liar to all students of mesmerism and
hypnotism.

361. Q. _In what does our modern scientific belief support the theory
of Karma, as taught in Buddhism?_

A. Modern scientists teach that every generation of men is heir to the
consequences of the virtues and the vices of the preceding generation,
not in the mass, as such, but in every individual case. Every one of
us, according to Buddhism, gets a birth which represents the causes
generated by him in an antecedent birth. This is the idea of Karma.

362. Q. _What say the Vasettha Sutta about the causation in
Nature?_

A. It says: "The world exists by cause; all things exist by cause, all
beings are bound by cause."

363. Q. _Does Buddhism teach the unchangeableness of the visible
universe; our earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the mineral,
vegetable, animal and human kingdoms?_

A. No. It teaches that all are constantly changing, and all must
disappear in course of time.

364. Q. _Never to reappear?_

A. Not so: the principle of evolution, guided by Karma, individual and
collective, will evolve another universe with its contents, as our
universe was evolved out of the Akasha.

365. Q. _Does Buddhism admit that man has in his nature any latent
powers for the production of phenomena commonly called "miracles"?_

A. Yes; but they are natural, not supernatural. They may be developed
by a certain system which is laid down in our sacred books, the
Visuddhi Marga for instance.

366. Q. _What is this branch of science called?_

A. The Pali name is Iddhi-vidhanana.

367. Q. _How many kinds are there?_

A. Two: _Bahira_, _i.e._, one in which the phenomena-working power
may be temporarily obtained by ascetic practices and also by resort to
drugs, the recitation of _mantras_ (charms), or other extraneous aids;
and _Sasaniks_, that in which the power in question is acquired by
interior self-development, and covers all and more than the phenomena
of _Laukika Iddhi_.

368. Q. _What class of men enjoy these powers?_

A. They gradually develop in one which pursues a certain course of
ascetic practice called _Dhyana_.

369. Q. Can this Iddhi power be lost?[1]

A. The _Bahira_ can be lost, but the _Sasanika_ never, when once
acquired. _Lokottara_ knowledge once obtained is never lost, and it is
by this knowledge _only_ that the absolute condition of Nirvana is
known by the Arhat. And this knowledge can be got by following the
nob