orporated in the
present edition by the High Priest's wish, expressed to me in Colombo,
in November 1907.

I have not altered the numbering of the questions, as it might cause
confusion in a class to change the numbers, if some pupils had the
older editions and some the new.

ADYAR, )
17_th February_, 1908. ) ANNIE BESANT

THE BUDDHIST CATECHISM

PART I

THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHA

1. Question. _Of what religion[1] are you?_

Answer. The Buddhist.

2. Q. _What is Buddhism?_

A. It is a body of teachings given out by the great personage known as
the Buddha.

3. Q. _Is "Buddhism" the best name for this teaching?_

A. No; that is only a western term: the best name for it is Bauddha
Dharma.

4. Q. _Would you call a person a Buddhist who had merely been born of
Buddha parents?_

A. Certainly not. A Buddhist is one who not only professes belief in
the Buddha as the noblest of Teachers, in the Doctrine preached by Him,
and in the Brotherhood of Arhats, but practises His precepts in daily
life.

5. Q. _What is a male lay Buddhist called?_

A. An Up[=a]saka.

6. Q. _What a female?_

A. An Up[=a]sika.

7. Q. _When was this doctrine first preached?_

A. There is some disagreement as to the actual date, but according to
the Sinhalese Scriptures it was in the year 2513 of the (present)
Kali-Yuga.

8. Q. _Give the important dates in the last birth of the Founder?_

A. He was born under the constellation Vis[=a] on a Tuesday in May, in
the year 2478 (K.Y.); he retired to the jungle in the year 2506; became
Buddha in 2513; and, passing out of the round of rebirths, entered
Paranirv[=a]na in the year 2558, aged eighty years. Each of these
events happened on a day of full moon, so all are conjointly celebrated
in the great festival of the full-moon of the month Wesak
(_Vais[=a]kha_), corresponding to the month of May.

9. Q. _Was the Buddha God?_

A. No. Buddha Dharma teaches no "divine" incarnation.

10. Q. _Was he a man?_

A. Yes; but the wisest, noblest and most holy being, who had developed
himself in the course of countless births far beyond all other beings,
the previous BUDDHAS alone excepted.

11. Q. _Were there other Buddhas before him?_

A. Yes; as will be explained later on.

12. Q. _Was Buddha his name?_

A. No. It is the name of a condition or state of mind, of the mind
after it has reached the culmination