perfection. For Buddhism life is "neither as pretty as rose pink nor as repulsive as dirty drab." It admits the plain fact that life is not worth its own troubles, if we live merely for the selfish enjoyment of life. It therefore places the value of life in ideals that transcend the narrow limits of individual existence. It aims not merely at the alleviation of present suffering, but also the creation of conditions under which no suffering can exist. As Aristotle says, "the wise man seeks after freedom from pain, not pleasure." So does the Buddhist direct his actions to the prevention and removal of suffering without caring for any pleasure which may thereby be attained or promoted. Still this does not imply the denial of the blessings of life. On the contrary, when the Blessed One was asked to declare what he regarded as the blessings of life, he did not like the pessimist say: "Count o'er the joys thine hours have seen, Count o'er thy days from anguish free; And know, whatever thou hast been, 'Tis something better-not to be." But he replied: "The succouring of mother and father, "Acts of charity, a pious life, 66 Self-discipline and purity, The comprehension of the four Great Truths, This is the greatest blessing."-Mangala Sutta. 66 THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH. Two WO extremes, there are," said the Blessed One in his first sermon at Benares, "which he who strives after holiness must avoid. Which two ?-A life addicted to pleasure, for it is enervating, vulgar, mean and worthlessand a life given to self-mortification, for it is painful, vain and profitless. By avoiding both these extremes has the Tathagata arrived at the Middle Path (Madhyama pratipada), which leads to insight, to wisdom, to knowledge, to peace, to Nirvana. But which is this Middle Path?-It is the Noble Eightfold Path.” No man can truly call himself a Buddhist, if he has not entered the Noble Eightfold Path. Mere study and investigation of the teachings of the Buddha do not qualify one to be a Buddhist, if he is not at the same time pursuing the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path represents the morality of Buddhism, and in Buddhism the moral life is no mere adjunct but its very core and essence. He who has merely understood the Dharma but has not shaped his life and thought in accordance with its spirit is like one who having read a book on cookery imagines that he has eaten the sweets described in the book. Straight and broad indeed is the noble path that leads to blessedness, but no one can traverse it unless he is fully equipped with the eight essentials. The torch of right belief (samyak drishti) must light his way. Right aspiration (samyak samkalpa) must be his guide. Right speech (samyak vāk) must form his dwelling place on the road. Right action (samyak karma) must be his erect gait, and right living (samyak ājīva) must form his refreshments on the road. Right effort (samyak vyayāma) must be his steps, right thought (samyak smriti) his breath, and right tanquillity (samyak samādhi) his sleeping couch.* The real history of the development of man consists in ** Asvagosha's Buddha-charitra, the history of his beliefs. History, whether it be of the arts or of the sciences, or of society, or of religion, always involves an account of man's beliefs and their growth. Men's doings are largely a reflection of their beliefs. Consequently, all superstitious customs and practices are the result of an irrational state of mind issuing logically from wrong beliefs. It is therefore natural that right belief should form the first equipment for the pilgrimage on the noble path of purity. Again the spring of all action is motive, and the intellectual stimulus to motive is belief. Hence only right belief can lead man to right action. Animistic and metaphysical beliefs have been the fruitful sources of religious error. The right starting point for religion can be nothing else than the universally recognised fact of the existence of sorrow and suffering, from which every religion proposes to save mankind. The right comprehension of the existence of misery and its cause, the illusion of a permanent self, will enable one to find easily the means of removing it. But the belief in a soul or the dependence on a supernatural being for one's salvation can only lead to error which would stultify one's efforts towards emancipation from misery. It is the possession of the right belief that differentiates the educated from the uneducated, the thoughtful from the unreflecting. People come by their beliefs in four different ways. Some merely take refuge in the calm satisfaction of a faith that their view alone is the right one, and look with pity, contempt, or even horror on all other views. These men of tenacity are like the ostrich that buries its head in the sand as danger approaches and then feels satisfied that there is no danger. More often, imposed authority forms the expeditious means of producing