To the mind of the Buddha, therefore, the world consisted of two orders of existence,—­souls and laws.  He saw an infinite multitude of souls,—­in insects, animals, men,—­and saw that they were surrounded by inflexible laws,—­the laws of nature.  To know these and to obey them,—­this was emancipation.

The fundamental doctrine of Buddhism, taught by its founder and received by all Buddhists without exception, in the North and in the South, in Birmah and Thibet, in Ceylon and China, is the doctrine of the four sublime truths, namely:—­

   1.  All existence is evil, because all existence is subject to change
   and decay.

   2.  The source of this evil is the desire for things which are to change
   and pass away.

   3.  This desire, and the evil which follows it, are not inevitable; for
   if we choose we can arrive at Nirvana, when both shall wholly cease.

   4.  There is a fixed and certain method to adopt, by pursuing which we
   attain this end, without possibility of failure.

These four truths are the basis of the system.  They are:  1st, the evil; 2d, its cause; 3d, its end; 4th, the way of reaching the end.

Then follow the eight steps of this way, namely:—­

   1.  Right belief, or the correct faith.

   2.  Right judgment, or wise application of that faith to life.

   3.  Right utterance, or perfect truth in all that we say and do.

   4.  Right motives, or proposing always a proper end and aim.

   5.  Right occupation, or an outward life not involving sin.

   6.  Right obedience, or faithful observance of duty.

   7.  Right memory, or a proper recollection of past conduct.

   8.  Right meditation, or keeping the mind fixed on permanent truth.

After this system of doctrine follow certain moral commands and prohibitions, namely, five, which apply to all men, and five others which apply only to the novices or the monks.  The five first commandments are:  1st, do not kill; 2d, do not steal; 3d, do not commit adultery; 4th, do not lie; 5th, do not become intoxicated.  The other five are:  1st, take no solid food after noon; 2d, do not visit dances, singing, or theatrical representations; 3d, use no ornaments or perfumery in dress; 4th, use no luxurious beds; 5th, accept neither gold nor silver.

All these doctrines and precepts have been the subject of innumerable commentaries and expositions.  Everything has been commented, explained, and elucidated.  Systems of casuistry as voluminous as those of the Fathers of the Company of Jesus, systems of theology as full of minute analysis as the great Summa Totius Theologiae of St. Thomas, are to be found in the libraries of the monasteries of Thibet and Ceylon.  The monks have their Golden Legends, their Lives of Saints, full of miracles and marvels.  On this simple basis of a few rules and convictions has arisen a vast fabric of metaphysics.  Much of this literature is instructive and entertaining.  Some of it is profound.  Baur, who had made a special study of the intricate speculations of the Gnostics, compares them with “the vast abstractions of Buddhism.”