The Buddhist Catechism Part 16

329. Q. _Can you show any further endors.e.m.e.nt of Buddhism by science?_

A. The Buddha's doctrine teaches that there were many progenitors of the human race; also that there is a principle of differentiation among men; certain individuals have a greater capacity for the rapid attainment of Wisdom and arrival at Nirvana than others.

330. Q. _Any other?_

A. Buddhism supports the teaching of the indestructibility of force.

331. Q. _Should Buddhism be called a chart of science or a code of morals?_

A. Properly speaking, a pure moral philosophy, a system of ethics and transcendental metaphysics. It is so eminently practical that the Buddha kept silent when Malunka asked about the origin of things.

332. Q. _Why did he do that?_

A. Because he thought that our chief aim should be to see things as they exist around us and try to make them better, not to waste time in intellectual speculations.

333. Q. _What do Buddhists say is the reason for the occasional birth of very good and wise children of bad parents, and that of very bad ones of good parents?_

A. It is because of the respective Karmas of children and parents; each may have deserved that such unusual relations.h.i.+ps should be formed in the present birth.

334. Q. _Is anything said about the body of the Buddha giving out a bright light?_

A. Yes, there was a divine radiance sent forth from within by the power of his holiness.

335. Q. _What is it called in Pali?_

A. Buddharansi, the Buddha rays.

336. Q. _How many colours could be seen in it?_

A. Six, linked in pairs.

337. Q. _Their names?_

A. Nila, Pita, Lohita, Avadata, Mangasta, Prabhasvra.

338. Q. _Did other persons emit such s.h.i.+ning light?_

A. Yes, all Arhats did and, in fact, the light s.h.i.+nes stronger and brighter in proportion to the spiritual development of the person.

339. Q. _Where do we see these colours represented?_

A. In all viharas where there are painted images of the Buddha.

They are also seen in the stripes of the Buddhist Flag, first made in Ceylon but now widely adopted throughout Buddhist countries.

340. Q. _In which discourse does the Buddha himself speak of this s.h.i.+ning about him?_

A. In the _Maha-Parinibbana Sutta_, Ananda his favourite disciple, noticing the great splendour which came from his Master's body, the Buddha said that on two occasions this extraordinary s.h.i.+ning occurs, (_a_) just after a Tathagata gains the supreme insight, and (_b_) on the night when he pa.s.ses finally away.

341. Q. _Where do we read of this great brightness being emitted from the body of another Buddha?_

A. In the story of Sumedha and Dipankara Buddha, found in the _Nidanakatha_ of the _Jataka_ book, or story of the reincarnations of the Bodhisattva Siddhartha Gautama.

342. Q. _How is it described?_

A. As a halo of a fathom's depth.

343. Q. _What do the Hindus call it?_

A. _Tejas_; its extended radiance they call Prakasha.

344. Q. _What do Europeans call it now?_

A. The human aura.

345. Q. _What great scientist has proved the existence of this aura by carefully conducted experiments?_

A. The Baron Von Reichenbach. His experiments are fully described in his _Researches_, published in 1844-5. Dr. Baraduc, of Paris, has, quite recently, photographed this light.

346. Q. _Is this bright aura a miracle or a natural phenomenon?_

A. Natural. It has been proved that not only all human beings but animals, trees, plants and even stones have it.

347. Q. _What peculiarity has it in the case of a Buddha or an Arhat?_

A. It is immensely brighter and more extended than in cases of other beings and objects. It is the evidence of their superior development in the power of _Iddhi_. The light has been seen coming from dagobas in Ceylon where relics of the Buddha are said to be enshrined.

348. Q. _Do people of other religions besides Buddhism and Hinduism also believe in this light?_

A. Yes, in all pictures of Christian artists this light is represented as s.h.i.+ning about the bodies of their holy personages. The same belief is found to have existed in other religions.

349. Q. _What historical incident supports the modern theory of hypnotic suggestion?_

A. That of Chullapanthaka, as told in the Pali Commentary on the _Dhammapada_, etc.

350. Q. _Give me the facts._

A. He was a bhikkhu who became an Arhat. On that very day the Buddha sent a messenger to call him. When the man reached the Vihara, he saw three hundred bhikkhus in one group, each exactly like the others in every respect. On his asking which was Chullapanthaka, every one of the three hundred figures replied: "I am Chullapanthaka."

351. Q. _What did the messenger do?_

A. In his confusion he returned and reported to the Buddha.

352. Q. _What did the Buddha then tell him?_

A. To return to the vihara and, if the same thing happened, to catch by the arm the _first_ figure who said he was Chullapanthaka and lead him to him. The Buddha knew that the new Arhat would make this display of his acquired power to impress illusionary pictures of himself upon the messenger.

353. Q. _What is this power of illusion called in Pali?_