where is Brahm[=a]?’ ‘No, Gautama.’  ’Then if neither the present Brahmans know, nor the old Brahmans knew where is Brahm[=a], the present Brahmans say in point of fact, “We can show the way to union with what we know not and have never seen; this is the straight path, this is the direct way which leads to Brahm[=a]”—­and is this foolish talk?’ ’It is foolish talk.’  ’Then, as to yearning for union with Brahm[=a], suppose a man should say, “How I long for, how I love the most beautiful woman in this land,” and the people should ask, “Do you know whether that beautiful woman is a noble lady, or a Brahman woman, or of the trader class, or a slave?” and he should say, “No”; and the people should say, “What is her name, is she tall or short, in what place does she live?” and he should say, “I know not,” and the people should say, “Whom you know not, neither have seen, her you love and long for?” and he should say, “Yes,”—­would not that be foolish?  Then, after this is assented to, Buddha suggests another parallel.  ’A man builds a staircase, and the people ask, “Do you know where is the mansion to which this staircase leads?” “I do not know.”  “Are you making a staircase to lead to something, taking it for a mansion, which you know not and have never seen?” “Yes.”  Would not this be foolish talk?...  Now what think you, is Brahm[=a] in possession of wives and wealth?’ ‘He is not.’

’Is his mind full of anger or free from anger?  Is his mind full of malice or free from malice?’ ‘Free from anger and malice.’  ’Is his mind depraved or pure?’ ‘Pure.’  ‘Has he self-mastery?’ ‘Yes.’  ’Now what think you, are the Brahmans in possession of wives and wealth, do they have anger in their hearts, do they bear malice, are they impure in heart, are they without self-mastery?’ ‘Yes.’  ’Can there then be likeness between the Brahmans and Brahm[=a]?’ ‘No.’  ’Will they then after death become united to Brahm[=a] who is not at all like them?’ Then Buddha points out the path of purity and love.  Here is no negative ‘non-injury,’ but something very different to anything that had been preached before in India.  When the novice puts away hate, passion, wrong-doing, sinfulness of every kind, then:  ’He lets his mind pervade the whole wide world, above, below, around and everywhere, with a heart of love, far-reaching, grown great, and beyond measure.  And he lets his mind pervade the whole world with a heart of pity, sympathy, and equanimity, far-reaching, grown great, and beyond measure.’  Buddha concludes (adopting for effect the Brahm[=a] of his convert):  ’That the monk who is free from anger, free from malice, pure in mind, and master of himself should after death, when the body is dissolved, become united to Brahm[=a] who is the same—­such a condition of things is quite possible’ Here is no metaphysics, only a new religion based on morality and intense humanity, yet is the young man moved to say, speaking for himself and the friend with him:  ’Lord, excellent are the words of thy mouth.  As if one were to bring a lamp into the darkness, just so, Lord, has the truth been made known to us in many a figure by the Blessed One.  And we come to Buddha as our refuge, to the doctrine and to the church.  May the Blessed One accept us as disciples, as true believers, from this day forth, as long as life endures.’