Muhammad (PBUH) in Buddhist Scriptures - Part 1

Muhammad (PBUH) in Buddhist Scriptures

The Buddhist prophecy

1. From the Burmese sources

The Buddha said to Sariputta:

"…

Our cycle is a happy one,

Three leaders have already lived,

Kakusandha, Konagamana,

And eke the leader Kassapa.

The Buddha supreme am I,

But after me Metteyya comes.

While still this happy cycle lasts,

Before its tale of years shall lapse,

This Buddha, then, Metteyya called,

Supreme, and of all men the chief-"¹

2. From Ceylon sources

And Ananda, suppressing his tears, said to the Blessed One:

"Who shall teach us when thou art gone?"

And the Blessed One replied:

"I am not the first Buddha who came upon earth, nor shall I be the last. In due time another Buddha will arise in the world, a Holy One, a supremely enlightened One, endowed with wisdom in conduct,

auspicious, knowing the universe, an incotllparaple leader of men, a master of angels and mortals. He will reveal to you the same eternal truths which I have taught you. He will preach llis religion, glorious in its origin, glorious at the climax, and gloriou:s at the goal, in the spirit and in the letter. He will proclairn a religious life, wholly perfect and pure, such as I now proclaim."

Ananda said, "How shall we know him?"

The Blessed One said, "He will be known as Nietteyya, 'he whose name is kindness' . "²

The Buddha said:

Monks, in the days when men live 80000 years there will arise in the world a Buddha named Metteyyo (the benevolent one), a holy one (Arahat), a supremely enlightened one, endowed with wisdom in "conduct; auspicious, knowing the universe, an incomparable charioteer of men who are tamed; a master of angels and mortals; a Blessed Buddha; even as I have now arisen in the world, a Buddha with these same qualities endowed. What he has realised by his own supernal knowledge he will publish to this universe with its angels, its fiends, and its archangels and to the race of philosophers and brahmins, princes and peoples; even as I now having all this knowledge do publish the same unto the same. He will preach his religion, glorious in its origin, glorious at the climax, glorious at the goal, in the spirit and the letter. He will proclaim a religious life wholly perfect and thoroughly pure, even as I now preach my religion, and a like life do proclaim. He will keep up a society numbering many thousand even as I now keep up a society of monks numbering many hundred.³

At that period, brethren, there will arise in the world an Exalted One named Metteyya, Arahant, fully awakened, abounding in wisdom and goodness, happy, with knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to mortals willing to be led, a teacher for gods and men, an Exalted One, a Buddha even as I am now. He, by himself, will thoroughly see and know, as it were face to face, this universe, with its world of the spirits, its Brahamas, and its Maras, and its world of recluses and Brahmins, of princes and peoples, even as I now by myself, thoroughly know and see them. The truth (the Norm) lovely in its origin, lovely in its progress, lovely in its consummation, will he proclaim, both in the spirit and in the letter; the higher life will he make known, in all its fullness and all its purity, even as I do now. He will be accompanied by a congregation of some thousands of brethren, even as I am now accompanied by a congregation of some hundreds of brethren.4

3. From the Chinese-Sanskrit sources

In old days when the Tathagata was living in Rajagriha (Wang- she), on the Gridhrakuta 5 mountain, he spoke thus to the Bhikshus: 

"In future years, when this country of Jambudvipa shall be at peace and rest, and the age of men shall amount to 80,000 years, there shall be a Brahman called Maitreya (Sse-che). His body shall be of the colour of pure gold, bright and glistening and pure. Leaving his home, he will become a perfect Buddha, and preach the threefold6 law for the benefit of all creatures. Those who shall be saved are those who live, in whom the roots of merit have been planted through my bequeathed law. These all conceiving in their minds a profound respect for the three precious objects of worship, whether they be already professed disciples or not, whether they be obedient to the precepts or not, will all be led by the converting power (of his preaching) to acquire the fruit (of Bodhi) and final deliverance. Whilst declaring the threefold law for the conversion of those who have been influenced by my bequeathed law, by this means also hereafter others will be converted." 7

 4. Tibetan sources

"It is said up to the time when Phan-chhen-rin-po-chhe (The Great Jewel of Wisdom) condescends to be reborn in the land of the P'helings (Westerners) and appearing as the Spiritual Conqueror (Chom-den-da), destroys the error and ignorance of ages, it will be of little use to try to uproot the misconceptions of P'heling-pa (Europe): her Sons will listen to none.”8

From the above it is clear that the Buddha Gautama foretold the advent of a person named Maitreya or Metteyya as his successor.

