it is that every
individual comes into the world heavy-laden. Nowhere has the consciousness
of the burden which rests on each generation as it enters on its journey
through life found stronger expression than among the Buddhists. What
other people call by various names, "fate or providence," "tradition or
inheritance," "circumstances or environment," they call _Karman_,
deed--what has been done, whether by ourselves or by others, the
accumulated work of all who have come before us, the consequences of which
we have to bear, both for good and for evil. Originally this _Karman_
seems to have been conceived as personal, as the work which we ourselves
have done in our former existences. But, as personally we are not
conscious of having done such work in former ages, that kind of _Karman_,
too, might be said to be impersonal. To the question how _Karman_ began,
what was the nucleus of that accumulation which forms the condition of
present existence, Buddhism has no answer to give, any more than any other
system of religion or philosophy. The Buddhists say it began with
_avidya_, and _avidya_ means ignorance.(5) They are much more deeply
interested in the question how _Karman_ may be annihilated, how each man
may free himself from the influence of _Karman_, and Nirva_n_a, the
highest object of all their dreams, is often defined by Buddhist
philosophers as "freedom from _Karman_."(6)

What the Buddhists call by the general name of _Karman_, comprehends all
influences which the past exercises on the present, whether physical or
mental.(7) It is not my object to examine or even to name all these
influences, though I confess nothing is more interesting than to look upon
the surface of our modern life as we look on a geological map, and to see
the most ancient formations cropping out everywhere under our feet.
Difficult as it is to color a geological map of England, it would be still
more difficult to find a sufficient variety of colors to mark the
different ingredients of the intellectual condition of her people.

That all of us, whether we speak English or German, or French or Russian,
are really speaking an ancient Oriental tongue, incredible as it would
have sounded a hundred years ago, is now recognized by everybody. Though
the various dialects now spoken in Europe have been separated many
thousands of years from the Sanskrit, the ancient classical language of
India, yet so close is the bond that holds the West and East toget