d world. He was miraculously
conceived--his mother's side in the form of a white elephant. All nature
manifested its joy on the occasion. The ocean bloomed with flowers; all
beings from many worlds showed their wonder and sympathy. Many miracles
were wrought even during his childhood, and every part of his career was
filled with marvels. At his temptation under the Bo-tree, Mara (Satan)
came to him mounted on an elephant sixteen miles high and surrounded by
an encircling army of demons eleven miles deep.[81] Finding him proof
against his blandishments, he hurled mountains of rocks against him, and
assailed him with fire and smoke and ashes and filth--all of which
became as zephyrs on his cheek or as presents of fragrant flowers. Last
of all, he sent his three daughters to seduce him. Their blandishments
are set forth at great length in the "Romantic Legend."

In the Northern Buddhist literature--embracing both the "Romantic
Legend"[82] and the "Lalita Vistara"--many incidents of Buddha's
childhood are given which show a seeming coincidence with the life of
Christ. It is claimed that his birth was heralded by angelic hosts, that
an aged sage received him into his arms and blessed him, that he was
taken to the temple for consecration, that a jealous ruler sought to
destroy him, that in his boyhood he astonished the doctors by his
wisdom, that he was baptized, or at least took a bath, that he was
tempted, transfigured, and finally received up into heaven. These will
be noticed farther on; it is only necessary to say here that the legends
giving these details are first at variance with the early canonical
history, and second, that they are of such later dates as to place most
of them probably within the Christian era.

_The Four Peculiar and Characteristic Doctrines of Buddhism._

1. Its peculiar conception of the soul. 2. Its doctrine of Trishna and
Upadana. 3. Its theory of Kharma. 4. Its doctrine of Nirvana.

1. The Skandas, five in number, constitute in their interaction what all
others than Buddhists regard as the soul. They consist of material
properties; the senses; abstract ideas; tendencies or propensities; and
the mental powers. The soul is the result of the combined action of
these, as the flame of a candle proceeds from the combustion of its
constituent elements. The flame is never the same for two consecutive
moments. It seems to have a perpetuated identity, but that is only an
illusion, and the same unreali