Lights and shadows of spiritualism

C2AXCIEXT SPIRITUALISM.Brahmins and Buddhists ahkc teach that the Deity has repeatedlydescended in human shape to purify the woild. The Brahmins,however, dechue to recognise Buddha as one amongst theseavatars. They describe the deity whom the Buddhists worshipas a species of demon permitted, at a time when the earth wasfilled with evil, to arise and lead the wicked astray. Thus anirreconcilable enmity exists between the followers of the two greatcreeds. " By their fruits ye shall know them." Despite the holyhorror of the Brahmins, the faith of the Buddhists is vastly morespiritual and elevated than their own. If a demon inspired it hehad undeniably forgotten his condition, and was for the noncemasquerading as an angel of light.His teaching Christians cannotbut recognise as wise and pure. The wasting of life in sacrifice isstrictly forbidden, and even the blood of animals may not, on anypretext, be spilt. The faithful are earnestly entreated to live atpeace with their fellow-men, and to keep themselves inof St. James, "pure and unspotted from the world."the wordsThe eatingof flesh is prohibited, and the doing injury to even the smallestcreature which God's hand has formed held a sin.The Vedas andPuranas of the Brahmins Buddha altogether rejects, and reprobatesthese writings for their unholy advocacy of living sacrifices. Byso stern a denunciation of the darker among its doctrines the moreancient sect of the Brahmins was moved to fury.They drove theconverts of the new heresy from Hindostan Proper, and relentlesslj'persecuted all who dared re-enter that peninsula. But beyondthe Ganges, and east and north of the Himalayas, Buddhism waxedmightily. Overspreading, and becoming the state religion ofXepaul, Thibet, and Affghanistan, of Burmah China, Mongolia,and Japan, it stands at the present day foremost, as regards thenumber of devotees, among the great religions of the earth.Thatthis splendid fabric is more imposingly vast than solidly real ; thatin various of these lands—China and Burmah in especial—systemaof unblushing foulness and hideous cruelty usurp the pure name ofBuddhism, arc incontrovertible facts. But a faith that has had sounequalledan influence on the destinies of the East well deservesnotice, and the space can hardly be wasted that is accorded to a