III. THE EXISTENCE AND IDEA OF GOD

a.

PRE-CHRISTIAN

BRAHMA, THE WORLD IDEA

RIG-VEDA, X, 129 (East Indian), 1500 B. C.

Not-Being was not, Being was not then,
Air was not, nor sky beyond.

What was the covering-where, in whose ward?
Was there water, deep, profound?

Death was not, nor deathlessness then,
No token was there of night or day.
The One breathed windless, of its own power;
Beyond this there was naught whatsoever.

Darkness there was, hidden in darkness, at first;
This universe was a tokenless flood.
When the living was covered by the void,
By the power of Heat was born the One.

Desire in the beginning came upon it,

Which was the first seed of Thought.
The root of Being in Not-Being was found

By sages tracing it with understanding in their hearts.

Was their line stretched out across,

Or was it below, or was it above?

Sowers of seed there were, Powers there were,

Potency beneath, Energy beyond.

Who knows in sooth, who may declare here,

Whence this creation was born, whence it was?

The gods were later in the creating thereof;

So who knows whence it arose?

Whence this creation arose,

Whether He made it or not,

He who watches over it in the highest heaven
Knows indeed-or haply knows not.

PROOFS OF BUDDHA'S EXISTENCE

ANONYMOUS, Fourth Century B. C.

As men who see a city fitly planned

Infer the greatness of its architect,

So when the 'City of Good Law' is scanned
Work of the Blessed One can those who will detect.

As men who see the ocean rollers break

Infer the greatness of th' encompassing sea,
So may they judge of him whose teachings take
Throughout the listening world their course of victory.

Of him, the Victor who allays all grief

Who purged his heart of Tanha, seed of woe,

Well may the men to whom he brings relief

Cry, 'Great our Master, far his goodly precepts flow!'

As men who see far-off Himalaya's snows

Can judge the mountain-barrier's soaring height:
So they on whom the Teacher peace bestows

Behold the 'Mount of Dharma' gleaming clear and white,

Steadfast, unshaken, towering on high,
Unmoved by all the passion-blasts of lust,

In air serene, where ill and Karma die,

Infer 'How great the Hero in whose word we trust!'

As those who find some track of elephant

Infer the vastness of his kingly form,

So when they see the work of Bhagavant,

'How mighty,' cry they, 'was the Teacher of the Norm!'

As men behold the jungle-folk afraid

And know 'The King of beasts is surely near,'
So when false teachers fly, and are dismayed,

We judge ''Tis wisdom of the royal Sage they fear!'

And when the earth rejoices fresh and green,
'The gracious rain,' we say, 'hath come at last,'
So judge we, when the hearts of weary men

Rejoice, 'His gracious words into their lives have passed.'

Seeing the wide fields turned into a flood,

'Some mighty stream hath poured its waters here,'

Men

cry: so judge they of the Law how good
It is, because they see men here and everywhere.

In the wide ocean of its waters pure,
Cleansed from the mud of sin and suffering.
As men who scent the fragrant air are sure
That the great forest trees hard-by are blossoming;
So, finding righteous actions wafting round
All sweet fragrance of their loveliness,

Men gladly sniff the air, and cries resound,

'Here surely lived a Buddha, Lord of Righteousness!'

For Egyptian and Babylonian and Greek see Section VIIIa. See also Sections II, III, V, VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII for Psalms.

b. EARLY CHRISTIAN AND MEDIÆVAL

THE END OF BEING

SENECA, Fourth Century B. C.

Translated by H. C. Leonard.

The end of being is to find out God!
And what is God? A vast almighty Power
Great and unlimited, whose potent will

Brings to achievement whatsoe'er He please. .

He is all mind. His being infinite

All that we see and all that we do not see.

The Lord of heaven and earth, the God of Gods.
Without Him nothing is. Yet what He is
We know not! When we strive to comprehend
Our feeble guesses leave the most concealed.
To Him we owe all good we call our own.
To Him we live, to Him ourselves approve.
He is a friend forever at our side.

What cares He for the bleeding sacrifice?
O purge your hearts and lead the life of good!
Not in the pride of temples made with stone
His pleasure lies, but in the piety

Of consecrated hearts and lives devout.

THE LOVE OF GOD

BERNARD RASCAS

From the Provençal

Translated by William Cullen Bryant

All things that are on earth shall wholly pass away,
Except the love of God, which shall live and last for aye.
The forms of men shall be as they had never been;
The blasted groves shall lose their fresh and tender green;
The birds of the thicket shall end their pleasant song,
And the nightingale shall cease to chant the evening long.
The kine of the pasture shall feel the dart that kills,
And all the fair white flocks shall perish from the hills.
The goat and antlered stag, the wolf and the fox,
The wild boar of the wood, and the chamois of the rocks,
And the strong and fearless bear, in the trodden dust shall lie;
And the dolphin of the sea, and the mighty whale, shall die.
And realms shall be dissolved, and empires be no more,
And they shall bow to death, who ruled from shore to shore;
And the great globe itself, so the Holy Writings tell,