r five hundred persons were there, instead of
one, the Arhat could will that the illusion should be seen by all
alike; or, if he chose, he could will that the messenger should be the
only one to see them.

360. Q. _Is this branch of science well known in our day?_

A. Very well known; it is familiar to all students of mesmerism and
hypnotism.

361. Q. _In what does our modern scientific belief support the theory
of Karma, as taught in Buddhism?_

A. Modern scientists teach that every generation of men is heir to the
consequences of the virtues and the vices of the preceding generation,
not in the mass, as such, but in every individual case. Every one of
us, according to Buddhism, gets a birth which represents the causes
generated by him in an antecedent birth. This is the idea of Karma.

362. Q. _What say the V[=a]settha Sutta about the causation in
Nature?_

A. It says: "The world exists by cause; all things exist by cause, all
beings are bound by cause."

363. Q. _Does Buddhism teach the unchangeableness of the visible
universe; our earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the mineral,
vegetable, animal and human kingdoms?_

A. No. It teaches that all are constantly changing, and all must
disappear in course of time.

364. Q. _Never to reappear?_

A. Not so: the principle of evolution, guided by Karma, individual and
collective, will evolve another universe with its contents, as our
universe was evolved out of the [=A]k[=a]sha.

365. Q. _Does Buddhism admit that man has in his nature any latent
powers for the production of phenomena commonly called "miracles"?_

A. Yes; but they are natural, not supernatural. They may be developed
by a certain system which is laid down in our sacred books, the
Visuddhi M[=a]rga for instance.

366. Q. _What is this branch of science called?_

A. The P[=a]l[=i] name is Iddhi-vidhan[=a]n[=a].

367. Q. _How many kinds are there?_

A. Two: _B[=a]hira_, _i.e._, one in which the phenomena-working power
may be temporarily obtained by ascetic practices and also by resort to
drugs, the recitation of _mantras_ (charms), or other extraneous aids;
and _Sasaniks_, that in which the power in question is acquired by
interior self-development, and covers all and more than the phenomena
of _Laukika Iddh[=i]_.

368. Q. _What class of men enjoy these powers?_

A. They gradually develop in one which pursues a certain course of
ascetic practice called _Dh