he again sweeps the sacred
places, lights a lamp, listens to the instructions of his superior, and
confesses to him any fault he may have committed.

272. Q. _Upon what are his four earnest meditations
(Sati-patthana) made?_

A. 1. On the body, Kayanapassana.
2. On the feeling, Vedananupassana.
3. On the mind, Chittannpassana.
4. On the doctrine, Dhammanupassana.

273. Q. _What is the aim of the four Great Efforts
(Sammappadhana)?_

A. To suppress one's animal desires and grow in goodness.

274. Q. _For the perception by the Bhikkhu of the highest truth, is
reason said to be the best, or intuition?_

A. Intuition--a mental state in which any desired truth is
instantaneously grasped.

275. Q. _And when can that development be reached?_

A. When one, by the practice of Jnana, comes to its fourth stage of
unfolding.

276. Q. _Are we to believe that in the final stage of Jnana, and
in the condition called Samadhi, the mind is a blank and thought is
arrested?_

A. Quite the contrary. It is then that one's consciousness is most
intensely active, and one's power to gain knowledge correspondingly
vast.

277. Q. _Try to give me a simile?_

A. In the ordinary waking state one's view of knowledge is as limited
as the sight of a man who walks on a road between high hills; in the
higher consciousness of Jnana and _Samadhi_ it is like the sight
of the eagle poised in the upper sky and overlooking a whole country.

278. Q. _What do our books say about the Buddha's use of this
faculty?_

A. They tell us that it was his custom, every morning, to glance over
the world and, by his divine (clairvoyant) sight, see where there were
persons ready to receive the truth. He would then contrive, if
possible, that it should reach them. When persons visited him he would
look into their minds, read their secret motives, and then preach to
them according to their needs.

[1] The Upasaka and Upasika observe these on the Buddhist
_Uposatha_ (Sabbath) days (in Skr. _Upavasata_). They are the 8th,
14th and 15th days of each half lunar month.

[2] The relationship to his Guru, or teacher, is almost like that of
godson to godfather among Christians, only more real, for the teacher
becomes father, mother, family and all to him.

PART IV

THE RISE AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM

279. Q. _As regards the number its followers, how does Buddhism at
this date compare with the other chief