The Sword of Song

SCIENCE AND BUDDHISM 114 pendent thought, of keen ecstasy of love of knowledge, of practical training, that the Buddhasanana Samagama 1 appeals; it is time that Buddhism reformed itself from within; though its truths be held untarnished (and even this is not every where the cas e), its methods, its organisation, are sadly in need of repair; research must be done, men must be perfected, error must be fought. And if in the West a great Buddhist society is built up of m en of intellect, of the men in whose hands the future lie s, there is then an awakening, a true redem ption, of the weary and forgetful Empires of the East. X THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH To return from our little digression to the original plan of our essay . It is time to note the “Noble Eightfold Path,” referred to and its consideration deferred, in Sec-tion III. In this Fourth Noble Truth we approach the true direction of Buddhism; progress is but another word for change; is it possible to move in a direction whose goal is the changeless? The answer is Yea and Am en! and it is detailed in the Noble Eightfold Path, of which I propose to give a short resumé. First, however, of the goal. It may be readily syllogised: All existing things are (by nature, inevi- tably) subject to change. In Nirvana is no change. ∴ No existing thing is or can be in Nirvana. Now here is the great difficulty; for this syllogism is perfectly sound, and y et we speak of attaining Nirvana, tasting Nir- vana, &c. [We must distinguish the Hindu Nirvana, which means Cessation of Existence in certain Lokas; never absolute Cessation, as the 1 Or International Buddhist Society, founded in Rangoon in 1903. Buddhist tradition, the ety mology, and the logical value alike require for the word as applied to the Buddhist goal. See Chidders, Pali Dictionary, sub voce Nibbana.] The explanation is really as follows : only by this term Nirvana can we foreshadow to you the reality ; for even as the Dawn of Dhyana is indescribable in language, à fortiori Nirvana is so. To give an example, for that something of the sort is necessary I freely admit, to defend so apparently mystical a s tatement, I m ay give the following from my own experience. In a certain meditation one day I re- corded: “I wa s (a) conscious of external things seen behind after my nose had vanished. (b) Conscious that I was not conscious of these things . Thes e ( a) and (b) were simultaneous.” I subsequently discovered this peculiar state of cons ciousness classified in the Ab- hidhamma. That it is a contradiction in terms I am perfectly aware; to as sign any meaning to it is frankly beyond me; but I am as certain that s uch a s tate once existed in me as I am of anything. Similarly with Nirvana and its definition. The Arahat knows what it is, and describes it by its accidentals, s uch as blis s. I m ust raise, very reluctantly, a protest against the idea of Professer Rhy s Davids (if I have understood him aright) that Nirvana is the mental state resulting from the continuous practice of all the virtues and methods of thought characteristic of Buddhism. No ; Nirvana is a state belonging to a different plane, to a higher dimension than any thing we can at pres ent conceive of. It has perhaps its analogies and correspondences on the normal planes, and so shall we find of the steps as well as of the Goal. Even the sim ple first step, which every true Buddhist has taken, Sam maditthi, is a very different thing from the point of view of an Arahat. The Buddha stated expressly that none but an Arahat could really com- prehend the Dhamma.