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The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ · The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ

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Speaker 1: Preface. After the Turkish War eighteen seventy seven to eighteen
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Speaker 1: seventy eight, I made a series of travels in the Orient.
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Speaker 1: From the little remarkable Balkan Peninsula, I went across the
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Speaker 1: Caucasus to Central Asia and Persia, and finally, in eighteen
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Speaker 1: eighty seven visited India, an admirable country which had attracted
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Speaker 1: me from my earliest childhood. My purpose in this journey
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Speaker 1: was to study and know at home the peoples who
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Speaker 1: inhabit India and their customs, the grand and mysterious archeology,
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Speaker 1: and the colossal and majestic nature of their country. Wandering
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Speaker 1: about without fixed plans from one place to another, I
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Speaker 1: came to Mountaneous Afghanistan whence I regained India by way
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Speaker 1: of the picturesque passes of Bolin and Gunai. Then going
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Speaker 1: up the Indus to raval Pindi I ran over the Panjab,
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Speaker 1: the land of the Five Rivers, visited the golden temper
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Speaker 1: of amric Sa, the tom of the King of Benjab,
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Speaker 1: Rajid Singh near Lahore, and turned toward Kashmir, the valley
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Speaker 1: of eternal bliss. Thence I directed my peregrinations as my
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Speaker 1: curiosity impelled me until I arrived in Ladak, whence I
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Speaker 1: intended returning to Russia by way of Kara Karoon and
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Speaker 1: Chinese Takeistan. One day, while visiting a Buddhist convent on
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Speaker 1: my route, I learned from a chief lama that there
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Speaker 1: existed in the archives of Lahassa very ancient memoirs relating
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Speaker 1: to the life of Jesus Christ and the Occidental Nations,
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Speaker 1: and that certain great monasteries possessed all copies and translations
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Speaker 1: of those chronicles. As it was little probable that I
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Speaker 1: should make another journey into this country, I resolved to
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Speaker 1: put off my return to Europe until a later date
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Speaker 1: and cost what it might either find those copies in
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Speaker 1: the great convents or go to Lahassa, a journey which
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Speaker 1: is far from being so dangerous and difficult as is
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Speaker 1: generally supposed, involving only such perils as I was already
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Speaker 1: accustomed to, and which would not make me hesitate at
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Speaker 1: attempting it. During my Sujournateley, capital of Ladakh, I visited
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Speaker 1: the great convent Hemis, situated near the city, the chief
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Speaker 1: Lama of which informed me that their monastic library contained
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Speaker 1: copies of the manuscripts in question, in order that I
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Speaker 1: might not awaken the suspicions of the authorities concerning the
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Speaker 1: object of my visit to the cloister, and to evade
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Speaker 1: obstacles which might be opposed to me as a Russian
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Speaker 1: prosecuting further my journey in Tibet, I gave out upon
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Speaker 1: my return to Leh that I would depart for India
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Speaker 1: until left the capital of Ladakh. An unfortunate fall causing
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Speaker 1: the break of a lake furnished me with an absolutely
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Speaker 1: unexpected pretext for returning to the monastery, where I received
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Speaker 1: surgical attention. I took advantage of my sort sujourn among
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Speaker 1: the Lamas to obtain the consent of their chief that
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Speaker 1: they should bring to me from their library the manuscripts
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Speaker 1: relating to Jesus Christ, and, assisted by my interpreter, who
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Speaker 1: translated for me the Tibetan language, transferred carefully to my
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Speaker 1: note book what the Lama read to me. Not doubting
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Speaker 1: at all the authenticity of this chronicle, edited with great
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Speaker 1: exactitude by the Brahomonic and more especially the Buddhist historians
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Speaker 1: of India Nepoal, I desired upon my return to Europe
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Speaker 1: to publish a translation of it. To this end, I
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Speaker 1: addressed myself to several universally known ecclesiastics, asking them to
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Speaker 1: revise my notes and tell me what they thought of them.
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Speaker 1: Monseigneur Playton, the celebrated Metropolitan of Kiev, thought that my
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Speaker 1: discovery was of great importance. Nevertheless, he sought to dissuade
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Speaker 1: me from publishing the memoirs, believing that their public case
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Speaker 1: could only hurt me. Why this, the venerable prelate refused
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Speaker 1: to tell me more explicitly. Nevertheless, since our conversation took
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Speaker 1: place in Russia, where the censor would have put its
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Speaker 1: veto upon such a work, I made up my mind
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Speaker 1: to wait. A year later, I found myself in Rome.
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Speaker 1: I showed my manuscript to a cardinal very near to
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Speaker 1: the Holy Father, who answered me literally in these words,
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Speaker 1: what good will it do to print this? Nobody will
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Speaker 1: attach to it any great importance, and you will create
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Speaker 1: a number of enemies. But you are still very young.
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Speaker 1: If it is a question of money which concerned you,
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Speaker 1: I can ask for you a reward for your notes,
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Speaker 1: a sum which will repay your expenditures and recompense you
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Speaker 1: for your loss of time. Of course, I refused. In Paris,
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Speaker 1: I spoke of my project to Cardinal Routelli, whose acquaintance
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Speaker 1: I had made in Constantinople. He too was opposed to
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Speaker 1: having my work printed under the pret text that it
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Speaker 1: would be premature. The church, he added, suffers already too
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Speaker 1: much from the new currents of atheistic ideas, and you
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Speaker 1: will but give a new food to the caluminators and
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Speaker 1: detractors of the evangelical doctrine. I tell you this in
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Speaker 1: the interest of all the Christian churches. Then I went
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Speaker 1: to see Monsieur Julesimond. He found my matter very interesting
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Speaker 1: and advised me to ask the opinion of Monsieur Renald
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Speaker 1: as to the best way of publishing these memoirs. The
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Speaker 1: next day I was seated in the cabinet of the
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Speaker 1: great philosopher. At the close of our conversation, Monsieur Renaud
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Speaker 1: proposed that I should confide to him the memoiles in question,
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Speaker 1: so that he might make to the Academy a report
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Speaker 1: upon the discovery. This proposition, as may be easily understood,
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Speaker 1: was very alluring and flattering to my more pop I, however,
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Speaker 1: took away with me the manuscript under the pretext further
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Speaker 1: revising it. I foresaw that if I accepted the proposed communation,
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Speaker 1: I would only have the honor of having found the chronicles,
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Speaker 1: while the illustrious author of the Life of Jesus would
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Speaker 1: have the glory of the publication and the commenting upon it.
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Speaker 1: I thought myself sufficiently prepared to publish the translation of
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Speaker 1: the chronicles, accompanying them with my notes, and therefore did
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Speaker 1: not accept the very gracious offer he made to me.
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Speaker 1: But that I might not wound the susceptibility of the
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Speaker 1: great Master, for whom I felt a profound respect, I
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Speaker 1: made up my mind to delay publication until after his death,
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Speaker 1: a fatality which could not be far off, if I
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Speaker 1: might judge from the apparent general weakness of Monsieur Renaud.
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Speaker 1: A short time after Monsieur Renand's death, I wrote to
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Speaker 1: Monsieur Joulesiemond again for his advice. He answered me that
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Speaker 1: it was my affair to judge of the opportunity for
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Speaker 1: making them mamois public. I therefore or put my notes
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Speaker 1: in order, and I'll publish them, reserving the right to
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Speaker 1: substatiate the authenticity of these chronicles in my commentaries. I
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Speaker 1: prefer the arguments which must convince us of the sincerity
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Speaker 1: and good faith of the Buddhist compilers. I wish to
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Speaker 1: add that before criticizing my communication, the societies of Savant can,
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Speaker 1: without much expense, equip a scientific expedition, having for its
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Speaker 1: mission the study of those manuscripts in the place where
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Speaker 1: I discovered them, and so may easily verify their historic value.
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Speaker 1: Nicholas Notovitch and of preface.
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Speaker 2: Chapter one, A Journey in to Bed Part one. During
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Speaker 2: my sojourn in India, I often had occasion to converse
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Speaker 2: with the Buddhists, and the accounts they gave me of
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Speaker 2: Thibet excited my curiosity to such an extent had I
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Speaker 2: resolved to make a journey into that still almost unknown country.
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Speaker 2: For this purpose, I set out upon a route crossing Cashmere,
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Speaker 2: which I had long intended to visit. On the fourteenth
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Speaker 2: of October eighteen eighty seven, I entered a railway car
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Speaker 2: crowded with soldiers and went from Lahore to raval Pinidi,
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Speaker 2: where I arrived the next day near noon. After resting
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Speaker 2: a little and inspecting the city, to which the permanent
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Speaker 2: garrison gives the aspect of a military camp, I provided
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Speaker 2: myself with the necessities for a journey where horses take
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Speaker 2: the place of the railway cars. Assisted by my servant,
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Speaker 2: a colored man of Pondicherry, I packed all my baggage,
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Speaker 2: hired a Tonna, a two wheeled vehicle which was drawn
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Speaker 2: by two horses, stowed myself upon its back seat, and
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Speaker 2: set out upon the picturesque road leading to Cashmere, an
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Speaker 2: excellent highway upon which we traveled rapidly. We had to
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Speaker 2: use use no little skill in making our way through
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Speaker 2: the ranks of a military caravan its baggage carried upon camels,
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Speaker 2: which was part of a detachment returning from a country
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Speaker 2: camp to the city. Soon we arrived at the end
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Speaker 2: of the valley of Peenjab, and, climbing up away with
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Speaker 2: infinite windings, entered the passes of the Himalayas the ascent
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Speaker 2: became more and more steep, behind us, spread like a
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Speaker 2: beautiful panorama the region we had just traversed, which seemed
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Speaker 2: to sink farther and farther away from us. As the
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Speaker 2: sun's last glances rested upon the tops of the mountains.
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Speaker 2: Our Tonga came gaily out from the zigzags, which the
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Speaker 2: eye could still trace far down the forest. Clad slope
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Speaker 2: and halted at the little city of Muray, where the
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Speaker 2: families of the English functionaries came to seek shade and refreshment.
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Speaker 2: Ordinarily one can go in a tonga from Muray to Srinagar,
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Speaker 2: but at the approach of the winter season, when all
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Speaker 2: Europeans desert Cashmere, the Tonger services suspended. I undertook my
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Speaker 2: journey precisely at the time when the summer life begins
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Speaker 2: to wane, and the Englishmen whom I met upon the
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Speaker 2: road returning to India were much astonished to see me
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Speaker 2: and made vain efforts to divine the purpose of my
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Speaker 2: travel to Cashmere. Abandoning the tonga, I hired saddle horses,
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Speaker 2: not without considerable difficulty, and evening had arrived when we
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Speaker 2: started to descend from Uray, which is at an altitude
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Speaker 2: of five thousand feet. This stage of our journey had
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Speaker 2: nothing playful in it. The road was torn in deep
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Speaker 2: ruts by the late rains. Darkness came upon us, and
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Speaker 2: our horses rather guessed than saw their way. When night
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Speaker 2: had completely set in, a tempestuous rain surprised us in
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Speaker 2: the open country, and owing to the thick foliage of
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Speaker 2: the centenarian oaks, which stood on the sides of our road.
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Speaker 2: We were plunged in profound darkness. That we might not
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Speaker 2: lose each other, we had to continue exchanging calls from
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Speaker 2: time to time. In this impenetrable obscurity, we divined huge
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Speaker 2: masses of rock almost above our heads, and were conscious
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Speaker 2: of on our left a roaring torrent, the water of
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Speaker 2: which formed a cascade. We could not see. During two
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Speaker 2: hours we waded in the mud, and the icy rain
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Speaker 2: had chilled my very marrow. When we perceived in the
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Speaker 2: distance a little fire, the sight of which revived our energies.
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Speaker 2: But how deceitful our lights in the mountains. You believe
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Speaker 2: you see the fire burning quite near to you, and
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Speaker 2: at once it disappears to reappear again to the right,
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Speaker 2: to the left, above below you, as if it took
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Speaker 2: pleasure in playing tricks upon the harassed traveler. All the time,
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Speaker 2: the road makes a thousand turns and wines here and there,
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Speaker 2: and the fire, which is a mover, seems to be
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Speaker 2: in continual motion, the obscurity preventing you realizing that you
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Speaker 2: yourself modify your direction every instant. I had quite given
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Speaker 2: up all hope of approaching this much wished for fire.
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Speaker 2: When it appeared again, and this time so near that
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Speaker 2: our horses stopped before it. I have here to express
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Speaker 2: my sincere thanks to the Englishmen for the foresight of
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Speaker 2: which they gave proof in building by the roadsides the
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Speaker 2: little bungalows, one story houses for the shelter of travelers.
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Speaker 2: It is true one must not demand comfort in this
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Speaker 2: kind of hotel. But this is a matter in which
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Speaker 2: the traveler, broken down by fatigue, is not exacting, and
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Speaker 2: he is at the summit of happiness when he finds
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Speaker 2: at his disposal a clean and a dry room. The Hindoos,
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Speaker 2: no doubt, did not expect to see a traveler arrive
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Speaker 2: at so late an hour of the night, and in
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Speaker 2: this season, for they had taken away the keys of
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Speaker 2: the bungalow, so we had to force an entrance. I
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Speaker 2: threw myself upon a bed prepared for me, composed of
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Speaker 2: a pillow and blanket saturated with water, and almost at
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Speaker 2: once fell asleep. At daybreak, after taking tea in some conserves,
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Speaker 2: we took up our march again, now bathed in the
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Speaker 2: burning rays of the sun. From time to time we
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Speaker 2: passed villages, the first in a superb narrow pass. Then
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Speaker 2: along the road beyandering in the bosom of the mountain,
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Speaker 2: we descended eventually to the River Geelum, the waters of
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Speaker 2: which flow gracefully amid the rocks by which its course
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Speaker 2: is obstructed between rocky walls, whose tops, in many places
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Speaker 2: seem almost to reach the azure skies of the Himalayas,
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Speaker 2: a heaven which here shows itself remarkably pure and serene.
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Speaker 2: Toward noon we arrived at the hamlet called Tungue, situated
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Speaker 2: on the bank of the river, which presents an unique
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Speaker 2: era of huts that give the effect of boxes, the
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Speaker 2: openings of which form a facade. Here are sold comestibles
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Speaker 2: and all kinds of merchandise. The place swarms with Hindus,
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Speaker 2: who bear on their foreheads the variously colored marks of
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Speaker 2: their respective casts. Here too you see the beautiful people
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Speaker 2: of Kashmir, dressed in their long white shirts and snowy turbans.
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Speaker 2: I hired here at a good price a Hindu cabriolet
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Speaker 2: from a Kashmirian. This vehicle is so constructed that in
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Speaker 2: order to keep one's seat in it, one must cross
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Speaker 2: his legs in the Turkish fashion. The seat is so
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Speaker 2: small that it will hold at most only two persons.
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Speaker 2: The absence of any support for the back makes this
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Speaker 2: mode of transportation very dangerous. Nevertheless, I accepted this kind
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Speaker 2: of circular table, mounted on two wheels and drawn by
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Speaker 2: a horse, as I was anxious to reach as soon
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Speaker 2: as possible the end of my journey. Hardly, however, had
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Speaker 2: I gone five hundred yards on it, when I seriously
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Speaker 2: regretted the horse I had forsaken so much fatigue had
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Speaker 2: I to endure keeping my legs crossed and maintaining my equilibrium. Unfortunately,
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Speaker 2: it was already too late. Evening was falling when I
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Speaker 2: approached the village of Hoary. Exhausted by fatigue, racked by
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Speaker 2: the incessant jolting my legs, feeling as if invaded by
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Speaker 2: millions of ants, I had been completely incapable of enjoying
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Speaker 2: the picturesque landscapes spread before us as we journeyed along
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Speaker 2: the Jealum, the banks of which are bordered on one
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Speaker 2: side by steep rocks and on the other by the
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Speaker 2: heavily wooded slopes of the mountains. In Hoary, I encountered
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Speaker 2: a caravan of pilgrims returning from Mecca, thinking I was
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Speaker 2: a physician, and learning my haste to reach Laddak, they
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Speaker 2: invited me to join them, which I promised I would.
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Speaker 2: At Srinegar, I spent an ill night sitting up in
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Speaker 2: my bed with a lighted TORTI in my hand, without
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Speaker 2: closing my eyes, in constant fear of the stings and
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Speaker 2: bites of the scorpions and centipedes which swarm in the bungalows.
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Speaker 2: I was sometimes ashamed of the fear with which those
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Speaker 2: vermin inspired me. Nevertheless, I could not fall asleep among them.
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Speaker 2: Where truly in man is the line that separates courage
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Speaker 2: from cowardice. I will not boast of my bravery, but
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Speaker 2: I am not a coward. Yet the insurmountable fear with
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Speaker 2: which these malevolent little creatures thrilled me drove sleep from
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Speaker 2: my eyelids. In spite of my extreme fatigue, our horses
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Speaker 2: carried us into a flat valley encircled by high mountains.
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Speaker 2: Bathed as I was in the rays of the sun,
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Speaker 2: it did not take me long to fall asleep in
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Speaker 2: the saddle. A sudden sense of freshness penetrated and awoke me.
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Speaker 2: I saw that we had already begun climbing a mountain
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Speaker 2: path in the midst of a dense forest, rifts in
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Speaker 2: which occasionally opened to our admiring gaze, ravishing vistas, impetuous torrents,
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Speaker 2: distant mountains, cloudless heavens, a landscape far below of wondrous beauty.
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Speaker 2: All about us were the songs of numberless, brilliantly plumaged birds.
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Speaker 2: We came out of the forest toward noon, descended to
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Speaker 2: a little hamlet on the bank of the river, and,
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Speaker 2: after refreshing ourselves with a light cold collation, continued our journey.
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Speaker 2: Before starting, I went to a bazaar and tried to
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Speaker 2: buy there a glass of warm milk from a Hindu
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Speaker 2: who was sitting crouched before a large cauldron full of
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Speaker 2: boiling milk. How great was my surprise when he proposed
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Speaker 2: to me that I should take away the whole cauldron
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Speaker 2: with its contents, assuring me that I had polluted the
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Speaker 2: milk it contained. I only want a glass of milk,
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Speaker 2: not a kettle of it, I said to him, According
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Speaker 2: to our laws. The merchant answered me, If any one
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Speaker 2: not belonging to our cast has fixed his eyes for
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Speaker 2: a long time upon one of our cooking utensils, we
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Speaker 2: have to wash that article thoroughly and throw away the
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Speaker 2: food it contains. You have polluted my milk, and no
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Speaker 2: one will drink any more of it. For not only
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Speaker 2: were you not contented with fixing your eyes upon it,
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Speaker 2: but you have even pointed to it with your finger.
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Speaker 2: I had, indeed a long time examined as merchandise to
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Speaker 2: make sure that it was really milk, and had pointed
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Speaker 2: with my finger to the merchant from which side I
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Speaker 2: wished the milk poured out. Full of respect for the
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Speaker 2: laws and customs of foreign people, I paid without dispute
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Speaker 2: a rupee the price of all the milk which was
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Speaker 2: poured in the street, though I had taken only one
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Speaker 2: glass of it. This was a lesson which taught me
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Speaker 2: from now on not to fix my eyes upon the
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Speaker 2: food of the Hindus. There is no religious belief more
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Speaker 2: muddled by the numbers of ceremonious laws and commentaries prescribing
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Speaker 2: its observances than the brah Mini. While each of the
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Speaker 2: other principal religions has but one inspired book, one Bible,
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Speaker 2: one Gospel, or one Quran, books from which the Hebrew,
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Speaker 2: the Christian, and the Mussulman draw their creeds, the Brahminical
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Speaker 2: Hindus possess such a great number of tomes and commentaries
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Speaker 2: in folio that the wisest Brahmin has hardly had the
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Speaker 2: time to peruse one tenth of them. Leaving aside the
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Speaker 2: four books of the Vedas, the Puranas, which are written
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Speaker 2: in Sanskrit and composed of eighteen volumes containing four hundred
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Speaker 2: thousand strophies treating of law, rights, theogeny, medicine, the creation
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Speaker 2: and destruction of the world, et cetera. The vast Shastras
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Speaker 2: which deal with mathematics, grammar, et cetera. The Upa Vitas, Upanishads,
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Speaker 2: Upo Puranas, which are explanatory of the Puranas, and a
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Speaker 2: number of other commentaries in several volumes. There still remain
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Speaker 2: twelve vast books containing the laws of Manu, the grandchild
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Speaker 2: of Brahma, books dealing not only with civil and criminal law,
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Speaker 2: but also the canonical rules, rules which impose upon the faithful.
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Speaker 2: Such a considerable number of ceremonies that one is surprised
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Speaker 2: into admiration of the illimitable patients the Hindus show in
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Speaker 2: observance of the precepts inculcated by Saint Manu. Manu was
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Speaker 2: incontestably a great legislator and a great thinker. But he
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Speaker 2: has written so much that it has happened to him
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Speaker 2: frequently to contradict himself in the course of a single page.
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Speaker 2: The Brahmans do not take the trouble to notice that,
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Speaker 2: and the poor Hindus, whose labour supports the Brahminic caste,
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Speaker 2: obey servilely their clergy, whose prescriptions enjoining upon them never
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Speaker 2: to touch a man who does not belong to their caste,
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Speaker 2: and also absolutely prohibit a stranger from fixing his attention
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Speaker 2: upon anything belonging to a Hinda do keeping himself to
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Speaker 2: the strict letter of this law, the Hindu imagines that
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Speaker 2: his food is polluted when it receives a little protracted
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Speaker 2: notice from the stranger. And yet Brahmanism has been, even
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Speaker 2: at the beginning of its second birth, a purely monotheistic religion,
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Speaker 2: recognizing only one infinite and indivisable God. As it came
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Speaker 2: to pass in all times and in religions, the clergy
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Speaker 2: took advantage of the privileged situation which places them above
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Speaker 2: the ignorant multitude, and early manufactured various exterior forms of
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Speaker 2: cult and certain laws, thinking they could better in this
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Speaker 2: way influence and control the masses. Things changed soon so
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Speaker 2: far that the principle of monotheism, of which the Vedas
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Speaker 2: have given such a clear conception, became confounded with or
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Speaker 2: as it were, supplanted by an absurd and limitless series
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Speaker 2: of gods and goddess's half god's genie and devils, which
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Speaker 2: were represented by idols of infinite variety, but all equally
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Speaker 2: horrible looking. The people, once glorious as their religion was,
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Speaker 2: once great and pure, now slipped by degrees into complete idiocy.
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Speaker 2: Hardly does their day suffice for the accomplishment of all
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Speaker 2: the prescriptions of their cannons. It must be said positively
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Speaker 2: that the Hindus only exist to support their principal caste,
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Speaker 2: the Brahmans, who have taken into their hands the temporal
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Speaker 2: power which once was possessed by independent sovereigns of the
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Speaker 2: people while governing India. The Englishman does not interfere with
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Speaker 2: this phase of the public life, and so the Brahmins
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Speaker 2: profit by maintaining the people's hope of a better future.
22:47
Speaker 2: The sun passed behind the summit of a mountain and
22:50
Speaker 2: the darkness of night. In one moment, overspread the magnificent
22:53
Speaker 2: landscape we were traversing. Soon the narrow valley of the
22:57
Speaker 2: Gelum fell asleep. Our road, winding among ledges of steep rocks,
23:02
Speaker 2: was instantly hidden from our sight. Mountains and trees were
23:05
Speaker 2: confounded together in one dark mass, and the stars glittered
23:10
Speaker 2: in the celestial vault. We had to dismount and feel
23:14
Speaker 2: our way along the mountain side for fear of becoming
23:16
Speaker 2: the prey of the abyss, which yawned at our feet.
23:21
Speaker 2: At a late hour of the night, we traversed a
23:23
Speaker 2: bridge and ascended a steep elevation leading to the bungalow Ouri,
23:27
Speaker 2: which at this height seems to enjoy complete isolation. The
23:32
Speaker 2: next day we traversed a charming region, always going along
23:35
Speaker 2: the river, at a turn of which we saw the
23:38
Speaker 2: ruins of a Sikh fortress that seemed to remember sadly
23:41
Speaker 2: its glorious past. In a little valley nestled amid the mountains,
23:46
Speaker 2: we found a bungalow which seemed to welcome us. In
23:50
Speaker 2: its proximity were encamped a cavalry regiment of the Maharaja
23:54
Speaker 2: of Cashmir. When the officers learned that I was a Russian,
23:58
Speaker 2: they invited me to share there. Repassed there I had
24:01
Speaker 2: the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Colonel Brown, who
24:05
Speaker 2: was the first to compile a dictionary of the Afghan
24:08
Speaker 2: Pushton language. As I was anxious to reach as soon
24:12
Speaker 2: as possible the city of Srinagar, I with little delay,
24:16
Speaker 2: continued my journey through the picturesque region lying at the
24:19
Speaker 2: foot of the mountains, after having for a long time
24:22
Speaker 2: followed the course of the river. Here before our eyes,
24:27
Speaker 2: weary of the monotonous desolation of the preceding landscapes, was
24:31
Speaker 2: unfolded a charming view of a well peopled valley with
24:34
Speaker 2: many two story houses, surrounded by gardens and cultivated fields.
24:39
Speaker 2: A little farther on begins the celebrated Valley of Cashmir,
24:44
Speaker 2: situated behind a range of high rocks, which I crossed
24:46
Speaker 2: towards evening. What a superb panorama revealed itself before my eyes.
24:51
Speaker 2: When I found myself at the last rock which separates
24:54
Speaker 2: the valley of Cashmir from the mountainous country, I had
24:57
Speaker 2: traversed a ravishing tableau truly enchanted my sight. This valley,
25:04
Speaker 2: the limits of which are lost in the horizon, and
25:07
Speaker 2: as throughout well populated, is enshrined amid the high Himalayan
25:12
Speaker 2: mountains at the rising and the setting of the sun,
25:15
Speaker 2: the zone of eternal snows seems a silver ring which,
25:19
Speaker 2: like a girdle, surrounds this rich and delightful plateau, furrowed
25:23
Speaker 2: by numerous rivers and traversed by excellent roads, gardens, hills,
25:29
Speaker 2: a lake, the islands in which are occupied by constructions
25:32
Speaker 2: of pretentious style. All these caused the traveler to feel
25:36
Speaker 2: as if he had entered another world. It seems to
25:40
Speaker 2: him as though he had to go but a little
25:42
Speaker 2: farther on, and there must find the paradise of which
25:46
Speaker 2: his governess had told them so often in his childhood.
25:51
Speaker 2: The Vale of Nights slowly covered the valley, merging mountains, gardens,
25:55
Speaker 2: and lake in one dark amplitude. Pierced here and there
25:59
Speaker 2: by distant fires resembling stars. I descended into the valley,
26:04
Speaker 2: directing myself towards the Gellum, which has broken its way
26:08
Speaker 2: through a narrow gorge in the mountains to unite itself
26:11
Speaker 2: with the waters of the river ind According to the legend,
26:16
Speaker 2: the valley was once an inland sea. A passage opened
26:19
Speaker 2: through the rocks environing it and drained the waters away,
26:23
Speaker 2: leaving nothing more of its former character than the lake,
26:26
Speaker 2: the Gelam and minor water courses. The banks of the
26:30
Speaker 2: river are now lined with boat houses, long and narrow,
26:33
Speaker 2: which the proprietors with their families, inhabit the whole year.
26:38
Speaker 2: From here, Srinagar can be reached in one day's travel
26:42
Speaker 2: on horseback, but with the boat the journey requires a
26:45
Speaker 2: day and a half. I chose the latter mode of conveyance, and,
26:48
Speaker 2: having selected a boat and bargained with its proprietor for
26:51
Speaker 2: its hire, took my seat in the bow upon a
26:54
Speaker 2: carpet sheltered by a sort of penthouse roof. The boat
26:59
Speaker 2: left the shore midnight, bearing us rapidly towards Srinegar. At
27:03
Speaker 2: the stern of the park a hindou prepared my tea.
27:07
Speaker 2: I went to sleep, happy in knowing my voyage was
27:10
Speaker 2: to be accomplished. The hot caress of the sun's rays
27:14
Speaker 2: penetrating my little roof awakened me, and what I experienced
27:18
Speaker 2: delighted me beyond all expression. Entirely green banks, the distant
27:23
Speaker 2: outlines of mountain tops covered with snow, pretty villages which
27:28
Speaker 2: from time to time showed themselves at the mountain's foot,
27:32
Speaker 2: the crystalline sheet of water, pure and peculiarly agreeable air,
27:36
Speaker 2: which I breathed with exhilaration, The musical carols of an
27:40
Speaker 2: infinity of birds, a sky of extraordinary purity behind me,
27:46
Speaker 2: the plash of water stirred by the round ended paddle,
27:50
Speaker 2: which was wielded with ease by a superb woman with
27:54
Speaker 2: marvelous eyes and a complexion browned by the sun, who
27:57
Speaker 2: wore an air of stately indifference. All these things together
28:02
Speaker 2: seemed to plunge me into an ecstasy, and I forgot
28:06
Speaker 2: entirely the reason for my presence on the river. In
28:09
Speaker 2: that moment, I had not even a desire to reach
28:12
Speaker 2: the end of my voyage, and yet how many privations
28:16
Speaker 2: remained for me to undergo and dangers to encounter. I
28:20
Speaker 2: felt myself here so well content. The boat glided rapidly,
28:26
Speaker 2: and the landscape continued to unfold new beauties before my eyes,
28:31
Speaker 2: losing itself in ever new combinations with the horizon, which
28:35
Speaker 2: merged into the mountains we were passing to become one
28:38
Speaker 2: with them. Then a new panorama would display itself, seeming
28:42
Speaker 2: to expand and flow out from the sides of the
28:44
Speaker 2: mountains becoming more and more grand. The day was almost spent,
28:50
Speaker 2: and I was not yet weary of contemplating this magnificent nature,
28:54
Speaker 2: the view of which reawakened the souvenirs of childhood and youth.
28:59
Speaker 2: How beautiful were those days forever gone. The more nearly
29:04
Speaker 2: one approaches Shrinagar, the more numerous become the villages embowered
29:09
Speaker 2: in the verdure. At the approach of our boat, some
29:12
Speaker 2: of their inhabitants came running to see us, the men
29:15
Speaker 2: and their turbans, the women in their small bonnets, both
29:18
Speaker 2: alike dressed in white gowns reaching to the ground, the
29:21
Speaker 2: children in a state of nudity, which reminded one of
29:25
Speaker 2: the costumes of our first parents. When entering the city,
29:29
Speaker 2: one sees a range of barks and floating houses in
29:32
Speaker 2: which entire families reside. The tops of the far off
29:36
Speaker 2: snow covered mountains were caressed by the last rays of
29:39
Speaker 2: the setting sun. When we glided between the wooden houses
29:42
Speaker 2: of Shrinegar, which closely line both banks of the river.
29:46
Speaker 2: Life seems to cease here at sunset. The thousands of
29:50
Speaker 2: many colored open boats, dunga and palanquin covered barks, Bungla
29:55
Speaker 2: were fastened along the beach. Men and women gathered near
29:59
Speaker 2: the river in the primitive costumes of Adam and Eve,
30:02
Speaker 2: going through their evening ablutions without feeling any embarrassment or
30:06
Speaker 2: prudery before each other, since they performed a religious rite,
30:10
Speaker 2: the importance of which is greater for them than all
30:13
Speaker 2: human prejudices. On the twentieth of October, I awoke in
30:18
Speaker 2: a neat room, from which I had a gay view
30:20
Speaker 2: upon the river that was now inundated with the rays
30:23
Speaker 2: of the sun of Cashmere. As it is not my
30:26
Speaker 2: purpose to describe here my experiences in detail, I refrain
30:30
Speaker 2: from enumerting the lovely valleys, the paradise of lakes, the
30:34
Speaker 2: enchanting islands, those historic places, mysterious pagodas, and coquettish villages,
30:40
Speaker 2: which seem lost in vast gardens, on all sides of
30:43
Speaker 2: which rise the majestic tops of the giants of the Himalaya,
30:47
Speaker 2: shrouded as far as the eye can see in eternal snow.
30:52
Speaker 2: I shall only note the preparations I made in view
30:55
Speaker 2: of my journey towards Tibet. I spent six days at Shrenegar,
30:59
Speaker 2: making a lot long excursions into the enchanting surroundings of
31:02
Speaker 2: the city, examining the numerous ruins which testify to the
31:06
Speaker 2: ancient prosperity of this region, and studying the strange customs
31:10
Speaker 2: of the country. Kashmir, as well as the other provinces
31:16
Speaker 2: attached to it Baltistan, Ladak, etc. Are vassals of England.
31:22
Speaker 2: They formally formed part of the possessions of Ranjid Singh,
31:26
Speaker 2: the Lion of the Panjab. At his death, the English
31:30
Speaker 2: troops occupied Lahore, the capital of the Penjab, separated Kashmir
31:35
Speaker 2: from the rest of the Empire, and ceded it under
31:37
Speaker 2: colour of hereditary right and for the sum of one
31:40
Speaker 2: hundred sixty million francs to Gulab Singh, one of the
31:44
Speaker 2: familiars of the late sovereign, conferring on him besides the
31:48
Speaker 2: title of Maharaja. At the epoch of my journey, the
31:52
Speaker 2: actual Maharaja was Pertab Singh, the grandchild of Gulab, whose
31:57
Speaker 2: residences Jammu on the southern slope of the Himalaya. The
32:02
Speaker 2: celebrated happy valley of Cashmir, eighty five miles long by
32:06
Speaker 2: twenty five miles wide, enjoyed glory and prosperity only under
32:11
Speaker 2: the Grand Mogul, whose court loved to taste here the
32:14
Speaker 2: sweetness of country life in the still existent pavilions on
32:17
Speaker 2: the little island of the lake. Most of the Maharajas
32:21
Speaker 2: of Hindustan used formerly to spend here the summer months
32:25
Speaker 2: and to take part in the magnificent festivals given by
32:28
Speaker 2: the Grand Mogul. But times have greatly changed since, and
32:32
Speaker 2: the happy valley is today no more than a beggar retreat.
