It is also more than probable that Buddha did not personally write the ethical code which we now find submitted as the “Commandments of Buddha,” but that Buddha merely emphasized them.

These commandments are not, however, understood, by the intelligent Buddhist as “sacred,” in the sense that “God spoke unto Buddha.”

Moses doubtless assumed to have been divinely instructed in the law, although that supposition may be erroneous.  He may have had in mind the same fundamental idea which all those expressing cosmic consciousness have had, that of being a mouthpiece of a higher power, rather than to attract to themselves any adulation or worship, as being specially divine.

The “Commandments,” therefore, as translated and ascribed to modern Buddhism, are an ethical and moral code for the MORTAL consciousness, rather than a formula for developing cosmic consciousness.  These commandments are: 

1—­Thou shalt kill no animal whatever, from the meanest insect up to man.

2—­Thou shalt not steal.

3—­Thou shalt not violate the wife of another.

4—­Thou shalt speak no word that is false.

5—­Thou shalt not drink wine, nor anything that may intoxicate.

6—­Thou shalt avoid all anger, hatred and bitter language.

7—­Thou shalt not indulge in idle and vain talk, but shall do all for others.

8—­Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.

9—­Thou shalt not harbor envy, nor pride, nor revenge, nor malice, nor the desire of thy neighbor’s death or misfortune.

10—­Thou shalt not follow the doctrines of false gods.

And the devotee is assured, even as in the Christian creed, that “he who keeps these commandments, shall enter Nirvana—­the rest of Buddha.”  But let it be understood that Gautama, the Lord Buddha, did not formulate these commandments.  Neither are they considered as infallible formulae, by the enlightened Buddhist.

They constitute the ethical and moral code of the undeveloped man in all ages of the world, and among all peoples.  They had become traditional long before Buddha came to interpret “the way of the gods.”  But Gautama, like Jesus, was an evolutionist, and not a revolutionist.  He came “not to destroy, but to fulfill,” and so Buddha paid no attention to the code of morals as it stood, but merely contented himself with emphasizing the importance of unselfishness—­purity of heart and mind, because he realized that the mental world is the trap of the soul, even as “the elephant is held tethered by a galucchi creeper.”

Buddha taught the way of emancipation of the soul held in bondage by means of the illusions of maya, even as the elephant is held in captivity by so weak a thing as a galucchi creeper, which could be broken by a single effort.

That many who keep the commandments are yet a long way from cosmic consciousness must be apparent to all.  Therefore we are justified in assuming that the mere keeping of the commandments will not bring about mukti.  Many a man follows the letter of the law, and escapes prison, but if he does this through fear of punishment, and not because of a desire to maintain peace that his neighbors may be benefited, then he is not keeping the spirit of the law at all, and his reward is a negative one.