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Bhikkhu Ananda Metteya - Allan Bennett

The Upasampada Ordination
of Bhikkhu Ananda Maitreya

On the Full-moon day of Vesakha, in the year two thousand, four hundred and forty-six, by Buddhist reckoning (Anglicé; May 21st 1902), an unusual spectacle was afforded to the people of Akyab, in the admission to the higher grade of the Buddhist Priesthood, of the English Samanera, Ananda Maitriya, who had been ordained as Samanera on the eighth of December last: by Lamrna Saradaw of this town. For the benefit of those of our readers who are unacquainted with the new Bhikkhu's antecedents, we give a brief account of his life, and of the manner in which he became a Buddhist.

Born in London in 1872, son of a Civil and Electrical Engineer, Allan Bennett MacGregor was educated at Bath in the West of England. From his childhood, a student of Science, he early in life, like most of those who are acquainted, with modern philosophy, seceded from Christianity, remaining for several years an Agnostic. He first came into contact with Buddhism through the pages of Sir Edwin Arnold's beautiful poem. "The Light of Asia"; and, deeply moved by the pure and rational Faith so ably represented in Arnold's masterpiece, he proceeded to obtain a closer acquaintance with Buddhism through the medium of such of the Buddhist Scriptures as were then translated into English. Having studied these, he became a Buddhist, and has remained so since about his eighteenth year. By profession an Analytical Chemist, he has also done much other scientific work in connection with the higher branches of Electricity, Hertz waves, Rontgen Rays, etc. Three years ago he came to Ceylon in search of health denied him by the colder climate of England; and whilst there, he greatly extended his knowledge of Buddhism, being instructed for four months by the Ven Revata Thera, at Kamburugamuva in the Matara district. He made many friends amongst the more eminent Buddhists in Ceylon, who gave him much assistance in his studies; and in July 1901 he read before the Hope Lodge of the T.S. of Colombo, an exposition of Buddhist Doctrines, under the title of “The Four Noble Truths”, which was later printed and distributed gratis at the expense of Mr. J. E. R. Pereira, an eminent Buddhist gentlemen of Colombo. Having expressed the wish to enter the Buddhist Order in Burma, Dr. Tha Nu of this town made all the necessary arrangements, and .Mr MacGregor finally renounced the world in December last, leaving behind, his English nationality, for the more glorious privilege of becoming one of the great family of the Children of the Buddha; and exchanging his English name for the Buddhist cognomen of "Ananda Maitriya."

Since that time, he has been living in Akyab, improving his knowledge of the Pali language, learning the duties of a Bhikkhu, and writing a few papers on Buddhism, which have been printed in Ceylon. He lately moved to Ky arook Kyoung, and it was Kyarook Saradaw who, together with Shwc Zedi Saradaw, assembled together the many eminent Theras who took part in the conferring of the full Ordination.

Five days beforehand, the Priests invited from outlying districts began to arrive, and took up their quarters in Kyarook and Shwe Zedi Kyoungs. They came by twos and threes, they came by fives and tens, till the vicinity of the two Temples resembled Anuradhapura in the days of its glory, when “the whole town was golden with the Robes of the Priests." Nor were the Buddhist laymen of the town behind the Brethren of the Yellow Robe, in their efforts to do honor to the occasion. Under the able organization of U Mra U; Maung Htoon-Chan and others arrangements were made both for the Ordination itself, and for the feeding of the assembled Priests. When there were twenty Priests, the town people brought food enough for forty, when on the last few days, some seventy Priests were present, there was food enough for a hundred and fifty and when at last the appointed day arrived, everyone had only words of the highest praise for the excellence with which the whole of the arrangements had been effected Mr. Htoon-Chan was indefatigable in his efforts to amuse the visiting Priests, initiating them into the mysteries of the Phonograph and Telescope, and entertaining them with magic-lantern pictures of some of the great Buddhist Shrines in Ceylon.

The day chosen for the ceremony is the most sacred in the Buddhist calendar: -the Buddhist New Year Day, the Anniversary of the four chief events in the Life of the Buddha: His Birth, His Renunciation, His attainment of Buddhahood, and his Parinirvána: and it dawned bright and clear, as though to honor the Memory of the Great Teacher who so long ago passed into the Eternal Peace. To avoid any dissensions on the score of the validity of the Sima, it had been decided to have the ceremony performed on the water; and arrangements had been made with the Arakan Flotilla Company for the use of one of their steam launches, for the actual ceremony, and of their large godown for the subsequent public reception and the delivery of the address of the new Priest.