32:36
Speaker 2: Aquatic plants and scum have covered the clear waters of
32:39
Speaker 2: the lake. The wild juniper has smothered all the vegetation
32:43
Speaker 2: of the islands. The palaces and pavilions retain only the
32:47
Speaker 2: souvenir of their past grandeur. Earth and grass cover the buildings,
32:51
Speaker 2: which are now falling in ruins. The surrounding mountains and
32:55
Speaker 2: their eternally white tops seem to be absorbed in a
32:59
Speaker 2: sullen's sadness and to nourish the hope of a better
33:02
Speaker 2: time for the disclosure of their immortal beauties. The once spiritual, beautiful,
33:09
Speaker 2: and cleanly inhabitants have grown animalistic and stupid. They have
33:13
Speaker 2: become dirty and lazy, and the whip now governs them
33:17
Speaker 2: instead of the sword. The people of Kashmir have so
33:22
Speaker 2: often been subject to invasions and pillages, and have had
33:26
Speaker 2: so many masters, that they have now become indifferent to everything.
33:31
Speaker 2: They pass their time near the banks of the rivers,
33:34
Speaker 2: gossiping about their neighbors, or are engaged in the painstaking
33:38
Speaker 2: work of making their celebrated shawls, or in the execution
33:42
Speaker 2: of filigree, gold or silver work. The Kashmere women are
33:46
Speaker 2: of a melancholy temperament, and an inconceivable sadness has spread
33:50
Speaker 2: upon their features. Everywhere reigns misery and uncleanness. The beautiful
33:56
Speaker 2: men and superb women of Cashmere are dirty and in
33:59
Speaker 2: rare eggs. The costume of the two sexes consists winter
34:03
Speaker 2: and summer alike of a long shirt or gown made
34:07
Speaker 2: of thick material and with puffed sleeves. They wear this
34:11
Speaker 2: shirt until it is completely worn out, and never is
34:15
Speaker 2: it washed, so that the white turban of the men
34:17
Speaker 2: looks like dazzling snow near their dirty shirts, which are
34:21
Speaker 2: covered all over with spittle and grease stains. The traveler
34:26
Speaker 2: feels himself permeated with sadness at seeing the contrast between
34:30
Speaker 2: the rich and opulent nature surrounding them and this people
34:34
Speaker 2: dressed in rags. The capital of the country Shrinegar City
34:39
Speaker 2: of the Sun, or to call it by the name
34:41
Speaker 2: which is given to it here after. The country Cashmere
34:45
Speaker 2: is situated on the shore of the Gellum, along which
34:48
Speaker 2: it stretches out toward the south to a distance of
34:51
Speaker 2: five kilometers, and is not more than two kilometers in breadth.
34:56
Speaker 2: Its two story houses, inhabited by a population of one
35:00
Speaker 2: one hundred thousand inhabitants, are built of wood and border
35:03
Speaker 2: both river banks. Everybody lives on the river, the shores
35:07
Speaker 2: of which are united by ten bridges. Terraces lead from
35:11
Speaker 2: the houses to the gelum, where all day long people
35:14
Speaker 2: perform their ceremonial ablutions, bathe, and wash their culinary utensils,
35:20
Speaker 2: which consist of a few copper pots. Part of the
35:23
Speaker 2: inhabitants practice the Mussulman religion. Two thirds are Brahminic, and
35:28
Speaker 2: there are but few Buddhists to be found among them.
35:32
Speaker 2: It was time to make other preparations for travel before
35:35
Speaker 2: plunging into the unknown. Having purchased different kinds of conserves, wine,
35:40
Speaker 2: and other things indispensable on the journey through a country
35:43
Speaker 2: so little peopled as is Tibet. I packed all my
35:46
Speaker 2: baggage and boxes, hired six carriers and an interpreter, bought
35:51
Speaker 2: a horse for my own use, and fixed my departure
35:54
Speaker 2: for the twenty seventh of October. To cheer up my journey,
35:58
Speaker 2: I took from a good French Monsieur Pichot, the wine
36:02
Speaker 2: cultivator of the Maharajah, a big dog Pamir, who had
36:06
Speaker 2: already traversed the road with my friends Bonvolo, Capus and Pepin,
36:11
Speaker 2: the well known explorers. As I wished to shorten my
36:15
Speaker 2: journey by two days, I ordered my carriers to leave
36:19
Speaker 2: at dawn from the other side of the lake, which
36:21
Speaker 2: I crossed in a boat, and joined them and my
36:23
Speaker 2: horse at the foot of the mountain chain which separates
36:26
Speaker 2: the valley of Srinagar from the sinned Gorge. I shall
36:31
Speaker 2: never forget the torches which we had to undergo in
36:34
Speaker 2: climbing almost on all fours to a mountain top three
36:37
Speaker 2: thousand feet high. The carriers were out of breath every moment.
36:42
Speaker 2: I feared to see one tumble down the declivity with
36:45
Speaker 2: his burden, and I felt pained at seeing my poor
36:48
Speaker 2: dog Pamir panting and with his tongue hanging out, making
36:53
Speaker 2: two or three steps and fall to the ground. Exhausted
36:57
Speaker 2: forgetting my own fatigue, I caressed and encouraged the poor animal, who,
37:02
Speaker 2: as if understanding me, got up to make another two
37:05
Speaker 2: or three steps and fall anew to the ground. The
37:10
Speaker 2: night had come when we reached the crest. We threw
37:13
Speaker 2: ourselves greedily upon the snow to quench our thirst, and
37:16
Speaker 2: after a short rest, started to descend through a very
37:20
Speaker 2: thick pine forest, hastening to gain the village of Hyena
37:24
Speaker 2: at the foot of the defile, fearing the attacks of
37:27
Speaker 2: beasts of prey in the darkness. A level and good
37:31
Speaker 2: road leads from Shrinegar to Hyaena, going straight northward over Ganderbal,
37:36
Speaker 2: where I repaired by a more direct route across a
37:38
Speaker 2: past three thousand feet high, which shortened for me both
37:42
Speaker 2: time and distance. My first step in the unknown was
37:46
Speaker 2: marked by an incident which made all of us pass
37:48
Speaker 2: an ugly quarter of an hour. The defile of the Sind,
37:52
Speaker 2: sixty miles long, is especially noteworthy for the inhospitable hosts
37:56
Speaker 2: it contains. Among others, It abounds and panthers, tigers, leopards,
38:02
Speaker 2: black bears, wolves, and jackals, as though by a special misfortune,
38:07
Speaker 2: the snow had covered with its white carpet the heights
38:10
Speaker 2: of the chain, compelling those formidable carnivorous beasts to descend
38:14
Speaker 2: a little lower for shelter in their dens. We descended
38:18
Speaker 2: in silence amid the darkness, a narrow path that wound
38:22
Speaker 2: through the centenary firs and birches, and the calm of
38:26
Speaker 2: the night was only broken by the crackling sound of
38:29
Speaker 2: our steps. Suddenly, quite near to us, a terrible howling
38:34
Speaker 2: awoke the echoes of the woods. Our small troops stopped.
38:39
Speaker 2: A panther, exclaimed in a low and frightened voice, my servant.
38:43
Speaker 2: The small caravan of a dozen men stood motionless, as
38:46
Speaker 2: though riveted to the spot. Then it occurred to me that,
38:50
Speaker 2: at the moment of starting on our ascent, when already
38:53
Speaker 2: feeling fatigued, I had trusted my revolver to one of
38:57
Speaker 2: the carriers, and my Winchester rifle to another. Now I
39:01
Speaker 2: felt bitter regret for having parted with my arms, and
39:04
Speaker 2: asked in a low voice where the man was to
39:06
Speaker 2: whom I had given the rifle. The howls became more
39:10
Speaker 2: and more violent, and fill the echoes of the woods,
39:14
Speaker 2: when suddenly a dull sound was heard, like the fall
39:17
Speaker 2: of some body. A minute later we heard the noise
39:20
Speaker 2: of a struggle, and a cry of agony, which mingled
39:22
Speaker 2: with the fierce roars of the starved animal. Saib take
39:27
Speaker 2: the gun, I heard some one near by. I seized
39:30
Speaker 2: feverishly the rifle, but vain trouble one could not see
39:34
Speaker 2: two steps before one's self. A new cry, followed by
39:38
Speaker 2: a smothered howling, indicated to me vaguely the place of
39:41
Speaker 2: the struggle towards which I crawled. Divided between the ardent
39:45
Speaker 2: desire to kill a panther and a horrible fear of
39:48
Speaker 2: being eaten alive, no one dared to move. Only after
39:53
Speaker 2: five minutes had occurred, to one of the carriers to
39:55
Speaker 2: light a match. I then remembered the fear which feline
39:58
Speaker 2: animals exhibit at the press of fire, and ordered my
40:01
Speaker 2: men to gather two or three handfuls of brush, which
40:04
Speaker 2: I set on fire. We then saw, about ten steps
40:08
Speaker 2: from us, one of our carriers stretched out on the ground,
40:11
Speaker 2: with his limbs frightfully lacerated by the claws of a
40:14
Speaker 2: huge panther. The beasts still lay upon him, defiantly holding
40:18
Speaker 2: a piece of flesh in its mouth. At its side
40:21
Speaker 2: gaped a box of wine, broken open by its fall.
40:23
Speaker 2: When the carrier was torn down. Hardly did I make
40:27
Speaker 2: a movement to bring the rifle to my shoulder, when
40:30
Speaker 2: the panther raised itself and turned towards us, while dropping
40:33
Speaker 2: part of its horrible meal. One moment it appeared about
40:36
Speaker 2: to spring upon me. Then it suddenly wheeled, and, rending
40:40
Speaker 2: the air with a howl enough to freeze one's blood,
40:42
Speaker 2: jumped into the midst of the thicket and disappeared. My coolies,
40:49
Speaker 2: whom an odious fear had all the time kept prostrated
40:53
Speaker 2: on the ground, recovered little by little from their fright.
40:57
Speaker 2: Keeping in readiness a few packages of dry grass and matches,
41:01
Speaker 2: we hastened to reach the village Hyena, leaving behind the
41:04
Speaker 2: remains of the unfortunate Hindu, whose fate we feared sharing.
41:09
Speaker 2: An hour later we had left the forest and entered
41:12
Speaker 2: the plane. I ordered my tent erected under a very
41:15
Speaker 2: leafy plane tree, and had a great fire made before
41:19
Speaker 2: it with a pile of wood, which was the only
41:21
Speaker 2: protection we could employ against the ferocious beasts, whose howls
41:25
Speaker 2: continued to reach us from all directions in the forest.
41:29
Speaker 2: My dog had pressed himself against me with his tail
41:32
Speaker 2: between his legs, but once under the tent, he suddenly
41:36
Speaker 2: recovered his watchfulness and barked incessantly the whole night. Being
41:41
Speaker 2: very careful, however, not to step outside. I spent a
41:47
Speaker 2: terrible night rifle in hand, listening to the concert of
41:51
Speaker 2: those diabolical howlings, the echoes of which seemed to shake
41:55
Speaker 2: the defile. Some panthers approached our bivouac to answer the
41:59
Speaker 2: barking of panps mere, but dared not attack us. I
42:05
Speaker 2: had left Srinegar at the head of eleven carriers, four
42:08
Speaker 2: of whom had to carry so many boxes of wine.
42:10
Speaker 2: Four others bore my traveling effects, one my weapons, another
42:15
Speaker 2: various utensils, and finally a last who went errands are
42:19
Speaker 2: on reconnaissance. His name was Shikari, which means he who
42:23
Speaker 2: accompanies the hunter and gathers the prey. I discharged him
42:28
Speaker 2: in the morning on account of his cowardice and his
42:30
Speaker 2: profound ignorance of the country, and only retained four carriers.
42:35
Speaker 2: It was but slowly that I advanced toward the village
42:38
Speaker 2: of Grande. How beautiful is nature in the sinned pass,
42:43
Speaker 2: and how much is it beloved by the hunters. Besides
42:47
Speaker 2: the great fellow deer you meet there, the hind, the stag,
42:50
Speaker 2: the mountain sheep, and an immense variety of birds, among
42:55
Speaker 2: which I want to mention above all the golden pheasant
42:58
Speaker 2: and others of red or snow white plumage, very large partridges,
43:03
Speaker 2: and immense eagles. The villages situated along the Sind do
43:09
Speaker 2: not shine by their dimensions. They contain, for the greatest
43:13
Speaker 2: part not more than ten to twenty huts of an
43:16
Speaker 2: extremely miserable appearance. Their inhabitants are clad in rags. Their
43:22
Speaker 2: cattle belongs to a very small race. I crossed the
43:27
Speaker 2: river at Sambal and stopped near the village Grande, where
43:30
Speaker 2: I procured relay horses. In some villages they refuse to
43:35
Speaker 2: hire horses to me. I then threatened them with my whip,
43:39
Speaker 2: which at once inspired respect and obedience. My money accomplished
43:44
Speaker 2: the same end. It inspired a servile obedience, not willingness
43:48
Speaker 2: to obey my least orders. Stick and gold are the
43:52
Speaker 2: true sovereigns in the Orient. Without them, the very grand
43:57
Speaker 2: Mogul would not have had any preponderance. Night began to descend,
44:03
Speaker 2: and I was in a hurry to cross the defile
44:05
Speaker 2: which separates the villages Gogangan and Sonomagh. The road is
44:11
Speaker 2: in very bad condition, and the mountains are infested by
44:14
Speaker 2: beasts of prey, which in the night descend into the
44:17
Speaker 2: very villages to seek their prey. The country is delightful
44:21
Speaker 2: and very fertile. Nevertheless, but few colonists venture to settle
44:26
Speaker 2: here on account of the neighborhood of the panthers, which
44:29
Speaker 2: come to the door yards to seize domestic animals. At
44:34
Speaker 2: the very exit of the defile, near the village of
44:36
Speaker 2: Chokodah or Tajwath, the half obscurity prevailing only permitted me
44:41
Speaker 2: to distinguish two dark masses crossing the road. They were
44:45
Speaker 2: two big bears, followed by a young one. I was
44:49
Speaker 2: alone with my servant, the caravan having loitered behind, so
44:53
Speaker 2: I did not like to attack them with only one rifle.
44:56
Speaker 2: But the long excursions which I had made on the
44:59
Speaker 2: mountain had st only developed in me the sense of
45:01
Speaker 2: the hunter to jump from my horse, shoot, and without
45:05
Speaker 2: even verifying the result, change quickly. The cartridge was the
45:09
Speaker 2: affair of a second one bear was about to jump
45:12
Speaker 2: on me. A second shot made it run away and disappear.
45:17
Speaker 2: Holding in my hand my loaded gun, I approached with
45:20
Speaker 2: circumspection the one at which I had aimed and found
45:23
Speaker 2: it laying on its flank, dead, with a little cub
45:26
Speaker 2: beside it. Another shot killed the little one, after which
45:30
Speaker 2: I went to work to take off the two superb
45:33
Speaker 2: jet black skins. This incident made us lose two hours,
45:38
Speaker 2: and night had completely set in when I erected my
45:40
Speaker 2: tent near Chokodar, which I left at sunrise to gain
45:44
Speaker 2: Baltal by following the course of the Sinned River. At
45:49
Speaker 2: this place, the ravishing landscape of the Golden Prairie terminates
45:53
Speaker 2: abruptly with a village of the same name, sona gold
45:58
Speaker 2: and marg prairie. The abrupt acclivity of zogni Lah, which
46:03
Speaker 2: we next surmounted, attains an elevation of eleven thousand, five
46:08
Speaker 2: hundred feet, on the other side of which the whole
46:10
Speaker 2: country assumes a severe and inhospitable character. My hunting adventures
46:17
Speaker 2: closed before reaching Baltar. From there I met on the
46:21
Speaker 2: road only wild goats. In order to hunt I would
46:24
Speaker 2: have had to leave the grand route and to penetrate
46:27
Speaker 2: into the heart of the mountains full of mysteries, I
46:31
Speaker 2: had neither the inclination nor the time to do so,
46:34
Speaker 2: and therefore continued quietly my journey toward La Dak end
46:42
Speaker 2: of Chapter one, Part one, Chapter two, A Journey into
46:46
Speaker 2: bed Part two. How violent the contrast I felt when
46:55
Speaker 2: passing from the laughing nature and beautiful population of Cashmere
47:00
Speaker 2: to the arid and forbidding rocks and the beardless and
47:03
Speaker 2: ugly inhabitants of Ladakh. The country into which I penetrated
47:08
Speaker 2: is situated at an altitude of eleven thousand to twelve
47:12
Speaker 2: thousand feet. Only at Cargill the level descends to eight
47:16
Speaker 2: thousand feet. The acclivity of Zodgilla is very rough. One
47:22
Speaker 2: must climb up an almost perpendicular rocky wall. In certain places,
47:27
Speaker 2: the road winds along upon rock ledges of only a
47:30
Speaker 2: meter in width, below which the sight drops into unfathomable abysses.
47:36
Speaker 2: May the Lord preserve the traveler from a fall. At
47:40
Speaker 2: one place, the way is upon long beams introduced into
47:43
Speaker 2: halls made in the rock like a bridge, and covered
47:47
Speaker 2: up with earth mull. At the thought that a little
47:50
Speaker 2: stone might get loose and roll down the slope of
47:53
Speaker 2: the mountain, or that a too strong oscillation of the
47:56
Speaker 2: beams could precipitate the whole structure into the abyss and
48:00
Speaker 2: with it him who had ventured upon the perilous path.
48:04
Speaker 2: One feels like fainting more than once during this hazardous passage.
48:10
Speaker 2: After crossing the glaciers, we stopped in a valley and
48:13
Speaker 2: prepared to spend the night near a hut, a dismal
48:16
Speaker 2: place surrounded by eternal ice and snow from Baltal. The
48:21
Speaker 2: distances are determined by means of dacks i e. Postal
48:26
Speaker 2: stations for mail service. They are low huts about seven
48:30
Speaker 2: kilometers distant from each other. A man is permanently established
48:34
Speaker 2: in each of these huts. The postal service between Cashmir
48:38
Speaker 2: and Tibet is yet carried on in a very primitive form.
48:43
Speaker 2: The letters are enclosed in a leather bag, which is
48:46
Speaker 2: handed to the care of a carrier. The latter runs
48:49
Speaker 2: rapidly over the seven kilometers assigned to him, carrying on
48:52
Speaker 2: his back a basket which holds several of these bags,
48:55
Speaker 2: which he delivers to another carrier, who, in his turn
48:58
Speaker 2: accomplishes his task. In an idea dentical manner. Neither rain
49:02
Speaker 2: nor snow can arrest these carriers. In this way, the
49:06
Speaker 2: mail service is carried on between Kashmir and Tibet, and
49:09
Speaker 2: vice versa, once a week. For each course, the letter
49:13
Speaker 2: carrier is paid six annas twenty cents, the same wages
49:17
Speaker 2: as is paid to the carriers of merchandise. This sum
49:21
Speaker 2: I also paid to every one of my servants for
49:24
Speaker 2: carrying a ten times heavier load. It makes one's heart
49:29
Speaker 2: ache to see the pale and tired looking figures of
49:31
Speaker 2: these carriers, But what is to be done. It is
49:35
Speaker 2: the custom of the country. The tea is brought from
49:38
Speaker 2: China by a similar system of transportation, which is rapid
49:42
Speaker 2: and inexpensive. In the village of Montaiyan, I found again
49:47
Speaker 2: the Yakandian caravan of pilgrims, whom I had promised to
49:51
Speaker 2: accompany on their journey. They recognized me from a distance
49:55
Speaker 2: and asked me to examine one of their men who
49:57
Speaker 2: had fallen sick. I found Hi writhing in the agonies
50:01
Speaker 2: of an intense fever, shaking my hands as a sign
50:05
Speaker 2: of despair. I pointed to the heavens and gave them
50:08
Speaker 2: to understand that human will and science were now useless,
50:12
Speaker 2: and that God alone could save him. These people journeyed
50:16
Speaker 2: by small stages only. I therefore left them and arrived
50:20
Speaker 2: in the evening at Drass, situated at the bottom of
50:23
Speaker 2: a valley near a river of the same name. Near Dras,
50:28
Speaker 2: a little fort of ancient construction but freshly painted, stands
50:32
Speaker 2: aloof under the guard of three sikhs of the Maharaja's army.
50:38
Speaker 2: That Dress, my domicile was the post house, which is
50:41
Speaker 2: a station and the only one of a unique telegraph
50:44
Speaker 2: line from Shrinegar to the interior of the Himalayas. From
50:49
Speaker 2: that time on, I no more had my tent put
50:51
Speaker 2: up each evening, but stopped in the caravansaries, places which,
50:56
Speaker 2: though made repulsive by their dirt, are kept warm by
50:59
Speaker 2: the enormous piles of wood burned in their fireplaces. From
51:03
Speaker 2: Dress to Cargill, the landscape is unpleasing and monotonous if
51:07
Speaker 2: one accepts the marvelous effects of the rising and setting
51:10
Speaker 2: sun and the beautiful moonlight. Apart from these, the road
51:15
Speaker 2: is wearisome and abounding with dangers. Cargill is the principal
51:19
Speaker 2: place of the district, where the governor of the country resides.
51:23
Speaker 2: Its site is quite picturesque. Two water courses, the Souron
51:28
Speaker 2: and the Waka, roll their noisy and turbulent waters among
51:32
Speaker 2: rocks and sunken snags of uprooted trees, escaping from their
51:36
Speaker 2: respective defiles in the rocks to join in forming here
51:39
Speaker 2: the river Souron, upon the banks of which stands Cargill,
51:44
Speaker 2: A little fort garrisoned by two or three sikhs, shows
51:48
Speaker 2: its outlines at the junction of the streams. Provided with
51:52
Speaker 2: a horse, I continued my journey at break of day,
51:55
Speaker 2: Entering now the province of Ladakh or Little Tibet, I
52:00
Speaker 2: I traversed a rickety bridge, composed, like all the bridges
52:03
Speaker 2: of Cashmere, of two long beams, the ends of which
52:06
Speaker 2: were supported upon the banks, and the floor made of
52:09
Speaker 2: a layer of fagots and sticks, which imparted to the
52:12
Speaker 2: traveler at least the illusion of a suspension bridge. Soon
52:17
Speaker 2: afterward I climbed slowly up on a little plateau which
52:20
Speaker 2: crosses the way at a distance of two kilometers, to
52:23
Speaker 2: descend into the narrow valley of Waka. Here there are
52:28
Speaker 2: several villages, among which on the left shore is the
52:31
Speaker 2: very picturesque one called Pasquium. Here my feet trod Buddhist ground.
52:39
Speaker 2: The inhabitants are of a very simple and mild disposition,
52:43
Speaker 2: seemingly ignorant of quarreling. Women are very rare among them.
52:47
Speaker 2: Those of them whom I encountered were distinguished from the
52:50
Speaker 2: women I had hitherto seen in India or Cashmere by
52:54
Speaker 2: the air of gayety and prosperity apparent in their countenances.
52:59
Speaker 2: How could it be otherwise, Since each woman in this
53:01
Speaker 2: country has on an average three to five husbands and
53:05
Speaker 2: possesses them in the most legitimate way in the world.
53:09
Speaker 2: Polyandry flourishes here. However large a family may be, there
53:14
Speaker 2: is but one woman in it. If the family does
53:17
Speaker 2: not contain already more than two husbands, a bachelor may
53:20
Speaker 2: share its advantages for a consideration. The days sacred to
53:24
Speaker 2: each one of those husbands are determined in advance, and
53:28
Speaker 2: all acquit themselves of their respective duties and respect each
53:31
Speaker 2: other's rights. The men generally seem feeble with bent backs
53:36
Speaker 2: and do not live to old age. During my travels
53:39
Speaker 2: in Ladak, I only encountered one man so old that
53:42
Speaker 2: his hair was white. From Cargill to the center of Ladak,
53:48
Speaker 2: the road had a more cheerful aspect than that I
53:50
Speaker 2: had traversed before reaching Cargill, its prospect being brightened by
53:54
Speaker 2: a number of little hamlets, but trees and verdure were
53:58
Speaker 2: unfortunately rare. Twenty miles from Kargil, at the end of
54:02
Speaker 2: the defile formed by the rapid current of the Waka,
54:06
Speaker 2: is a little village called Chargol, in the center of
54:09
Speaker 2: which stands three chapels decorated with lively colors taw Theenes,
54:15
Speaker 2: to give them the name they bear in Tibet. Below,
54:19
Speaker 2: near the river are masses of rocks in the form
54:21
Speaker 2: of long and large walls, upon which are thrown in
54:25
Speaker 2: apparent disorder, flat stones of different colors and sizes. Upon
54:30
Speaker 2: these stones are engraved all sorts of prayers in Urud,
54:34
Speaker 2: Sanskrit and Tibetan, and one can even find among them
54:38
Speaker 2: inscriptions in Arabic characters. Without the knowledge of my carriers,
54:43
Speaker 2: I succeeded in taking away a few of these stones,
54:45
Speaker 2: which are now in the palace of the trou Caderout
54:54
Speaker 2: Along the way from Chargol, one finds frequently oblong mounds
54:59
Speaker 2: artificial constructions. After sunrise, with fresh horses, I resumed my
55:05
Speaker 2: journey and stopped near the Gonpa monastery of Moulbek, which
55:09
Speaker 2: seems glued on the flank of an isolated rock. Below
55:13
Speaker 2: is the hamlet of Wakha, and not far from there
55:16
Speaker 2: is to be seen another rock of very strange form,
55:20
Speaker 2: which seems to have been placed where it stands by
55:22
Speaker 2: human hands. In one side of it is cut a
55:26
Speaker 2: buddha several meters in height. Upon it are several cylinders,
55:30
Speaker 2: the turning of which serves for prayers. They are a
55:33
Speaker 2: sort of wooden barrel, draped with yellow or white fabrics,
55:37
Speaker 2: and are attached to vertically planted stakes. It requires only
55:42
Speaker 2: the least wind to make them turn. The person who
55:46
Speaker 2: put up one of these cylinders no longer feels it
55:48
Speaker 2: obligatory upon him to say his prayers. For all that
55:52
Speaker 2: devout believers can ask of God is written upon the cylinders.
55:56
Speaker 2: Seen from a distance, this white painted monastery standing sh
56:00
Speaker 2: sharply out from the gray background of the rocks. With
56:03
Speaker 2: all these whirling petticoated wheels produce a strange effect in
56:07
Speaker 2: this dead country. I left my horses in the hamlet
56:10
Speaker 2: of Waka, and, followed by my servant, walked toward the convent,
56:14
Speaker 2: which is reached by a narrow stairway cut in the rock.
56:18
Speaker 2: At the top, I was received by a very fat
56:21
Speaker 2: lama with a scanty, straggling beard under his chin, a
56:25
Speaker 2: common characteristic of the Tibetan people, who was very ugly
56:29
Speaker 2: but very cordial. His costume consisted of a yellow robe
56:33
Speaker 2: and a sort of big night cap with projecting flaps
56:36
Speaker 2: above the ears of the same color. He held in
56:40
Speaker 2: his hand a copper prayer machine, which from time to
56:43
Speaker 2: time he shook with his left hand, without at all
56:46
Speaker 2: permitting that exercise to interfere with his conversation. It was
56:51
Speaker 2: his eternal prayer, which he thus communicated to the wind,
56:54
Speaker 2: so that by this element it should be borne to heaven.
56:58
Speaker 2: We traversed a suite of low chambers, upon the walls
57:01
Speaker 2: of which were images of Buddha of all sizes and
57:04
Speaker 2: made of all kinds of materials, all alike, covered by
57:08
Speaker 2: a thick layer of dust. Finally we reached an open terrace,
57:13
Speaker 2: from which the eyes taking in the surrounding region rested
57:17
Speaker 2: upon an inhospitable country strewn with grayish rocks, and traversed
57:21
Speaker 2: by only a single road, which on both sides lost
57:25
Speaker 2: itself in the horizon. When we were seated. They brought
57:30
Speaker 2: us beer made with hops called here chain and brood.
57:34
Speaker 2: In the cloister. It has a tendency to rapidly produce
57:38
Speaker 2: on bombois upon the monks, which is regarded as a
57:41
Speaker 2: sign of the particular favor of heaven. They spoke here
57:46
Speaker 2: the Tibetan language. The origin of this language is full
57:50
Speaker 2: of obscurity. One thing is certain that a king of Tibet,
57:54
Speaker 2: a contemporary of Muhammad, undertook the creation of a universal
57:58
Speaker 2: language for all the us disciples of Buddha. To this end,
58:02
Speaker 2: he had simplified the Sanskrit grammar composed in alphabet containing
58:06
Speaker 2: an infinite number of signs, and thus lay the foundations
58:10
Speaker 2: of a language, the pronunciation of which is one of
58:12
Speaker 2: the easiest, and the writing the most complicated. Indeed, in
58:17
Speaker 2: order to represent a sound, one must employ not less
58:20
Speaker 2: than eight characters. All the modern literature of Tibet is
58:24
Speaker 2: written in this language. The pure Tibetan is only spoken
58:28
Speaker 2: in Ladak and Oriental Tibet. In all other parts of
58:31
Speaker 2: the country are employed dialects formed by the mixture of
58:34
Speaker 2: this mother language with different idioms taken from the neighboring peoples.
58:39
Speaker 2: Of the various regions round about. In the ordinary life
58:43
Speaker 2: of the Tibetan there exists always two languages, one of
58:47
Speaker 2: which is absolutely incomprehensible to the women, while the other
58:50
Speaker 2: is spoken by the entire nation. But only in the
58:53
Speaker 2: convents can be found the Tibetan language in all its
58:56
Speaker 2: purity and integrity. The Lamas much prefer the visits of
59:02
Speaker 2: Europeans to those of Mussulman. And when I ask the
59:06
Speaker 2: one who received me why this was so, he answered me,
59:09
Speaker 2: Mussulmen have no point of contact at all with our religion.
59:13
Speaker 2: Only comparatively recently, in their victorious campaign they have converted
59:17
Speaker 2: by force part of the Buddhists to Islam. It requires
59:21
Speaker 2: of us great efforts to bring back those Mussulman descendants
59:25
Speaker 2: of Buddhists into the path of the True God. As
59:28
Speaker 2: regards the Europeans, it is quite a different affair. Not
59:32
Speaker 2: only do they profess the essential principles of Monotheism, but
59:36
Speaker 2: they are in a sense adorers of Buddha, with almost
59:39
Speaker 2: the same rights as the Lamas who inhabit Tibet. The
59:43
Speaker 2: only fault of the Christians is that, after having adopted
59:46
Speaker 2: the great doctrines of Buddha. They have completely separated themselves
59:50
Speaker 2: from him and have created for themselves a different Dalai Lama.
59:55
Speaker 2: Our Dalai Lama is, though, only one who has received
59:58
Speaker 2: the divine gift of seeing face to face the majesty
1:00:01
Speaker 2: of Buddha, and is empowered to serve as an intermediary
1:00:05
Speaker 2: between Earth and Heaven. Which Dali Lama of the Christians
1:00:10
Speaker 2: do you refer to? I asked him. We have one,
1:00:14
Speaker 2: the Son of God, to whom we address directly our
1:00:16
Speaker 2: fervent prayers, and to him alone we recur to intercede
1:00:20
Speaker 2: with our one and indivisible God. It is not him
1:00:25
Speaker 2: of whom it is a question. Sahib He replied, We
1:00:28
Speaker 2: too respect him, whom we reverence as son of the
1:00:31
Speaker 2: one and indivisible God. But we do not see in
1:00:34
Speaker 2: him the only son, but the excellent Being who has
1:00:37
Speaker 2: chosen among all Buddha indeed has incarnated himself with his
1:00:41
Speaker 2: divine nature in the person of the Sacred Isa, who,
1:00:45
Speaker 2: without employing fire or iron, has gone forth to propagate
1:00:49
Speaker 2: our true and great religion among all the world. Him
1:00:53
Speaker 2: whom I meant, was your terrestrial Dali Lama, he to
1:00:57
Speaker 2: whom you have given the title of Father of the church.
1:01:00
Speaker 2: That is a great sin. May he be brought back
1:01:04
Speaker 2: with the flock, who are now in a bad road,
1:01:07
Speaker 2: piously added the Lama, giving another twirl to his prayer machine.
1:01:12
Speaker 2: I understood now that he alluded to the pope. You
1:01:15
Speaker 2: have told me that a son of Buddha, Isa, the
1:01:18
Speaker 2: elect among all, had spread your religion on the earth.
1:01:21
Speaker 2: Who is he? I asked. At this question, The Lama's
1:01:25
Speaker 2: eyes opened wide. He looked at me with astonishment and
1:01:29
Speaker 2: pronounced some words that could not catch murmuring in an
1:01:32
Speaker 2: unintelligible way. Isa, he finally replied, is a great prophet,
1:01:37
Speaker 2: one of the first after the twenty two Buddhas. He
1:01:41
Speaker 2: is greater than any one of all the Dalai Lamas,
1:01:43
Speaker 2: for he constitutes part of the spirituality of our Lord.
1:01:48
Speaker 2: It is he who has instructed you, He who brought
1:01:51
Speaker 2: back into the bosom of God the frivolous and wicked souls,
1:01:54
Speaker 2: He who made you worthy of the beneficence of the Creator,
1:01:57
Speaker 2: who has ordained that each being should know good and evil.
1:02:01
Speaker 2: His name and his acts have been chronicled in our
1:02:04
Speaker 2: sacred writings, And when reading how his great life passed
1:02:08
Speaker 2: away in the midst of an erring people. We weep
1:02:11
Speaker 2: for the horrible sin of the heathen who murdered him
1:02:14
Speaker 2: after subjecting him to torture. I was struck by this
1:02:19
Speaker 2: recital of the Lama, the prophet Isa, his tortures and
1:02:23
Speaker 2: death our Christiandalai Lama, the Buddhist recognizing Christianity. All these
1:02:29
Speaker 2: bade me think more and more of Jesus Christ. I
1:02:32
Speaker 2: asked my interpreter not to lose a single word of
1:02:34
Speaker 2: what the Lama told me. Where can those writings be found?
1:02:38
Speaker 2: And who compiled them? I asked the monk. The principal scrolls,
1:02:43
Speaker 2: which were written in India and Nepal at different epochs
1:02:47
Speaker 2: as the event happened, are in Lasa, several thousands in number.
