to burst up this abominable traffic you will deserve to go to the highest heaven in the Buddhist faith." "I'll do my best; I can say no fairer.
But Japan furnishes remarkable proof to the contrary. The uneducated common people, the poorest country-folk who have never studied Buddhist metaphysics, believe the self composite. What is even more remarkable is that in the primitive faith, Shinto, a kindred doctrine exists; and various forms of the belief seem to characterize the thought of the Chinese and of the Koreans.
According to Indian customs, Brahmans, the Hindu caste providing all Hindu priests, could not leave their homes. As merchants on their trips which lasted often several years, did not want to go without religious services, they turned to Buddhist priests as well as to priests of Near Eastern religions.
They stand about seven feet high, and, as far as we could make out from the natives, are erected over the defunct Lamas and other saints of the Buddhist religion, after which they become sacred in the eyes of the living, and are referred to with scrapings and bowings and "Um mani panees" innumerable.
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