sation operating on the moral, as well as on the physical and
other planes. Buddhists say there is no miracle in human affairs: what
a man sows that he must and will reap.

173. Q. _What other good words have been used to express the essence
of Buddhism?_

A. Self-culture and universal love.

174. Q. _What doctrine ennobles Buddhism, and gives it its exalted
place among the world's religions?_

A. That of _Mitta_ or _Maitreya_--compassionate kindness. The
importance of this doctrine is moreover emphasised in the giving of the
name "Maitri" (the Compassionate One), to the coming Buddha.

175. Q. _Were all these points of Doctrine that you have explained
meditated upon by the Buddha near the Bo-tree?_

A. Yes, these and many more that may be read in the Buddhist
Scriptures. The entire system of Buddhism came to his mind during the
Great Enlightenment.

176. Q. _How long did the Buddha remain near the Bo-tree?_

A. Forty-nine days.

177. Q. _What do we call the first discourse preached by the
Buddha--that which he addressed to his five former companions?_

A. The _Dhammacakka-ppavattana sutta_--the S[=u]tra of the Definition
of the Rule of Doctrine.[5]

178. Q. _What subjects were treated by him in this discourse?_

A. The "Four Noble Truths," and the "Noble Eightfold Path". He
condemned the extreme physical mortification of the ascetics, on the
one hand, and the enjoyment of sensual pleasures on the other; pointing
out and recommending the Noble Eightfold Path as the Middle Path.

179. Q. _Did the Buddha hold with idol-worship?_

A. He did not; he opposed it. The worship of gods, demons, trees,
etc., was condemned by the Buddha. External worship is a fetter that
one has to break if he is to advance higher.

180. Q. _But, do not Buddhists make reverence before the statue of
the Buddha, his relics, and the monuments enshrining them?_

A. Yes, but not with the sentiment of the idolater.

181. Q. _What is the difference?_

A. Our Pagan brother not only takes his images as visible
representations of his unseen God or gods, but the refined idolater, in
worshipping, considers that the idol contains in its substance a
portion of the all-pervading divinity.

182. Q. _What does the Buddhist think?_

A. The Buddhist reverences the Buddha's statue and the other things
you have mentioned, only as mementoes of the greatest, wisest, most
benevolent and compassionate man in thi