1:02:52
Speaker 2: In some great convents are to be found copies which
1:02:55
Speaker 2: the Lamas, during their sojourn in Larsa, have made at
1:02:58
Speaker 2: various times, and have then given to their cloisters as
1:03:01
Speaker 2: souvenirs of the period they spent with the Dalai Lama.
1:03:06
Speaker 2: But you, yourself, do you not possess copies of the
1:03:09
Speaker 2: scrolls bearing upon the Prophet Isa? We have not. Our
1:03:14
Speaker 2: convent is insignificant, and since its foundation our successive Lamas
1:03:18
Speaker 2: have had only a few hundred manuscripts in their library.
1:03:22
Speaker 2: The great Cloisters have several thousands of them. But they
1:03:25
Speaker 2: are sacred things which will not anywhere be shown to you.
1:03:30
Speaker 2: We spoke together a few minutes longer, after which I
1:03:33
Speaker 2: went home, all the while thinking of the Lama's statements.
1:03:37
Speaker 2: Isa a prophet of the Buddhists. But how could this
1:03:41
Speaker 2: be of Jewish origin? He lived in Palestine and in Egypt,
1:03:46
Speaker 2: and the Gospels do not contain one word, not even
1:03:48
Speaker 2: the least allusion to the part which Buddhism should have
1:03:51
Speaker 2: played in the education of Jesus. I made up my
1:03:56
Speaker 2: mind to visit all the convents of Tibet, in the
1:03:58
Speaker 2: hope of gathering fuller information upon the prophet Isa, and
1:04:02
Speaker 2: perhaps copies of the chronicles bearing upon this subject. We
1:04:07
Speaker 2: traversed the Namikala Pass at thirty thousand feet of altitude,
1:04:11
Speaker 2: whence we descended into the valley of the River Salinuma.
1:04:15
Speaker 2: Turning southward, we gained Carbo, leaving behind us on the
1:04:19
Speaker 2: opposite bank numerous villages, among other Shagdum, which is at
1:04:24
Speaker 2: the top of a rock, an extremely imposing sight. Its
1:04:29
Speaker 2: houses are white and have a sort of festive look
1:04:32
Speaker 2: with their two and three stories. This, by the way,
1:04:36
Speaker 2: is a common peculiarity of all the villages of Ladakh.
1:04:39
Speaker 2: The eye of the European traveling in Cashmir would soon
1:04:43
Speaker 2: lose sight of all architecture to which he had been
1:04:45
Speaker 2: accustomed in Ladak. On the contrary, he would be agreeably
1:04:49
Speaker 2: surprised at seeing the little two and three story houses,
1:04:53
Speaker 2: remind us to him of those in European provinces. Near
1:04:57
Speaker 2: the city of Kabo, upon two perpendicular rocks, one sees
1:05:02
Speaker 2: the ruins of a little town or village. A tempest
1:05:05
Speaker 2: and an earthquake are said to have shaken down its walls,
1:05:08
Speaker 2: the solidity of which seems to have been exceptional. The
1:05:13
Speaker 2: next day I traversed the Footoula Pass at an altitude
1:05:17
Speaker 2: of thirteen thousand, five hundred feet. At its summit stands
1:05:21
Speaker 2: a little Tortheene chapel. Thence, following the dry bed of
1:05:26
Speaker 2: a stream, I descended to the hamlet of Lemailleu, the
1:05:30
Speaker 2: sudden appearance of which is a surprise to the traveler.
1:05:34
Speaker 2: A convent which seems grafted on to the side of
1:05:36
Speaker 2: the rock, or held there in some miraculous way dominates
1:05:40
Speaker 2: the village. Stairs are unknown in this cloister. In order
1:05:44
Speaker 2: to pass from one story of it to another, ropes
1:05:47
Speaker 2: are used. Communication with the world outside is through a
1:05:51
Speaker 2: labyrinth of passages in the rock under the windows of
1:05:54
Speaker 2: the convent, which make one think of birds nests on
1:05:57
Speaker 2: the face of a cliff. Is a little in the
1:06:01
Speaker 2: rooms of which are little inviting. Hardly had I stretched
1:06:05
Speaker 2: myself on the carpet in one of them, when the monks,
1:06:08
Speaker 2: dressed in their yellow robes, filled the apartment, bothered me
1:06:11
Speaker 2: with questions as to whence I came, the purpose of
1:06:14
Speaker 2: my coming, where I was going, and so on, finally
1:06:17
Speaker 2: inviting me to come and see them. In spite of
1:06:20
Speaker 2: my fatigue, I accepted their invitation and set out with
1:06:23
Speaker 2: them to climb up the excavated passages in the rock,
1:06:26
Speaker 2: which were encumbered with an infinity of prayer cylinders and wheels,
1:06:30
Speaker 2: which I could not but touch and set turning as
1:06:33
Speaker 2: I brushed past them. They are placed there that they
1:06:36
Speaker 2: may be so turned, saving to the passers by the
1:06:39
Speaker 2: time they might otherwise lose in saying their prayers, As
1:06:43
Speaker 2: if their affairs were so absorbing and their time so
1:06:46
Speaker 2: precious that they could not find leisure to pray. Many
1:06:50
Speaker 2: pious Buddhists use for this purpose, and apparatus arranged to
1:06:53
Speaker 2: be turned by the current of a stream. I have
1:06:57
Speaker 2: seen a long row of cylinders, provided with their prayer
1:06:59
Speaker 2: for formulas, placed along a river bank in such a
1:07:02
Speaker 2: way that the water kept them constantly in motion, this
1:07:06
Speaker 2: ingenious device freeing the proprietors from any further obligation to
1:07:10
Speaker 2: say prayers themselves. I sat down on a bench in
1:07:15
Speaker 2: the hall, where semi obscurity reigned. The walls were garnished
1:07:19
Speaker 2: with little statues of Buddhas, books and prayer wheels. The
1:07:24
Speaker 2: loquacious lamers began explaining to me the significance of each
1:07:28
Speaker 2: object and these books, I asked them, they no doubt
1:07:33
Speaker 2: have reference to religion. Yes, Sir, there are a few
1:07:37
Speaker 2: religious volumes which deal with the primary and principal rights
1:07:41
Speaker 2: of the life common to war. We possess several parts
1:07:44
Speaker 2: of the words of Buddha consecrated to the great and indivisible,
1:07:47
Speaker 2: divine Being and to all that issue from his hands.
1:07:52
Speaker 2: Is there not among those books some account of the
1:07:54
Speaker 2: prophet Isa, No, Sir, answered the monk. We only possess
1:07:59
Speaker 2: a few principal trees relating to the observance of the
1:08:01
Speaker 2: religious rites. As for the biographies of our saints, they
1:08:05
Speaker 2: are collected in Lasa. There are even great cloisters which
1:08:09
Speaker 2: have not had the time to procure them before coming
1:08:13
Speaker 2: to this Gonpa. I was for several years in a
1:08:15
Speaker 2: great convent on the other side of Ladak, and have
1:08:18
Speaker 2: seen there thousands of books and scrolls copied out of
1:08:21
Speaker 2: various books by the Lamas of the monastery. By some
1:08:26
Speaker 2: further interrogation, I learned that the convent in question was
1:08:29
Speaker 2: near Leh. But my persistent inquiries had the effect of
1:08:32
Speaker 2: exciting the suspicions of the Lamas. They showed me the
1:08:35
Speaker 2: way out with evident pleasure, and regaining my room, I
1:08:39
Speaker 2: fell asleep after a light lunch, leaving orders with my
1:08:42
Speaker 2: Hindu to inform himself in a skillful way from some
1:08:46
Speaker 2: of the younger Lamas of the convent about the monastery
1:08:49
Speaker 2: in which their chief had lived before coming to Lamaye.
1:08:54
Speaker 2: In the morning, when we set forth on our journey,
1:08:56
Speaker 2: the Hindu told me that he could get nothing from
1:08:58
Speaker 2: the Lamers, who were very rettis. And I will not
1:09:01
Speaker 2: stop to describe the life of the monks and these convents,
1:09:04
Speaker 2: for it is the same in all the cloisters of Ladak.
1:09:07
Speaker 2: I have seen the celebrated monastery of Leh, of which
1:09:10
Speaker 2: I shall have to speak later on, and learn there
1:09:13
Speaker 2: the strange existences the monks and religious people lead, which
1:09:16
Speaker 2: is everywhere the same in Lammer Yeu commences a declivity which,
1:09:22
Speaker 2: through a steep, narrow and somber gorge, extends towards India.
1:09:26
Speaker 2: Without having the least idea of the dangers which the
1:09:29
Speaker 2: descent presented. I sent my carriers in advance and started
1:09:32
Speaker 2: on a route rather pleasant at the outset, which passes
1:09:36
Speaker 2: between the brown clay hills. But soon it produced upon
1:09:39
Speaker 2: me the most depressing effect, as though I was traversing
1:09:42
Speaker 2: a gloomy subterranean passage. Then the road came out on
1:09:47
Speaker 2: the flank of a mountain, above a terrible abyss. If
1:09:50
Speaker 2: a rider had met me, we could not possibly have
1:09:53
Speaker 2: passed each other. The way was so narrow. All description
1:09:57
Speaker 2: would fail to convey a sense of the grand, year
1:10:00
Speaker 2: and wild beauty of this cannon, the summit of the
1:10:03
Speaker 2: walls of which seemed to reach the sky. At some
1:10:07
Speaker 2: points it became so narrow that from my saddle I
1:10:11
Speaker 2: could with my cane touch the opposite rock. At other places,
1:10:16
Speaker 2: death might be fancied looking up expectantly from the abyss.
1:10:19
Speaker 2: At the traveler, it was too late to dismount, and
1:10:23
Speaker 2: entering alone this gorge, I had not the faintest idea
1:10:26
Speaker 2: that I would have occasion to regret my foolish imprudence.
1:10:30
Speaker 2: I had not realized its character. It was simply an
1:10:33
Speaker 2: enormous crevasse, rent by some titanic throw of nature, some
1:10:38
Speaker 2: tremendous earthquake, which had split the granite mountain in its bottom.
1:10:43
Speaker 2: I could just distinguish a hardly perceptible white thread, an
1:10:47
Speaker 2: impetuous torrent, the dull roar of which filled the defire
1:10:51
Speaker 2: with mysterious and impressive sounds. Far overhead, extended narrow and sinuously,
1:10:58
Speaker 2: a blue ribbon, the only glimpse of the celestial world
1:11:02
Speaker 2: that the frowning granite walls permitted to be seen. It
1:11:06
Speaker 2: was a thrilling pleasure, this majestic view of nature. At
1:11:10
Speaker 2: the same time its rugged severity, the vastness of its proportions,
1:11:15
Speaker 2: the deathly silence only invaded by the ominous murmur from
1:11:18
Speaker 2: the depths beneath. All together filled me with an unconquerable depression.
1:11:25
Speaker 2: I had about eight miles in which to experience these
1:11:28
Speaker 2: sensations had once sweet and painful. Then, turning to the right,
1:11:33
Speaker 2: our little caravan reached a small valley, almost surrounded by
1:11:37
Speaker 2: precipitous granite rocks, which mirrored themselves in the Indus. On
1:11:43
Speaker 2: the bank of the river stands a little fortress, KAlSi,
1:11:47
Speaker 2: a celebrated fortification dating from the epoch of the Mussulman invasion,
1:11:52
Speaker 2: by which runs the wild road from Cashmere to Tibet.
1:11:57
Speaker 2: We crossed the Indus on an almost suspended bridge which
1:12:00
Speaker 2: led directly to the door of the fortress, thus impossible
1:12:04
Speaker 2: of evasion. Rapidly we traversed the valley, then the village
1:12:09
Speaker 2: of Kulci, for I was anxious to spend the night
1:12:12
Speaker 2: in the hamlet of Snowley, which is placed upon terraces
1:12:15
Speaker 2: descending to the Indus. The two following days I traveled
1:12:19
Speaker 2: tranquility and without any difficulties to overcome along the shore
1:12:23
Speaker 2: of the Indus in a picturesque country, which brought me
1:12:27
Speaker 2: to Leh, the capital of Ladak. While traversing the little
1:12:32
Speaker 2: valley of Saspoula, at a distance of several kilometers from
1:12:36
Speaker 2: the village of the same name, I found torthenis and
1:12:39
Speaker 2: two cloisters, above, one of which floated the French flag.
1:12:44
Speaker 2: Later on I learned that a French engineer had presented
1:12:46
Speaker 2: the flag to the monks, who displayed it simply as
1:12:49
Speaker 2: a decoration of their building. I passed the night at Saspoula,
1:12:55
Speaker 2: and certainly did not forget to visit the cloisters, seeing
1:12:58
Speaker 2: there for the tenth time the Omnis present dust covered
1:13:01
Speaker 2: images of Buddha, the flags and banners heaped in a corner,
1:13:05
Speaker 2: ugly masks on the floor, books and papyrus rolls heaped
1:13:09
Speaker 2: together without order or care, and the inevitable abundance of
1:13:13
Speaker 2: prayer wheels. The Lamas demonstrated a particular pleasure in exhibiting
1:13:18
Speaker 2: these things, doing it with the air of shopmen displaying
1:13:21
Speaker 2: their goods, with very little care for the degree of
1:13:24
Speaker 2: interest the traveler may take in them. We must show
1:13:27
Speaker 2: everything in the hope that the sight alone of these
1:13:30
Speaker 2: sacred objects will force the traveler to believe in the
1:13:33
Speaker 2: divine grandeur of the human soul. Respecting the prophet Issa,
1:13:39
Speaker 2: they gave me the same account I already had, and
1:13:42
Speaker 2: I learned what I had known before, that the books
1:13:44
Speaker 2: which could instruct me about him were at Lasa, and
1:13:47
Speaker 2: that only the great monasteries possessed some copies. I did
1:13:52
Speaker 2: not think any more of passing Kara Koroum, but only
1:13:55
Speaker 2: of finding the history of the prophet Isa, which would
1:13:59
Speaker 2: perhaps bring to life the entire life of the best
1:14:01
Speaker 2: of men, and complete the rather vague information which the
1:14:05
Speaker 2: Gospels afford us about him. Not far from Leh and
1:14:10
Speaker 2: at the entrance of the valley of the same name,
1:14:13
Speaker 2: our road passed near an isolated rock, on the top
1:14:16
Speaker 2: of which were constructed a fort with two towers and
1:14:19
Speaker 2: without garrison, and a little convent named Pitak. A mountain
1:14:25
Speaker 2: ten thousand, five hundred feet high protects the entrance to Tibet.
1:14:30
Speaker 2: There the road makes a sudden turn toward the north
1:14:33
Speaker 2: in the direction of Leh, six miles from Ptec and
1:14:37
Speaker 2: a thousand feet higher. Immense granite mountains tower above Leh
1:14:42
Speaker 2: to a height of eighteen thousand or nineteen thousand feet,
1:14:46
Speaker 2: their crests covered with eternal snow. The city itself surrounded
1:14:51
Speaker 2: by a girdle of stunted aspen trees rises upon successive terraces,
1:14:57
Speaker 2: which are dominated by an old fort and the palaces
1:15:00
Speaker 2: of the ancient sovereigns of Ladek. Toward evening, I made
1:15:04
Speaker 2: my entrance into Leh and stopped at a bungalow constructed
1:15:08
Speaker 2: especially for Europeans, whom the road from India brings here
1:15:12
Speaker 2: in the hunting season. End of chapter two, Part two.
1:15:18
Speaker 3: Chapter two Ladakh. Ladak formerly was part of Great Tibet.
1:15:25
Speaker 3: The powerful invading forces from the north, which traversed the
1:15:28
Speaker 3: country to conquer Kashmir and the wars of which Ladak
1:15:32
Speaker 3: was the theater, not only reduced it to misery, but
1:15:35
Speaker 3: eventually subtracted it from the political domination of Lasa and
1:15:39
Speaker 3: made it the prey of one conqueror after another. The Mussulman,
1:15:44
Speaker 3: who seized Kashmir and Ladakh at a remote epoch, converted
1:15:48
Speaker 3: by force the poor inhabitants of old Tibet to the
1:15:51
Speaker 3: faith of Islam. The political existence of Ladakh ended with
1:15:55
Speaker 3: the annexation of this country to Kashmir by the Sikhs,
1:15:58
Speaker 3: which however, omitted the Ladakians to return to their ancient beliefs.
1:16:04
Speaker 3: Two thirds of the inhabitants took advantage of this opportunity
1:16:07
Speaker 3: to rebuild their gonpas and take up their past life anew.
1:16:12
Speaker 3: Only the Baltistans remained Mussulman Shittas, a sect to which
1:16:16
Speaker 3: the conquerors of the country had belonged. They, however, have
1:16:20
Speaker 3: only conserved a vague shadow of Islamism, the character of
1:16:24
Speaker 3: which manifests itself in their ceremonials and in the polygamy
1:16:28
Speaker 3: which they practice. Some Lamas affirmed to me that they
1:16:31
Speaker 3: did not despair of one day bringing them back to
1:16:34
Speaker 3: the faith of their ancestors. From the religious point of view,
1:16:39
Speaker 3: Ladak is a dependency of Lasa, the capital of Tibet
1:16:43
Speaker 3: and the place of residence of the Dali Lama. In
1:16:46
Speaker 3: Lasa are located the principal Kutukhtes or supreme Lamas and
1:16:51
Speaker 3: the Chogzots or administrators. Politically, it is under the authority
1:16:57
Speaker 3: of the Maharaja of Kashmir, who was represented there by
1:17:01
Speaker 3: a governor. The inhabitants of Ladak belong to the Chinese
1:17:06
Speaker 3: Turanian race and are divided into Ladakians and Champas. The
1:17:12
Speaker 3: former lead a sedentary existence, building villages of two story
1:17:16
Speaker 3: houses along the narrow valleys, are cleanly in their habits
1:17:21
Speaker 3: and cultivators of the soil. They are excessively ugly, thin,
1:17:27
Speaker 3: with stooping figures and small heads set deep between their shoulders.
1:17:31
Speaker 3: Their cheek bones, salient foreheads, narrow, eyes, black and brilliant,
1:17:36
Speaker 3: as are those of all the Mongol race. Noses, flat mouths,
1:17:41
Speaker 3: large and thin lipped, and from their small chins very
1:17:45
Speaker 3: thinly garnished by a few hairs. Deep wrinkles extend upward,
1:17:49
Speaker 3: furrowing their hollow cheeks. To all this, add a close
1:17:54
Speaker 3: shaven head with only a little bristling fringe of hair,
1:17:58
Speaker 3: and you will have the general type not only of Ladak,
1:18:01
Speaker 3: but of entire Tibet. The women are also of small
1:18:06
Speaker 3: stature and have exceedingly prominent cheek bones, but seem to
1:18:11
Speaker 3: be of much more robust constitution. A healthy red tinges
1:18:15
Speaker 3: their cheeks, and sympathetic smiles linger upon their lips. They
1:18:20
Speaker 3: have good dispositions, joyous inclinations, and are fond of laughing.
1:18:26
Speaker 3: The severity of the climate and rudeness of the country
1:18:30
Speaker 3: do not permit to the Ladakians much latitude in quality
1:18:33
Speaker 3: and colors of costume. They wear gowns of simple gray
1:18:37
Speaker 3: linen and coarse, dull hued clothing of their own manufacture.
1:18:42
Speaker 3: The pantaloons of the men only descend to their knees.
1:18:46
Speaker 3: People in good circumstances wear, in addition to the ordinary dress,
1:18:50
Speaker 3: the choga, a sort of overcoat which is draped on
1:18:53
Speaker 3: the back when not wrapped around the figure. In winter,
1:18:57
Speaker 3: they wear fur caps with big ear flaps, and in
1:19:00
Speaker 3: summer cover their heads with a sort of cloth hood,
1:19:04
Speaker 3: the top of which dangles on one side like a
1:19:06
Speaker 3: Phrygian cap. Their shoes are made of felt and covered
1:19:11
Speaker 3: with leather. A whole arsenal of little things hangs down
1:19:15
Speaker 3: from their belts, among which you will find a needle case,
1:19:19
Speaker 3: a knife, a pen and inkstand, a tobacco pouch, a pipe,
1:19:24
Speaker 3: and a diminutive specimen of the omnipresent prayer cylinder. The
1:19:30
Speaker 3: Tibetan men are generally so lazy that if a braid
1:19:33
Speaker 3: of hair happens to become loose, it is not dressed
1:19:36
Speaker 3: up again for three months, and when once a shirt
1:19:39
Speaker 3: is put on the body, it is not again taken
1:19:42
Speaker 3: off until it falls two pieces. Their overcoats are always unclean,
1:19:48
Speaker 3: and on the back one may contemplate a long oily
1:19:50
Speaker 3: stripe imprinted by the braid of hair, which is carefully
1:19:54
Speaker 3: greased every day. They wash themselves once a year, but
1:19:59
Speaker 3: even the men do not do so voluntarily, but because
1:20:02
Speaker 3: compelled by law. They emit such a terrible stench that
1:20:07
Speaker 3: one avoids as much as possible being near them. The
1:20:12
Speaker 3: Tibetan women, on the contrary, are very fond of cleanliness
1:20:16
Speaker 3: and order. They wash themselves daily and as often as
1:20:20
Speaker 3: may be needful. Short and clean chemises hide their dazzling
1:20:24
Speaker 3: white necks. The Tibetan woman throws on her round shoulders
1:20:28
Speaker 3: a red jacket, the flaps of which are covered by
1:20:32
Speaker 3: tight pantaloons of green or red cloth, made in such
1:20:35
Speaker 3: a manner as to puff up and so protect the
1:20:38
Speaker 3: legs against the cold. She wears embroidered red half boots,
1:20:43
Speaker 3: trimmed and lined with fur. A large cloth petticoat with
1:20:47
Speaker 3: numerous folds completes her home toilet. Her hair is arranged
1:20:51
Speaker 3: in thin braids, to which, by means of pins, a
1:20:55
Speaker 3: large piece of floating cloth is attached, which reminds one
1:20:59
Speaker 3: of the head dress so common in Italy. Underneath this
1:21:02
Speaker 3: sort of veil are suspended a variety of various colored pebbles, coins,
1:21:08
Speaker 3: and pieces of metal. The ears are covered by flaps
1:21:11
Speaker 3: made of cloth or fur. A furred sheepskin covers the back,
1:21:15
Speaker 3: poor women contenting themselves with a simple, plain skin of
1:21:19
Speaker 3: the animal, while wealthy ladies wear veritable cloaks lined with
1:21:23
Speaker 3: red cloth and adorned with gold fringes. The Ladoc woman,
1:21:28
Speaker 3: whether walking in the streets or visiting her neighbors, always
1:21:32
Speaker 3: carries upon her back a conical basket, the smaller end
1:21:36
Speaker 3: of which is toward the ground. They fill it with
1:21:39
Speaker 3: the dung of horses or cows, which constitute the combustible
1:21:43
Speaker 3: of the country. Every woman has money of her own
1:21:47
Speaker 3: and spends it for jewelry. Generally she purchases, at a
1:21:51
Speaker 3: small expense, large pieces of turquoise, which are added to
1:21:55
Speaker 3: the bizarre ornaments of her head dress. I have seen
1:21:59
Speaker 3: pieces so warm which weighed nearly five pounds. The Ladoc
1:22:04
Speaker 3: woman occupies a social position for which she is envied
1:22:08
Speaker 3: by all women of the Orient. She is free and respected.
1:22:13
Speaker 3: With the exception of some rural work, she passes the
1:22:16
Speaker 3: greatest part of her time in visiting. It must, however,
1:22:20
Speaker 3: be added, that women's gossip is here a perfectly unknown thing.
1:22:27
Speaker 3: The settled population of Ladoc is engaged in agriculture, but
1:22:31
Speaker 3: they own so little land the share of each may
1:22:34
Speaker 3: amount to about eight acres, that the revenue drawn from
1:22:37
Speaker 3: it is insufficient to provide them with the barest necessities,
1:22:41
Speaker 3: and does not permit them to pay taxes. Manual occupations
1:22:45
Speaker 3: are generally despised. Artisans and musicians form the lowest class
1:22:51
Speaker 3: of society. The name by which they are designated is Bem,
1:22:56
Speaker 3: and people are very careful not to contract any alliance
1:22:59
Speaker 3: with them. The hours of leisure left by rural work
1:23:04
Speaker 3: are spent in hunting the wild sheep of Tibet, the
1:23:07
Speaker 3: skins of which are highly valued in India. The poorest
1:23:11
Speaker 3: i e. Those who have not the means to purchase
1:23:14
Speaker 3: arms for hunting, hire themselves as coolies. This is also
1:23:18
Speaker 3: an occupation of women, who are very capable of enduring
1:23:22
Speaker 3: arduous toil. They are healthier than their husbands, whose laziness
1:23:27
Speaker 3: goes so far that, careless of cold or heat, they
1:23:30
Speaker 3: are capable of spending a whole night in the open
1:23:33
Speaker 3: air on a bed of stones, rather than take the
1:23:36
Speaker 3: trouble to go to bed. Polyandry, which I shall treat
1:23:41
Speaker 3: later more fully causes the formation of very large families,
1:23:46
Speaker 3: who in common cultivate their jointly possessed lands with the
1:23:50
Speaker 3: assistance of yaks, zos and zomos, oxen and cows. A
1:23:56
Speaker 3: member of a family cannot detach himself from it, and
1:23:59
Speaker 3: when he dies eyes his share reverts to the survivors.
1:24:03
Speaker 3: In common, they sow but little wheat, and the grain
1:24:07
Speaker 3: is very small, owing to the severity of the climate.
1:24:10
Speaker 3: They also harvest barley, which they pulverize before selling. When
1:24:15
Speaker 3: work in the field is ended, all male inhabitants go
1:24:18
Speaker 3: to gather on the mountain a wild herb called enoriota
1:24:23
Speaker 3: and large thorn bushes or dama, which are used as
1:24:26
Speaker 3: fuel since combustibles are scarce. In Ladak, you see there
1:24:30
Speaker 3: neither trees nor gardens, and only exceptionally thin clumps of
1:24:35
Speaker 3: willows and poplars grow on the shores of the rivers.
1:24:38
Speaker 3: Near the villages. Are also found some aspen trees, but
1:24:42
Speaker 3: on account of the unfertility of the ground, arboriculture is
1:24:46
Speaker 3: unknown and gardening is little successful. The absence of wood
1:24:51
Speaker 3: is especially noticeable in the buildings, which are made of
1:24:55
Speaker 3: sun dried bricks or more frequently of stones of medium
1:24:59
Speaker 3: set eyes, which are agglomerated with a kind of mortar
1:25:03
Speaker 3: composed of clay and chopped straw. The houses of the
1:25:07
Speaker 3: settled inhabitants are two stories high, their fronts whitewashed and
1:25:11
Speaker 3: their window sashes painted with lively colors. The flat roof
1:25:16
Speaker 3: forms a terrace which is decorated with wild flowers, and here,
1:25:20
Speaker 3: during good weather, the inhabitants spend much of their time
1:25:24
Speaker 3: contemplating nature or turning their prayer wheels. Every dwelling house
1:25:29
Speaker 3: is composed of many rooms, among them always one of
1:25:33
Speaker 3: superior size, the walls of which are decorated with superb
1:25:36
Speaker 3: fur skins, and which is reserved for visitors. In the
1:25:40
Speaker 3: other rooms are beds and other furniture. Rich people possess, moreover,
1:25:45
Speaker 3: a special room filled with all kinds of idols, and
1:25:49
Speaker 3: set apart as a place of worship. Life here is
1:25:53
Speaker 3: very regular. They eat anything attainable without much choice. The
1:25:59
Speaker 3: principal nourishment of the Ladak people, however, being exceedingly simple.
1:26:04
Speaker 3: Their breakfast consists of a piece of rye bread. At dinner,
1:26:09
Speaker 3: they serve on the table a bowl with meal into
1:26:12
Speaker 3: which lukewarm water is stirred with little rods until the
1:26:15
Speaker 3: mixture assumes the consistency of thick paste. From this, small
1:26:20
Speaker 3: portions are scooped out and eaten with milk. In the evening,
1:26:24
Speaker 3: bread and tea are served. Meat is a superfluous luxury.
1:26:30
Speaker 3: Only the hunters introduce some variety in their alimentation by
1:26:34
Speaker 3: eating the meat of wild sheep, eagles or pheasants, which
1:26:38
Speaker 3: are very common in this country. During the day, on
1:26:41
Speaker 3: every excuse and opportunity, they drink chang, a kind of pale,
1:26:47
Speaker 3: unfermented beer. If it happens that a Ladakian, mounted on
1:26:52
Speaker 3: a pony such privileged people are very rare, goes to
1:26:56
Speaker 3: seek work in the surrounding country. He provides himself with
1:26:59
Speaker 3: a small stock of meal. When dinner time comes, he
1:27:03
Speaker 3: descends to a river or spring, mixes with water in
1:27:06
Speaker 3: a wooden cup that he always has with him. Some
1:27:09
Speaker 3: of the meal, swallows the simple refreshment and washes it
1:27:12
Speaker 3: down with water. The champas or nomads, who constitute the
1:27:18
Speaker 3: other part of Ladoc's population, are rougher and much poorer
1:27:22
Speaker 3: than the settled population. They are, for the most part,
1:27:26
Speaker 3: hunters who completely neglect agriculture, although they profess the Buddhistic religion.
1:27:32
Speaker 3: They never frequent the cloisters unless in want of meal,
1:27:35
Speaker 3: which they obtain in exchange for their venison. They mostly
1:27:39
Speaker 3: camp in tents on the summits of the mountains, where
1:27:42
Speaker 3: the cold is very great. While the properly called Ladakians
1:27:47
Speaker 3: are peaceable, very desirous of learning of an incarnated laziness,
1:27:52
Speaker 3: and are never known to tell untruth. The Champas, on
1:27:55
Speaker 3: the contrary, are very irascible, extremely lively, great liars, and
1:28:02
Speaker 3: profess a great disdain for the convents. Among them lives
1:28:07
Speaker 3: the small population of Combas wanderers from the vicinity of Lasa,
1:28:12
Speaker 3: who lead the miserable existence of a troop of begging
1:28:15
Speaker 3: gypsies on the highways, incapable of any work whatever, speaking
1:28:20
Speaker 3: a language not spoken in the country where they beg
1:28:23
Speaker 3: for their subsistence. They are the objects of general contempt
1:28:27
Speaker 3: and are only tolerated out of pity for their deplorable
1:28:30
Speaker 3: condition when hunger drives their mendicant bands to seek alms
1:28:35
Speaker 3: in the villages. Polyandry, which is universally prevalent here, of course,
1:28:41
Speaker 3: interested my curiosity. This institution is, by the way, not
1:28:45
Speaker 3: the outcome of Buddha's doctrines. Polyandry existed long before the
1:28:50
Speaker 3: advent of Buddha. It assumed considerable proportions in India, where
1:28:55
Speaker 3: it constituted one of the most effective means for checking
1:28:58
Speaker 3: the growth of a population which tends to constant increase,
1:29:02
Speaker 3: an economic danger which is even yet combated by the
1:29:05
Speaker 3: abominable custom of killing new born female children, which causes
1:29:10
Speaker 3: terrible ravages in the child life of India. The efforts
1:29:14
Speaker 3: made by the English in their enactments against the suppression
1:29:18
Speaker 3: of the future mothers have proved futile and fruitless. Manu
1:29:22
Speaker 3: himself established polyandry as a law, and Buddhist preachers, who
1:29:27
Speaker 3: had renounced Brahmanism and preached the use of opium, imported
1:29:31
Speaker 3: this custom into Ceylon, Tibet, Korea, and the country of
1:29:35
Speaker 3: the Moguls. For a long time. Suppressed in China, Polyandry
1:29:40
Speaker 3: which flourishes in Tibet in Ceylon is also met with
1:29:43
Speaker 3: among the coal monks. Between Todas in southern India and
1:29:47
Speaker 3: Nyirs on the coast of Malabar. Traces of this strange
1:29:51
Speaker 3: constitution of the family are also to be found with
1:29:54
Speaker 3: the Tasmanians and the Iroquois Indians in North America. Poliandri,
1:30:00
Speaker 3: by the way, has even flourished in Europe, if we
1:30:04
Speaker 3: may believe Caesar, who, in his De Bello Gallico book
1:30:08
Speaker 3: five page seventeen writes, uxoris habent deni duo denique interse
1:30:15
Speaker 3: comunes et maxime fratres kumfratribus et parentes cum liberis. In
1:30:22
Speaker 3: view of all this, it is impossible to hold any
1:30:25
Speaker 3: religion responsible for the existence of the institution of polyandry
1:30:30
Speaker 3: in Tibet. It can be explained by motives of an
1:30:32
Speaker 3: economical nature, the small quantity of arable land falling to
1:30:36
Speaker 3: the share of each inhabitant. In order to support the
1:30:40
Speaker 3: one million, five hundred thousand inhabitants distributed in Tibet upon
1:30:44
Speaker 3: a surface of one million, two hundred thousand square kilometers,
1:30:48
Speaker 3: the Buddhists were forced to adopt polyandry. Moreover, each family
1:30:54
Speaker 3: is bound to enter one of its members in a
1:30:56
Speaker 3: religious order. The firstborn is conseco created to a gonpa,
1:31:01
Speaker 3: which is inevitably found upon an elevation at the entrance
1:31:04
Speaker 3: of every village. As soon as the child attains the
1:31:07
Speaker 3: age of eighteen years, he is entrusted to the caravans
1:31:11
Speaker 3: which pass Lasa, where he remains from eight to fifteen
1:31:15
Speaker 3: years as a novice in one of the gonpas which
1:31:18
Speaker 3: are near the city. There he learns to read and write,
1:31:22
Speaker 3: is taught the religious rights and studies the sacred parchments
1:31:25
Speaker 3: written in the Pali language, which formerly used to be
1:31:29
Speaker 3: the language of the country of Maguada, where, according to tradition,
1:31:34
Speaker 3: Buddha was born. The oldest brother remaining in a family
1:31:39
Speaker 3: chooses a wife who becomes common to his brothers. The
1:31:43
Speaker 3: choice of the bride and the nuptial ceremonies are most rudimentary.
