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BIRMAH. 93
abstract in his essence, that he is not the object
either of worship, of hope, or of fear ; that he is even
destitute of intelligence, and remains in a state of
profound repose, except at times, when, united to
energy, he becomes possessed of qualities, and creates
worlds. This energy, it is said, exists separate from
Bramha in his abstract state, as smothered embers,
and is, like himself, eternal. Among the regular
Hindoos, the beings supposed to possess most of this
energy are the gods, the giants, the bramhuns, and
devout ascetics : among the heterodox sects of Buddhists,
Jains, and some others, ascetics are almost
exclusively considered as the favoured depositaries of
the Divine energy. This " indwelling scheme," as it
has been termed, is the prominent feature of all the
systems of paganism throughout the East. The doctrine
of incarnations, that of transmigration, the
adoration of the deified elements or of deified heroes,
of Vishnoo, of Budha, of the Lama, of Fo, of the cow,
of the elephant, all rest upon the same basis. The
divine energy, wherever it is supposed to reside, or
the abstract idea ofpower in alliance with sow* material
form, is, under some modification or other, the universal
object of "
worship. Exactly conformable to the
Hindoo idea," remarks Mr. Ward, " was the declara-
tion respecting Simon Magus :
*
This man is the great
power of God.' And in union with this notion, all
these people embrace the doctrine of transmigration,
and the efficacy of religious austerities to restore these
emanations of the deity, dwelling in matter, to the
Great Spirit from which they issued."*
* See Ward's View of the Hindoos, vol. i. pp. i. ix ; xvii. ; vol. ii.
pp. 206, 306, &c. These notions of the Hindoo philosophers aic
essentially the same as the system of Emanation, received not only
by the Ionic philosophers, Thales and Anaximander, but by the