will come into the
haven of rest. Surely this is a simple faith, the only belief that the
world has known that is free from mystery and dogma, from ceremony and
priestcraft; and to know that it is a beautiful faith you have but to
look at its believers and be sure. If a people be contented in their
faith, if they love it and exalt it, and are never ashamed of it, and if
it exalts them and makes them happy, what greater testimony can you have
than that?

It will seem that indeed I have compressed the teaching of this faith
into too small a space--this faith about which so many books have been
written, so much discussion has taken place. But I do not think it is
so. I cannot see that even in this short chapter I have left out
anything that is important in Buddhism. It is such a simple faith that
all may be said in a very few words. It would be, of course, possible to
refine on and gloze over certain points of the teaching. Where would be
the use? The real proof of the faith is in the results, in the deeds
that men do in its name. Discussion will not alter these one way or
another.

CHAPTER V

WAR--I

'Love each other and live in peace.'
_Saying of the Buddha._

This is the Buddhist belief as I have understood it, and I have written
so far in order to explain what follows. For my object is not to explain
what the Buddha taught, but what the Burmese believe; and this is not
quite the same thing, though in nearly every action of their life the
influence of Buddhism is visible more or less strongly. Therefore I
propose to describe shortly the ideas of the Burmese people upon the
main objects of life; and to show how much or how little Buddhism has
affected their conceptions. I will begin with courage.

I think it will be evident that there is no quality upon which the
success of a nation so much depends as upon its courage. No nation can
rise to a high place without being brave; it cannot maintain its
independence even; it cannot push forward upon any path of life without
courage. Nations that are cowards must fail.

I am aware that the courage of a nation depends, as do its other
qualities, upon many things: its situation with regard to other nations,
its climate, its food, its occupations. It is a great subject that I
cannot go into. I wish to take all such things as I find them, and to
discuss only the effect of the religion upon the courage of the people,
upon its fighting