"Some of these have been
chased with a series of four figures, representing Buddha in the act
of preaching; a mendicant is on his right, a lay follower on his left,
and behind the latter a female disciple." This somewhat describes the
appearance of the stone-carved figures at the monastery of Hemis.[38]
These caskets have been set with rubies and chased with the leaves
of the lotus. Besides these have also been found small pearls, gold
buttons, rings, beads, pieces of clay and stone bearing impressions of
figures, bits of bone, and teeth of animals, pieces of cloth, &c. The
images are sometimes recumbent, at other times standing upright,
with the hand uplifted in the act of giving instruction. Sometimes
they have three heads and six or more arms.
In order to form clear and accurate ideas of the religion of Buddha,
it would be necessary to study a vast number of volumes, some of them
contradictory and of very doubtful authority, and the result would
appear hardly to compensate for the trouble, so altered has modern
Buddhism become from ancient, and into so many different systems
has it been divided in the many different countries in which it is
professed.
Pages:
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363