Copyright, 1922.
Haldeman-Julius Company.
I am glad to be permitted thus to say, in a few words of introductionto this well-meditated little volume, how pleasant and how profitablean idea it must be considered to have designed and compiled a Buddhistanthology. Selecting his cut and uncut jewels from very variousBuddhistic sources, Mr. Bowden has here supplied those who buy and usethe book with rubies and sapphires and emeralds of wisdom, compassion,and human brotherhood, any one of which, worn on the heart, would besufficient to make the wearer rich beyond estimation for a day. Theauthor disclaims any attempt to set forth a corpus of Buddhisticmorality and doctrine, nor, indeed, would anything of the kind bepossible within such narrow limits; but I rejoice to observe how welland faithfully his manifold extracts from the Sacred Books of Indiaand the East exhibit that ever-pervading tenderness of the greatAsiatic Teacher, which extended itself to all alike that live. Thiscompassionateness of Gautama, if nothing else had been illustrated bythe collection, would render it precious to possess and fruitful toemploy; but many another lofty tenet of the "Light" of Asia findsillumination in some brief verse or maxim as day after day glides by;and he who should mark the passage of the months with these simple[4]pages must become, I think, a better man at the year's end than atits beginning. I recommend this compilation without hesitation orreserve.
EDWIN ARNOLD.
In this compilation no attempt has been made to present a general viewof Buddhism as a religious or philosophical system. The aim has ratherbeen to turn Buddhism to account as a moral force by bringing togethera selection of its beautiful sentiments, and lofty maxims, andparticularly including some of those which inculcate mercy to thelower animals.
On this point a far higher stand is taken by Buddhism than byChristianity—or at any rate than by Christianity as understood andinterpreted by those who ought to know. Not only is the whole questionof our duties to the lower animals commonly ignored in Christian worksas, for instance, in the famous Imitation of Christ, and scores ofothers; but, as if this were not enough, a reasoned attempt hasactually been made, on the strength of Christian teaching, to explodethe notion that animals have any right (e.g., in Moral Philosophy, byFather Joseph Rickaby). Very different in this respect is the tone ofthe average Buddhist treatise, with its earnest exhortations,recurring as a matter of course, to show mercy on every living thing;[6]and this difference alone is an adequate reason for compiling aBuddhist anthology.
In regard to the sources quoted from, considerable latitude seemedallowable. They do not all, by any means, possess canonical authority.But they are all distinctly Buddhist in character. The supposed datesof the originals range from at least the third century B. C. tomedieval and later times.
Hence, it is clear that, should any one think to make use ofquotations from this work for controversial purposes, a certain degreeof caution will be necessary. The context of the passage, and the dateand the