1:31:48
Speaker 3: When a wife and her husband have decided upon the
1:31:50
Speaker 3: marriage of a son, the brother who possesses the right
1:31:53
Speaker 3: of choice, pays a visit to a neighboring family in
1:31:56
Speaker 3: which there is a marriageable daughter. The first and second
1:32:00
Speaker 3: visits are spent in more or less indifferent conversations blended
1:32:04
Speaker 3: with frequent libations of chang, and on the third visit
1:32:08
Speaker 3: only does the young man declare his intention to take
1:32:11
Speaker 3: a wife. Upon this the girl is formally introduced to him.
1:32:16
Speaker 3: She is generally not unknown to the wooer. As in
1:32:19
Speaker 3: Ladak women never veil their faces. A girl cannot be
1:32:24
Speaker 3: married without her consent. When the young man is accepted,
1:32:28
Speaker 3: he takes his bride to his house, and she becomes
1:32:31
Speaker 3: his wife and also the wife of all his brothers.
1:32:35
Speaker 3: A family which has an only son sends him to
1:32:38
Speaker 3: a woman who has no more than two or three husbands,
1:32:41
Speaker 3: and he offers himself to her as a fourth husband.
1:32:45
Speaker 3: Such an offer is seldom declined, and the young man
1:32:48
Speaker 3: settles in the new family. The newly married remain with
1:32:53
Speaker 3: the parents of the husbands until the young wife bears
1:32:56
Speaker 3: her first child. The day after that event, the grand
1:33:00
Speaker 3: parents of the infant make over the bulk of their
1:33:02
Speaker 3: fortune to the new family, and abandoning the old home
1:33:06
Speaker 3: to them seek other shelter. Sometimes marriages are contracted between
1:33:11
Speaker 3: youth who have not reached a marriageable age, but in
1:33:14
Speaker 3: such event, the married couple are made to live apart
1:33:17
Speaker 3: until they have attained and even passed the age required.
1:33:22
Speaker 3: An unmarried girl who becomes on saint, far from being
1:33:26
Speaker 3: exposed to the scorn of everyone, is shown the highest respect,
1:33:30
Speaker 3: for she is demonstrated fruitful, and men eagerly seek her.
1:33:35
Speaker 3: In marriage, a wife has the unquestioned right of having
1:33:40
Speaker 3: an unlimited number of husbands and lovers. If she likes
1:33:44
Speaker 3: a young man, she takes him home, announces that he
1:33:47
Speaker 3: has been chosen by her as a jing two a lover,
1:33:50
Speaker 3: and endows him with all the personal rights of a husband,
1:33:55
Speaker 3: which situation is accepted by her. Temporarily supplanted husbands with
1:33:59
Speaker 3: a certain philosophic pleasure, which is the more pronounced if
1:34:03
Speaker 3: their wife has proved sterile during the three first years
1:34:06
Speaker 3: of her marriage, they certainly have here not even a
1:34:10
Speaker 3: vague idea of jealousy. The Tibetan's blood is too cold
1:34:15
Speaker 3: to know love, which for him would be almost an anachronism,
1:34:19
Speaker 3: if indeed, he were not conscious that the sentiment of
1:34:22
Speaker 3: the entire community would be against him as a flagrant
1:34:26
Speaker 3: violator of popular usage and established rights in restraining the
1:34:30
Speaker 3: freedom of the women, The selfish enjoyment of love would be,
1:34:35
Speaker 3: in their eyes an unjustifiable luxury. In case of a
1:34:41
Speaker 3: husband's absence, his place may be offered to a bachelor
1:34:45
Speaker 3: or a widower. The latter are here in the minority,
1:34:48
Speaker 3: since the wife generally survives her feeble husbands. Sometimes a
1:34:53
Speaker 3: Buddhist traveler whom his affairs bring to the village is
1:34:56
Speaker 3: chosen for this office. A husband who travel or seeks
1:35:00
Speaker 3: for work in the neighboring country at every stop takes
1:35:03
Speaker 3: advantage of his co religionists hospitality who offer him their
1:35:08
Speaker 3: own wives. The husbands of a sterile woman exert themselves
1:35:13
Speaker 3: to find opportunities for hospitality, which may happily eventuate in
1:35:17
Speaker 3: a change in her condition, that they may be made
1:35:20
Speaker 3: happy fathers. The wife enjoys the general esteem, is ever
1:35:26
Speaker 3: of a cheerful disposition, takes part in everything that is
1:35:29
Speaker 3: going on, goes and comes without any restriction, anywhere and
1:35:33
Speaker 3: everywhere she pleases, with the exception of the principal prayer
1:35:38
Speaker 3: room of the monastery, entrance into which is formally prohibited
1:35:43
Speaker 3: to her. Children know only their mother and do not
1:35:48
Speaker 3: feel the least affection for their fathers, for the simple
1:35:51
Speaker 3: reason that they have so many without approving polyandry. I
1:35:56
Speaker 3: could not well blame to bet for this institution, since
1:36:00
Speaker 3: without it the population would prodigiously increase, famine and misery
1:36:05
Speaker 3: would fall upon the whole nation, with all the sinister
1:36:09
Speaker 3: sequelae of murder and theft crimes so far absolutely unknown
1:36:15
Speaker 3: in the whole country. End of Chapter two Ladakh, Chapter
1:36:22
Speaker 3: three a festival in a Gonpa. Lay, the capital of Ladak,
1:36:30
Speaker 3: is a little town of five thousand inhabitants who live
1:36:33
Speaker 3: in white two story houses upon two or three streets.
1:36:36
Speaker 3: Principally in its center is the square of the Bazaar,
1:36:40
Speaker 3: where the merchants of India, China, Turkestan, Kashmir and Tibet
1:36:45
Speaker 3: come to exchange their products for the Tibetan gold. Here
1:36:49
Speaker 3: the natives provide themselves with clothes for themselves and their monks,
1:36:53
Speaker 3: and various objects of real necessity. An old, uninhabited palace
1:36:58
Speaker 3: rises upon a hill which which dominates the town. Fronting
1:37:02
Speaker 3: the central square is a vast building two stories in height,
1:37:06
Speaker 3: the residence of the Governor of Ladakh, the Vizier Surajbal,
1:37:10
Speaker 3: a very amiable and universally popular Panjaban who has received
1:37:14
Speaker 3: in London the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. To entertain
1:37:19
Speaker 3: me during my sojourn in Lay, the Governor arranged on
1:37:22
Speaker 3: the bizarre square a game of polo, the national sport
1:37:26
Speaker 3: of the Tibetans, which the English have adopted and introduced
1:37:29
Speaker 3: into Europe. In the evening after the game, the people
1:37:33
Speaker 3: executed dances and played games before the Governor's residence. Large
1:37:38
Speaker 3: bonfires illuminated the scene, lighting up the throng of inhabitants,
1:37:42
Speaker 3: who formed a great circle about the performers. The latter
1:37:46
Speaker 3: in considerable numbers, disguised as animals, devils and sorcerers, jumped
1:37:51
Speaker 3: and contorted themselves in rhythmic dances timed to the measure
1:37:55
Speaker 3: of the monotonous and unpleasing music made by two long
1:37:59
Speaker 3: trumpets and a drum. The infernal racket and shouting of
1:38:04
Speaker 3: the crowd wearied me. The performance ended with some graceful
1:38:08
Speaker 3: dances by Tibetan women, who spun upon their heels, swaying
1:38:13
Speaker 3: to and fro and in passing before the spectators in
1:38:16
Speaker 3: the windows of the residence greeted us by the clashing
1:38:19
Speaker 3: together of the copper and ivory bracelets on their crossed wrists.
1:38:24
Speaker 3: The next day, at an early hour, I repaired to
1:38:28
Speaker 3: the Great Hemes Convent, which, a little distance from Lay
1:38:32
Speaker 3: is elevated upon the top of a great rock, on
1:38:35
Speaker 3: a picturesque site commanding the valley of the Indies. It
1:38:40
Speaker 3: is one of the principal monasteries of the country, and
1:38:43
Speaker 3: is maintained by the gifts of the people and the
1:38:45
Speaker 3: subsidies it receives from Lasa. On the road leading to it,
1:38:49
Speaker 3: beyond the bridge crossing the Indus, and in the vicinity
1:38:53
Speaker 3: of the villages lining the way, one finds heaps of
1:38:56
Speaker 3: stones bearing engraved inscriptions such as have already been described,
1:39:01
Speaker 3: and tortaennes. At these places, our guides were very careful
1:39:06
Speaker 3: to turn to the right. I wished to turn my
1:39:09
Speaker 3: horse to the left, but the Ladakians made him go
1:39:13
Speaker 3: back and led him by his halter to the right,
1:39:16
Speaker 3: explaining to me that such was their established usage. I
1:39:20
Speaker 3: found it impossible to learn the origin or reason of
1:39:24
Speaker 3: this custom. Above the Gonpa rises a battlemented tower, visible
1:39:30
Speaker 3: from a great distance. We climbed on foot to the
1:39:33
Speaker 3: level on which the edifice stands, and found ourselves confronted
1:39:36
Speaker 3: by a large door painted in brilliant colors, the portal
1:39:40
Speaker 3: of a vast two story building, enclosing a court paved
1:39:44
Speaker 3: with little pebbles. To the right, in one of the
1:39:47
Speaker 3: angles of the court is another huge painted door, adorned
1:39:51
Speaker 3: with big copper rings. It is the entrance to the
1:39:54
Speaker 3: Principal Temple, which is decorated with paintings of the principal
1:39:57
Speaker 3: gods and contains a great status of Buddha, and a
1:40:01
Speaker 3: multitude of sacred statuettes. To the left, upon a veranda
1:40:06
Speaker 3: was placed an immense prayer cylinder. All the Lamas of
1:40:10
Speaker 3: the convent with their chief stood about it when we
1:40:13
Speaker 3: entered the court. Below the veranda were musicians holding long
1:40:17
Speaker 3: trumpets and drums. At the right of the court were
1:40:21
Speaker 3: a number of doors leading to the rooms of the lamas,
1:40:25
Speaker 3: all decorated with sacred paintings and provided with little prayer
1:40:29
Speaker 3: barrels fancifully surmounted by black and white tridents, from the
1:40:34
Speaker 3: points of which floated ribbons bearing inscriptions doubtless prayers. In
1:40:40
Speaker 3: the center of the court were raised two tall masts,
1:40:44
Speaker 3: from the tops of which dangled tails of yaks and
1:40:47
Speaker 3: long paper streamers floated covered with religious inscriptions. All along
1:40:53
Speaker 3: the walls were numerous prayer barrels adorned with ribbons. A
1:40:59
Speaker 3: profound sign silence reigned among the many spectators present. All
1:41:03
Speaker 3: awaited anxiously the commencement of a religious mystery which was
1:41:08
Speaker 3: about to be presented. We took up a position near
1:41:11
Speaker 3: the verandah. Almost immediately the musicians drew from their long trumpets,
1:41:16
Speaker 3: soft and monotonous tones, marking the time by measured beats
1:41:20
Speaker 3: upon an odd looking drum, broad and shallow upreared upon
1:41:25
Speaker 3: a stick planted in the ground. At the first sounds
1:41:28
Speaker 3: of the strange music, in which joined the voices of
1:41:31
Speaker 3: the lamas in a melancholy chant, the doors along the
1:41:35
Speaker 3: wall opened simultaneously, giving entrance to about twenty masked persons
1:41:40
Speaker 3: disguised as animals, birds, devils, and imaginary monsters. On their
1:41:46
Speaker 3: breasts they bore representations of fantastic dragons, demons, and skulls,
1:41:51
Speaker 3: embroidered with Chinese silk of various colors. From the conical
1:41:55
Speaker 3: hats they wore depended to their breasts long multicolored ribbons
1:42:00
Speaker 3: covered with inscriptions. Their masks were white death's heads. Slowly
1:42:07
Speaker 3: they marched about the masts, stretching out their arms from
1:42:10
Speaker 3: time to time and flourishing with their left hands spoon
1:42:13
Speaker 3: shaped objects, the bowl portions of which were said to
1:42:17
Speaker 3: be fragments of human crania with ribbons attached, having affixed
1:42:22
Speaker 3: to their ends human hair, which I was assured had
1:42:26
Speaker 3: been taken from scalped enemies. Their promenade, in gradually narrowing
1:42:32
Speaker 3: circles about the masts soon became merely a confused jostling
1:42:36
Speaker 3: of each other. When the rolling of the drum grew
1:42:39
Speaker 3: more accentuated, the performers for an instant stopped, then started again,
1:42:45
Speaker 3: swinging above their heads yellow sticks ribbon decked, which with
1:42:50
Speaker 3: their right hands they brandished in menacing attitudes. After making
1:42:55
Speaker 3: a salute to the chief Lama, they approached the door
1:42:58
Speaker 3: leading to the temple, which at this instant opened, and
1:43:02
Speaker 3: from it another band came forth, whose heads were covered
1:43:05
Speaker 3: by copper masks. Their dresses were of rich materials, embroidered
1:43:10
Speaker 3: in various bright colors. In one hand, each of them
1:43:14
Speaker 3: carried a small tambourine, and with the other he agitated
1:43:18
Speaker 3: a little bell. From the rim of each tambourine depended
1:43:22
Speaker 3: a metallic ball, so placed that the least movement of
1:43:26
Speaker 3: the hand brought it in contact with the resonant tympanum,
1:43:31
Speaker 3: which caused a strange, continuous undercurrent of pulsating sound. Their
1:43:36
Speaker 3: new performers circled several times about the court, marking the
1:43:40
Speaker 3: time of their dancing steps by measured thumpings of the tambourines.
1:43:45
Speaker 3: At the completion of each turn, they made a deafening
1:43:48
Speaker 3: noise with their instruments. Finally, they ran to the temple
1:43:52
Speaker 3: door and ranged themselves upon the steps before it. For
1:43:57
Speaker 3: a moment there was silence. Then we saw emerge from
1:44:02
Speaker 3: the temple a third band of performers. Their enormous masks
1:44:06
Speaker 3: represented different deities, and each bore upon its forehead the
1:44:11
Speaker 3: third eye. At their head marched Klogan Pudma Jungnas, literally
1:44:17
Speaker 3: he who was born in the lotus flower. Another richly
1:44:21
Speaker 3: dressed mask marched beside him, carrying a yellow parasol covered
1:44:26
Speaker 3: with symbolic designs. His suite was composed of gods in
1:44:30
Speaker 3: magnificent costumes Dorgia, Trolong and Sanspa curpo I e Brahma,
1:44:36
Speaker 3: himself and others. These masks, as a Lama sitting near
1:44:41
Speaker 3: me explained to us, represented six classes of beings subject
1:44:46
Speaker 3: to the metamorphoses, the gods, the demigods, men, animals, spirits
1:44:52
Speaker 3: and demons. On each side of these personages, who advanced
1:44:57
Speaker 3: gravely marched other masks, costumed in silks of brilliant hues
1:45:02
Speaker 3: and wearing on their heads golden crowns fashioned with six
1:45:06
Speaker 3: lotuslike flowers on each, surmounted by a tall dart in
1:45:11
Speaker 3: the center. Each of these masks carried a drum. These
1:45:16
Speaker 3: disguises made three turns about the masts to the sound
1:45:20
Speaker 3: of a noisy and incoherent music, and then seated themselves
1:45:24
Speaker 3: on the ground around Klogan Pudma jumnas a god with
1:45:28
Speaker 3: three eyes, who gravely introduced two fingers into his mouth
1:45:33
Speaker 3: and emitted a shrill whistle at this signal. Young men
1:45:37
Speaker 3: dressed in warrior costumes with ribbon decked bells dangling about
1:45:41
Speaker 3: their legs, came with measured steps from the temple. Their
1:45:45
Speaker 3: heads were covered by enormous green masks from which floated
1:45:49
Speaker 3: triangular red flags, and they too carried tambourines, making a
1:45:55
Speaker 3: diabolical din They whirled and danced about the gods seated
1:45:59
Speaker 3: on the ground. Two big fellows accompanying them, who were
1:46:02
Speaker 3: dressed in tight clown costumes, executed all kinds of grotesque
1:46:06
Speaker 3: contortions and acrobatic feats, by which they won plaudits and
1:46:11
Speaker 3: shouts of laughter from the spectators. Another group of disguises,
1:46:15
Speaker 3: of which the principal features were red miters and yellow pantaloons,
1:46:20
Speaker 3: came out of the temple with bells and tambourines in
1:46:23
Speaker 3: their hands, and seated themselves opposite the gods as representatives
1:46:27
Speaker 3: of the highest powers next to divinity. Lastly, there entered
1:46:32
Speaker 3: upon the scene a lot of red and brown masks
1:46:35
Speaker 3: with a third eye painted on their breasts. With those
1:46:38
Speaker 3: who had preceded them, they formed two long lines of dancers, who,
1:46:42
Speaker 3: to the throwing of their many tambourines, the measured music
1:46:46
Speaker 3: of the trumpets and drums, and the jingling of a
1:46:48
Speaker 3: myriad of bells, performed a dance, approaching and receding from
1:46:52
Speaker 3: each other, whirling in circles, forming by twos in a column,
1:46:56
Speaker 3: and breaking from that formation to make new combinations, pausing
1:47:00
Speaker 3: occasionally to make reverent obeisance before the gods. After a time,
1:47:05
Speaker 3: this spectacular excitement, the noisy monotony of which began to
1:47:09
Speaker 3: weary me, calmed down a little. Gods, demigods, kings, men
1:47:14
Speaker 3: and spirits got up, and, followed by all the other maskers,
1:47:18
Speaker 3: directed themselves toward the temple door, whence issued at once,
1:47:22
Speaker 3: meeting them a lot of men admirably disguised as skeletons.
1:47:28
Speaker 3: All these sorties were calculated and pre arranged, and every
1:47:31
Speaker 3: one of them had its particular significance. The cortege of
1:47:35
Speaker 3: dancers gave way to the skeletons, who advanced with measured
1:47:38
Speaker 3: steps in silence to the masts, where they stopped and
1:47:42
Speaker 3: made a concerted clicking with pieces of wood hanging at
1:47:45
Speaker 3: their sides, simulating perfectly the rattling of dry bones and
1:47:50
Speaker 3: gnashing of teeth. Twice they went in a circle around
1:47:54
Speaker 3: the masts, marching in time to low taps on the drums,
1:47:58
Speaker 3: and then joined in a lugubrie religious chant. Having once
1:48:02
Speaker 3: more made the concerted rattling of their artificial bones and jaws,
1:48:06
Speaker 3: they executed some contortions painful to witness, and together stopped.
1:48:13
Speaker 3: Then they seized upon an image of the enemy of man,
1:48:17
Speaker 3: made of some sort of brittle paste, which had been
1:48:19
Speaker 3: placed at the foot of one of the masts. This
1:48:22
Speaker 3: they broke in pieces and scattered, and the oldest men
1:48:26
Speaker 3: among the spectators, rising from their places, picked up the fragments,
1:48:30
Speaker 3: which they handed to the skeletons, an action supposed to
1:48:34
Speaker 3: signify that they would soon be ready to join the
1:48:37
Speaker 3: bony crew in the cemetery. The chief Lama, approaching me,
1:48:42
Speaker 3: tendered an invitation to accompany him to the principal terrace
1:48:46
Speaker 3: and partake of the festal chang, which I accepted with pleasure,
1:48:50
Speaker 3: for my head was dizzy from the long spectacle. We
1:48:54
Speaker 3: crossed the court and climbed a staircase obstructed with prayer
1:48:58
Speaker 3: wheels as usual, passed two rooms where there were many
1:49:01
Speaker 3: images of gods, and came out upon the terrace, where
1:49:05
Speaker 3: I seated myself upon a bench opposite the venerable Lama,
1:49:09
Speaker 3: whose eyes sparkled with spirit. Three lamas brought pictures of chang,
1:49:15
Speaker 3: which they poured into small copper cups that were offered
1:49:18
Speaker 3: first to the chief Lama, then to me and my servants.
1:49:23
Speaker 3: Did you enjoy our little festival, the Lama asked me.
1:49:26
Speaker 3: I found it very enjoyable, and am still impressed by
1:49:30
Speaker 3: the spectacle I have witnessed. But to tell the truth,
1:49:34
Speaker 3: I never suspected for a moment that Buddhism in these
1:49:37
Speaker 3: religious ceremonies could display such a visible, not to say, noisy,
1:49:42
Speaker 3: exterior form. There is no religion, the ceremonies of which
1:49:47
Speaker 3: are not surrounded with more theatrical forms. The lama answered,
1:49:51
Speaker 3: this is a ritualistic phase which does not by any
1:49:55
Speaker 3: means violate the fundamental principles of Buddhism. It is a
1:49:59
Speaker 3: practical means for maintaining in the ignorant Mass obedience to
1:50:03
Speaker 3: and love for the one Creator. Just as a child
1:50:07
Speaker 3: is beguiled by toys to do the will of its parents,
1:50:10
Speaker 3: the ignorant Mass is the child of the Father. But
1:50:15
Speaker 3: what is the meaning I said to him of all
1:50:18
Speaker 3: those masks, costumes, bells, dances, and generally of this entire performance,
1:50:24
Speaker 3: which seems to be executed after a prescribed program. We
1:50:29
Speaker 3: have many similar festivals in the year, answered the Lama,
1:50:33
Speaker 3: and we arrange particular ones to represent mysteries susceptible of
1:50:37
Speaker 3: pantomimic presentation, in which each actor is allowed considerable latitude
1:50:43
Speaker 3: of action in the movements and jests he likes, conforming
1:50:47
Speaker 3: nevertheless to the circumstances and to the leading idea. Our
1:50:52
Speaker 3: mysteries are simply pantomimes calculated to show the veneration offered
1:50:56
Speaker 3: to the gods, which veneration sustains a shears the soul
1:51:00
Speaker 3: of man who is prone to anxious contemplation of inevitable
1:51:05
Speaker 3: death and the life to come. The actors receive the
1:51:09
Speaker 3: dresses from the cloister, and they play according to general
1:51:12
Speaker 3: indications which leave them much liberty of individual action. The
1:51:18
Speaker 3: general effect produced is no doubt very beautiful. But it
1:51:23
Speaker 3: is a matter for the spectators themselves to divine this
1:51:26
Speaker 3: signification of one or another action. You too have recourse
1:51:31
Speaker 3: sometimes to similar devices, which, however, do not in the
1:51:35
Speaker 3: least violate the principle of manotheism. Pardon me, I remarked,
1:51:41
Speaker 3: but this multitude of vitals with which your gone pass
1:51:44
Speaker 3: abound is a flagrant violation of that principle, as I
1:51:48
Speaker 3: have told you, replied the Lama to my interruption. Man
1:51:51
Speaker 3: will always be in childhood. He sees and feels the
1:51:55
Speaker 3: grandeur of nature, and understands everything presented to his senses.
1:51:59
Speaker 3: But he neither sees nor divines the great soul which
1:52:02
Speaker 3: created and animates all things. Man has always sought for
1:52:07
Speaker 3: tangible things. It was not possible for him to believe
1:52:10
Speaker 3: long in that which escaped his material senses. He has
1:52:14
Speaker 3: racked his brain for any means for contemplating the Creator,
1:52:18
Speaker 3: has endeavored to enter into direct relations with him who
1:52:22
Speaker 3: has done him so much good and also, as he
1:52:25
Speaker 3: erroneously believes, so much evil. For this reason, he began
1:52:30
Speaker 3: to adore every phase of nature from which he received benefits.
1:52:35
Speaker 3: We see a striking example of this in the ancient Egyptians,
1:52:39
Speaker 3: who adored animals, trees, stones, the winds, and the rain.
1:52:44
Speaker 3: Other peoples who were more sunk in ignorance, seeing that
1:52:48
Speaker 3: the results of the wind were not always beneficent, and
1:52:52
Speaker 3: that the rain did not inevitably bring good harvests, and
1:52:56
Speaker 3: that the animals were not willingly subservient to man, began
1:52:59
Speaker 3: to see for direct intermediaries between themselves and the great,
1:53:04
Speaker 3: mysterious and unfathomable power of the Creator. Therefore they made
1:53:09
Speaker 3: for themselves idols, which they regarded as indifferent to things
1:53:14
Speaker 3: concerning them, but to whose interposition on their behalf they
1:53:18
Speaker 3: might always recur. From remotest antiquity to our own days,
1:53:24
Speaker 3: man was ever inclined only to tangible realities. While seeking
1:53:31
Speaker 3: a route to lead their feet to the Creator, the
1:53:34
Speaker 3: Assyrians turned their eyes toward the stars, which they contemplated
1:53:38
Speaker 3: without the power of attaining them. The Gabers have conserved
1:53:43
Speaker 3: the same belief to our days. In their nullity and
1:53:46
Speaker 3: spiritual blindness, men are incapable of conceiving the invisible spiritual
1:53:52
Speaker 3: bond which unites them to the great Divinity, and this
1:53:56
Speaker 3: explains why they have always sought for palpable things which
1:54:00
Speaker 3: were in the domain of the senses, and by doing
1:54:03
Speaker 3: which they minimized the divine principle. Nevertheless, they have dared
1:54:08
Speaker 3: to attribute to their visible and man made images a
1:54:12
Speaker 3: divine and eternal existence. We can see the same fact
1:54:17
Speaker 3: in Brahminism, where man, given to his inclination for exterior forms,
1:54:23
Speaker 3: has created little by little, and not all at once,
1:54:26
Speaker 3: an army of gods and demigods. The Israelites may be
1:54:31
Speaker 3: said to have demonstrated in the most flagrant way the
1:54:35
Speaker 3: love of man for everything which is concrete. In spite
1:54:39
Speaker 3: of a series of striking miracles accomplished by the great Creator,
1:54:43
Speaker 3: who is the same for all the peoples, the Jewish
1:54:46
Speaker 3: people could not help making a god of metal in
1:54:49
Speaker 3: the very minute when their prophet Mosa spoke to them
1:54:53
Speaker 3: of the Creator. Buddhism has passed through the same modifications.
1:54:58
Speaker 3: Our great reformer, Sakyamuni, inspired by the Supreme Judge, understood
1:55:04
Speaker 3: truly the one and indivisible Brahma, and forbade his disciples
1:55:09
Speaker 3: attempting to manufacture images in imaginary semblance of him. He
1:55:14
Speaker 3: had openly broken from the polytheistic Brahmins and appreciated the purity,
1:55:20
Speaker 3: oneness and immortality of Brama. The success he achieved by
1:55:25
Speaker 3: his teachings in making disciples among the people brought upon
1:55:28
Speaker 3: him persecution by the Brahmins, who, in the creation of
1:55:32
Speaker 3: new Gods, had found a source of personal revenue, and
1:55:36
Speaker 3: who contrary to the law of God, treated the people
1:55:40
Speaker 3: in a despotic manner. Our first sacred teachers, to whom
1:55:45
Speaker 3: we give the name of Buddhas, which means learned men
1:55:49
Speaker 3: or saints, because the Great Creator has incarnated in them,
1:55:54
Speaker 3: settled in different countries of the globe, as their teachings
1:55:58
Speaker 3: attacked especially the tyranny of the Brahmins and the misuse
1:56:02
Speaker 3: they made of the idea of God, of which they
1:56:05
Speaker 3: indeed made a veritable business. Almost all the Buddhistic converts,
1:56:11
Speaker 3: they who followed the doctrines of those great teachers, were
1:56:14
Speaker 3: among the common people of China and India. Among those teachers,
1:56:19
Speaker 3: particular reverence is felt for the Buddha Sakya Muni known
1:56:24
Speaker 3: in China also under the name of fo who lived
1:56:28
Speaker 3: three thousand years ago and whose teachings brought all China
1:56:32
Speaker 3: back into the path of the True God, and the
1:56:36
Speaker 3: Buddha Gautama, who lived two thousand five hundred years ago
1:56:41
Speaker 3: and converted almost half the Hindus to the knowledge of
1:56:45
Speaker 3: the impersonal, indivisible and only God, besides whom there is none.
1:56:52
Speaker 3: Buddhism is divided into many sects, which by the way
1:56:56
Speaker 3: differ only in certain religious ceremonies, the basis of the
1:57:00
Speaker 3: doctrine being everywhere the same. The Tibetan Buddhists, who are
1:57:05
Speaker 3: called Lama'ists, separated themselves from the Fauiasts fifteen hundred years ago.
1:57:12
Speaker 3: Until that time we had formed part of the worshippers
1:57:15
Speaker 3: of the Buddha for Sakya Muni, who was the first
1:57:18
Speaker 3: to collect all the laws compiled by the various Buddhas
1:57:22
Speaker 3: preceding him. When the Great Schism took place in the
1:57:25
Speaker 3: Bosom of Brahmanism. Later on, a Kutukta Mongol translated into
1:57:31
Speaker 3: Chinese the Books of the Great Buddha, for which the
1:57:35
Speaker 3: Emperor of China rewarded him by bestowing upon him the
1:57:39
Speaker 3: title of go Chi Preceptor of the King. After his death,
1:57:44
Speaker 3: this title was given to the Dalai Lama of Tibet.
1:57:48
Speaker 3: Since that epoch, all the titularies of this position have
1:57:52
Speaker 3: borne the title of go Chi our religion is called
1:57:57
Speaker 3: the lamaik one from the word Lama superior. It admits
1:58:03
Speaker 3: of two classes of monks, the red and the yellow.
1:58:07
Speaker 3: The former may marry, and they recognize the authority of
1:58:11
Speaker 3: the Bantsine, who resides in Tecchio Lumba and is chief
1:58:16
Speaker 3: of the civil administration in Tibet. We the Yellow Lamas,
1:58:21
Speaker 3: have taken the vow of celibacy, and our direct chief
1:58:24
Speaker 3: is the Dalai Lama. This is the difference which separates
1:58:28
Speaker 3: the two religious orders, the respective rituals of which are identical.
1:58:34
Speaker 3: Do all perform mysteries similar to that which I have
1:58:37
Speaker 3: just witnessed, Yes, with a few exceptions. Formerly these festivals
1:58:42
Speaker 3: were celebrated with very solemn pomp. But since the conquest
1:58:47
Speaker 3: of La Dacu, our convents have been more than once
1:58:50
Speaker 3: pillaged and our wealth taken away. Now we contact ourselves
1:58:55
Speaker 3: with simple garments and bronze utensils, while in Tibet you
1:58:59
Speaker 3: see but golden robes and gold utensils. In a visit
1:59:04
Speaker 3: which I recently made to a Gonpa, one of the
1:59:07
Speaker 3: Lamas told me of a prophet, or as you call him,
1:59:10
Speaker 3: a Buddha, by the name of Issa. Could you not
1:59:14
Speaker 3: tell me anything about him, I asked my interlocutor, seizing
1:59:17
Speaker 3: this favorable moment to start the subject which interested me
1:59:21
Speaker 3: so greatly. The name Isa is very much respected among
1:59:26
Speaker 3: the Buddhists, he replied, but he is only known by
1:59:29
Speaker 3: the chief Lamas who have read the scrolls relating to
1:59:32
Speaker 3: his life. There have existed an infinite number of Buddhas
1:59:37
Speaker 3: like Issa, and the eighty four thousand scrolls existing are
1:59:41
Speaker 3: filled brim full of details concerning each one of them.
1:59:45
Speaker 3: But very few persons have read the one hundredth part
1:59:48
Speaker 3: of those memoirs. In conformity with established custom, every disciple
1:59:53
Speaker 3: or Lama who visits Lasa makes a gift of one
1:59:57
Speaker 3: or several copies from the scrolls there to the ca
2:00:00
Speaker 3: to which he belongs. Our Gonpa, among others, possesses already
2:00:05
Speaker 3: a great number which I read in my leisure hours.
2:00:08
Speaker 3: Among them are the memoirs of the life and acts
2:00:11
Speaker 3: of the Buddha Isa, who preached the same doctrine in
2:00:15
Speaker 3: India and among the sons of Israel, and who was
2:00:18
Speaker 3: put to death by the Pagans, whose descendants later on
2:00:22
Speaker 3: adopted the beliefs he spread. And those beliefs are yours.
2:00:28
Speaker 3: The great Buddha, the soul of the universe, is the
2:00:32
Speaker 3: incarnation of Brahma. He almost always remains immobile, containing in
2:00:39
Speaker 3: himself all things, being in himself the origin of all,
2:00:43
Speaker 3: and his breath vivifying the world. He has left man
2:00:47
Speaker 3: to the control of his own forces, but at certain
2:00:51
Speaker 3: epochs lays aside his inaction and puts on a human
2:00:55
Speaker 3: form that he may, as their teacher and guide, rescue
2:00:59
Speaker 3: his creatures from impending destruction. In the course of his
2:01:04
Speaker 3: terrestrial existence in the similitude of man, Buddha creates a
2:01:09
Speaker 3: new world in the hearts of erring men. Then he
2:01:13
Speaker 3: leaves the earth to become once more an invisible being
2:01:17
Speaker 3: and resume his condition of perfect bliss. Three thousand years ago,
2:01:23
Speaker 3: Buddha incarnated in the celebrated Prince Sakyamuni, reaffirming and propagating
2:01:29
Speaker 3: the doctrines taught by him in his twenty preceding incarnations.
2:01:34
Speaker 3: Twenty five hundred years ago, the great soul of the
2:01:37
Speaker 3: world incarnated anew in Kaltama, laying the foundation of a
2:01:42
Speaker 3: new world in Burma, Siam and different islands. Soon afterward,
2:01:47
Speaker 3: Buddhism began to penetrate China through the persevering efforts of
2:01:51
Speaker 3: the Sagus, who devoted themselves to the propagation of the
2:01:55
Speaker 3: sacred doctrine and under ming ti of the Honi dynasty.
