in order to lead a higher life for which ordinary society has no place.  They will teach others, not as those whose duty it is to make the laity conform to their standard but as those who desire to make known the truth.  And easy as is the transition from this attitude to the other, it must be admitted that Buddhism has rarely laid itself open to the charge of interfering in politics or of seeking temporal authority.  Rather may it be accused of a tendency to indolence.  In some cases elementary education is in the hands of the monks and their monasteries serve the purpose of village schools.  Elsewhere they are harmless recluses whom the unsympathetic critic may pity as useless but can hardly condemn as ambitious or interfering.  This is not however altogether true of Tibet and the Far East.

It is sometimes said that the only real Buddhists are the members of the Sangha and there is some truth in this, particularly in China, where one cannot count as a Buddhist every one who occasionally attends a Buddhist service.  But on the other hand Gotama accorded to the laity a definite and honourable position and in the Pitakas they notify their conversion by a special formula.  They cannot indeed lead the perfect life but they can ensure birth in happy states and a good layman may even attain nirvana on his death-bed.  But though the pious householder “takes his refuge in the law and in the order of monks” from whom he learns the law, yet these monks make no attempt to supervise or even to judge his life.  The only punishment which the Order inflicts, to turn down the bowl and refuse to accept alms from guilty hands, is reserved for those who have tried to injure it and is not inflicted on notorious evil livers.  It is the business of a monk to spread true knowledge and good feeling around him without enquiring into the thoughts and deeds of those who do not spontaneously seek his counsel.  Indeed it may be said that in Burma it is the laity who supervise the monks rather than vice versa.  Those Bhikkhus who fall short of the accepted standard, especially in chastity, are compelled by popular opinion to leave the monastery or village where they have misbehaved.  This reminds us of the criticisms of laymen reported in the Vinaya and the deference which the Buddha paid to them.

The ethical character of Buddhism and its superiority to other Indian systems are shown in the precepts which it lays down for laymen.  Ceremony and doctrine have hardly any place in this code, but it enjoins good conduct and morality:  moderation in pleasures and consideration for others.  Only five commandments are essential for a good life but they are perhaps more comprehensive and harder to keep than the Decalogue, for they prescribe abstinence from the five sins of taking life, drinking intoxicants, lying, stealing and unchastity.  It is meritorious to observe in addition three other precepts, namely, to use no garlands or perfumes:  to sleep on a mat spread