There
was near the door of his cave a spreading tree; but he only knew that
it was there by the fall of its leaves or flowers; the tree itself he
never saw, as he carefully observed the precept not to look upwards,
or to a distance!
The priest of Buddha must possess but eight articles: three of these
are matters of dress; the others, a girdle for the loins, an alms-bowl,
a razor, a needle, and a water-strainer. The bowl receives the food
presented in alms; the razor is for shaving the head; the needle
keeps his yellow wardrobe in order; and the water-strainer is the
most serviceable of all, for "if any priest shall knowingly drink
water containing insects, he shall be ejected from the priesthood."
The Dagobas, or shrines of relics, which abound in such numbers in
Thibet, have also been found in India and other countries. Some of
them when opened have been found to contain what appears to be remains
of a funeral pile, also vessels of stone or metal, and, occasionally,
caskets of silver and gold, curiously wrought.
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