At two o´clock in the afternoon, the procession started from Kyarook Kyoung for the wharf. First, came the Venerable Shwe Bya Saradaw, the chief officiating Priest, in a carriage; then, a long line of seventy-four Priests, glorious in yellow silk; then, a band of musicians armed with pipes and cymbals and big drums, and last of all, the Priest-elect with his chief Dáyaka, Dr Tha Nu, in a carriage, a privilege accorded to him by reason of his late illness. At the head and tail of this long procession marched men bearing golden flags; and as one watched slowly passing through the dusty roads, the people kneeling as it went, one understood a little of the nature of the hold this great, ancient Religion has in the hearts of the people, - one understood how great a part that Religion has in all their lives.

At length, the wharf was reached, and here, all was in readiness. The launch has been tastefully decorated with long festooned streamers of fresh flowers, the floor of the godown strew with mats to seat the public. Priests and Priest-elect passed on to the launch, which was then moored in midstream. As soon as this was done, the workmen left the boat, and the Ceremony commenced in right earnest. The Sámanera having been stationed as far as possible away from the priests, they proceeded to form themselves into a Shanga, each priest, in low tones confessing his faults to his neighbor. Then, a pinturesque interlude occurred. Taking a vessel of water, Shwe Zedi Saradaw went to the bow of the vessel, and scattered water thence on the river below. On this wise, still scattering water, he passed round the whole vessel from stern to stern and from stern to stern again. This process is called the “Cutting of the Sima,” and typifies the purification, by water, of the vessel, its separation from the world without, and its consecration as a water-sima.

This done, the Kammaváca, or Ordenation Ritual, was proceeded with. Kneeling at the feet of the Venerable Shwe Bya Sayadaw, the Sámanera thrice begged him to grant his sanction and support, and to become his spiritual superior; whereunto the Saradaw replied “Sádhu, Sádhu,” “It is well, It is well,” and the Sámanera then retired to the other end of the boat. It is usual here for the Acariya or Tutor to explain to the Priest-elect the meaning of every sentence in the Kammaváca in Burmese; but, the Sámanera being unacquainted with that language, Shwe Zedi Saradaw recited the explanation in English: probably the first time that this language has been used in the Ordination of a Buddhist Priest.

After about half an hour, the Ceremony came to an end. The Three "Natti Acariyas", Kyarup Saradaw, Paññalankara Saradaw, and Shwe Zedi Saradaw, kneeling in the midst of the assembly, chanted together the sacramental words "This candidate desires Ordination under the Venerable Tissa. He is free from disqualifications. The assembly gives the candidate Ordination under his superior, the Venerable Tissa. If any of the Venerable Assembly approve the Ordination of the candidate under the Venerable Tissa, let him be silent; if any objects, let him speak."Thrice the resonant Páli rang out over the water, followed each time by a dead silence. Then, bowing to the assembled Priests, the three Acariyas proclaimed: "The candidate has received Ordination from the Priesthood under his superior the Venerable Tissa. The Sangha approves the Resolution, therefore it keeps silence. Thus have I understood."

This terminated the Ordination Ceremony, and the newly consecrated Priest knelt before his Superior to receive his priestly name. "Ananda Maitriya, Sásanajotika-bhikkhu!" was the name thrice proclaimed by the Venerable Shwe Bya Saradaw, and thrice acknowledged by the new Priest.

The launch was then towed to the shore, and the Assembly broke up: all going together to the large godown, where the public were waiting. After the presentation of various offerings. to the new Priest, the latter rose and delivered the following Address in English, setting forth the programme of the work he intends to do for the furtherance of Buddhism. At its termination, a more condensed Address, on the same lines, ably rendered into Burmese by Dr. Tha Do Aung, was read by U Mra U, and then the whole proceedings came to an end; the Priests returning to their Temples, and the people to their houses, all having good reason to congratulate themselves on the unqualified success of the work for which such extensive preparations had been made.

The Burmese Version of the new Priest's Address will be printed and issued separately, so we give here only the text of the fuller English Version, from which our readers can see for themselves the work which lies before this new Member of the Sangha of the Buddha. May that work prosper!

THE ADDRESS

Namo Tassa Bhagavato, Arabato, Sammasambuddhassa

VENERABLES SIRS AND BROTHERS,

Lowly unto the ground I bow and worship the sacred feet of the Buddha, our Lord, the All-pitiful, the Light and Savior of the world. I adore that saving Dhamma which he hath declared, which frees us from the burden of all-sorrowful life, and from the Threefold Fire of Passion, Hatred and Delusion; which enlightens our hearts and minds as with the Sun of wisdom, and purifies our thoughts, making strong within us, love and pity for all living things.

