Chapter 30
"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
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]
The Chinese traditions concerning the birth of Fo-hi are, some of them, highly poetical. That which has received the widest acceptance is as follows:
"Three nymphs came down from heaven to wash themselves in a river; but scarce had they got there before the herb _lotus_ appeared on one of their garments, with its coral fruit upon it. They could not imagine whence it proceeded, and one was tempted to taste it, whereby she became pregnant and was delivered of a boy, who afterwards became a great man, a founder of religion, a conqueror, and legislator."[119:4]
The sect of _Xaca_, which is evidently a corruption of Buddhism, claim that their master was also of supernatural origin. Alvarez Semedo, speaking of them, says:
"The third religious sect among the Chinese is from India, from the parts of Hindostan, which sect they call _Xaca_, from the founder of it, concerning whom they fable--that he was conceived by his mother Maya, from a white elephant, which she saw in her sleep, and for more purity she brought him from one of her sides."[120:1]
_Lao-kiun_, sometimes celled _Lao-tsze_, who is said to have been born in the third year of the emperor _Ting-w.a.n.g_, of the Chow dynasty (604 B. C.), was another miraculously-born man. He acquired great reputation for sanct.i.ty, and marvelous stories were told of his birth. It was said that he had existed from all eternity; that he had descended on earth _and was born of a virgin_, black in complexion, described "marvelous and beautiful as jasper." Splendid temples were erected to him, and he was wors.h.i.+ped as a _G.o.d_. His disciples were called "Heavenly Teachers."
They inculcated great tenderness toward animals, and considered strict celibacy necessary for the attainment of perfect holiness. Lao-kiun believed in _One G.o.d_ whom he called _Tao_, and the sect which he formed is called _Tao-tse_, or "Sect of Reason." Sir Thomas Thornton, speaking of him, says:
"The mythological history of this 'prince of the doctrine of the _Taou_,' which is current amongst his followers, _represents him as a divine emanation incarnate in a human form_. They term him the 'most high and venerable prince of the portals of gold of the palace of the _genii_,' and say that he condescended to a contact with humanity when he became incorporated with the 'miraculous and excellent Virgin of jasper.' Like Buddha, he came out of his mother's side, and was born under a tree.
"The legends of the _Taou-tse_ declare their founder to have existed antecedent to the birth of the elements, in the Great Absolute; that he is the 'pure essence of the teen;' that he is the 'original ancestor of the prime breath of life;' and that he gave form to the heavens and the earth."[120:2]
M. Le Compte says:
"Those who have made this (the religion of Taou-tsze) their professed business, are called _Tien-se_, that is, 'Heavenly Doctors;' they have houses (Monasteries) given them to live together in society; they erect, in divers parts, temples to their master, and king and people honor him with _divine_ wors.h.i.+p."
_Yu_ was another _virgin-born_ Chinese sage, who is said to have lived upon earth many ages ago. Confucius--as though he had been questioned about him--says: "I see no defect in the character of Yu. He was sober in eating and drinking, and eminently pious toward spirits and ancestors."[120:3]
_Hau-ki_, the Chinese hero, was of supernatural origin.
The following is the history of his birth, according to the "s.h.i.+h-King:"
"His mother, who was childless, had presented a pure offering and sacrificed, that her childlessness might be taken away.
She then trod on a toe-print made by G.o.d, and was moved,[121:1] in the large place where she rested. She became pregnant; she dwelt retired; she gave birth to and nourished a son, who was _Hau-ki_. When she had fulfilled her months, her first-born son came forth like a lamb. There was no bursting, no rending, no injury, no hurt; showing how wonderful he would be. Did not G.o.d give her comfort? Had he not accepted her pure offering and sacrifice, so that thus easily she brought forth her son?"[121:2]
Even the sober Confucius (born B. C. 501) was of supernatural origin.
The most important event in Chinese literary and ethical history is the birth of _Kung-foo-tsze_ (Confucius), both in its effects on the moral organization of this great empire, and the study of Chinese philosophy in Europe.
Kung-foo-tsze (meaning "the sage Kung" or "the wise excellence") was of _royal descent_; and his family the most ancient in the empire, as his genealogy was traceable directly up to Hw.a.n.g-te, the reputed organizer of the state, the first emperor of the semi-historical period (beginning 2696 B. C.).
At his birth a prodigious quadruped, called the Ke-lin, appeared and prophesied that the new-born infant "would be a king without throne or territory." Two dragons hovered about the couch of _Yen-she_ (his mother), and five celestial sages, or angels, entered at the moment of the birth of the wondrous child; heavenly strains were heard in the air, and harmonious chords followed each other, fast and full. Thus was Confucius ushered into the world.
His disciples, who were to expound his precepts, were seventy-two in number, _twelve_ of whom were his ordinary companions, the depositories of his thoughts, and the witnesses of all his actions. To them he minutely explained his doctrines, and charged them with their propagation after his death. YAN-HWUY was his favorite disciple, who, in his opinion, had attained the highest degree of moral perfection.
Confucius addressed him in terms of great affection, which denoted that he relied mainly upon him for the accomplishment of his work.[121:3]
Even as late as the seventeenth century of our era, do we find the myth of the virgin-born G.o.d in China.[121:4]
All these G.o.d-begotten and virgin-born men were called _Tien-tse_, _i.
e._, "Sons of Heaven."
If from China we should turn to Egypt we would find that, for ages before the time of Jesus of Nazareth, the mediating deity, born of a virgin, and without a worldly father, was a portion of the Egyptian belief.[122:1]
_Horus_, who had the epithet of "_Saviour_," was born of the virgin Isis. "His birth was one of the greatest Mysteries of the Egyptian religion. Pictures representing it appear on the walls of temples."[122:2] He is "the second emanation of _Amon_, the son whom he begot."[122:3] Egyptian monuments represent the infant Saviour in the arms of his virgin mother, or sitting on her knee.[122:4] An inscription on a monument, translated by Champollion, reads thus:
"O thou avenger, G.o.d, son of a G.o.d; O thou avenger, Horus, manifested by Osiris, engendered of the G.o.ddess Isis."[122:5]