I. Identification of Maitreya

Some Buddhists consider that the Buddha Maitreya has appeared: 9

1.    Wu, the mother of the sixth emperor of the T'ang dynasty in China, was presented a Sutra named Ta-yun-king, in the year 690. "It stated that she was Maitreya, the Buddha that was to come."10

2.    Kings Yeula and Vijayavirya were supposed as incarnations of Bodhisattva Maitreya. 11

3.    The Burmese monk, Ledi Sayadaw, "has been proclaiming far and wide the near coming of Bodhisattva Maitreya, who, he says, has left the Tusita Heaven, and was in 1914 AD on earth as a boy." 12

In the past 13 as well as in the present, 14 Buddhists have pretended to receive written books of revelation from Maitreya.

  

They have even imagined him to come down from heaven for making the image of the Buddha Gautama.15

The above claims have not received the serious attention of the Buddhist world and therefore need no comment on our part. The Buddhists, like some of the Theosophists, await the advent of Maitreya in future. The Buddhists all over the world have built images of Maitreya, sometimes as high as 70 feet or more. 16 The European traveller well knows the "Laughing Buddha" Maitreya of the Chinese. 17

II. Was Sankaracharya the Buddha Maitreya?

Some Brahmans consider the Buddha Gautama as the 9th Avatar of Vishnu.18 Some Brahmans along with the Theosophists con- sider that Sankaracharya was the expected Maitreya:

Esoteric teaching is to the effect that Sankaracharya simply was Buddha in all respects, in a new body ... I have received the information I am now giving from a Brahman Adwaiti, of Southern India-not directly from my Tibetan instructor ... Some of the later incarnations of Buddha are described differently as overshadowings by the spirit of Buddha, but in the person of Sankaracharya he reappeared on earth. The object he had in view was to fill up some gaps and repair certain errors in his own previous teaching; for there is no contention in esoteric Buddhism that even a Buddha can be absolutely infallible at every moment of his career. 19

Sankaracharya cannot be the Buddha Maitreya, for, 

i. he never gave out in his life time that he was the Buddha Maitreya;

ii. his life, as will appear later on, does not display the "Ten Perfections", 20 a necessary possession for a Fully Enlightened Buddha;

iii. he took up the cause of the Vedas21 against the Buddhists.

  

Sankaracharya writes:

1.    The Vedas are the highest anthority.22

2.    There is no authority for knowledge, equal to the Veda23

Some oriental and occidental scholars, and the Buddhist divines consider that the Buddha Gautama made light of the Vedas:

i.Empty, forsooth, are these Vedas, and as chaff. There is in them neither reality, nor worth nor essential truth24 (Nagasena)

ii. Mool Shanker, more commonly known as Daryanand Saraswati, the founder of Arya Samaj, the modem Protestant Hinduism, considers Buddhism "a strong and fearful Veda and Shastra  denouncing" religion.25                  '

iii. Buddha discredited the sacrificial system; he censured with bitter irony the knowledge of the Vedic scribes as sheer folly. 26 (Oldenberg)

iv. The Buddha Gautama "scoffed at the Vedas”27 (Macphail)

This view is supported by numerous sayings of Sakya Muni:

i.  Reading the Vedas, making offerings to priests, or sacrifices to the gods, self-mortifications by heat or cold, and many such like penances performed for the sake of immortality, these do not cleanse the man not free from delusions.28 (Amagandha Sutta)

ii.Therefore the threefold wisdom of the Brahmans, wise in the three Vedas, is called a waterless desert, their threefold wisdom is called a pathless jungle, their threefold wisdom is called destruction.29

iii. Of no value are the Vedas.30 (Silavimamsa Jataka)

 iv. These Veda studies are the wise-acre's toils.

The lure which tempts the victims whom he spoils.

A mirage formed to catch the careless eye,

But which the prudent passes safely by,

The Vedas have no hidden power to save,

The traitor.or the coward or the knave.

