登陆注册
5240900000040

第40章 CHAPTER Religion(5)

Court within court, building after building, isolate the shrine itself from the profane familiarity of the passers-by. But though the material encasings vary in number and in exclusiveness, according to the temperament of the particular race concerned, the mental envelopes exist, and must exist, in both hemispheres alike, so long as society resembles the crust of the earth on which it dwells,--a crust composed of strata that grow denser as one descends. What is clear to those on top seems obscure to those below; what are weighty arguments to the second have no force at all upon the first. There must necessarily be grades of elevation in individual beliefs, suited to the needs and cravings of each individual soul. A creed that fills the shallow with satisfaction leaves but an aching void in the deep. It is not of the slightest consequence how the belief starts; differentiated it is bound to become. The higher minds alone can rest content with abstract imaginings; the lower must have concrete realities on which to pin their faith. With them, inevitably, ideals degenerate into idols.

In all religions this unavoidable debasement has taken place.

The Roman Catholic who prays to a wooden image of Christ is not one whit less idolatrous than the Buddhist who worships a bronze statue of Amida Butzu. All that the common people are capable of seeing is the soul-envelope, for the soul itself they are unable to appreciate. Spiritually they are undiscerning, because imaginatively they are blind.

Now the grosser soul-envelopes of the two great European and Asiatic faiths, though differing in detail, are in general parallel in structure. Each boasts its full complement of saints, whose congruent catalogues are equally wearisome in length. Each tells its circle of beads to help it keep count of similarly endless prayers. For in both, in the popular estimation, quantity is more effective to salvation than quality. In both the believer practically pictures his heaven for himself, while in each his hell, with a vividness that does like credit to its religious imagination, is painted for him by those of the cult who are themselves confident of escaping it. Into the lap of each mother church the pious believer drops his little votive offering with the same affectionate zeal, and in Asia, as in Europe, the mites of the many make the might of the mass.

But behind all this is the religion of the few,--of those to whom sensuous forms cannot suffice to represent super-sensuous cravings; whose god is something more than an anthropomorphic creation; to whom worship means not the cramping of the body, but the expansion of the soul.

The rays of the truth, like the rays of the sun, which universally seems to have been man's first adoration, have two properties equally inherent in their essence, warmth and light. And as for the life of all things on this globe both attributes of sunshine are necessary, so to the development of that something which constitutes the ego both qualities of the truth are vital. We sometimes speak of character as if it were a thing wholly apart from mind; but, in fact, the two things are so interwoven that to perceive the right course is the strongest possible of incentives to pursue it. In the end the two are one. Now, while clearness of head is all-important, kindness of heart is none the less so. The first, perhaps, is more needed in our communings with ourselves, the second in our commerce with others. For, dark and dense bodies that we are, we can radiate affection much more effectively than we can reflect views.

That Christianity is a religion of love needs no mention; that Buddhism is equally such is perhaps not so generally appreciated.

But just as the gospel of the disciple who loved and was loved the most begins its story by telling us of the Light that came into the world, so none the less surely could the Light of Asia but be also its warmth. Half of the teachings of Buddhism are spent in inculcating charity. Not only to men is man enjoined to show kindliness, but to all other animals as well. The people practise what their scriptures preach. The effect indirectly on the condition of the brutes is almost as marked as its more direct effect on the character of mankind. In heart, at least, Buddhism and Christianity are very close.

But here the two paths to a something beyond an earthly life diverge. Up to this point the two religions are alike, but from this point on they are so utterly unlike that the very similarity of all that went before only suffices to make of the second the weird, life-counterfeiting shadow of the first. As in a silhouette, externally the contours are all there, but within is one vast blank.

In relation to one's neighbor the two beliefs are kin, but as regards one's self, as far apart as the West is from the East.

For here, at this idea of self, we are suddenly aware of standing on the brink of a fathomless abyss, gazing giddily down into that great gulf which divides Buddhism from Christianity. We cannot see the bottom. It is a separation more profound than death; it seems to necessitate annihilation. To cross it we must bury in its depths all we know as ourselves.

Christianity is a personal religion; Buddhism, an impersonal one.

In this fundamental difference lies the world-wide opposition of the two beliefs. Christianity tells us to purify ourselves that we may enjoy countless aeons of that bettered self hereafter; Buddhism would have us purify ourselves that we may lose all sense of self for evermore.

