Buddhism, it is impossible to doubt the sincerity of its disciples, when we find
them sometimes travelling a distance of several hundred miles to worship in
their temples.
“I was once staying,” says Fortune,[34] “in the temple of Tien-tung when it was
visited for three days by devotees from all parts of the country. As they lined the
roads on their way to the temple, clad in the graceful and flowing costumes of
the East, the mind was naturally led back to those days of Scripture History
when Jerusalem was in its glory, and the Jews, the chosen people of God, came
from afar to worship in its temple.”
Mr. Gutzlaff, the missionary, is of opinion that the priests and devotees of
Buddhism entertain no sincere conviction of the truth of their creed. Describing
a visit to Poo-to, he says: “We were present at the vespers of the priests, which
they chanted in the Pali language, not unlike the Latin service of the Romish
Church. They held rosaries in their hands, which rested folded upon their
breasts. One of them had a small bell, by the tinkling of which their service was
regulated; and they occasionally beat the drum and large bell to rouse Buddha’s
attention to their prayers. The same words were a hundred times repeated. None
of the officiating persons showed any interest in the ceremony, for some were
looking round laughing and joking, while others muttered their prayers. The few
people who were present, not to attend the worship, but to gaze at us, did not
seem, in the least degree, to feel the solemnity of the service.” But to condemn
the whole Buddhist sect from this solitary instance would be as reasonable as to
pronounce all Protestants insincere because a West-end congregation in London
may have shown signs of frivolity and indifference! Mr. Fortune, on the
contrary, declares that he was much impressed by the solemnity with which the
devotional exercises of the Buddhists were generally conducted. “I have often
walked,” he says, “into Chinese temples when the priests were engaged in
prayer, and although there would have been some apology for them had their
attention been diverted, they went on in the most solemn manner until the
conclusion of the service, as if no foreigner were present. They then came
politely up to me, examining my dress and everything about me with the most
earnest curiosity. Nor does this apply to priests only; the laity, and particularly
the female sex, seem equally sincere when they engage in their public devotions.
Whether they are what they appear to be, or how often they are in this pious
frame of mind, are questions which I cannot answer. Before judging harshly of
the Chinese, let the reader consider what effect would be produced upon the
members of a Christian church by the unexpected entrance of a small-footed