genuine religion.  Such matters are of aesthetic and of commercial, rather than of spiritual, interest.  They concern priestcraft and vulgar superstition rather than truth and righteousness.  “In point of dogma a whole world of thought separates Buddhism from every form of Christianity.  Knowledge, enlightenment, is the condition of Buddhistic grace, not faith.  Self-perfectionment is the means of salvation, not the vicarious sufferings of a Redeemer.  Not eternal life is the end and active participation in unceasing prayer and praise, but absorption into Nirvana (Jap.  Nehan), practical annihilation."[22] At certain points, the metaphysic of Buddhism is so closely like that of Christian theology, that a connection on reciprocal exchange of ideas is not only possible but probable.  In their highest thinking,[23] the sincere Christian and Buddhist approach each other in their search after truth.

The key-word of Buddhism is Ingwa, which means law or fate, the chain of cause and effect in which man is found, atheistic “evolution applied to ethics,” the grinding machinery of a universe in which is no Creator-Father, no love, pity or heart.  If the cry of the human spirit has compelled the makers of Buddhist theology to furnish a goddess of mercy, it is but one subordinate being among many.  If a boundlessly compassionate Amida is thought out, it is an imaginary being.  The symbol of Buddhism is the wheel of the law, which revolves as mercilessly as ceaselessly.[24]

The key-word of Christianity is love, and its message is grace.  Its symbol is the cross, and its sacrament the supper, in token of the infinite love of the Father who wrote his revelation in a human life.  The resemblances between the religions of Gautama and of Jesus, are purely superficial.  They appear to the outward man.  The inward man cannot, even from Darien peaks of observation or in his scrutiny de profundis, discover any vital or historical connection between the two faiths, Christianity and Buddhism.  In his theology the Christian says God is all; but the Buddhist says All is god.  Buddhism says destroy the passions:  Christianity says control them.  The Buddhist’s watchword is Nirvana.  The Christian’s is Eternal Life in Christ Jesus.[25]

The Temples and Their Symbolism.

In the vast airy halls of a Buddhist temple one will often see columns made of whole tree-trunks, sheeted with gold and supporting massive ceilings which are empanelled and gorgeous with every hue and tint known to the palette.  Besides the coloring, carving and gilding, the rich symbolism strikes the eye and touches the imagination.  It is a pleasing study for one familiar with the background and world of Buddhism, to note their revelation and expression in art, as well as to discern what the varying sects accept or reject.  There is the lotus, in leaf, bud, flower and calyx;[26] the diamond in every form, real and imaginary, with the vagra or emblem of conquest; while