of the cause of the form[51] and of the name, or of matter and spirit.
the duty of our intelligence is to investigate the cause of all the modifications of forms and names. this being effected, we are delivered from all doubts and disquietude.[219] when we perceive such a form, such an idea, &c., we are able forthwith to account for its causes. in this study we must copy the conduct of the physician, who, when attending a patient, sits by his bedside, closely examines the nature of the distemper and the causes that have given rise to it, in order to find out counteracting agents or remedies to check its progress at first, and gradually to[220] uproot it from the constitution. in the moral order, the philosopher too has to examine the nature of all moral distempers, ascertain the principles or causes they spring from, and thereby become qualified to cure those disorders.
the beings that inhabit the three worlds, says our author, must have a cause. to say that they exist of themselves and without a cause is an absurdity. the very dissimilarity we observe among them indicates that their mode of existence results from certain causes. we, however, cannot agree with our antagonists, the brahmins, who maintain that maha brahma is the cause of all that exists. this being is not out of the circle of rupa and nam; he is himself a compound of nam and rupa, that is to say, effect but not cause. in vain our opponents will add that all that is distinct of maha brahma is subjected to a cause, but that the rupa and nam, constituting his essence, are without a cause. this is removing the difficulty a little further, without advancing a step towards its solution; our answer must ever be the same.
before expounding the opinions of our philosopher on this important subject, it is necessary to state the views entertained by that class of philosophers whose doctrines appear to have taken root in these parts. it is easy to perceive that they are modifications of the opinion of the hindus on the same subject, and akin to that respecting the adi buddha, or supreme buddha.
some doctors maintain that there is a first cause or being that has made matter and spirit. others, admitting the eternal co-existence of matter and of the supreme being, say that he is the remote cause of the organisation of matter, as we at present see it. but all agree in this, that no one can ever come to the knowledge of that first cause, and it is impossible ever to have an idea of it. hence it is the height of folly and rash presumption to attempt to come to the knowledge of what is placed beyond the range of human investigation. it behoves us to apply[221] all the powers of the mind to discover the immediate cause that certainly produces existence.
the sage, to be worthy of his sublime calling, must remain satisfied with striving to find out that immediate cause which brings into action the form and name, and causes the appearance of all those modifications which we call beings or forms of existence. he ought to strive to account for the organisation of matter and all its modifications, by discovering the hidden spring that effectually sets all in motion, in action, in combination of existences.
now, our author puts this important question: what thing is to be considered as the mover of the forms and ideas? we know, says he, that the human body has its beginning in the womb of the mother; we are acquainted with its position in that f?tid and narrow prison; its being surrounded with nerves, veins, &c., having above it the new elements, and under it the old ones. the manner in which the body originates in the womb much resembles the process by which worms and insects are formed in rotten substances, and in putrid and stagnant water. but this is not accounting for the real cause of living bodies. the real causes, according to some doctors, are five in number, viz., ignorance, concupiscence, desire, kan (the influence of merits and demerits), and ahan (the aliments). they concur together in the formation of the living body in the following manner. ignorance, concupiscence, and desire give asylum to the body, as the mother supplies the infant with a refuge in her womb. kan, like the father, is the cause productive of the body. ahan affords nourishment to the body.
the ideas are but the result of the formation of the organs of senses. let us suppose, for instance, the organ of seeing. the tsekkou wignian, that is to say, the life of the eyes, or the ideas connected with the use of that sense, presupposes two things, the organ and a form or an object on which the organ acts. these existing, there necessarily result the idea of vision, the perception, &c.,[222] in a word, all the ideas arising from the action of the eyes upon various objects. the same mode of arguing is employed relatively to the other five senses.
other philosophers argue in the following way. the primary causes of all ideas and thoughts are disposed under two heads, that of ideas which have a fixed place, and that of those that have no fixed place. under the first head are comprised the six ayatana, or seats of senses, and the six arom, or the objects of senses. thence flow all the ideas and consequences that relate to merit and demerit. under the second head are placed the causes or agents that produce ideas and thoughts, the exercise of the intellect holding the first rank. he who applies his mind to the meditation of what is good, such as the commands and other parts of the most excellent law, and labours to find out that all that is in this world is subjected to change, pain, and illusion, opens at once the door to the coming in of the tseit, or ideas connected with merit. on the other hand, the application of the mind to things bad and erroneous, contrary to the prescriptions of the holy law, generates the idea of demerit. such are the causes of the ideas and thoughts. as to the cause of form, they assert that kan, tseit, fire, and ahan are the sole agents in the formation of the living body. kan, as the workman, makes the body and sets in it all that relates to its good and bad qualities. the tseit, seventy-five in number, are also principles of the existence of the body, of which forty-four are called kamawatzara tseit; they relate to the demerit and merit of those who are still under the influence of concupiscence; fifteen rupa watzara tseit, relating to beings in the seats of rupa; eight arupa watzara tseit, relating to those in the seats of arupa; eight lokoudara tseit, relating to the beings that have entered on the four ways of perfection. the tedzo-dat, or the element of fire, contributes its share by the head and rays of light, and ahan by supplying the required aliments.
some other philosophers account for the causes of form[223] and ideas following this course of argument. the form and ideas that constitute all beings are liable to miseries, old age, and death, because there is generation and death. generation exists because there are worlds, worlds exist because there is desire, desire exists because there are organs, organs exist because there are form and name, form and name exist because there are concepts, concepts exist because there is merit and demerit, merit and demerit exist because there is ignorance. the latter is, indeed, the real cause of all forms and ideas. there is no doubt but this latter opinion is the favourite one with our author. it is based upon the theory of the twelve nidanas, or causes and effects, and appears to be the orthodox opinion, and bears the stamp of great antiquity.