2:01:59
Speaker 3: Nearly two thousand fifty years ago, the teachings of Sakyamuni
2:02:03
Speaker 3: were adopted by the people of that country. Simultaneously, with
2:02:08
Speaker 3: the appearance of Buddhism in China, the same doctrines began
2:02:12
Speaker 3: to spread among the Israelites. It is about two thousand
2:02:16
Speaker 3: years ago that the Perfect Being, awaking once more for
2:02:20
Speaker 3: a short time from his inaction, incarnated in the newborn
2:02:24
Speaker 3: child of a poor family. It was his will that
2:02:28
Speaker 3: this little child should enlighten the unhappy upon the life
2:02:32
Speaker 3: of the world to come, and bring erring men back
2:02:35
Speaker 3: into the path of truth, showing to them by his
2:02:38
Speaker 3: own example the way the could best return to the
2:02:42
Speaker 3: primitive morality and purity of our race. When this sacred
2:02:47
Speaker 3: child attained a certain age, he was brought to India,
2:02:51
Speaker 3: where until he attained to manhood, he studied the laws
2:02:55
Speaker 3: of the Great Buddha, who was eternally in heaven. In
2:03:00
Speaker 3: what language are written the principal scrolls bearing upon the
2:03:04
Speaker 3: life of Isa. I asked, rising from my seat, for
2:03:08
Speaker 3: I saw that my interesting interlocutor evidenced fatigue and had
2:03:12
Speaker 3: just given a twirl to his prayer wheel, as if
2:03:15
Speaker 3: to hint the closing of the conversation. The original scrolls
2:03:19
Speaker 3: brought from India to Nepal and from Nepal to Tibet,
2:03:23
Speaker 3: relating to the life of Isa are written in the
2:03:26
Speaker 3: Pali language and are actually in Lassa, but a copy
2:03:30
Speaker 3: in our language, I mean, the Tibetan is in this convent.
2:03:36
Speaker 3: How has Isa looked upon in Tibet? Has he the
2:03:40
Speaker 3: repute of a saint? The people are not even aware
2:03:43
Speaker 3: that he ever existed. Only the principal Lamas, who know
2:03:47
Speaker 3: of him through having studied the scrolls in which his
2:03:50
Speaker 3: life is related, are familiar with his name. But as
2:03:53
Speaker 3: his doctrine does not constitute a canonical part of Buddhism,
2:03:57
Speaker 3: and the worshippers of Isa do not recognize the authority
2:04:00
Speaker 3: of the Dalai Lama, the prophet Esa, with many others
2:04:04
Speaker 3: like him, is not recognized in Tibet as one of
2:04:07
Speaker 3: the principal saints. Would you commit a sin in reciting
2:04:12
Speaker 3: your copy of the life of Esa to a stranger?
2:04:15
Speaker 3: I asked him, that which belongs to God, he answered me,
2:04:19
Speaker 3: belongs also to man. Our duty requires us to cheerfully
2:04:24
Speaker 3: devote ourselves to the propagation of his doctrine. Only I
2:04:28
Speaker 3: do not at present know where that manuscript is. If
2:04:33
Speaker 3: you ever visit our gonpa again, I shall take pleasure
2:04:36
Speaker 3: in showing it to you. At this moment, two monks
2:04:39
Speaker 3: entered and uttered to the Chief Lama a few words
2:04:42
Speaker 3: unintelligible to me. I am called to the sacrifices. Will
2:04:47
Speaker 3: you kindly excuse me, said he to me, and with
2:04:50
Speaker 3: a salute, turned to the door and disappeared. I could
2:04:55
Speaker 3: do no better than withdraw and lie down in the chamber,
2:04:58
Speaker 3: which was assigned to me, and where I spent the night.
2:05:03
Speaker 3: In the evening of the next day, I was again
2:05:05
Speaker 3: in lay, thinking of how to get back to the convent.
2:05:10
Speaker 3: Two days later, I sent by a messenger to the
2:05:12
Speaker 3: Chief Lama as presence a watch, an alarm clock, and
2:05:16
Speaker 3: a thermometer. At the same time I sent the message
2:05:20
Speaker 3: that before leaving Ladak, I would probably return to the
2:05:23
Speaker 3: convent in the hope that he would permit me to
2:05:25
Speaker 3: see the manuscript which had been the subject of our conversation.
2:05:29
Speaker 3: It was now my purpose to gain Kashmir and return
2:05:32
Speaker 3: from there some time later to Himis. But fate made
2:05:36
Speaker 3: a different decision for me. In passing a mountain, on
2:05:41
Speaker 3: a height of which is perched the Gonpa of Piatak,
2:05:44
Speaker 3: my horse made a false step, throwing me to the
2:05:47
Speaker 3: ground so violently that my right leg was broken below
2:05:51
Speaker 3: the knee. It was impossible to continue my journey. I
2:05:55
Speaker 3: was not inclined to return to lay and seeking the
2:05:59
Speaker 3: hospitality of the God of Piatoc was not from the
2:06:02
Speaker 3: appearance of the cloister an enticing prospect. My best recourse
2:06:06
Speaker 3: would be to return to Hems, then only about half
2:06:10
Speaker 3: a day's journey distant, and I ordered my servants to
2:06:13
Speaker 3: transport me there. They bandaged my broken leg, an operation
2:06:17
Speaker 3: which caused me great pain, and lifted me into the saddle.
2:06:21
Speaker 3: One carrier walked by my side, supporting the weight of
2:06:24
Speaker 3: the injured member, while another led my horse. At a
2:06:28
Speaker 3: late hour of the evening, we reached the door of
2:06:30
Speaker 3: the convent of Hems. When informed of my accident, the
2:06:35
Speaker 3: kind monks came out to receive me, and with a
2:06:38
Speaker 3: wealth of extraordinary precautions of tenderness, I was carried inside
2:06:42
Speaker 3: and in one of their best rooms, installed upon an
2:06:45
Speaker 3: improvised bed consisting of a mountain of soft fabrics, with
2:06:49
Speaker 3: the naturally to be expected prayer cylinder beside me. All
2:06:53
Speaker 3: this was done for me under the personal supervision of
2:06:56
Speaker 3: their chief Lama, who, with affectionate sympathy, pressed the hand
2:07:00
Speaker 3: I gave him in expression of my thanks for his kindness.
2:07:04
Speaker 3: In the morning, I myself bound around the injured limb
2:07:08
Speaker 3: little oblong pieces of wood held by cords to serve
2:07:11
Speaker 3: as splints. Then I remained perfectly quiescent, and nature was
2:07:16
Speaker 3: not slow in her reperative work. Within two days my
2:07:20
Speaker 3: condition was so far improved that I could, had it
2:07:22
Speaker 3: been necessary, have left the Gonpa and directed myself slowly
2:07:26
Speaker 3: toward India in search of a surgeon to complete my cure.
2:07:31
Speaker 3: While a boy kept in motion the prayer barrel near
2:07:33
Speaker 3: my bed. The venerable Lama who ruled the convent, entertained
2:07:37
Speaker 3: me with many interesting stories. Frequently he took from their
2:07:41
Speaker 3: box the alarm clock and the watch, that I might
2:07:44
Speaker 3: illustrate to him the process of winding them and explain
2:07:47
Speaker 3: to him their uses. At length. Yielding to my ardent insistence,
2:07:52
Speaker 3: he brought me two big books, the large leaves of
2:07:55
Speaker 3: which were of paper yellow with age, and from them
2:07:59
Speaker 3: read to me the biography of Issa, which I carefully
2:08:03
Speaker 3: transcribed in my traveling notebook. According to the translation made
2:08:06
Speaker 3: by the interpreter. This curious document is compiled under the
2:08:11
Speaker 3: form of isolated verses, which, as placed very often had
2:08:15
Speaker 3: no apparent connection with or relation to each other. On
2:08:20
Speaker 3: the third day, my condition was so far improved as
2:08:23
Speaker 3: to permit the prosecution of my journey. Having bound up
2:08:27
Speaker 3: my leg as well as possible, I returned across Cashmir
2:08:31
Speaker 3: to India, a slow journey of twenty days filled with
2:08:35
Speaker 3: intolerable pain. Thanks, however, to a litter which a French gentleman,
2:08:40
Speaker 3: Monsieur Pachet, had kindly sent to me my gratitude for
2:08:44
Speaker 3: which I take this occasion to express, and to an
2:08:48
Speaker 3: oouquets of the Grand Vizir of the Maharaja of Kashmir,
2:08:52
Speaker 3: ordering the local authorities to provide me with carriers. I
2:08:55
Speaker 3: reached Schrineger and left almost immediately, being anxious to gain
2:09:00
Speaker 3: India before the first snows fell. In Mourey, I encountered
2:09:05
Speaker 3: another Frenchman, Count Andre de Saint Pal, who was making
2:09:09
Speaker 3: a journey of recreation across Hindostan. During the whole course
2:09:14
Speaker 3: which we made together to Bombay, the young Count demonstrated
2:09:17
Speaker 3: a touching solicitude for me and sympathy for the excruciating
2:09:21
Speaker 3: pain I suffered from my broken leg and the fever
2:09:24
Speaker 3: induced by its torture. I cherish for him sincere gratitude,
2:09:29
Speaker 3: and shall never forget the friendly care which I received
2:09:33
Speaker 3: upon my arrival in Bombay from the Marquis de Morey,
2:09:37
Speaker 3: the Vicomte de Bretail, Monsieur Monau, of the Comte Toois
2:09:41
Speaker 3: de Comte Monsieur Moet, acting Consul, and all the members
2:09:45
Speaker 3: of the very sympathetic French colony there. During a long
2:09:50
Speaker 3: time I revolved in my mind the purpose of publishing
2:09:54
Speaker 3: the memoirs of the life of Jesus Christ found by
2:09:58
Speaker 3: me in himis of which I have spoken, but other
2:10:01
Speaker 3: interests absorbed my attention and delayed it. Only now, after
2:10:07
Speaker 3: having passed long nights of wakefulness, in the coordination of
2:10:11
Speaker 3: my notes and grouping the verses conformably to the march
2:10:15
Speaker 3: of the recital, imparting to the work as a whole
2:10:18
Speaker 3: a character of unity, I resolve to let this curious
2:10:22
Speaker 3: chronicle see the light end of chapter three, The.
2:10:29
Speaker 4: Life of Saint Esa, Part one, Best of the Sons
2:10:34
Speaker 4: of Men sub Section one. One the earth trembled and
2:10:40
Speaker 4: the heavens swept because of the great crime committed in
2:10:43
Speaker 4: the land of Israel. Two, for there was tortured and
2:10:48
Speaker 4: murdered the great and just Esa, in whom was manifest
2:10:52
Speaker 4: the soul of the universe. Three, which had incarnated in
2:10:58
Speaker 4: a simple mortal to benefit fit men and destroy the
2:11:01
Speaker 4: evil spirit in them. Four to lead back to peace,
2:11:06
Speaker 4: love and happiness man degraded by his sins, and recall
2:11:11
Speaker 4: him to the one and indivisible Creator, whose mercy is infinite. Five.
2:11:17
Speaker 4: The merchants coming from Israel have given the following account
2:11:21
Speaker 4: of what has occurred. Sub Section two. One. The people
2:11:27
Speaker 4: of Israel, who inhabit a fertile country, producing two harvests
2:11:32
Speaker 4: a year and affording pasture for large herds of cattle,
2:11:36
Speaker 4: by their sins brought down upon themselves of the anger
2:11:40
Speaker 4: of the Lord, two, who inflicted upon them terrible chastisements,
2:11:46
Speaker 4: taking from them their land, their cattle, and their wealth.
2:11:50
Speaker 4: They were carried away into slavery by the rich and
2:11:52
Speaker 4: mighty pharaohs, who then ruled the land of Egypt. Three,
2:11:58
Speaker 4: the Israelites were by the arrows treated worse than beasts,
2:12:02
Speaker 4: condemned to hard labor, and put in irons. Their bodies
2:12:06
Speaker 4: were covered with wounds and sores. They were not permitted
2:12:10
Speaker 4: to live under a roof, and were starved to death
2:12:14
Speaker 4: that they might be maintained in a state of continual
2:12:16
Speaker 4: terror and deprived of all human resemblance. Five. And in
2:12:22
Speaker 4: this great calamity, the Israelites, remembering their celestial protector, implored
2:12:28
Speaker 4: his forgiveness and mercy. Six. At that period reigned in
2:12:32
Speaker 4: Egypt an illustrious pharaoh who was renowned for his many victories,
2:12:37
Speaker 4: immense riches, and the gigantic palaces he had erected by
2:12:41
Speaker 4: the labor of his slaves. Seven. This pharaoh had two sons,
2:12:46
Speaker 4: the younger of whom named Mosa, had acquired much knowledge
2:12:50
Speaker 4: from the sages of Israel. Eight. And Mosa was beloved
2:12:55
Speaker 4: by all in Egypt for his kindness of heart and
2:12:58
Speaker 4: the pity he showed to all sufferers. Nine. When Mosah
2:13:03
Speaker 4: saw that the Israelites, in spite of them any sufferings,
2:13:07
Speaker 4: had not forsaken their God, and refused to worship the
2:13:10
Speaker 4: gods of Egypt, created by the hands of Man. Ten,
2:13:15
Speaker 4: He also put faith in their invisible God, who did
2:13:18
Speaker 4: not suffer them to betray him despite their ever growing weakness. Eleven,
2:13:24
Speaker 4: and the teachers among Israel animated Mosah in his zeal
2:13:28
Speaker 4: and prayed for him that he would intercede with his
2:13:31
Speaker 4: father Pharaoh in favor of their co religionists. Twelve, and
2:13:36
Speaker 4: Prince Mosah went before his father, begging him to lighten
2:13:40
Speaker 4: the burden of the unhappy people. Pharaoh, however, became incensed
2:13:45
Speaker 4: with rage and ordered that they should be tormented more
2:13:48
Speaker 4: than before. Thirteen, And it came to pass that Egypt
2:13:53
Speaker 4: was visited by a great calamity. The plague decimated young
2:13:57
Speaker 4: and old, the healthy and the sick, and Pharaoh beheld
2:14:00
Speaker 4: in this the resentment of his own gods against him. Fourteen.
2:14:06
Speaker 4: But Prince Mosah said to his father that it was
2:14:09
Speaker 4: the God of his slaves who thus interposed on behalf
2:14:12
Speaker 4: of his wretched people, and avenged them upon the Egyptians. Fifteen. Thereupon,
2:14:19
Speaker 4: Pharaoh commanded Mosa his son, to gather all the Israelite
2:14:23
Speaker 4: slaves and lead them away, and found, at a great
2:14:26
Speaker 4: distance from the capital another city where he should rule
2:14:30
Speaker 4: over them. Sixteen. Then Mosah made known to the Hebrew
2:14:34
Speaker 4: slaves that he had obtained their freedom in the name
2:14:37
Speaker 4: of his and their God, the God of Israel. And
2:14:40
Speaker 4: with them he left the city and departed from the
2:14:43
Speaker 4: land of Egypt. Seventeen He led them back to the land, which,
2:14:48
Speaker 4: because of their many sins, had been taken from them.
2:14:52
Speaker 4: There he gave them laws and admonished them to pray
2:14:54
Speaker 4: always to God, the indivisible Creator, whose kindness is infinite.
2:15:00
Speaker 4: Eighteen after Prince Mosa's death, the Israelites observed rigorously his laws,
2:15:06
Speaker 4: and God rewarded them for the ills to which they
2:15:09
Speaker 4: had been subjected in Egypt. Nineteen, their kingdom became one
2:15:15
Speaker 4: of the most powerful on earth. Their kings made themselves
2:15:18
Speaker 4: renowned for their treasures, and peace reigned in Israel. Sub
2:15:23
Speaker 4: Section three. One, The glory of Israel's wealth spread over
2:15:28
Speaker 4: the whole earth, and the surrounding nations became envious. Two.
2:15:33
Speaker 4: But the Most High himself led the victorious arms of
2:15:36
Speaker 4: the Hebrews, and the pagan did not dare to attack them. Three. Unfortunately,
2:15:42
Speaker 4: man is prone to air, and the fidelity of the
2:15:45
Speaker 4: Israelites to their God was not of long duration. Four,
2:15:50
Speaker 4: Little by little, they forgot the favors He had bestowed
2:15:53
Speaker 4: upon them, rarely invoked his name, and sought rather protection
2:15:57
Speaker 4: by the magicians and sorcerers. Five the kings and the
2:16:02
Speaker 4: chiefs among the people substituted their own laws for those
2:16:05
Speaker 4: given by Mosa. The temple of God and the observances
2:16:09
Speaker 4: of their ancient faith were neglected. The people addicted themselves
2:16:13
Speaker 4: to sensual gratifications and lost their original purity. Six many
2:16:19
Speaker 4: centuries had elapsed since their exodus from Egypt, where God
2:16:23
Speaker 4: bethought himself of again inflicting chastisement upon them. Seven strangers
2:16:30
Speaker 4: invaded Israel, devastated the land, destroyed the villages, and carried
2:16:34
Speaker 4: their inhabitants away into captivity. Eight at last came the
2:16:39
Speaker 4: Pagans from over the sea, from the land of Rommels.
2:16:43
Speaker 4: They made themselves masters of the Hebrews and placed over
2:16:47
Speaker 4: them their army chiefs, who governed in the name of Caesar.
2:16:51
Speaker 4: Nine they defiled the temples, forced the inhabitants to seize
2:16:55
Speaker 4: the worship of the Indivisible God, and compel them to
2:16:58
Speaker 4: sacrifice to the heathen God. Ten they made common soldiers
2:17:03
Speaker 4: of those who had been men of rank, the women
2:17:06
Speaker 4: became their prey, and the common people, reduced to slavery,
2:17:09
Speaker 4: were carried away by thousands over the sea. Eleven the
2:17:14
Speaker 4: children were slain, and soon in the whole land there
2:17:18
Speaker 4: was not heard but weeping and lamentation. Twelve. In this
2:17:22
Speaker 4: extreme distress, the Israelites once more remembered their great God,
2:17:27
Speaker 4: implored his mercy, and prayed for his forgiveness. Our Father,
2:17:31
Speaker 4: in his inexhaustible clemency, heard their prayer sub Section four. One.
2:17:37
Speaker 4: At that time, the moment had come for the compassionate
2:17:40
Speaker 4: Judge to reincarnate in a human form two, and the
2:17:45
Speaker 4: eternal spirit, resting in a state of complete inaction and
2:17:49
Speaker 4: supreme bliss, awakened and separated from the eternal being for
2:17:53
Speaker 4: an undetermined period three, so that in human form he
2:17:58
Speaker 4: might teach man to identify himself with the Divinity and
2:18:02
Speaker 4: attained to eternal felicity. Four, and to show by his
2:18:06
Speaker 4: example how man can attain moral purity and free his
2:18:10
Speaker 4: soul from the domination of the physical senses, so that
2:18:14
Speaker 4: it may achieve the perfection necessary for it to enter
2:18:17
Speaker 4: the Kingdom of Heaven, which is immutable and where Bliss
2:18:21
Speaker 4: eternal reigns. Five, Soon after a marvelous child was born
2:18:26
Speaker 4: in the land of Israel, God himself spoke through the
2:18:30
Speaker 4: mouth of this child of the miseries of the body
2:18:33
Speaker 4: and the grandeur of the soul. Six. The parents of
2:18:37
Speaker 4: the infant were poor people who belonged to a family
2:18:40
Speaker 4: noted for great piety, who forgot the greatness of their
2:18:44
Speaker 4: ancestors in celebrating the name of the Creator and giving
2:18:49
Speaker 4: thanks to him for the trials which he had sent
2:18:52
Speaker 4: upon them. Seven to reward them for a verering to
2:18:56
Speaker 4: the path of truth, God bless the first born of
2:18:59
Speaker 4: this family, chose him for his elect and sent him
2:19:02
Speaker 4: to sustain the fallen and comfort the afflicted. Eight. The
2:19:06
Speaker 4: divine child, to whom the name Esa was given, commenced
2:19:10
Speaker 4: in his tender years to talk of the Only and
2:19:14
Speaker 4: indivisible God, exhorting the strait souls to repent and purify
2:19:19
Speaker 4: themselves from the sins of which they had become guilty.
2:19:23
Speaker 4: Nine People came from all parts to hear him and
2:19:26
Speaker 4: marveled at the discourses which came from his infantile mouth,
2:19:30
Speaker 4: and all Israel agreed that the spirit of the eternal
2:19:33
Speaker 4: dwelt in this child. Ten when Esa was thirteen years old,
2:19:38
Speaker 4: the age at which in Israelite is expected to marry eleven,
2:19:43
Speaker 4: the modest house of his industrious parents became a meeting
2:19:46
Speaker 4: place of the rich and illustrious, who were anxious to
2:19:49
Speaker 4: have as a son in law the young Isa, who
2:19:52
Speaker 4: was already celebrated for the edifying discourses he made in
2:19:55
Speaker 4: the name of the All Powerful Twelve. Then ESA's secret
2:20:00
Speaker 4: absented himself from his father's house, left Jerusalem, and in
2:20:04
Speaker 4: a train of merchants, journeyed toward the Sind thirteen with
2:20:08
Speaker 4: the object of perfecting himself in the knowledge of the
2:20:11
Speaker 4: Word of God and the study of the laws of
2:20:13
Speaker 4: the Great Buddhas sub Section five one. In his fourteenth year,
2:20:19
Speaker 4: young Isa, the Blessed One came this side of the
2:20:22
Speaker 4: Sind and settled among the Ariyas in the country blood
2:20:26
Speaker 4: by God. Two Fame spread the name of the marvelous
2:20:31
Speaker 4: Youth along the northern Sind, and when he came through
2:20:34
Speaker 4: the country of the Five Streams and Rajiputan, the devotees
2:20:38
Speaker 4: of the god Djen asked him to stay among them. Three.
2:20:43
Speaker 4: But he left the deluded worshippers of Jen and went
2:20:46
Speaker 4: to Jagaranat, in the country of Orsus, where reposed the
2:20:50
Speaker 4: mortal remains of Yasa Krishna, and where the white priests
2:20:54
Speaker 4: of Bramah welcomed him joyfully. Four. They taught him to
2:20:59
Speaker 4: read and to understand and the VADs to cure physical
2:21:02
Speaker 4: ills by means of prayers, to teach and to expound
2:21:05
Speaker 4: the sacred scriptures, to drive out evil desires from man
2:21:09
Speaker 4: and make him again in the likeness of God. Five.
2:21:13
Speaker 4: He spent six years in Jagarnat, in Rajagriha, in Banaras,
2:21:17
Speaker 4: and in other holy cities. The common people loved Isa,
2:21:21
Speaker 4: for he lived in peace with the visiers and the Shudras,
2:21:24
Speaker 4: to whom he taught the holy scriptures.
2:21:27
Speaker 1: Six.
2:21:28
Speaker 4: But the Brahmins and the Kchatrias told him that they
2:21:31
Speaker 4: were forbidden by the Great Parabrahmah to come near to
2:21:34
Speaker 4: those who were created from his belly and his feet. Seven,
2:21:38
Speaker 4: that the viziers might only hear the recital of the VADs,
2:21:42
Speaker 4: and this only on the festal days. And eight that
2:21:46
Speaker 4: the Shudras were not only forbidden to attend the reading
2:21:49
Speaker 4: of the VADs, but even to look on them, for
2:21:52
Speaker 4: they were condemned to perpetual servitude as slaves of the Brahmins,
2:21:56
Speaker 4: the Chhatrias, and even the Viziers. Nine, Death alone can
2:22:01
Speaker 4: enfranchise them from their servitude, has said Parabrama. Leave them therefore,
2:22:07
Speaker 4: and come to adore with us the gods whom you
2:22:10
Speaker 4: will make angry if you disobey them. Ten But Esa,
2:22:15
Speaker 4: disregarding their words, remained with the Sudras, preaching against the
2:22:19
Speaker 4: Brahmans and the Chhatrias. Eleven he declaimed strongly against mans
2:22:25
Speaker 4: arrogating to himself the authority to deprive his fellow beings
2:22:29
Speaker 4: of their human and spiritual rights. Verily, he said, God
2:22:34
Speaker 4: has made no difference between his children, who are all
2:22:37
Speaker 4: alike dear to him. Twelve Esa denied the divine inspiration
2:22:42
Speaker 4: of the Vades and the Puraans, For as he taught
2:22:45
Speaker 4: his followers, one law has been given to man to
2:22:49
Speaker 4: guide him in his actions. Thirteen fear the lad thy God,
2:22:54
Speaker 4: bend thy knees only before him, and bring to him
2:22:57
Speaker 4: only the offerings which come from thy earnings. Fourteen Esa
2:23:02
Speaker 4: denied the Trimulthi and the incarnation of ParaBrahma in Vishnu,
2:23:06
Speaker 4: Shiva and other gods, For said he fifteen, the eternal judge,
2:23:12
Speaker 4: the eternal Spirit, constitutes the only and indivisible soul of
2:23:16
Speaker 4: the universe. And it is this soul alone which creates, contains,
2:23:20
Speaker 4: and vivifies all. Sixteen. He alone has willed and created.
2:23:25
Speaker 4: He alone has existed from eternity, and his existence will
2:23:29
Speaker 4: be without end. There is no one like unto him,
2:23:33
Speaker 4: either in the heavens or on the earth. Seventeen. The
2:23:37
Speaker 4: Great Creator has divided his power with no other being,
2:23:41
Speaker 4: far less with inanimate objects, as you have been taught
2:23:44
Speaker 4: to believe, For he alone is omnipotent and all sufficient.
2:23:48
Speaker 4: Eighteen He willed, and the world was by one divine thought.
2:23:54
Speaker 4: He reunited the waters and separated them from the dry
2:23:57
Speaker 4: land of the globe. He is the cause of the
2:24:00
Speaker 4: mysterious life of man, into whom he has breeded part
2:24:04
Speaker 4: of his divine being. Nineteen. And he has put under
2:24:08
Speaker 4: subjection to man the lands, the waters, the beasts, and
2:24:12
Speaker 4: everything which he created, and which he himself preserves in
2:24:16
Speaker 4: immutable order, allotting to each its proper duration. Twenty. The
2:24:22
Speaker 4: anger of God will soon break forth upon man, for
2:24:25
Speaker 4: he has forgotten his creator. He has filled his temples
2:24:29
Speaker 4: with abominations, and he adores a multitude of creatures which
2:24:33
Speaker 4: God has subordinated to him twenty one, And to gain
2:24:38
Speaker 4: favor with images of stone and metal, he sacrifices human
2:24:41
Speaker 4: beings in whom dwells part of the spirit of the
2:24:44
Speaker 4: most High twenty two. And he humiliates those who work
2:24:49
Speaker 4: in the sweat of their brows to gain favor in
2:24:52
Speaker 4: the eyes of the idler who sitteth at a sumptuous table.
2:24:56
Speaker 4: Twenty three. Those who deprive their brothers of divine happiness
2:25:00
Speaker 4: will themselves be deprived of it, and the Brahmins and
2:25:03
Speaker 4: the Shatrias shall become the chudreers of the Shudras, with
2:25:07
Speaker 4: whom the eternal will stay forever. Twenty four. In the
2:25:11
Speaker 4: day of judgment, the Chudras and the Viziers will be
2:25:14
Speaker 4: forgiven for that they knew not the light, while God
2:25:18
Speaker 4: will let lose his wrath upon those who arrogated his authority.
2:25:22
Speaker 4: Twenty five. The viziers and the Shudras were filled with
2:25:26
Speaker 4: great admiration and asked Esa how they should pray in
2:25:30
Speaker 4: order not to lose their hold upon eternal life. Twenty six.
2:25:35
Speaker 4: Pray not to idols, for they cannot hear you hearken
2:25:39
Speaker 4: not to the vEDS where the truth is altered. Be
2:25:42
Speaker 4: humble and humiliate not your fellow men. Twenty seven, Help
2:25:47
Speaker 4: the poor, support the weak, do evil to none, covet
2:25:52
Speaker 4: not that which ye have not and which belongs to others.
2:25:59
Speaker 4: And of Part one The Life of Saint Esa, Part
2:26:04
Speaker 4: two sub section six. The white priests and the warriors,
2:26:10
Speaker 4: who had learned of ESA's discourse to the Shudras, resolved
2:26:14
Speaker 4: upon his death and sent their servants to find the
2:26:17
Speaker 4: young teacher and slay him. But Isa, worn by the
2:26:21
Speaker 4: Shudras of his danger, left by knight Juggernaut, gained the
2:26:26
Speaker 4: mountain and settled in the country of the Gautamides, where
2:26:30
Speaker 4: the great Buddha Shakimuni came to the world among a
2:26:34
Speaker 4: people who worshiped the Only and sublime Brahma. Three. When
2:26:39
Speaker 4: the just Esa had acquired the Pali language, he applied
2:26:43
Speaker 4: himself to the study of the sacred scrolls of the Sutras. Four.
2:26:48
Speaker 4: After six years of study, Esa, whom the Buddha had
2:26:52
Speaker 4: elected to spread his holy word, could perfectly expound the
2:26:56
Speaker 4: sacred scrolls. Five. He then left Nepal and the Himalay
2:27:01
Speaker 4: Mountains descended into the valley of Rajiputan, and directed his
2:27:05
Speaker 4: steps towards the west, everywhere, preaching to the people the
2:27:09
Speaker 4: supreme perfection attainable by men, six, and the good he
2:27:14
Speaker 4: must do to his fellow men, which is the sure
2:27:18
Speaker 4: means of speedy union with the eternal Spirit. He who
2:27:22
Speaker 4: has recovered his primitive purity, said Isa, shall die with
2:27:26
Speaker 4: his transgressions forgiven, and have the right to contemplate the
2:27:30
Speaker 4: majesty of God. Seven. When the divine Isa traversed the
2:27:36
Speaker 4: territories of the Pagans, he taught that the adoration of
2:27:39
Speaker 4: visible gods was contrary to natural law. Eight. For to man,
2:27:45
Speaker 4: said he, it has not been given to see the
2:27:48
Speaker 4: image of God, and it behooves him not to make
2:27:51
Speaker 4: for himself a multitude of divinities in the imagined likeness
2:27:55
Speaker 4: of the eternal. Nine. Moreover, it is against human conscience
2:28:00
Speaker 4: to have less regard for the greatness of divine purity
2:28:04
Speaker 4: than for animals or works of stone or metal made
2:28:07
Speaker 4: by the hands of man. Ten. The eternal law giver
2:28:12
Speaker 4: is one. There are no other gods than he. He
2:28:15
Speaker 4: has parted the world with none, nor had he any
2:28:18
Speaker 4: counselor Eleven, even as a father shows kindness towards his children,
2:28:25
Speaker 4: So will God judge men after death in conformity with
2:28:28
Speaker 4: his merciful laws. He will never humiliate his child by
2:28:33
Speaker 4: casting his soul for chastisement into the body of a beast. Twelve.
2:28:38
Speaker 4: The heavenly laws, said the Creator through the mouth of Esa,
2:28:42
Speaker 4: are opposed to the immolation of human sacrifices to a
2:28:46
Speaker 4: statue or an animal. For I, the God, have sacrificed
2:28:50
Speaker 4: to man, all the animals and all that the world contains. Thirteen.
2:28:56
Speaker 4: Everything has been sacrificed to man, who is directly and
2:29:00
Speaker 4: intimately united to me his Father. Therefore shall the man
2:29:04
Speaker 4: be severely judged and punished by My law who causes
2:29:08
Speaker 4: the sacrifice of my children. Fourteen. Man is not before
2:29:13
Speaker 4: the eternal judge, as the animal is before man. Fifteen.
2:29:18
Speaker 4: Therefore I say unto you, leave your idols and perform
2:29:22
Speaker 4: not ceremonies which separate you from your Father and bind
2:29:26
Speaker 4: you to the priests from whom Heaven has turned away Sixteen.
2:29:32
Speaker 4: For it is they who have led you away from
2:29:34
Speaker 4: the True God, and by superstitions and cruelty, perverted the
2:29:38
Speaker 4: spirit and made you blind to the knowledge of the truth.
2:29:42
Speaker 4: Sub section seven. One, the words of Esa spread among
2:29:47
Speaker 4: the Pagans, through whose country he passed, and the inhabitants
2:29:51
Speaker 4: abandoned their idols. Two, seeing which the priests demanded of him,
2:29:56
Speaker 4: who thus glorified the name of the True God, that
2:29:59
Speaker 4: he should, in the presence of the people, prove the
2:30:02
Speaker 4: charges he made against them, and demonstrate the vanity of
2:30:06
Speaker 4: their idols. Three. And Esa answered them, if your idols
2:30:12
Speaker 4: or the animals you worship, really possess the supernatural powers
2:30:16
Speaker 4: you claim, let them strike me with a thunderbolt before you. Four.
2:30:21
Speaker 4: Why dost thou not perform a miracle, replied the priests,
2:30:25
Speaker 4: and let thy God confound ours, if he is greater
2:30:28
Speaker 4: than they.
2:30:30
Speaker 2: Five.
2:30:31
Speaker 4: But Esa said, the miracles of our God have been
2:30:34
Speaker 4: wrought from the first day when the universe was created,
2:30:38
Speaker 4: and are performed every day in every moment. Whoso sees
2:30:42
Speaker 4: them not is deprived of one of the most beautiful
2:30:45
Speaker 4: gifts of life. Six. And it is not on inanimate
2:30:49
Speaker 4: objects of stone, metal, or wood that he will let
2:30:52
Speaker 4: his anger fall, but on the men who worship them,
2:30:56
Speaker 4: and who, therefore, for their salvation, must destroy the idol
2:31:00
Speaker 4: they have made. Seven, even as a stone and a
2:31:04
Speaker 4: grain of sand, which are not before Man await patiently
2:31:08
Speaker 4: they use by him. Eight. In like manner, man who
2:31:13
Speaker 4: is not before God must await in resignation his pleasure,
2:31:17
Speaker 4: for a manifestation of his favor. Nine. But woe to you, ye,
2:31:23
Speaker 4: adversaries of men, if it is not the favor you await,
2:31:27
Speaker 4: but rather the wrath of the most High. Woe to
2:31:30
Speaker 4: you if you demand that he attest his power by
2:31:34
Speaker 4: a miracle. Ten. For it is not the idols which
2:31:38
Speaker 4: he will destroy in his wrath, but those by whom
2:31:41
Speaker 4: they were created. Their hearts will be the prey of
2:31:44
Speaker 4: an eternal fire, and their flesh shall be given to
2:31:47
Speaker 4: the beasts of prey. Eleven. God will drive away the
2:31:51
Speaker 4: contaminated animals from his flocks, but will take to himself
2:31:56
Speaker 4: those who strayed because they knew not the heavenly part
2:32:00
Speaker 4: within them. Twelve. When the Pagans saw that the power
2:32:05
Speaker 4: of their priests was not they put faith in the
2:32:08
Speaker 4: words of Esa. Fearing the anger of the True God,
2:32:11
Speaker 4: they broke their idols to pieces and caused their priests
2:32:15
Speaker 4: to flee from among them. Thirteen. Esa furthermore taught the
2:32:20
Speaker 4: Pagans that they should not endeavor to see the eternal
2:32:23
Speaker 4: Spirit with their eyes, but to perceive him with their hearts,
2:32:27
Speaker 4: and make themselves worthy of His favors by the purity
2:32:31
Speaker 4: of their souls. Fourteen. Not only he said to them,
2:32:36
Speaker 4: must ye refrain from offering human sacrifices. But ye may
2:32:40
Speaker 4: not lay on the altar any creature to which life
2:32:43
Speaker 4: has been given, For all things created are for man. Fifteen.