The Brahmnans all a livelihood require,

And so for their gain they made the Vedas.

Full of sentences in metric forms,

Learned by rote and not easily forgot.

Their obscurity but tempts the foolish mind,

Which swallows all 'tis told with impulses blind.

Doctrines and rules, absurd, concocted, and vain,

Coolly imagining wealth and power to gain,

……

These greedy liars propagate deceit.

And fools believe the fiction they repeat.31 (Bhuridatta Jataka)

Sankaracharya did not give it out in his lifetime that he was a Buddhist and a reformer of Buddhism. He was one of those who were antagonistic to Buddhism and succeeded in destroying or driving it out from India.32

Some more reasons we shall give later on.

III. Was Jesus the Buddha Maitreya?

For sometime past some learned men of East and West have been advertising that Jesus was the Buddha Maitreya:

1.    Will the Buddhists ever learn that this Buddha of the future, this Maitreya, this teacher of love, and not of the law, has appeared? 33 (Max Muller)

2.    The Christ Metteyyo is yet to come.,,34 (Edmunds)

3.    In later day we know them as Gautama and Maitreya, Buddha and Christ.35 (C. Jinarajadasa)

4.    Maitreya and Christ are one.36 (Johanna)

5.    Lord Maitreya, on the other hand, when he appeared as the Christ, exhorted his disciples, 'Love one another as I have loved you.'37 (P. Pavri)

6.     ... Lord Maitreya took the same course when he visited Palestine two thousand years ago.38 (Leadbeater)

7.     Blavatsky maintains that Jesus shall be Maitreya in his second advent which is yet to take place.39

We shall refute this view at length, but here only in brief: 

1.    From the study of the four Gospels we can say that Jesus in his lifetime never gave it out that he was the Buddha Maitreya.

2.    The character of Jesus does not display "ten perfections".

We shall discuss this in detail.

1.     The cardinal doctrine of Christianity is that Jesus was 'betrayed' into the hands of his enemies who hanged him, and he died upon the cross. The four Gospels are unanimous on the point.40 Even Jesus is made to testify to this view.41 The Christian world must abandon this doctrine first before the Buddhists can consider the advertised claim for being the Buddha Maitreya, for the Buddha Gautama said:

"This, O Bhikkhus, is an impossible thing, one that cannot occur that one should deprive a Tathagata of life by violence. The Tathagatas, O Bhikkhus, are extinguished (in death) in due and natural course ....,,42

The view of Blavatsky, that Jesus shall be Maitreya in his second advent, is untenable. If Jesus at all returns to the world again, he cannot put forward the claim of being this Maitreya for,

a. "The same Jesus,”43 "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven.?" 44 coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory.”45

Contrary to this the Buddhist prophecy demands that this Maitreya must be born on earth46 and of human parents who must be different from Joseph and Mary.47 

b. Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him,”48 whereas according to the 'Buddhist prophecy Maitreya Buddha must die in due course of time.49

Hence neither the Christian nor the Buddhist scriptures support the view of Blavatsky that Jesus shall be Maitreya Buddha in his second advent and "the scripture cannot be broken.”50

IV. Equivalents of Maitreya

The person whose advent the Buddha Gautama prophesied bears different names in different languages. In Pali his name is Metteyya, in Sanskrit,Maitreya, in Burmese, Aremideia.51 in Chinese, Mei-ta-li-ye52 or Milie Pusa.53 or Mili FO 54 or Tzushih, 55 in Tibetan, Byams-pa56 or Mahitreja57 and in Japanese,Miroku.58

The English equivalent is Metteyya:

1. Teacher of love. (Max Muller)59

2. Lord of love. (Dharmapalaj'60

3. He whose name is kindness. (Carns)61

4. Buddha of kindness. (Rhys Davids)62

5. Universal love, or Benevolence. (Narasu)63

6.  Buddha of brotherly love. (Lillie)64

7.  Buddha of Friendliness. (Fausboll)65

8.  Loving and compassionate. (Monier-Williams)66

9.  Love or mercifulness. (Beal)67

10. Compassionate or of Family of mercy. (Getty)68

11. The merciful. (Herbert Baynes)69

12.  Merciful one. (Joseph Edkins)70

13. Quality of a friend; friendly; benevolent; kind; love, amity, sympathy, active interest in others. (William Stede)71

Rahmah is the Arabic equivalent of Maitreya. Benevolence, loving kindness, friendliness, compassion, mercy or mercifulness, all words of similar import are all expressed by the Arabic word Rahmah, The Arabic-English Lexicon by Lane gives some of the following equivalents of Rahmah:

Mercy, pity, compassion, tenderness of heart; inclination requiring the exercise of favour, and beneficence; pardon and forgiveness.72

Badger's English-Arabic Lexicon73 includes "goodness and providence". 