For all that it preaches the essential vileness of the natural man, Christianity is a gospel of optimism. While it affirms that at present you are bad, it also affirms that this depravity is no intrinsic part of yourself. It unquestioningly asserts that it is something foreign to your true being. It even believes that in a more or less spiritual manner your very body will survive.

同类推荐
  • 幻住庵清规

    幻住庵清规

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 仿寓意草

    仿寓意草

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 哭京兆庞尹

    哭京兆庞尹

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 刘侍御朝命许停官归

    刘侍御朝命许停官归

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 联灯会要

    联灯会要

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 公孙龙子注

    公孙龙子注

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 白房子

    白房子

    本书包括:我的心在跳,全世界都能听到;28年前河西走廊刻骨铭心的一幕;我的兵团兄弟;这一次的路途等内容。
  • 迦叶结经

    迦叶结经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 天乐鸣空集

    天乐鸣空集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 我是睡阴师

    我是睡阴师

    那一晚,爷爷让我睡在一个棺材里,后来棺材里出现个大姐姐,她很好看……
  • 净土

    净土

    小说以近百年前的武汉为背景,讲述古琴世家的莫氏三兄妹失散多年,流落市井,分别为弘扬佛法,传承琴技而引发的两代人的爱恨情仇。小说塑造了两代弄琴人的丰满形象,将他们刻骨铭心的爱、哀怨悲切的情以及日军铁蹄践踏下的国仇家恨,与博大深宏的佛法融汇成一曲沧桑的时代悲歌。以武汉为缩影,再现了上世纪三四十年代整个中华大地的命运与抗争。小说文笔优美,情节感人。
  • 易先生的新助理

    易先生的新助理

    自从阴差阳错当上了某巨星的助理后,林羽就开启了走南闯北的日子。虽然这巨星实在是冷,但不怕,上有国民女神罩着,下有千百粉丝宠着!只是呢,这屁大点事儿都能上热搜!有没有搞错,她只是个小助理啊!除此之外,赶通告?坐飞机。拍戏?坐飞机。演唱会?坐飞机。结婚?坐飞……停!打住打住……当然坐就坐吧,反正她也没去过什么地方,身边还有巨星陪着,权当体验vip旅游了!然而日子刚开始过得滋润了,偏偏有一些不知好歹的人看不惯要打破——什么甜美善良、温柔体贴的小美女啊还是知性优雅、秀外慧中的女强人啊……这还仅仅是情场,回到公司升职加薪经纪人后,又是一堆笑面虎等着她!总之,这巨星女朋友,她是当得真心累……——五年后——巨星突然宣布隐退,霎时间,轰动全球!而此时已经成长成金牌经纪人的林羽,也面临着被迫辞职的风险……长达七个小时的时差,爱情,事业,家族……他们又将如何突破?
  • 淘子帝都历险记

    淘子帝都历险记

    杨小淘,一个普通的北京女码农,因为一次意外在自己的家中无意中发现一束白光,从此以后她的人生有了不平凡的经历......
  • 黑鸟送光明

    黑鸟送光明

    异国师生到新疆内陆探寻古墓,步步惊心,竟揭开身世之谜……为走出遭受背叛的情伤,爱尔兰历史系学生布丽德搭上了一支考古团队的末班车,前往遥远的中国内陆沙漠进行勘探。率领这支团队的是来自阿拉斯加的特林吉特人约翰·谢尔登。一件件随葬品重见天日让队员们欣喜若狂,却也引来了中方博物馆负责人的担忧。随着越来越多的文物被检视,布丽德渐渐意识到自己与三千五百年前生活在这里的先民有着千丝万缕的联系,令她与约翰之间的情愫越发剪不断、理还乱。
  • 最后恋爱的声音

    最后恋爱的声音

    西琴海是一处著名旅游胜地,传说情侣乘船出海,如果互相倾诉恋爱蜜语,就会引来海豚群,而海豚会发出一种声音,最为动人美妙。苏音为此来到这里,遇到了海洋救生队成员欧源。仅仅两次见面,他们就意外“接吻”两次,这样的相遇,让欧源开始留意这个女生。之后的接触中,欧源发现这个女生总是流露出一种悲伤,甚至似乎一直处在一种自我幻想中……