that life is a scene of discipline, and that after infinite processes of purification man will be absorbed in the divinity. If there be much in Buddhism that represents the ignorance of dark ages, there is much that even we might study, and study for our instruction. And Buddhism, like Brahminism, like Christianity itself, is, under the influence of philosophic discovery, being rescued from the false teachings of the half-instructed or the wholly uninformed⟨.⟩ Let me give you a few words of wisdom from Buddhist books:—
"Wherever a single ray of divine wisdom penetrates there is worship, there is praise in honour of the universal sovereign."
"How shall words exhibit the infinities of the mysterious creation, where every atom emanates from all, and all is traceable in every atom, united in one mysterious whole!"
Very beautiful are some of the speculations into the infinity of space and time—
A Phra obtained from Buddha the power of travelling two millions and a half of miles in the time that a shot arrow takes in passing through the shadow of a palm tree. He travelled at this rate for 10 years in search of infinite space; he made no perceptible progress; he continued for hundred years, then for a thousand, then for ten thou sand, then for a hundred thousand years, at the rate of two and a half millions of miles in a second, and he returned disappointed to earth, not having approached even the border of infinity.
Another sage applied to Buddha to know something about eternity, and Buddha pointed to a rock of granite sixteen miles long; that rock he said would be touched once in ten thousand years by the hem of a spiritual visitant's muslin garment; and when, by such visits and by such attrition, the rock shall be reduced to the size of a nut, then you may begin to have some notion of eternity.
Patience under suffering and submission to authority are among the prominent teaching of Buddhism. I knew a priest who held his forefinger for hours in the flame of a lamp till the first two joints were burnt away.
Time only allows the mention of a few of the peculiar usages of the. Siamese. At the birth of child, the mother is placed for some days before a fire, from which she suffers so much, that frequently death follows. The next stage in the life of the child is the ceremonial of the top-knot. The hair is gathered together, and the rites connected with the removal of the knot, which generally takes place about the age of thirteen, constitute an epoch of existence. The next stage is marriage, which is carried on as it is in China, by those who are employed by the friends of the parties, and who are supposed to know the condition and circumstances of both families. The marriage is performed with the most elaborate ceremonies. As regards death, in the case of persons of high distinction, a funeral pile is made, on which the body is placed, and some of these erections cost thousands of pounds. A great many of the treasures which had belonged to the deceased are placed on the pile, and are collected with the ashes of the dead, and sent to the surviving friends of the deceased.