Ar-Rahman and al-Rahim are both derived from rahmah, signifying tenderness requiring the exercise of beneficence ... and thus comprising the idea of love and mercy. Ar-Rahman and ar- Rahim are both active participle nouns of different measures denoting intensiveness of significance, the former being of the measure fa 'lan, and indicating the greatest preponderance of the quality of mercy, and the latter being of the measure fa 'lan and being expressive of a constant repetition and manifestation of the attribute .... The two words have been explained by the holy prophet himself ... He is reported to have said, "Ar-Rahmiin is the Beneficent God whose love and mercy are manifested in the creation of this world, and ar-Rahim is the Merciful God whose love and mercy are manifested in the state that comes after." ... ie., in the consequence of the deeds of men. Thus the attribute of mercy in ar-Rahman is manifested before man comes in existence in the creation of things that are necessary for his life here, and therefore without his having deserved them, while the same attribute in ar-Rahim is manifested when man has done something to deserve it. Thus the former is expressive of the utmost degree of the love and generosity, the latter of unbounded and constant favour and mercy. Lexicologists agree in holding that the former includes both the believer and the unbeliever for its object, while the latter particularises more the believer ... Hence I render ar- Rahman as meaning the Beneficient God because the idea of doing good is predominent in it, though I must admit that the English language lacks an equivalent of ar-Rahman even making an approach to giving expression to all comprehensive love and goodness manifested in that word ... “

Metteyya is from Metta. The Metta Sutta runs thus:

As a mother at the risk of her life watches over her own child, so let every one cultivate a boundless friend (friendly) mind towards all beings.75

The Merciful ... it expresses the universal attribute of mercy which the Almighty extends to all men, the wicked and the good, believers and the Unbelievers. This is a noble thought.76

Thus Rahmah fully expresses the significance of the word Metteyya.

Maitreya identified

1. Muhammad (PBUH) is Maitreya Buddha

The followers of Jesus and of Sankaracharya both advertise their respective teachers as the Buddha Maitreya. Their own teachers remained silent on the point in their life-times. Not so Muhammad (PBUH). Unlike Jesus and Sankaracharya he himself published that he was sent as the Maitreya (mercy):

We have not sent thee (0 Muhammad (PBUH)) but (as) a Mercy-unto- creatures. (Qur'an, 21:107)

Very often the Prophet is called a Maitreya (mercy) in the Qur'an:

1.    (Thou art sent as) a mercy [Maitreya] from thy Lord. (28:46)

2.    There are some of them who injure the Prophet and say, he is an ear: Answer, He is an ear of good unto you: he believeth in God, and giveth credit to the faithful and is a mercy [Maitreya] unto such of you who believe. (9:61)

A number of times in his conversation Muhammad (PBUH) gave out that he was sent as a Maitreya:

1.    Narrator. Abu Salil), "The messenger of God used to address people, "0 people, I am a Mercy [Maitreya] (who is) sent (to you.)"77

2.    On the field of Uhud Muhammad (PBUH) ''was very near losing his life, being struck down by a shower of stones, and wounded in the face with two arrows". 78 When in this pitiable plight and profusely bleeding some of his companions asked him to curse the unbelieving enemy, he declined their request and prayed for the unbelieving enemy: "I have not been sent for cursing, but as an inviter (unto God) and a Mercy (Maitreya). 0 God, guide my people (and forgive them) as they know me not.,,79

Mohammed was at all times of an affectionate disposition, and even demonstratively so.80

In the Koran he repeatedly points out what a privilege his presence is, and how he is a proof or embodiment of God's Mercy to the world.81

