Japan and the Japanese illustrated . ir in Japiu. The other apostles, his successors, walk inthe footsteps ..f Buddha in tlic .same manner—that is to say, by substituting, eachafter his fashion, exterior practices for the spontaneity ol piety and the activity ofintelligence. The mas^ter said to his disciples, Go, all men of piety, hide yourgood works, and show your sins. So the bonzes instituted processions of was one of the principal traits of Siikyamounis character. His compassion SAKYAMOUNI. 137 extended itself to all created beings. When Lis doctrine spread amongst the


Japan and the Japanese illustrated . ir in Japiu. The other apostles, his successors, walk inthe footsteps ..f Buddha in tlic .same manner—that is to say, by substituting, eachafter his fashion, exterior practices for the spontaneity ol piety and the activity ofintelligence. The mas^ter said to his disciples, Go, all men of piety, hide yourgood works, and show your sins. So the bonzes instituted processions of was one of the principal traits of Siikyamounis character. His compassion SAKYAMOUNI. 137 extended itself to all created beings. When Lis doctrine spread amongst the Japanese,the latter had already made it a law that the flesh of no domestic animal should beeaten. This custom had, among other economical effects, the advantage of preventinga rise in the price of the buffalo, which in a rice country is absolutely indispensable tothe poorest cultivators. Certain other Buddhist sects went so far as to proscribe everyother nourishment than the vegetable. Sakyamouni recommended abstinence, not only. A SEXNIN, OR nrniiiirsT saint. from lying and evil-speaking, but also from every idle word. Silence took its placeamong other monastic vows. In the same way abnegation, purity of morals, patience,and perseverance, were erected into ordinances, regulating, in the most minute detail,the costume, food, and employment of the hours of the day ami the night of thevarious conventual corporations. 138 LIFE IN JAPAN. Because Buddha liad shown himself indefatigable in soliciting the commiseration of therich on behalf of all who were unfortunate, fraternities of mendicant monks were he had declared himself equally well-disposed towards men who were despisedby society as towards those who were respected, and that he would expound his law tothe ignorant as well as the wise, ignorance was made a cardinal virtue. While knowledgewas allied with this faith in the doctrine of the Hindoo reformer, the latter viitue, inthe opinion of the bonzes, disp


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidjapanjapanes, bookyear1874