knew only a religion of rites in which they took no interest, the very
words of which were unintelligible; and its priests in their eyes, if
not contemptible, at least were unsympathetic. And at the same time
the old caste-system oppressed and insulted them. It is evident that
the times were ripe for a more humane religion and a new distribution
of social privileges. Then Buddha arose and said: "He that is pure in
heart is the true priest, not he that knows the Veda. Like unto one
that standeth where a king hath stood and spoken, and standing and
speaking there deems himself for this a king, seems to me the man that
repeateth the hymns, which the wise men of old have spoken, and
standing in their place and speaking, deems himself for this a sage.
The Vedas are nothing, the priests are of no account, save as they be
morally of repute. Again, what use to mortify the flesh? Asceticism is
of no value. Be pure, be good; this is the foundation of wisdom--to
restrain desire, to be satisfied with little. He is a holy man who
doeth this. Knowledge follows this."

Here is the essence of Buddhism, here is its power; and when one
reflects that Buddha added: "Go into all lands and preach this gospel;
tell them that the poor and lowly, the rich and high, are all one, and
that all castes unite in this religion, as unite the rivers in the
sea"--he will understand what key was used to open the hearts of
Buddha's kinsmen and people.

But, it will be said, there is nothing in this of that extreme
pessimism, of which mention has just been made. True. And this, again,
is an important point to bear in mind, that whereas the logic of his
own system led Buddha into a formal and complete pessimism, which
denies an after-life to the man that finds no happiness in this, he
yet never insists upon this. He not only does not insist, but in his
talks with his questioners and disciples he uses all means to evade
direct inquiry in regard to the fate of man after death. He believed
that Nirv[=a]na (extinction of lust) led to cessation of being; he did
not believe in an immortal soul. But he urged no such negative
doctrine as this. What he urged repeatedly was that every one
accepting the undisputed doctrine of _karma_ or re-birth in its full
extent (i.e., that for every sin here, punishment followed in the
next existence), should endeavor to escape, if possible, from such an
endless course of painful re-births, and that to accomplish this it
was neces