go to heaven or hell. But the three destinies are really parallel[737].

The desire to accommodate influential ideas, though they might be
incompatible with the strict teaching of the Buddha, is well seen in the
position accorded to spirits of the dead. The Buddha was untiring in his
denunciation of every idea which implied that some kind of soul or
double escapes from the body at death and continues to exist. But the
belief in the existence of departed ancestors and the presentation of
offerings to them have always formed a part of Hindu domestic religion.
To gratify this persistent belief, Buddhism recognized the world of
Petas, that is ghosts or spirits. Many varieties of these are described
in later literature. Some are as thin as withered leaves and suffer from
continual hunger, for their mouths are so small that they can take no
solid food. According to strict theology, the Petas are a category of
beings just above animals and certain forms of bad conduct entail birth
among them. But in popular estimation, they are merely the spirits of
the dead who can receive nourishment and other benefits from the living.
The veneration of the dead and the offering of sacrifices to or for
them, which form a conspicuous feature in Far Eastern Buddhism, are
often regarded as a perversion of the older faith, and so, indeed, they
are. Yet in the Khuddaka-patha[738], which if not a very early work is
still part of the Sutta Pitaka, are found some curious and pathetic
verses describing how the spirits of the departed wait by walls and
crossways and at the doors, hoping to receive offerings of food. When
they receive it their hearts are gladdened and they wish their relatives
prosperity. As many streams fill the ocean, so does what is given here
help the dead. Above all, gifts given to monks will redound to the good
of the dead for a long time. This last point is totally opposed to the
spirit of Gotama's doctrine, but it contains the germ of the elaborate
system of funeral masses which has assumed vast proportions in the Far
East.

4

What then is the position of the Buddha himself in this universe of many
worlds and multitudinous deities? European writers sometimes fail to
understand how the popular thought of India combines the human and
superhuman: they divorce the two aspects and unduly emphasize one or the
other. If they are impressed by the historical character of Gotama, they
conclude that all legends with a supernatural