In China, Amitābha (Boundless Light), of whom Gautama Buddha is held to be an incarnation, and Kwanyin the Goddess of mercy, have laid great hold on the affections of the Buddhist population. Kwanyin (Sansk. Kanyā, the Virgin) is the gracious Sakti (Cosmic Power) of the Hindus,
Mother of millions of world-clusters,
Yet Virgin by the Vedas called.
In Japan, Amitābha is the Eternal one who is the Light, the Way, and the Life, and took human form to open the door of salvation to all. Kwanyin shares with him the sovereignty of Heaven. In Tibet are worshipped these and other emanations of heavenly beings—Manju Sri, the personification of wisdom, Avalokitesvara, "the Lord who looketh down" on the world with mercy to help and protect, Vajrapāna, and others, with a host of minor deities.
In Ceylon, which claims to belong to the purer faith, Buddhism is interwoven with the worship of, the popular gods of the Hindus and with animism and demonology. Under Mahāyānist influence Buddha has become a God, greater than others, but worshipped less fervently, for (as Robert Knox[5] found during his twenty years' residence in the island in the seventeenth century) the popular mind looks to Buddha for the soul, to the gods for the things of this world. His own doctrine remains a dream of philosophers.
Fifty years ago Buddhism was at one of the lowest ebbs in its history in the Island. The arrival of Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott, the founders of the Theosophical Society, and their zealous propaganda, materially helped the efforts of the saintly Sri Sumangala to stem the tide, and there arose a renaissance which has had far-reaching effects. Colonel Olcott by his speech and writings did much to remove the prevailing ignorance and indifference, and recalled Buddhists to a sense of the value of their Faith.[6] He laid the foundation of that educational activity which has filled many parts of the Island with Buddhist schools and colleges.
Mr. Woodward is one of the noble band of Theosophists who have carried on Colonel Olcott's mission in Ceylon, and is perhaps the greatest of them all. Not being a Theosophist or Buddhist, I can speak of him more freely. Self-sacrificing zeal and devotion are commonplace words to use of him. They are often said of men, good and zealous in their way, who have had the compensations of good incomes and creature comforts, congenial friends and efficient fellow-workers. Mr. Woodward (or, to call him by his Sanskrit name, Vanapāla) was little favoured in these respects. His was a life of ascetic simplicity and self-denial and strenuous well-doing. An English gentleman of the best type, he combined in a rare degree the culture of the West and Bast, combined also the active spirit of the West with the mysticism of the East. He belongs to the roll of the great apostles of Mahayānist Buddhism who carried its message and its culture over the mountains and deserts of Asia to the Pacific Ocean. The Mahinda College, Galle, of which he was the mainstay for nearly twenty years, is a shining memorial of him. But who can estimate the gracious influence of his personality? The memory of it will be a cherished possession to his friends, young and old, and an inspiration to them all, and their gratitude and good wishes follow him unstintingly to his Tasmanian home.
P. ARUNACHALAM
Ponklar, Colombo
October, 1921.
[1] Usually but erroneously translated "priest," ignoring a fundamental difference between Buddhism and other religions. Buddhism recognises no priesthood. By "priest" one understands a mediator between God and man, a vehicle of divine grace, a person with delegated authority from God to administer the sacraments of religion, to admit into the faith or eject from it, to absolve from sin, etc. Such an institution can have no place in Buddhism. Bhikkhu, (literally, a "beggar" and etymologically the same word) is one of a brotherhood of men trying to live as Buddha lived, to purify and discipline themselves, earnest pilgrims on the road reaching unto deliverance (Nirvāna). The layman demands from the bhikkhu no assistance in heavenly, no interference in worldly, affairs, but only that he should live as becomes a follower of the great Teacher. The nearest English equivalent of bhikkhu is "mendicant friar".
[2] Sansk. Artha Kathā.