"It seems a wonderful thing," observes Mr. Holland, "that Mohammed born of a fierce and war-like race, a people given to many cruel practices, should have had so much regard for compassion. He thanked God who had put into men's heart to be compassionate ... of all the qualities he regarded compassion as the most God-like, and every chapter of the Koran begins with this invocation, 'In the name of God the Compassionate; the Merciful' .”82 

II. Measurement of hearts

From the Muslim point of view, all the inspired teachers of humanity, being the commissioned representatives of the Most Merciful upon the earth, were all men of merciful nature. Their hearts were vast treasure houses of mercy. They were men of much more merciful nature than the uninspired. God in His wisdom chose to bestow upon them various amounts of His mercy. The Qur'an says: "These are the messengers; We have preferred some of them before others" (2:253).

Compared among themselves, some of the messengers were more merciful than others. We maintain that through the grace of God Muhammad (PBUH) had received the greatest portion of His mercy. In other words, the heart of Muhammad (PBUH) was the greatest treasure house of mercy, as compared with the hearts of other apostles. How to know this? We want a standard for measuring the merciful extent of hearts. Jesus gives a standard: "Out of the abundance of heart the mouth speaketh.”83

"The tongue," writes Rt. Rev. W.W. How D.D., "is the truest sign of the state of the heart ....... The fountain within shall over-flow in the words ofthe mouth .....” 84

In guidance of the above, we suppose that if in the teachings of an inspired teacher the word 'mercy' or 'merciful' occurs once, his heart is merciful to one degree.

With this standard we measure the merciful extent of the heart of Muhammad (PBUH). The words 'mercy' and 'merciful' are used more than 409 times in the Qur' an alone.

We intentionally leave out the words occurring in the Hadith literature of more than quarter of a million of pages in which the sayings of the Holy Prophet are recorded. Therefore the heart of the Prophet was merciful more than 409 degrees.

Now we measure the merciful extent of the heart of Jesus with his own standard. From the record of the four Gospels of the Bible we learn that the words 'mercy' and 'merciful' drop from the lips of Jesus only nine times. Therefore his heart was merciful to nine degrees only.

In view of the above an impartial enquirer shall consider Muhammad (PBUH) as the Buddha Maitreya in preference to Jesus.

The vast extent of the merciful nature of Muhammad (PBUH) is well expressed by the Qur' an: "Certainly a messenger has come to you from among yourselves, grievous to him is your falling into distress, excessively solicitous respecting you; to the believers (he is) compassionate, merciful" (9: 128).

'Compassionate' is the translation of the Arabic word ra 'iif which according to Bukhari 85 means "very great mercy". According to Lane's Lexicon, ra'uf "denotes a more special and a more tender affection than Rahmah, or the utmost degree thereof'.

Sankaracharya, being not an inspired teacher, we leave him out of consideration.

III. An incorruptible name

When we go through the works written by men of various nations on Islam, we observe one curious thing. The word Muhammad (PBUH) is spelled in a number of ways, as Mahamet, Mahomet, Mohamet, Mehemet, Mahemmet, and so on.

We utilise some of these natural differences for our purpose.86

1.     Mahamet or Mahomet. The word seems to be composed of Maaha and Metta. The word Maho or Maha in Pali and Sanskrit means "great, illustrious". Metta means 'mercy'. Therefore the entire word Mahamet or Mahomet means 'an illustrious mercy' or 'a great mercy'. The Qur'an gives out that Muhammad (PBUH) is "a great mercy".

2. Mohamet seems to be composed of Moh and Metta. Moh in Sanskrit means, "Affection or sympathy"; therefore the entire word means 'of an affectionate or of sympathetic mercy'. The events of the life of Muhammad (PBUH) show that he was of a sympathetic nature to an extraordinary degree. We shall describe these events in detail.
3. Mehemet seems to be composed of Meh and Metta. Meh means 'rain'. Therefore the entire word means 'a mercy like rain', or 'a man who rains mercy in general'. According to the Qur' an rain is a general blessing of God to His creatures:

a.     We send down rain as blessing from heaven, whereby We cause the gardens to spring forth and the grain of harvest, and tall palm trees having branches laden with dates, hanging one above another as a provision for mankind, and We thereby quicken a dead country. (50:9-11)

b.     He sendeth down water from heaven, and quickneth thereby the earth, after it hath been dead: verily herein are signs unto people who understand. (30:24)

c.     Dost thou not see that God sendeth down water from heaven, and causeth the same to enter (and form) sources on the earth, and produceth thereby com of various sorts. (39:21)

Just as rain is a general blessing and mercy of God to all His creatures, so the Holy Prophet was a mercy to all His creatures; the Qur'an supports this: "We have not sent thee (0 Muhammad (PBUH)) but (as) a mercy unto all creatures" (21: 107).