And lastly, do I worship with clasped hands the Sangha of His children; even the congregation of those holy ones who are walking in the Path He hath declared; that Path which leads out of the world of Illusion, and from the ever-rolling Wheel of Life; unto the deathless glory of unchangeable Nirvana, to Liberation, and the Great Peace.

Having thus fittingly adored the Threefold Jewel of our Faith, it will be proper that I, now for the first time appearing before you as a fullyaccepted member of the Sangha, should render thanks to all who have aided me attaining to the blessing of this, the highest and the greatest Way of Life on earth; and that I should declare to you more fully than I have yet done, the nature of the work that lies before me, the work I have set myself to do for the extension of our Buddhist Religion.

So, first, to the rendering of thanks. I am no master of fair words and rhetoric that I should be able to tell you how full my 'heart is of gratitude to you all, today. From a far distant land I came, an alien and unknown; and I have been received amongst you as a brother, and as one well-loved, for the sole sake of this, our common Faith. Since I came here, since at my Pabajja Ordination I renounced the world, all that I have; these Robes I wear, the food I take, the books from which I have studied the Good Law of our Master have been your gifts; gifts of warm hearts that, for the love of this great Religion which is your proudest heritage, could render lo a stranger, to one who cannot even speak your language, such constant help and kindness as you have shown to me.

I render thanks to the Venerable Shwe Bya Saradaw Khemalankara Mahá Thera, who has conferred upon me this priceless benefit of the Upasampadá Ordination: to my revered friend and Teacher, Kyarup Saradaw, U Agga Mahá Thera, who has given me a home in his Temple, and has overcome for me all the difficulties in my way: to my dear friend and Teacher, Shwe Zedi Saradaw, U Tejaráma Thera; who has helped me in my studies, and taught me nearly all I know of the duties of a Priest: to Lamma Saradaw, who conferred upon me the Pabajja Ordination, and in whose Temple I lived for four months; and to all the Venerable Saradaws and Priests who have taken part in this, my Ordination.

I render thanks, thanks which my poor words but ill express, to Dr. Tha Nu, and to his wife, Ma Mra Gno, chief of my many Dayakas; without whose aid I could not have obtained the Pabbajja Ordination: who have fed me, and had me nursed when I was ill; giving me all that I have needed, and very constant help and kindness. May the help that they have rendered me, whom they have treated as though I were their own son, go with them through many lives; that they may never find themselves friendless in a strange land, that they may never fail of such loving and ample aid as they have rendered me! May they have their share in the merit of whatever work I may be able to do for our Religion; for to them it is due, is due entirely, that I came formerly to Akyab and received Ordination as Sámanera: it is owing to them and to U Mra U, Htoon-Chan, Tha Do Aung and other eminent Buddhists of this town that I stand before you today with every wish of my heart realized, an ordained Priest of the Sangha of the Buddha, having my share in His Supreme Brotherhood.

I render thanks to many other kind and true friends who in innumerable ways have helped me since my arrival here. In particular do I thank Dr. Tha Do Aung, your eminent Páli scholar, for the gift of his most valuable Grammar of the Páli Language, and for much assistance he has given me in my studies, by the loan of hooks, and by personal help.

I render thanks to all the kind laity of this town, alike to those by whose kindness this my Ordination has been successfully carried out, and to those at whose doors I have begged my daily food: food which has been to me the best medicine and support, in that it has been given by the hand of love.

Such are the thanks l have to render, but, as l have said; mere words fail to express the gratitude which is in my heart lo you all. If, as is my chiefest hope, and the ambition of my life, the all ruling Power of Karma shall place in my hands the blessing that I crave, the giving of our Master's Law of Pity and of Love unto the Lands of the West; you, who have all helped me thus lovingly to obtain the position and the knowledge necessary to that gift, have also a share in the giving: for, without your aid, what could I alone have accomplished? Surely nothing; and so I render to you all the homage of my thanks: alike to that Supreme Law which lives and reigns behind the lives and deeds of men; to the Venerable Priests who have honored me by admitting me to the Fraternity of the Sangha; and to all laymen who have aided me herein.

