spirituality of the Brahman had overflowed its banks and had created a
multitudinous pantheon which repelled this man of stern mind. It was
to him only a short step from a disbelief in the _many_ gods to a
doubt as to the existence of _any_ god. And in this agnosticism he was
doubtless aided by his fondness for the _Sankya_ school of thought,
which is Indian Agnosticism. In any case, his deliverances and his
established religion, if such it really can be called, are such a
reaction from the Theosophy of India as to lead one to wonder how,
even with all its other excellences, it could have become in India a
State Religion for any length of time. A religion without a God, a
sacrifice, a priest, or a prayer, is certainly a dreary wilderness to
a God-seeking soul. And yet, this is what the Buddha conceived and
promulgated among his disciples. Under the stress of a growing
consciousness of the ills of this life his mind did not, like that of
others, rise to heaven for relief; but his salvation was to be a
self-wrought one. With his own right arm of virtue he wished to carve
his way into eternal life--or, shall I say, eternal death? Is it
strange that under such a godless religious system its votaries should
react from this fundamental error and deify and worship that very
Buddha who had not a place for God in his whole scheme of life?

At any rate, Christ and Buddha stand before us in striking contrast in
this matter; the glory of the teaching of the one was that He caused
His adoring disciple to fall upon his knees with uplifted eye and to
say in filial reverence and trust, "Our Father who art in heaven."
While the other taught his followers to lean only upon self, and to
seek speedy relief from life itself, declaring that heaven returned
only an empty, mocking echo to the helpless wail of the human soul.

(2) Corresponding to this difference was another difference in their
conception of human life. Jesus maintained that the human soul came
from God, was made for God, and that God Himself was forever seeking
to bring it unto Himself. According to His theory of life, man is not
left alone at any stage in his career. He may decline to entertain God
in his life. He may lead a life of rebellion against his Maker and
Saviour; he may even deny the very existence of the Father of his
being. But God, in the riches of His infinite patience, does not
desert him to his own base thought and life. He follows him like a
shepherd searc