s in this way,
but I have never met anyone who professed to recall more than two or
three. There is no room in these modest modern visions for the long
vistas of previous lives seen by the earlier Buddhists.

Meditation also plays a considerable part in the Buddhism of the Far
East under the name of Ch'an or Zen of which we shall have something to
say when we treat of China and Japan.

As already indicated the methods and results of meditation as practised
by Brahmanic Hindus and by Buddhists show considerable resemblance to
the experiences of Christian mystics. The coincidences do not concern
mere matters of detail, although theology has done its best to make the
content and explanation of the experiences as divergent as possible. But
the essential similarity of form remains and there is clearly no
question of borrowing or direct influence. It is certain that what is
sometimes called the Mystic Way is not only true as a succession of
psychic states but is, for those who can walk in it, the road to a
happiness which in reality and power to satisfy exceeds all pleasures of
the senses and intellect, so that when once known it makes all other
joys and pains seem negligible. Yet despite the intense reality of this
happy state, despite the illumination which floods the soul and the wide
visions of a universal plan, there is no agreement as to the cause of
the experience nor, strange to say, as to its meaning as opposed to its
form. For many both in the east and west the one essential and
indubitable fact throughout the experience is God, yet Buddhists are
equally decided in holding that the experience has nothing to do with
any deity. This is not a mere question of interpretation. It means that
views as to theism and pantheism are indifferent for the attainment of
this happy state.

The mystics of India are sometimes contrasted with their fellows in
Europe as being more passive and more self-centred: they are supposed to
desire self-annihilation and to have no thought for others. But I doubt
if the contrast is just. If Indian mysticism sometimes appears at a
disadvantage, I think it is because it is popular and in danger of being
stereotyped and sometimes vulgarized. Nowadays in Europe we have
students of mysticism rather than mystics, and the mystics of the
Christian Church were independent and distinguished spirits who, instead
of following the signposts of the beaten track, found out a path for
themselves. But in India