In my last public address, when in December I was ordained a Sámanera, I told you briefly of the reasons which had prompted me to seek admission to this august Order. I told you of the conflict between the religious and secular knowledge of my country; and how, in my own case, the latter destroyed any faith in the religious lessons of my childhood. It is difficult for me to depict to you, who have been brought up in a Faith which is not in conflict with anything you may later learn of Truth, the terrible nature of this mental strife which men of scientific education must pass through in Western lands. For the Religion we learn in our childhood, and there are few things which have greater hokl on a man's heart than this, a Religion, you must remember, which is associated in our minds with all that is great and noble in life, and with one of the grandest ethical systems that has ever inspired men's hearts to noble lives and thoughts: this religious teaching of our childhood's days is yet centered and pivoted in a blind and unreasoning faith, a faith in what we later, to our bitter cost, come to know is impossible, and indeed subversive of all true morality; subversive of that every ethical system which is taught to us as part of that same Religion, For we are taught that there is no clime so terrible, no life so sunken in depravity and sin, but that a sincere repentance and appeal to God can save us from well-merited punishment; and there is yet a darker side to this teaching, which would have us believe that innumerable beings, created by an all-wise and all-merciful Divine Father, are yet doomed by ignorance of this Religion to an eternity of suffering. In a word, as we Buddhist would say, this Faith has for its building principle that third of the Ten Fetters of the Mind, Silabbat Sáramása, the belief in the efficiency of prayers and rites to cleanse from sin and to secure a happy life thereafter, that Fetter of the Mind which is as Arnold has it:

Draped far in many lands as lowly Faith
But ever juggling souls with rites and prayers
The keeper of those keys which lock up Hells
And opens Heavens

And thus, when later on in life we learn of the Laws our sages have discovered, when we learn that in all the world of matter there is no exception to their universal domination: when we see that surely the evil and poisonous weed evolves its like, the corn gives rise to corn, the lily to a lily; good to more good, evil to a yet greater ill; how, seeing thus, can we deem that it should be otherwise in the greater and more vital world, the world of the hearts and lives and ways and thoughts of men? And when, again, we see that in the physical world there is ruling, beyond the lesser law of heredity, which by itself could produce but repetitions; a high and more potent law, the power of Evolution; a power which, through long aeons of strife, out of that bitter strife itself evolves ever higher and yet higher types; how should we not believe that here, too, here in our minds, our hearts, our wills, some deeper, vaster Law, albeit yet uncomprehended, is slowly bringing all our lives to a final and ultimate perfection; not indeed, assoiling at man´s selfish prayer the sins of a lifetime in one short moment; but evolving out of that very punishment, the lesser law of retribution inflicted on the ill-doer; a nobler life, a higher and more perfected being?

And yet, this very belief, so accordant with what we know of Law, so simple in its justice, so well explanatory of the dark meaning of sorrow, and the Mystery of Life; is yet in opposition to all the teachings of our childhood, we are told always that we must believe, believe blindly and without seeking for an explanation: that without belief, no purity of life or thought can avail to help us, must believe the world to be governed by caprice, its torture without use or meaning: must believe only in a Will we dare not question, in a Power we may never here know or see. What wonder, then, if in our youth we abandon the religious lessons of our childhood´s days; if we seeks blindly in the darkness and shadow of our hearts and lives, for some solution of the terrible problem of life –seek vainly, or, weaklier, plunge headlong into the ever-swelling flood or folly and of dissipation: that evil tide which is slowly but surely overwhelming the ancient and nobler ideals of life? How shall I tell you of that bitter struggle in our hearts, or of the despair we must always pass through; as these religious teachings of our earlier days, and with them, alas! Too often also the great ethical teaching that forms part of them, are one by one dispersed before the rising of this scientific knowledge, this logical perception of the necessity of some other solution of the problems of life, dispersed like mists before the dawning of the sun? I cannot, for there is nothing in our lives that may compare with it. Hard is the loss of wealth and wife and child and love, but there is no bitterness in life to compare with his, who is left without Religion; without the hope, Religion alone can give, without its support in times of trouble.

To the majority of our people this terrible conflict does not come: to those who have no knowledge of scientific truth, no mental training which should fit them to think accurately upon the problems of life and faith; and these live on in happy ignorance, enjoying to the full the consolations of that Religion which are denied to those of greater learning, and of clearer perceptions. If, to its votaries this great knowledge of the Reign of Law in the material world, this scientific Truth which has cost the Martyrs of Science so much to gain, brought with it any possible substitute for the inspirations of that Religion it displaces, then all would be well; but this, unhappily, is riot the case. The happiness which deep religious feeling confers, is not for the agnostic; its sublime aspirations are absent from his life! And the poorest peasant who deems that the Justice of the Universe may be subverted by his prayer, is happier for his ignorance than is the wise man for his learning; for our science has but brought to us the knowledge of this world of death, it has given us no inkling of the greater world beyond. And to the peasant, there is an end and a goal in life, however little wiser men might care for that promised heavenly existence; whilst to the work and life of the scientist there is none but a material end to be gained, there is no hope of ever learning of That which lies behind the Veil, behind the Veil of the mystery and the pathos of our darkling lives.