having thus accounted in the best way he could for the existence of all that relates to the beings in the three worlds, our author fondly dwells on the benefits that accrue from the knowledge of causes. it dissipates all the doubts that had previously darkened the mind; it quiets all the anxieties of the heart, and affords perfect peace. for want of it, the impious fall from one error into another; the disciples of buddha are chiefly perfected by its help.
we read in the buddhist scriptures that a brahmin went to consult buddha on some points that much perplexed his mind. he said to him, “i am beset with doubts respecting the past, the present, and the future. respecting the past, i ask myself, have i passed through former generations or not? what was my condition during those existences? my answer is, i am ignorant on all those points. what was my position previous to those generations? i know it not. as to the present, is it true that i exist? or is my existence but an illusion? shall i have to be born again or not? what are those living beings that surround me at present? are they but so many illusions which deceive me by their appearance of reality? on these points i am sunk in complete ignorance. the future is likewise full of doubts[224] and most perplexing uncertainties. shall i have other generations or not? what shall be my condition during these coming existences? a thick veil hides from my eyes all that concerns my future destiny. what are the means to clear up all those doubts that encompass me on all sides?”
buddha said to him, “reflect first on this main point, that what we are wont to call self, or moi, is nothing but name and form—that is to say, a compound of the four elements, which undergoes perpetual changes under the action or influence of kan. having acquired the conviction of the truth of this principle, it remains with you to investigate carefully the causes which produce both name and form. this simple examination will lead you at once to the perfect solution of all your doubts. behold the difference that exists between the holders of false doctrines and the true believers. the former, whom we may almost call animals, never take the trouble to examine the nature of beings or the causes of their existence. they are stubbornly attached to their false theories, and persist in saying that what the ignorant, delivered up to illusion, are used to call an animal, a king, a subject, a foot, and a hand, &c., is really an animal, a king, a subject, a foot, and a hand, &c.; whilst all living beings and their component parts are nothing else but name and form—that is to say, a compound made up of the four elements. those impious are delivered up to error; hence it happens that they follow all different ways. we reckon among them more than sixty different sects, all at variance among themselves, but all uniting in a common obstinacy to reject the true doctrine of buddha. they are doomed to move incessantly within the circle of endless and wretched existences.
“how different is the condition of the true believers, our followers! they know that the living beings inhabiting the world have a beginning. but they are sensible of the folly of attempting to reach this beginning or first cause. this is above the capacity of the loftiest intelligence. it[225] is evident, for instance, that the seeds of plants and trees, which are continually in a state of reproduction, have a beginning; but what that beginning is, no one presumes to determine. so it is with man and all living beings. they know well, too, that what is vulgarly called man, woman, eyes, mouth, are all illusory distinctions, vanishing away in the presence of the sage, who sees nothing in all that but name and form, the production of kan and wibek, that is to say, of the first and second causes. these two things are not the man and the woman, &c., but they are the efficient causes of both. what we say respecting man and woman may be applied to animals and to all other beings. they are all the productions or results of kan and wibek, quite as distinct from these two agents as effect is distinct from its cause. to explain this doctrine, buddhists have recourse to the comparison of a burning-glass. when there is such an instrument in one hand, and the rays of the sun pass through it to the other, fire is then produced; but fire is quite distinct from the two causes that have concurred jointly in producing it. our disciples, too, are aware that the five khandas, or aggregates constituting a living being, succeed each other at each generation, but in such a way that the second generation partakes or retains nothing of the khandas of the first. but the causes producing them—such as kan and wibek—never change; they ever remain the same. let us suppose lamps lighted up. if they burn always, it is owing to the action of individuals that supply them with oil, and light them as soon as they are extinguished. such is the condition of the khandas. those which belong to one existence have no more in common with those of the following one than the fire of the lamp just lighted anew has with that of the fire of the lamp that has just died away. as to the way beings are reproduced, we say that when a man is dying, the last tseit having appeared and soon disappeared, it is succeeded forthwith by the patti tseit or the tseit of the new existence; the interval between[226] both is so short that it can scarcely be appreciated. this first tseit has nothing in common with the last one. it is, let it be well remembered, the production of kan, or of the influence of merits and demerits, as well as the khandas above alluded to.”
this article is by far the most important of all. the latter part, in particular, elucidates in a distinct manner the genuine opinions of buddhism on points of the greatest concern. we may sum up the whole as follows:—
1. there is a first cause that has acted in bringing into being all that exists; but that first cause is unknown, nor can we ever come to the knowledge of it.
2. the immediate causes of all the modifications of beings, or states of being, are ignorance and kan.
3. all beings are but compounds of the four elements. the intellectual operations are carried on by the instrumentality of the heart, in the same manner as vision is obtained by the means of the eye and of an object to act upon.
4. each succeeding existence is brought on and modified by the action of kan, or the influence of merits and demerits.
5. the component parts of a new being are in no way connected with those of the previous being. this is the key to the difficulty many persons find in accounting, in a buddhistic sense, for the process of metempsychosis. a new term ought to be coined to express that doctrine.
6. the question respecting neibban may be theoretically resolved without difficulty, by application of the principles contained in this and the preceding article. there is no doubt that the solution forced upon the mind from what has been above stated is that the end of the perfected being is annihilation. horrifying as this conclusion is, it is not, after all, worse than that which is the terminus of the theories of some modern schools. what an abyss is the poor human mind liable to fall into when it ceases to be guided by revelation!
