The earliest history of Buddha is an account of his death written in the Pali language, four centuries B.C. Neither this, nor any of the other histories ranging through the ages to our own times is an authentic story of his life and work--it is simply a legend more or less embellished. The mythology is as follows: Gautama, named Siddhârtha, the highly gifted son of a Thâkur, or noble of the Rajput tribe, quitted his father's house in order to meditate upon the evil in the world--upon its origin and its extirpation. He went to ask the advice of two Brahmins who were renowned for their piety, but they were unable to satisfy his yearnings for a higher life. He rested, it is true, faithful to their doctrines--the fundamental truths which they taught--transmigration of souls with a final emancipation, but he saw that their asceticism led only to the enfeebling of the higher powers of the mind, so he decided to find some place where he might find peace in meditation. After a long period spent in reflection, he decided to quit his refuge and preach his faith. He found in Benares, in the "Woods of the Gazelles," his first disciples, and accompanied by them he journeyed through Western Bengal, during forty-five years, honoured by princes, loved by the people, in whose language he preached, till he died of old age probably about 477 B.C. You will note, later, the _mille cerfs_ decoration of Chinese porcelain made in remembrance of this beginning of Buddhism.
[Illustration: CHINESE POTTERY, ENAMELLED IN COLOURS.
Paô-yueh-kouang, Goddess of the Moon. Tien-kong, God of the Sun. ]
Buddha taught four truths. First, of evil. Birth, sickness, and death produce pain, so does the separation from those we love and the desire to secure what we cannot obtain. These joined to the knowledge of existence are the causes of evil. Second, of the origin of evil. The influence of the outside world--suggestion from outside--leads to covetousness and all that sensuality brings. Third, of the end of evil. This is only accomplished by the complete suppression of ardent desires--self-abnegation. Fourth, of the method of suppression. Abstention from humiliating and unprofitable self-indulgence in any form on the one side, and the renunciation of any belief in torture which is ruinous and vain as a means of spiritual growth. Every being is subject to evil, nature in each is essentially the same. Gods, demons, men, and animals are only different degrees of existence. Humanity is the best condition, for only man can attain salvation, he only can obtain deliverance. Regeneration operates only after death and is regulated by the actions done during life. The process is secret, and only step by step, higher and higher, does knowledge of truth lead onwards through the path of salvation to the place eternal--the Nirvana. Only in this blessed abode does the soul rest free from the obligation of being born again, of suffering without cessation the miseries of life.