The Legends and Theories of the Buddhists

The system attributed to Gótama Buddha is one of the oldest beliefs in the world. It demands, therefore, a place among the records of religious opinion, if for its antiquity alone. But it has other claims upon our attention. There is in it the germ of many of the speculations that are the most prominent in the shifting philosophies of the present day; and it is now professed, at the lowest computation, by three hundred millions of the human race. The information presented in these pages has a further importance, as the Dharmma is comparatively unknown in England. Of this we have evidence in the singular fact, that the name of Gótama Buddha is not found in any work in our language that is exclusively biographical, although no uninspired man has exercised a greater influence than he upon the social and religious interests of the world.