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THE BUDDHIST DOCTRINES. the first who had obtained universal Buddhahood. He taught to others the truths that he had himself discovered. He was their helper, but it was by their own effort and meditation that it could really be received by them. And yet the claims attributed to Buddha are nothing less than omniscience and perfection. He says: “I have overcome all foes; I am all-wise; I am free from stains in every way; I have left everything; and have obtained emancipation by the destruction of desire. Having myself gained knowledge, whom should I call my master ? I have no teacher; no one is equal to me; in the world of men and of gods no being is like me. I am the Holy One in this world, I am the highest teacher, I alone am the perfect Buddha; I have gained coolness by the extinction of all passion, and have obtained Nirvana.” (Mahavagga, S.E. xiii.) "He appears in the world for salvation to many people, for joy to many people, out of compassion for the world, for the blessing, the salvation, the joy of gods and men.” But Buddha is by no means represented as the sole person who has attained Buddahood. Many Buddhas had been before him and would come after him ; but they were supposed all to be born in Eastern India, and to be all of the Brahman or soldier (Kshatriya) castes; and their teaching prevailed for longer or shorter periods, after which faith vanished for a time in the earth. Thus we see that Buddha was the starter of the new religious life, and essential to it; but by no means a god, or a heaven-sent messenger.
THE BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES. Those which are pre-eminently worthy of this designation, as being the oldest and purest, are the Pali books preserved by the Ceylonese Buddhists. They are arranged in three collections or “Baskets" (pitakas). The first, or Vinaya-pitaka, includes books containing regulations for the external life of the order of monks. The second, or Sutta-pitaka, contains a number of miscellaneous works, each composed of suttas or short pithy sentences, some relating sayings of Buddha, others legends and stories of the preceding Buddhas. The third contains