Who amongst us has not realised this; who amongst us has not at times, in the midst of some absorbing investigation unto the properties of matter, turned appalled from the utter uselessness of it all; the futility of all our learning; has not reached forth in his mind to seek the meaning of this life, to find that Law beyond, which no material instrument may ever reveal to him? Who amongst us has not longed betimes, in moments of weakness and despair, for the happier ignorance of his childhood's days, has not cried with the great German Poet. "Take away this sad clear-sightedness, restore the happy blindness of my youth?"

For we have learned indeed of the Reign of Law in the world of matter, we have substituted that blind Force for the all ruling Deity of the Faith of our childhood; but we have yet to learn that which Buddhism alone can teach us of the existence of a Higher Law, a Power which lives and reigns beyond the shadow of our lives; a Power which will in time evolve, out of the old ancestral darkness of our hearts and minds, a glory and a light which shines beyond our ken; a Power which works towards perfection through the sorrow and the turmoil of our lives; even a s the lesser Law of earth, working in the silence and the darkness, brings forth at last, from the dying and decaying seed, the root and stem and leaf, and all the beauty of the blossom, and the marvel of the fruit.

And so, our knowledge has not made us happier. In plate of the old religious feeling which prompted men to noble lives and deeds, it has substituted only a craving after further knowledge, knowledge which can only avail to the augmenting of our desires, knowledge that is in itself unable to inspire our lives, incapable of promoting that mutual love which is at the root of all true happiness on earth. It has substituted competition for mutual helpfulness, and for the old chivalrous ideals, a debasing and a sordid commercialism, a commercialism that is destroying in us all that was noble and great in the lives of our forefathers. This commercialism has been the ruin of every great civilisation of olden time, it is the sure sign and forerunner of the downfall of nations and of dynasties. For of all the ignoble passions of man, Avarice is alone without some redeeming spark of heavenly fire: the avarice of the old man, counting his golden hoard secretly in the chimney corner. As it is with a man´s life, so is it with the history of nations and of civilisations. First, the noble inspirations of youth, the loves, and hopes, and the striving after the ideal, and then, unless the power of Religion or some such 1oving and vital force come into his life, he succumbs to the life of the shop-keeper, his ideals swallowed up in his ledgers and his bank account; he lives ere long as a soul-less machine for the gathering of riches; dies ere long with torture in his heart and nameless anguish in his mind, because he cannot carry his wealth, cause of his soul´s ruin, with him through the Gate of Death.

But because of all these things, shall we deem it best to return to the bondage of those older days, to burden our minds once more with the weight of those very superstitions from which we have freed ourselves; Never! For we have found a little portion of the Truth, and, if our knowledge has so far brought unto us, but death, it remains to us to find its supplement, the knowledge of That which is beyond all death and change; we have discovered the Reign of Law in the world of Matter, -it remains to us to learn of that greater Law which rules in the spiritual world. If we cannot do this, then our civilization is doomed, and all that it has cost us to gain, is lost for us: if we can come to the knowledge of that higher Law, then we may enter upon a new era of life, a new era of sublime inspiration; to an enlightenment whose fruit lies far beyond this earthly life, beyond where our minds can reach, or our thoughts declare.

There is an old legend, an old story I will tell you. Long ago, there was living a terrible monster called the Sphinx, which had the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings and talons of a bird. This monster had a liking for human flesh, and she devastated all the country in which she lived, and there was none found able to destroy her. But a certain wise and holy man, whose eyes, blind to the light of earth, were open to the wondrous Light of the world Beyond, prophesied that she could be slain by him alone who could answer a certain Riddle that she always put to her victims. But the Seer further said that there were two answers to this Riddle, an earthly, and a spiritual meaning; and that if a man should solve the earthly secret alone, he would indeed destroy the Sphinx, but would himself in turn be subjected to the most horrible calamities.

