Part 30 (1/2)
”In the eyes of the Buddhists, this personage is sometimes a man and sometimes a G.o.d, or rather both one and the other, _a divine incarnation_, _a man-G.o.d_; who came into the world to enlighten men, to redeem them, and to indicate to them the way of safety.
”This idea of redemption by a _divine incarnation_ is so general and popular among the Buddhists, that during our travels in Upper Asia, we everywhere found it expressed in a neat formula. If we addressed to a Mongol or a Thibetan the question, 'Who is Buddha?' he would immediately reply: '_The Saviour of Men._'”[116:1]
He further says:
”The miraculous birth of Buddha, his life and instructions, contain a great number of the moral and dogmatic truths professed in Christianity.”[116:2]
This Angel-Messiah was regarded as the divinely chosen and incarnate messenger, the vicar of G.o.d. He is addressed as ”G.o.d of G.o.ds,” ”Father of the World,” ”Almighty and All-knowing Ruler,” and ”Redeemer of All.”[116:3] He is called also ”The Holy One,” ”The Author of Happiness,” ”The Lord,” ”The Possessor of All,” ”He who is Omnipotent and Everlastingly to be Contemplated,” ”The Supreme Being, the Eternal One,” ”The Divinity worthy to be Adored by the most praiseworthy of Mankind.”[116:4] He is addressed by Amora--one of his followers--thus:
”Reverence be unto thee in the form of Buddha! Reverence be unto thee, the Lord of the Earth! Reverence be unto thee, an incarnation of the Deity! Of the Eternal One! Reverence be unto thee, O G.o.d, in the form of the G.o.d of Mercy; the dispeller of pain and trouble, the Lord of all things, the deity, the guardian of the universe, the emblem of mercy.”[116:5]
The incarnation of Gautama Buddha is recorded to have been brought about by the descent of the divine power called The ”_Holy Ghost_” upon the Virgin _Maya_.[116:6] This Holy Ghost, or Spirit, descended in the form of a _white elephant_. The _Tikas_ explain this as indicating power and wisdom.[117:1]
The incarnation of the angel destined to become Buddha took place in a spiritual manner. The Elephant is the symbol of power and wisdom; and Buddha was considered the organ of divine power and wisdom, as he is called in the Tikas. For these reasons Buddha is described by Buddhistic legends as having descended from heaven in the form of an Elephant to the place where the Virgin Maya was. But according to Chinese Buddhistic writings, it was the Holy Ghost, or _s.h.i.+ng-s.h.i.+n_, who descended on the Virgin Maya.[117:2]
The _Fo-pen-hing_ says:
”If a mother, in her dream, behold A white elephant enter her right side, That mother, when she bears a son, Shall bear one chief of all the world (Buddha); Able to profit all flesh; Equally poised between preference and dislike; Able to save and deliver the world and men From the deep sea of misery and grief.”[117:3]
In Prof. Fergusson's ”_Tree and Serpent Wors.h.i.+p_” may be seen (Plate x.x.xiii.) a representation of Maya, the mother of Buddha, asleep, and dreaming that a white elephant appeared to her, and entered her womb.
This dream being interpreted by the Brahmans learned in the _Rig Veda_, was considered as announcing the incarnation of him who was to be in future the deliverer of mankind from pain and sorrow. It is, in fact, the form which the Annunciation took in Buddhist legends.[117:4]
”----Awaked, Bliss beyond mortal mother's filled her breast, And over half the earth a lovely light Forewent the morn. The strong hills shook; the waves Sank lulled; all flowers that blow by day came forth As 'twere high noon; down to the farthest h.e.l.ls Pa.s.sed the Queen's joy, as when warm suns.h.i.+ne thrills Wood-glooms to gold, and into all the deeps A tender whisper pierced. 'Oh ye,' it said, 'The dead that are to live, the live who die, Uprise, and hear, and hope! Buddha is come!'
Whereat in Limbos numberless much peace Spread, and the world's heart throbbed, and a wind blew With unknown freshness over land and seas.
And when the morning dawned, and this was told, The grey dream-readers said, 'The dream is good!
The Crab is in conjunction with the Sun; The Queen shall bear a boy, a holy child Of wondrous wisdom, profiting all flesh, Who shall deliver men from ignorance, Or rule the world, if he will deign to rule.'
In this wise was the holy Buddha born.”
In Fig. 4, Plate xci., the same subject is also ill.u.s.trated. Prof.
Fergusson, referring to it, says:
”Fig. 4 is another edition of a legend more frequently repeated than almost any other in Buddhist Scriptures. It was, with their artists, as great a favorite as the Annunciation and Nativity were with Christian painters.”[118:1]
When Buddha _avatar_ descended from the regions of the souls, and entered the body of the Virgin Maya, her womb suddenly a.s.sumed the appearance of clear, transparent crystal, in which Buddha appeared, beautiful as a flower, kneeling and reclining on his hands.[118:2]
Buddha's representative on earth is the _Dalai Lama_, or _Grand Lama_, the High Priest of the Tartars. He is regarded as the vicegerent of G.o.d, with power to dispense divine blessings on whomsoever he will, and is considered among the Buddhists to be a sort of divine being. He is the Pope of Buddhism.[118:3]
The _Siamese_ had a Virgin-born G.o.d and Saviour whom they called _Codom_. His mother, a beautiful young virgin, being inspired from heaven, quitted the society of men and wandered into the most unfrequented parts of a great forest, there to await the coming of a G.o.d which had long been announced to mankind. While she was one day prostrate in prayer, she was _impregnated by the sunbeams_. She thereupon retired to the borders of a lake, between Siam and Cambodia, where she was delivered of a ”_heavenly boy_,” which she placed within the folds of a _lotus_, that opened to receive him. When the boy grew up, he became a prodigy of wisdom, performed miracles, &c.[118:4]
The first Europeans who visited Cape Comorin, the most southerly extremity of the peninsula of Hindostan, were surprised to find the inhabitants wors.h.i.+ping a Lord and Saviour whom they called _Salivahana_.
They related that his father's name was Taishaca, but that he was _a divine child horn of a Virgin_, in fact, an incarnation of the Supreme _Vishnu_.[119:1]
The belief in a virgin-born G.o.d-man is found in the religions of China.
As Sir John Francis Davis remarks,[119:2] ”China has her mythology in common with all other nations, and under this head we must range the persons styled _Fo-hi_ (or Fuh-he), _s.h.i.+n-noong_, _Hoang-ty_ and their immediate successors, who, like the demi G.o.ds and heroes of Grecian fable, rescued mankind by their ability or enterprise from the most primitive barbarism, and have since been invested with _superhuman_ attributes. The most extravagant prodigies are related of these persons, and the most incongruous qualities attributed to them.”
Dean Milman, in his ”History of Christianity” (Vol. i. p. 97), refers to the tradition, found among the Chinese, that _Fo-hi_ was born of a virgin; and remarks that, the first Jesuit missionaries who went to China were appalled at finding, in the mythology of that country, a counterpart of the story of the virgin of Judea.
Fo-hi is said to have been born 3463 years B. C., and, according to some Chinese writers, with him begins the historical era and the foundation of the empire. When his mother conceived him in her womb, a rainbow was seen to surround her.[119:3]