Part 16 (1/2)

329. Q. _Can you show any further endors.e.m.e.nt of Buddhism by science?_

A. The Buddha's doctrine teaches that there were many progenitors of the human race; also that there is a principle of differentiation among men; certain individuals have a greater capacity for the rapid attainment of Wisdom and arrival at Nirvana than others.

330. Q. _Any other?_

A. Buddhism supports the teaching of the indestructibility of force.

331. Q. _Should Buddhism be called a chart of science or a code of morals?_

A. Properly speaking, a pure moral philosophy, a system of ethics and transcendental metaphysics. It is so eminently practical that the Buddha kept silent when Malunka asked about the origin of things.

332. Q. _Why did he do that?_

A. Because he thought that our chief aim should be to see things as they exist around us and try to make them better, not to waste time in intellectual speculations.

333. Q. _What do Buddhists say is the reason for the occasional birth of very good and wise children of bad parents, and that of very bad ones of good parents?_

A. It is because of the respective Karmas of children and parents; each may have deserved that such unusual relations.h.i.+ps should be formed in the present birth.

334. Q. _Is anything said about the body of the Buddha giving out a bright light?_

A. Yes, there was a divine radiance sent forth from within by the power of his holiness.

335. Q. _What is it called in Pali?_

A. Buddharansi, the Buddha rays.

336. Q. _How many colours could be seen in it?_

A. Six, linked in pairs.

337. Q. _Their names?_

A. Nila, Pita, Lohita, Avadata, Mangasta, Prabhasvra.

338. Q. _Did other persons emit such s.h.i.+ning light?_

A. Yes, all Arhats did and, in fact, the light s.h.i.+nes stronger and brighter in proportion to the spiritual development of the person.

339. Q. _Where do we see these colours represented?_

A. In all viharas where there are painted images of the Buddha.

They are also seen in the stripes of the Buddhist Flag, first made in Ceylon but now widely adopted throughout Buddhist countries.

340. Q. _In which discourse does the Buddha himself speak of this s.h.i.+ning about him?_

A. In the _Maha-Parinibbana Sutta_, Ananda his favourite disciple, noticing the great splendour which came from his Master's body, the Buddha said that on two occasions this extraordinary s.h.i.+ning occurs, (_a_) just after a Tathagata gains the supreme insight, and (_b_) on the night when he pa.s.ses finally away.

341. Q. _Where do we read of this great brightness being emitted from the body of another Buddha?_