Many men went to the Sphinx, seeking to solve the Riddle, and so save their country, but none could give even the earthly and material answer to the Riddle, and then the Sphinx would eat them up. By reason of which. the men of that country presently stopped going to look for the Sphinx, and trying to solve the Riddle, and only concerned themselves with keeping out of her way. The Riddle was a mathematical one of the greatest difficulty, involving a deep knowledge of a transcendental science which deals with the mysterious properties and secret meanings of Numbers, and all sorts of out-of-the-way learning like that.

At last it came about that a very courageous man came to that country, and he decided, when he had heard of these things, to solve the Riddle, and so free the land from that scourge. He studied mathematics, and the transcendental science I have mentioned, until he thought he knew enough; and then he went boldly to the Sphinx, and the later, as usual, propounded her Riddle. The original Riddle was so mathematical and so complicated that it would be quite unintelligible to you, who do not know of that secret Science of Numbers, and so I will tell you a popular form of it, in which it came to be afterwards well-known it ran: “what is that which walks on four legs in the morning, on two legs at midday, and on three legs in the evening?” And Oedipus said, -this was the brave´s man name,- replied: “Man, who in the morning of his life crawls at all-fours, in his prime goes on his two proper legs, and in his old age takes to himself a staff wherewith to help himself along.” And so he solved the first half of the Riddle, he gave its earthly and material meaning, but he could not see further than this, he could not find the secret spiritual solution, which was “The Eternal”; and thus, whilst he destroyed the Sphinx, who cast herself over a precipice and was slain; he was overtaken by the most terrible calamities in his own life, even as the old blind Seer had foretold.

This is the Legend of Knowledge. He who can solve the earthly meaning of the Riddle of Life, he indeed destroys the monster of ignorance and superstition; but this alone is not enough; if he can go no further than this, he will himself in turn be destroyed, he will be subjected to the most terrible of calamities. If, penetrating the mystery of life without, he fails to comprehend the secret of its inner being, to grasp the fact and meaning of the Life Within; if, together with the ancient animisms, he rejects that spiritual Truth which in differing degrees underlies all Religions, and all mythologies; then surely he is doomed, even as was Oedipus. He may indeed have destroyed the monster of superstition, but if he can do no more than this he will be overtaken, even in his life, by the most terrible of calamities; by the loss of the higher hope, by the destruction within himself of every ennobling ideal; he will degenerate, at the best, to a mere machine for the tabulation of useless facts; at the worst, to the life of the shopkeeper, or perchance even to that of the criminal or of the rake.

And this is the conditions of things this day in the West. We have solved in deed the material portion of the Riddle of Life the Armies of Science have swept victorious up to the very confines and barriers of the material universe; but further than those barriers, by our present methods we can never win, for what appliance or subtle mechanism can ever reveal the mysteries of the World Beyond, the World of Pure Consciousness, which is above all thought and naming. And, even now, we are beginning to pay the terrible penalty and every hand crime and vice are increasing, the old noble ideals are everywhere giving place to a sordid commercialism; till, now-a-days, when some new scheme is proposed, men do not ask "Is this thing right or good to do?"-but only "will it pay?" With the secession of the leaders of thought from the current Religion, a vast and ever-growing flood of irreligion is spreading everywhere; till, as our knowledge of the Laws of Heredity teaches us, in but a few generation of men, all higher ideals must be eradicated from our lives, all nobler sentiments be swallowed up in a soulless and an irretrievable commercialism.

To me, there seems but one remedy for this state of things. We need in the West, a Religion which, whilst containing in an eminent degree the ultimate spiritual Truth, and the purest and clearest possible enunciation of ethical principals; shall yet in its outer teaching, in the plain meaning of its vital doctrines, contradict no single portion of what we know of Truth: a Religion which shall proclaim the Reign of Law alike in the world of matter, and in the World Beyond. Such a Faith exists, a faith unparalleled in the purity of its ethical teaching, unapproached in the sublimity of its higher doctrine; proclaiming in all worlds and for all beings alike, the governance and domination of eternal Laws; the incomparable Religion declared for the salvation of all mankind by Him whose child and humblest follower I have this day become: the Arya Dharma of our Lord the Buddha.

Herein, then, lies the work that is before me, the Cause to which I have devoted and consecrated my life: to carry to the Lands of the West the Law of Love and Truth declared by our Master, to establish in those countries the Sangha of His Priests, To do this, it is necessary first to obtain from each countrymen of education and of some ability to speak or write on Buddhism; who will come to the East, and receive the requisite Ordination, and acquire a thorough knowledge of the Dharma; this work I have already commenced on a small scale.