2:32:49
Speaker 4: Withhold not from your neighbor his just due, for this
2:32:52
Speaker 4: would be like stealing from him what he had earned
2:32:55
Speaker 4: in the sweat of his brow. Sixteen. Deceive none that
2:32:59
Speaker 4: ye may may not yourselves be deceived. Seek to justify
2:33:03
Speaker 4: yourselves before the last judgment, for then it will be
2:33:07
Speaker 4: too late. Seventeen. Be not given to debauchery, for it
2:33:12
Speaker 4: is a violation of the law of God. Eighteen that
2:33:16
Speaker 4: you may attain to supreme bliss. Ye may not only
2:33:20
Speaker 4: purify yourselves, but must also guide others into the path
2:33:25
Speaker 4: that will enable them to regain their primitive innocence. Sub
2:33:29
Speaker 4: Section eight. The countries round about were filled with the
2:33:33
Speaker 4: renown of ESA's preachings, and when he came unto Persia,
2:33:37
Speaker 4: the priests grew afraid and forbade the people hearing him. Two. Nevertheless,
2:33:43
Speaker 4: the villages received him with joy, and the people hearkened
2:33:47
Speaker 4: intently to his words, which, being seen by the priests,
2:33:51
Speaker 4: caused them to order that he should be arrested and
2:33:54
Speaker 4: brought before their high priest, who asked him. Three, of
2:33:58
Speaker 4: what new God does the speak? Knowst thou not unfortunate man,
2:34:03
Speaker 4: that thou art that Saint Zoroaster is the only just
2:34:07
Speaker 4: one to whom alone was vouchsafed the honor of receiving
2:34:11
Speaker 4: revelations from the most High. Four by whose command the
2:34:16
Speaker 4: angels compiled his word in laws for the governance of
2:34:19
Speaker 4: his people, which were given to Zoroaster in Paradise. Five.
2:34:25
Speaker 4: Who then art thou who darest to utter blasphemies against
2:34:29
Speaker 4: our God, and so doubt in the hearts of believers?
2:34:33
Speaker 4: Six and Esa said to them, I preach no new God,
2:34:37
Speaker 4: but our celestial Father, who has existed before the beginning
2:34:42
Speaker 4: and will exist until after the end. Seven. Of him,
2:34:47
Speaker 4: I have spoken to the people, who, even as innocent children,
2:34:51
Speaker 4: are incapable of comprehending God by their own intelligence of
2:34:55
Speaker 4: fathoming the sublimity of the divine spirit. Eight And as
2:35:00
Speaker 4: the new born child in the night recognizes the mother's breast.
2:35:04
Speaker 4: So your people, held in the darkness of error by
2:35:07
Speaker 4: your pernicious doctrines and religious ceremonies, have recognized instinctively their father,
2:35:12
Speaker 4: in the Father whose prophet I am. Nine, the eternal Being,
2:35:18
Speaker 4: says to your people by my mouth, ye shall not
2:35:21
Speaker 4: adore the sun, for it is but a part of
2:35:24
Speaker 4: the universe which I have created for men. Ten. It
2:35:29
Speaker 4: rises to warm you during your work. It sets to
2:35:32
Speaker 4: accord to you the rest that I have ordained. Eleven
2:35:36
Speaker 4: to me, only ye owe all that ye possess, all
2:35:40
Speaker 4: that surrounds you, and that is above and below you.
2:35:43
Speaker 4: Twelve But said the priests, how could the people live
2:35:47
Speaker 4: according to your rules if they had no teachers? Thirteen?
2:35:52
Speaker 4: Whereupon Esa answered, so long as they had no priests,
2:35:56
Speaker 4: they were governed by the natural law and conserved the
2:35:59
Speaker 4: simplicity of their souls. Fourteen. Their souls were in God,
2:36:04
Speaker 4: and to commune with the Father, they had not to
2:36:07
Speaker 4: have recourse to the intermediation of idols or animals of fire,
2:36:11
Speaker 4: as taught by you. Fifteen, ye pretend that man must
2:36:16
Speaker 4: adore the sun, the genie of good and evil. But
2:36:20
Speaker 4: I say unto you that your doctrine is pernicious. The
2:36:24
Speaker 4: son does not act spontaneously, but by the will of
2:36:27
Speaker 4: the invisible creator, who has given to it being sixteen
2:36:33
Speaker 4: who then caused that this star lights the day, warms
2:36:37
Speaker 4: man at his work, and vivifies the seeds sown in
2:36:40
Speaker 4: the ground. Seventeen. The eternal Spirit is the soul of
2:36:44
Speaker 4: everything animate, and you commit a great sin in dividing
2:36:48
Speaker 4: him into the spirit of evil and the spirit of good.
2:36:52
Speaker 4: For there is no God other than the God of good.
2:36:55
Speaker 4: Eighteen And he like to the father of a family,
2:37:00
Speaker 4: as only good to his children, to whom he forgives
2:37:02
Speaker 4: their transgressions if they repent of them. Nineteen. And the
2:37:07
Speaker 4: spirit of evil dwells upon earth in the hearts of
2:37:10
Speaker 4: those who turned the children of God away from the
2:37:13
Speaker 4: right path. Therefore, I say unto you fear the day
2:37:17
Speaker 4: of judgment, for God will inflict a terrible chastisement upon
2:37:21
Speaker 4: all those who have led His children astray, and beguile
2:37:25
Speaker 4: them with superstition and errors. Twenty One upon those who
2:37:29
Speaker 4: have blinded them who saw, who have brought contagion to
2:37:33
Speaker 4: the well, who have taught the worship of those things
2:37:35
Speaker 4: which God may to be subject to man or to
2:37:38
Speaker 4: aid him in his works. Twenty two. Your doctrine is
2:37:42
Speaker 4: the fruit of your error in seeking to bring near
2:37:45
Speaker 4: to you the God of Truth by creating for yourselves
2:37:49
Speaker 4: false gods. Twenty three. When the Magi heard these words,
2:37:54
Speaker 4: they feared to themselves do him harm. But at night,
2:37:57
Speaker 4: when the whole city slept, they brought him out the
2:38:00
Speaker 4: walls and left him on the highway, in the hope
2:38:03
Speaker 4: that he would not fail to become the prey of
2:38:05
Speaker 4: wild beasts twenty four. But protected by the Lord our God,
2:38:10
Speaker 4: Saint Esa continued on his way without accident. Sub Section nine. One, Esa,
2:38:19
Speaker 4: whom the Creator had selected to recall to the worship
2:38:22
Speaker 4: of the True God Men sunk in sin, was twenty
2:38:26
Speaker 4: nine years old when he arrived in the land of Israel. Two.
2:38:30
Speaker 4: Since the departure therefrom of Isa, the Pagans had caused
2:38:34
Speaker 4: the Israelites to endure more atrocious sufferings than before, and
2:38:38
Speaker 4: they were filled with despair. Three. Many among them had
2:38:43
Speaker 4: begun to neglect the laws of their God and those
2:38:45
Speaker 4: of Mosa, in the hope of winning the favor of
2:38:48
Speaker 4: their brutal conquerors. Four. But Esa, notwithstanding their unhappy condition,
2:38:54
Speaker 4: exhorted his countrymen not to despair, because the day of
2:38:58
Speaker 4: their redemption from the yoke of sin was near, and
2:39:01
Speaker 4: he himself, by his example, confirmed their faith in the
2:39:04
Speaker 4: God of their fathers. Five children, yield not yourselves to despair,
2:39:11
Speaker 4: said the celestial Father to them through the mouth of Esa,
2:39:14
Speaker 4: for I have heard your lamentations, and your cries have
2:39:17
Speaker 4: reached my years.
2:39:19
Speaker 1: Six.
2:39:20
Speaker 4: Weep not o, my beloved sons, for your griefs have
2:39:24
Speaker 4: touched the heart of your father, and he has forgiven
2:39:27
Speaker 4: you as he forgave your ancestors. Seven. Forsake not your
2:39:32
Speaker 4: families to plunge into debauchery. Stain not the nobility of
2:39:36
Speaker 4: your souls. Adore not idols which cannot but remain deaf
2:39:40
Speaker 4: to your supplications. Eight. Fill my temple with your hope
2:39:45
Speaker 4: and your patience, and do not adjure the religion of
2:39:48
Speaker 4: your forefathers, for I have guided them and bestowed upon
2:39:52
Speaker 4: them of my beneficence. Nine. Lift up those who have fallen,
2:39:57
Speaker 4: Feed the hungry, and help the sick, that ye may
2:40:00
Speaker 4: be altogether pure and just in the day of the
2:40:03
Speaker 4: last judgment, which I prepare for you. Ten the Israelites
2:40:08
Speaker 4: came in multitudes to listen to ESA's words, and they
2:40:11
Speaker 4: asked him where they should thank their heavenly father, since
2:40:14
Speaker 4: their enemies had demolished their temples and robbed them of
2:40:17
Speaker 4: their sacred vessels. Eleven. Esa told them that God cared
2:40:22
Speaker 4: not for temples erected by human hands, but that human
2:40:26
Speaker 4: hearts were the true temples of God. Twelve. Enter into
2:40:30
Speaker 4: your temple, into your heart, illuminate it with good thoughts,
2:40:34
Speaker 4: with patience and the unshakable faith which you owe to
2:40:37
Speaker 4: your Father. Thirteen. And your sacred vessels, they are your
2:40:42
Speaker 4: hands in your eyes. Look to do that which is
2:40:45
Speaker 4: agreeable to God. For in doing good to your fellow men,
2:40:49
Speaker 4: you perform a ceremony that embellishes the temple, wherein abideth
2:40:53
Speaker 4: Him who has created you. Fourteen. For God has created
2:40:58
Speaker 4: you in his image, innocent, with pure souls and hearts,
2:41:02
Speaker 4: filled with kindness, and not made for the planning of evil,
2:41:05
Speaker 4: but to be the sanctuaries of love and justice. Fifteen.
2:41:10
Speaker 4: Therefore I say unto you, soil not your hearts with evil,
2:41:14
Speaker 4: for in them the eternal being abides. Sixteen. When ye
2:41:19
Speaker 4: do works of devotion and love, let them be with
2:41:22
Speaker 4: full hearts. And see that the motives of your actions
2:41:25
Speaker 4: be not hopes of gain or self interest. Seventeen. For
2:41:30
Speaker 4: actions so impelled will not bring you nearer to salvation,
2:41:34
Speaker 4: but lead to a state of moral degradation, wherein theft,
2:41:38
Speaker 4: lying and murder pass for generous deeds. End of Part two.
2:41:46
Speaker 4: The Life of Saint Esa, Part three, sub section ten. One.
2:41:52
Speaker 4: Esa went from one city to another, strengthening by the
2:41:56
Speaker 4: word of God the courage of the Israelites who were
2:42:00
Speaker 4: near to succumbing under their weight of war, and thousands
2:42:03
Speaker 4: of the people followed him to hear his teachings. Two.
2:42:07
Speaker 4: But the chiefs of the cities were afraid of him,
2:42:10
Speaker 4: and they informed the principal governor residing in Jerusalem that
2:42:14
Speaker 4: a man called Esa had arrived in the country, who,
2:42:17
Speaker 4: by his servants, had arried the people against the authorities,
2:42:21
Speaker 4: and that multitudes listening assiduously to him neglected their labor.
2:42:26
Speaker 4: And they added, he said that in a short time
2:42:30
Speaker 4: they would be free of their invader rulers. Three. Then Pilot,
2:42:35
Speaker 4: the governor of Jerusalem, gave orders that they should lay
2:42:38
Speaker 4: hold of the preacher Esa and bring him before the judges.
2:42:42
Speaker 4: In order, however, not to excite the anger of the populace,
2:42:46
Speaker 4: Pilot directed that he should be judged by the priests
2:42:50
Speaker 4: and scribes the Hebrew elders in their temple. Meanwhile, Esa
2:42:55
Speaker 4: continued his preaching. Arrived at Jerusalem, and the people, who
2:42:59
Speaker 4: already knew his fame, having learned of his coming, went
2:43:02
Speaker 4: out to meet him. They greeted him respectfully and opened
2:43:06
Speaker 4: to him the doors of their temple to hear from
2:43:09
Speaker 4: his mouth what he had said in other cities of Israel. Six.
2:43:13
Speaker 4: And Isa said to them, the human race perishes because
2:43:17
Speaker 4: of the lack of faith. For the darkness and the
2:43:19
Speaker 4: tempest have caused the flock to go astray, and they
2:43:22
Speaker 4: have lost their shepherds. Seven. But the tempests do not
2:43:27
Speaker 4: rage forever, and the darkness will not hide the light eternally.
2:43:31
Speaker 4: Soon the sky will become serene, the celestial light will
2:43:35
Speaker 4: again overspread the earth, and the straight flock will reunite
2:43:39
Speaker 4: around their shepherd. Eight. Wander not in the darkness seeking
2:43:44
Speaker 4: the way, lest ye fall into the ditch. But gather together,
2:43:49
Speaker 4: sustain one another, put your faith in your God, and
2:43:53
Speaker 4: wait for the first glimmer of light to reappear. Nine.
2:43:57
Speaker 4: He who sustains his neighbor sustains himself, and he who
2:44:00
Speaker 4: protects his family protects all his people and his country. Ten.
2:44:06
Speaker 4: Four be assured that the day is near when you
2:44:09
Speaker 4: will be delivered from the darkness. You will be reunited
2:44:13
Speaker 4: into one family, and your enemy will tremble with fear.
2:44:17
Speaker 4: He who is ignorant of the favor of the great God. Eleven.
2:44:21
Speaker 4: The priests and the elders who heard him, filled with
2:44:24
Speaker 4: admiration for his language, asked Tim if it was true
2:44:27
Speaker 4: that he had sought to raise the people against the
2:44:29
Speaker 4: authorities of the country, as had been reported to the
2:44:33
Speaker 4: governor Pilot Twelve can one raise against as strayed men
2:44:38
Speaker 4: to whom darkness has hidden their road and their door?
2:44:41
Speaker 4: Answered Esa, I have but forewarned the unhappy, as I
2:44:44
Speaker 4: do here in this temple, that they should no longer
2:44:47
Speaker 4: advance on the dark road, for an abyss opens before
2:44:51
Speaker 4: their feet. Thirteen. The power of this earth is not
2:44:55
Speaker 4: of long duration, and his subject to numberless changes. It
2:44:59
Speaker 4: would be if no Ovai for a man to rise
2:45:01
Speaker 4: in revolution against it, for one phase of it always
2:45:04
Speaker 4: succeeds another, and it is thus that it will go
2:45:08
Speaker 4: on until the extinction of human life. Fourteen, But do
2:45:12
Speaker 4: you not see that the powerful and the rich so
2:45:15
Speaker 4: among the children of Israel a spirit of rebellion against
2:45:19
Speaker 4: the eternal power of heaven. Fifteen Then the elders asked him,
2:45:24
Speaker 4: who art thou, and from what country hast thou come
2:45:27
Speaker 4: to us? We have not formerly heard thee spoken of,
2:45:30
Speaker 4: and do not even know thy name. Sixteen. I am
2:45:34
Speaker 4: an Israelite, answered Esa, And on the day of my
2:45:38
Speaker 4: birth have seen the walls of Jerusalem, and have heard
2:45:41
Speaker 4: the sobs of my brothers reduced to slavery, and the
2:45:44
Speaker 4: lamentations of my sisters carried away by the pagans. Seventeen
2:45:49
Speaker 4: And my soul was afflicted when I saw that my
2:45:51
Speaker 4: brethren had forgotten the True God. When a child, I
2:45:55
Speaker 4: left my father's house to go and settle among other people.
2:45:58
Speaker 4: Eighteen But having heard it said that my brethren suffered
2:46:03
Speaker 4: even greater miseries. Now I have come back to the
2:46:06
Speaker 4: land of my fathers to recall my brethren to the
2:46:09
Speaker 4: faith of their ancestors, which teaches us patience upon earth
2:46:13
Speaker 4: in order to attain the perfect and supreme bliss above. Nineteen.
2:46:17
Speaker 4: Then the wise old men put to him again this question.
2:46:20
Speaker 4: We are told that thou dishonest the laws of Mosa,
2:46:24
Speaker 4: and that thou teachest the people to forsake the temple
2:46:27
Speaker 4: of God. Twenty Whereupon Esa one does not demolish that
2:46:32
Speaker 4: which has been given by our heavenly Father, and which
2:46:35
Speaker 4: has been destroyed by sinners. I have but enjoined the
2:46:39
Speaker 4: people to purify the heart of all stains, for it
2:46:42
Speaker 4: is the veritable temple of God. Twenty one. As regards
2:46:46
Speaker 4: the laws of Mosa, I have endeavored to re establish
2:46:49
Speaker 4: them in the hearts of men. And I say unto
2:46:52
Speaker 4: you that ye ignore their true meaning. For it is
2:46:55
Speaker 4: not vengeance but pardon which they teach. Their sense has
2:46:58
Speaker 4: been perverted. Sub Section eleven. One. When the priests and
2:47:04
Speaker 4: the elders heard Esa, they decided among themselves not to
2:47:08
Speaker 4: give judgment against him, for he had done no harm
2:47:11
Speaker 4: to any one. And presenting themselves before Pilate, who was
2:47:15
Speaker 4: made governor of Jerusalem by the Pagan king of the
2:47:17
Speaker 4: country of Romalus, they spake to him thus, Two, we
2:47:22
Speaker 4: have seen the man whom thou chargest with inciting our
2:47:25
Speaker 4: people to revolt. We have heard his discourses and know
2:47:28
Speaker 4: that he is our countrymen. Three. But the chiefs of
2:47:32
Speaker 4: the cities have made to you false reports, for he
2:47:36
Speaker 4: is a just man who teaches the people the word
2:47:38
Speaker 4: of God. After interrogating him, we have allowed him to
2:47:41
Speaker 4: go in peace. Four. The governor thereupon became very angry
2:47:46
Speaker 4: and sent his disguised spies to keep watch upon Esa
2:47:50
Speaker 4: and report to the authorities the least word he addressed
2:47:52
Speaker 4: to the people. Five. In the meantime, the holy Esa
2:47:56
Speaker 4: continued to visit the neighboring cities and preached the true
2:47:59
Speaker 4: way of the Lord enjoining the Hebrews patience and promising
2:48:03
Speaker 4: them speedy deliverance. Six. And all the time, great numbers
2:48:07
Speaker 4: of the people followed him wherever he went, and many
2:48:10
Speaker 4: did not leave him at all, but attached themselves to
2:48:13
Speaker 4: him and served him. Seven. And Esa said, put not
2:48:17
Speaker 4: your faith in miracles performed by the hands of men,
2:48:20
Speaker 4: For he who rules nature is alone capable of doing
2:48:23
Speaker 4: supernatural things, while man is impotent to arrest the wrath
2:48:27
Speaker 4: of the winds or cause the rain to fall. Eight.
2:48:30
Speaker 4: One miracle, however, is within the power of man to accomplish.
2:48:34
Speaker 4: It is when his heart is filled with sincere faith,
2:48:38
Speaker 4: he resolves to root out from his mind all evil
2:48:41
Speaker 4: promptings and desires, and when in order to attain this end,
2:48:45
Speaker 4: he ceases to walk the path of iniquity. Nine. All
2:48:49
Speaker 4: the things done without God are only gross errors, illusions,
2:48:52
Speaker 4: and seductions, serving but to show how much the heart
2:48:56
Speaker 4: of the doer is full of presumption, falsehood, and impurity. Nine.
2:49:01
Speaker 4: But not your faith in oracles. God alone knows the future.
2:49:05
Speaker 4: He who has recourse to the diviners soils the temple
2:49:08
Speaker 4: of his heart and shows his lack of faith in
2:49:11
Speaker 4: his creator. Eleven. Belief in the diviners and their miracles
2:49:15
Speaker 4: destroys the innate simplicity of man and his childlike purity.
2:49:20
Speaker 4: An infernal power takes hold of him whoso errs and
2:49:23
Speaker 4: forces him to commit various sins and give himself to
2:49:26
Speaker 4: the worship of idols. Twelve. But the Lord, our God,
2:49:30
Speaker 4: to whom none can be equalled, is one omnipotent, omniscient,
2:49:34
Speaker 4: and omnipresent. He alone possesses all wisdom and all light. Thirteen.
2:49:39
Speaker 4: To him, ye must address yourselves to be comforted in
2:49:43
Speaker 4: your afflictions, aided in your works, healed in your sickness.
2:49:47
Speaker 4: And whoso asks of Him shall not ask in vain. Fourteen.
2:49:51
Speaker 4: The secrets of nature are in the hands of God.
2:49:54
Speaker 4: For the whole world, before it was made manifest, existed
2:49:57
Speaker 4: in the bosom of the divine thought, and has become
2:50:00
Speaker 4: material and visible by the will of the Most High.
2:50:04
Speaker 4: Fifteen When ye pray to Him, become again like little children.
2:50:08
Speaker 4: For ye know neither the past, nor the present, nor
2:50:11
Speaker 4: the future, and God is the lord of time. Sub
2:50:15
Speaker 4: Section twelve. One just man said to him, the disguised
2:50:19
Speaker 4: spies of the Governor of Jerusalem, tell us, if ye
2:50:22
Speaker 4: must continue to do the will of Caesar or expect
2:50:25
Speaker 4: our near deliverance. Two and YESA who recognized the questioners
2:50:29
Speaker 4: as the apostate spies sent to follow him, replied to them,
2:50:33
Speaker 4: I have not told you that ye would be delivered
2:50:35
Speaker 4: from Caesar. It is the soul sunk in error which
2:50:39
Speaker 4: will gain its deliverance. Three. There cannot be a family
2:50:43
Speaker 4: without a head, and they cannot be order in a
2:50:46
Speaker 4: people without a Caesar, whom ye should implicitly obey, as
2:50:50
Speaker 4: he will be held to answer for his acts before
2:50:53
Speaker 4: the Supreme Tribunal. Four Does Caesar possess a divine right?
2:50:58
Speaker 4: The spies asked him again. And is he the best
2:51:01
Speaker 4: of mortals? Five, there is no one the best among
2:51:05
Speaker 4: human beings, but there are many bad who, even as
2:51:08
Speaker 4: the sick neat physicians, require the care of those chosen
2:51:12
Speaker 4: for that mission in which must be used the means
2:51:15
Speaker 4: given by the sacred law of our heavenly Father.
2:51:18
Speaker 1: Six.
2:51:19
Speaker 4: Mercy and justice are the high prerogatives of Caesar, and
2:51:23
Speaker 4: his name will be illustrious if he exercises them. Seven.
2:51:27
Speaker 4: But he who acts otherwise, who transcends the limits of
2:51:30
Speaker 4: power he has over those under his rule, and even
2:51:34
Speaker 4: go so far as to put their lives in danger,
2:51:37
Speaker 4: offends the great Judge and derogates from him his own
2:51:40
Speaker 4: dignity in the eyes of men. Eight. Upon this, an
2:51:44
Speaker 4: old woman, who had approached the group to better hear Esa,
2:51:47
Speaker 4: was pushed aside by one of the disguised men, who
2:51:50
Speaker 4: placed himself before her. Nine then said Esa, it is
2:51:55
Speaker 4: not good for a son to push away his mother,
2:51:57
Speaker 4: that he may occupy the place which belongs to her.
2:52:00
Speaker 4: Whoso doth not respect his mother, the most sacred being
2:52:04
Speaker 4: after his God, is unworthy of the name of Sun. Ten.
2:52:08
Speaker 4: Hearken to what I say to you, respect woman, for
2:52:12
Speaker 4: in her we see the mother of the universe, and
2:52:14
Speaker 4: all the truth of divine creation is to come through her. Eleven.
2:52:19
Speaker 4: She is the found of everything good and beautiful, as
2:52:22
Speaker 4: she is also the germ of life and death. Upon her.
2:52:25
Speaker 4: Man depends in all his existence, for she is the
2:52:28
Speaker 4: moral and natural supporte in his labors. Twelve. In pain
2:52:33
Speaker 4: and suffering, she brings you forth. In the sweat of
2:52:36
Speaker 4: her brow. She watches over your growth, and until her
2:52:39
Speaker 4: death you cause her greatest anxieties. Bless her and adore her,
2:52:44
Speaker 4: for she is your only friend and support on earth. Thirteen.
2:52:48
Speaker 4: Respect her, defend her. In so doing you will gain
2:52:52
Speaker 4: for yourself her love. You will find favor before God,
2:52:55
Speaker 4: and for her sake many sins will be remitted to you. Fourteen.
2:53:00
Speaker 4: Love your wives and respect them, for they will be
2:53:03
Speaker 4: the mothers of to morrow, and later the grandmothers of
2:53:05
Speaker 4: a whole nation. Fifteen. Be submissive to the wife. Her
2:53:10
Speaker 4: love a nobles man softens his hardened heart, tamts the
2:53:14
Speaker 4: wild beast in him, and changes it to a lamb. Sixteen.
2:53:18
Speaker 4: Wife and mother are the priceless treasures which God has
2:53:21
Speaker 4: given to you. They are the most beautiful ornaments of
2:53:24
Speaker 4: the universe, and from them will be born all who
2:53:27
Speaker 4: will inhabit the world. Seventeen. Even as the Lord of
2:53:31
Speaker 4: Hosts separated the light from the darkness and the dry
2:53:34
Speaker 4: land from the waters, so does woman possess the divine
2:53:38
Speaker 4: gift of calling folk out of man's evil nature all
2:53:42
Speaker 4: the good that is in him. Eighteen. Therefore, I say
2:53:46
Speaker 4: unto you, after God, to woman must belong your best thoughts.
2:53:50
Speaker 4: For she is the divine temple where you will most
2:53:52
Speaker 4: easily obtain perfect happiness.
2:53:56
Speaker 2: Nineteen.
2:53:57
Speaker 4: Draw from this temple your moral force. There you will
2:54:00
Speaker 4: forget your sorrows and your failures, and recover the love
2:54:03
Speaker 4: necessary to aid your fellow men. Twenty Suffer her not
2:54:08
Speaker 4: to be humiliated, for by humiliating her, you humiliate yourselves
2:54:13
Speaker 4: and lose the sentiment of love without which nothing can
2:54:16
Speaker 4: exist here on earth. Twenty One Protect your wife that
2:54:20
Speaker 4: she may protect you, you and all your household. All
2:54:24
Speaker 4: that you do for mothers, your wives, for a widow,
2:54:27
Speaker 4: for any other woman in distress, you will do for
2:54:29
Speaker 4: your God. Sub Section thirteen. One. Thus Esa taught the
2:54:35
Speaker 4: people of Israel for three years, in every city, in
2:54:38
Speaker 4: every village, on the highways, and in the fields, and
2:54:41
Speaker 4: all he said came to pass. Two. All this time.
2:54:45
Speaker 4: The disguised spies of the governor Pilot observed him closely,
2:54:48
Speaker 4: but heard nothing to sustain the accusations formerly made against
2:54:52
Speaker 4: Esa by the chiefs of the cities. Three. But Saint
2:54:56
Speaker 4: ESA's growing popularity did not allow Pilot to rest. Feared
2:55:00
Speaker 4: that Esa would be instrumental in bringing about a revolution
2:55:03
Speaker 4: culminating in his elevation to the sovereignty, and therefore ordered
2:55:07
Speaker 4: the spies to make charges against him. Four. Then soldiers
2:55:11
Speaker 4: were sent to arrest him, and they cast him into
2:55:14
Speaker 4: a subterranean dungeon, where he was subjected to all kinds
2:55:17
Speaker 4: of tortures to compel him to accuse himself so that
2:55:20
Speaker 4: he might be put to death. Five. The saint, thinking
2:55:24
Speaker 4: only of the perfect bliss of his brethren, endured all
2:55:28
Speaker 4: these torments with resignation to the will of the creator.
2:55:31
Speaker 4: Six The servants of Pilot continued to torture him, and
2:55:35
Speaker 4: he was reduced to a state of extreme weakness. But
2:55:38
Speaker 4: God was with him and did not permit him to
2:55:40
Speaker 4: die at their hands. Seven. When the principal priests and
2:55:44
Speaker 4: wise elders learned of the sufferings which their saint endured,
2:55:48
Speaker 4: they went to Pilot, begging him to liberate Esa so
2:55:51
Speaker 4: that he might attend the Great Festival which was near
2:55:53
Speaker 4: at hand. Eight, But this the governor refused. Then they
2:55:58
Speaker 4: asked him that Esa should be brought before the elder's
2:56:00
Speaker 4: council so that he might be condemned or acquitted before
2:56:03
Speaker 4: the festival, And to this Pilot agreed.
2:56:06
Speaker 2: Nine.
2:56:07
Speaker 4: On the following day, the governor assembled the principal chiefs, priests, elders,
2:56:11
Speaker 4: and judges for the purpose of judging Esa. Ten, the
2:56:16
Speaker 4: saint was brought from his prison. They made him sit
2:56:18
Speaker 4: before the governor between two robbers who were to be
2:56:22
Speaker 4: judged at the same time with Esa, so as to
2:56:24
Speaker 4: show the people he was not the only one to
2:56:26
Speaker 4: be condemned. Eleven And Pilot, addressing himself to Esa, said,
2:56:31
Speaker 4: it is true, o man, that thou incisest the population
2:56:35
Speaker 4: against the authorities with the purpose of thyself becoming king
2:56:39
Speaker 4: of Israel. Twelve. Esa replied, one does not become king
2:56:43
Speaker 4: by one's own purpose. Thereto, they have told you an
2:56:46
Speaker 4: untruth when you were informed that I was inciting the
2:56:49
Speaker 4: people to revolution, I have only preached the King of Heaven,
2:56:53
Speaker 4: and it was him whom I told the people to worship. Thirteen,
2:56:57
Speaker 4: for the sons of Israel have lost their original inner,
2:57:00
Speaker 4: and unless they returned to worship the True God, they
2:57:03
Speaker 4: will be sacrificed and their temple will fall in ruins. Fourteen.
2:57:08
Speaker 4: The worldly power upholds order in the land. I told
2:57:11
Speaker 4: them not to forget this. I said to them, live
2:57:14
Speaker 4: in conformity with your situation, and refrained from disturbing public order.
2:57:19
Speaker 4: And at the same time I exhorted them to remember
2:57:22
Speaker 4: that disorder reigned in their own hearts and spirits. Fifteen. Therefore,
2:57:27
Speaker 4: the King of Heaven has punished them and has destroyed
2:57:29
Speaker 4: their nationality and taken from them their national kings. But
2:57:34
Speaker 4: I added, if you will be resigned to your fate
2:57:37
Speaker 4: as a reward, the Kingdom of Heaven will be yours. Sixteen.
2:57:42
Speaker 4: At this moment the witnesses were introduced, one of whom deposed.
2:57:45
Speaker 4: Thus thou hast said to the people that in comparison
2:57:49
Speaker 4: with the power of the King, who would soon liberate
2:57:52
Speaker 4: the Israelites from the yoke of the Heathen, the worldly
2:57:55
Speaker 4: authorities amounted to nothing. Seventeen. Blessings upon thee, said Esa,
2:58:01
Speaker 4: for thou hast spoken the truth. The King of Heaven
2:58:04
Speaker 4: is greater and more powerful than the laws of man,
2:58:06
Speaker 4: and his kingdom surpasses the kingdoms of this earth. Eighteen
2:58:11
Speaker 4: and the time is not far off. Ven Israel, obedient
2:58:14
Speaker 4: to the will of God, will throw off its yoke
2:58:16
Speaker 4: of sin. For it has been written that a forerunner
2:58:19
Speaker 4: would appear to announce the deliverance of the people, and
2:58:22
Speaker 4: that he would reunite them in one family. Nineteen Thereupon
2:58:26
Speaker 4: the governor said to the judges, have you heard this
2:58:29
Speaker 4: the Israelite Esa acknowledges the crime of which he is accused.
2:58:33
Speaker 4: Judge him, then, according to your laws, and pass upon
2:58:36
Speaker 4: him condemnation to death. Twenty We cannot condemn him, replied
2:58:41
Speaker 4: the priests and the ancients, as thou hast heard he
2:58:44
Speaker 4: spoke of the King of Heaven, and he has preached
2:58:47
Speaker 4: nothing which constitutes insubordination against the law. Twenty one. Thereupon
2:58:53
Speaker 4: the governor called a witness who had been bribed by
2:58:55
Speaker 4: his master Pilate to betray Esa. And this man said
2:58:58
Speaker 4: to Esa, is it not true that thou hast represented
2:59:02
Speaker 4: thyself as the king of Israel? When thou didst say
2:59:05
Speaker 4: that he who reigns in Heaven sent thee to prepare
2:59:07
Speaker 4: his people twenty two. But Esau blessed the man and answered,
2:59:12
Speaker 4: thou wilt find mercy for what thou hast said did
2:59:15
Speaker 4: not come out from thine own heart. Then, turning to
2:59:18
Speaker 4: the governor, he said, why dost thou lower thy dignity
2:59:22
Speaker 4: and teach thy inferiors to tell falsehood, when without doing so,
2:59:26
Speaker 4: it is in thy power to condemn an innocent man.
2:59:30
Speaker 4: Twenty three. When Pilot heard his words, he became greatly
2:59:33
Speaker 4: enraged and ordered that Esa be condemned to death and
2:59:36
Speaker 4: that the two robbers should be declared guiltless. Twenty four.