4.     Mahemmet seems to be composed of Mahema or Mahima which in Sanskrit means "greatness; glory", and Metta which means "mercy". Therefore the entire word means 'the glorious mercy' or a great mercy". 

Esoteric and exoteric doctrine and the Buddhas

I have preached the truth without making any distinction between exoteric and esoteric doctrine: for in respect of truths, Ananda, the Tathagata has no such thing as the closed fist of a teacher, who keeps something back. 87

If Jesus was the Buddha Maitreya the characteristic mentioned above should hold good in his case, but it does not:

And the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given ... Therefore I speak to them in parables; because seeing they see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.88

Plainly our Lord desired that the bulk of His hearers should not understand the mysteries of His kingdom.89

Jesus was put before the high priest as an accused. He questioned Jesus about his doctrine:

Jesus answered him, I have spoken openly to the world; I ever taught in synagogues and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.90

Let us see what Jesus taught in secret:

And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parables. And he said unto these, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but unto them that are without all these things are done in parables; that seeing they may see, and not perceive, and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they may be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.91

Jesus commanded his disciples not to make his secret doctrine public:

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 92

In public Jesus always spoke in parables:

And with many such parables spake he the word unto them. But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things unto his disciples93

Thus from the above it is clear that Jesus deliberately made a distinction between the exoteric and esoteric doctrine. In respect of truth he intentionally had a closed fist of a teacher for the majority of his audience. He consciously withheld his real teaching from the bulk of his hearers, whether worthy or unworthy.

The student of the Bible well knows that the ancient Christians had a number of secret Gospels, Acts and Epistles. Fragments of some of these are still found.

"An apocryphal book was-originally-too sacred and secret to be in every one's hand."94 The existence of scriptures, other than Canonical ones, is clearly hinted in Luke:

For as much as many have taken in hand a declaration of those things which are most surely believed amongst us .... 95

The word "many" here "does not refer to the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark ...”96

It is therefore apparent from the above that Jesus cannot be the Buddha Maitreya. Sankaracharya not being an inspired teacher, we leave him out of question. 

On the other hand, Muhammad (PBUH) in obedience to the command of God, published his doctrine completely, without making any distinction between exoteric and esoteric: "0 messenger, publish (the whole of) that which hath been sent down unto thee from thy Lord: for if thou do not, thou dost not (in effect) publish any part thereof' (Qur'an, 5:67).

The Qur' an was recited in public in the days of the Prophet.

It is recited in the same way even now. The Prophet had strictly forbidden Muslims from hiding his doctrine:

1.    Abu Hurayrah relates that the messenger of God said: "Whosoever is asked anything concerning knowledge and if he does not tell, he shall Le bridled with the bridle offrre (on the day of resurrection).97

2.    Abu Hurayrah relates: The messenger of God said, "None is such that he learnt knowledge and hid it, but shall come on the day of resurrection bridled with the bridle ofhell-fire.”98

3.    Anas relates: I heard the messenger of God saying, "If a man is questioned about knowledge and if he hides it he will be bridled with the bridle offire.”99

4.    Abu Hurayrah relates: The messenger of God said, "If a man is questioned about knowledge that he knows, and if he hides it, he shall be bridled with the bridle offrre."100

It is clear, therefore, that Muhammad (PBUH) is the Buddha Maitreya and not Jesus.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Reference :

1)    Henry Clarke Warren, Buddhism in Translations, Harvard University, 1896, p.482.

2)    Paul Carns, The Gospel of Buddha Open Court pub!. Co., London, 1915, p. 245.            '

3)    Edmunds and Anesaki, Buddhist and Christian Gdspels, Innes & Sons, Philadelphia, 1908-09, pp. 160-161.

4)    Chakkavati Sinhnad Suttanta, D. III, 76. The author uses here a translation by the Maha Bodhi Society, Sri Lanka.