When first the Good Law was declared by the All-pitiful, the state of Eastern lands was such that this teaching of peace and love could not have spread, for the people of those days were savages and barbarians. delighting only in war and in all manner of cruelty; savages devoid of the necessary intelligence to comprehend the Dharma. But since that time the conditions have utterly changed, till today the peoples of the West are the most advanced m the world; and the spread of scientific knowledge has paved the way for a Religion free from all animistic superstitions.

In ten year's time from now, exactly twenty-five centuries will have passed since first our Lord, in the Deer-park near Penares, set in motion the wheel of the Good Law, and opened the way of Liberation unto men. And I propose to inaugurate the advent of our twenty-sixth century, to celebrate this two-thousand-five-hundreth Anniversary of the Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness; by initiating in that year, the promulgation in Western Lands of the Teaching of our Master, by establishing in that year the Sangha of His Priests, in England, America, France and Germany; and, perchance, in other countries. By that time, the necessary ten years will have elapsed from my own reception into the Sangha today; and we shall thus be able to confer the Pabajja and Upasampada Ordination in those countries. From what I know of England and France, and from what I have learned from competent persons in America and Germany, I am convinced that, were this Dharma thus preached in those countries by regularly ordained Bhikkhus, its extension would be rapid, and its success immediate: and, if this were so, then the effect upon those nations would be well-nigh incalculable.

Thus the first thing to be done for this work is the securing of the necessary postulants for the Priesthood. I am already in communication with eminent Buddhists in England, America and Germany on this matter, but from mere private correspondence not much can be expected. Three are now in the West, many devoted adherents of our Religion, but they are scattered here and there, and have no organization at present. What is needed, is that this work should be brought to the knowledge of all these Buddhists, whether in the East or in the West. It is my intention to found an international Buddhist Society, to be known as the Buddhasánana Samágama, at first, in these countries of the East, and later extending it to the West.

The principal means by which I shall be able to spread the knowledge of this work, in the West, is a monthly Journal which I hope shortly to be able to get promoted. This Journal would need to be subsidized for at least a year, as it would be sent gratis to the great Libraries, and to all eminent Buddhists. I hope to be able to get the support necessary for this purpose ere long, and to produce the first number of this Journal within six months time from now.

Whilst, doubtless, the great benefit of this work, would be to those Occidental lands to which we should later go to establish the Threefold Jewel, yet I think it would not be without a very beneficial effect on these Buddhist countries to which we must look at first for our aid and support. There would be, in my opinion, a considerable advantage to the Cause of Buddhism in these countries, if European Bikkhus were going here and there, working for Buddhism, and preaching the Good Law; and perhaps we might be able, later on, to do something in the way of promoting the union of the various sects of the local Sangha, a reform very much needed for the preservation of the integrity and stability of the Buddhism Order.

I shall be careful to select as postulants for admission to our New Sangha, only men of education, and some ability to write or speak well on Buddhist subjects; for uneducated men would only serve to bring our movement into ridicule, especially when we go to the West.

With a devoted body of such men, I think that we should be able to render, in return for our support, and the great benefit your Priests would confer upon us in ordaining our members, many useful services in these Buddhist lands; indeed, the first benefit of this programme of work would be felt in the East, in a general increase and coordination of Buddhist activity in these countries. I shall make it one of the conditions for admission to our Sangha that postulants should agree to promote Buddhism on Buddhist principles; that is, we would extend wherever possible the knowledge of the Good Law, whether by writing or by public lecturing; we would in like manner, answer any attacks which might be made against our Faith; but would never permit that any of our Members should revile or abuse any form of religious belief held by others; believing always that the Truth is all-conquering, and will triumph in the end; whilst abuse and ridicule of the Faiths of others can breed hatred and heart-burning; and is a method, moreover, opposed alike to the letter and the spirit of our Master´s Teaching.

Such is, briefly, the work that lies before me, the work for which I appeal for help to all Buddhist Peoples, whether in Arakan, Burma, Ceylon, Siam, or in Western lands. And, knowing well how all Buddhist peoples loves this great peace-giving Faith of the Buddhas; knowing well how that Faith has given them love and compassion and the burning wish to help all things that suffer life, I feel sure that I shall not appeal in vain. Workers are needed in every important town; men of eminence who are willing to promote the new Buddhist Society, and to administer the secular affairs of the New Sangha; to receive contributions for its support and work, and for the subsidizing of our official Journal which is soon to be. I invite all those who are willing to take part in this work to communicate directly with me, and to let me know what they are willing to do; in this way we soon have the necessary organization and will be able to get to work in earnest.

