of the Anguthara Nik[=a]ya.

327. Q. _Do Buddhists accept the theory that everything has been
formed out of nothing by a Creator?_

A. The Buddha taught that two things are causeless, _viz._,
[=A]k[=a]sha, and Nirv[=a]na. Everything has come ont of [=A]k[=a]sha,
in obedience to a law of motion inherent in it, and, after a certain
existence, passes away. Nothing ever came out of nothing. We do not
believe in miracles; hence we deny creation, and cannot conceive of a
creation of something out of nothing. Nothing organic is eternal.
Everything is in a state of constant flux, and undergoing change and
reformation, keeping up the continuity according to the law of
evolution.

328. Q. _Is Buddhism opposed to education, and to the study of
science?_

A. Quite the contrary: in the _Sig[=a]low[=a]da Sutta_ in a discourse
preached by the Buddha, He specified as one of the duties of a teacher
that he should give his pupils "instruction in science and lore". The
Buddha's higher teachings are for the enlightened, the wise, and the
thoughtful.

329. Q. _Can you show any further endorsement of Buddhism by science?_

A. The Buddha's doctrine teaches that there were many progenitors of
the human race; also that there is a principle of differentiation among
men; certain individuals have a greater capacity for the rapid
attainment of Wisdom and arrival at Nirv[=a]na than others.

330. Q. _Any other?_

A. Buddhism supports the teaching of the indestructibility of force.

331. Q. _Should Buddhism be called a chart of science or a code of
morals?_

A. Properly speaking, a pure moral philosophy, a system of ethics and
transcendental metaphysics. It is so eminently practical that the
Buddha kept silent when Malunka asked about the origin of things.

332. Q. _Why did he do that?_

A. Because he thought that our chief aim should be to see things as
they exist around us and try to make them better, not to waste time in
intellectual speculations.

333. Q. _What do Buddhists say is the reason for the occasional birth
of very good and wise children of bad parents, and that of very bad
ones of good parents?_

A. It is because of the respective Karmas of children and parents;
each may have deserved that such unusual relationships should be formed
in the present birth.

334. Q. _Is anything said about the body of the Buddha giving out a
bright light?_

A. Yes, there was a divine radiance sent forth fr