5)    Others think at "Benares".

6)    "Thrice repeated."

7)    Samuel Beal, Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World, Vol. II, Triibner, London, 1906, pp. 46--47.

8)    H.P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, Vol. III, Theocophy Company, Los Angeles, 1938, p. 412.

9)    August Karl Reischauer, Studies in Japanese Buddhism, Macmillan, London, 1925, p. 264.

10)  Rev. Joseph Edkins, Chinese Buddhism, Triibner, London, 1893, p. 122.

11)  W. Woodville Rockhill, The Life of Buddha, Trubner, London, 1884, pp. 237-238.

12)  P. Pavri, The Coming World Teacher, Indian Star, Madras, 1924, p. 52.

13)  Beal, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 226.

14)  Lewis Hodus, Buddhism and Buddhist in China, 1923, p. 38. The edition cited here might be the one publishd as the third volume in the series The World's Living Religions, projected in 1920 by the Board of Missionary Preparation of the Foreign Missions (Conference of North America). [Ed.]

15)  Beal, op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 121-122.

16)  Hodus, op. cit., pp. 120-121.

17)  Ibid., pp. 20-21.

18)  18.See P. Lakshmi Narasu, The Essence of Buddhism, Colombo, 1907 (reprinted in 1993 by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi).

19)  A.P. Sinnett, Esoteric Buddhism, Trubner, London, 1884, p. 144. 

20)  Warren, op. cit., pp. 22-37.

21)  Swami Daryanand Saraswati, English Translation of the Satyarth Prakash, Virvanand Press, Lahore, 1908, pp. 415---416.

22)  S. Venkataramanan, Selected Works of Sri Sankaracharya, G.A. Natesan & Co, Madras, (year nJa), p. 205.

23)  Ibid., p. 206.

24)  Max Muller (ed), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 35, Oxford, London, 1840, p.18.

25)  Saraswati, op. cit., p. 414.

26)  Buddha, p. 172. The author most probably refers to Herman Oldenberg, Buddha, Arthur L. Humphreys, London, 1904. [Ed.]

27)  Asoka, p. 35. The author most probably refers to James M. Macphail, Asoka, The Association Press, Calcutta, 1910. [Ed.]

28)  T.W. Rhys Davids, Buddhism: A Sketch of the Life and Teachings of Gautama, The Buddha, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, 1880, p. 131.

29)         Sacred Books of the East, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 185.

30)         Nalinaksha Dutt, Early History of the Spread of Buddhism and the Buddhist Schools, Luzac & Co, London, 1925, p. 13.

31)         Narasu, op. cit., pp. 129-130. 

32)  Sita Nath Datta, Sankaracharya: His Life and Teachings, A Translation of Atma-Bodha, Society for Resuscitation ofIndian Literature, Calcutta, 1897.

33)  Max Muller, Chips from a German Workshop, Vol. I, Longmans, London, 1867, pp. 452--453.

34)  Edmunds and Anesaki, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 1--4.

35)  C. Jinarajadasa, Christ and Buddha and Other Sketches, Rajput Press, Chicago, 1911, p. 5.

36)  The Coming Christ, p. 106. Details of this book are not available. [Ed.]

37)  P. Pavri, op. cit., p. 23.

38)  C.W. Leadbeater, The Masters and the Path, Theosophical Publ. House, Madras, 1925, p. 51.

39)  Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled, Vol. II, JW Bouton, New York, 1877, p. 156 ( footnote).

40)  Matthew, xxvii:27; Mark, xv:37; Luke, xxiii:46; John, xix:30.

41)  Luke, xxiii:43.

42)  Muller (ed), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XX, Oxford, London, 1885, p. 247.

43)  Acts, i: 11.

44)  The author refers to the First Thessalonians, iv: 16. The Thessalonians consist of two epistles by st. Paul to the Christians of Thessalonica in Macedonia, in circa 50151 CEo [Ed.]

45)  Matthew, xxiv:30.

46)  See Anagarika Dhannapala, The Life and Teachings of Buddha, Natesan, Madras, 1892, p. 82.

47)  Maha-Bodhi Journal, Calcutta, May and June 1928, p. 280. 

48)  Romans, vi:9; Matthew, xxviii:20.