If we can succeed in this, then today, which has seen the foundation in embryo of this new, this Western Sangha, will mark the commencement of a new era in the history of our Religion: a Religion which, albeit the first Missionary Faith in the world, has for centuries relaxed all Missionary effort. And looking back upon the days of old, upon the history of those races amongst which Buddhism has been propagated; seeing how, wherever that Faith has gone, it has altered the very life and nature of the peoples that have accepted it, altered them vastly for the better, it seems to me that the introduction of that Religion into Western Lands will bring about a new and a happier era in the mental and moral histories of those Peoples; will bring about a new era of broader mindedness, and of a greater pity, a wider compassion and a grander nobility than we have hitherto deemed possible; that it will stem the ill-flood of irreligion and mere commercialism which is today threatening the destruction of these nations; that it will bring about the growth of a higher and a wide-spreading altruism, tending towards the consummation of an ultimate international fraternity; whose watchwords shall be Peace and Love; it´s guiding principle the promotion of a newer and grander conception of the meaning of civilization.

If this should be so, then you, who have this day inaugurated in my person, this New Sangha of the West, will have been the initiators of a Missionary effort which may change the face of the civilized world; you will have been the cause of bringing the Light of Truth, the love and the great living sympathy of our Faith into the lives of countless multitudes of our brothers who now are seeking vainly for the Inner Light, whose eyes are covered with but little moral darkness, and who, were the Law preached to them, would understand.

And if it should seem to you that this were perchance but too small a beginning to so great an end, so wast a gain to humanity, then think about the parable of the Lotus, and you will understand. For, as the Lotus is, so also is the Life of Man. It´s root, deep planted in the mire, is as our life, our thought, our work. Silent it grows, and in the darkness, recking naught of the Light above, its Law the law of earthward gravitation, throwing out new rootlets that bind it but more firmly to the clay. But ever there is working, behind and above that lower law of its nature, a higher power, evolving to the light of day. And so it comes about in time that, working against the power which enchains it to the earth, it throws up stem and leaf and bud, it gains the surface of its lake, and the free wide air; till at last its blossoms opens in the glory of the dawn, a miracle of beauty and of scent beyond our power to declare; the Symbol of the mystery and secret purpose of our lives, the Symbol of that Perfection towards all life is building.

So is it with our lives. Behind and beyond the world wherein we move, behind our wills and thoughts and acts, there reigns a Power Supreme, evolving all this evil un to good. These passions that enchain us are but as rootlets in the mire of life, and even these also have their place, their function in the mystery of being. And the law that binds us to the earth is but temporary, the fruit of temporary desire; whilst the Law Beyond, the Anuttara Dharma which shall in time evolve the blossom of our lives; That is eternal, changeless, and beyond illusion. And so our thoughts and lives must later blossom in a world unknown; our hearts yet open to the free Air, and to the Light beyond. But, who, seeing but the dark, miry root of the Lotus, would deem that perchance it might evolve into that nameless beauty of the flower; unless he had learned of the secret working of that higher Law; unless he had seen before that miracle of growth; unless he had known; unless he had understood?

That Law Beyond is moving in our hearts and acts this day, as it is ever. But it can shine forth fully only in those whose hearts are open to receive it, as the sunlight can illuminate but the open flower. And the West today seems to me like a great lotus-lake, wherein innumerable buds have come up to the surface, away from the bondage of water and of earth; have come up in the Night of time, are waiting but the dawn of the Sun of Truth. If this be so; if, as I think, that coming Dawn is the Light of the Dharma of the Most Pitiful; thus albeit the beginning if but small, the end will be even as I have said.

That this may be, that the new Sangha of the West that you have this day inaugurated may be duly conformed; that after the lapse of twenty-five centuries from the first Teaching of our Lord, this Order may carry to the Lands of the West, bringing the Law of Truth and Love; I invoke that Power which is beyond all thought and naming; I invoke the Aid and Blessing of the Sacred Threefold Light. May the Infinite Love and Compassion of our Lord the Buddha, the all-conquering holy Truth of His Eternal Dharma, and the Hidden Power of the Sangha, from the Four Directions shine forth in this our work, in all our lives! May the Glory of these Three Holy Ones be with us, making strong our weakling hearts, and inspiring our failing words; bringing into the shadow and the sorrow of our lives the dawning of the Sun of Truth; bringing from the East even unto the West, the splendor of a Dawn beyond our deepest conception; bringing joy from sorrow, and out of Darkness, LIGHT.

Proof read and edited by Frater D.M.T. © Thelemagick.

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