The Buddhist Catechism Part 13

262. Q. _What are the rules for admission into the Order?_

A. The candidate is not often taken before his tenth year; he must have the consent of his parents; be free from leprosy, boils, consumption and fits; be a free man; have no debts; and must not be a criminal or deformed or in the royal service.

263. Q. _As a novice what is he called?_

A. _Samanera_, a pupil.[2]

264. Q. _At what age can a Samanera be ordained as _Sramana_--monk?_

A. Not before his twentieth year.

265. Q. When ready for ordination what happens?

A. At a meeting of Bhikkhus he is presented by a Bhikkhu as his proposer, who reports that he is qualified, and the candidate says: "I ask the Sangha, Reverend Sirs, for the _Upasampada_ (ordination) ceremony, etc."

His introducer then recommends that he be admitted. He is then accepted.

266. Q. _What then?_

A. He puts on the robes and repeats the Three Refuges {_Tisarana_) and Ten Precepts (_Dasa Sila_.)

267. Q. _What are the two essentials to be observed?_

A. Poverty and Chast.i.ty. A Bhikkhu before ordination must possess eight things, _viz._, his robes, a girdle for his loins, a begging-bowl, water-strainer, razor, needle, fan, sandals. Within limitations strictly specified in the Vinaya, he may hold certain other properties.

268. Q. _What about the public confession of faults?_

A. Once every fortnight, a _Patimokka_ (Disburdenment) ceremony is performed, when every Bhikkhu confesses to the a.s.sembly such faults as he has committed and takes such penances as may be prescribed.

269. Q. _What daily routine must he follow?_

A. He rises before daylight, washes, sweeps the vihara, sweeps around the Bo-tree that grows near every vihara, brings the drinking-water for the day and filters it; retires for meditation, offers flowers before the dagoba, or relic-mound, or before the Bo-tree; then takes his begging-bowl and goes from house to house collecting food--which he must not ask for, but receive in his bowl as given voluntarily by the householders. He returns, bathes his feet and eats, after which he resumes meditation.

270. Q. _Must we believe that there is no merit in the offering of flowers (mala puja) as an act of worship?_

A. That act itself is without merit as a mere formality; but if one offers a flower as the sweetest, purest expression of heartfelt reverence for a holy being, then, indeed, is the offering an act of enn.o.bling worship.

271. Q. _What next does the Bhikkhu do?_

A. He pursues his studies. At sunset he again sweeps the sacred places, lights a lamp, listens to the instructions of his superior, and confesses to him any fault he may have committed.

272. Q. _Upon what are his four earnest meditations (Sati-patthana) made?_

A. 1. On the body, Kayanapa.s.sana.

2. On the feeling, Vedananupa.s.sana.

3. On the mind, Chittannpa.s.sana.

4. On the doctrine, Dhammanupa.s.sana.

273. Q. _What is the aim of the four Great Efforts (Sammappadhana)?_

A. To suppress one's animal desires and grow in goodness.

274. Q. _For the perception by the Bhikkhu of the highest truth, is reason said to be the best, or intuition?_

A. Intuition--a mental state in which any desired truth is instantaneously grasped.

275. Q. _And when can that development be reached?_

A. When one, by the practice of Jnana, comes to its fourth stage of unfolding.

276. Q. _Are we to believe that in the final stage of Jnana, and in the condition called Samadhi, the mind is a blank and thought is arrested?_

A. Quite the contrary. It is then that one's consciousness is most intensely active, and one's power to gain knowledge correspondingly vast.

277. Q. _Try to give me a simile?_

A. In the ordinary waking state one's view of knowledge is as limited as the sight of a man who walks on a road between high hills; in the higher consciousness of Jnana and _Samadhi_ it is like the sight of the eagle poised in the upper sky and overlooking a whole country.

278. Q. _What do our books say about the Buddha's use of this faculty?_

A. They tell us that it was his custom, every morning, to glance over the world and, by his divine (clairvoyant) sight, see where there were persons ready to receive the truth. He would then contrive, if possible, that it should reach them. When persons visited him he would look into their minds, read their secret motives, and then preach to them according to their needs.

[1] The Upasaka and Upasika observe these on the Buddhist _Uposatha_ (Sabbath) days (in Skr. _Upavasata_). They are the 8th, 14th and 15th days of each half lunar month.

[2] The relationship to his Guru, or teacher, is almost like that of G.o.dson to G.o.dfather among Christians, only more real, for the teacher becomes father, mother, family and all to him.

PART IV

THE RISE AND SPREAD OF BUDDHISM

279. Q. _As regards the number its followers, how does Buddhism at this date compare with the other chief religions?_

A. The followers of the Buddha Dharma outnumber those of every other religion.

280. Q. _What is the estimated number?_

A. About five hundred millions (5,000 lakhs or 500 crores): this is five-thirteenths, or not quite half, of the estimated population of the globe.

281. Q. _Have many great battles been fought and many countries conquered; has much human blood been spilt to spread the Buddha Dharma?_

A. History does not record one of those cruelties and crimes as having been committed to propagate our religion. So far as we know, it has not caused the spilling of a drop of blood. (See footnote _ante_--Professor Kolb's testimony.)

282. Q. _What, then, is the secret of its wonderful spread?_