2:59:40
Speaker 4: The judges, after consulting among themselves, said to Pilot, we
2:59:43
Speaker 4: cannot consent to take this great sin upon us to
2:59:46
Speaker 4: condemn an innocent man and liberate malefactors. It would be
2:59:50
Speaker 4: against our laws. Twenty five. Act thyself then, as thou
2:59:54
Speaker 4: seest fit. Thereupon, the priests and elders walked out and
2:59:58
Speaker 4: washed their hands in a sacred vessel, and said, we
3:00:01
Speaker 4: are innocent of the blood of this righteous man sub
3:00:05
Speaker 4: Section fourteen one. By order of the governor, the soldiers
3:00:09
Speaker 4: seized Esa and the two robbers and led them to
3:00:11
Speaker 4: the place of execution, where they were nailed upon the
3:00:14
Speaker 4: crosses erected for them. Two. All day long, the bodies
3:00:18
Speaker 4: of Esa and the two robbers hung upon the crosses, bleeding,
3:00:22
Speaker 4: guarded by the soldiers. The people stood all around, and
3:00:25
Speaker 4: the relatives of the executed prayed and wept. Three. When
3:00:29
Speaker 4: the sun went down, ESA's tortures ended, he lost consciousness,
3:00:33
Speaker 4: and his soul disengaged itself from the body to reunite
3:00:36
Speaker 4: with God. Four. Thus ended the terrestrial existence of the
3:00:41
Speaker 4: reflection of the eternal Spirit under the form of a
3:00:44
Speaker 4: man who had saved, hardened sinners and comforted the afflicted. Five. Meanwhile,
3:00:50
Speaker 4: Pilot was afraid for what he had done, and ordered
3:00:52
Speaker 4: the body of the saint to be given to his relatives,
3:00:55
Speaker 4: who put it in a tomb near to the place
3:00:57
Speaker 4: of execution. Great numbers of persons came to visit the tomb,
3:01:01
Speaker 4: and the air was filled with their wailings and lamentations. Six.
3:01:05
Speaker 4: Three days later, the governor sent his soldiers to remove
3:01:08
Speaker 4: ESA's body and bury it in some other place, for
3:01:11
Speaker 4: he feared a rebellion among the people. Seven. The next day,
3:01:15
Speaker 4: when the people came to the tomb, they found it
3:01:17
Speaker 4: open and empty, the body of Esa being gone Thereupon
3:01:22
Speaker 4: the rumor spread that the Supreme Judge had sent his
3:01:24
Speaker 4: angels from heaven to remove the mortal remains of the
3:01:27
Speaker 4: saint in whom part of the Divine Spirit had lived
3:01:30
Speaker 4: on Earth. Eight. When Pilate learned of this rumor, he
3:01:34
Speaker 4: grew angry and prohibited, under penalty of death, the naming
3:01:37
Speaker 4: of Esa or praying for him to the Lord.
3:01:40
Speaker 2: Nine.
3:01:41
Speaker 4: But the people nevertheless continued to weep over ESA's death
3:01:44
Speaker 4: and to glorify their master. Therefore, many were carried into captivity,
3:01:49
Speaker 4: subjected to torture, and put to death.
3:01:52
Speaker 2: Ten.
3:01:53
Speaker 4: And the disciples of Saint Esa departed from the land
3:01:56
Speaker 4: of Israel and went in all directions to the Heathen,
3:02:00
Speaker 4: teaching that they should abandon their gross errors, think of
3:02:03
Speaker 4: the salvation of their souls, and earn the perfect bliss
3:02:06
Speaker 4: which awaits human beings in the immaterial world full of glory,
3:02:10
Speaker 4: where the Great Creator abides in all his immaculate and
3:02:13
Speaker 4: perfect majesty. Eleven, The Heathen, their kings and their warriors
3:02:18
Speaker 4: listened to the preachers, abandoned their erroneous beliefs, and forshook
3:02:22
Speaker 4: their priests and their idols to celebrate the praises of
3:02:25
Speaker 4: the most wise creator of the universe, king of kings,
3:02:29
Speaker 4: whose heart is filled with infinite mercy. End of Part three.
3:02:35
Speaker 4: Resume Part one. In reading the account of the life
3:02:41
Speaker 4: of Isa Jesus Christ, one is struck on the one
3:02:45
Speaker 4: hand by the resemblance of certain principal passages to accounts
3:02:49
Speaker 4: in the Old and New Testaments, and on the other
3:02:53
Speaker 4: by the not less remarkable contradictions which occasionally occur between
3:02:58
Speaker 4: the Buddhistic version, the Ebraic and Christian records. To explain this,
3:03:04
Speaker 4: it is necessary to remember the epochs when the facts
3:03:07
Speaker 4: were consigned to writing. We have been taught from our
3:03:10
Speaker 4: childhood that the Pentitoic was written by Moses himself, but
3:03:15
Speaker 4: the careful researches of modern scholars have demonstrated conclusively that
3:03:20
Speaker 4: at the time of Moses, and even much later, there
3:03:23
Speaker 4: existed in the country bathed by the Mediterranean no other
3:03:27
Speaker 4: writing than the hieroglyphics in Egypt and the cuneiform inscriptions
3:03:32
Speaker 4: found nowadays in the excavations of Babylon. We know, however,
3:03:36
Speaker 4: that the alphabet and parchment were known in China and
3:03:39
Speaker 4: India long before Moses. Let me cite a few proofs
3:03:44
Speaker 4: of this statement. We learned from the sacred Books of
3:03:47
Speaker 4: the Religion of the Wise that the alphabet was invented
3:03:50
Speaker 4: in China in twenty eight hundred by Fosi, who was
3:03:54
Speaker 4: the first emperor of China to embrace this religion, the
3:03:57
Speaker 4: ritual and exterior forms of which he himself arranged. Yao,
3:04:02
Speaker 4: the fourth of the Chinese emperors, who is said to
3:04:04
Speaker 4: have belonged to this faith, published moral and civil laws,
3:04:08
Speaker 4: and in twenty twenty eight compiled a penal code. The
3:04:12
Speaker 4: fifth Emperor Son proclaimed in the year of his accession
3:04:16
Speaker 4: to the throne that the Religion of the Wise should
3:04:19
Speaker 4: thenceforth be the recognized religion of the state, and in
3:04:23
Speaker 4: twenty two eighty two compiled new penal laws. His laws,
3:04:28
Speaker 4: modified by the Emperor wu Wang, founder of the dynasty
3:04:33
Speaker 4: of the Chiu, in eleven hundred and twenty two, are
3:04:36
Speaker 4: those in existence today and known under the name of Changements.
3:04:41
Speaker 4: We also note that the doctrine of the Buddha fo
3:04:44
Speaker 4: whose true name was Sakimuni, was written upon parchment. Foism
3:04:49
Speaker 4: began to spread in China about two hundred and sixty
3:04:52
Speaker 4: years before Jesus Christ. In two hundred and six, an
3:04:57
Speaker 4: emperor of the Qin dynasty, who was Anxiou to learn Buddhism,
3:05:01
Speaker 4: sent to India for a Buddhist by the name of Siliphan,
3:05:04
Speaker 4: and the Emperor Minta of the Hagner dynasty, sent a
3:05:08
Speaker 4: year before Christ's birth to India for the sacred books
3:05:11
Speaker 4: written by the Buddha Sakimuni, the founder of the Buddhistic doctrine,
3:05:16
Speaker 4: who lived about twelve hundred before Christ. The doctrine of
3:05:21
Speaker 4: the Buddha Gautham or Gothama, who lived six hundred years
3:05:25
Speaker 4: before Jesus Christ, was written in the Pali language upon parchment.
3:05:30
Speaker 4: At that epoch, there existed already in India about eighty
3:05:34
Speaker 4: four thousand Buddhistic manuscripts, the compilation of which required a
3:05:38
Speaker 4: considerable number of years. At the time when the Chinese
3:05:42
Speaker 4: and the Hindus possessed already a very rich written literature,
3:05:46
Speaker 4: the less fortunate or more ignorant peoples who had no alphabet,
3:05:50
Speaker 4: transmitted their histories from mouth to mouth and from generation
3:05:55
Speaker 4: to generation. Owing to the unreliability of human memory, historical
3:05:59
Speaker 4: facts embellished by Oriental imagination, soon degenerated into fabulous legends, which,
3:06:06
Speaker 4: in the course of time were collected and by the
3:06:09
Speaker 4: unknown compilers entitled the Five Books of Moses. As these
3:06:13
Speaker 4: legends ascribed to the Hebrew legislator extraordinary divine powers which
3:06:18
Speaker 4: enabled him to perform miracles in the presence of Pharaoh,
3:06:22
Speaker 4: the claim that he was in Israelite may as well
3:06:24
Speaker 4: have been legendary rather than historical. The Hindu chroniclers, on
3:06:29
Speaker 4: the contrary, owing to their knowledge of an alphabet, were
3:06:32
Speaker 4: enabled to commit carefully to writing not mere legends, but
3:06:36
Speaker 4: the recitals of recently occurred facts within their own knowledge,
3:06:40
Speaker 4: or the accounts brought to them by merchants who came
3:06:43
Speaker 4: from foreign countries. It must be remembered in this connection
3:06:47
Speaker 4: that in antiquity, as in our own days, the whole
3:06:50
Speaker 4: public life of the Orient was concentrated in the bazaars.
3:06:55
Speaker 4: There the news of foreign events was brought by the
3:06:57
Speaker 4: merchant caravans and sought by the dervish, who found in
3:07:01
Speaker 4: their recitals in the temples and public places a means
3:07:04
Speaker 4: of subsistence. When the merchants returned home from a journey,
3:07:09
Speaker 4: they generally related fully during the first days after their
3:07:12
Speaker 4: arrival all they had seen or heard abroad. Such have
3:07:16
Speaker 4: been the customs of the Orient From time immemorial and
3:07:19
Speaker 4: are to day, the commerce of India with Egypt and
3:07:23
Speaker 4: later with Europe was carried away on by way of Jerusalem,
3:07:27
Speaker 4: where as far back as the time of King Solomon,
3:07:30
Speaker 4: the Hindu caravans brought precious metals and other materials for
3:07:34
Speaker 4: the construction of the Temple. From Europe. Merchandise was brought
3:07:38
Speaker 4: to Jerusalem by sea and there unloaded in a pote
3:07:42
Speaker 4: which is now occupied by the city of Jaffa. The
3:07:45
Speaker 4: chronicles in question were compiled before, during, and after the
3:07:49
Speaker 4: time of Jesus Christ, during his sojourn in India in
3:07:53
Speaker 4: the quality of a simple student come to learn Brahminical
3:07:56
Speaker 4: and Buddhistic laws. No special attention whatever was paid to
3:08:00
Speaker 4: his life. When, however, a little later the first accounts
3:08:04
Speaker 4: of the events in Israel reached India, the chroniclers, after
3:08:08
Speaker 4: committing to writing that which they were told about the
3:08:11
Speaker 4: prophet Esa, that he had for his following a whole
3:08:14
Speaker 4: people weary of the yoke of their masters, and that
3:08:18
Speaker 4: he was crucified by order of Pilot, remembered that this
3:08:21
Speaker 4: same Esa had only recently sojourned in their midst, and
3:08:26
Speaker 4: that an Israelite by birth he had come to study
3:08:29
Speaker 4: among them, after which he had returned to his country.
3:08:33
Speaker 4: They conceived a lively interest for the man who had
3:08:35
Speaker 4: grown so rapidly under their eyes, and began to investigate
3:08:39
Speaker 4: his birth, his past, and all the details concerning his existence.
3:08:43
Speaker 4: The two manuscripts from which the Lama of the convent
3:08:47
Speaker 4: hemes read to me all that had bearing upon Jesus
3:08:51
Speaker 4: our compilations from diverse copies written in the Tibetan language,
3:08:55
Speaker 4: translations of scrolls belonging to the Library of Larsa, and
3:08:59
Speaker 4: brought about two hundred years after Christ from India, Nepal
3:09:03
Speaker 4: and magad to a convent of Mount Marbor near the
3:09:07
Speaker 4: city of Larsa, now the residence of the Dalai Lama.
3:09:11
Speaker 4: These scrolls were written in Pali, which certain Lama's study
3:09:15
Speaker 4: even now so as to be able to translate it
3:09:17
Speaker 4: into the Tibetan. The chroniclers were Buddhists belonging to the
3:09:22
Speaker 4: sect of Buddha Gothama. The details concerning Jesus given in
3:09:26
Speaker 4: the chronicles are disconnected and mingled with accounts of other
3:09:30
Speaker 4: contemporaneous events to which they bear no relation. The manuscripts
3:09:35
Speaker 4: relate to us first of all, according to the accounts
3:09:38
Speaker 4: given by merchants arriving from Judea in the same year
3:09:42
Speaker 4: when the death of Jesus occurred, that a just man
3:09:46
Speaker 4: by the name of Isa and Israelite, in spite of
3:09:49
Speaker 4: his being acquitted twice by the judges as being a
3:09:52
Speaker 4: man of God, was nevertheless put to death by the
3:09:55
Speaker 4: order of the pagan governor Pilot, who feared that he
3:09:58
Speaker 4: might take advantage of his great popularity to re establish
3:10:02
Speaker 4: the Kingdom of Israel and expel from the country its conquerors.
3:10:07
Speaker 4: Then follow rather incoherent communications regarding the preachings of Jesus
3:10:12
Speaker 4: among the Guebers and other heathens. They seemed to have
3:10:15
Speaker 4: been written during the first years following the death of Jesus,
3:10:19
Speaker 4: in whose career a lively and growing interest is shown.
3:10:23
Speaker 4: One of these accounts, communicated by a merchant, refers to
3:10:26
Speaker 4: the origin of Jesus and his family. Another tells of
3:10:30
Speaker 4: the expulsion of his partisans and the persecutions they had
3:10:34
Speaker 4: to suffer. Only at the end of the second volume
3:10:37
Speaker 4: is found the first categorical affirmation of the chronicler. He
3:10:41
Speaker 4: says there that Isa was a man blessed by God
3:10:45
Speaker 4: and the best of all, that it was he in
3:10:48
Speaker 4: whom the Great Brumma had elected to incarnate, when, at
3:10:52
Speaker 4: a period fixed by Destiny, his spirit was required to
3:10:56
Speaker 4: for a time separate from the Supreme Being. After telling
3:11:00
Speaker 4: that Esa descended from poor Israelite parents, the chronicler makes
3:11:04
Speaker 4: a little digression for the purpose of explaining, according to
3:11:08
Speaker 4: ancient accounts, who were the sons of Israel. I have
3:11:12
Speaker 4: arranged all the fragments concerning the life of Esa in
3:11:15
Speaker 4: chronological order, and have taken pains to impress upon them
3:11:19
Speaker 4: the character of unity in which they were absolutely lacking.
3:11:23
Speaker 4: I leave it to the savants, the philosophers, and the
3:11:26
Speaker 4: theologians to search into the causes for the contradictions which
3:11:30
Speaker 4: may be found between the life of Esa which I
3:11:33
Speaker 4: lay before the public, and the accounts of the Gospels.
3:11:36
Speaker 4: But I trust that everybody will agree with me in
3:11:39
Speaker 4: assuming that the version which I present to the public,
3:11:42
Speaker 4: one compiled three or four years after the death of
3:11:45
Speaker 4: Jesus from the accounts of my witnesses and contemporaries, has
3:11:49
Speaker 4: much more probability of being in conformity with truth than
3:11:53
Speaker 4: the accounts of the Gospels, the composition of which was
3:11:56
Speaker 4: affected at different epochs and at periods much press to
3:12:00
Speaker 4: the occurrence of the events. Before speaking of the life
3:12:04
Speaker 4: of Jesus, I must say a few words on the
3:12:07
Speaker 4: history of Moses, who, according to the so far most
3:12:10
Speaker 4: accredited legend, was an Israelite. In this respect, the legend
3:12:15
Speaker 4: is contradicted by the Buddhists. We learned from the outset
3:12:19
Speaker 4: that Moses was an Egyptian prince, the son of a pharaoh,
3:12:22
Speaker 4: and that he only was taught by learned Israelites. I
3:12:26
Speaker 4: believe that if this important point is carefully examined, it
3:12:30
Speaker 4: must be admitted that the Buddhist author may be right.
3:12:33
Speaker 4: It is not my intent to argue against the biblical
3:12:36
Speaker 4: legend concerning the origin of Moses, but I think everyone
3:12:40
Speaker 4: reading it must share my conviction that Moses could not
3:12:43
Speaker 4: have been a simple Israelite. His education was rather that
3:12:47
Speaker 4: of a king's son, and it is difficult to believe
3:12:50
Speaker 4: that a child introduced by chance into the palace should
3:12:53
Speaker 4: have been made an equal with the son of the sovereign.
3:12:56
Speaker 4: The rigor with which the Egyptians treated their slaves by
3:12:59
Speaker 4: no means attests the mildness of their character. A foundling
3:13:03
Speaker 4: certainly would not have been made the companion of the
3:13:06
Speaker 4: sons of a pharaoh, but would be placed among his servants.
3:13:10
Speaker 4: Add to this the caste, a spirit so strictly observed
3:13:12
Speaker 4: in ancient Egypt, a most salient point, which is certainly
3:13:16
Speaker 4: calculated to raise doubts as to the truth of the
3:13:19
Speaker 4: scriptural story. And it is difficult to suppose that Moses
3:13:23
Speaker 4: had not received a complete education. How otherwise could his
3:13:27
Speaker 4: great legislative work, his broad views, his high administrative qualities
3:13:31
Speaker 4: be satisfactorily explained? And now comes another question, why should he,
3:13:37
Speaker 4: a prince, have attached himself to the Israelites. The answer
3:13:40
Speaker 4: seems to me very simple. It is known that in
3:13:43
Speaker 4: ancient as well as in modern times, discussions were often
3:13:47
Speaker 4: raised as to which of the two brothers should succeed
3:13:50
Speaker 4: to the father's throne. Why not admit this hypothesis, Liz,
3:13:54
Speaker 4: that Mossa or Moses, having an elder brother whose existence
3:13:58
Speaker 4: forbade him to think of acccupying the throne of Egypt,
3:14:01
Speaker 4: contemplated founding a distinct kingdom. It might very well be that,
3:14:07
Speaker 4: in the view of this end, he tried to attach
3:14:09
Speaker 4: himself to the Israelites, whose firmness of faith as well
3:14:12
Speaker 4: as physical strength he had occasion to admire. We know,
3:14:16
Speaker 4: indeed that the Israelites of Egypt had no resemblance whatever
3:14:20
Speaker 4: to their descendants as regards physical constitution. The granite blocks
3:14:24
Speaker 4: which were handled by them in building the palaces and
3:14:27
Speaker 4: pyramids are still in place to testify to this fact.
3:14:31
Speaker 4: In the same way I explained to myself the history
3:14:34
Speaker 4: of the miracles which he is said to have performed
3:14:37
Speaker 4: before Pharaoh. Although there are no definite arguments for denying
3:14:41
Speaker 4: the miracles which Moses might have performed in the name
3:14:43
Speaker 4: of God before Pharaoh, I think it is not difficult
3:14:46
Speaker 4: to realize that the Buddhistic statement sounds more probable than
3:14:50
Speaker 4: the scriptural gloss. The pestilence, the smallpox or the cholera
3:14:55
Speaker 4: must indeed have caused enormous ravages among the dense population
3:14:59
Speaker 4: of Ea at an epoch when there existed yet but
3:15:03
Speaker 4: very rudimentary ideas about hygiene, and where consequently such diseases
3:15:08
Speaker 4: must have rapidly assumed frightful virulence. In view of Pharaoh's
3:15:13
Speaker 4: fright at the disasters which befell Egypt, Moses's keen wit
3:15:17
Speaker 4: might well have suggested to him to explain the strange
3:15:20
Speaker 4: and terrifying occurrences to his father. By the intervention of
3:15:23
Speaker 4: the God of Israel in behalf of his chosen people,
3:15:27
Speaker 4: Moses was here afforded an excellent opportunity to deliver the
3:15:31
Speaker 4: Israelites from their slavery and have them passed under his
3:15:34
Speaker 4: own dominion. In obedience to Pharaoh's will. According to the
3:15:38
Speaker 4: Buddhistic version, Moses led the Israelites outside the walls of
3:15:42
Speaker 4: the city, but instead of building a new city within
3:15:45
Speaker 4: reach of the capital, as he was ordered, he left
3:15:48
Speaker 4: with them the Egyptian territory. Pharaoh's indignation on learning of
3:15:52
Speaker 4: this infringement of his commands by Moses can easily be imagined,
3:15:56
Speaker 4: and so he gave the order to his soldiers to
3:15:58
Speaker 4: pursue the fugitives. The geographical disposition of the region suggests
3:16:03
Speaker 4: at once that Moses during his flight must have moved
3:16:06
Speaker 4: by the side of the mountains and entered Arabia by
3:16:09
Speaker 4: the way over the Isthmus, which is now cut by
3:16:12
Speaker 4: the Suez Canal. Pharaoh, on the contrary, pursued with his
3:16:16
Speaker 4: troops a straight line to the Red Sea. Then, in
3:16:19
Speaker 4: order to overtake the Israelites who had already gained the
3:16:22
Speaker 4: opposite shore. He sought to take advantage of the ebb
3:16:25
Speaker 4: of the sea in the Gulf, which is formed by
3:16:28
Speaker 4: the coast and the isthmus caused by his soldiers to
3:16:31
Speaker 4: wade through the ford. But the length of the passageway
3:16:34
Speaker 4: proved much greater than he had expected, so that the
3:16:37
Speaker 4: flood tide set in when the Egyptian host was half
3:16:39
Speaker 4: way across, and of the army thus overwhelmed by the
3:16:43
Speaker 4: returning waves, none escaped death. This fact is so simple
3:16:47
Speaker 4: in itself, has in the course of the centuries, been
3:16:50
Speaker 4: transformed by the Israelites into a religious legend, they seeing
3:16:54
Speaker 4: it in a divine intervention in their behalf and a
3:16:57
Speaker 4: punishment which their God inflicted on their persecuit. There is moreover,
3:17:02
Speaker 4: reason to believe that Moses himself saw the occurrence in
3:17:05
Speaker 4: this light. This, however, is a thesis which I shall
3:17:09
Speaker 4: try to develop in a forthcoming work. The Buddhistic Chronicle
3:17:13
Speaker 4: then describes the grandeur and the downfall of the Kingdom
3:17:16
Speaker 4: of Israel and its conquest by the foreign nations, who
3:17:19
Speaker 4: reduced the inhabitants to slavery. The calamities which befell the Israelites,
3:17:24
Speaker 4: and the afflictions that Dencefolth embittered their days, were, according
3:17:28
Speaker 4: to the chronicler, more than sufficient reasons that God, pitying
3:17:32
Speaker 4: his people and desirous of coming to their aid, should
3:17:35
Speaker 4: descend on earth in the person of a prophet in
3:17:38
Speaker 4: order to lead them back to the path of righteousness. Thus,
3:17:42
Speaker 4: the state of things in that epoch justified the belief
3:17:45
Speaker 4: that the coming of Jesus was signalized imminent necessary. This
3:17:49
Speaker 4: explains why the Buddhistic traditions could maintain that the eternal
3:17:53
Speaker 4: Spirit separated from the eternal being and incarnated in the
3:17:57
Speaker 4: child of a pious and once illustrious family. Doubtless, the Buddhists,
3:18:02
Speaker 4: in common with the Evangelists, meant to convey by this
3:18:06
Speaker 4: that the child belonged to the royal House of David.
3:18:09
Speaker 4: But the texts in the Gospels according to which the
3:18:12
Speaker 4: child was born from the Holy Spirit admits of two interpretations.
3:18:16
Speaker 4: While according to Buddha's doctrine, which is more in conformity
3:18:20
Speaker 4: with the laws of nature, the Spirit has but incarnated
3:18:23
Speaker 4: in a child already born, whom God blessed and chose
3:18:27
Speaker 4: for the accomplishment of his mission. On Earth. The birth
3:18:30
Speaker 4: of Jesus is followed by a long gap in the
3:18:33
Speaker 4: traditions of the evangelists, who, either from ignorance or neglect,
3:18:37
Speaker 4: fail to tell us anything definite about his childhood, youth,
3:18:41
Speaker 4: or education. They commenced the history of Jesus with his
3:18:44
Speaker 4: first sermon, that is, at the epoch, when thirty years
3:18:48
Speaker 4: of age he returns to his country. All the evangelists
3:18:52
Speaker 4: tell us concerning the infancy of Jesus is marked by
3:18:56
Speaker 4: the lack of precision. And the child grew and waxed,
3:18:59
Speaker 4: strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of
3:19:03
Speaker 4: God was upon him, says one of the sacred authors Luke,
3:19:07
Speaker 4: chapter two, verse forty, and another And a child grew
3:19:11
Speaker 4: and waxed, strong in spirit, and was in the deserts
3:19:14
Speaker 4: till the day of his showing into Israel Luke, chapter one,
3:19:18
Speaker 4: verse eighty. As the evangelists compiled their writings a long
3:19:22
Speaker 4: time after the death of Jesus, it is presumable that
3:19:27
Speaker 4: they committed to writing only those accounts of the principal
3:19:30
Speaker 4: events in the life of Jesus which happened to come
3:19:33
Speaker 4: to their knowledge. The Buddhists, on the contrary, who compiled
3:19:36
Speaker 4: their chronicles soon after the passion occurred, and were able
3:19:40
Speaker 4: to collect the surest information about everything that interested them.
3:19:44
Speaker 4: Give us a complete and very detailed description of the
3:19:46
Speaker 4: life of Jesus. In those unhappy times, when the struggle
3:19:50
Speaker 4: for existence seems to have destroyed all thought of God,
3:19:54
Speaker 4: the people of Israel suffered the double oppression of the
3:19:57
Speaker 4: ambitious Herod and the despotic and avaragecious Romans. Then, as now,
3:20:02
Speaker 4: the Hebrews put all their hopes in Providence, whom they
3:20:05
Speaker 4: expected would send them an inspired man who should deliver
3:20:09
Speaker 4: them from all their physical and moral afflictions. The time passed, however,
3:20:14
Speaker 4: and no one took the initiative in a revolt against
3:20:17
Speaker 4: a tyranny of the rulers. In that era of hope
3:20:20
Speaker 4: and despair, the people of Israel completely forgot that there
3:20:24
Speaker 4: lived among them a poor Israelite who was a direct
3:20:27
Speaker 4: descendant from their king David. This poor man married a
3:20:31
Speaker 4: young girl who gave birth to a miraculous child. The Hebrews,
3:20:36
Speaker 4: true to their traditions of devotion and respect for the
3:20:39
Speaker 4: race of their kings, upon learning of this event, went
3:20:42
Speaker 4: in great numbers to congratulate the happy Father and see
3:20:45
Speaker 4: the child. It is evident that Herod was informed of
3:20:49
Speaker 4: this occurrence. He feared that this infant, once grown to manhood,
3:20:53
Speaker 4: might avail himself of his prospective popularity to reconquer the
3:20:57
Speaker 4: throne of his ancestors, sent out his men to seize
3:21:01
Speaker 4: the child, which the Israelites endeavored to hide from the
3:21:04
Speaker 4: wrath of the king, who then ordered the abominable massacre
3:21:08
Speaker 4: of the children, hoping that Jesus would perish in this
3:21:11
Speaker 4: vast human hecatomb. But Joseph's family had warning of the
3:21:15
Speaker 4: impending danger and took refuge in Egypt. A short time afterward,
3:21:19
Speaker 4: they returned to their native country. The child had grown
3:21:22
Speaker 4: during those journeyings in which his life was more than
3:21:26
Speaker 4: once exposed to danger. Formerly, as now, the Oriental Israelites
3:21:30
Speaker 4: commenced the instruction of their children at the age of
3:21:33
Speaker 4: five or six years. Compelled to constantly hide him from
3:21:37
Speaker 4: the murderous King Herod, the parents of Jesus could not
3:21:40
Speaker 4: allow their son to go out, and he no doubt
3:21:43
Speaker 4: spent all his time in studying the sacred scriptures, so
3:21:46
Speaker 4: that his knowledge was sufficiently beyond what would naturally have
3:21:50
Speaker 4: been expected of a boy of his age to greatly
3:21:53
Speaker 4: astonish the elders of Israel, he had, in his thirteenth
3:21:56
Speaker 4: year attained an age when, according to Jewish law, the
3:22:00
Speaker 4: boy becomes an adult, has a right to marry, and
3:22:03
Speaker 4: incurs obligations for the discharge of the religious duties of
3:22:06
Speaker 4: a man. There exists still in our times among the
3:22:11
Speaker 4: Israelites an ancient religious custom that fixes the majority of
3:22:15
Speaker 4: a youth at the accomplished thirteenth year. From this epoch,
3:22:19
Speaker 4: the youth becomes a member of the congregation and enjoys
3:22:23
Speaker 4: all the rights of an adult. Hence, his marriage at
3:22:26
Speaker 4: this age is regarded as having legal force and is
3:22:29
Speaker 4: even required in the tropical countries in Europe. However, owing
3:22:33
Speaker 4: to the influence of local laws and to nature, which
3:22:37
Speaker 4: does not contribute here so powerfully as in warm climates
3:22:40
Speaker 4: to the physical development, this custom is no more in
3:22:44
Speaker 4: force and has lost all its former importance. The royal
3:22:47
Speaker 4: lineage of Jesus, his rare intelligence and his learning caused
3:22:51
Speaker 4: him to be looked upon as an excellent match, and
3:22:54
Speaker 4: the wealthiest and most respected Hebrews would feign to have
3:22:57
Speaker 4: had him for a son in law. Just as even
3:23:00
Speaker 4: nowadays these Raelites are very desirous of the honor of
3:23:03
Speaker 4: marrying their daughters to the sons of rabbis or scholars.
3:23:07
Speaker 4: But the meditative youth, whose mind was far above anything
3:23:11
Speaker 4: corporeal and possessed by the thirst for knowledge, stealthily left
3:23:15
Speaker 4: his home and joined the caravans going to India. It
3:23:18
Speaker 4: stands to reason that Jesus Christ should have thought primarily
3:23:22
Speaker 4: of going to India, first because at that epoch Egypt
3:23:26
Speaker 4: formed part of the Roman possessions. Secondly, and principally, because
3:23:31
Speaker 4: a very active commercial exchange with India had made common
3:23:35
Speaker 4: report in Judea of the majestic character and unsurpassed richness
3:23:39
Speaker 4: of the arts and sciences in this marvelous country to
3:23:43
Speaker 4: which even now the aspirations of all civilized peoples are directed. Here,
3:23:48
Speaker 4: the evangelists once more lose the thread of the terrestrial
3:23:51
Speaker 4: life of Jesus. Luke says he was in the deserts
3:23:55
Speaker 4: till the day of his showing unto Israel. Luke chapter one,
3:23:59
Speaker 4: verse eight, which clearly demonstrates that nobody knew where the
3:24:03
Speaker 4: Holy Youth was until his sudden reappearance sixteen years later,
3:24:08
Speaker 4: arrived in India. This land of marvels Jesus began to
3:24:12
Speaker 4: frequent the temples of the Janites. There exists until to
3:24:16
Speaker 4: day on the peninsula of Hindustan, a sectarian cult under
3:24:20
Speaker 4: the name of Jainism. It forms a kind of connecting
3:24:23
Speaker 4: link between Buddhism and Brahminism and preaches the destruction of
3:24:28
Speaker 4: all other beliefs, which it declares are corroded by falsehood.
3:24:32
Speaker 4: It dates from the seventh century before Jesus Christ, and
3:24:35
Speaker 4: its name is derived from the word jan conqueror, which
3:24:39
Speaker 4: was assumed by its founders as expressive of its destined
3:24:43
Speaker 4: triumph over its rivals. In sympathetic admiration for the spirit
3:24:48
Speaker 4: of the young man, the Jaanites asked him to stay
3:24:51
Speaker 4: with them, but Jesus left them to settle in Juggarnaut,
3:24:54
Speaker 4: where he devoted himself to the study of treatises on religion, philosophy,
3:24:58
Speaker 4: et cetera. Jagaranath is one of the chief sacred sites
3:25:02
Speaker 4: of Brahman's and at the time of Christ was of
3:25:05
Speaker 4: great religious importance. According to tradition, the ashes of the
3:25:09
Speaker 4: illustrious Brahmin Krishna, who lived in fifteen hundred and eighty
3:25:13
Speaker 4: b c. Are preserved there in the hollow of a
3:25:16
Speaker 4: tree near a magnificent temple to which thousands make pilgrimage
3:25:21
Speaker 4: every year. Krishna collected and put in order the Vades,
3:25:25
Speaker 4: which he divided into four books, Richt, Jagour, Saman, and Artafan,
3:25:30
Speaker 4: in commemoration of which great work he received the name
3:25:33
Speaker 4: of Vyasa, he who collected and divided the Vades, and
3:25:37
Speaker 4: he also compiled the Vedant and eighteen Purans, which contain
3:25:42
Speaker 4: four hundred thousand stanzas. In jagaranath Is also found a
3:25:46
Speaker 4: very precious library of Sanskrit books and religious manuscripts. Jesus
3:25:51
Speaker 4: spent there six years in studying the language of the
3:25:54
Speaker 4: country and the Sanskrit, which enabled him to absorb the
3:25:58
Speaker 4: religious doctrines for filosophy, medicine, and mathematics. He found much
3:26:03
Speaker 4: to blame in Brahminical laws and usages, and publicly joined
3:26:07
Speaker 4: issue with the Brahmins, who, in vain endeavored to convince
3:26:11
Speaker 4: him of the sacred character of their established customs. Jesus,
3:26:15
Speaker 4: among other things, deemed it extremely unjust that the laborer
3:26:19
Speaker 4: should be oppressed and despised, and that he should not
3:26:22
Speaker 4: only be robbed of hope of future happiness, but also
3:26:25
Speaker 4: be denied the right to hear the religious services. He
3:26:29
Speaker 4: therefore began preaching to the Sudras, the lowest caste of slaves,
3:26:34
Speaker 4: telling them that according to their own laws, God is
3:26:37
Speaker 4: the Father of all men, that all which exists exists
3:26:41
Speaker 4: only through Him, that before Him all men are equal,
3:26:44
Speaker 4: and that the Brahmins had obscured the great principle of
3:26:47
Speaker 4: monotheism by misinterpreting Brahma's own words and lay excessive stress
3:26:53
Speaker 4: upon the observance of the exterior ceremonials of the cult.