49)  Warren, op. cit., p. 485.

50)  John, x:35.

51)  The author refers to The Life or Legend of Gaudama, Vol. I, p. 11 (footnote). This could be a different edition from what is available to us. Readers may also consult P. Bigandet's two-volume book of the same, published by Triibner & Co, London, 1912. [Ed.]

52)  See Beal, op. cit.

53)  R.F. Johnston, Buddhist China, Dutton, New York, 1913, p. 208.

54)  Edkins, op. cit., p. 208.

55)  Thomas Watters, On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India 629-645 AD, Vol. I, 1905, (reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 1988), p. 239.

56)  L. Austine Waddell, Buddhism of Tibet or Lamaism, 1934, (reprinted by Kessinger, Montana, 2003), p. 355.

57)  Frauson, The Religion of Tibet and the True Religion, p. 355. Details of the book are not available. [Ed.]

58)  Reischauer, op. cit., pp. 264-265.

59)  Muller, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 452.

60)  Dharmapala, op. cit., p. 83.

61)  Carns, op. cit., p. 218 . 

62)  Rhys Davids, op. cit., p. 180.

63)  Narasu, op. cit., p. 101, 105.

64)  Arthur Lillie, Buddhism in Christendom or Jesus the Essene, Kegan Paul, Trench & Co, London, 1887, p. vii.

65)  From The Sutta-Nipata, translated from Pali by V. Fausboll in Muller (ed), Sacred Books of the East, Vol. X, Oxford, London, 1881, p. 205.

66)  Monier Monier-Williams, Buddhism, John Murray, London, 1890, p. 181.

67)  Translated by Beal, op. cit., p. 64.

68)  Alice Getty, The Gods of Northern Buddhism, Oxford, 1928, p. 20, 68.

69)  Herbert Baynes, The Way of the Buddha, John Murray, London, 1914, p. 15.

70)  Edkins, op. cit., p. 240.

71)  T.W. Rhys Davids and William Stede (ed.), The Pali Dictionary, Pali Text Society, Chipstead, 1921-25.

72)  Edward William Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon, 1867. This famous work is available in various editions as well as freely on the internet. [Ed.]

73)  George Percy Badger, An English-Arabic Lexicon, Kegan Paul & Co, London, 1881. 

74)  The author uses the translation by the Maha Bodhi Society, Sri Lanka. [Ed.] 

75)  The author uses the translation by the Maha Bodhi Society, Sri Lanka. [Ed.] 

76)  Samuel M. Zwemer, The Moslem Doctrine of God, American Tract Society, New York, 1905, pp. 35-36.

77)  Darimi, Book of Muqaddimah. 

78)  George Sale, The Koran, George Routledge, London, 1892, p. 45, (footnote k).

79)  Qadi Muhammad Sulayman, Rahmatun lil- 'Alam/n, Vol. I, Shaykh Ghulam Ali, Lahore, 1935, p. 114.

80)  D.S. Margoliouth, Mohammed and the Rise of Islam, G.P. Putnam's, London, 1906, p. 70.

81)  Ibid., p. 52.

82)  Edith Holland, The Story of Mohammed, George G Harrap, London, 1914, p.l00 .

83)  Matthew, xii:34.

84)  The author refers to Right Rev. W. Walsham How, D.D., The New Testament, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, 1883. [Ed.]

85)  Bukhari, Book of Tafsir al-Qur'an.

86)  The author, in the explanations that follow, most probably is referring to Ram Narain Lal's The Student's Practical Dictionary (English-Urdu, Hindustan-English), Allahabad, 1925. [Ed.]

87)   Sacred Books of the East, op.cit., Vol. XI, p. 36.

88)  Matthew, xiii: 10-13.

89)   See commentary to the above verse (11) in How, op. cit.

90)  John, xviii:20.

91)  Mark, iv:lO-12 .

92)  Matthew, vii:6.

93)  Mark, iv:33-34.

94)  M.R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament, Oxford, 1924, p. XIV.

95)  Luke, i:1.

96)  How, op. cit., commentary to the above verse. 

97)  Ahmad, Musnad al-Mukthirin; Tirmidhi, Book of 'Ilm,

98)  Ibn Majah, Book of Muqaddimah.

99)  Ibid.

100)                Ibid.