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And were this so, it must be admitted that the doctrine is an infinitely melancholy one. Yet, in point of fact, —In judge from the parables and tales of Buddha, — the more usual course in which it operates seems to be in bringing together again and again, in re-births, old friends and acquaintances, who thus work out upon one another the punishments and rewards of former injuries or benefits; and, so far from the immediate fate of the virtuous man being practically an utter uncertainty, it is constantly represented that a life of virtue, in any one state, leads certainly to a happy re-birth in the next. The existence of a spiritual body, bearing any sort of resemblance to this form of clay, — nay, the soul itself, as we understand it, — is distinctly denied by the Buddhists. The organized body, with all that appertains to it, decays, or is utterly destroyed as such; nothing at all remains of the departed existence but the ''karma, ''or moral value: by the inherent power of this, and in accordance with its quality, a new body is formed; but it is no more any part of the old existence than the flame transferred to a new wick is of the old flame. So says Buddha. | And were this so, it must be admitted that the doctrine is an infinitely melancholy one. Yet, in point of fact, —In judge from the parables and tales of Buddha, — the more usual course in which it operates seems to be in bringing together again and again, in re-births, old friends and acquaintances, who thus work out upon one another the punishments and rewards of former injuries or benefits; and, so far from the immediate fate of the virtuous man being practically an utter uncertainty, it is constantly represented that a life of virtue, in any one state, leads certainly to a happy re-birth in the next. The existence of a spiritual body, bearing any sort of resemblance to this form of clay, — nay, the soul itself, as we understand it, — is distinctly denied by the Buddhists. The organized body, with all that appertains to it, decays, or is utterly destroyed as such; nothing at all remains of the departed existence but the ''karma, ''or moral value: by the inherent power of this, and in accordance with its quality, a new body is formed; but it is no more any part of the old existence than the flame transferred to a new wick is of the old flame. So says Buddha. | ||
God and the soul blotted out of the universe, it would seem as though a hopeless void were left, — a melancholy emptiness, in whose presence the practice of virtue would be an absurdity, and nope in the future a delusion. We shall see in the next paper what singular perfection of the moral code has sprung up upon this baseless and sandy foundation, and with what solidity it has stood the assaults of time and enemies, the world and the devil. I remember often thinking when I was a youth, and an orthodox Christian, that, in view of such great probability of eternal misery to offspring, nothing should ever tempt me to become a father. I remember often wondering at the selfishness of reproductive Christians. The great improvement the spiritual philosophy has wrought in our ideas of futurity, has somewhat quieted my conscience on this score; but, were I an orthodox Buddhist, no compunction could ever trouble my mind, since as a parent | God and the soul blotted out of the universe, it would seem as though a hopeless void were left, — a melancholy emptiness, in whose presence the practice of virtue would be an absurdity, and nope in the future a delusion. We shall see in the next paper what singular perfection of the moral code has sprung up upon this baseless and sandy foundation, and with what solidity it has stood the assaults of time and enemies, the world and the devil. I remember often thinking when I was a youth, and an orthodox Christian, that, in view of such great probability of eternal misery to offspring, nothing should ever tempt me to become a father. I remember often wondering at the selfishness of reproductive Christians. The great improvement the spiritual philosophy has wrought in our ideas of futurity, has somewhat quieted my conscience on this score; but, were I an orthodox Buddhist, no compunction could ever trouble my mind, since as a parent I become only the blind instrument of a ''karma, ''which must be worked out in a similar fashion in any case: I originate no eternal misery. The practice of abortion, so common in the present day, may possibly have owed its origin and frequency to scruples as honest, just, and conscientious as my own. I do not think that an orthodox Christian mother — from ''her paint of view ''— is wrong in practicing this method of saving her innocent offspring from the talons of “a justly incensed God;” for does she not believe and say that truly “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”? | ||