3:26:57
Speaker 4: Here are the words in which, according to the doctrine
3:26:59
Speaker 4: of the Brahmans, God himself speaks to the angels. I
3:27:03
Speaker 4: have been from eternity and shall continue to be eternally.
3:27:07
Speaker 4: I am the first cause of everything that exists, in
3:27:10
Speaker 4: the east and in the west, in the north and
3:27:12
Speaker 4: in the south, above and below, in heaven and in hell.
3:27:16
Speaker 4: I am older than all things. I am the Spirit
3:27:19
Speaker 4: and the creation of the universe, and also its creator.
3:27:23
Speaker 4: I am all powerful. I am the God of Gods,
3:27:26
Speaker 4: the King of kings. I am Parabramah, the great soul
3:27:31
Speaker 4: of the universe. After the world appeared by the vill
3:27:34
Speaker 4: of Parabramah, God created human beings, whom he divided into
3:27:39
Speaker 4: four classes according to their colors, White Brahmans, Red Shatriyas,
3:27:44
Speaker 4: Yellow Visas, and black Shudras. Brahmah drew the first from
3:27:50
Speaker 4: his own mouth and gave them for their upper nage
3:27:53
Speaker 4: the government of the world, the care of teaching men,
3:27:56
Speaker 4: the laws of curing and judging them. Therefore, to the
3:28:00
Speaker 4: Rahamans occupy only the offices of priests and preachers, are
3:28:03
Speaker 4: expounders of the VADs, and must practice celibacy. The second
3:28:08
Speaker 4: caste of Shatriyas, issued from the hand of Brahmah. He
3:28:11
Speaker 4: made of them warriors, entrusting them with the care of
3:28:15
Speaker 4: defending society. All the kings, princes, captains, governors, and military
3:28:20
Speaker 4: men belong to this caste, which lives on the best
3:28:23
Speaker 4: homes with the Brahmins, since they cannot subsist without each other,
3:28:27
Speaker 4: and the peace of the country depends on the alliance
3:28:30
Speaker 4: of the lights and the sword of Brahma's temple and
3:28:33
Speaker 4: the royal throne. The vicers, who constitute the third caste,
3:28:38
Speaker 4: issued from Brahma's belly. They are destined to cultivate the ground,
3:28:42
Speaker 4: raise cattle, carry on commerce, and practice all kinds of
3:28:45
Speaker 4: trades in order to feed the Brahmans and the Kshatrias.
3:28:49
Speaker 4: Only on holidays are they authorized to enter the temple
3:28:52
Speaker 4: and listen to the recital of the VADs. At all
3:28:55
Speaker 4: other times they must attend it to their business. The
3:28:58
Speaker 4: lowest caste, that of the black one or Schudra's, issued
3:29:02
Speaker 4: from the feet of Brahma to be the humble servants
3:29:05
Speaker 4: and slaves of the three preceding castes. They are interdicted
3:29:09
Speaker 4: from attending the reading of the Vedes at any time
3:29:12
Speaker 4: their touch contaminates Abrahmen, chettrier or even a Vitia who
3:29:17
Speaker 4: comes in contact with them. They are wretched creatures, deprived
3:29:21
Speaker 4: of all human rights. They cannot even look at the
3:29:24
Speaker 4: members of the other castes, nor defend themselves, nor when sick,
3:29:28
Speaker 4: receive the attendance of a physician. Death alone can deliver
3:29:32
Speaker 4: the Schudra from a life of servitude, and even then
3:29:35
Speaker 4: freedom can only be attained under the condition that during
3:29:39
Speaker 4: his whole life he shall have served diligently and without
3:29:43
Speaker 4: complaint some member of the privileged classes. Then only it
3:29:47
Speaker 4: is promised that the soul of the Shudra shall after
3:29:50
Speaker 4: death be raised to a superior caste. If a Shudra
3:29:54
Speaker 4: has been lacking in obedience to a member of the
3:29:57
Speaker 4: privileged classes, or has in any way their disfavor upon himself,
3:30:02
Speaker 4: he sinks to the rank of a pariah, who is
3:30:04
Speaker 4: banished from all cities and villages, and is the object
3:30:07
Speaker 4: of general contempt as an abject being who can only
3:30:11
Speaker 4: perform the lowest kind of work. The same punishment may
3:30:15
Speaker 4: also fall upon members of another caste. These, however, may,
3:30:20
Speaker 4: through repentance, fasting in other trials, rehabilitate themselves in their
3:30:25
Speaker 4: former caste, while the unfortunate sudra, once expelled from his,
3:30:29
Speaker 4: has lost it forever. From what has been said above,
3:30:34
Speaker 4: it is easy to explain why the Vicias and Sudras
3:30:37
Speaker 4: were animated with adoration for Jesus, who, in spite of
3:30:41
Speaker 4: the threats of the Brahmans and the Kshatrias, never forsook
3:30:45
Speaker 4: those poor people and of section eight resume Part two.
3:30:54
Speaker 4: In his servants. Jesus not only censured the system by
3:30:58
Speaker 4: which man was robbed of his right to be considered
3:31:00
Speaker 4: as a human being while an ape or a piece
3:31:04
Speaker 4: of marble or metal was paid divine worship, but he
3:31:07
Speaker 4: attacked the very life of Brahminism, its system of gods,
3:31:12
Speaker 4: its doctrine, and its Trimuti trinity. The angulous tone of
3:31:16
Speaker 4: this religion, ParaBrahma is represented with three faces on a
3:31:21
Speaker 4: single head. This is the Trimuti trinity, composed of Brahma, Creator, Vishnu,
3:31:28
Speaker 4: Conservator and Shiver destroyer. Here is the origin of the Trimuthi.
3:31:34
Speaker 4: In the beginning, ParaBrahma created the waters and threw into
3:31:38
Speaker 4: them the seed of procreation, which transformed itself into a
3:31:43
Speaker 4: brilliant egg, wherein Bruhma's image was reflected. Millions of years
3:31:48
Speaker 4: had passed when Brahma split the egg in two halves,
3:31:51
Speaker 4: of which the upper one became the heaven, the lower
3:31:54
Speaker 4: one of the earth. Then Brummah descended to the earth
3:31:58
Speaker 4: under the shape of a child, established himself upon a
3:32:01
Speaker 4: lotus flower, absorbed himself in his own contemplation, and put
3:32:06
Speaker 4: to himself the question, who will attend to the conservation
3:32:10
Speaker 4: of what I have created? I came the answer from
3:32:14
Speaker 4: his mouth under the appearance of a flame, and Brahmah
3:32:18
Speaker 4: gave to this word the name Vishnu, that is to say,
3:32:22
Speaker 4: he who preserves. Then Brummah divided his being into two halves,
3:32:27
Speaker 4: the one male, the other female, the active and the
3:32:30
Speaker 4: passive principles, the union of which produced Shiver, the destroyer.
3:32:36
Speaker 4: These are the attributes of the Trimurti. Brahma creative principle,
3:32:41
Speaker 4: Vishnu preservative wisdom, Shiver destructive wrath of justice. Brahma is
3:32:48
Speaker 4: the substance from which everything was made Vishnu, space wherein
3:32:53
Speaker 4: everything lives, and Shiver time that anhilates all things. Brahma
3:32:59
Speaker 4: is the face which vivifies all Vishnu the water which
3:33:03
Speaker 4: sustains the forces of the creatures. Shiver the fire which
3:33:08
Speaker 4: breaks the bond that unites all objects. Brahma is the past,
3:33:13
Speaker 4: Vishnu the present, Shiver the future. Each part of the
3:33:17
Speaker 4: tri Muti possesses moreover a wife. The wife of Brahma
3:33:22
Speaker 4: is Saraswati, goddess of wisdom, that of Vishnu Lakshmi goddess
3:33:27
Speaker 4: of virtue, and Shiva's spouse is Kali, goddess of death.
3:33:31
Speaker 4: The universal destroyer of this last union, were born Ganesha,
3:33:37
Speaker 4: the elephant headed god of wisdom, and Indra, the God
3:33:41
Speaker 4: of the firmament, both chiefs of inferior divinities. The number
3:33:46
Speaker 4: of which if all the objects of adoration of the
3:33:49
Speaker 4: Hindus be included, amounts to three hundred millions. Vishnu has
3:33:54
Speaker 4: descended eight times upon the earth, incarnating in a fish,
3:33:58
Speaker 4: in order to save the Wayids from the deluge, in
3:34:02
Speaker 4: a tortoise, a dwarf, a wild boar, a lion in Ram,
3:34:06
Speaker 4: a king's son, in Krishna, and in Buddha. He will
3:34:10
Speaker 4: come a ninth time under the form of a rider
3:34:13
Speaker 4: mounted on a white horse, in order to destroy death
3:34:16
Speaker 4: and sin. Jesus denied the existence of all these hierarchic
3:34:21
Speaker 4: absurdities of gods, which darkened the great principle of monotheism.
3:34:26
Speaker 4: When the Brahmans saw that Jesus, who instead of becoming
3:34:29
Speaker 4: one of their party as they had hoped, turned out
3:34:32
Speaker 4: to be their adversary, and that the people began to
3:34:35
Speaker 4: embrace his doctrine, they resolved to kill him. But his servants,
3:34:40
Speaker 4: who were greatly attached to him, forewarned him of the
3:34:43
Speaker 4: threatening danger, and he took refuge in the mountains of Nepal.
3:34:47
Speaker 4: At this epoch, Buddhism had taken deep root in this country.
3:34:52
Speaker 4: It was a kind of schism remarkable by its moral
3:34:55
Speaker 4: principles and ideas on the nature of the divinity. Ideas
3:34:59
Speaker 4: were which brought men closer to nature and to one another. Sakimuni,
3:35:05
Speaker 4: the founder of this sect, was born fifteen hundred years
3:35:08
Speaker 4: before Jesus Christ at Kapila, the capital of his father's
3:35:12
Speaker 4: kingdom near Nepal in the himalay He belonged to the
3:35:15
Speaker 4: race of the Gotamides and to the ancient family of
3:35:18
Speaker 4: the Sakias. From his infancy, he evinced a lively interest
3:35:23
Speaker 4: in religion, and, contrary to his father's wishes, leaving his
3:35:27
Speaker 4: palace with all its luxury, began at once to preach
3:35:30
Speaker 4: against the Brahmins for the purification of their doctrines. He
3:35:35
Speaker 4: died at Kochinagara, surrounded by many faithful disciples. His body
3:35:40
Speaker 4: was burned and his ashes, divided into several parts, were
3:35:44
Speaker 4: distributed between the cities, which, on account of his new doctrine,
3:35:48
Speaker 4: had renounced Brahminism. According to the Buddhistic doctrine, the Creator
3:35:54
Speaker 4: reposes normally in a state of perfect inaction, which is
3:35:58
Speaker 4: disturbed by nothing, and which he only leaves at certain
3:36:01
Speaker 4: destiny determined epochs. In order to create terrestrial buddhas to
3:36:07
Speaker 4: this end, the spirit disengages itself from the sovereign Creator,
3:36:11
Speaker 4: incarnates in a Buddha and stays for some time on
3:36:14
Speaker 4: the earth, and he creates Bodhisattwas masters, whose mission it
3:36:19
Speaker 4: is to preach the divine word and to found new
3:36:22
Speaker 4: churches of believers, to whom they will give laws and
3:36:26
Speaker 4: for whom they will institute a new religious order. According
3:36:30
Speaker 4: to the traditions of Buddhism, a terrestrial Buddha is in
3:36:34
Speaker 4: a certain way a reflection of the sovereign creative Buddha,
3:36:38
Speaker 4: with whom he unites after the termination of his terrestrial existence.
3:36:43
Speaker 4: In like manner, do the Bodhisatwas. As a reward for
3:36:47
Speaker 4: their labors and the privations they undergo, receive eternal bliss
3:36:51
Speaker 4: and enjoy arrest which nothing can disturb. Jesus adjourned six
3:36:56
Speaker 4: years among the Buddhists, where he found the principle of
3:36:59
Speaker 4: monoth heism still pure. Arrived at the age of twenty
3:37:03
Speaker 4: six years. He remembered his fatherland, which was then oppressed
3:37:07
Speaker 4: by a foreign yoke. On his way homeward, he preached
3:37:11
Speaker 4: against idle worship, human sacrifice, and other errors of faith,
3:37:15
Speaker 4: admonishing the people to recognize and adore God, the Father
3:37:19
Speaker 4: of all beings, to whom all are alike. Dear the
3:37:23
Speaker 4: Master as well as a slave, for they are all
3:37:26
Speaker 4: his children, to whom he has given this beautiful universe
3:37:30
Speaker 4: for a common heritage. The sermons of Jesus often made
3:37:34
Speaker 4: a profound impression upon the peoples among whom he came,
3:37:38
Speaker 4: and he was exposed to all sorts of dangers provoked
3:37:41
Speaker 4: by the clergy, but were saved by the very idolators,
3:37:45
Speaker 4: who only the preceding day had offered their children as
3:37:48
Speaker 4: sacrifices to their idols. While passing through Persia, Jesus almost
3:37:54
Speaker 4: caused a revolution among the adorers of Zoroast's doctrine. Nevertheless,
3:37:59
Speaker 4: the priests refrained from killing him out of fear of
3:38:03
Speaker 4: the people's vengeance. They resorted to artifice and led him
3:38:07
Speaker 4: out of town at night, with the hope that he
3:38:09
Speaker 4: might be devoured by wild beasts. Jesus escaped this peril
3:38:14
Speaker 4: and arrived safe and sound in the country of Israel.
3:38:18
Speaker 4: It must be remarked here that the Orientals, amidst their
3:38:21
Speaker 4: sometimes so picturesque misery, and in the ocean of deprivation
3:38:26
Speaker 4: in which they slumber, always had, under the influence of
3:38:30
Speaker 4: their priests and teachers, a pronounced inclination for learning and
3:38:34
Speaker 4: understand easily good common sense explications. It happened to me
3:38:39
Speaker 4: more than once that by using simple words of truth,
3:38:43
Speaker 4: I appealed to the conscience of a thief or some
3:38:46
Speaker 4: otherwise intractable person. These people, moved by a sentiment of
3:38:50
Speaker 4: innate honesty, which the clergy, for personal reasons of their own,
3:38:54
Speaker 4: tried by all means to stifle, soon became again very honest,
3:38:59
Speaker 4: and had only contempt for those who had abused their confidence.
3:39:03
Speaker 4: By the virtue of a mere word of truth. The
3:39:06
Speaker 4: whole of India, with its three hundred million of idols,
3:39:10
Speaker 4: could be made a vast Christian country. But this beautiful
3:39:15
Speaker 4: project would no doubt be antagonized by certain Christians, who,
3:39:19
Speaker 4: similar to those priests of whom I have spoken before,
3:39:23
Speaker 4: speculate upon the ignorance of the people who make themselves rich.
3:39:28
Speaker 4: According to Saint Luke, Jesus was about thirty years of
3:39:31
Speaker 4: age when he began preaching to the Israelites. According to
3:39:35
Speaker 4: the Buddhistic chroniclers, Jesus's teachings in Judea began in his
3:39:39
Speaker 4: twenty ninth year. All his sermons, which are not mentioned
3:39:42
Speaker 4: by the evangelists but have been preserved by the Buddhists,
3:39:45
Speaker 4: are remarkable for their character of divine grandeur. The fame
3:39:49
Speaker 4: of the new prophets spread rapidly in the country, and
3:39:52
Speaker 4: Jerusalem awaited with impatience his arrival. When he came near
3:39:56
Speaker 4: the Holy City, its inhabitants went out to meet him
3:40:00
Speaker 4: and led him in triumph to the temple, all of
3:40:02
Speaker 4: which is in agreement with Christian tradition. The chiefs and
3:40:06
Speaker 4: elders who heard him were filled with admiration for his servants,
3:40:09
Speaker 4: and were happy to see the beneficent impression which his
3:40:12
Speaker 4: words exercised among the populace. All these remarkable sermons of
3:40:16
Speaker 4: Jesus are full of sublime sentiments. Pilot, the governor of
3:40:21
Speaker 4: the country, however, did not look upon the matter in
3:40:23
Speaker 4: the same light. Eager agents notified him that Jesus announced
3:40:28
Speaker 4: the near coming of a new kingdom, the re establishment
3:40:31
Speaker 4: of the throne of Israel, and that he suffered himself
3:40:34
Speaker 4: to be called the son of God, sent to bring
3:40:37
Speaker 4: back courage in Israel, for he, the King of Judea,
3:40:41
Speaker 4: would soon ascend the throne of his ancestors. I do
3:40:44
Speaker 4: not propose attributing to Jesus the role of a revolutionary,
3:40:48
Speaker 4: but it seems to me very probable that Jesus wrought
3:40:51
Speaker 4: up the people with a view to re establish the
3:40:54
Speaker 4: throne to which he had a just claim. Divinely inspired,
3:40:58
Speaker 4: and at the same time convinced the legitimacy of his pretensions,
3:41:02
Speaker 4: Jesus preached the spiritual union of the people in order
3:41:06
Speaker 4: that a political union might result. Pilot, who felt alarmed
3:41:10
Speaker 4: over these rumors, called together the priests and the elders
3:41:13
Speaker 4: of the people, and ordered them to interdict Jesus from
3:41:16
Speaker 4: preaching in public, and even to condemn him in the
3:41:20
Speaker 4: temple under the charge of apostasy. This was the best
3:41:23
Speaker 4: means for Pilot to rid himself of a dangerous man,
3:41:26
Speaker 4: whose royal origins he knew, and whose popularity was constantly increasing.
3:41:31
Speaker 4: It must be said in this connection that the Israelites,
3:41:35
Speaker 4: far from persecuting Jesus, recognized in him the descendant of
3:41:39
Speaker 4: the illustrious dynasty of David, and made him the object
3:41:42
Speaker 4: of their secret hopes, a fact which is evident from
3:41:45
Speaker 4: the very gospels which tell that Jesus preached freely in
3:41:49
Speaker 4: the temple in the presence of the elders, who could
3:41:52
Speaker 4: have interdicted him not only the entrance to the temple,
3:41:55
Speaker 4: but also his preachings. Upon the order of Pilot, the
3:41:59
Speaker 4: Synhedron met and cited Jesus to appear before its tribunal.
3:42:04
Speaker 4: As a result of the inquiry, the members of the
3:42:06
Speaker 4: Synhedrum informed Pilot that his suspicions were without any foundation whatever,
3:42:12
Speaker 4: that Jesus preached a religious and not a political propaganda,
3:42:16
Speaker 4: that he was expounding the divine word, and that he
3:42:19
Speaker 4: claimed to have come not to overthrow but to re
3:42:22
Speaker 4: establish the laws of Moses. The Buddhistic record does but
3:42:26
Speaker 4: confirm the sympathy which unquestionably existed between the young preacher
3:42:31
Speaker 4: Jesus and the elders of the people of Israel. Hence
3:42:35
Speaker 4: their answer we do not judge a just one. Pilot
3:42:39
Speaker 4: felt not at all assured, and continued seeking an occasion
3:42:43
Speaker 4: to hail Jesus before a new tribunal as regular as
3:42:46
Speaker 4: a former. To this end, he caused him to be
3:42:49
Speaker 4: followed by spies and finally ordered his arrest. If we
3:42:54
Speaker 4: may believe the evangelists, it was the Pharisees who sought
3:42:57
Speaker 4: the life of Jesus. While the Buddhistic record most positively
3:43:01
Speaker 4: declares that Pilot alone can be held responsible for his execution,
3:43:06
Speaker 4: this version is evidently much more probable than the account
3:43:09
Speaker 4: of the Evangelists. The conquerors of Judaea could not tolerate
3:43:13
Speaker 4: the presence of a man who announced to the people
3:43:16
Speaker 4: a speedy deliverance from their yoke. The popularity of Jesus
3:43:20
Speaker 4: having commenced to disturb Pilot's mind, it is to be
3:43:23
Speaker 4: supposed that he sent after the young preacher spies with
3:43:27
Speaker 4: the order to take note of all his words and acts. Moreover,
3:43:31
Speaker 4: the servants of the Roman governor, as true ajor provocateur,
3:43:35
Speaker 4: endeavored by means of artful questions, put to Jesus to
3:43:39
Speaker 4: draw from him some imprudent words under color of which
3:43:42
Speaker 4: Pilot might proceed against him. If the preachings of Jesus
3:43:46
Speaker 4: had been offensive to the Hebrew priests and scribes, all
3:43:49
Speaker 4: they needed to do was simply to command the people
3:43:52
Speaker 4: not to hear and follow him, and to forbid him
3:43:55
Speaker 4: entrance into the temple. But the evangelists tell us that
3:43:59
Speaker 4: Jesus enjoyed great popularity among the Israelites and full liberty
3:44:03
Speaker 4: in the temples, where pharisees and scribes discussed with him.
3:44:07
Speaker 4: In order to find a valid excuse for condemning him,
3:44:11
Speaker 4: Pilot had him tortured so as to extort from him
3:44:14
Speaker 4: a confession of high treason. But contrary to the rule
3:44:18
Speaker 4: that the innocent, overcome by their pain, will confess anything
3:44:21
Speaker 4: to escape the unendurable agonies inflicted upon them, Jesus made
3:44:26
Speaker 4: no admission of guilt. Pilot, seeing that the usual tortures
3:44:30
Speaker 4: were powerless to accomplish the desired result, commanded the executioners
3:44:34
Speaker 4: to proceed to the last extreme of their diabolic cruelties,
3:44:38
Speaker 4: meaning to compass the death of Jesus by the complete
3:44:41
Speaker 4: exhaustion of his forces. Jesus, however, fortifying his endurance by
3:44:46
Speaker 4: the power of his will and zeal for his righteous cause,
3:44:49
Speaker 4: which was also that of his people and of God,
3:44:52
Speaker 4: was unconquerable by all the refinements of cruelty inflicted upon
3:44:57
Speaker 4: him by his executioners. The infliction the question upon Jesus
3:45:01
Speaker 4: evoked much feeling among the elders, and they resolved to
3:45:05
Speaker 4: interfere in his behalf, formally demanding a Pilot that he
3:45:09
Speaker 4: should be liberated before the passover When their request was
3:45:13
Speaker 4: denied by Pilot, they resolved to petition that Jesus should
3:45:17
Speaker 4: be brought to trial before the Synhedrum, by whom they
3:45:20
Speaker 4: did not doubt his acquittal, which was ardently desired by
3:45:24
Speaker 4: the people, would be ordained. In the eyes of the priests,
3:45:28
Speaker 4: Jesus was a saint belonging to the family of David,
3:45:31
Speaker 4: and his unjust detention, or what was still more to
3:45:35
Speaker 4: be dreaded, his condemnation, would have saddened the celebration of
3:45:38
Speaker 4: the great national festival of the Israelites. They therefore prayed
3:45:43
Speaker 4: Pilot that the trial of Jesus should take place before
3:45:46
Speaker 4: the Passover, and to this he acceded, but he ordered
3:45:50
Speaker 4: that two thieves should be tried at the same time,
3:45:52
Speaker 4: with Jesus, thinking too. In this way minimized in the
3:45:56
Speaker 4: eyes of the people the importance of the fact that
3:45:59
Speaker 4: the life of a an innocent man was being put
3:46:01
Speaker 4: in jeopardy before the tribunal, and by not allowing Jesus
3:46:05
Speaker 4: to be condemned alone, blind the populace to the unjust
3:46:08
Speaker 4: prearrangement of his condemnation. The accusation against Jesus was founded
3:46:13
Speaker 4: upon the depositions of the bribed witnesses. During the trial,
3:46:18
Speaker 4: Pilot availed himself of perversions of Jesus's words concerning the
3:46:22
Speaker 4: heavenly kingdom to sustain the charges made against him. He counted,
3:46:27
Speaker 4: it seems, upon the effect produced by the answers of Jesus,
3:46:30
Speaker 4: as well as upon his own authority, to influence the
3:46:33
Speaker 4: members of the tribunal against examining too minutely the details
3:46:38
Speaker 4: of the case, and to procure from them the sentence
3:46:41
Speaker 4: of death for which he intimated his desire. Upon hearing
3:46:45
Speaker 4: the perfectly natural answer of the judges that the meaning
3:46:48
Speaker 4: of the words of Jesus was diametrically opposed to the accusation,
3:46:53
Speaker 4: and that there was nothing in them to warrant his condemnation,
3:46:56
Speaker 4: Pilot employed his final resource for prejudicing the trial, viz.
3:47:01
Speaker 4: The deposition of a purchased traitorous informer, this miserable wretch,
3:47:06
Speaker 4: who was no doubt Judas accused Jesus formerly of having
3:47:11
Speaker 4: incited the people to rebellion. Then followed a scene of
3:47:15
Speaker 4: unsurpassed sublimity when Judas gave his testimony, Jesus turning toward
3:47:21
Speaker 4: him and giving him his blessing. Says thou wilt find
3:47:25
Speaker 4: mercy for what thou hast said did not come out
3:47:28
Speaker 4: from thine own heart. Then, addressing himself to the Governor,
3:47:32
Speaker 4: why dost thou lower thy dignity and teach thy inferiors
3:47:36
Speaker 4: to tell falsehood, when without doing so it is in
3:47:39
Speaker 4: thy power to condemn an innocent man words touching as
3:47:44
Speaker 4: sublime Jesus Christ here manifests all the grandeur of his
3:47:47
Speaker 4: soul by pardoning his betrayal, and he reproaches Pilate with
3:47:52
Speaker 4: having resorted to such means unworthy of his dignity to
3:47:56
Speaker 4: attain his end. This keen reproach enraged the governor and
3:48:01
Speaker 4: caused him to completely forget his position and the prudent
3:48:04
Speaker 4: policy with which he had meant to evade personal responsibility
3:48:08
Speaker 4: for the crime he contemplated. He now imperiously demanded the
3:48:12
Speaker 4: conviction of Jesus, and, as though he intended to make
3:48:15
Speaker 4: a display of his power to overawe, the judges ordered
3:48:18
Speaker 4: the acquittal of the two thieves. The judges, seeing the
3:48:22
Speaker 4: injustice of Pilates, demand that they should acquit the malefactors
3:48:26
Speaker 4: and condemn the innocent Jesus refused to commit this double
3:48:29
Speaker 4: crime against their consciences. And their laws. But as they
3:48:33
Speaker 4: could not cope with one who possessed the authority of
3:48:36
Speaker 4: final judgment, and saw that he was firmly decided to
3:48:39
Speaker 4: rid himself by whatever means of a man who had
3:48:42
Speaker 4: fallen under the suspicions of the Roman authorities, they left
3:48:46
Speaker 4: him to himself pronounced the verdict for which he was
3:48:49
Speaker 4: so anxious. In order, however, that the people might not
3:48:52
Speaker 4: suspect them of sharing the responsibility for such unjust judgment,
3:48:57
Speaker 4: which would not readily have been forgiven, they, in leaving
3:49:00
Speaker 4: the court, performed the ceremony of washing their hands, symbolizing
3:49:04
Speaker 4: the affirmation that they were clean of the blood of
3:49:07
Speaker 4: the innocent Jesus, the beloved of the people. About ten
3:49:11
Speaker 4: years ago I read in a German journal, The Friend
3:49:14
Speaker 4: and Blatt, an article on Judas, wherein the author endeavored
3:49:18
Speaker 4: to demonstrate that the informer had been the best friend
3:49:21
Speaker 4: of Jesus. According to him, it was out of love
3:49:24
Speaker 4: for his master that Judas betrayed him, for he put
3:49:28
Speaker 4: blind faith in the words of the Savior, who said
3:49:31
Speaker 4: that his kingdom would arrive after his execution. But after
3:49:35
Speaker 4: seeing him on the cross and having waited in vain
3:49:37
Speaker 4: for the resurrection of Jesus, which he expected to immediately
3:49:40
Speaker 4: take place. Judas, not able to bear the pain by
3:49:44
Speaker 4: which his heart was torn, committed suicide by hanging himself.
3:49:48
Speaker 4: It would be profitless to dwell upon this ingenious product
3:49:51
Speaker 4: of a fertile imagination. To take up again the accounts
3:49:55
Speaker 4: of the Gospel and the Buddhistic Chronicle, it is very
3:49:58
Speaker 4: possible that the bribed ince Ormer was really Judas, although
3:50:02
Speaker 4: the Buddhistic version is silent on this point. As to
3:50:05
Speaker 4: the pangs of conscience which are said to have impelled
3:50:08
Speaker 4: the informer to suicide, I must say I give no
3:50:11
Speaker 4: credence to them. A man capable of committing so violent,
3:50:15
Speaker 4: cowardly an action as that of making an infamously false
3:50:18
Speaker 4: accusation against his friend, and this not out of a
3:50:21
Speaker 4: spirit of jealousy or for revenge, but to gain a
3:50:24
Speaker 4: handful of shekels. Such a man is, from the psychic
3:50:28
Speaker 4: point of view, of very little worth. He ignores honesty
3:50:32
Speaker 4: and conscience, and pangs of remorse are unknown to him.
3:50:36
Speaker 4: It is presumable that the governor treated him, as is
3:50:38
Speaker 4: sometimes done in our days, when it is deemed desirable
3:50:42
Speaker 4: to effectually conceal state secrets known to men of his kind,
3:50:46
Speaker 4: and presumably unsafe in their keeping. Judas probably was simply
3:50:50
Speaker 4: hanged by Pilot's order to prevent the possibility of his
3:50:54
Speaker 4: some day revealing that the plot of which Jesus was
3:50:57
Speaker 4: a victim had been inspired by the authorities. On the
3:51:00
Speaker 4: day of the execution, a numerous detachment of Roman soldiers
3:51:04
Speaker 4: was placed around the cross to guard against any attempt
3:51:07
Speaker 4: by the populace for the delivery of him, who was
3:51:10
Speaker 4: the object of their veneration. In this occurrence, Pilot gave
3:51:14
Speaker 4: proof of his extraordinary firmness and resolution. But though owing
3:51:19
Speaker 4: to the precautions taken by the governor, the anticipated revolt
3:51:23
Speaker 4: did not occur, he could not prevent the people. After
3:51:26
Speaker 4: the execution, mourning the ruin of their hopes, which were destroyed.
3:51:30
Speaker 4: Together with the last scion of the race of David,
3:51:34
Speaker 4: all the people went to worship at Jesus's grave. Although
3:51:37
Speaker 4: we have no precise information concerning the occurrences of the
3:51:41
Speaker 4: first few days following their passion, we could, by some
3:51:44
Speaker 4: probable conjectures, reconstruct the scenes which must have taken place.
3:51:49
Speaker 4: It stands to reason that the Roman Caesar's clever lieutenant,
3:51:53
Speaker 4: when he saw that Christ's grave became the center of
3:51:55
Speaker 4: universal lamentations and the subject of national grief and fear,
3:52:00
Speaker 4: feared that the memory of the righteous victim might excite
3:52:03
Speaker 4: the discontent of the people and raised the whole country
3:52:06
Speaker 4: against the foreigner's rule. Should have employed any effective means
3:52:09
Speaker 4: for the removal of this rallying point the mortal remains
3:52:13
Speaker 4: of Jesus. Pilot began by having the body buried for
3:52:17
Speaker 4: three days. The soldiers who were stationed on guard at
3:52:20
Speaker 4: the grave were exposed to all kinds of insults and
3:52:23
Speaker 4: injuries on the part of the people, who, defying the danger,
3:52:27
Speaker 4: came in multitudes to mourn the great martyr. Then Pilot
3:52:31
Speaker 4: ordered his soldiers to remove the body at night and
3:52:34
Speaker 4: to bury it clandestinely in some other place, leaving the
3:52:37
Speaker 4: first grave open and a guard withdrawn from it, so
3:52:40
Speaker 4: that the people could see that Jesus had disappeared. But
3:52:43
Speaker 4: Pilot missed his end, for when on the following morning
3:52:47
Speaker 4: the Hebrews did not find the corpse of their master
3:52:50
Speaker 4: in the sepulcher, the superstitious and miracle accepting among them
3:52:54
Speaker 4: thought that he had been resurrected. How did this legend
3:52:57
Speaker 4: take root, we cannot say. Possibly it existed for a
3:53:01
Speaker 4: long time in a Latin state, and at the beginning
3:53:04
Speaker 4: spread only among the common people. Perhaps the ecclesiastic authorities
3:53:09
Speaker 4: of the Hebrews looked with indulgence upon this innocent belief,
3:53:13
Speaker 4: which gave to the oppressed a shadow of revenge on
3:53:16
Speaker 4: their oppressors. However, it be the day when the legend
3:53:19
Speaker 4: of the resurrection finally became known to all, there was
3:53:23
Speaker 4: no one to be found strong enough to demonstrate the
3:53:25
Speaker 4: impossibility of such an occurrence. Concerning this resurrection, it must
3:53:31
Speaker 4: be remarked that, according to the Buddhists, the soul of
3:53:34
Speaker 4: the just Esa was united with the eternal being, while
3:53:38
Speaker 4: the Evangelists insist upon the ascension of the body. It
3:53:41
Speaker 4: seems to me, however, that the evangelists and the apostles
3:53:44
Speaker 4: have done very well to give the description of the
3:53:47
Speaker 4: resurrection which they have agreed upon. For if they had
3:53:51
Speaker 4: not done so, that is, if the miracle had been
3:53:54
Speaker 4: given a less material character, their preaching would not have
3:53:57
Speaker 4: had in the eyes of the nations, to who whom
3:54:00
Speaker 4: it was presented that divine authority, that avowedly supernatural character,
3:54:05
Speaker 4: which has clothed Christianity until our time, as the only
3:54:09
Speaker 4: religion capable of elevating the human race to a state
3:54:13
Speaker 4: of sublime enthusiasm, suppressing its savage instincts, and bringing it
3:54:18
Speaker 4: nearer to the grand and simple nature which God has bestowed.
3:54:22
Speaker 4: They say upon that feeble dwarf called Man. End of Resume,
3:54:28
Speaker 4: Part two,