a general belief. But this method, though lightly tolerated by the many, is not acceptable to the thoughtful few, who easily penetrate the mist of dogma, and, detecting the pretentiousness of all infallibility, look elsewhere for obtaining a sounder belief. Even when freed from the fetters of authority, men frequently fall victims to their hopes and wishes, and accept views which seem plausible, agreeable, or elevating. From this condition of mind no progress can result. Only when one scrutinises one's inclinations and wishes, and cares more for the validity of one's reasoning than for its agreeableness, would it be possible to find the truth. It is one of the glories of Buddhism that it appeals to reason and science, and not to blind faith and authority. Only he who has set aside vain hopes and wishes can perceive that the power with which he combats suffering and sorrow is natural and not supernatural. Only the sceptre of reason and science can safeguard to all the most cherished opportunities for right action, right thought, and right peace. When an earnest intelligent man has gained right views concerning the existence of misery, its cause and its cessation, how could he find satisfaction in pleasure-seeking? He has found that to seek pleasure is to multiply pain. When one has begun to see things as they are, how could he be swayed by motives of dollars and cents, or of mere personal interest? When one has perceived that there is the infinite to traverse and the perfect to attain, how can he find happiness in repose? His mind will always be directed towards the attainment of bodhi. His aspiration will be to free his mind from doubts and contradictions as to the possibility of reaching the goal; to be paying homage to the Blessed One by investigating his Dharma and disciplining himself in accordance with its teaching; to abandon the idea of separateness; and to deliver himself and all beings drowned in the sea of misery by the employment of the various expedients which lead to the haven of the Great Peace. "What then, O friend, is right aspiration?" says the Sacchavibhanga: "It is the longing for renunciation; the hope to live in love with all; the aspiration after true humanity." With the firm resolve to attain bodhi the aspirant must enter on the prescribed course of self-culture and selfcontrol. Aspirations and resolutions will be of little avail, if they are not followed by practices which can secure the end in view. The inner life of the individual will become strengthened only when it energises into the external world as activity. Consequently right aspirations must find objective manifestation in right speech, right action and right living. "To abstain from falsehood, to abstain from backbiting, to abstain from harsh language, and to abstain from frivolous talk is called right speech." The words of one who aspires to the higher life must be kind, open, truthful, unequivocal; encouraging to others and helpful in improving them; and free from vanity and bitterness of feeling. He must not gossip about great people;" he must not speak at all about "meats, drinks, clothes, perfumes, couches, equipages, women, warriors, demigods, fortune-telling, hidden treasures, ghost stories, nor about empty tales concerning things that are not." Whatever he speaks he must speak kindly and with a pure thought. 66 66 Hand-in-hand with the elimination of selfishness from one's speech must proceed the purification of one's acts from all egotistic taint. Atmabhāvān tathā bhogān sarvatrāvagatam subham nirapekshastyajām yesha sarvasatvārtha siddhaye-I give up all my pleasures and enjoyments for the good and benefit of all beings." So says the Bodhicharyavatara. The aim of right action is not one's own happiness which may result from it. Right action consists in the avoidance of all that is subversive of the higher life and in the doing of all that is good and noble. Progress in the higher life cannot be effected by means of rituals, sacrifices, prayers and incantations, and these are therefore forbidden. But real merit (punyam) is acquired by the practice of morality (çila) and charity (dāna). "Not superstitious rites," says Asoka in his edicts, "but kindness to servants and underlings, respect to those deserving of respect, self-control coupled with kindness in dealing with living creatures; these and virtuous deeds of like nature are verily the rites that ought everywhere to be performed." The practice of morality (çila) consists in the observance of all moral precepts ; in feeling fear, shame and remorse at the smallest violation of any of them; in not giving room for blame or disgust; in practising those deeds which lead to moderation and contentment, and in endeavouring to induce all human beings to abandon evil and practise virtue. He alone truly practises morality, who desists from evil-doing when the best opportunities present themselves for doing evil. In Buddhism the moral life is of fundamental impor |